The National Council’s Model Arab League Program helps prepare students to be knowledgeable, well-trained, and effective citizens as well as civic and public affairs activists. The skill sets acquired and practiced in the course of the Models are designed to serve the participants well regardless of the career or profession they elect to pursue.
From November 2012 through April 2013, the National Council sponsored and administered 15 Model Arab Leagues in 11 U.S. cities for 2,200 students in more than 100 American secondary schools and universities. University Model Arab Leagues were conducted in Boston, Massachusetts at Northeastern University; Allendale, Michigan at Grand Valley State University; Oxford, Ohio at Miami University; Spartanburg, South Carolina at Converse College; Washington, DC at Georgetown University; Little Rock, Arkansas at the University of Arkansas; Houston, Texas at the University of Houston; Oakland, California at Mills College; and Salt Lake City, Utah at the University of Utah. High School Models were conducted in Atlanta, Georgia at The Marist School; Boston, Massachusetts at Northeastern University; Little Rock, Arkansas at the University of Arkansas; Newport News, Virginia at Christopher Newport University; and Washington, DC at Georgetown University.
2012-2013 marked the 30th year of the National Council’s flagship Arab-U.S. Student Leadership Development Program, the Model Arab League (MAL). The Models are similar in organization and format to the older and more widely recognized Model United Nations, with its 193 members. An important difference between the two is that the MAL focuses only on the 22 member countries that comprise the League of Arab States. Established in February 1945, and thereby pre-dating the founding of the United Nations, the Arab League is the world’s oldest regional political organization dedicated to, among other things, the diplomatic and peaceful settlement of disputes.