Yesterday my grand adventure began….I am lecturing on US foreign policy and the Middle East from 1917 to today…..try condensing that into a 4 week course….now there lies the adventure…..

I began class by introducing myself and explaining what I would be attempting…..that is to give a rudimentary knowledge of foreign policy and how it impacts today’s situations……

My first question to the class was How many know of the Balfour Declaration?  2 …next how many know of Sykes-Picot Agreement?  10  Finally how many know of the Crane Commission?  0….out of 14…..2 failed to answer….there lies a problem…….

With my question answered I told the class that we would touch on Sykes-Picot then a little longer of the Balfour and finally extensive time on the Crane…

I then passed out the handouts….and took questions (if they pertained to the class)….

Finally I gave them an outline map of the Middle East and ask them to identify the countries I had listed….Jordan, Lebanon, Israel, West Bank, Syria, Turkey and Iraq and finally Iran…..I explained that there would be NO grade on the map that it would give me an idea of how to proceed in future lectures.  No one got the map correct….my work is cut out for me…..

Onward and upward

Class dismissed