Diplomacy and Creative Diplomacy...

Since you will be playing the role of a diplomat, you will want to learn something about how diplomats act.  In short, diplomats at MAMUN have two tools in achieving their objectives.  First is formal debate, during which the official policy of the nation is articulated and specific actions are advocated.  Second is caucusing, during which delegates use informal discussions to forge compromises before issues come to a vote.

Your success in these areas will depend greatly on your willingness to engage in public speaking and in informal negotiation.  A speech teacher at your school may be willing to work with your delegation on a public speaking program.  You should practice speaking in front of your club or class to refine your skills.  Negotiation and effective caucus work is a skill based on the individual’s willingness to listen to a variety of viewpoints and to propose and accept compromises.

Throughout your MAMUN experience, you have one tool that diplomats in New York do not.  By using “creative diplomacy,” you can propose solutions and work out compromises which do not strictly conform to the outcomes we’d expect to see at the real United Nations.  While delegates are expected to follow their nation’s policies in the main, deviations which lead to creative solutions are always welcome.  Keep in mind that the difference between “creative diplomacy” and being “out of policy” is likely to be a matter of degree.  Delegates have a responsibility to accurately represent the policy of their assigned nation, but they are also expected to contribute to the creativity of the debate.

In short, it’s easy to see two kinds of Model UN simulations which would be undesirable educational events.  In the first case, all delegates would simply rehash existing policies and repeat previously delivered speeches in an effort to be totally accurate in representing their nation, resulting in a conference which exactly mimics current gridlocks instead of engaging in more entertaining and educational problem solving techniques, utilizing creative diplomacy.  In the second case, delegates would totally disregard their nations’ policies, resulting in a chaotic conference in which no one can rely on any nation’s past performance.  The ideal conference falls somewhere between these two disasters; creative diplomacy is the engine which drives that ideal