"Model United Nations"

By JMora

   Model United Nations is a simulation program for college students in which they participate in model sessions of the United Nations in an effort to advance their understanding of the principles and means by which international relations may be maintained. The program helps students develop a greater understanding of the nations of the world, the relations between them, their policies, and the nature of their work in the United Nations. The first session of the Model United Nations of the Far West was held at Stanford University in 1951. http://www.munfw.org/mun/about.htm

   What happens when you get approximately 300 college students interested in not just politics, but international politics? Well in this case you get the 57th session of the Far West Model United Nations. This year's theme was "Reasserting UN Relevance" because as many of us know, the role and power of the UN has been sub-par at best when it has come to dealing with the issues. The conference was a 5-day conference just outside of San Francisco. The schools represented were from Wyoming, California, Oregon, and Nevada with a small international presence from Russia, which was playing the role of … Russia.

   As for me, my committee was the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) where I was representing the Arab Republic of Egypt. I got a first hand experience in why people say that nothing gets done in the United Nations-- it really is hard to get resolutions passed. I tried to draft three different resolutions regarding aid that should be provided to developing countries that are being hit the hardest due to the climate change and after all the politicking and compromise I did, all my draft resolutions died on the floor and did not even make the voting bloc. After the first committee session, I walked away thinking, "What a waste of time! This sucks, the UN sucks!" I was discouraged with the slow progress that was being made but later understood that regardless how much of a waste of time this seems... it is extremely important that the world community have a place to discuss and have dialogue with each other. Like the U.S government and politics change and progress comes slowly in the U.N.

   There were three topics on the agenda to be discussed in UNEP: 'Adapting to Climate Change', 'Energy Security', and 'Environmental Degradation and Indigenous People'.

   In over thirty hours of committee time only two of the three topics were discussed. The simulation is never truly like the real thing, delegates are asked to represent their country and not their own personal views on the issues. For the most part that was true, in UNEP the power and pull of the country had more to do with the individual persuasiveness and ability to politic rather than what country they were representing.

   The best example that comes to mind is Slovakia and the United States. Slovakia, in my committee, was highly influential and very involved, while the United States was involved but not very influential. The delegate from Slovakia was so influential that at one point the delegate from Norway addressed the delegation and made a statement and said, "Norway was unaware that Slovakia had some much influence and power in world." The room broke up into laughter because everyone had been thinking the very same thing.

   The most exciting event in UNEP was Costa Rica trying to pass an extremely long resolution demanding countries to stop using nuclear power and prevent other countries from using it in the future during the 'Energy Security' discussion. The committee was about to go into voting bloc to vote on the various resolutions when Pakistan voted to table Costa Rica's resolution. The motion passed overwhelmingly and the delegate from Costa Rica was furious that his resolution was not going to be voted on and stormed out of the room, although, this seemed to be a minor event compared to those of other committees. It was rumored then confirmed that the U.S, in an intense committee session, reported it had committed a couple thousand troops to Venezuela and Iran. In another committee Israel and Iran were going at it against each other with such ferocity, that the delegates were yelling and throwing verbal jabs at each other for much of the five day conference.

   When the conference was over I had a better understanding of how the U.N works, why change is slow and at times seems ineffective, and also understood just how important the U.N actually is. It’s not every day you’ll get some 300 college students assembled with interests and passions in both U.S. and international politics. It was truly a great experience. I had such fun being around rooms full of students who in fact knew and cared about Darfur and other world issues -- rather than worrying about who just got voted off of ‘American Idol’... or the Island.

   Overall, it was such an impressive learning experience that I might join the class again next year, with possible conferences in Montreal and Bonn, Germany. Now that I have some experience under my belt... maybe I can at least get a resolution or two passed.