Student World Assembly --- Promoting Global Democracy, One Student at a Time!

Student World Assembly Update
May 2005 | Volume # 1 | Number # 4

In This Issue

University of Guyana
Greater Georgetown, Guyana

Institute of Accountancy Arusha

Arusha, Tanzania

Sheffield University
London, England

SWA Insight

Suggested Reading

A Cultural & Educational Tour for youth to Iran
(for teen and young adults age 15-25)
June 28th - July 13th

Teens and young adults will tour the cultural centers, archeological site, and view the amazing natural beauty of Iran in the cities of Tehran, Isfahan, Shiraz, Mashhad and North of Iran - Caspian Sea area. The tour will be guided and accompanied by a selected group of Iranian scholars. The tour will be conducted in both Persian and English.

This tour is co-sponsored by Student World Assembly. For more information about the tour please contact International Society for Iranian Culture at (516) 674-4527
or e-mail at admin@isicweb.org.

The Ideas That Conquered the World: Peace, Democracy, and Free Markets in the Twenty-First Century
by Michael Mandelbaum

Mandelbaum, a foreign policy professor at Johns Hopkins University, brings extensive experience in policy analysis to this examination of the political and economic ideas he believes will dominate the post-Cold War era. He expounds upon and assesses what he calls the Liberal Theory of History. Liberalism, as the author defines it, harkens back to three ideas synthesized by Woodrow Wilson at the end of WWI. First is the primacy of free markets as the world's indispensable economic engine. Second is the recognition of democracy, with its constitutional limits on government power, as the most advantageous political system. Third is an instinct for peaceful relations among nations, marked by transparency in armaments and by common security arrangements; peace has replaced war as the normal state of international affairs. These ideas, Mandelbaum asserts, are "mutually reinforcing" and have triumphed within the past 60 years over the illiberal and brutal systems of fascism and communism, continually gaining adherents. To that extent, Mandelbaum concludes, there is a basis for hope for the 21st century.

Courage in a Time of Need
Greater Georgetown, Guyana

The Student World Assembly would like to extend a warm welcome and best wishes to our chapter in Guyana. Mr. Jefford Edison, the chapter officer, contacted us to let us know that despite difficult circumstances in his country, he and his chapter are still committed to engaging their fellow students and encouraging them to participate in our efforts.

According to the International Federation of the Red Cross, in January 2005 Guyana suffered severe flooding produced by torrential rains. The resulting damages caused several areas of the country to be declared disaster zones.

Mr. Edison stated that a seawall in his country has been breached, which was the cause of the flooding, and that the students in his chapter have been working diligently with national recovery programs to give aid. He also stated that the natural disaster has had a terrible impact on their national economy and that the University of Guyana alone, the university that they all attend, has lost over $300 million in books, equipment and furniture.

The University was established on April 18, 1963, over 40 years ago, and it has a current student population of over 5,000 who are studying for their undergraduate and graduate degrees in a wide range of programs: from agriculture to medicine, the law and the sciences, to name only a few of the disciplines.

To offset the massive cost of rebuilding and replacing lost items, the University is currently accepting donations to assist them in repairing the damages and for the replacement of lost equipment and books. They have created a list of books that were lost or damaged at their website, www.uog.edu.gy, and provided contact information for any other donations.

It is the dedication of the Guyana Chapter of Student World Assembly to helping those who have suffered in their country that personifies all that SWA stands for and we would like to commend them in their efforts and wish them all the best in assisting their country, and university, to a full recovery.

***

A New Addition to Student World Assembly
Arusha, Tanzania

The Student World Assembly would also like to welcome the new chapter in Tanzania at the Institute of Accountancy Arusha (IAA). The President of the Chapter, Oliver Mamiro, is joined by 25 other students in getting the chapter started. The IAA, which was established in 1990, has a student body of over one thousand students and currently offers studies in the fields of finance, business and information technology to name only a few; they also offer post-graduate studies.

SWA Welcomes President Mamiro and fellow chapter members!

***

Opportunity Arises in Sheffield University
London , England

Stephen Kwaw, the Regional Representative for the Student World Assembly in the United Kingdom, recently spoke to a group of students representing 14 different countries at the Model United Nations held at the University of Sheffield.

The University of Sheffield, one of the top universities in the United Kingdom, has a student body of over 25,000 under- and postgraduate students from over 116 different countries and is also a center for research in many disciplines. It was founded in 1905 as a school for the arts, sciences and medicine, and has five Nobel Prize winners as its alumni.

After participating in their 2nd annual Sheffield Model of the United Nations, Mr. Kwaw shared with students information on how to be founders of their own chapter of the Student World Assembly. We look forward to the establishment of the first Student World Assembly chapter in Sheffield University, England!

***

Our Mission
The Student World Assembly is a
non-governmental, nonpartisan organization created to represent students globally. It provides a deliberative assembly where students around the world can exchange views, vote on global issues through online discussion forums and in annual international conventions, and translate these views into meaningful actions.

Our Democratic Philosophy
True representative democracy offers a powerful instrument for addressing the vital social and political conditions that threaten our global future. The informed wishes of the people, conveyed through the collective voice of a democratic assembly, need to be heard in the decision- making processes. By giving students from the most remote to the more accessible institutions an equal voice, we are enabling all students to educate, participate and take action, and to begin thinking of themselves as global citizens.