Module 1: Research

In Model UN you debate as a particular country not your own views so its very important you do research to gain an understanding of your country’s foreign policy.

Introduction - Why is there a need to do research?

In order to make the most of any conference experience, it is best that you are fully informed on what they are talking about during committee sessions. There are two key areas to focus on: (1) The topics on the committee’s agenda and (2) the country represented and its views. It can also prove useful if you acquire some deeper knowledge about the history and the ways of working of the committee they will take part in.

Researching Your Topic:

Some delegates will begin by researching their country, others will start with the topics on the agenda, and others still will be going back and forth. Although each approach has its own merits, it is generally more advisable that you begin your research with an investigation of the topics. This is the case for one simple reason. A delegate’s knowledge of his or her country doesn’t need to be extremely extensive, but just sufficient to grasp his or her country’s position on the topics. But how could one understand their country’s position on the topic if they yet do not grasp the topic itself?

An understanding of the topics to be discussed enables you to establish a scope to their investigation of their country, hence delegates are advised to explore the topics before they delve into their own country. It is seen time and time again, that Delegates who have done a bit of extra work to get more details about the topic tend to have a better committee experience. We thus begin by considering how to research topics.

What should you focus on when doing research?

Any topic that makes it onto the agenda for a committee at LSEMUN High School will probably have a number of aspects for consideration and may seem a bit daunting to start with. To get started, we suggest that you spend a few minutes to highlight keywords of the agenda item and ensure all terms are fully understood. From there on, here are some other key areas you should focus on during topic research:

  • The History of the Problem (every agenda item is a formulation of a problem to be resolved)

    • Its roots and primary stakeholders.

    • Why has it persisted? (If new, focus only on the roots.)

  • Past attempts at addressing the issue, their strengths and their weaknesses (especially weaknesses – which in many cases will be strongly related to why the problem persists)

    • Include both domestic and international efforts, primarily international and, paying careful attention to any UN-led efforts.

  • Potential solutions (in general terms)

    • Recommendations and plans from policy-advisors; recommendations from academia and think tanks; plans of international organisations, etc. Ultimately it is the potential solutions that matter most, hence this point is worthy of careful thought.

    • It is a good idea to keep a solution bank- some of the solutions proposed may not fit with national interests, but this will become apparent during your country's research.

What resources should I consult when doing research?

The Study Guide

Any delegate’s first port of call during the research process should be the committee study guide, which is compiled by committee chairs after the agenda for the committee is finalised. The study guide will give an overview of the topic, some historical background, a brief overview of positions different blocs may have, and will give some brief ideas on potential solutions. It aims to serve as a starting point for delegates’ research; it is up to the delegate to seek more in-depth information about the topic.

For instance, if a guide mentions a failed UN resolution as a past attempt at solving the problem, and briefly outlines its content, you should go and have a read of that resolution; similarly, when a guide mentions that one aspect of the problem is a result of some other state of affairs, and proceeds to provide a basic account of the relationship between the cause and the effect, it is up to you to perform further research on that cause.

Encyclopedias

Wikipedia, although potentially unreliable due to being open source, is a great source to get a grasp on aspects of the topic, even if superficial. This applies especially to the historical causes and context of a problem. In essence, Wikipedia can play the role of a second Study Guide; even though it may too often not provide adequate in-depth understanding, it can reinforce the understanding gained from the Study Guide, build upon it, and suggest the course of further research. And the references, although too often dysfunctional, can be of great help too when they include legitimate sources like news companies, think tanks and international organisations.

This is not to say, however, that Wikipedia’s factual information is entirely reliable, so do exercise caution and prudence in assessing the reliability of Wikipedia's content and its sources. Wikipedia should only be a source to obtain an overview of the topic!

The UN Website

Quite unsurprisingly, a very helpful source for Model United Nations research is the United Nations website, which contains information on, amongst other subjects, peace and security, development, and human rights, which covers most topics to be discussed at a MUN conference. It also provides links to other useful bodies in the UN System, and archives of every session of everybody since their inception. The UN Website also covers the information necessary for a thorough grasp of a problem, with reports written by people tasked with tackling these issues in real life! The UN’s News Centre reports daily on the UN’s activity all over the world, while UN Documents, the UN’s document depository contains every single document the UN and related bodies have produced since the UN started operating, including resolutions and expert reports.

The Committee Website

When chairs compile the agendas for their committees, they do not simply invent topics; rather, the topics are researched beforehand and selected. In many if not most cases, these topics stem directly from the agenda, past or present, of the specific UN body being simulated. As such, for instance, a delegate in the United Nations Environment Programme

(UNEP) might do well to visit unenvironment.org and see what they have to say about the topic they are researching.

Additionally, often the body performs work akin to that of a think tank, providing research on, and interpretations of, the problem at hand. If delegates cannot find sufficient information for their research from the website of the body they will be simulating, they should try the websites of similar bodies – for instance, the Social, Humanitarian and Cultural Committee (SOCHUM) website might have information on the World Health Organisation (WHO) topics; similarly, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) will surely have extensive information on the status of women, which can be useful for UN Women delegates.

News Agencies

Most topics in Model United Nations bear direct relations with current affairs, and so news agencies – which, by nature, address current affairs – figure amongst the most useful sources. They can help delegates in, primarily, two intertwined ways:

  • They provide more in-depth analyses of specific aspects of the problem,

  • They enable delegates to increase their powers of persuasion by appealing to examples and statistical information.

The best MUN delegates will not restrict their speeches to general concepts, like ‘corruption’ or ‘state-failure’, but also back-up their claims with concrete examples: e.g., in the case of corruption, the countries where corruption is worst, estimates on how it affects GDP, theories of its effect on social cohesion and so forth. Pertinent news articles will generally provide such examples. Among the most prominent agencies include the BBC, the Guardian, Reuters, the Economist and the Financial Times.

Other potentially useful sources include think tanks and non-governmental organisations, which conduct high level research and may work with the UN itself. Examples include:

  • Human Rights Watch (HRW) - An independent global watchdog for Human Rights, the HRW monitors and reports on violations and threats to human rights occurring around the world

  • Transparency International - the organisation was founded in 1993 and since then, it investigates and reports on potential cases of state corruption with the aid of a network of whistle-blowers

  • Global Policy Forum - branding itself as a ‘global policy watchdog’, the Global Policy Forum will help delegates keep track of the UN’s actions, as well as giving information about the main parties involved in world issues and their policies

How to find valid information?

  • Reputable News Sources

    • E.g. Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Al-Jazeera

    • Allows insight into specific events and an overview of it

  • Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs)

    • E.g. The United Nations, Amnesty International

    • Past UN resolutions and conferences on the issue at hand

    • Information provided by NGOs can generally be trusted

  • International Treaties

  • Google Scholar

    • Google Scholar allows you to search for scholarly sources from articles, theses, books, court opinions, etc.

    • Written by academic publishers, professional societies, and universities.

How to check if information is usable?

  • Evaluate the website

    • If the article is full of spelling errors and generally seems untrustworthy, the information provided might not be factual and you should conduct additional research using different sources and compare the information found

  • Go to the Primary Resource

    • If the website provides a bibliography, follow it to the primary source of information to see if it is valid

    • This also provides you with more information

  • Check if the article is biased

    • An article can be biased for many reasons - to make someone look bad or to make themselves look better

    • Look out for these by reading through, researching the author’s views, and evaluating if it is biased or not

  • If you cannot determine whether or not a website is reliable, ask your teacher for help.

What sort of country information should you look into?

Before going into researching the implications of any given topic for your country, you must first gain an understanding of some general aspects about your country - we list these below:

Geography:

  • Any bordering countries and relations with those, any unresolved border disputes

  • Geopolitical considerations e.g. control of shipping routes, natural resources, is the country landlocked

Demography:

  • Population size and distribution over the country’s territory

  • Ethnic and religious groups making up the population

  • Are there any ethnic and/or religious tensions that might affect foreign relations?

Political Structure:

  • Format of the regime - e.g. parliamentary democracy, presidential democracy, monarchy, dictatorship etc

  • Key leaders and political parties and their public influence

  • Political affiliations of the government and key policies

  • Previous political systems, any history of coups

  • Is there freedom of speech and freedom of press?

  • What is the relationship between the government and military leadership?

  • What is the relationship between the government and religious leaders? Is the country secular?

Economy:

  • GDP per capita, World Bank classification

  • Levels of foreign investment and aid

  • Membership of trade blocs and agreements

Defence:

  • Size and structure of the military

  • Existence of a nuclear programme

  • Dependency on other nations

  • Ongoing military conflicts/tensions or border disputes with other nations

  • Overseas military operations

  • Defence partnerships and memberships of military alliances (e.g. NATO)

International Relations:

  • Role and influence in the world

  • Memberships of blocs and other geopolitical groupings

  • Status of implementation of treaties key to the topic

Key allies and rivals

What is a position paper?

A position paper, otherwise known as a policy statement, is a document outlining your country’s stance on a particular topic. The purpose of a position paper is to demonstrate that delegates have sufficiently researched the topic, their country’s position on that topic, and given thought towards potential solutions that their country would like to see discussed during the committee session.

Chairs will not “mark or grade” a position paper, but may provide feedback on the submitted papers for delegates’ use in the future. Completing a position paper to a high standard is important for three main reasons:

  1. It demonstrates that you have researched the topic thoroughly;

  2. If shared with your committee, it streamlines debate by guiding other delegates on what your position(s) on the topic(s) are;

  3. If shared with your committee, it helps increase debate quality by suggesting solutions that your fellow delegates can deliberate, which shortens the time needed to uncover what approaches and solutions are favoured by the committee