M y journey with Model United Nations, colloquially
referred to as Model UN or MUN, began when I was a freshman in high
school. I’ve always been interested in the world around me and
current events, so I was excited when I heard about Model UN from
older friends. I didn’t know much about it other than that team
members attended weekly meetings and went to weekend-long events
called conferences to debate world issues. After attending a few
meetings, I had some understanding of MUN basics, but my real
education in MUN began at my fi rst conference.
Crash Course in DiplomacyModel UN conferences bring together
hundreds of middle school, high school, or college students to
discuss pertinent issues. Students are divided up into committees,
each of which has a speci� c area of focus and usually two or three
set topics. I’ve debated everything from universal education and
human rights in developing nations to the problem of child
soldiers, the North Korean and Iranian nuclear programs, and
the
modern Palestinian exodus. I’ve been in committees ranging from
traditional bodies like the UN Environmental
Program to crisis-based committees such as the UN Security
Council and the NGO
(non-governmental organization) forum, varying in size from a
dozen
students to about a hundred. I’ve attended conferences with a
few hundred delegates and conferences with well over a thousand
students. There is no universal Model UN experience.
My f i r s t c on f e re n c e e x p e r i e n c e w a s r ap i
d - f i re
immersion, learning the ropes and the rules as I went. When I
walked into the
school hosting the conference, I had no idea what room to go to,
let alone what exactly to do
once I got there. � e lingo the other delegates used only added
to my confusion. When you walk into a room and people start
throwing around terms like “unmod,” “parli pro,” and a plethora of
foreign-sounding acronyms, it’s easy to feel lost.
I had prepared a little. I had written a position paper and had
researched one of the topics my committee would address. My partner
had researched the other one, and as it turned out, her
topic—piracy in the Gulf of Aden—was the one we discussed all
weekend. Since I knew nothing about it, I learned by observing.
During the conference itself, delegates worked together to write
resolutions with suggestions about how to solve the problems at
hand—just like delegates to the real UN. Debate was conducted
through formal speeches (moderated caucuses) and unmoderated
(“unmod”) caucuses where delegates informally discuss possible
solutions. Parli pro, I soon learned, is short for parliamentary
procedure, the set of rules used to govern debate and prevent the
committee from breaking into utter chaos. As I saw these terms in
practice, everything started to make a little more sense.
Scaling Up� is past spring, I was lucky to have the opportunity
to go to the real United Nations for more than a week. I sat in on
the negotiations on the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT), a treaty that has
been discussed within the NGO community for more than two decades
and formally debated at the UN for the past several years. I was
accredited through the Acronym Institute, a British disarmament
organization. I also helped out the Control Arms coalition, an
international group of NGOs that supports a comprehensive treaty to
regulate the international arms trade. As an observer, I wasn’t
able to speak in formal settings, but I did have the opportunity to
attend the open sessions of the conference and interact with
delegates. During a lunch meeting, I even asked the French
ambassador about his stance on the proposed treaty’s
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amendment procedure. � at was de� nitely a highlight of my
week!
I learned that the real UN is o� en far more composed and
cordial than Model UN, which tends to be rowdy and chaotic.
Speeches at the UN are prepared and vetted weeks in advance by home
governments, so policies are far less � uid and open to compromise.
� ere’s still plenty of drama, though, whether it be last-minute
attempts to reconcile di� erences so the treaty can go forward , or
crowd control for the vote that was to take place during the � nal
session.
However, I also noticed similarities between the UN and Model
UN. Especially fascinating to me was the importance of backroom
negotiations. We always hear about politicians setting “red lines”
that represent positions they say they won’t move from, but
diplomats and nations do that as well. During the Arms Trade Treaty
negotiations, several nations, including the U.S., explicitly and
implicitly set red lines concerning the substance of the treaty.
Having represented Russia in the UN Security Council at a
conference, and having needed to set red lines in order to remain
on policy, it was fascinating to see nations doing so in the real
world. In the end, some of those red lines turned out to be
negotiating positions, but others were real. Figuring out which was
which wasn’t always easy.
To Be ContinuedI’ve continued with Model UN as a freshman at the
College of William & Mary, recently traveling to the National
Collegiate Security Conference (NCSC), a conference hosted by
Georgetown University. I was astounded by the caliber of the debate
and how deeply we addressed the issues.
When people discuss the bene� ts of Model UN, they o� en cite
things like improving your public speaking and learning how to
persuasively convey your opinions. Certainly, Model UN does all of
that; it emphasizes the importance of eloquence and encourages
delegates to be careful about how they express their ideas. But
more important, Model UN helps make people
more conscious, diverse, and critical thinkers.A unique bene� t
of Model UN is that to participate fully,
you have to act as if you’re actually from the country or group
you’re representing. I’ve represented a wide variety of nations,
including France, Russia, � ailand, and Liberia. Representing many
countries has allowed me to look at issues from di� erent
perspectives. � is has made me more conscious of the world around
me and aware of how I think about the world in relation to how
others think about the world.
Model UN has also helped me discover my relative strengths and
weaknesses. I’ve learned that while I may not be the type of
delegate who can propose 10 innovative ideas on how to address a
particular issue, I’m e� ective at evaluating proposals and
thinking deeply about which ones are logical and imple-mentable and
would lead to positive change. I’ve also realized that my ability
to think pragmatically about issues is an asset for Model UN, and
is also a strength I have as a classmate, as a club leader, and as
a person. Model UN helps students identify and hone their strengths
as debaters and as thinkers.
I continue participating in Model UN because it allows me to
grapple with some of the most important problems our world is
facing. While we aren’t actually implementing the solu-tions we
propose, I see tremendous bene� t in learning how to research and
debate the problems we face while also re� ecting on what we can do
about them. � inking about how to change the world is the � rst
step in doing so.
Rachel Merriman-Goldring is a freshman at the College of William
& Mary, studying government and environmental policy. When
Rachel is not traveling to Model UN conferences, staffi ng Model UN
conferences, and participating in other activities sponsored by the
International Relations club, she is usually chatting with
friends, studying, or reading the news. She is an avid reader
as
by Rachel Merriman-Goldring
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Learn more about Model UN, including how to get involved, at
www.un.org/cyberschoolbus/modelun/faq.html.
www.cty.jhu.edu/imagine imagine 13
