Three final year students from PIRP - Tom Atmaciyan, Arnisa Ismaili and Meera Natarajan - took part in the fifth annual BISA Model NATO on Wednesday 6th March 2024, joining approximately 120 participants from 31 UK universities.

Left to right: PIRP students Tom Atmaciyan, Meera Natarajan and Arnisa Ismaili at the FCDO

The event is run in partnership with the FCDO and took place at its offices in London. It began with a warm welcome from academic lead Professor Mark Webber (University of Birmingham), and a representative from FCDO, before moving to some special pre-recorded videos from the UK Delegation to NATO giving the students advice on negotiation skills and how to get the best from the day.

Business then turned to the crisis simulation at hand, which this year focused on multiple earthquakes, resulting in significant loss of life and mass displacement of populations. Two thirds of the participating students sat on the Military Committee, where they were tasked with agreeing a detailed set of actions to be endorsed in a final declaration by a simulated North Atlantic Council - NATO’s highest authority.

The 2024 Model was a great success and well-received by the participating students. Meera Natarajan, who was representing Lithuania on the North Atlantic Council, said:

“Representing Royal Holloway at Model NATO proved to be an extremely enriching experience. Not only did it allow me to hone the knowledge and research skills I’ve acquired over the past three years by engaging with a real-world scenario, but it also turned out to be a great opportunity to improve my professional and personal networking skills. I especially enjoyed being able to deepen my understanding of the modus operandi of NATO."

Tom Atmaciyan, representing Lithuania on the Military Committee, stated of his experience:

“I worked with representatives of some nations with similar interests: Denmark, Estonia, Latvia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Poland. We quickly formed a coalition of sorts, and were able to work as a bloc of mostly smaller NATO nations to pass texts and amendments. The simulation was incredibly enjoyable and allowed me to gain insight and experience into the practical side of diplomacy, as well as NATO procedures”.