Students in Model United Nations Take on Major Global Issues

Since the issues were broad – for example, global economy and finance – discussions revolved around a single specific question related to the topic. Students recorded their responses as 60 to 90-second Flipgrid videos to share with the group. The program is just one example of how faculty utilize technology in innovative ways to enhance student engagement and maintain our community connections.

Before starting the Winter Term, Surjan reflected on what students take away from the traditional MUN experience and how it could adapt to the parameters of a new co-curricular schedule and a virtual format. Ultimately, Surjan determined that being part of MUN comes down to developing an understanding of the United Nations and its policy focus on pressing global issues. He chose eight topics or global concerns that formed the basis for the curriculum and worked with Jessica Baker, Director of Engagement & Operations, who reached out to alumni from related fields and invited them to serve as guest speakers.

“As a co-curricular program, MUN has unique value,” Surjan said. He emphasized that the work the students are doing helps them become active citizens in the model and spirit of Frederick Gunn.  “As a school, we focus on students doing good in the world. You can’t do that if you’re not familiar with what’s going on globally. Through MUN, students develop familiarity with many of these issues, explore them based on their interests and values, and consider whether that can translate into actions in their lives.”

Alumni guest speakers who joined the program included:

• Nathan Weinstein ’05, CFA, an MBA candidate at NYU’s Stern School of Business, led a discussion on global debt and the question of whether ballooning sovereign debt is the next global financial crisis. Weinstein is the Head of Healthcare Equity Research at Aegis Capital Corp. and has been with the organization (or company) for two years.
• Adlai J.J. Small ’91, JD, an attorney with Spiro Harrison, addressed the question of what migration policy should be in developed nations. Small has extensive experience with complex litigation in many state and federal courts throughout the United States and internationally. He has represented large, high-profile clients in cases involving mass torts, product liability, consumer fraud, false advertising, securities class actions, and general commercial matters. 
• James Devanney '10, D.O., MPH, helped students tackle the question of how we can prepare domestically and internationally for the next public health crisis. Devaney holds a bachelor’s degree in health science and pre-medical studies from Boston University, and a Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine and a Master’s in Public Health from Touro University California. He is currently completing a residency program at the University of Michigan Hospitals in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
• Douglas C. Greene ’73 asked students to consider whether international or domestic terrorism is the more significant security threat. Greene graduated from Colgate in 1977 and studied at the School of Advanced International Studies, at Johns Hopkins, before joining the Foreign Service at age 25. He retired from the U.S. Department of State in 2015 after a long and distinguished career as a Foreign Service Officer. His 35-year career took him worldwide - from Lebanon to Croatia during civil wars and to Abu Dhabi, Casablanca, Warsaw, and Washington, D.C., where he served under Secretaries of State Colin Powell and Condoleeza Rice.
• Jesse Kaplan ’13 led a discussion about whether the U.N., at 75, is still relevant. Kaplan holds a bachelor’s degree in political science, international relations, and Middle Eastern studies from Tulane University and has been working towards a master’s in Middle Eastern Studies at The American University of Beirut. She was recently in Washington, D.C., as a research intern for the American Foreign Policy Council. Earlier she had spent ten months as an intern and then an officer at NATO, serving in the Office of the Secretary General’s Special Representative for Women, Peace and Security.

“I think the organization is still relevant,” Kaplan said from her current home in Beirut, Lebanon, noting that the UN was founded after World War II to prevent another world war, and it has done that. “At the same time it’s also expanded tremendously. There’s a lot of supporting committees, councils, specialized agencies that fall under the umbrella of the organization. Obviously, the mission for all of them is world peace but kind of in different ways.”

“Just looking in the last 20 years, it’s become abundantly clear how much more productive and successful countries are in achieving goals when it’s done in coalitions. Things like combating climate change, terrorism, they can’t really be done alone,” she said, recalling that prior to 9/11 President George W. Bush was pulling away from the UN and NATO. “Immediately after the attacks, he knew how important it was going to be to get the whole world on board. The global coalitions that came through were through NATO and the UN, NATO more militarily, obviously, but the UN did a lot, passed a lot of resolutions, they brought a lot of members on board to put through legislation in their own countries. It needed to be a global effort and that’s what contributed to the post-9/11 investigation and the planning for the global war on terror.”

While the UN has adapted over time in response to emerging security challenges, aspects of it have drawn criticism and served to delegitimize it. Most notably, the organization still has no mechanism to hold states accountable. “When it comes to international law, human rights standards, commitments to terrorism, climate change, right to education, other than sanctions, the UN can’t really do anything to enforce a nation’s commitment. Unlike NATO, it can’t use military force when necessary to follow through on statements to actually prevent the harboring of terrorism or enrichment of uranium to make nuclear weapons,” Kaplan said.

As part of the series, Bart McMann, Director of the Center for Citizenship and Just Democracy, and a member of the History Department faculty, also led a discussion on income inequality. Students weighed the responsibilities and obligations individuals have to one another in society. “We live in a world where we are so often consumers, and we don’t think outside of the world that we know and think about what as an individual are my responsibilities and obligations in all of these relationships,” Surjan said.