Model United Nations Experience Reflection

Transcription

1 Margaret Ruiz IRP 471 Global Governance Practicum May 2, 2012 Model United Nations Experience Reflection My Model United Nations journey began with our biweekly preparatory meetings. These meetings were extremely helpful in preparing me for my most exciting firsthand encounter with the practice of diplomacy: my first experience as a delegate representing the Republic of Gabon in the National Model United Nations Conference. Our three focal tasks included understanding Gabon, the United Nations system, and the NMUN conference rules and procedures. I was not only fascinated by the amount of material we were learning in such a short period of time, but also amazed at how much fun I had learning as much as I could about the UN and Gabon. Overall, our preparatory meetings were extremely helpful in preparing us for the conference. For example, our stand and delivers helped me learn to think on my toes; especially when we were given random questions that we had to answer off the top of our heads. Although they were the most intimidating, they were also one of the most useful strategies for the conference. The stand and delivers were also important because they forced me to work on my public speaking skills. I still remember the first couple of times I would go home and reflect on how much I needed to improve on my public speaking, so that I could be comfortable enough to express my thoughts in the conference. These stand and delivers were my biggest personal challenge, especially when I observed my fellow team members answering questions; I would repeatedly compare myself to them. Although my fear of public speaking has not completely disappeared, I have nevertheless noticed a significant improvement. This experience has brought it to my attention that I need to

2 improve this skill. Additionally, in terms of procedures simulation, I thought overall the preparation was well done, as I felt very prepared for the conference. However, I think perhaps it would have been more useful to learn the procedures and take the quiz earlier, that way, the rules and procedures become second nature for delegates. Another suggestion that I thought would be extremely worthwhile is to have a preparatory mock conference week, that week right before the conference. It would have given us a better understanding of how exactly the conference would run and it also gives delegates a chance to notice what their weaknesses are before the conference so that they came improve them for the conference. Although this preparatory week would be difficult given the time constrains and the excessive preparation that would be required of the delegation as a whole, in my view, it would be great preparation for the conference. This mock conference would ideally incorporate a heavily controversial issue and require all delegates to argue different opinions on the subject matter. This would allow delegates to have a tangible understanding of what kind of negotiation goes into the conference. Most importantly, it would teach delegates how to push for their countries national interests while at the same time appealing to the international community and forming friendly working relations with other blocs of countries. In terms of the readings for understanding the inner workings of the United Nations, I found Fasulo s An Insider s Guide to the UN and Smith s The Global Dance to be extremely helpful for understanding the UN village and how delegates negotiate and pass resolutions. I particularly enjoyed The Global Dance; I found those chapters to be a great resource on how diplomacy and negotiation works within the conference. I especially enjoyed the chapters on strategies of influence and Groups and Blocs. Moreover, I thought editing and revising each other s position papers was very successful in allowing us to learn from our peers and helping us improve our writing skills.

3 Lastly, I think it would be helpful if there is more emphasis on Gabon s international role, because I felt that my knowledge on Gabon was much more locally and nationally concentrated. In fact, this idea was inspired by a fellow delegate who corrected my position paper and underlined the local, national and international aspects. I think it would be useful to have delegates correcting position papers underline where they see local, national and international initiatives in each paper. In terms of the conference, I thought overall it was a great experience; I am so glad that I had this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. When we first arrived it was a bit overwhelming, we had delegates introducing themselves to us and asking my partner and I what our topic order preference we had, before we even had time to settle in. However, as a delegate, you learn very early on that flexibility and thinking on your feet are two extremely important aspects to keep in mind throughout the conference. When my committee partner and I first arrived and we were trying to set the agenda topics, we quickly realized that as Gabon, our national interests were not in line with many of our fellow African countries. Gabon is a special case in Africa, because unlike most other sub-saharan countries, Gabon is doing quite well with water management and development. As a result, the agenda was set with our last topic choice being the first issue to be discussed. That is why I strongly believe that flexibility, diplomacy, diligence and thinking on your feet are the most important qualities a delegate should possess if he/she wishes to perform well in this conference. Additionally, the mission briefing was very helpful because it allowed us to ask specific questions about Gabon s position on our individual committee topics. I also thought the timing for the mission briefing was excellent because we had already set our agenda topics, therefore we knew specifically what questions to ask. Furthermore, I know this was an aspect that has been

4 repeatedly mentioned by other delegates, but I believe it cannot be overemphasized how much the international aspect of the conference added to the wonderful learning experience. It was personally one of my favorite aspects of the whole experience, to be able to work on controversial policy issues with such a diverse group of students from all over the world. In my opinion, nothing can serve as a better illustration for my perception of what International Relations should be; diligent international relations students from around the world working on resolving contentious global policy issues. As far as my committee (GA Second Committee), I was quite pleased with how diplomatically and professionally all delegates carried themselves out. Although our issues on water management and microcredit and economic development were not extremely contentious issues, the GA Second Committee was one of the largest committees at the conference, which made negotiation and diplomacy a lot more challenging. Nevertheless, during our breaks for caucus I really felt that I was able to grasp what Linda Fasulo described as the UN village. The conference experience also showed me firsthand how most of the substantial work and negotiation goes on during informal caucusing. Only during informal caucusing were my committee partner and I able to search for more sponsors and learn about other working papers we could be signatories to. Although it was a bit difficult to put in as much input into the resolution writing as I would have liked, overall my partner and I did pretty well working on a topic that neither one of us was particularly knowledgeable of beforehand. In fact, we sponsored the largest and most successful resolution that was passed on the Second Committee. My partner and I worked with several African Union countries such as Djibouti, Ethiopia, Zambia, Cameroon, and much more on this massive resolution. We were fortunate because we were able to add a lot of clauses that favored Gabon s position on microcredit and foreign direct investment with economic

5 development. My partner and I were also signatories of several other resolutions passed on microcredit and economic development. Moreover, one thing I would change if I were to do it all over again would be getting the courage to get myself onto the speakers list sooner than I did. Unfortunately because it was such a big committee, by the time I mustered enough courage to get on the speakers list, it was nearly impossible from that point on, because there were too many delegates on it and not to mention the long forty-five minute caucusing breaks certainly did not work to my advantage. Therefore, a strong suggestion for future delegates who are in large committees is to always get on the speakers list even if you do not feel prepared enough to do so, otherwise you may never get the chance to speak. Overall the conference was an amazing and definitely unforgettable part of my undergraduate career in international affairs. Finally, I believe this Model United Nation Practicum is great for anyone who has an interest in international affairs and foreign policy. I also think everyone has his/her own personal goals in international relations that can certainly improve with this experience. As previously stated, my personal goal was my confidence with public speaking skills, but perhaps another goal for another delegate might be the desire to apply the theories they learn in their international relations courses. Just as science students have their lab courses to apply what they learned in lecture, I see the Model United Nations Conference as the laboratory so to speak, for International Relations students. I was really able to see firsthand how challenging international diplomacy and cooperation can be. This experience truly showed me how complex the United Nations truly is, and the level of difficulty and efficiency that is required to run a massive allencompassing international organization as expansive and powerful as the United Nations.

6 I also observed firsthand that part of being a delegate requires keeping your national interests in mind, while simultaneously keeping a positive international image and negotiating with different countries, with different priorities and agendas on what should be the most pressing issue. Lastly, I would like to add that my experience would not have been the same without our outstanding delegation. Everyone in our team was amazing in their own way and each one of my fellow team members brought something different to the table, which is probably why we won the most prestigious award in the Conference, Outstanding Delegation. My only regret about Model United Nations was not knowing about this wonderful opportunity earlier in my undergraduate career, before my senior year; I would have enjoyed participating in Model United Nations a second time. Nevertheless this Model United Nations experience will always be remembered as a highlight of my undergraduate career in International Relations.