Summer 2007

1. Summer 2007 Stratfor Intern Training Brought to you by the Writers Group

2. What is a Sitrep? A situation report (or “sitrep”) is a brief, factual view of what is happening in the world at any given time. It is a verbal snapshot of a situation designed to provide information that is important in maintaining situational awareness.

3. Process for Posting Sitreps: 1. Grab a sitrep from the Intern Sitreps folder (or, later, find your own article to sitrep). 2. Check the Web site and BB to make sure the sitrep has not already been posted. 2. Read the article for relevant information, dates, highlighted material, sources and context. 3. Write a grammatically perfect, factually accurate sitrep that will make the writers praise and worship you. 4. Post it, along with the source material, in the Sitreps folder. (Include *** in the subject line.) 5. Be ready to answer any questions and do any extra research the writers feel is needed.

4. The 8 Nonnegotiables: • Know why you’re sitrepping something. 2. Include relevant dates. 3. Cite sources and include source material. 4. Include the country name. 5. Include titles with names. 6. The attribution goes after the news (most of the time). 7. No plagiarizing. 8. Spell check/read over all sitreps before posting them for the writers.

5. Sample Source Material: ME1 HUMINT - Hizbullah is seriously considering ending its open protest in downtown Beirut, which it started 180 days ago. The issues that triggered the sit in, namely the expansion of the cabinet and giving the opposition a veto power in it, have been overtaken by subsequent events. The current standoff between the Lebanese army and Fateh al-Islam preoccupies all political actors in Lebanon. Hizbullah is expected to take advantage of this grave issue to call off the sit in, which has become a thing of the past and a living example of an uncalculated political blunder.Hizbullah's expected move comes after its allies in Michel Aoun's Free Current and Sulaiman Franjiyyeh's al-Mirada have lost total interest in the sit in. As a matter of fact, most Hizbullah supporters hardly ever go te the downtown to participate in the sit in, except during the weekend for free partying. Almost the only presence in the sit in area is that for Hizbullah fighters and security guards.

6. Sample Sitrep: Lebanese militant group Hezbollah is seriously considering ending its open protest against the Lebanese Cabinet in downtown Beirut, Hezbollah sources said May 30. The protest, which erupted 180 days ago when the Lebanese Cabinet expanded and granted veto power to the opposition, has become increasingly irrelevant in light of the ongoing standoff between Fatah al-Islam and the Lebanese army, sources said.

7. Sample Source Material: • Ukraine's Interior Minister, at center of recent political crisis, suffers heart attack • 2007-05-30 14:37:49 • KIEV, Ukraine (AP) - Interior Minster Vasyl Tsushko, a central figure in the recent political standoff between the president and prime minister, has suffered a heart attack, a ministry official said Wednesday. She gave no information on his condition. Last week, after President Viktor Yushchenko fired the country's prosecutor-general, the interior ministry sent police to surround the prosecutor's office to prevent him from being evicted. In the face of that defiance, Yushchenko claimed control of Interior Ministry's forces and sent some to the capital, although Tsushko refused to recognize the order. The moves raised fears that weeks of argument between Yushchenko and Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych could spill over into violence. Tensions eased Sunday after the president and premier agreed to hold early elections on Sept. 30. But Tsushko's status has been shaky: the new prosecutor-general appointed by Yushchenko said the minister was being investigated for alleged abuse of power. • Tsushko was being treated in a hospital, said a ministry official who declined to give her name in live with policy.

8. Sample Sitrep: Ukrainian Interior Minister Vasyl Tsushko has suffered a heart attack and is being treated in the hospital, the Associated Press reported May 30, citing an unnamed Interior Ministry official. Tsushko is a central figure in the country's political crisis and has been engaged in a power struggle with President Viktor Yushchenko. No further details on the minister's condition were released.

9. Sample Source Material: • WASHINGTON, May 30 (Reuters) - President George W. Bush would like to see a lengthy U.S. troop presence in Iraq like the one in South Korea to provide stability but not in a frontline combat role, the White House said on Wednesday • The United States has had thousands of U.S. troops in South Korea to guard against a North Korean invasion for 50 years. • Democrats in control of the U.S. Congress have been pressing Bush to agree to a timetable for pulling troops from Iraq, an idea firmly opposed by the president. • White House spokesman Tony Snow said Bush would like to see a U.S. role in Iraq ultimately similar to that in South Korea. • "The Korean model is one in which the United States provides a security presence, but you've had the development of a successful democracy in South Korea over a period of years, and, therefore, the United States is there as a force of stability," Snow told reporters. • He said U.S. bases in Iraq would not necessarily be permanent because they would be there at the invitation of the host government and "the person who has done the invitation has the right to withdraw the invitation." • "I think the point he's trying to make is that the situation in Iraq, and indeed, the larger war on terror, are things that are going to take a long time. But it is not always going to require an up-front combat presence," Snow said. • "The president has always said that ultimately you want to be handing primary responsibility off to the Iraqis," he said. • "You provide the so-called over-the-horizon support that is necessary from time to time to come to the assistance of Iraqis but you do not want the United States forever in the front."

10. Sample Sitrep: U.S. President George W. Bush would like to see a U.S. presence in Iraq similar to what exists in South Korea, a White House spokesman said May 30. He also said Bush envisions a long-term stabilizing force for Iraq, not an up-front combat presence, and that U.S. bases in the country would not be permanent because they would be there by invitation.

11. “Graduating”: Once the writers feel you have mastered Stratfor style and are a generally stellar sitrep-writer (and wonderful human being), they will tell you that you have “graduated.” This means you will no longer have your writer breathing down your neck and you are free to post sitreps that don’t need to be vetted first. (At this point, you no longer need to tag your reps.)