Bush, Karzai, and Musharraf (A Think)

The U.S.A. Today reports that U.S. President George Bush is meeting with Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai and Pakastani President Pervez Musharraf together, today. Though Afghanistan and Pakistan are both allies of the United States they have very stressful relations between each other. The article states:

The White House dinner is an attempt at trilateral negotiations for Bush, who wants the two leaders to work on clearing out Taliban insurgents who camp in Pakistan and launch attacks in Afghanistan. He also wants to focus on areas where national interests coincide, including the capture of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

In the last year the Taliban, which the United States ousted from power in Afghanistan at the end of 2001, when they tried to protect al-Qaeda, has gained increased strength. The Afghanistan government blames the Pakistanis for harboring the Taliban. They also blame Pakistanis for allowing schools that preach hatred against Afghanis to continue to operate.

Lesson Ideas:
1. With younger children it might be helpful to discuss the idea that President Bush is trying to stop an argument today. Ask students what they think somebody should do when he/she tries to solve an argument between two other people. You might encourage them to draw a picture, or for older children create a comic strip, in which somebody tries to solve an argument between two other people. Ask students to explain why the mediator needs the characteristics that they state.
2. Tell students that the United States Department of Education is trying to make sure that all students understand the relationship between Afghanistan and Pakistan. The Department has asked the class to develop an explanation as to why it is important to understand this relationship. In groups of two or three, ask students to develop the explanation. You might ask them to blog the explanation.
3. Ask students to further research the tensions between Afghanistan and Pakistan. These two nations are both discussed in newspapers on a regular basis. These newspaper articles would be a great place to begin exploring the relationship. Students might develop a wiki exploring this relationship. Different characteristics of the relationship might have their own wiki-pages. Even if your students don't have access to computers, they might develop a brief booklet on the relationship. Different groups could explore different aspects of the relationship and teach each other. These aspects might include historical, political, military, religious, economic, etc.
4. Tell students to imagine that Afghanistan and Pakistan can't get along and their relationship deteriorates into armed conflict. Ask students to imagine the consequences that this would have on the world. Would it have any consequences? Facilitate a class discussion on this idea. What if Afghanistan and Pakistan became the closest allies. What kind of an effect would this have on the rest of the world, if any?
5. Ask students if they can think of a better newspaper article to consider today. Ask them why that article merits consideration more than this article. Facilitate a class discussion in which students consider the "most important" news story of the day. Ask students if they think it's fair to say that one news story is more important than another news story. Why/why not?

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