The members of the group are to work together to provide background -- military, economic, and cultural information -- for the Foreign Relations Committee. In order to offer guidance to the Senate in the decision-making process, the members of the group are to devise possible solutions to foreign-policy problems arising in the group's assigned region. The experts should present the Senators with an ideal outcome and a not-so-ideal outcome. In cases like this, officials charged with formulating foreign policy need to grasp a range of scenarios from the best possible to the worst possible. You and your expert group need to persuade the Senate to act according to the wishes of the American people and the nation's best interests, as clearly defined as possible. Provide the Senate with reasons for or against involvement, including the benefits and hardships that intervention would entail. Each group will have responsibility for one of the following four regions:

Roles

Spokesperson: Your job is to explain the situations and the possible solutions that serve the best interests of the United States. You are to provide a 3-5 minute presentation to the Senators. You are to synthesize the information provided to you by your colleagues in the expert group. You should include arguments from their areas of expertise. Keep in mind, though, that you must take the lead in organizing your group and helping it to reach a consensus on the views to be presented to the Senate Committee.

Military advisor: Your role is to present expert opinion on American military policies growing out of your group's assigned regional crisis. You are to assess the military capability of the United States to respond to the crisis, and you should consider past events to evaluate the standing of the U.S. military. You must pay close attention to the costs and benefits of proposed military actions -- including costs in equipment, money, and American lives.

Economic advisor: Your role is to present expert opinion on American economic policies that will be affected by your group's assigned regional crisis. You are to assess the American interests implicated by the crisis and to assess the benefits and drawbacks of the range of policy choices posed by the crisis.

Cultural advisor: Your role is to present expert opinions on the culture(s) and people(s) implicated by your group's assigned regional crisis. You are to explain how the range of policy options available to the United States will affect the people(s) of the region, and how they will perceive American interests, roles, responsibilities, and actions. You must remind your colleagues, the press, and the Senators of the vital importance of crafting foreign policy by reference to the foreign peoples that policy will affect.

Foreign-policy advisor: Your role is to provide expert opinion on the role of the United States in world affairs, how other nations (in particular, neighbors of the nation or region implicated in the crisis), will respond to American policy, and how the American policy will affect American standing in the world. You must take account of current events and issues throughout the world.