Dear Students,

 

We are excited to welcome you to TAIMUN XXIV! 

 

As a social studies teacher, Model UN advisor, and human rights activist, I care about the United Nations. At the center of social studies education is the goal of cultivating good citizens. In our globalized world, we not only need to learn about and be concerned about our own countries’ issues, but we also need to understand and collaborate to create solutions for pressing global issues. The UN is supposed to be all about that.

 

The United Nations is an important part of our world order, despite the fact that, on the whole, it is struggling to show its efficacy. The UN is only as strong as its component member states want it to be. The more powerful states have a greater responsibility for its success, and that indeed was woven into the original design of the organization. This is why the Security Council has more power than the General Assembly and nations who were especially powerful in 1945 were given a veto. But smaller states have always played an essential role, too. The great thing you will discover in Model UN is that no matter what country you were assigned, you can offer a solution that many countries can embrace. You can work with other nations to refine your ideas, come up with compromise solutions, and make things better for the real-world topics of your committee. 

 

In developing a theme for this year’s conference, we noted how badly the UN is failing to maintain the world order developed at its founding after World War II. That world order was supposed to center humanity and not just advantage the most powerful countries. Many major crises in the world today are deepening and becoming prolonged for lack of accountability and leadership to uphold a humane world order. Self-interested power politics seem to dominate. The most powerful countries are the biggest culprits. Certainly the world is not an equal and fair place and self-interest will always be in the mix of international relations, but the 1945 vision of the UN was to be a body that could help us mitigate mass suffering and injustice. 

 

The generation which lived through World War II understood very clearly what it meant not to have a world forum where countries could use diplomacy to keep the peace and prevent the darker elements of human nature from wreaking havoc on populations. It is my hope that we don't have to go through a colossal world war or a collection of crises to see the value of putting our best virtues as human beings at the center of our world order. 

 

It could be very easy to approach your work as a diplomat in Model UN purely from the self-interest of your country. However, as a model, you have the choice to keep humanity at the center of the dialogue in your committees. I'm not suggesting you veer widely off stance from the country you are playing, but look at the opportunity as an exercise for your own vision and agency. As a young global citizen, you will face many choices that will allow you and your generation to shape the world order. I encourage you to put humanity at the center as you balance your country's interests. 

 

I wish you a great conference. I hope you will learn a lot about global issues, make new friends, bravely develop your speaking, listening and diplomacy skills. Don't be afraid to be idealistic as you work out pragmatic solutions. I truly believe the future of humanity will depend on it!

 

Peace,

Ms. Moye