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Going for Model UN Session

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  • Going for Model UN Session

    Going to be offline for the next few days. I will be in Lahore participating in a model UN session. Who knows I may return from it a lot more well informed (fat chance) and able to better appreciate the much maligned (on WAB) organization and be better able to debate its merits with its detractor here. Or who know I might start an "UNdo the UN" club with leader, Dale and the others.

    At least I will be able to catch the cricket in Lahore and see us win the series against the English. The Chap, apologies in advance but well our anthem (if we ever get there) is "Fool Britannia".
    "Any relations in a social order will endure if there is infused into them some of that spirit of human sympathy, which qualifies life for immortality." ~ George William Russell

  • #2
    Tell me how the Model UN thing went. I just went to the Princeton and Rutgers Model UN Conferences. I have been participating in the program for a long time. I want to hear how its run in Pakistan.

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    • #3
      So, did either of you get cheated out of your money at the model UN? Or were you one of the countries that ended up with MORE money?

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      • #4
        Originally posted by Bluesman
        So, did either of you get cheated out of your money at the model UN? Or were you one of the countries that ended up with MORE money?
        Do you mean the funds for our actual schools? Or the budgets of the countries we represent?

        In the resolution I wrote and passed about the Kurdish issue, I used Middle Eastern NGOs, the UNDP, and the International Bank of Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) for funding. So, our little nation of Romania didn't have to give up that much money.

        I hope that's what you meant.

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        • #5
          Originally posted by Bulgaroctonus
          Do you mean the funds for our actual schools? Or the budgets of the countries we represent?.
          I think he means that without corruption it's not much of a model UN.

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          • #6
            Well, I am baaaaack. The session was great fun and a great experience, especially since yours truly got specially mentioned! ;)

            However;
            The UN is a cold war relic and should be put out to pasture. I was in the Middle East Summit and I had to listen to sermons from Guinea. In the Security Council Coloumbia was giving it valued opinion on the Iraq issue. The guy who had Israel was probably the best delegate (he should have gotten the best delegate award) since he managed to have an amendment added to a resolution which actually ordered the Palestinian groups to lay down their arms as a prequite for peace and hang on to about 30% of the West Bank settlements.

            All in all, I say Leader, Dalem, I am with you on this one.
            "Any relations in a social order will endure if there is infused into them some of that spirit of human sympathy, which qualifies life for immortality." ~ George William Russell

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            • #7
              In my opinion any "Security" aspects of the UN need to be stopped right now. But I do believe that much of the humanitarian stuff is fairly functional and positive. Corrupt as hell, sure, but there is a form on international infrastructure that exists and can be used.

              As I've opined before, security aspects are clearly better handled by coalitions of interested parties.

              -dale

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              • #8
                Originally posted by dalem
                In my opinion any "Security" aspects of the UN need to be stopped right now. But I do believe that much of the humanitarian stuff is fairly functional and positive. Corrupt as hell, sure, but there is a form on international infrastructure that exists and can be used.

                As I've opined before, security aspects are clearly better handled by coalitions of interested parties.

                -dale
                I think this is a much beaten horse. The UN "security" aspect has not right to exist. Only the social organisations of the UN have any moral right to exist even then without Kofi Annan and his cronies.
                "Many forms of Government have been tried, and will be tried in this world of sin and woe. No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed, it has been said that democracy is the worst form of Government except all those others that have been tried from time to time. "

                "Although prepared for martyrdom, I preferred that it be postponed."

                Sir Winston Churchill

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                • #9
                  Originally posted by sparten
                  Well, I am baaaaack. The session was great fun and a great experience, especially since yours truly got specially mentioned! ;)
                  Congratulations, I know how rewarding it is to get recognized at a conference.
                  Regardless of how functional the real UN is, these conferences always have very intelligent and interesting people at them.

                  Originally posted by sparten
                  However;
                  The UN is a cold war relic and should be put out to pasture.
                  At least we can write angry letters! I don't know how you guys run it, but in the U.S. Model UN, only the Security Council can use the word demands, as an introduction to an operative clause. That's annoying.

                  Originally posted by sparten
                  I was in the Middle East Summit and I had to listen to sermons from Guinea.
                  Who says Guinea can't have a say? Hell, as Romania I had Turkey, Iran, and Iraq in my pocket for the Kurdish issue in the SPECPOL committee. The best thing about representing small countries is that no one can call you on policy, since no one cares about Guinea's stance on Middle Eastern issues. So, delegates from small countries actually have the most freedom. Being the U.S. is generally tough.

                  Originally posted by sparten
                  In the Security Council Coloumbia was giving it valued opinion on the Iraq issue.
                  In one of my Security Council committees last year, the U.S. delegate nuked Venezuela and Colombia. This ignited a war nuclear war which exterminated the human species. The Security Council viewed it as the best way to silence U.S. critics of the UN.

                  Originally posted by sparten
                  The guy who had Israel was probably the best delegate (he should have gotten the best delegate award) since he managed to have an amendment added to a resolution which actually ordered the Palestinian groups to lay down their arms as a prequite for peace and hang on to about 30% of the West Bank settlements.
                  That's a nice amendment. Was it a friendly or unfriendly amendment?

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Originally posted by Bulgaroctonus
                    Congratulations, I know how rewarding it is to get recognized at a conference.
                    Regardless of how functional the real UN is, these conferences always have very intelligent and interesting people at them.
                    Thanks. And yes the experience itself was very rewarding.


                    Originally posted by Bulgaroctonus
                    At least we can write angry letters! I don't know how you guys run it, but in the U.S. Model UN, only the Security Council can use the word demands, as an introduction to an operative clause. That's annoying.
                    Yes, I know. I really forgot how many times we tried to use forceful language, only to be reminded that it was the security council's pereojrative to be rude.

                    Originally posted by Bulgaroctonus
                    Being the U.S. is generally tough.
                    Near the end the girl who was US in my committee was close to tears.
                    "Any relations in a social order will endure if there is infused into them some of that spirit of human sympathy, which qualifies life for immortality." ~ George William Russell

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Originally posted by sparten
                      Yes, I know. I really forgot how many times we tried to use forceful language, only to be reminded that it was the security council's pereojrative to be rude.
                      I don't know how much experience you have in Model UN, but I can tell you a few things from many years of experience. Delegates, like the real nations of the UN, will usually take issue with any resolution that actually does something. Therefore, one can only make progress very slowly.

                      For example, all of my resolutions are usually the strongest in my committee. However, this is not because of their originality, but simply because they are very tight legally. I reference numerous UN initiatives, documents, etc.

                      The best Model UN resolutions are not those that boldly tackle an issue. Those always get shot down over complaints that they interfere with national sovreignty or some other trifling issue. No, the best resolutions are five pages long, with every operative clause having at least five subclauses. These monster resolutions mention everything that has been done in the past, and everything that is going on now. Every operative clause has to be crossexamined for legal compatibility with the UN charter and international law.

                      Essentially, its all very laborious and it reflects the natural stiffness of the UN, and really all legislative bodies.


                      Originally posted by sparten
                      Near the end the girl who was US in my committee was close to tears.
                      Yes, I've seen similar things. The delegate from the U.S. has to fulfill a few basic characteristics in order to succeed:
                      1. They must be very intelligent
                      2. They must be researched and have good work ethic
                      3. They must be excellent debaters and public speakers
                      4. They must be good resolution writers
                      5. They must be naturally aggressive, even ruthless
                      6. They must be menacing, able to intimidate other delegates to yield to them
                      7. They should be male, this may sound sexist but a male US delegate is much more intimidating than a female one

                      If the US is on their game, they can be awesome. If they don't know what they're doing, they will be brutally victimized.

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                      • #12
                        Originally posted by Bulgaroctonus
                        The best Model UN resolutions are not those that boldly tackle an issue. Those always get shot down over complaints that they interfere with national sovreignty or some other trifling issue. No, the best resolutions are five pages long, with every operative clause having at least five subclauses. These monster resolutions mention everything that has been done in the past, and everything that is going on now. Every operative clause has to be crossexamined for legal compatibility with the UN charter and international law.
                        In short, ones that mirror the real UN. Ands yes the delegate from the US has to be male. I felt sorry for her and during break on one day, we met by chance in the computer lab. I opened up FAS and other sites to aquiant her wit US military might and how in real UN session America would be busy "convincing" everybody. Did not bite. Real pretty too. Still no damn luck in that department either.

                        To your other question, yes I have been to a couple before.
                        "Any relations in a social order will endure if there is infused into them some of that spirit of human sympathy, which qualifies life for immortality." ~ George William Russell

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