Dispute in the East China Sea

You will write a Position Memo from the perspective of your assigned role in the simulation. You WILL

NOT write a Presidential Directive. You WILL NOT write a Policy Review Memo.



**ROLE given: U.S Secretary of Treasury



The purpose of the position memo is to advise the US President about how he could and should respond

to the FICTIONAL crisis described under ‘Decision Point’ in section ‘2.1 The Issue’:

Japanese and Chinese aircraft have exchanged fire over the East China Sea. At least one

aircraft seems to be disabled. The interaction took place in China’s air defense

identification zone (ADIZ), established by China in 2013, into which Beijing had

demanded all aircraft give it prior notification of entry. Japan, too, has an ADIZ, and both

of these air defense zones include the disputed islands. Japan does not recognize

China’s ADIZ, and continues to send civilian and military aircraft into the East China Sea

airspace, claiming it is acting legitimately under international law. In response to the

exchange of fire, Japan and China have each begun preparations for a search and rescue

mission, and additional naval vessels are being sent to the area where the aircraft were

last observed. Japan’s parliament has convened a special session, and calls for U.S.

action are being reported in the Japanese media. Japan’s prime minister has asked for a

telephone conversation with the U.S. president. The U.S. government has convened a

National Security Council meeting to consider any action it should take to ease tensions

in the East China Sea and to evaluate its long-term policy in the region.

The memo should be around 900 words (plus or minus a maximum of 100 words) in length (not

including your references). I will penalize memos that are too short or too long. Your memo should

include a word-count (excluding your references) at the top of the page. You’ll be penalized if you don’t

include a word-count. Your memo should state your name and role. You will write your memo

individually. This is NOT a group assignment.





Use this template to write your memo:

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Memo Author: [your name]

Word Count:

Office of the [your role]

[date of memo submission]

MEMORANDUM FOR: the President

SUBJECT: [a sentence summarizing the purpose of your memo]



BACKGROUND: [Two brief paragraphs. Summarize in the first paragraph the significance of the issue in

the context of U.S. foreign policy and national security. Identify in the second the central policy question

or questions to be decided. Provide just enough information about the crisis so that the reader

understands your memo’s purpose and importance; do not attempt to discuss the case in any depth.]



OBJECTIVES: [Succinctly state your department’s objectives in the current crisis. These can be general

national security objectives (such as preventing war) or more specific goals tied to your department’s

mission (such as protecting U.S. citizens). They should be important to U.S. national interests, directly

tied to the case, and feasible. These objectives should guide the policy analysis and recommendation

that make up the rest of your memo. Do not just copy-paste the ‘Description of Role’ or the goals

described in section 3.1 on the website.]



OPTIONS AND ANALYSIS: [One paragraph per option. Present and analyze several options for U.S.

policy. Discuss their costs, benefits, and resource needs where possible. To illuminate the trade-offs

inherent in complex policy decisions, be sure to acknowledge the weaknesses or disadvantages of each

proposed option. No option is likely to be perfect.]



RECOMMENDATIONS AND JUSTIFICATIONS: [Identify your preferred policy option or options and

describe how you think it or they could be carried out. Explain your reasoning, keeping in mind that you

aim to convince the president to follow your recommendation. Addressing the weaknesses or

disadvantages you identified in the options and analysis section can help strengthen your argument. This

section and the previous section are the most important and should be the longest parts of your memo.]



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You can find an example of an actual US Government position memo here:

https://modeldiplomacy(dot)cfr(dot)org/sample_position_memo

This is close to what I want but not exactly the same. You can read it to get a general sense of what I

want but should closely follow my template when you write your own memo.

You should write in double-spaced, size twelve font. You will need to reference ALL of your sources. Use

the Chicago footnote referencing style. It is explained here:

https://guides(dot)lib(dot)monash(dot)edu/citing-referencing/chicago17th

Reference all of your sources through footnotes. Do not use the same footnote more than once. Create

a new footnote every time that you want to reference something. Do not use the Authors-Date system

(explained on the website). You do not need a bibliography. Use quotation marks when repeating a text

directly. Try to avoid using quotes, especially long ones, unless you’re quoting important officials or

other kinds of important participants in the crisis. Try to paraphrase instead. That is, repeat the

information or argument made by another but do so using your own words instead of just copy-pasting

their sentences. You will still need to cite your sources when paraphrasing. Failure to cite your sources

counts as plagiarism. Copy-pasting someone else’s work without using quotation marks counts as

plagiarism even if you cite them. These are serious offences.

Try to use and cite a wide range of quality sources. The ‘Research Leads’ included in your role

description in section ‘3.1 Role’ should be very helpful. The ‘Case Notes’ section and section ‘3.2

Research and Preparation’ are also useful.

Your role description also lists ‘Issues for Consideration’. Discuss as many of these as you can in your

memo.