Bentley’s conception of a Model United Nations (MUN) is based firmly on the principle of reality. Delegates will be expected to conduct extensive research on both the agenda topics and the country that they are representing. While attending the conference, delegates will be expected to faithfully represent their country’s positions and interests as do actual delegates to the United Nations in New York. It is through intense research into the country’s culture and national interests that participants will be able to create a realistic simulation of the United Nations in May. Realism, therefore, is a goal that each delegation should strive to attain.
With the end of the Cold War, the role of the United Nations is being transformed. It is no longer the venue for bitter confrontations between opposing sides in that global conflict. Today, the United Nations has embarked on an “era of preventive diplomacy,” attempting to defuse conflicts before they become violent. Also, as the Cold War ended a new series of conflicts, based on national and ethnic rivalries in many parts of the world, joined other long-standing issues in the forefront of international concern. Finally, the organization, in recent years, has played a larger and larger role in situations that previously would have been deemed purely domestic matters of the Member States. This adjustment to a changing world presents new challenges for diplomats and a whole new set of problems for the United Nations as it struggles to redefine its role. The 1998 Bentley College Model United Nations will reflect these changes in the global situation. The simulations will emphasize the new roles of the United Nations, and the issues on each agenda will reflect the evolving role of the United Nations in international affairs.
To accomplish our objective of realism, the Bentley College Model United Nations program goes through a comprehensive process of training and program development. A part of this process is outlined for you below.
Secretariat Training
Many educational professionals who attend our conference consider our secretariat to be some of the most finely trained staff members of any model UN conference. Secretariat are trained over a four month period, which includes several components:
Briefings at the United Nations:
Every January, the secretariat of our conference spends one week at the United Nations in New York. During this week, our members are briefed by members of the UN secretariat, permanent representatives to the United Nations, as well as by other groups who figure prominently into the affairs of the United Nations.
United Nations Liaisons and Guest Speakers
Each year, members of the UN Secretariat and UN Missions are present during the Bentley College Model United Nations to address the delegates, provide background information, meet with faculty advisors, and increase the sense of reality of the program. In past years, UN liaison and guest speakers have included:
Jean Bernard Gazarian, former Director of General Assembly Affairs and Senior Fellow at the UN Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR);
Abdelhamid Abdeljaber, Senior Officer in the Middle East Radio Department of the United Nations Radio and Central News Services Division;
H.E. Ambassador Lionel Alexander Hurst, former permanent representative of Antigua and Barbuda to the United Nations;
Jacques Baudot, former UN Director of the Budget;
José Campino, Political Affairs Officer in the Department of Political Affairs of the United Nations;
Christopher Hoh, US Foreign Service Officer;
Federica Pietracci, Associate Expert for Policy Coordination and Sustainable Development;
Fernando A. Flores, the Coordinator of Model United Nations and Education Programs for the United Nations Association of the United States of America (UNA-USA)
Kari Heistad, the Executive Director for United Nations Association of Greater Boston.
Faculty Program
Throughout the Bentley Model UN, there will be a series of workshops and seminars for faculty advisors. In these sessions, advisors will have opportunities to discuss the UN and major world issues with the UN Secretariat and Mission guests, consular representatives in greater Boston, and Bentley faculty with expertise in world affairs.
