President George W. Bush (Leslie Sexton)

Vice-President Dick Cheney (Barbara McWhirter)

Country Profile

• Population: 291 million (US Census Bureau estimate, 2003)
• Capital: Washington D.C.
• Area: 9.8m sq km (3.8m sq miles)
• Major language: English
• Major religion: Christianity
• Life expectancy: 74 years (men), 80 years (women) (UN)
• Monetary unit: 1 US dollar = 100 cents
• Main exports: Computers and electrical machinery, vehicles, chemical products, food and live animals, military equipment and aircraft
• GNI per capita: US $35,400 (World Bank, 2002)

Links
The Economist
BBC News
CIA World Factbook

Simulation Role

As the world's military and economic superpower, America currently holds great influence over the affairs of the world and the Middle East.  We are currently fighting the war on terrorism and establishing democracies in Afghanistan and Iraq.  America continues to fight against terrorism by capturing or killing terrorists in the Middle East, and fighting against governments that harbor terrorism.

Israeli-American Relations

America was the first country to recognize Israel as an independent state in 1948.  Israel is the only country in the Middle East that shares Western values of democracy.   America and Israel recognize that our mutual goals of promoting stability and eventually achieving peace will be made possible if America continues to stand firmly behind Israel.  In the United Nations, which has generally been
hostile to Israel, America has used its power of veto to defend Israel. Starting in 1962, America has sold arms to Israel.  Arms sales increased as a result of the Yom Kippur War, during which the Nixon Administration sent an airlift of weapons and supplies to Israel. Following the war, foreign aid to Israel from the United States quadrupled, and America became Israel's largest arms supplier.  America and Israel cooperate by sharing cutting-edge technology and valuable intelligence, conducting joint military exercises; researching and developing new weapons, establishing joint anti-terrorism strategies, and stationing American military resources in Israel in the case of need for rapid American response in the Middle East.  Economic aid has been given to Israel since 1949, increasing during periods in which Israel has been forced to fight defensive wars.

During the simulation, America plans to stand with Israel against the threat of terrorism.  We support Israel's right to defend itself, as America has, following the attack of September 11th.  

The Palestinian State

America will work with Israel and Palestine during the peace process to ensure that both parties set aside their hatreds and live together in peace and security.  However, America will only support a reformed, peaceful, and democratic state of Palestine that abandons the use of terror.  We will not support a Palestinian state that encourages terrorism.  The United States will work alongside the European Union and other Arab states to work with Palestinian leaders to establish a new constitutional framework and an effective democracy for the Palestinian people, establish finance, and monitor an independent judiciary.  The Palestinian support of terrorism is unacceptable.  America will not support the creation of a Palestinian state until its leaders fight terrorism.  

Timeline of Major Events in Recent History:

1565 - The Spanish establish the first European settlement in America at St. Augustine, present-day Florida

1776 4 July - Thomas Jefferson's American Declaration of Independence endorsed by Congress; colonies declare independence.

1917-18 - US intervenes in World War I, rejects membership of League of Nations.

1941 - Japanese warplanes attack US fleet at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii; US declares war on Japan; Germany declares war on US, which thereafter intervenes on a massive scale in World War II, eventually helping to defeat Germany.

1945 - US drops two atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Japan surrenders.

1947 - US enunciates policy of aid for nations it deems threatened by communism in what became known as the Truman Doctrine. Cold War with Soviet Union begins.

1950-53 - US forces play leading role against North Korean and Chinese troops in Korean War.

1964 - US steps up its military intervention in Vietnam war. Civil Rights Act signed into law; it aims to halt discrimination on grounds of race, colour, religion, nationality.

1979 – Camp David Accord, Americans effort to establish peace.

1993 – America was involved in the Oslo Peace Accord with Palestinian and Israel.

1995 - Oklahoma bomb kills more than 160 people in worst ever incident of its kind in US.

1999 March-June - US plays leading role in NATO bombardment of Yugoslavia in response to Serb violence against ethnic Albanians in the province of Kosovo.

2001 July - US tests its controversial missile defense shield, or "Son of Star Wars".  

2001 September 11th, terrorists hijacked four passenger planes, killing 2,992 people.  Two planes were flown into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, leading to the collapse of the towers, one plane crashed into the Pentagon building in Washington, D.C., and the last plane crashed in a field in Pennsylvania.

2002 January - State of the Union address: President George W Bush includes Iraq, Iran and North Korea in what he describes as an "axis of evil".

2003 20 March - Missile attacks on targets in Baghdad mark the start of a US-led campaign to topple the Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. US forces advance into central Baghdad in early April.

See the complete timeline at BBC News

Links to Maps