(First, I apologize for the length and density of this post – other ones will be more pointed)
The goal of Model UN is not just to educate you about international relations and the UN system, but to have fun seeing the world from other points of view.
This is why it’s always fun to be Iran, North Korea, or another “rogue” state you disagree with.Model UN uses a system of debate roughly based on Roberts Rules of Order.
The Chair
The Chair is your god. Throw out the First Commandment. What he says goes. Respect your Chair at all times. The Chair’s job is to apply the rules to debate. Depending on the council or the Chair, they may relax the rules in certain situations.The Chair will ensure there is order by ensuring that the rules of debate are respected, including:Only one person is speaking at a timeThe rules of the current mode of debate (moderated or unmoderated caucus) are respectedThey pick who speaks whenever a Speaker’s List is not being used.They ensure that delegates do not go over their alloted time.
The way you interact with the Chair and the process is through motions:
MOTION TO
Set Speaker’s Time (M)Open the Speaker’s List or Close the Speaker’s List (M)
Suspend Debate (to hold a caucus) (M)
Adjourn Meeting. Ceremonially, ends the conference until next year, but often used to suspend for lunch (M)Close Debate moves the committee to vote (2/3)
Point of Order is used when a delegate believes the Chair has made a mistake. They must address procedure, not the topic of debate (Discretion)
Point of Inquiry/Point of Parliamentary Procedure requests a clarification on the rules of procedure. This is widely open to abuse (No Vote)
Point of Personal Privilege is the only motion which may interrupt anyone. It is exclusively for compaint of discomfort or inability to participate fully in the debate (such as not being able to hear the delegate speaking) (No Vote)
Point of Information is a question to the current speaker. The speaker may decide, if he has time remaining, to yield his time to Points of Information of a certain number and length (Discretion of Speaker)
Let’s set up an example of using motions to affect procedure:
A is the Chair, B and C are delegates
A: The Chair will entertain any motions on the floor
B: Motion to move to a moderated caucus
A: That is in order. All those in favour?
C: Point of order: there’s no topic of discussion.
A: The Chair apologizes. Would you like to set a topic for discussion?
B: Is it in order to set the topic of discussion to reasons why the new res building isn’t done?
A: That is in order. All those in favour?
C: Point of order: there’s no time limit.
B: Motion to set the speaking time of the moderated caucus to 30 seconds?
A: That is in order. All those in favour?
C was allowed to interrupt normal proceedings because the rules weren’t being respected. Whenever you move to a caucus, there must be a topic of discussion. This particular one is more common than you might think.
Modes of Debate
There are types of debate: The Speaker’s List, Moderated Caucus, and Unmoderated Caucus
The Speaker’s List is the default. All councils start using the Speaker’s List. The Chair will have a list on the screen of countries who have raised their placards to speak. To add yourself to the speaker’s list, raise your placard or make eye contact with whomever controls the speaker’s list. The first thing a Chair will do is either set the speaking time or allow a motion for the speaking time to be set. Once a speaker’s time elapses, the Chair will call on the next person on the list. At any point between two speakers, a motion may be made to enter a caucus.
The Moderated Caucus is usually the most common type of caucus. In a moderated caucus, delegates will raise their placards and be called upon by the Chair to speak at their discretion.To enter a Moderated Caucus, it usually goes like this:Motion to enter a 5 minute moderated caucus, 30 second speaking time, on why caf food sucks.The motion has a length, a speaking time, and a subject. The Chair will entertain other motions (which are often slight variations, including options for longer speaking times) and put them to a vote.
The Unmoderated Caucus allows everyone to leave their seats and confer privately with their allies or partners. It has a time limit and hypothetically has a topic, but there is no means to enforce the topic.
Resolutions
The whole point of being a delegate is to get your agenda passed through resolutions. Resolutions are non-binding acts of whatever council you’re on that outline actions to be taken by the UN and suggestions for actions by member states.
A note – just as you usually speak in the third-person while on the floor, a resolution is always written in the present tense unless it’s referring to something that actually took place in the past.
There are three key things you’ll need to know about resolutions: The Preambulatory Clauses, the Operative Clauses, and Amendments.
Preambs are not technically part of the resolution, but establish the spirit and context of the resolution. Usually they are not subject to debate and they are not subject to a vote. If even one operative clause passes, the preambs all pass. They will often draw to mind certain events, ideas, or principles that the authors want to address in the operative clauses.
An example preamb is “Remembering the events of September 11th, 2001 and the attack on New York City”. It is purely contextual and does not connote action.
Ops are the meat of a resolution. Each operative clause occupies a separate paragraph, as does each subsection, sub-sub section, etc. These are non-binding, but should be action oriented. Their goal is to prompt action by states and the UN.
An example operative clause is “Urging the member states of the United Nations to take bold action to prevent further attacks”.
What makes these a little more confusing, however, is when you get in to sub-sections, sub-sub sections, etc. These are important – the more specific a clause is, the further down the hierarchy it should be, specifically if it’s building on a previous clause.
You will be provided with a list of words that can be used to start preambulatory and operative clauses. Note that “Deplores” can only be used by the Security Council.
A resolution has two tiers of countries supporting it: the sponsors, and the signatories. Sponsors are usually the writers of the resolution and major supporters. Signatories simply wish to see it discussed, but do not necessarily agree or disagree with the content.
The tricky part of resolutions comes when you deal with amendments. It’s extremely rare that a resolution as it is introduced will have the open support of enough people to pass it. If there’s something you want changed about a resolution, there are two avenues open to you:
1. The Friendly Amendment. Go talk to the sponsors of the resolution and get them all to sign off on the text of what you want changed. Submit the text to the chair, and at the next opportunity ask the chair if it’s in order to introduce your friendly amendment. If it is, it does not go to a vote but is automatically incorporated in to the text of the resolution. There’s no debate.
An amendment is structured like this:
To the Chair
From Portugal.
Unfriendly Amendment:Insert clause 4 stating that “Resolving that all funds be diverted to the delegate for Portugal through Swiss bank accounts”
Alternatively, you can amend the text of the current clause:Amend clause 4 to say “Resolving that all funds NOT be diverted”…
or simply, Strike clause 4
2. The Unfriendly Amendment. This is far more common. Do you find a passage unacceptable? Do you want to make the resolution unacceptable to others? Get some partners to sponsor your amendment and submit it to the Chair.
The Chair will deem whether or not it’s allowed, and allow perhaps a moderated caucus on the amendment (which you would have to propose), or two speakers for, two speakers against. This will go to a vote, ½ is needed to add it in to the resolution for all future discussion.
What is expected of you as a delegate
You are to assume all the positions of your country, regardless of whether you find them hard to relate to, wrong, or immoral. You are to argue them with conviction. This is a key skill for a delegate. If you are Iran, you are allowed to go on anti-semitic rants. If you are North Korea, you have the right to be as stubborn as you see fit. You must defend the actions of your state.This is why we expect that you have researched your country and are reasonably familiar with their policies and attitudes. If you are a Catholic country, do not let us catch you voting for a resolution promoting funding for safe abortions unless that is a specific policy of your government.
The one large departure from character that is permissible is your international alliances. This relies much more on social skills and who you trust as a competent partner. Trust is key. Because interpersonal relationships play such a huge role in Model UN, the international order will be upset. At Queen’s MUN Security Council I was Mexico. The UK dominated the US because the UK was an experienced delegate while the US was at his first conference. Thus, the real US-UK power dynamic was reversed. For that reason, as Mexico I didn’t align with the United States because it would mean aligning with the UK, who had announced his intention to run roughshod over the non-veto powers. This didn’t end well when the non-veto powers banded together with our council majority and controlled the discussion. This will always have to be evaluated on a case-by-case basis when you’re in the committee room. For this reason, try to become friends with fellow delegates – these are not just useful for political purposes, as many friendships are made at the committee table.
If you’re DPRK or Iran, however, you should not be talking to the United States unless you are getting almost everything you want. This is unlikely. Remember: the more extreme your country, the more you have to live up to those extremes.
After debate, you will produce resolutions or other products which will be put to a vote. These will be addressed in another session.
Research
In becoming your country, it’s key that you thoroughly research your country’s positions not just on the topics assigned to you, but in general. I was at Harvard last year as Portugal on NATO when the organizers announced that they would be throwing out our topics of discussion – which I had thoroughly prepared for – in favour of a “perpetual crisis”. The crisis dealt with areas of Portuguese policy I was not familiar with – like troop and fleet deployments – and Harvard did not allow the use of electronics, so no googling (there wasn’t even internet in the hotel). There were a few late night research sessions involved.
Also, “crises” are time-sensitive topics which are entered in to unannounced when the organizers see fit. The normal rules will be suspended in favour of expedience, so often you can get away with many cool tricks around the rules depending on your chair. Often you’ll start with very little information and slowly be given more as a situation develops.
