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Model United Nations Guide
Research Methodology
Identify Keywords/Principles
- Must know where to start looking
- Jumpstart with the following questions:
- What is the issue about?
- Where did the issue begin?
- When did the issue begin?
- Who does the issue involve?
- Why is this issue detrimental?
- How can we resolve the issue?
Wikipedia Ballpark
- Can be used for overview/general belief of the issue
- Most of the keywords that u need can be found on the first paragraph of the Wikipedia entry
- If you delve deeper, u glean more info
- Used as starting point for research
- Timelines, description of people involved, etc.
- Footnotes
Formal Research
- Sources should be established, official or academic, e.g.
- Academic writing (Journal and Research Papers)
- Newspapers (especially local to the context)
- Idea of how news is presented internally
- Google Translate if need be
- Official government reports/UN reports
Academic Sources
- Wikipedia and news sites can give you names of academics and sources
- Domains:
- JStor - Academic journals
- Taylor and Francis - Free stuff
- SIPRI - Military Stuff
- RAND
- ScienceDirect
- Nature
Optimal Reading
- Abstract
- Introduction
- Results
- Discussion
- Evaluate what you have read
- Strength of supporting arguments
- Legitimacy
- Rationality of analysis and fallacies
- Corroboration and Comparison
- Facts may be misrepresented
- Biases
- Inaccuracies
- To fact-check and avoid bias:
- Pick a different, more established source
- Different media outlets
- Compare across multiple different sources
- Pick a different, more established source
- Facts may be misrepresented
- Bias
- All sources have biases in different degrees
- Political interests
- Economic pressures
- Reporter biases
- Cultural and societal factors
- Confirmation bias
- All sources have biases in different degrees
- Biases present themselves in different ways:
- Selective reporting and omission of context
- Language and framing
- Source selection
Consolidating and Integrating
- Finalise findings, support with evidence
- Build solutions around this evidence, but avoid over-focusing
- Ensure that suggested solutions are cohesive with our approach to the topic
- As a belligerent country, maintain hardline stance
- As neutral country, ur flexible to suggest more
- Ensure links made between Scope of Debate and Topic
Reading and Using the Study Guide
Just read
Understanding Stance
- Country’s official position on an issue
- Stance is dynamic
- Country’s stance is derived from
- History
- What shaped the country
- What was the country’s historical position on the issue
- Geography
- Where is the country
- What geographical resources does it have
- What geographical resources could it seek to gain
- Philosophy and guiding principles
- What are the country’s official principles
- What international principles does the country adhere to
- Political and Economic Leanings
- What political system does the country subscribe to
- What economic system does the country subscribe to
- History
Researching Stance
- Tweak research process to identify stance
- Understand the development of the issue
- search for reactions and relationships
- Read government statements and reports
- Government websites
- Government mouthpiece newspapers
- Identify previous actions on similar issues
- Look at the leanings of the country
International Relations
- Realism
- States are selfish
- Liberalism
- States can cooperate
- Constructivism
- States can cooperate to achieve goals
Stance is ultimately a mix of potential gains, relations with other actors and principles.
Position Paper Writing
- Condensation of
- Context
- Stance
- Potential solutions
- Introduce the problem as your country experiences it
- How are stakeholders (children) affected
- Impacts of issue
- Explicitly present your country stance on the issue
- CLEAR AND DELIBERATE
- DO NOT DEFAME YOUR COUNTRY
- Mention existing solution
- Name some allies and opponents
- Propose one or two key solutions
- Solutions should align with your country’s positiong
- Has your country proposed this in real life
- Potential gains
- Evaluate
- Solutions should align with your country’s positiong
- Call to Action
- Direct a call to action to the committee
Other Criteria
- Language and Professionalism
- Appropriate lexical choices
- Language must be formal
- Good command of grammar
- Good, clear sentence structure
Lobbying and Negotiations
Macro Lobbying
- Start lobbying from your very first speech
- Use call to actions to encourage other delegates to approach you and work with you
- Showcase your content knowledge and charisma
- Confidence
- Speak loudly and clearly
- Stand up straight
- Use hand gestures to illustrate your point
- Establish eye contact with audience
- Ok to write your speech down and read off a script
- Engagement
- Engage with other delegates
- Yeild
- To POI
- To another delegate
- Unmoderated Caucuses
- Address council as a whole and engage with other delegates
Micro Lobbying
- Delegates communicate via notepassing
- Use notes to identify potential ally
- Use UNMOD to call for negos or bloc meetings
Key Misconceptions
Compromise
- Compromise ≠ Moving stance towards the centre
- Compromise is finding overlaps with 2 positions
- Even if something is not ideal, if it is acceptable to both parties, compromise may very well be in order.
Model United Nations Guide
https://sherlockholmes.is-a.dev/posts/mun/mun-guide/