The AMUN Times · The AMUN Times !! 2"! ! UNHRC DEBATES ABORTION (cont’d)! Although Italy is also...

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UNHRC DEBATES ABORTION Academy Model United Nations 2013 (AMUN) has begun at Bergen County Academies. There are 14 committees, each with three topics they want to discuss and debate. This year Human Rights Council is discussing abortion. There are countries both for and against abortion however there are countries that are in between. China, Italy, Turkey, Russia and Netherlands are all for the legalization of abortion while Ethiopia is against it. China believes they should legalize abortion due to their population. As of now, China is limited to one child per household and China delegate believes it should stay that way. Without abortion, the population can increase to the point where it is overwhelming and uncontrollable.

February 7 & 11, 2013

The AMUN Times

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UNHRC DEBATES ABORTION (cont’d) Although Italy is also for legalizing abortion, they don’t believe it should be for the same reason. Italy’s delegate believes in abortion because of maternal health, although their laws state differently. Their concerns lie with the women’s health during pregnancy because more maternal deaths were due to illegal abortions. Italy believes that with the legalization of abortion the maternal death rates will decrease. Another country for abortion is Russia, whose viewpoints and reasoning are different from China and Italy’s. Russia delegate stated abortion should be legalized because of age. People as young as 14 years of age have no other options left besides abortion and Russia feels that abortion should be available to them. No matter the age, Russia felt no one should be forced to keep or carry the child if it is their wish not to.

While five of the countries are for the legalization of abortion, Ethiopia is against it and Indonesia and Saudi Arabia remain neutral. Ethiopia is against this for the purpose of saving lives. They believe abortion takes away lives and should not be allowed. While six countries have clear stands with this issue, Indonesia and Saudi Arabia lie somewhere in between. Saudi Arabia’s viewpoint on abortion is not like the rest. While the other countries base their beliefs off facts or opinions, Saudi Arabia goes by religion. Saudi Arabia delegate believes it is up to God whether the child lives or not. Although abortion is technically illegal in Indonesia, their delegate believes it should be up to the person. Indonesia’s delegate believes the individuals cultural beliefs should decide whether or not an individual should be allowed to go through with an abortion. With every country having different opinions, abortion is a very controversial topic all over the world.

Reporting by: JULIA WHITE

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SAVING LIVES BY STANDARDIZING

Improving our world’s health through common goals.

Keeping our world’s people alive, aiding those who are in need, is always an essential and highly controversial topic. While individual countries may have a set of ideals that create equilibrium for their nation’s healthcare, our world is lacking a universal code to ensure proper, safe healthcare for all whose lives are in danger.

The World Health Organization, which aims to create an effective world healthcare system, brought these important issues to life during their debates today. Delegates proposed a variety of solutions to the highly prominent problems dealing with patient safety. Showing deep levels of passion, the German delegation remarked, “While people may say standards are hard to come by, there must be a standard of living.”

A basic human need is a standard of living, most often defined as having access to food, shelter, clothing and healthcare. The issues with world healthcare must be solved in order to create a society that is safer and more protective for all.

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SAVING LIVES BY STANDARDIZING (cont’d)

Canada discussed their current system of creating awareness, explaining their effective Patient Safety Institute, in addition to their Patient Safety Week. Awareness is a key element of catalyzing change in our healthcare systems. Implementing measures to inform medical professionals about possible safety risks are crucial, as a delegate from Saudi Arabia remarked how we must “provide information and tools.”

Financial issues are also a key player in our world’s health, as the delegation from South Africa passionately questioned the delegation. “What are we doing to make healthcare more affordable?” While simply stated, the delegate from South Africa was right on target in their ideologies of creating change.

By creating standards for our healthcare, our society will evolve and collaborate to fit the needs of our developing world. Ending the age where many are without healthcare and no universal system exists is a critical measure to save lives every day.

Reporting by: MORGAN LEVY

IN JCC, SOMETHING WICKED…

There appears to be an unprecedented amount of trouble brewing in the northern Western world. Reminiscent of the Cold War, a potential nuclear turmoil arising from the tensions between Cuba, the U.S.S.R., the United States, and Turkey is threatening to destabilize the region, if not the world. Born from the words spoken by belligerent and threatening tongues, intercontinental alliances have inevitably established, polarizing the international sociopolitical order.

Cuba and the U.S.S.R., who both fear an invasion of Cuba by the United States due to their own particular reasons (namely, Cuba fears that an attack by the North American superpower will harm its already precarious economic condition to an even greater extent, and the U.S.S.R. worries that an attack on Cuba will extinguish the power’s sole “bargaining chip” in the Western hemisphere, in the case of direct war with the U.S.), are communicating in an attempt to consolidate an alliance that will give them certain strength against their enemy. Cuba, who is in a desperate need of grain to feed its starving people, is willing to harbor U.S.S.R. nuclear weapons in exchange for food and medical supplies. Meanwhile, Russia is requesting that Cuba also provide it with its own military technology, so that it can better protect itself and Cuba against any potential threat. Unfortunately for Cuba, the island nation does not appear to be in any sort of condition to meet this second request—one Cuban delegate was met with a significant cry of protest by his own comrades when he proposed that their nation lend its entire naval fleet of only ten ships to the U.S.S.R!

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IN JCC, SOMETHING WICKED… (cont’d)

Across the aisle, the United States and Turkey are considering the threat of violence from Russia and Cuba. The U.S. is open to the possibility of nuclear action and confrontation—as a matter of fact, the country is willing to be the first to take nuclear action, in what would be an unprecedented act of preemptive nuclear warfare. Regardless, the U.S. is considering the dangers of such a decision—in the words of Secretary of State McNamara, the U.S. is “[potentially] proposing to start World War III.” It is does not seem that much good will arise from these frightening talks of war and nuclear stockpiling. It almost seems as if the age-old doctrine of Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD) is no longer serving as a deterrent for nuclear warfare. As Cuba and Russia hear about a potential nuclear threat from the U.S., they get closer and closer to taking violent action, as does the U.S., who is consequentially affected by the threat of nuclear attacks itself.

Reporting by: FRANCO MADDALENA

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SPECPOL IN SPACE

In SPECPOL committee in room 225 (the choir room) debate was clearly split on the topic at hand, which was outer-space weaponization. After walking straight into the debate there was clearly a disagreement.

A small bloc had formed made up of the Holy See, the Czech Republic and a few other countries and where usually informally referred to as the “Jesus Bloc” because of their countries religious ideas. They’re countries had allied and united, creating an idea to use money collected during mass to pay for a, quote on quote, “death star” type weapon in outer space.

“It will be more of a threat than a weapon, but it can still be used as a weapon,” explained the delegate representing the Holy See. In other words it would be to discourage crime. When presented with the question “What would be considered a crime?” the majority of the “Jesus Bloc” agreed it would have to do a lot will the following of the commandments.

The majority of SPECPOL however believed it would not be such a good idea. It was said that if one country got all the control to the weapons in space, other countries would fear its possible misuse. When faced with the suggestion of a “death star” and just using it as a threat Ghana made a good point: “If weapons are in space then someone is going to use them,”. Ideas of laws being put in place to control the use of possible weapons were also thrown around. Chile wanted to explore space peacefully and as a world, not individual nations. China released a statement about sanctions and regulations, “If we where to leave space without sanctions and regulations we would not be solving our problem here today,”

But Thailand made a very good point when stating “Many countries can find loopholes in these laws… laws may not be followed by countries with their heads in the sky,” Many implied the ‘law of space’ like the law of the sea could not be followed and would result in “space pirates” much like the Somalian pirates.

An early working paper was mentioned involving a space embassy with two representatives from each country. The International Space Embassy would work towards a peaceful future for space and would operate a bit like the UN, although exact details were not specified.

All in all the United Kingdom really said it when they stated “There has been no place explored that does not come with or cause conflict.”

Reporting by: MICHAELA KOCHAN

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UNHRC CONTINUES DEBATE ON ABORTION

The Human Rights Council (HRC) through much of this Day One at this Academy Model United Nations has been centered on the topic of abortion. Several nations have come to the agreement that they are pro-choice, while only a few have announced that they believe in the necessity for conceived children to be born, as killing them would be an act of murder. This led to an interesting debate between several nations, often expressing opposing views.

Among the few pro-life countries were Indonesia, Ethiopia, and Saudi Arabia who expressed that it was necessary for women to go through with their pregnancies. One of the most interesting expressions of this opinion came from the Saudi Arabian delegate who said that a woman’s ability to have a child should be “up to God.” The delegate from Indonesia also said that the country is prolife because of the views of its people. These pro-life countries all have some version of a law in place stating that abortions are illegal under most parameters, giving very few exceptions such as allowing abortion if it will save the life of the pregnant woman if the fetus is under a certain age.

Conversely, many of the pro-choice countries, most prominently China and Russia, feel that abortion is necessary to reduce overpopulation. However, many countries feel as though they should not force young women into situations they cannot deal with, such as being mothers at a young age. The Turkish delegation believed that the use of contraception should be dealt with on a case-by-case basis. The Republic of Korea had an interesting take on abortion, although there are laws in place that prevent abortion, few listen to these regulations and as a result, South Korea has one of the lowest fertility rates in the world. These varied stances have created an environment where abortion is a debated topic around the globe.

Reporting by: ALEX GARDNER

BORDER CONTROL IN EU

In this article, we will be exploring what the EU committee routinely talks about. For those of you who don’t know, the EU (European Union) is a vernacular body, which acts as a political and economic union of twenty-seven countries of Europe. Their main purpose is to provide a strong and effective code of laws for the European states. All in all, the European Union actions’ can affect a country either fatally or benevolently.

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Listening to all the problems that exist between each of the twenty-seven countries, the most predominant one seems to be border control. Many countries believe there are more important issues at hand other than border control; what could be more important than monitoring what enters and exits your country? Clearly, monitoring the amount of refugees is crucial, but the problem here is how are countries supposed to fund the border control and is it worth the fight? Is it worth spending long hours discussing and debating whether it should be the main focus? You can decide for yourselves fellow readers.

Let’s talk pros and cons. Pros: implementation of border control can limit the number of refugees in your country. Also, the political aspect of having refugees enter countries’ borders is also a huge issue. The leaders of that country could potentially view the refugees as criminals! Cons: some countries cannot afford to have programs implemented because of financial issues. Also, if border control is established, then that would mean a country has the right to veto any refugee/immigrant from entering their country; this could, possibly, be viewed as ascendency where one said country is controlling the aspects of a second said country. That could be one serious mess to get into!

Countries like Luxembourg, Spain, and Bulgaria are all for implementing border control and believe it an efficient way to keep tabs on their countries denizens. Other countries, like Slovakia, Lithuania, and Germany believe that rationing off refugees would be the better approach, and there are more serious matters to take into consideration than just border control. This is where the controversy comes into play. In addition to the countries for and the countries against border control, there seems to be a funny little fissure floating about. Hungary believes that countries should simply accept immigrants. You can say Hungary decided to take a neutral stance on the subject. This altercation must be resolved… and soon!

Have you any thoughts on what the right path to take would be? I surely am leaning towards having border control implemented because if a country cannot ration their refugees and immigrants, then the only other choice is border control. Yes, that is just my opinion; what matters most, of course, is the cooperation of all countries in the Union.

Reporting by: JOUMANA KADDOUR

BORDER CONTROL IN EU (cont’d)

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SECURING A SAFER WORLD FOR ALL

The right to bear arms is consistently one of the most highly contested issues in American politics. Citing a need for self-defense, many encourage citizens to continue to be allowed to possess firearms. Throughout our world, guns are implemented in a high number of situations, an issue that is heated. Tonight, the Committee on Disarmament and International Security passionately debated this issue, which remains close to our hearts in human nature.

Spain spoke from the heart about this major safety debating reminding us how “while many justify arms sales to save their families, they are instead causing harm and putting lives in danger.”A radical solution suggested by the United States involves destructing and recycling current illegal weapons. In a quest for productivity, the remains of these former destroyers would be used to created medal products. The United States is one of the few nations that sell illegal firearms.

While in a perfect world no illegal activity would take place, black market groups corrupt our already flawed society. Iran discussed how while our international community has identified major players in the weapons black market; they have taken little action against the offending parties. One of the groups is the LRA, led by Coney, whom no international security forces have captured or attempted to stop.

Overall, our world must work together to create a safer and more secure society for all.


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DEMOCRACY AND ELECTIONS IN AU

The African Union started the committee session with the topic of Democracy and Elections. The session started with intense accusations made by Uganda against North Korea. At first it seemed all the countries agreed but that was far from the truth. Most countries agreed it was necessary to start small with solutions but that is where things seemed to become divided. A large majority of the delegation was dedicated to creating a democratic election process and then having education for other democratic processes. Many countries worried about trust between countries also. Djibouti proposed to “Start with democratic elections and they’ll know we’re listening to them… 68% of African countries want democratic elections,”

Congo agreed that they must “form a set of rules that are fair…. We must invest trust,” but was unsure of how the rules could be implemented.

The other side of the debate was dead set on education being the answer to all the problems. This happened to be the ideas of the minority of the delegates. They believed democracy and nationalism could not be made if education was not present. These ideas about education where quickly dismissed and picked apart. Burkina Faso wondered “What kind of education?” and Kenya questioned “How, where, and what kind of education?”

Snack time was turned into an unmoderated caucus although not much was accomplished. When the majority suggested creating a new political power they were told that they were turning into “Hitler” and “Stalin”. Altogether I believe an agreement will be reached although it may take some compromise on both sides to accomplish this goal.


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SCORPION, CAT, PHOENIX, PAPYRUS…

You name it, we got it.

Acronyms were introduced as often as directives were introduced. The JCC USA Committee started off having a clear goal in mind and made sure to refrain from bickering initially. However, once Operation Phoenix was introduced, sparks started to fly and fierce debates ensued. Operation Phoenix, proposed by Mr. Ted Sorenson, stated that the U.S. send 100,000 troops on Cuban land and highlighted that the presence of Soviet soldiers only 90 miles from the U.S. shore posed an eminent threat to the US. It also mentioned that the Soviets would have one week to remove their troops from Cuba or that they would face severe and harsh consequences. In addition to this, paratroopers will be sent and there will be increased blockades in Cuba. Robert S. McNamara continued with the acronyms by proposing Operation Steel Scorpion (Op. S.S.) which called for invasion only by foreign forces, 2 weeks’ notice before invasion and training of the Cuban soldiers to combat the Soviets. Mr. Hodges firmly disagreed with this and stated that the U.S. should instead focus on a more gradual invasion and give incentives to the USSR and Cuba to stop working with one another and get Soviet Forces out of Cuba.

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SCORPION, CAT, PHOENIX, PAPYRUS… (cont’d)

The deliberation continued with other delegates arguing that the time given was too long or too short. Mr. Cline repeated “Operation Phoenix is diplomacy backed by invasion and military consequences almost ten times” in his oratory. However, the entire Committee was enraged when they received news that 20 American soldiers were killed by the Cubans (civilians). In a moment, the negotiation and notification times were reduced to only 24-48 hours and an attack on Cuba was greatly desired by many delegates. One of the concerns though was to stabilize the region before. Therefore, one of the delegates passed up the SHIELD Amendment which would send an extra 5000 soldiers to Guantanamo Bay to blockade and stabilize the region and bring order. After the amendment was passed, Robert S. McNamara called into attention that progress until this point had been alright but that they needed to “step up” their military action and attack. He said: “They (Cubans) killed our soldiers, so we kill theirs.” Mr. Freeman assented to this and said: “Our response to an act of war (Cubans killing US soldiers) is to respond with an act of war.” When directive 4.1, asking to blockade all Cuban ships as to restrict flow of arms was proposed, the tension in the room intensified. The speaker against, Mr. Sorenson, said that “20 Americans were killed! Do we allow more to die! American life is worth a hell of a lot in the international space!”. He also proposed bringing attention back to Op Phoenix and adding that it has amendments to include activating the anti-missile defense system and not invading Cuba as long as they agree not to work with them. However, this proposition was met with disapproval as Mr. Robert McNamara mentioned that “we need action NOW!” and that only Op. S.S. (Operation Steel Scorpion) would answer this. However, once again the delegates demonstrated their desire to set themselves apart and Mr. Freeman proposed his Operation Cat-Turnpike (yes, it sounds weird) which would call to blockade all of Cuba and treat it as a sovereign nation and exclude talks about Soviets when negotiating with Cuba.

One of the most shocking events though was when they decided to vote on the motions, none of them passed and it seemed as though, apart from trying to invade Cuba, nothing happened. Later on though, directive 8.1, which called for giving Cuba 250 million dollars in aid and also providing them with an army as long as they refrain from joining or helping the Soviets also failed and it seemed very clear that the committee members were very dogmatic and unwilling to compromise on many occasions. It was later known that they eventually decided to agree on having a full-scale invasion of Cuba and that it was a success as they did indeed invade.

Reporting by: OMAIR MOHAMMED

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DEBT CRISIS IN EU

The Economic and Financial Committee (ECOFIN) like all other committees had to choose between three different topics to discuss. The first topic was The Debt Crisis, the second was Competitive Currency Devaluation and the final was Foreign Aid for Developmental Assistance. The topic that was decided was The Debt Crisis. The committee was split into two groups for two different resolution papers. Germany, Iran South Africa, Finland and Israel all had different plans of action they wanted to take to overcome this problem.

South Africa delegate believed this was the biggest problem and worked with Germany to come up with a resolution. Germany believed countries should make their own economic systems. Germany’s delegate also believed this problem was immense and should be fixed as soon as possible. Although Finland, Iran and Israel are proximal to each other, they all shared a common solution, financial aid. Finland thought they should aid the less developed countries. Israel also wanted to help aid other countries such as Africa and Europe. Although they both wanted to aid under developed countries, Israel thought they could offer infrastructure aid while Finland was going to offer financial aid. Iran already provides financial aid to countries such as Egypt and Eritrea so they are looking to improve and reform their aid system. They also hope to establish trade in Africa in hopes to promote independent development. Along with providing financial aid, Finland also proposed two other solutions. The first was stabilization in Europe and build allies. Finland’s delegate thought by stabilizing Europe their economy would improve. Building allies would also help build up Finland’s economy as well as other European countries they choose to ally with.

Israel had four proposals to solving the debt crisis. The first was the same plan as many other countries, which was providing aid to other countries. Their second plan was to decrease the value of the euro and increase trade. Israel believed that increase trade could stimulate the economy and improve the economy. A final plan Israel thought of was over currency. Israel’s delegate believed countries such as Greece should have their own currency. All five countries are working hard to come up with resolutions for solving the debt crisis because although they have different plans, they all know how important it is to fix this important topic.

Reporting by: JULIA WHITE

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EUROPE BY 2020

Europe is currently in a state of economic downfall, yet complete collapse is still far from possible. The European Union (EU) is aware that if their countries are to become more financially stable, it would require gradual escalation rather than immediate improvement. They have set the year 2020 as their goal, and are unified in their resolution for a betterment of their continent by the new decade.

It is impractical to believe that Europe will be in the state that the population wishes for it to be in by 2020, and even the EU admits that. However, they do believe that they can take short-term processes to improve the financial and environmental status of the countries by then. They have drafted a resolution that involves renewing power through solar panels and having much of the mechanical machinery run on hydropower. They plan to fund for these efficacious projects using the combined efforts of the countries with high GDAs. The delegation of Finland also stated that the EU agreed to reduce the use of natural gas and oil in order to make the environment cleaner and more pristine.

The EU is also looking into the future. They are aware that a poor education system foreshadows an ailing future economy, and are taking immediate action in order to eliminate any possibility of such an occurrence. Advertisement campaigns will be prolific for the purpose of encouraging students to stay in school. The delegation of Latvia also highlighted unemployment as a concern. The EU will attempt to hinder the consequences of that issue by putting more money into extensive research and education. If the youth of today are mentally and educationally prepared, they will be better employed in the future as adults than the European adults of today.

Europe is continuing to endure the consequences of its poor economy, and can only hope that the EU can repair the damages. With the year 2020 as their set goal, the EU believes it is able to rejuvenate their countries’ economic positions and pull them out of the hole they dug themselves into.

Reporting by: SAID EL-HAWWAT

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ECOFIN SOLVING THE DEBT CRISIS

One of the major goals of the conference for the Economic and Financial Committee (ECOFIN) was solving the international debt crisis. They considered several key questions to alleviate this debt, mostly concerning foreign aid and the way in which the given aid could be spent. Most importantly, ECOFIN is working to make sure that the countries in debt can be relieved and “keep their debt within maintainable limits.” Major headway has been made in resolving international debt as they work diligently to solve their most important issue.

A country integrally involved in easing this international debt is Greece, whose weak economy has stifled the progress of the European Union (EU) and weakened the Euro tremendously. In summary, the Greek dignitary said that his goal was to create a national currency independent of the Euro while remaining a partial member of the EU. This would allow Greece to still have some of the perks of being a full member of the European Union, such as free trade between member nations.

The Iranian delegate rose to the forefront in creating working papers to solve the debt crisis. In assembling the document, he hoped to reform the aid and loan processes across the world to give aid to where it is needed the most. In order to help solve the debt crisis in Europe, he hoped to create a plan where countries could leave the Euro as long as they express the intent to do so with the EU. In addition to the European debt crisis, the committee also expressed interest in establishing trade connections in Africa in hopes that they could develop independently.

The committee was in the process of developing another group within that would decide who needed external aid and would award that aid to the nation in need. Through this, ECOFIN is making major headway on their primary issue by creating a system where a country struggling economically can attain external aid and try to take themselves out of debt.

Reporting by: ALEX GARDNER

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Wiping Out Nuclear Weapons in North Korea

Heated debates in the Security Council.

It is often said, “One spark starts a fire.” Flaming debates ensured when discussing the issue of nuclear weapons. Always a controversial topic, the diplomats of the Security Council were faced with a perplexing challenge, getting North Korea to make agreements to say goodbye to their nuclear program.

Tactics of diplomacy were a key issue being discussed. India was quick to point out that the proper way to work with Cuba is for the “goal not to be to persuade, instead the goal should be action.”On the other hand, Columbia feels that a slow and steady approach will be the most effective method of gaining the trust of the Cubans and ultimately accomplishing the goal of interest. A number of nations, particularly China and the United States, pointed out the need for sanctions. These nations feel that sanctions are the most effective long-term solution to the crisis at hand. The United Kingdom had an interesting suggestion as far as the approach that should be used. They feel that they should not necessarily act forcefully with North Korea and instead provide incentives such as food resources. While the delegate admitted that this is a bribe, they felt that it is truly a necessary measure.

International crises like the Nuclear Weapons crisis in North Korea always prove to be not only difficult, but also delicate to deal with. With perseverance, this issue will be solved and our international community will be able to celebrate the triumph.


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EARTHQUAKE IN TURKEY

This just in: Massive earthquake hits Turkey!! Oh what a tragedy this truly is! Hold up…there seems to be an even bigger crisis at hand!!! The United States had left their missiles unprotected at their military base in Turkey. And it seems that, now, a terrorist group has possession of those missiles! How reckless of them to just leave their extremely corruptive war weapons out in the open in that manner! Also, the terrorist group is pointing the missiles at some of the major Soviet Union cities. There’s talk of negotiating with the terrorists and convincing them to give up their plans, but to this journalists’ extent, there is no definite compromise just yet.

Since this committee’s topic is the Cuban Missile Crisis, there is an obliged feeling to discuss this motif. At the moment, the delegates are voting on a directive. What is known though, is that the USSR has agreed to send aid to Cuba because they had recently had a clash with U.S. troops at the Avantanamo Bay. There have been reports and up to 12 people dead now and still counting. There will be 50 ships and 100,000 troops being sent to Cuba to assist them.

In conclusion, many events have taken place in a very short amount of time. The USSR was generous enough to lend a helping hand out to the Cubans; and now we will await their assistance to send aid to Turkey because of their devastating earthquake.


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EU DISCUSSES EDUCATION

The European Union is a committee consisting of some of the most popular and powerful names in Europe such as Poland, Italy, France, and Germany but also of less powerful countries such as Bulgaria. The goal of the Union is to make sure that the members have a thriving economy and able to sustain their respective nations. The E.U. made it clear that their initial concern was that of African refugees and border control facilities. The influx and inundation of the union with refuges caused the union to consider the amount of money spent on these efforts to accommodate refugees and how to spend less money while still giving shelter.

However, many countries, including Poland, decided to table this topic and shift to a different one. It was decided that the new topic would be how to create European Union’s independency by concentrating on education and funding. To combat this issue, the union actually made a surprising move. They decided to form groups specifically designed to tackle each of the parts of this issue. The result was that one group was discussing educative measures and the other was discussing funding.

Poland, Luxemburg, France, Germany and Latvia concentrated on funding. They proposed that nations use existing programs, their respective governments, and also private sponsors to fund education and innovative educational ideas. Meanwhile, other countries such as Bulgaria and Italy concentrated on how to most efficiently use the funding that will be provided to them to help bolster educative measures. As the two worked together and specialized in their respective expertise, they were able to accomplish more in less time. In 20 minutes they were able to start working on resolutions and towards the last steps leading to this, they decided to bring their ideas together and make a final draft. Their discussions included using the money from funding to start more vocational schools, solar powered electronics, wind mill farms, and basically utilize renewable resources. In conclusion, their efforts seemed to have garnered unanimous support from all members of the E.U. and though their plans may not be immediately effective, it seems as though the effects may actually start being apparent starting in the year 2020.


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THINKING BROADLY TO AVOID TAKEOVER

As of late, the Security Council has been ardently working to solve the issue of North Korea’s unmonitored nuclear program and the possible existence of its own nuclear weapons stockpile. Since this issue has troubled the minds of the most advanced diplomats for quite some time, many delegations have chosen to broaden their perspectives and suggest more creative solutions.

Guatemala, Colombia, and France look favorably to the idea of providing economic aid, most likely in terms of food, to the Asian country. The intention of this aid; however, would not be to alleviate North Korea’s poverty. Rather, these Security Council countries aim to help North Korea so that it becomes dependent on the United Nations and allows the Security Council to monitor all of its activities, including those related to the development of its nuclear program.

Other Security Council nations aren’t quite satisfied with this seemingly flawless Machiavellian scheme. The United States doesn’t believe that giving North Korea aid will give the U.N. access to classified information regarding the country’s nuclear ambitions. Although the U.S. does not wish to use force as a method of deterrence, it prefers to follow through on more conventional methods of diplomatic persuasion. The U.S. and its allies wish to continue pushing through with economic sanctions aiming to hurt the North Korean government. They also yearn to work closely with the IAEA to determine the actual status of the North Korean nuclear program.

While it is essential to continue enacting traditional financial sanctions to push North Korea to terminate its nuclear program, or at least make it more transparent, new ideas are vital in dealing with such an urgent issue of such tremendous international importance. Creativity is one of humanity’s most important positive traits, and may help to solve one of the largest causes of concern for the world today.


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BOMB THREAT AT JCC TURKEY

The topic at hand in committee JCC (Turkey) was an urgent crisis. I entered the room and was immediately warned that fascists had taken missiles from Turkey and was threatening to bomb the USSR. The deadline for Turkey to release a statement saying they did not support peace between the US and USSR was eight o’clock pm., in seven minutes. If the USSR was bombed it would be a big problem because then Turkey could potentially be bombed also.

JCC (Turkey) quickly made a directive to send US and Turkey troops to stop the fascists. If this plan failed their Plan B was to negotiate with the fascist group in hopes of stopping the bombing. Both the directives where passed in seven minutes.

A fascist named Ahmet then showed up and entered with statements I don’t believe anyone in that committee room was expecting.“You really think we don’t know what you are doing? You really think we don’t know you are lying (about the US and USSR statement)… prepare the missiles for launch!” Ahmet alerted his cohort on the other end of his walkie-talkie. “Missiles have no detonated near the Black Sea… write (in the note a delegate was now writing) you no longer trust the US working hand in hand with Russia… write down that Russia is ‘scum’ from Ahmet… fo’ real! We will launch missiles if you disobey us again. Perhaps we will give you some missiles back if you cooperate,”

With that the fascist turkey organization member left and a motion for an unmoderated caucus was made and passed. Hopefully the JCC (Turkey) can make a solution to this pressing issue before any other missiles are launched.


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AN END TO PROLIFERATION OF ARMS?

Africa has experienced many problems ever since its occupation and is enduring many harmful calamities to this day. The present unrest of child soldiers is coeval to human trafficking and illegal arms proliferation, all of which together spell nothing less than a recipe for disaster. The Disarmament and International Security (DISEC) is currently at a loss of unity in dealing with the proliferation of arms in Africa.

DISEC is focusing mainly on the shipping process that is responsible for the location of illegal arms in Africa. Many countries, mainly South Africa, have been subject to high death tolls as a result of illegal shipping of weaponry within their borders. The shipping process has been divided into three parts, which are the manufacturer, the middle-man, and the consumer. DISEC has divided itself into three different groups, each supporting different resolutions based on the shipping process.

One group establishes that the United Nations monitors the manufacturing of arms. The delegation of Denmark has described this point in the shipping system as the “source of the problem”, for it is where the arms are produced. He believes that terminating the problem at its roots is the quickest way to end it, for if the arms’ destinations are monitored while at their factories, they will never reach the smugglers that intend to use them for evil purposes.

Another group of countries finds that to be impractical, for they do not see the manufacturing houses as the “source of the problem”. They believe that the middle-man is responsible for this epidemic, for he has ultimate control over which consumers receive which weapons. The middle-men have generally been giving weapons to the psychopathic smugglers that attack innocent lives. This makes the resolution of this group to “eliminate the middle-man”, as explained by the delegation of Thailand. Without the middle-men, arms can easily be shipped to the consumers by the manufacturing houses with the regulation of the United Nations in order to ensure that the arms do not end up in the wrong hands.

The third group is in favor of the global monitoring of the manufacture and destination of arms. The delegation of the United Kingdom stated that it is incumbent for the United Nations to “create a system of greater transparency”. It is rather conspicuous that there is a lack of regulation on the destinations of arms, and he believes that a “system of greater transparency” can ensure that arms end up in the right location. This group is also in favor of the establishment of a non-governmental organization (NGO) with the goal of incentivizing those bringing arms into a country. This organization will be funded by nations that feel pity on Africa and wish better lives for Africans.

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AN END TO PROLIFERATION OF ARMS? (cont’d)

All three of these resolutions mirror each other. Africa will remain in its current dilapidated state until the proliferation of arms in the continent comes to an end. DISEC does not seem to be acting quickly, and they will continue to end without a firm resolution until the groups agree to compromise.


MALARIA IN AU

In African Union today the topic at hand was Malaria. A strong alliance had been formed between Libya and the Ivory Coast. Both believed the ideas of Qaddafi would be the solution for eradicating Malaria and stated “Qaddafi is our hero,” Although their plans’ details were not revealed to us, they did state they had proper funding by NGO’s such as the Malaria Destruction Squad, Mosquito Alienation Army, and the BMSC.

The DR Congo brought new innovative ideas to the table when suggesting “Genetically modified mosquitoes have been proven to work and would be a great long term goal”. The DR Congo was pushing for any long-term goal specifically because they felt that short-term goals use money constantly and that at some point that money was going to run out.

Many countries were sticking by their ideas to the very end and things got heated as dinner threatened to arrive. “Basically Libya and the Ivory Coast are creating their own uprising trying to gain power. But they won’t gain power. It’s pretty much our working paper vs. the other but ours will win,” stated Djibouti during an unmoderated caucus. Belief in their own ideas was strong in everyone today.

At the end of the unmoderated caucus Zimbabwe ended with “They’re gambling away human lives…It’s a gamble!” But Burkina Faso made a strong point in replying, “Every goal is a gamble.” Nigeria agreed although found it necessary to add “Quote me exactly on this. That was out of order, ludicrous and frankly not relevant to this topic!” in reference to Zimbabwe’s previous comment.

Altogether today’s session was very rocky in the African Union and Burkina Faso really said it when stating “The whole point is to progress to a communal goal,” Hopefully the committee can reach a single agreement today.


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STRATEGIZING IN CRISIS COMMITTEES

Effective debates in JCC United States and JCC Cuba.

Walking into the crisis committee room I felt tension in the air. The delegates were no longer high school students, but various international figures.

The Cuban committee needed to deal with the pressing issue of their Nuclear Weapon supply. A variety of solutions were discussed in the conference room. While a number of figures suggested an approach of neutrality, other delegates were quick to speak out against this suggestion commenting that “neutrality will never get us anywhere.”Another delegate still insisted to suggest that Cuba tries to live “on its own, as one big happy family.” Unfortunately, the other leaders agreed that a strong approach is necessary and they cannot go on as they are now.

Also addressed were humanitarian standpoints. A delegate passionately reminded the community that “justice must be achieved for the citizens of Cuba. If we do not gain their support, we have no cause. We will just have another revolution and no progress.” Castro suggested selling weapons to the United States. This idea was in a quest to get the weapons out of their possession. However, many nations feel that they should not get the United States involved.

Meanwhile, in the JCC United States, a treaty with the USSR was being discussed. The delegates were trying to pass a resolution involving humanitarian and military aid. Delegates debated vehemently; however, they did not succeed in the pursuit of passing the resolution. Consistently, both debates proved to be intellectual, passionate and thought provoking.


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TENSION IN SPECPOL

Upon entering the room, I was overcome with a sense of tension. Many times people say that the sky is the limit but this time, it wasn’t. The topic of discussion in this committee was space. Nations were hard at work tackling how to keep space exploration controlled and also make sure that no one country or nation is given carte blanche. The delegation of Thailand expressed its desire to check or stop production and proliferation of space weaponry as it would lead to space warfare and ultimately destruction. The delegation of Brazil assented to this statement and called upon other counties to consider such a resolution as well. However, delegates of other countries questioned this and stated that the since the problem is space regulation, in order to maintain order; an “International Space Law Embassy” should be formed and if members do not comply with the rules and guidelines set forth, they will be thoroughly inspected and also have sanctions. After the delegation of Georgia remarked that nations should concentrate on the big picture instead of individual countries and therefore establish a strict compendium of international space laws, Brazil responded that such ideas are irrational and fallacious. In addition to this, the delegation Brazil added on by stating that an example of such laws and ideas be ineffective is that of North Korea which doesn’t abide by or follow many of the rules set up by the U.N. or international committees and bodies. Though a response from a representative or delegate of North Korea was highly anticipated, the nation’s absence made it clear that a response would not be heard soon. The delegate of Thailand supported Brazil’s assertion that the laws would be obsolete by stating that every country will find its own set of “loopholes” and that they will use leverage to get their own resolutions passed and that we must therefore pass sanctions. The delegate of Egypt agreed with the previously mentioned statement but added on that in addition to having stricter sanctions and passing more laws; ‘weaponization’ itself needs to be more lucidly defined. As the deliberations continued, the delegation of China joined in and added that without any regulations, we would be inviting chaos but that the sanctions need to be reasonable so as not to destroy chances of negotiations or resolutions. The delegation of Chile declared that the best way to end the dilemma was to ask everyone to unite for the sake of science and India beckoned as to how these measures (referring to those mentioned by the delegations of China and Egypt before) are feasible and will even take place. However, the turning point in the discussion and the one that led to everyone getting involved was after the delegation of China’s remark that regulation will be carried out after establishing an international space agency with two delegates from each nation and that members that fail to comply with the rules will have their membership revoked.

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TENSION IN SPECPOL (cont’d)

Though the delegation of the Czech Republic identified this as a good solution, they also stated that the power of regulation should be given to the U.N. However, no one expected that the delegation of Poland would propose that the UN should have full authority over the international agency because it is unbiased. It was at this point that the powerful yet disturbingly silent delegation of the U.K. decided that since space acquisition is like land acquisition and that sending satellites into space will lead to territorial conflict. Therefore, the delegation of U.K. proposed that there be no “weaponization” of space. As deliberations went on, it became clear that the question and dilemma facing those concerned with space exploration will need further deliberation before a consensus is reached as to how to resolve the dispute about what should happen. Unfortunately, it seemed that although many members were very proactive and passionate, several others seemed not to care as much and many members also were uncompromising and regretfully ‘dogmatic’. In conclusion, for most of the deliberation process, the members were bickering over trivial matters and due to their uncompromising natures, were unable to initially solve many of their problems.


WIPEOUT OF TURKEY

The USSR did not enjoy the fact that Turkey has allied with the United States during the Cold War. The Cuban Missile Crisis has put the Soviets above the United States as they inflicted terror into the lives of the citizens living within American borders. The Americans, however, reciprocated by setting a number of missiles in Turkey, which borders the USSR. Their goal was to prevent the Soviets from attacking the United States.

The Soviets did not understand why Turkey was a strong ally to the United States, and gave them a chance to reconsider. They were hoping for Turkey to recognize them as a superior force in the world and to join them, while stabbing the United States in the back. Turkey, however, proved to be loyal to its ally and refused to reconsider. As a result, the USSR did not hesitate to show Turkey its true power. They launched thousands of nuclear bombs at Turkey and decimated a full ninety percent of its population.

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FRENCH REVOLUTIONS IN KOREAS?

After the immediate loss of an unknown delegate from SPECPOL and the offerings of another delegate, Canada, to be taken hostage in exchange, Press Corps. had not yet been informed of the current situation of topic in the room. The first delegate to speak after these lively events in the moderated caucus was France. After Frances short but to the point speech I thought I was now fully aware of the current topic. Emphasis on the word thought.

France stated “Delegates you have a chance to make history happen today! You have a chance to join the new world order!” Most would have gotten the impression Press Corps. had when hearing these statements but we could never be so wrong. I was informed of how misleading this was by another delegate, currently unknown, who stated “What is the relevance of the French army or regime at this time?” and also “we are not talking about the French we are talking about the Korea’s.”

At this point the stolen delegate, taken by a currently unknown organization, was returned to the committee with blood dripping down his face and obvious injuries. No comments or statements were obtained from this delegate. Now back on the current topic, reunification of North and South Korea, two resolutions where then presented and no talk of French Revolutions where spoken of again.


WIPEOUT OF TURKEY (cont’d)

This apocalyptic power forced the United States into hesitation, as they knew they were the next target. The Soviets would go into battle with the Americans if they did not meet their demands. As former Secretary of CCCP, Georgy Malenkov, stated, the USSR’s demands revolved mainly around one simple and obvious command: to support the USSR.

The Soviets reigned victorious over its nemesis at last. As their national anthem echoed loudly throughout the committee room, the members merely stood and put their right hands on their hearts, while thinking of their triumph. Now that the United States no longer has a chance but to resign from its position as a superpower, the USSR will reign as the dominant world power.


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ALMOST THERE, NOT QUITE YET

Things are heating up at the Disarmament and International Security Committee which may make it the most interesting committee yet! The DISEC committee faces multiple problems, not only because it is a crisis committee, but because the delegates deal with crucial topics. The process of making resolutions that incorporate international peace and security sounds like a very tough job. Not for the DISEC delegates though! There have been four working papers already introduced to the floor; each very similar in the sense that they all include solutions about eliminating proliferation of arms in Africa. All delegates on the same page, and all countries in cahoots.

What can go wrong with a committee that is in sync with one another? A very heavy blow was recently unleashed to the committee. Russia has been sacked by three terrorists. These terrorists were hooded and therefore unknown. The terrorists’ actions aren’t as shocking as Russia’s. Apparently, Russia is on hypocritical terms and was selling illegal arms to North Africa! In an interview with a delegate representing Thailand, we witness the impact of these crises. She had said, “Russia was sacked by three terrorists that were wearing hoods and it was so devastating because our committee was ready to pass some resolutions, and the resolutions had laws against selling any kinds of arms to Africa.”

On another note, there has been talk about the DISEC invading Poland. There is no known reason as to why, how, or when they will invade, but there are plans being made. Watch out Poland! The group would most likely invade without any warnings, and, maybe, they will be searching for any illegal weaponry.

Final words would be for you, the readers, to set the DISEC committee as an example; all for peace and safety, none for violence and terrorism. We see how such acts can disrupt great things.


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DEBATING FOR FUTURE…

EU’s Policy Adjustments

The European Union is currently engaged in the most exciting and vital debate in its history. The highly controversial diplomatic body in the Old Continent is considering which path it shall take in terms of policy development for the remainder of the 21st century. Apparently, EU countries are split between two sides: those who favor a continued focus on unemployment welfare versus those who sustain that powerful education reform is the key to a more successful, debt-free future.

Among those who favor addressing unemployment concerns are the countries of Germany, Latvia, Denmark, and Lithuania. In a short interview with the delegation of Latvia, the eastern European country remarked that getting EU citizens out of their impoverished homes and back into the workforce is what’s going to revitalize the general European economy. This bloc of countries is willing to make revolutionary changes so as to guarantee that the EU is doing the best it can to aid unemployed citizens. In the words of the Latvian delegation, “unemployment is of core importance.”

On the other side of the aisle, Luxembourg, Portugal, Italy, and Spain, among other nations, are pushing for a more progressive EU agenda. These countries firmly hold that only with a more advanced education system can the European continent improve its current conditions. A pro-education plan spearheaded by Luxembourg seeks to improve the youth’s learning conditions so that they can be better leaders when they are older and in charge of society.

Both sides of this argument pose interesting questions, many of which will only be answered after continuously rigorous debate. While both blocs of countries make well-founded arguments, the EU must be sure that, whatever policy decisions it takes, they cannot be wholly one-sided; otherwise, the European continent risks falling into the same harmful political habits that led to its current economic malaise.


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JCC EXCITEMENT

Between the JCC (USSR), JCC (USA), JCC (Cuba) and JCC (Turkey) tensions where growing today, not only between committees but also between delegates. While the fascists from Turkey where no longer posing a threat today, another crisis struck the committees and each reacted in very different directions.

A fellow Russian alerted JCC (USSR) that, at Guantanamo Bay, what had originally been a small skirmish had become more serious. It was Cuban troops versus US troops with more Cuban troops lining up and twenty US soldiers shot dead. It was stated this was not an official declaration of war but “as you say…shots have been fired”

The JCC (USSR) decided to push off dealing with Guantanamo Bay for the time being and decided how (or if) they were going to absorb Turkey as part of the USSR. In the JCC (USA) the first thing said in the moderated caucus was by the Presidential Advisor stating “We have not been able to deal with this crisis properly yet… twenty American lives will not go in vain!”

While much of the room wanted to deal with the current crisis others wanted it to go ignored just for the time being and restated the importance of focusing on Cuba and the missile crisis. Some of the committee members though it would be fair to think of Cuba as an extension of Russia. The Chief CIA Agent made a fair point when he stated, “This is called the Cuban Missile crisis not the Russia missile crisis,”

The Secretary of Agriculture agreed in stating “If someone punches your friend you don’t punch their friend. You punch them,” meaning don’t bring Russia into the situation when it’s Cuba’s problem.

In JCC (Cuba) their main concern was to create a joint military with Russia to help with the America attack. It was stated there was less risk involved for Cuba than Russian and in the JCC (USA) mind it was not to beat the Cubans but the USSR. Another delegate intervened and also made the valid point that it was their mindset to defeat the whole communist mindset and not necessarily just the USSR.

Press Corps. also learned a small piece of top-secret information, that a man only by the name of “Josh” had infiltrated the JCC (USA) as a sort of KGB agent and was giving Cuba updates on the current situation there. The current whereabouts of “Josh” are unknown.


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SPACE WEAPONRY

The SPECPOL United Nations committee met on January 7th to discuss a newly incumbent topic that has recently been intriguing nations worldwide: expansion in outer space. Laws are currently in place that limit the amount of power an individual country can yield in the unlimited vastness of space as well as promote the exploration of space for scientific and educational reasons. However, many countries today believe that there are loopholes in those laws that must be resolved at once. The empty black void of outer space has intrigued the human population for centuries with its many mysteries, yet it has also succeeded in pandering the human species by making them debate over how to explore it.

Most of the debate revolved around the topic of space weaponry. The delegation of Poland believes that when superpowers are given the authority to launch weaponry into space, weaker countries will feel terrified over the possibility that some nations would use them for the purpose of beginning war rather than for self-defense. He believes that laws should be passed in order to prevent such a catastrophic calamity. The delegation of Thailand, however, proposed that many countries are capable of finding loopholes in many of the newly passed laws. He believes that more time should be spent focusing on sanctions directed towards specific countries rather than passing laws.

China has been looking ahead throughout the course of the debate, and has proposed that an international space embassy consisting of two delegates from each country be established in order to mitigate the threats of giving ultimate power in outer space to a single country. Likewise, the topic of a bi-annual conference to discuss weaponry in space has received much attention. However, there is no guarantee that either of these propositions will result in peace in outer space.

How can the human population find peace in outer space if they haven’t even found peace on their own home planet? The idea seems rather far-fetched, yet the members of the committee believe that they can find a resolution.


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THE MALEVOLENT MALARIA

Malaria. The monstrous disease rooting from tiny mosquitoes has always been one of the toughest issues faced by African nations.

According to the delegation of Uganda, an average of 25% of the incomes of Ugandan citizens is used on supplies against Malaria. In a continent where poverty is a prevalent issue, debate ensures when discussing such a huge socioeconomic issue. The nations of the African Union worked together in order to propose solutions to this always-relevant issue. A number of plans were proposed.

Uganda was quick to propose plans, reminding the nations how “we must conquer this issue in order to become part of the 21st century society.” Additionally, they suggested the use of global funds that have been granted, a truly unprecedented opportunity to end “one of the most damaging diseases impacting Africa.”

The issue of economics was immediately addressed by the delegation of Nigeria. Immediately, they discussed their cost efficient methods of curing Malaria. In a nation where economics are an issue, they proposed the use of mosquito nets and a shot preventing Malaria. Costing less than four dollars for a family of five to purchase both implements, “this could be a widespread solution to the Malaria crisis.”

In societies facing a number of disasters, those involving human disease are tough to combat. A number of resources will need to be used in order to stop this epidemic that has become so widespread. Finally, the delegation of Liberia reminded delegates that “We must unite in order to finally cure Malaria.”


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MANY IDEAS, LITTLE PASSING

The delegates in the JCC USA crisis committees are off to a very well start…sort of. The delegates have conjured up around five directives and they were recently introduced to the floor. For those of you who are not aware of what is happening, the USA retrieved their nukes from a terrorist group (they are a whole other topic, but long story short the U.S. left their missiles unprotected at their military base in Turkey and this terrorist group had gotten hold of them). The Americans shot the terrorists and now they have one less problem to solve. Hurrah!

Anyway, back to discussing the directives and operations that were introduced regarding the Cuba vs. USA issue. Another side-note to help my fellow readers understand this problem inside and out, Cuba has received aid from the USSR (Russia) after having a clash with U.S. troops at the Guantanamo Bay; during this little clash there were 12 Americans dead, and now we know there were twenty more found dead! The USA is extremely angered, therefore explaining the many different directives and operations being proposed.

Number one: Operation “Steal Scorpion” mentions that the U.S. army should invade Cuba with the help of their allies, Guatemala and Panama’s, military forces. They would like to send four forces, to be exact. Did anybody catch anything wrong? This operation calls for foreign forces to get involved! How would a country know if another said country’s troops are loyal to an army’s commands and it isn’t theirs? Also, why introduce other countries to your problems if it’s a known that they can be resolved without bringing any trouble to them, especially if they’re allies. We don’t have to worry about this operation being put into play because this directive wasn’t able to pass and has been eliminated, thankfully.

Number two: “Action Order for Peace” is exactly what it looks like. This directive urges the U.S. to blockade Cuba using one hundred naval ships. These ships will monitor other ships wishing to enter Cuba; the naval ships have the right to search any ships for weaponry and surely can block off any armies. Ok, so if there were a hundred naval ships blockading Cuba from getting any weapons or any outside help, does it suffice? The delegate portraying Mr. Ted Sorenson doesn’t think so and had commented, “Naval blockade is not enough! American lives are a lot more important!!” Well, this directive didn’t attain enough votes to be passed.

Number three: “Operation Phoenix” mention the Russians. Why involve Russians? What’s the purpose in bringing the Russians into this? Why? All this journalist can say is there is no need to start new problems, especially if dealing with another. This directive did not pass, and we can surely see why.

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MANY IDEAS, LITTLE PASSING (cont’d)

Number four: “Operation Cat Turnpike” mentions that the USA should treat Cuba like a separate country. The only operation that involves dealing with Cuba like it is an actual country and not just forcing everything into their systems and governments. Generally speaking, this directive should have been passed, but on the contrary it didn’t.

Number five: Directive 7.2 mentions that the U.S. should communicate with Cuba and try to negotiate the issue; and they would have 36 hours to respond. What a peaceful way to resolve all these issues. Too bad this directive, also, did not pass.

Disregarding the fact that the JCC USA committee wasn’t able to pass a single directive, it was an awesome committee. Interesting crises and even more interesting solutions makes for a better experience.


GREENER WORLD OR HEALTHIER MOTHERS?

Deciding on WHO’s New Topic of Importance

When debate started today at the World Health Organization, it seemed as if the country delegations weren’t sure over what matter to discuss next. Debate began slowly, but soon many countries started to make their decisions over which of the remaining two controversial but tremendously important matters should be talked about first. Nations were to choose between discussing maternal health and environmental pollution.

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GREENER WORLD OR HEALTHIER MOTHERS? (cont’d)

Setting the official start of the new debate, Israel began by expressing its strong support in favor of discussing environmental pollution. Israel argued that renewable resources were available and within reach, citing as an example it newly discovered natural gas reserves that it will soon begin to use. Environmental pollution, according to Israel, can be significantly reduced by using cleaner forms of energy. Other countries that favored focusing on environmental pollution rather than maternal health included South Korea, Canada, Egypt, and New Zealand. Among some of the most convincing arguments put forth by these countries were that environmental pollution is a global concern, where, as suggested by a few countries, maternal health is a bigger concern for developing countries than for developed nations, and that the U.N. has already taken significant action to counteract the problems associated with maternal health.

On the other side of the aisle, the U.S., Saudi Arabia, and Bangladesh, as well as several other nations, have stressed that maternal health is a much larger issue than environmental pollution. These countries argue that the U.N. Millennium Goals, which include a greater focus on maternal health, have yet to be met. They also state that the death of mothers, which is a worldwide problem, trumps any environmental concern, as mothers are the basis for the continuation of society.

Whichever topic the WHO ends up deciding to talk about first, there is no doubt that the committee will do an excellent job addressing the specific issues associated with each. All of the delegations have taken a conscientious approach to debating WHO’s greatest concerns, giving much hope to the international community and the overall health of the planet.


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TURMOIL IN THE CONGO

The Democratic Republic of the Congo has recently been targeted by a collection of ominous rebel groups with the goal of stripping the country of their natural resources. This organization is basically an indigenous assembly of individuals from the surrounding countries with psychopathic intentions. The United Nations Security Council has assembled immediately to prevent the situation from sprouting.

The Security Council has experienced a dichotomy in which half of the delegates supported a military resolution. This group proposed that UN forces take immediate action physically attack the rebels. The reason for the sudden haste is that the delegation of South Africa has been temporarily kidnapped by the rebels during the course of the debate and returned after a period of time with tattered clothing and scars on the side of his head. He was given specific orders by the rebels to stop funding the army of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, yet he flippantly disobeyed them. The Security Council was flabbergasted after witnessing the kidnapping of one of its members, and will not rest while it pursues revenge for such a horrendous crime.

The second half of delegates has united over a resolution calling for a diplomatic approach. They called for a cease-fire in order to negotiate with the rebels. They believe that it is quite foolish for the rebels to continue to fight the UN forces, and have opened doors for peace talks with them. Their backup plan, in case the negotiations are not efficacious, is to send in peace-keeping forces with the goal of “keeping [the situation] from over-boiling,” as stated by the delegation of South Africa.

There exists a conspicuous gap between both resolutions, yet both teams are looking for a compromise. They believe that synergy will be more effective than separate resolutions, and are currently working to merge both resolutions into one. As the delegation of France stated, the members are “waiting for a compromise to work out.”


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A SECRET MEETING

While in JCC (USSR) Press Corp. got very lucky when being invited on a secret two on two meeting between JCC (USSR) and JCC (CUBA). The meeting was to plan a secret attack on the US.

The first idea proposed was a ground invasion so that the US couldn’t unleash a nuke or bomb on the incoming Cuban and Soviet troops because of the fact they could injure or kill their own citizens. Troops from the US were in Cuba at the moment, specifically in Guantanamo Bay where fighting had broken out. Therefor the US would not bomb or nuke Cuba because of the mass amounts of American soldiers present.

The plan that Cuba had made was to send Cuban and Russian troops into Florida first (by foot) then move troops up to Miami, and then take Washington, New York City, and Chicago with ships. The US apparently did not suspect any attack from Russia and Russia also outnumbered the US two to one according to USSR sources.

Talk of getting the Turks to agree to join this coalition to attack America was spoken of but both Cuba and the USSR agreed it would be easier to just force Turkey into helping them.

After a god amount of time was spent arguing finally Cuba asked for Russia to joining the military coalition. Cuba reassured Russia that Russia outnumbered them as well and so they had no reason to worry Cuba was going to “stab them in the back” so to speak. Just before Russia and Cuba where forced back into their original JCC rooms they were thinking up a plan to preoccupy America and distract them from bombing Russia. Whether an agreement was ever reached on the attack of America is unknown.


FIGHTING FIRE WITH FIRE

Imagine looking into space and seeing a large object. After research, you find out that the machine is designed to fight weapons with weapons in order to combat the use of violence. How would that make you feel?

Nations in the Special Political and Decolonization Committee wondered this as they debated. There was a strong divide among nations over the use of the Life Cube. The Life Cube is a device that would detect weapons in space, then firing at these weapons with laser force in order to stop the usage of the weapons in question.

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FIGHTING FIRE WITH FIRE (cont’d)

The use of this practice is questionable, as it could misfire and then end up killing humans, not weapons.

The delegation of Saudi Arabia explained how “while we currently have a simple majority in support of the use of this technology, we are struggling to reach the two thirds agreement necessary to pass this resolution. One of the supporting nations is the Czech Republic, who believes that “there must be a way to enforce weapon regulations in addition to protecting space.” Additionally, Canada believes that the Life Cube “eliminates the need for as much military force around the world.”Conversely, the delegation of the United Kingdom is opposed to the use of the Life Cube. They believe there are more effective alternatives and that the Life Cube is “truly not the best method of enforcing these sanctions.” Nations will continue to stand divided on the Life Cube. The real question here is: life or death?


Delegates in the SPECPOL committee engage in an unmoderated caucus.

A STATE OF PARALYSIS FOR THE US

The Cold War has been ongoing for decades, and unrest reigns dominant throughout the world. In an event widely known as the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Soviet Union allied Cuba, an island merely ninety miles off the coast of Florida. Cuba agreed to place Soviet controlled nuclear warheads within their borders, giving Russia a chance to rein terror on American land. The American committee with the power to respond to this crisis lacks unity and is intensely divided in dealing with the Cuban missile crisis.

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A STATE OF PARALYSIS FOR THE US (cont’d)

The Americans immediately responded with reciprocate action by placing their own nuclear warheads in a location near the Soviets in Turkey. After meeting again for the second day, the committee was determined to put an end to the crisis in Cuba.

Many operations and directives have been authored during the committee. Over five different resolutions have been presented all at once to the chair, and they all failed. Secretaries have debated over whether diplomacy in dealing with the USSR is a wiser decision than invasion of Cuba, whether Cuba must be compromised with before the USSR or not, and whether blockading Cuba with naval vessels would be more effective than invasion. Directives have included ideas such as diplomatic talks with the Soviets followed by invasion of Cuba lest they disagree, focusing on the Cuban government before engaging in verbal and physical battle with Russia, blockading Cuba with naval ships as a means of hindrance of further Soviet expeditions into the country, and even total occupation of Cuba in an attempt to mitigate the effects of the Cold War on the United States. However, the ideas are now meaningless, for none of them passed.

Two important events happened coeval to the committee, and they effect the decision making of the secretaries and representatives dynamically. One such incident was the Cuban rebellion near Guantanamo. They overpopulated Americans in the area and killed twenty. This angered the members of the committee and caused them to introduce dogmatic resolutions, mainly invasion. Only a short time later did the USSR discover the location of the American counter-missiles in Turkey and prepare for submarine voyage in the Atlantic Ocean. The members of the committee were further divided over these two incidents. Secretary of Labor W. Willard Wirtz mentioned that “We’re in a complete paralysis.”


WORKING ON PAPERS

I took a trip down to the DISEC committee once more and it was even more interesting. Things are moving along quite well. The delegates are done with there first topic and now a new motif is being discussed… Arctic Demilitarization!! There are five countries, called the Arctic Council, and they are all fighting for the Arctic lands. The countries consist of the United States of America, Russia, Denmark, Norway, and Canada. What makes the Arctic Council think that they can just take the lands of the Arctic? Well, the Arctic has been acting up lately and they are using their weapons and war machines for all the wrong reasons.

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WORKING ON PAPERS (cont’d)

So if the Arctic Council wants to take a snag at trying to resolve these issues by claiming the Arctic’s land, then so be it! It’s up to the DISEC delegates to find a solution to this problem… and fast! Quick overview of the motif being debated: the committee wants to demilitarize the Arctic and the Arctic Council wants to claim the lands and use its resources for their own good.

The delegates already have two written working papers and a third being composed. The first working paper, sponsors would be Russia, USA and Thailand, suggests that each country in the Arctic 5 should get equal amounts of land. In addition, it calls upon the Arctic 5 countries to work out the internal border disputes among each other within the next year. Finally, it trusts the Arctic 5 to commence in international trade with non-Arctic countries and developing nations. Wow, hopefully this paper passes, and if not the next working paper look pretty good if you ask me.

Second working paper, sponsors are Spain, Greece, Switzerland, suggests that the Arctic Council is bad yet acknowledges the sovereignty of them and all their claims. Also, it recognizes that there is an ecological threat in the region and demands there are a code of laws aimed towards combating climate change in the region. This working paper seems it might actually pass.

Two wonderful papers and let’s not forget there’s a third still being written!


40

SEIZED

Black masks, and a crowd of people. Not a sight one would expect to see walking into the ECOFIN committee. A time of crisis had just ended, the Chinese delegate finally returned after being captured for lying about the country’s Gross Domestic Product. As I spoke to him he was still in shock, describing the experience as “confusing and life changing.” He explained how when taken upstairs he was questioned, including about if he had blood on him.

The General Crisis committee, whose aim is to capture and question delegates about supposed violations, captured this delegate. Running into rooms, kidnapping puzzled delegates, interrogating them about their country’s affairs. All of this and more are in a day’s work for members of this intense committee.

Interrogations like these are scary for those involved. Considering that they are unaware of the reason they are being captured, this could be considered to provoke thoughts about a number of constitutional issues. One issue being search and seizure, as the delegate is unaware of the reason they are obtained, in violation of the 4th amendment. Additionally, the rights of the accused play a role in the actions of this committee, discussed in amendments five through eight.

Overall, it is necessary to not let brutal forces like these rule our nations. They are cruel, unconstitutional and scary for those taken hostage.


Members of the general crisis committee plot their next capture.

41

CRISIS AT UNICEF

It appears that UNICEF is at a frightening moment in its history! In the midst of a debate where various countries were mentioning different ideas to improve global sustainability, UNICEF was mobbed by a group of insurgents, and for the first time ever, a delegate from the committee was kidnapped; more specifically, the delegate of Hungary.

At first it appeared that debate would continue today like it had before, with total tranquility. Among the ideas that had been pitched by the delegates were the possibilities of creating more dams, furthering more NGO partnerships (such as the Life-Straw program), increasing construction of public infrastructure, and using a video with a similar format to that of KONY 2012 but with the purpose of promoting UNICEF’s agenda.

Unfortunately it was impossible to make great developments in debate, as the insurgents suddenly broke through the secured doors of the committee, and terrorized the delegations. After much chaos, it became clear that the insurgents were targeting the delegate of Hungary, who was held at gunpoint and suffered horrific physical abuse while being forced out of the committee room. At the moment, UNICEF and the entire U.N. is working to identify who these insurgents are exactly, and what their specific demands involve.

It was surprising to see that, after the kidnapping, the other delegations gave little importance to the matter. The first country to speak after the incident (the United States) wholly ignored the issue at hand and chose to speak about infrastructure instead! The speaker after that (India) did mention Hungary’s kidnapping, but very briefly.

It’s of vital importance for the various country delegations at UNICEF to realize the magnitude of the crisis at hand. The nations at UNICEF should seize the moment to seek out and punish the insurgents, and use the events recently undergone to gain much needed support for their ideas in global sustainability.


42

INTERVIEW WITH FINLAND AND BULGARIA

In my interview with the delegates I asked them what changes occurred since the previous day of deliberation and the ongoing issues. I also asked them if they had any more new resolutions pertaining to the topic discussed in the previous meeting (funding for education). However, contrary to what I would expect, they notified me that the topic that was most discussed in their committee was pertaining to African refugees, the topic that they tabled very quickly in their first session the day the discussions began. They told me that this became a very important topic as some countries were afraid that they would be inundated with more refugees than their countries could hold. The delegation of Bulgaria informed me that they were able to resolve this issue by moderating border control and balancing the amount of refugees in countries through a ‘rationing system’.

When I asked the delegation of Finland as to the current issues or issues that were just recently resolved, he stated that the Delegations of France and Poland were kidnapped by North African refugees. He added that this crisis caused a debate as to whether or not their committee should try to form a coalition to get back those members or continue deliberation on another topic. In the end it was decided that they would get them back and by working together they were able to retrieve those individuals. This effort, the delegation of Finland stated, “It shows the power and influence of the European Union and also shows that their committee is proactive and will take all measures necessary to protect and help foster its nations.”

Lastly, when I asked the as to how they were able to pass their resolutions even though there was much contention, they informed me that they did so by intentionally forming two different resolutions and deciding from the beginning that they would take what is favorable from each resolution by voting and take what they found favorable and form a final resolution. This seemed like a very effective idea in my opinion because by doing this, people at least had something that served as a basic guideline and amendments could be passed to address any issues that were not previously addressed in the resolution.


43

ENDING PARTISANSHIP

It appears that the countries in the European Union have agreed to set aside their differences and unite as a continent, regardless of their disagreements in policy. Poland, Latvia, and Portugal, three powerful states that have led the debate throughout this conference, shook hands with one another and agreed to participate in a group interview so as to display their camaraderie, regardless of their previous animosity.

Throughout the conference, the EU has primarily struggled with the issues of border control and the rationing of refugees the most. At one point, parallel resolutions had to be passed on the rationing of refugees, since the committee could not come to an agreement on one final and decisive solution.

As the tensions of debate begin to wither, the countries have eased up on their attacks to one another and have even begun to demonstrate signs of friendship. As Latvia and Poland (two opposing nations) shook hands, they agreed that, “[they’ve] had an amazing experience working with one another and that, regardless of [their] obvious disagreements, [they] cannot wait to continue working with one another in the future.”

In an increasingly hostile world, it is imperative that more of this bipartisan unity be present. The work of the EU is a clear example to countries affected by partisan gridlock.


SAVING SAHEL

UNICEF taking action in the Sahel region.

Excitement was in the air in the UNICEF committee. A resolution was finally going to be passed, after a long session of tiring debate discussing the issues. It was a proud moment as the sponsors stood up, eager to finally present the ideas that they had carefully worded.

Before this moment, Iran jokingly proposed calling the plan “Sahel 2013” or “Believe in Sahel.” It was even suggested by Saudi Arabia that cats could be used in the video message, sparking laughter in the weary delegates.

The paper suggested a number of points. First, it suggested focusing on decreasing mortality in the Sahel region in a number of ways. Another point made was the necessity for an agricultural economy.

44

SAVING SAHEL (cont’d)

Startling facts were recounted, such as the 300,000 who have died from malnutrition already and the 6.9 million who have been affected by the Sahel crisis. The delegates spoke with heart about these pressing issues.

An elaborate media campaign was another component of the working paper. Among the elements of this tremendous effort were videos, movies, and print documents to be distributed to create awareness, in addition to the creation of fundraising centers in all UN nations.

The final segment discussed solutions to the food and water crisis in particular. The Life straw is an amazing piece of technology, which can filter water for only $20 per straw. Implements like this could save so many lives every day.

Deep levels of progress have been made in the UNICEF committee. The success and triumph of their results can truly change the lives of so many affected by the Sahel region crisis every day.


A candid moment as delegates get excited to present their paper in the UNICEF committee.

45

WE WILL RULE THE WORLD! OR NOT…

USSR’s delegate Anrdrie Gromyko, Minister of Foreign Affairs, informed me that the USRR’s main concern was to gain allies in its attempt to “pose” a threat to the U.S. Their main intention was to intimidate the U.S. so that they would leave Cuba alone and then they could take control of it. By doing this, they hoped to show other nations that they are powerful and gain their support. However, unbeknownst to them, traitors in their committee stole nukes and distributed them to other nations. Their plan to get friendly with Cuba and then cause a revolt after sending their troops in failed after they tried to attack Turkey and assimilate with them. These notions both failed as well as the proposition to get make an alliance with them. Although later on, Turkey attacked Cuba and wiped out many members of the US military, this relief or success was very ephemeral.

Nuclear warheads were then fired at the USSR and their country was also heavily bombarded and damaged. The later discussions leading to the conclusion of the debate were as to the future course of action as Turkey (one of the USSR’s hopeful allies) was almost completely wiped of the continent after they were attacked by 1600 nukes and over 90% of its population had been killed. In the end, the committee was invaded and held hostage and notified to end deliberation. In the end, they quickly decided to end. In the end, he notified me that although each of the countries tried to protect its own interests, they ended up destroying each other.


Choosing Between Tech and Food

The United Nations Development Programme clearly wishes to expand its frontiers and establish a more ambitious agenda. In the latest round of speaker’s list dedicated to setting the agenda, many countries expressed their desire to focus on e-governance, to capitalize on recent technological improvements and establish a diplomatic front more acquainted with the changes associated with the modern world. Among these nations were the delegations of Saudi Arabia, the U.S.A., China, Switzerland, Iran, and New Zealand.

A smaller faction of delegations, including Indonesia, Russia, India, and the United Kingdom, are advocating for a focus on sustainable agriculture, rather than e-governance. This coalition believes that running government in a more technologically advanced manner is of little importance when compared to the general human need for food (the most primitive need), that has yet to be met.

46

Choosing Between Tech and Food (cont’d)

The E-Governance coalition has counteracted this respectable argument by firmly stating that improvements in technology, when paired with government, can allow for more efficient, innovative, and resourceful governance. This revolution in government, suggest China and Switzerland, can permit for solutions to problems (including the problem of food shortages and unreliable agricultural lands) that were previously unresolvable for many states across the globe.

The possibility of technology-driven government services and transactions is an appealing one, as the chances of human error and bureaucratic red tape would be greatly diminished. At the same time, the idea of directly focusing on sustainable agriculture is extremely noble and also very appealing.

The UNDP’s decision over what policy to tackle first will depend on two factors: the committee’s desirability of dealing with food shortages and similar issues (this would favor the idea of working on sustainable agriculture) and the level of technological development available to the committee’s respective nations (a high level of technological development would favor the argument of e-governance, and vice-versa).


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