UN Visit III--At the briefing

At the briefing on UN Peacekeeping Operations.

UN Visit--Part II

(3) Checking out the Trusteeship Council Activities and (4) Reading the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Clark at the United Nations

(1) The Clark Group milling about at the UN compound before the tour. (2) Clark Group at the UN Security Coucil. Do you see any future diplomats?

Model UNGA Simulation, Monday, Sept. 28/06

Two topic areas have been posted below. For Monday’s class you will choose a country of your choice and argue either in favor of Topic area A (State-Sponsored Terrorism) or B (Third World Debt Crisis).

Topic summaries are posted on the website.

Rules of Parliamentary Procedure will apply.

Once you have you chosen the country go to the comment section of the website and do the following:

Select a country

1. Tell us what country you have chosen
2. In order to know which country you have chosen just leave your first name.
(Again note, just your first name, next to the country of your choice)

Be ready to begin debating on Monday.

Topic Area B: Third World Debt Crisis

Third World debt has been a recurrent global problem in the past few decades. Demise of colonialism, corrupt leadership, as well as mismanaged lending and spending by the developed nations have contributed to the third world debt crisis we face today. The debt crisis affects both nation-states and their indigenous populations. Millions of people in third world countries face poor living standards because of their countries’ enormous debt payment. Nation-states are constrained to apportion large amount of their output for repayment of debt. Therefore, not enough funds are allocated for factors of development such as health and education.

We will analyze the causes, the magnitude, and the current policies concerning Third World debt. We will question the effectiveness of current policies and work together to minimize the debt. The Economic and Financial Committee will specifically examine:

1. Standard of Living: How do standards of living compare between developed and undeveloped nations? What methods can we implement in order to improve the standard of living in third world countries?

2. Aid Initiative: The current aid given by the developed nations is insufficient in comparison to the amount of Third World debt. What can be done to increase aid and decrease debt? What are some incentives for the developed nations to contribute to this crisis?

Topic Area A: State-Sponsored Terrorism

With the beginning of the twenty-first century, the world is witnessing the emergence of a new threat to global peace and stability: terrorism. The United Nations was once concerned with averting further conventional world wars and mitigating the threat of nuclear incidents in a Cold War bipolar system, but now the major international security threat is terrorism. State-sponsored terrorism is a particularly important topic that the Disarmament and International Security Committee should address. We will focus on questions of national sovereignty, deterrence, and definition. In the process the committee will consider the nuclear dimension, avoiding inter-state war over terrorist actors, and mechanisms for ending state sponsorship of terrorist groups and networks.

Definition: Attempting to reach a consensus on what constitutes state-sponsored terrorism will be an important goal of the committee. Without a clear definition it will be difficult to identify and eliminate such activities. The committee will consider whether terrorism is defined by its means or its ends, when it is illegal and whether there are times when it can be considered freedom fighting, and what types of state actions signify sponsorship.

National Sovereignty: Addressing national sovereignty concerns is an essential task facing this committee. The main problem with countering state-sponsored terrorism is that sovereign nations are responsible. The committee must determine what state activities are so egregious that they demand international reprimand or action.

Deterrence: When states are involved in terrorism suddenly there are targets with which to threaten and strike. This form of deterrence does not exist for non-state based terrorism. The committee will consider possible ways to deter states from sponsoring terrorism.

Final Country Selection List

Folks, here is the final country selection list determined for this year. We have chosen countries from the Americas, Europe, and Asia/Middle East based on student voting and preference. So, we have a total of 10 states from three different regions of the world. In the final decision we decided to go with three big states in Latin America, three large states in Europe or specifically Western Europe, and four states from the Islamic conference. Reason for this type of categorization is that we have to present a coherent picture and argument to the Harvard selection committee as to why we are choosing these countries and why we would like to represent them. Take a look at these selections and leave a comment on the website, if you so desire. Please no emails on this one.


Americas (3 Countries)

1. Brazil
2. Argentina
3. Venezuela

Europe (3 Countries)

1. Germany
2. Italy
3. Netherlands

Asia/Middle East/Islamic Nations (4 Countries)

1. Iran
2. Egypt
3. Turkey
4. Bangladesh