About a week ago, 18 of us were split into two teams: the European Union and the United States. Within each group, we were split once again into two topics: economy and security. Today was the day of the simulation.

We seated ourselves based on our topic, and the room was split into two groups of different topics. Our goal was to successfully discuss the future of the transatlantic relationships on the two specific issues in order to achieve cooperation in responding to such global matters. Theme of the economic policy was “The Global Aluminum Market,” and that of the security policy was “Russia: Partner, Competitor, or Threat?” The simulation began with presenting policy position statements of each working group. The four statements primarily included the current concerns of each group and future direction that the group wishes to work towards together with other groups.

Discussions began right after the final position statement was delivered. The main points of the four groups’ positions were as follows:

Economic Policy: The Global Aluminum Market

Security Policy: Russia: Partner, Competitor, or Threat?

After actively discussing our ideas for an hour and a half, we talked to our country groups while we had lunch. We attempted to make sure that each country did not have conflicting views. When lunch was over, we sat in our original seats and finalized views of both countries in one declaration. The declaration of each policy area was completed after about an hour of drafting, and afterwards, all groups combined the declaration into one document in order to create one joint declaration addressing both policies. The joint declaration was finally complete.

The simulation was really interesting especially because the EU and the US have very similar views and ideals on many aspects. Since they were so similar, true cooperation was key in order to settle any discrepancies. In many cases, compromise could be achieved fairly easily; for example, although EU was at first against extensive sharing of data with the US, after the US agreed on guaranteeing the privacy and re-sharing of information with other countries, it agreed to work with the EU to improve cybersecurity through data sharing. Likewise, it was difficult for the EU to have one strong voice for all policy areas because of the sheer number of different voices among 28 member states. There were some times when some countries in the EU favored a certain policy suggested by the US while other countries in the EU disapproved the idea. I think it was really great that we were able to simulate the cooperative process; it was a very interactive way to understand the challenges of such processes in transatlantic relationships.

On Friday, we took a break from the hustle and bustle of Paris to visit Normandy, and it was truly a moving experience. The Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial included an extensive exhibit that explored the events surrounding D-Day and the Battle of Normandy. D-Day refers to the day the Allied forces landed in Normandy to drive out the German troops from France during World War II. On June 6, 1944, U.S, British and Canadian divisions landed on Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno and Sword beaches in what some regard as one of history’s greatest amphibious assaults. The Battle of Normandy would continue for the next three months and resulted in over 10,000 Allied casualties. It was significant in that it not only paved the way for the victory of Allied powers over German troops, it also demonstrated a strong sense of solidarity among the Allied powers, creating a special bond between those nations that is still seen in the international arena today.

D-Day assault routes in Normandy.

The displays in the museum did such a beautiful job capturing the story of D-Day with great detail and honoring those who lost their lives in battle. I tried to use my most vivid imagination to understand what the soldiers went through during that time as well as the sacrifices they and their families made. The thought of young men the age of the guys in our group going into battle with a rifle in hand to fight in a land thousands of miles away from home is something that still continues to astound me.

The graves of the fallen in Normandy.

The most sobering experience for me was when we reached the end of the museum, and there were frames with the faces of several soldiers that were lost/wounded in battle. I felt lingering goosebumps and a knot in my throat as I went through each story, trying to imagine what they went through in those final moments. Afterwards, we made our way to the graves and the memorial featuring the statue of “The Spirit of American Youth Rising from the Waves.”

We spent the rest of our time walking down the shoreline of Omaha Beach. The cool seaside breeze was definitely a nice change from the Parisian heat wave we’d encountered all week. There, we saw families enjoying a day at the beach, with children gleefully running to and from the shoreline and dogs relentlessly chasing seagulls. With July 4th following the next day, I found the trip to be a nice reminder of what our country stands for and an appropriate way to observe our Independence Day while being so far away.

Statue of “The Spirit of American Youth Rising from the Waves.”