The diplomat fellows have begun an exciting week of deliberations and caucus meetings that will culminate in a grand parliamentary showdown next Tuesday. The fellows are billed to write bills on the following policy areas for the imaginary country of “Loudenia”. The policy platforms to be represented include Loudenia’s relations with Russia, China, it’s position on the Middle East crisis situations, Trade policy, Energy policy, and the policy on the Environment. The Republic of Loudenia is a “Central European nation that boasts picturesque mountains, dense forests and a temperate climate”. The country has a literacy rate of 99% and has steady national budget surpluses for the past decade. Unemployment rate is at only 4.8 %. Loudenia is also a member of the European Union (EU) and of the World Trade Organization (WTO).The fellows have been split into six separate groups each representing one of the aforementioned policy platforms as well as the press. The fellows will have the opportunity to teleconference with experts from the US State Department on their various topic areas. They will also have many opportunities to hold press conferences to ‘test the waters’ regarding their policy proposals prior to the grand debate on Tuesday.

We are also fortunate to have a press corps comprised of some ‘real’ journalists and they have already begun interesting reportage on the happenings so far. The great Loudenia project promises to be fun and full of intense debates and policy jockeying- considering the intra-committee policy spars that I have witnessed so far.

Updates to follow….