Final Goal of My Project

At the beginning of my project, I set 3 goals that I wanted to accomplish before the end of the semester.

• The first goal was to present a crisis in the middle east and research solutions to the problem. I did my crisis research a few blogs ago when talking about the Civil War in Yemen.
• My second goal was to familiarize myself with the Arabic alphabet to give me a head start on college studies
• And my third and final goal was to get accepted into West Point's Summer Leadership Experience so I can take classes and live at my dream school for a week

Thankfully, back in March, I found out that I was selected among thousands of applicants to participate in the program this summer! This blog will explain about all that I will be doing.

Campus Life

The purpose of this program is to show students interested in West Point, what life will be like if you attend college there. According to West Point's website, the SLE (Summer Leadership Experience) gives high school juniors a week to experience life as a cadet to inform their college selection decision. SLE is a fast paced program of academic classes, military training, physical fitness training, and intramural athletics conducted during the month of June each year.

I applied for the program back in January. This is also when I started my West Point application. Basically what I will be doing can be broken up into 3 categories.

Academic

When I started the application, I ranked the 15 classes that they offer in order of preference. The classes they offer include areas of Science, Math, Engineering, Humanities, Modern Languages, and Psychology. My top 3 choices were Social Science (in the hope that international relations may be included), Foreign Language (in the hope that Arabic will be included) , and Leadership and Ethics.

I will get to attend 3 different workshops alongside other juniors and this will help me see what classes are like at West Point. According to the schedule classes will be from 9:00-3:30 so it's basically the same amount of time as a school day. Regardless, I'm very excited to see what they have to offer.

Military Experience

I've known for 4 years now that I want to join the military. While at West Point, I will be able to participate in many military activities that I won't be able to do anywhere else.

While at West Point I will get to go through a weapons familiarization process. They didn't say exactly what or how many weapons I will get to use but the thought is still exciting. I've actually only handled a real gun a few times, so to get trained on how to use a gun from an expert is exciting.

Another part of the experience is the obstacle course. I love using obstacle courses and always use the JROTC course that we have at school. The website doesn't show pictures or tell much about it but the obstacle course has to be amazing. West Point is a top notch school so everything they have is high class.

I will also be put through a Leadership Reaction Course. I've done similar things in past JROTC competitions. Basically what it is, is when you and a team are put in a situation to where you must work together to get out. It will be a lot of team building and trust exercises.

Athletic and Social

Athletics are a HUGE part of West Point and the military itself. I love working out and will even get to be the commander of JROTC's Raider Physical Fitness Team next year! Being able to work out military style surrounded by other people who love the same thing is exciting. Everyone there will be physically fit so we can all challenge each other. Every morning we will wake up and start PT (physical training) at 5:30. This is something common in the military and will be an exciting thing tro experience.

Every night there is also a time to hang out and play sports with the other students. It is meant to be a social time but also to keep you moving. Basketball, Soccer, and Dodgeball are some of the sports that will be offered when I'm there.

I will also have a chance to talk to the cadets that are currently there. Hearing first-hand accounts from actual students will give me a better impression of going to school there.

Reflections

Overall I'm EXTREMELY excited to be able to get to go to West Point this summer. I decided about a year and a half ago that this is what I would try and do. Being accepted into this program is reassuring because 40% of attendees get accepted into the academy the following year! That number is higher than what I was expecting and gives me hope that I can get accepted.

Something else that they sent me was a schedule of the events that will take place when I'm there. This shows me what I will be doing and at what time. (There are many pages of information in that link but I am just referencing page 2). It looks like I will be busy but I couldn't be more excited!

The thing I am looking forward to the most is probably the PT. Like I said before, I think it will be exciting to work out the true military way surrounded by other physically fit people. I am currently training really hard so that I will have good scores to impress them there.

This is a video of the SLE from last summer. It shows a lot of what I will be doing.
I will be there next month from June 6-12. I'm counting down the days and I can't wait!

Bibliography

"The Summer Leadership Experience." Usma.edu. US Army, 2014. Web. 06 May 2015. <http://www.usma.edu/admissions/SitePages/Summer.aspx>.

"USMA Summer Leaders Experience General Information." West Point Admissions (2015): 2. 2015. Web. 6 May 2015. <https://candidate.usma.edu/downloads/CY2020/SLEInstructions.pdf>.

Revisiting the Arabic Alphabet

This week I feel like it is time for me to revisit the incredibly complicated Arabic alphabet. The best way for me to learn it is by repetition over and over. I learn the best by repeating things through my head. I also attempted to watch more of those silly videos. They seem dumb but I think they are starting to help.

Writing

Something new I wanted to try out this week was my attempt at writing the alphabet out. I've been staring at these letters for awhile now and I figured I should try and attempt to write them out. I found a website online that showed me the correct ways to draw out each character.

 

I loved this image so much because it had arrows pointing to which direction I needed to go and which part of the letter that I needed to start with. A lot of these looked really complicated especially Shin and yeh. None of these however, proved to be too difficult.

My Attempts

My first attempt was A LOT better than what I was expecting. The only thing I noticed was that since I used a pen, the dashed that I was supposed to make above some of the characters were too thin. It didn't look right to me.

So I tried it a second time using a marker and I think it looks really good. For someone who has never done this before, I am very satisfied with what I did.

Above is my most recent attempt at the alphabet. Some of my dashes seem really big or awkward but I think I can get better with that over time. I feel like sin (3rd row 2nd letter from the right) and sad (3rd row 4th from the right) are perfect. I am really proud of those 2 letters because they look exactly like what they should. I'm not quite sure how I did it to be honest, but they look really good.

Just a reminder that the Arabic alphabet is read from right to left. So the first letter is in the top right corner instead of the left.

Reflections

This week was really short and sweet but I'm proud of all that I have accomplished so far. With this semester drawing to a close and only having a few week left until the big project, I feel like I am more and more prepared. I know that all the work I have done this semester will benefit me as I pursue this career path. Starting early will definitely give me the edge I need to succeed.

Bibliography

Zahirovic, Ermin. "Arabic Alphabet." Arabic Alphabet. Wordpress, 2015. Web. 29 Apr. 2015.

Jin, Tony. "The Arabic Alphabet - Chart." Stanford University Arabic Department. Stanford University, 2014. Web. 29 Apr. 2015.

Crisis in the Middle East

One of my main goals to come out of this project was to research a current crisis in the middle east and develop a strategy that I may think is successful. After my many weeks of researching this topic, I've come to discover that I don't think that it is reasonable anymore. My limited amount of knowledge in this area and the lack of resources available to me won't give me enough to truly put forth a solution to a crisis without looking like a fool.

However, I've decided to edit that goal just a little bit. I will still look into a crisis in the middle east and talk about the efforts that are already being made. I will also put in my own input as to how I think things are going and what may happen because of it. I think this is a more appropriate goal to have for someone of my age and experience level.

Yemen Crisis

I've decided to look into the ongoing crisis in Yemen for my project this week. I didn't previously know much about what was going on in the country, and I didn't think other people knew much about it as well which is why I decided to go with it.

What's Going On?

For the past few years, Yemen has been involved in an ongoing civil war. A group of Iranian-supported Shia rebels known as the Houthis have been the main oppressors in this conflict.

Back in January of this year, the Houthis forced the resignation of the current Sunni president, Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi, (pictured below) who had succeeded the president that they were loyal to.

Yemen is a very strategic country due to its location. It may be the poorest arab country, but it has direct access to the Bab al Mandab which the small waterway where most of the world's oil travels on. Whoever ends up controlling Yemen may also control the oil flow.

Who Else is Involved?

There are 2 other major influences on Yemen's civil war. Iran, which is Shia ruled, seems to be backing and supporting the Houthis. On the other hand, the Sunni ruled Saudi Arabia is backing up President Hadi.

Saudi Arabia is increasingly concerned with the Iran presence in this crisis due to the fact that Yemen and Saudi Arabia directly share a border. Iran is a major regional rival to Saudi Arabia. Their presence would be too close for comfort.

To make matters worse, Al Qaeda supporters are also in the area waging there own war against the government and Houthis. Is peace ever possible in this nation?

Foreign Intervention

Saudi Arabia, being major Hadi supporters, are now keeping the president refuge in their country. The Saudis also believe that military action is necessary to help restore the government.

Egypt also pledged their navy and air force if necessary, to help President's Hadi's cause. This can be very useful because Egypt has the largest army in the Arab world.

America has backed Saudi Arabia in this ongoing conflict and even sent an armada of warships to the Yemeni Coast. This was to serve as a warning to Iran not to rearm the Houthis with weapons. Yemen is an important country to the US as they have been a partner to us involving Al-Qaeda. After having to pull Americans from the area for safety concerns, we no longer have any eyes and ears open to Al-Qaeda movements in the area.

                                                            Loyal Militants

Airstrikes

Beginning last month, Saudi Arabia began launching airstrikes in rebel areas. This slowed down the Houthi's advance, but still seemed to worry others as to how effective they will be.

As of Today (April 22, 2015), the Saudis attacked southern Yemen in another series of airstrikes. This prompted the Houthi's to finally call for peace talks. Saudi Arabia had said yesterday that they would stop there operation of airstrikes and move forward with "Operation Renewal of Hope". The airstrikes today raised some questions as to why they happened. Regardless of why they did it, the airstrikes seem to have worked.

The Saudis aim to restore the government in Yemen which would be a huge aid to the US because they can get their eyes on Al-Qaeda back. The Houthis have reportedly agreed to nearly all the demands of the UN Security Council.

What's Next?

The Saudi Embassy has said that their next goal in this process is to protect citizens, enhance humanitarian and medical assistance, confront terrorism, and create an international coalition to provide maritime security. They want to bring back security through a political process.

My Thoughts

It was really interesting to learn about all that was going on that I knew very little about. This story is continuing to unfold and will be interesting to see how this all holds up in the coming days.

I think the counter terrorism tactics used by Saudi Arabia were effective and reasonable. The airstrikes may have seen like a lost cause at first, but today was proven to be effective.

I've always believed that this nation will never be at peace. This problem may seem like it's winding down, but it's only a matter of time before something else happens in Yemen, or in another unrelated country. There will always be someone using counter terrorism strategies.

Bibliography

 Gura, David. "The Crisis in Yemen Explained." Bloomberg.com. Bloomberg, 27 Mar. 2015. Web. 22 Apr. 2015.

 "The Crisis in Yemen: What You Need to Know." The New York Times. The New York Times, 25 Mar. 2015. Web. 22 Apr. 2015.

 "Explained: The Main Players in the Yemen Conflict." ABC News. American Broadcasting Corporation, 08 Apr. 2015. Web. 22 Apr. 2015.

Tafeeq, Mohammed. "Saudi Planes Strike Again in Yemen - CNN.com." CNN. Cable News Network, 22 Apr. 2015. Web. 22 Apr. 2015.

Video Blog

This week I did a video blog instead of a written one. In it I talk about my inspirations for this project and the best sources that I have come across.

Learning the Arabic Alphabet

This week I decided to begin to familiarize myself with the Arabic alphabet. Learning a new alphabet is extremely hard. However, if I want to excel in college I should start now. I hope to graduate college with a minor in Arabic so that it will better equip me in the International Relations field.

First Impressions

The things I noticed starting off with the alphabet is that everything is read from right to left. This will make things even harder as I am already accustomed to reading left to right.

Also, when forming words, the letters all seem to blend together and it is hard to differentiate from each letter. I expect to get a handle of this when I become more proficient in it, but as of right now it seems kind of overwhelming.

The Alphabet

So the Arabic alphabet consists of 28 letters which is shown below. This chart, like the alphabet, is read from right to left. The top row is the character, the middle row is the name, and the bottom row is the English letter (or letters) that it represents.

ج	ث	ت	ب	أ	Arabic Character
/Jīm/	/Thā’/	/Tā’/	/Bā’/	/Alif/	Letter Name
j	th	t	b	a	Letter Sound
ر	ذ	د	خ	ح	Arabic Character
/Râ’/	/Dhāl/	/Dāl/	/Khâ’/	/ħā’/	Letter Name
r	dh	d	kh	h	Letter Sound
ض	ص	ش	س	ز	Arabic Character
/đâd/	/ŝâd/	/Shīn/	/Sīn/	/Zāy/	Letter Name
d	s	sh	s	z	Letter Sound
ف	غ	ع	ظ	ط	Arabic Character
/Fā’/	/Ghayn/	/ξayn/	/Zâ’/	/ŧâ’/	Letter Name
f	gh	`	Z	t	Letter Sound
ن	م	ل	ك	ق	Arabic Character
/Nūn/	/Mīm/	/Lām/	/Kāf/	/Qâf/	Letter Name
n	m	l	K	q	Letter Sound
		ي	و	هـ	Arabic Character
		/Yā’/	/Wāw/	/Hā’/	Letter Name
		y	w	h	Letter Sound

The Rules

Part of what makes this language so hard is that each letter has about 4 different forms that it can appear in. The characters listed above are in the form where they are by itself. Those letters are not connected to each other to form words. If you were to put one of the characters in a word then it would look different if it was the first letter, different again if it was in the middle, and different again if it was the last letter. So each of the characters could have a different look for the beginning, middle, and end of a word. This makes it very hard for someone trying to learn it.

For example:

ب is the Arabic character for b. However at the beginning of a word it looks like بـ , in the middle it would look like ـبـ , and at the end it would look like ـب . That's 4 different variations of the same letter. So all in all I would have to learn 112 new characters for this language! Thankfully some of the letters have repeating variations and some even look similar. This takes some of the stress out of it. 

Short Vowels

Another thing I learned about the alphabet is that it is mainly consonants. To express a vowel there is a separate symbol added above or below each character. Here is another chart expressing the short vowels of the alphabet. Once again it reads right to left.

دُ	دِ	دَ	Arabic Character
/Đammah/	/Kasrah/	/Fatħah/	Vowel Name
u	i	a	Vowel Sound
The 'u' in put	The 'i' in sit	The 'a' in /ba/	English word with similar sound

The letter being used as an example is د (Dāl) which is the letter d. There are 3 examples of د , each being used with a different short vowel. 

The first column has a little slash above which represents the letter A.

The second column has a slash below which represents I.

The third column has a squiggle above that looks like a ribbon that represent U.

Reflections

I most definitely have my work cut out for me. I think for right now I will just stick to learning just the alphabet by itself and worry about the variations another time. There are actually more vowels that I didn't mention called "long vowels". I was already too stressed out over what I had already tried teaching myself I didn't want to add anymore.

I also came across a children's video to help them learn the alphabet. This is probably something could help me since I am also new to this language. 

I know that once I finally learn this language (and even just the alphabet) I will be immensely satisfied. It will be very difficult but I know that I am up for the challenge. This will be an exciting and interesting new experience.

Bibliography

 "Free Arabic Language Course, Learn Arabic." Free Arabic Language Course, Learn Arabic, Arabic Tuition. Madinaharabic. Web. 20 Mar. 2015.

"Learn the Arabic Letters and Alphabet - MyEasyArabic.com." Learn the Arabic Letters and Alphabet. Myeasyarabic.com, 1 June 2014. Web. 20 Mar. 2015.

Successful Counter Terrorism Operations

Today I spent my 20% time researching a successful counter terrorism operation, and an operation that didn't end well. The counter terrorism part of international relations is what I've decided I really want to focus on and seem very interested in. The operations I talk about in this blog are extreme examples of counter terrorism. Some operations aren't nearly as dangerous.

Successful Operation

The first thing I came across was a list of the top 10 most momentous counter terrorism operations online. This was exactly what I was looking for. While I won't list all 10, I will write about the one that interested me the most.

• Operation Jaque (2008)- This was a mission to go out and rescue 15 hostages held by a Colombian Organization by the name of Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC) for many years. An extremely well-thought-out plan was put into action that included a spy being placed in FARC a year before the rescue mission was to even take place. The hostages were then placed under careful surveillance by cameras and motion detectors. Once it was time for extraction, FARC members were tricked into thinking that a group of Colombian Soldiers were actually from a non-government organization, sent to deliver the hostages to a fellow rebel leader. The hostages were loaded on to helicopters and once they were in the air, the helicopters were captured and the hostages were rescued without firing a single shot. While the United States only played a very small part in the process, this is still a perfect example of what counter terrorism is.

This whole operation caught my attention from the start. The amount of planning and precise execution that went into developing this plan is incredible. I would love to be a part of planning an operation like this. Not only is this so interesting to read about how the members of FARC were tricked, but it also reminds me of the Oscar Winning movie Argo. It was a similar story of a mission to try and rescue hostages by tricking Iranians that these hostages were actually members of a film crew. Their plan has to be so perfect in order for the others to believe it. It's a lot of pressure but I think I would be up for the challenge. 

This is a picture of some of the hostages arriving back home after being rescued. It really makes me happy to see that no one was injured during the extraction. You can see on their faces how excited and happy they are to be home. I would love to be able to help someone like this one day.

Unsuccessful Operation

Not every planned mission can run perfectly. I have discovered an example of an operation that didn't go according to plan.

• The Munich Massacre (1972) - This whole situation took place at the 1972 Olympic games in Munich. In order to seem peaceful and friendly to the public, the security was toned down due to the fact that this was the first Olympic games to be held in Germany since the Nazi era. Due to the low level of security, 8 Palestinian terrorists from the group  Black September broke into the Olympic village and killed 2 men and took 9 hostage. Then for some idiotic reason, the German police were filmed getting ready to attack the kidnappers and was broadcast on TV. This alerted the terrorists and the police were no longer able to go through with a rescue attempt. Next, police began to "negotiate" with the terrorist and offer them transportation to Cairo and then an air base. They were to be intercepted upon arrival, however, the police that were to confront them underestimated how many there were, and were severely under trained which led to a bloody shoot out in which 2 terrorists and 1 cop were killed. The remaining terrorists then decide to brutally massacre their 9 hostages and attempt to escape, where 3 more were shot dead. The remaining terrorists were captured.

This whole operation legitimately upsets me. The fact that these men were so careless to let their plan be broadcast on TV, and then not communicate with each other to execute a plan is horrifying. I'm the type of person that tends to think hard and possibly over think things. I feel like if they would have thought a little more about what was going on, their mission may have been successful. 

This is the most famous picture taken from this event. This one of the terrorists looking off of the balcony after breaking in to the Olympic village. This guy just looks terrifying. Something about his mask and the fact that I know what this man did and is about to do just disgusts me. Part of the reason why I want to go into the counter terrorism field is to prevent people like him from ever hurting someone. 

Reflections

I think I enjoyed researching these events more than I did for any of my other blogs. Reading about these stories, and others I didn't even mention managed to capture my interest. I've already begun looking into more information about these events such as books and other articles. 

While many people in this field don't ever do something as extreme as this, it is my dream to be able to get there eventually. I believe that I would be good at this, and that I can make a difference in what I do. 

I can't wait to see what my next weeks of research will bring me.

Bibliography

Barker, Evie. "10 Momentous Counter Terrorism Operations." Homeland Security Degree Guide. Homeland Security Degree Guide, 2 April. 2013. Web. 13 Mar. 2015.

Deshayes, Benoit. Operation Jaque. Digital Image. Linternaute. CCM Benchamrk Group, n.d. Web. 13 Mar. 2015.

What I Want To Do With My Degree

Today I researched the possibilities of different jobs I can do with this degree. Because I plan on joining the military, I looked at both military jobs and civilian jobs that I can do.

Military

First, I looked for a military job. I already had done some research into military positions that I would be interested in. I came across the Military Intelligence Officer page on the army's website and knew that this is what I wanted to do. It's very similar to everything the International Relations degree encompasses.

According to the Army's website, the overview of this job states that,"The Army's military intelligence is responsible for all collected intelligence during missions. They provide essential information that often save the soldiers fighting on the front lines". This sounds like a very interesting, yet extremely important job.

The website also lists certain skills that would help you in the job area.

• Self-discipline, confidence, and intelligence (which I like to think I already have)
• Physically and mentally fit to perform under pressure (As of right now I think I do well working under pressure, however the pressure from one of these jobs is far more severe than anything I have dealt with)
• Ability to make quick decisions (I can make quick decisions, whether it's a good one or not varies)
• Capable of bearing numerous responsibilities (of all the things I'm involved in now I think I can handle multiple things at once)

Some of these skills I already have, but I can always improve these skills to get better. Below is a video I found of a small look inside a Intelligence Officer's day. I think it's cool to see this job in action.

In the video, we also see a man who works for Homeland Security. This is a great civilian job for this degree that also leads into my next section.

Civilian

There are many things that someone with an international relations degree can do in the civilian world. After looking through many different possibilities, I came across a Counterterrorism Analyst on the CIA's website. This seems like the type of job that I may want to pursue. Not necessarily at the CIA but the position in general.

 

The description of the job is "Counterterrorism Analysts assess the leadership, motivations, capabilities, plans, and intentions of foreign terrorist groups and their state and non state sponsors. Their key mission is to identify specific threats, warn of and preempt attacks, disrupt their networks, and eventually defeat terrorist organizations".

 

This sounds really exciting and important to me and I feel like I could be really good at it.

The Website also lists some requirements for the job. These include:

• Bachelor or Master's degree in International Relations or a similar study accompanied by regional expertise
• At least a 3.0 GPA
• Relevant Experience
• Strong verbal presentation and writing skills
• Write Clear and Concise text
• Excellent Analytical Ability
• Interpersonal Skills
• Ability to work under pressure and tight deadlines
• Proficiency in Foreign Language/Region

These requirements seem very complex and difficult. This likely because of the high intensity and importance of the job. A lot of these skills I already have somewhat of a base in. I know that I can improve upon interpersonal, and speaking and writing skills over the years.

 

Because this is an analyst position, there is an expectation of having analytical skills. Analytical skills allow you to examine something (whether it be a document, picture, or map) and interpret or solve a problem you are searching for. This requires a creative and attentive brain.

 

Below is a video I found that shows what counterterrorism analysts do on a daily basis. These people have lots of connections with the white house and other government facilities.

 

 

And finally, I wanted to include a clip from one of my favorite movies, Zero Dark Thirty. This movie planted the interest of this area focus in me, and I have been interested in International Relations ever since. In this particular clip they are tracking a possible person of interest through a town.

 



 

 

I learned a lot more today about the possible military and civilian careers that I could do. I'm excited to further my research next week so that I can be prepared for my future decisions.

 

 

Bibliography

"Military Intelligence Officer Jobs (35)." Goarmy.com. United States Army. Web. 18 Feb. 2015.

 

 

"Counterterrorism Analyst." Central Intelligence Agency. United States Government, 17 Apr. 2014. Web. 18 Feb. 2015.