How to Prepare for Committee

Hi delegates!

I hope you all are researching and getting pumped for committee. In this post, I want to cover a few points on how to prepare for the fast-paced debate in Security Council, as well as how to navigate committee best depending on your country.

First of all, stop reading this post and go to BMUN's Learn website, specifically under the Conference Prep and In Committee headers, to get a general overview of conference prep! What follows is more Security Council specific prep. 



Know what you can and can't do

Remember, as a delegate of the Security Council, the resolutions you make have heightened powers, including the ability to: 

1. Investigate any situation that might lead to international friction
2. Determine the existence of a threat 
3. Take military action against an aggressor in the form of UN Peacekeeping forces or NATO intervention
4. Call upon members to place economic sanctions against an aggressor

If you are a permanent member of the SC (China, France, US, UK, or Russia), you also get the ability to veto any draft resolution during voting bloc.

If you aren't a permanent member, try to work with permanent members in writing working papers; I can tell you that having permanent members veto your resolution at the very end of conference tends to suck :)

Horn of Africa

As discussed in previous blog posts and the topic synopsis, this topic is incredibly multilayered, and we expect your solutions to follow suite. Come prepared on not only the status of extremist groups in the region, but the status of individual states as well; relying on purely external solutions have a tendency to fall in on themselves, and be motivated by offshore interests. On the other hand, relying on only state actors to fortify a resolution can be the basis for incomplete solutions with minimal binding power; see this article for more detail. 

By knowing the strengths and weaknesses of intra-region actors (Ethiopia, Kenya) and international actors, try to create a resolution that hits a happy medium between the two. Moreover, make sure to come in with knowledge of the precedence that applies here. With Al-Shabaab following a similar trajectory as Al Qaeda did a decade ago, and today closely mirroring the rise of ISIL in Syria, there's tons of precedence set for the Security Council, including how we intervene militarily, whether international tribunals are relevant, etc. 

See the Role of the International System header in this article for more context.


Open Agenda

Remember, Open Agenda means that any relevant international relations topic within the jurisdiction of the UNSC can be covered for our Topic B, not just the ones listed in our topic synopsis. The three discussed in the synopsis are recommendations we as the dais have chosen based on their relevancy and ability to be engaging for advanced delegates. 

The standard procedure we will employ is a short intermediary period of informal caucusing, where we'll allow the committee to discuss what would be the most favorable use of their time in Topic B. Then, we'll be accepting motions to set the agenda to whatever topic you guys choose; we'll accept as many different topics as are motioned for, and these motions will be voted upon in the order that we receive them.

Each delegation should have written on one of the three proposed open agenda topics in the synopsis; however, to prepare, make sure you at least read through all three topics, as all are equally likely to be selected for discussion! Moreover, make sure to be familiar with general international news before committee as well; some common topics that could also be suggested include (but are definitely not limited to):

1. The Syrian Civil War
2. Israel-Palestine
3. The Korean Peninsula
4. The South China Sea
5. Sudan
6. Counterterrorism in the Middle East

Make sure you have a working understanding of these topics before coming into committee!

Crisis

Security Council in BMUN is traditionally very crisis heavy. Make sure to review BMUN crisis procedure before coming in to conference, specifically the difference between the different kind of directives, the difference between directives and communiques. Make sure you know how to leverage both personal directives (as in, how to take action) and communiques (as in, how to ask for information). These two will take you far in crisis, and help you get ahead, especially when the crisis gets intense.

Because of this, its handy to know not only your country's position in committee, but also its abilities, namely, its military power, resources, and ability to take on refugees or loan funds to a joint directive (take a look at the binder section at the Learn site).

These all become powerful tools to leverage, transforming your delegation into a must-have in any crisis bloc. Remember, as the dais, our job is to keep crisis actions as grounded as possible (while still making it fun), so we'll tend to smile upon directives that have sound logistics (properly funded, specific and measurable actions, within the resources and powers of the countries in questions). 

I find that this post from Best Delegate does a good job explaining how best to use directives to your advantage.

That's everything I can think of! Remember, if you have any questions about committee, conference, or the topics, don't hesitate to send us an email at unsclxvii@bmun.org.

Best,

Soham Kale,
Head Chair of UNSC, BMUN LXVII