The Model United Nations in Brief / James P. Muldoon, Jr.

Over 60,000 secondary school and college students participate annually in the Model United Nations (UN) simulations in order to learn the complexities of international politics and to increase their understanding of other nations and cultural perspectives. This paper provides a broad overview of the Model UN program and its role in global understanding. Part 1 offers a historical chronology of the development of the model UN as a simulation of the UN system and explains the interaction of students who role play as ambassadors of the member UN states and debate, negotiate, and handle actual agendas currently under consideration in the UN. Part 2 includes a profile of the Model UN in terms of its conferences, its student participants, and the growing number of international delegates. Part 3 describes the role of the United Nations Association of the United States (UNA-USA) as: (1) national coordinator of Model UN activities; (2) convener of an annual seminar for conference leaders and Model UN teachers; and (3) the creator of the Model UN Network, which is the primary vehicle for transmitting ideas and information useful in the continuing development of the Model UN. (JHP)

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