Topic for April 30

PAKISTAN!!

Interesting developments in Pakistan...here are some articles to get you started!

Pakistan Threat Forces Militants to Retreat

US Questions Pakistan's Will to Stop Taliban

Defiant Taliban Forces Advance to Within 60 Miles of Islamabad

The CIA World Factbook: Pakistan

In Pakistan, Guile Helps Taliban Gain

Topic for April 23rd

Hey guys!

On April 23rd, I thought we'd have a chat about Communism!  Apparentely, the Japanese Communist Party is enjoying a lot of support recently.  Here's some articles...more are coming!

JCP basks in discontent as faith in capitalism crumbles

The Japan Times

Japanese Communist Party Website

A Worker's Paradise Found Off Japan's Coast

The New York Times

Japan's Young Turn To Communist Party As They Decide Capitalism Has Let Them Down

Telegraph.co.uk

April 23rd handout

And, here's what we'll do ne xt week!  Exciting stuff!

Negotiations often come in several different stages:

1.        Pre-Negotiation Preparation

2.        Opening statements

3.        Agenda

4.        Accepting or rejecting

5.        Closing

 

This time we went through steps number 1 & 2. J

Next we will continue on with steps 3 through 5.  Here are some phrases to keep in mind:

 

Agenda

Stating Objectives

⋆          Our main objective is to…

⋆          What we’d like to achieve from this meeting is…

 

Checking for agreement

⋆          Does that seem acceptable to you?

⋆          Do you agree to that?

 

Accepting or rejecting

Accepting

⋆          Yes, that sounds acceptable.

⋆          We’re prepared to agree to that.

 

Rejecting

⋆            I understand where you’re coming from, however...

⋆            I’m prepared to compromise, but…

⋆            I’m afraid that doesn’t work for me.

⋆            Is that your best offer?

 

Closing

Positive

⋆           It sounds like we've found some common ground.

⋆           I think we both agree to these terms.

⋆           I'm satisfied with this decision.

⋆           Would you be willing to sign a contract right now?

 ⋆           I think we should get this in writing.

Negative

⋆           I'd like to stop and think about this for a little while.

⋆           You've given me a lot to think about/consider.

⋆           Let's meet again once we've had some time to think.

**Bear in mind you don’t need to memorize all these particular sentences.  If there’s another way of saying the same thing that feels more comfortable to you, feel free to use it.**

 

Handout for today's class (April 16)

Hey guys!  Here's what the handout will look like today (you'll get one in class too!)

Negotiations: Steps 1 & 2

 

Pre-negotiation Planning:

⋆           Think about your goals and objectives: what do you want out of the negotiations

⋆           Think about your opponents goals and objectives: what may they want out of the negotiations

⋆           Consider other solutions to your main objective: you may not get everything you want…

 

Opening Statements:

⋆           These are used to provide information on what you will be negotiating for.

⋆           State your general aims followed by specific aims

⋆           Provide appropriate information (stay on topic!)

⋆           Use clear, direct language (you can fudge the details later J)

⋆           Explain what the situation is now

Happy Negotiating!

Topic for April 16th

This week's topic is "North Korean Nukes: Japan's Response"

The first week we'll take a look at what happened, and what Japan's response has been.  We'll also begin the first part of negotiating a treaty between North Korea and Japan, covering:

• Pre-negotiation preparation (what does each side want from the negotiation)
• Opening statements (basically, how to say politely what you want from the negotiation)

If you would like to do some pre-reading, here are some suggestions for resources.  **Please remember, there IS NO REQUIRED READING!**  If you don't feel like doing research before coming to class, you don't need to. (unlike uni professors, I realize people have jobs)  This is mostly a discussion based class, so we can mostly brainstorm and pool our knowledge.  Please just enjoy!!

Japan Times: Japan will accept U.N. rocket statement: Aso

The Financial Times: Sanctions will have no effect on North Korea

The New York Times: U.N. Council May Rebuke North Korea

United Nations Resolution 1718 (2006)

**All these documents can be found by a Google search in English**

*Other documents are, of course, encouraged.*

Welcome to Zenrinkan Current Events!

Hello everyone!

Welcome to the Current Events blog!  I've started this as a way to get people more involved with the Current Events class here at Zenrinkan.  On this site, you'll be able to find resources for research, handouts for classes, and articles that I find interesting.  I hope that posting topics and resources before hand will make the class more interesting and a little less intimidating!

I would also love any input you have!  Anything from suggestions for topics to pieces of news you found interesting, to questions for me or the other students.

Enjoy!

Alicia