So you’ve seen a few of these posts now talking about something called a “MUN”, ‘directors’ and ‘delegates’. You’re unsure how you even started following this page – maybe you just thought it was cool, or a friend got you to like it but you’re wondering to yourself if its too late to ask what the heck a MUN is at this point. FEAR NOT because here at MIAS we know that its easy to get lost in all the MUN jargon sometimes so thats why we’re here to lay it out to you straight and give you the 411 on what a MUN is.
MUN is shorthand for model United Nations which, as the name suggests, is basically a simulation of the actual United Nations and gives you a chance to debate and discuss real world problems as you represent real countries. The conference usually spans at least 2 days and is comprised of multiple ‘committees’ where debate and negotiation take place. The committees are simulations of UN committees/bodies/commissions/summits, for example some of the committees on offer at MUNash are the UNSC (the United Nations Security Council), the WHO (the World Health Organisation) and the Commission on the Status of Women. Each of the committees have a topic around which debate will take place – these topics are designed to reflect real world problems that the real correlating committee would likely debate and discuss – for example, the UNSC (the United Nations Security Council) this year at MUNash has the topic of the ‘crisis in Sudan’ which is a real world problem and is something that the real UNSC would likely debate and try to resolve.
Which leads us to the next question – what is a delegate? In short, the delegates of a MUN conference are you guys – the participants!! The term delegate is used because when participating in a MUN conference, you don’t participate as yourself you actually participate as a country – or to be more specific as the DELEGATE of a country (i.e. the representative of a country of your choosing) hence the term delegate. At MUNash, you’ll be able to pick from a vast variety of different countries – the composition of each committee differ as they reflect the composition of those committees in real life. For example, the UNSC only has 15 member states in real life and as such if you would like to participate as the UNSC at MUNash, you’ll have your pick of those 15 countries to represent (so long as someone who has registered before you hasn’t already taken that country).
What does being a delegate actually mean though you ask? It means that you’re effectively the representative of that country – meaning you’re representing its foreign policy, including what it hopes to achieve at the end of the conference. Your country’s foreign policy will determine how you debate and discuss the issue – for example, if you were the US in a committee debating climate change, your stance in the committee would have to reflect the current US foreign policy on climate change – it doesn’t matter what your own personal opinion is.
What is the aim of all this? To create a resolution. The aim for each committee is to create a resolution by the end of the conference to combat/solve/mitigate the issue presented to you by the topic set. You will have to work with each other (or against one another) in order to ensure that the problem is solved whilst making sure none of your country’s values/aims are compromised. This is where the diplomacy bit kicks in – over the two days you’ll have to work out who your allies are, who your enemies are and play a huge game of geo-political chess to achieve what your country wants and resolve the issue (whatever that might mean to your country).
You’re reading this and you’re thinking – I don’t do law or international relations, I don’t even know what the UN does let alone the specifics of each committee and the foreign policy of other countries, this sounds way to academic and intense for me, THATS WHERE YOU WOULD BE WRONG! Whilst on paper this all sounds rather intense, MUN is an internationally renowned activity that is often considered one of the best ways to learn about the workings of the United Nations. It does not require a lot of research or prep, and it’s not all just intense and serious debate either – often you’ll have a good mix of actual debate and banter/playful debate as people exchange witty remarks/political barbs with each other and stretch the limits of their imaginations as their respective countries. To put this into context, in previous years at MUNash we’ve had resolutions that have included clauses on Harambe the Gorilla, a UNSC discussing the Arab conflict in which Israel and Palestine ended up joining forces, and a committee on the partition of India that ended up creating a map where Pakistan didn’t even exist.
Throughout the 2 days, you’ll not only learn more about the committee you’re simulating and the country you’re representing but you’ll also be well versed and knowledgable about real world problems as well as gaining a better understanding about how the United Nations actually functions. MUNash in particular is beneficial for all first timers as it is a predominantly first-timer conference (meaning mostly every one there has never done MUN/heard of MUN before) and as such it is an incredibly conducive and comfortable environment for everyone and anyone that wants to try their hand at MUN.
You’re thinking ‘this all sounds rather good, but hang on what was that about a committee on the partition of India? What real life UN committee did that simulate?’. Great question. Aside from the committees that simulate modern day UN committees, there are often what we call ‘historical’ and ‘crisis’ committees which are committees that are set in the past and surrounding a crisis, respectively. For example, this year at MUNash we have a ‘Treaty of Versailles’ committee which transports you back to when the Treaty was being discussed – as a delegate in this committee you would be pretending you lived in the 1900’s and would represent your country’s foreign policy as it was back then – giving you the chance to re-shape the current state of the world all together. Crisis committees, such as the one last year which focused on the partition of India, focus on very specific crises’ that have happened or are happening and you represent actual individuals rather than nations. In 2017 at MUNash an example of a crisis committee that we had was the US cabinet on the topic of the Iraq invasion in 2003 – delegates got to be actual historical figures (such as the head of the CIA or the President at the time – George Bush). However, as crisis committees are a bit advanced and MUNash is catering for a largely inexperienced base, crisis committees are not on offer this year but are something you can look forward to at some point in your MUN life.
If you’re still feeling kind of lost, here are a couple of videos that will help you visualise what MUN is a bit more:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s32gxrYfAgM – short video explaining what MUN is (1 minute overview)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2wpk8lPUQQ – fun clip from the Simpsons, showcasing the more ‘fun’ side of MUN
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHk9NnBYxZM – clip from Parks and Recreation about MUN
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGkG5EmLMbg – another fun clip from Parks and recreation showcasing what diplomacy at MUN can look like
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibRsziA7zIs – ONE MORE fun clip from Parks and Recreation showcasing what debate is sometimes like at MUN conferences
MUN has a huge presence in the international sphere, with MIAS annually sending two delegations to Harvard WorldMUN and NMUN (National MUN in the US, held in New York and at the UN HQ itself) and MUNash is a great first step in trying the waters out – you’ll find that at the end of the two days of debate, negotiation, and relaxation (at our two socials) you’ll not only have gained some very important skills, you’ll also have widened your horizons and gained some new friendships; opening the doors to a world full of possibilities!
AS always, please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions about MUN, MUNash or anything you think we can help you with – we’re always happy to answer anything via FB or email (mias@monashclubs.org)