Crisis Division System
Creating a miniature replica of the real world in the conference by simulation.
Crisis Division will be heading into its eighth year, and we have evolved and polished the conference mechanism through numerous attempts along the way. In an age of information overload, the complex stream of information makes it easy for people to lose their way and grandiloquent academic designs and advertisements seem to attract most of the spotlight. Thus, by going back to the basics and reviewing the core meaning of crisis simulation, we will see through the irrelevant noises and discover the right path. We have also been thinking about a question: what exactly should crisis simulation bring to its participants? After all, not everyone who attends a crisis simulation choose careers in fields related to international relations and global politics in the future. Hence, we hope to not only provide a platform for delegates to gain knowledge in various professional fields, but to also bring general experiences and methods applicable in future study and work. These goals are pushing us never to stop on our way to reinvent and re-innovate.
Still water runs deep. In an anarchic and realistic world, we hope that IMUNC could bring the core of Model UN to our delegates to help them rediscover the beauty of crisis simulation and assist them to find their destination.
Delegate Response in High-Intensity Crises
In the real world, the UN Security Council debates an agenda for an average of eight hours. State governments and cabinets are engaged in dealing with multiple internal affairs or foreign affairs events that occurred at the same time through multiple threads almost every single minute. Foreign ministers are traveling around the world on busy schedules to solve disputes and de-escalate crises, and journalists are also working tirelessly to obtain and spread the latest news. In our conference, we are also working intensively and efficiently. We understand that the current mechanism of crisis simulation still has a long way to evolve, but we are never bound by the “customs”. As a result, we have adhered to the high-intensity crisis simulation created by us eight years ago and have never stopped innovating and exploring. From 2008 to 2015, beginning as scripted crisis simulation and conspiracy theory to interconnected and event-centered crisis simulation, we have adjusted ourselves and made improvements after each attempt. We will continue to build on our experience, renew the release and delivery system of crisis information, and provide a better experience for participating delegates.
Principle of Neutral Simulation
We adhere to the principle of minimum intervention. Under the guidance of that principle, the academic team in essence plays entities in the world other than those simulated in the conference. In the real world, actions by all parties will affect the world directly or indirectly; in our conference, thanks to our unique global geopolitics simulation, all decisions and interactions of entities in the conference will affect other parts of the world through the simulation of the academic team. Thus, we have always adhered to the principle of neutrality and objectiveness and aims to create a realistic world by acting responsibly.
Creative Simulation Mechanism
An economy is a basic structure of a nation, and it often determines the fate of a state. In IMUNC 2016, by utilizing the concept of open economy, we will project economic policy decisions of delegates to market variables that could be altered in the short term: exchange rate, stock market, bond market, gold market and crude oil market, among other large commodities. The changes to these variables will be reflected through instant updates. We will also dive into the operating mechanism of an open economy, and introduce the toolkit that could be used by the government and the central bank to assert influence to the market to the delegates. This will enable our delegates to gain knowledge in economics and arrange economic activities during the conference rationally.
Military capabilities are essential to the survival of a country. In IMUNC 2016, we will pay closer attention to the effect on politics and economy of military directives. Meanwhile, ways to manipulate military activities will also be enriched: signing collective defense treaties, enhancing cooperation with allies, engaging in arms trade and cooperation will be easier and will have more pronounced effects in IMUNC 2016.
Strong Infrastructure for Academic Support
To achieve success, one must first sharpen his tools.
In past successes and failures of crisis simulation, we had seen too many circumstances when faulty simulation caused the conference to spin out of control: the capabilities of the academic team must be blamed in these cases. Thus, we will continue to recruit new talents to build on our current personnel and construct an academic team that is sufficient in numbers, well-trained in experience, and knowledgeable in academics. All core members of the academic team have at least three years of participating in Model UN activities.
Apart from our team, based on our principles of no conspiracy theory and scripted crisis simulation, we will make every effort to avoid definitive judgments in our simulation (which are themselves rare in real-world situations) so that delegates’ actions and their interactions with various entities in the conference rather than the subjective will of the academic team guide the conference. We believe that by lengthening the chain of games, we will be able to come in touch will all ways of thinking in every question posed in the conference. Delegates will create sparks and learn from each other by engaging in communication and each other’s actions and clashing different viewpoints.
We are well aware of the complexity and unpredictability of the world. We never dare to say that there is no way to be better: we only pursue academics as our ultimate goal. Frivolity and arrogance are never what we need: no matter what we have achieved, we can always do better. Now, we are willing to continue this journey that we have been pursuing for the past eight years will all of you who are reading this right now.
Since the creation of crisis simulation in 2009, IMUNC has come out of its own way. We are glad to see that many conferences of the same type that were founded later are more or less walking the road we have traveled. However, IMUNC Crisis Division will not be satisfied with our current achievements: we will treat innovation as our core value and find a theoretical base for this conference mode yet to be consolidated in fixed form. Looking back, numerous brilliant ideas were added to our system by innovative people. Now, we invite all who share our belief to join us: we will define the future.
IMUNC 2016 will bring about another innovation and renewal of the conference structure and operating mechanism of the Crisis Division. We will introduce the concept of “continental branches” which will be based on the original system of cabinets and diplomatic corps.
Cabinets are one of the oldest committees of IMUNC. Since its early days, we have upheld the goal of helping delegates to become better versions of themselves. We will assist delegates to establish a national blueprint of their country prior to the conference so that they will be able to utilize the limited time, seize the opportunities and implement policies to achieve their vision of development facing the rapid flow of time and high intensity of crises. We will also optimize the seat setting of cabinets and give delegates greater rights to choose their representatives, which would guarantee the participation of every delegate and improve the overall efficiency of the team.
Diplomatic Corps has already formed a working mechanism of its own in our prior explorations. In an increasingly multipolar world, more actors than traditional “superpowers” are able to shift the power balance of geopolitics. We will enhance regional powers’ rights in the conference by institutional reforms and reflect the complexity of today’s world’s politic game. Diplomatic representatives will face multiple adjustments to the conference from all levels and they must try to maximize their national interests in an ever-changing world. The upgraded Cabinets and Diplomatic Corps will form three open conference branches based on geographical distribution: Asian branch, European branch and American branch.
Through years of reform,United Nations Security Council is no longer just the diplomatic stage of the five permanent members; all parties engage in new rounds of game in this special committee and fight wars with no smoke. This year, we made various adjustments based on our past experience and reforms so that diplomatic representatives from all states could fulfill their roles and functions in the real world more strictly in the Council. This would allow the UNSC to fulfill its mandate more realistically and effectively and truly play a role in international politics.
The League of Arab States is a relatively new committee in IMUNC. At our 2015 conference, we designed a sophisticated system based on the actual voting system of the Arab League. At the same time, we optimized our system by analyzing shortcomings we discovered. This year, the League of Arab States will renew its rules of procedures according to the Arab League Charter to bring back a real Council of the League. We also increased the number of countries who have two delegates to balance the time for each member to deal with matters within and outside the committee. The organic connection with other parts of the crisis system is also enhanced to create a better experience for delegates.
Since the establishment of the European branch, we have consistently pursued the reform of academic designs on the basis of both improving the experience for delegates and paying due attention to the real world. With our previous experience, we have optimized seat arrangements and reformed the conference platform. In regard to the fact that the number of European countries which have great global influence is limited and many countries have significantly larger power in some specific areas, we have designed more ministerial seats and reduced the number of heads of state seats. On the one hand, this can create a more immersive experience which better reflects the unified and collaborative features of the European Union and enable greater involvement and stronger representation for the EU to deal with global-scale problems. On the other hand, this is conducive to strengthening the European consciousness and reflecting the mandate of the EU. This year, the main platform for the European branch will be the European Council, with characteristics of high participation and great flexibility. Issues ranging from politics, defense, economy and many other fields could be covered for orderly discussion within the European branch.
Media & Press is one of the proudest designs of IMUNC Crisis Division. Media, through its control of information and opinion, plays a pivotal role in today’s society, representing “the fourth estate”. As the old saying goes, if a criticism is not free, then praise is meaningless. Media are more than a mouthpiece: they greatly shape public opinion and push the conference forward. In 2016, Media & Press will build on its previous successes and develop further our designs. With our goals of innovation and better than best in mind, new innovative settings will be introduced and, together with our current interactive mechanisms, enrich the ways of expressing and delivering information while maintaining the same quality. This will bring about a fundamental upgrade for conference operation by increasing efficiency and authenticity.