WestMUNC Online Research Guide
Prepared by the WestMUNC Intelligence Services Staff
The most time-consuming and often most difficult task in preparing for WestMUNC is finding background information. Even experienced delegates often put off researching for WestMUNC until only a day or two before the conference.
Good research, though, is essential if you want to make any effective arguments and proposals during WestMUNC. Knowledge is power -- and the delegate with a superior command of information will be able to better represent his or her nation.
I - Know your country
This is the most obvious, and yet most forgotten, step in WestMUNC research. In their haste to engage the complex issues on a committee agenda, delegates often overlook basic facts about their own nation, many of which are crucial in determining a nation's position on a given issue.Key facts to know about your nation:
- Population: size and ethnic/cultural makeup
- Basic economic information: gross national product, major industries, major imports and exports
- Geographic location: the major geographic region your nation is located in
As well as this basic information on your nation, it is also important to know your nation’s relationship to other nations:
- International organization membership: obviously, your nation is a member of the United Nations, but is it also a member of international organizations such as the World Trade Organization, or regional organizations/alliances such as NATO or ASEAN (Association of South-East Asian Nations)?
- Major treaties signed: has your nation signed onto such agreements as the Chemical Warfare Convention, or regional treaties such as NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement)
Equally important is knowing the nature of the domestic political environment and domestic issues:
- major political parties and organizations and their positions:
o the positions of the domestic political parties, most importantly that of the majority party and the leaders who determine your nation’s foreign policy.
o any other important domestic political organizations that have an impact on your nation’s foreign policy decisions: for example, terrorist groups such as Hamas in Israel, and the Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka
- major industries and corporations: corporate entities often exert an extraordinarily powerful influence on policy decisions, especially large multinational corporations such as McDonald’s, Microsoft, Boeing, and so forth.
II - Know your issues
So, you know your nation’s politics, history, and economy inside and out now -- but you still haven’t touched the heart and soul of WestMUNC, the agenda issues.
Just taking the title of committee topic and dropping it into Google will probably produce useful resources right away, but this entails a staggeringly tedious amount of sorting out links and pages to determine which are the most relevant and useful to you.
The first step is to know the facts on a particular issue: the best source for factual background is the news media, such as newspapers, television, and radio. Online databases, accessible at library websites, are an excellent resource for older articles on a subject.
The second step, having collected the factual information on an issue, is to locate analysis, commentary, and opinions on that issue. Newspaper editorial and op-ed articles can provide basic analysis of an issue. More in-depth studies of issues can be found in international affairs and political periodicals.
Especially valuable are policy study groups, commonly known as ‘think tanks.’ These organizations are dedicated to analyzing public policy issues and decisions, and are a vital source for acquiring understanding of an issue. Many op-ed pieces, indeed, are written by researchers and analysts for think tanks.
The last step is to determine where your nation stands on the issue in question. Virtually all world governments maintain websites that discuss their foreign policy issues and philsophy and goals governing foreign policy decisions. For delegates representing major countries, it should be especially easy to learn what perspective your nation’s government has on an issue, either by examining the speeches and decisions made by your nation’s leaders as seen in the news media, or as discussed on your nation’s foreign ministry website.
This may be difficult or impossible for delegates representing small nations or researching obscure or regional issues — does Somalia actually have a stance on satellite launches in France? A position on a topic may have to be inferred from knowledge of the politics of your nations, or pointedly ignored by your nation in favor of more pressing problems.
Remember, though, that the UN’s goal is not to solve problems for single nations, but to solve problems on behalf of international stability and security. It is essential to argue that the topic that most concerns your nation is of equal, if not greater, importance to the rest of the world.
And most importantly, don’t come into committee with just a strong opinion on a topic: immediately propose a plan of action to solve the problem. Outlining how your nation feels about an issue is insufficient for developing a resolution on the issue.
You should be fully prepared to answer the following questions on an issue:
- Why is this issue important — or not important — to both your nation and the nations of the committee and the world?
- What are the major world perspectives on the issue?
- What is already being done about the issue by governments or non-governmental agencies?
- What do you propose to do about the issue, within the power of the United Nations?
Newswire services
Newswire services provide concise accounts of breaking news and newswire articles are syndicated in newspapers across the globe. They are a good first source for current events, although they lack the in-depth coverage and analysis of full newspaper articles.
Newspapers
Newspapers are probably the most useful source for current events research, generally providing greater coverage and analysis of news events than newswires or radio and TV news, as well as political opinion sections.
Periodicals
There are a multitude of public policy analysis and opinions periodicals published in print and online. Most can be found archived in online databases, such as EbscoHost or ProQuest. These databases should be available through your local school library. They are also accessible with a library card through the Westchester Library System website.
III - Know the United Nations
You’ve got your country down pat, and you’re almost an expert on the items on the agenda: have you forgotten anything?
The United Nations was founded on a carefully written charter which expressly gives the UN certain powers while limiting its jurisdiction in other areas. Making policy suggestions that run counter to the laws and goals of the UN Charter is a frequent mistake made by delegates who are unfamiliar with the Charter. Although it is unnecessary to memorize the rules and procedures of the Charter, it is highly recommended that you read the preamble to the Charter and any sections that govern the committee that you are in. For many WestMUNC committees, there are no specific regulations given in the Charter, as they are either subcommittees of other UN committees or no longer exist in today’s United Nations. For Security Council and Historical Security Council delegates, thoroughly understanding the powers and regulations of the Security Council as laid out in the Charter is essential.
The UN Charter can be found online at the United Nations website: www.un.org