Model United Nations - Assignment #1:

Position Paper

Length: 1-2 pages What is a position paper:To compete in a Model United Nations competition (called a ‘Conference’), the participant must first submit a short research report called a Position Paper to the Conference’s organizers. The purpose of the Position Paper is to make sure the participant is well versed in their Nation’s opinion regarding the specific debate topic. That said, position papers are usually written specifically about one topic for debate. The purpose of this assignment, however, is more to gain a broad understanding of your nation’s role in international politics, regardless of the specific topic. Familiarity with your country’s relationships with other nations, as well as a general sense of your economic strengths and weaknesses, will help you to role-play once we start MUNing. Prompt: Summarize your nation’s place in international politics by answering the following questions: What regional voting blocs is your nation a part of? Throughout history, which nations have most acted as my allies? With which other nations have I voted on past resolutions? Which other nations am I most reliant on for important resources? What resources does my nation possess that gives me bargaining power? Is my government socially liberal, or conservative? What is my government’s relationship to my nation’s economy? Which Major Powers give me the most aid?.. and so on.

Feel free to think up your own questions about how your unique nation might be able to influence neighboring countries, or the globe!

Resources: (List sources at bottom of page, in-text citations not needed)

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/ ← All of the general information and statistics you could ever need, about every nation on the globe

UN News Centre: http://www.un.org/News/UN Global Issues: http://www.un.org/en/globalissues/UN Global Impact: http://www.unglobalcompact.org/newsandevents/UN Peacekeeping News: http://www.un.org/en/peacekeeping/news/New York Times UN section: http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/u/united_nations/