Research

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Part IIIb Research
As you begin to research for a conference, you want to make sure you are sure of the country you're going to be representing, and which
committee you are going to be representing that country on. You also want to check and make sure you know what topics that committee will
be discussing. Generally speaking, you will be learning about these three things, and how they relate to each other.
What To Research For

Specifically, you want to look for information about six things, usually in the order listed below. (We'll use an example of Alex, who was
assigned Algeria on the General Assembly. Let's say the General Assembly has one topic: "Reduction of Military Budgets.") The six most
important things to research are:
1) Your country.
You don't need to know everything about the country, but you want to know the things that might come up in a direct or indirect way: Where
is it geographically? How long has it been independent, and who (if anyone) was it a colony of? What country or bloc does it receive foreign
aid from, and who does it give foreign aid to? Who are its major trading partners, and who does it align itself with most frequently? (This is
usually someone who gives it a lot of foreign aid or who is a primary trading partner, such as the Marshall Islands with the United States or
Iran and China, or a regional organization, such as the situation of France, Germany and the European Union. Sometimes, it is someone who
wants to become part of a trading relationship or a regional organization, such as Turkey with the European Union.) Also, how is your
country governed? How secure is the government's control on its people? Get a general idea of your country - this might not end up being
talked about or written about, but it will help your decision making and help your research on some of the other items below.
2) Your committee.
You want to learn about your committee - What does it do? Where does it fit into the UN structure? (in other words, how important is it?)
What does it have control over in terms of funds? What other committees report to it? Most importantly, what can it do and not do? For
example, the Security Council is the only UN committee that can send in UN peacekeepers to a conflict zone, so if you're on the General
Assembly, that's not an option for you. But if you're talking about instructing the Human Rights Council to discuss something, the General
Assembly is the only committee that can do that, because the Human Rights Council reports directly to the General Assembly. Knowing
what your committee can and can't do will come without more than a few minutes of research in time, but make sure you take the time to be
sure for your first few conferences. (Most conferences provide a background guide with a "committee history" or "committee overview" that
will help with a general understanding of the committee.)
3) Your topic(s).
Understanding of your topic from a neutral perspective is necessary to finding solutions that are logical to the problem, as well as
understanding what specific proposals that other countries make during the conference might clash with your country's more generallyworded policy. Using our example, it's important to know which countries have high or low military budgets, and which actions have been
taken by the international community to reduce military budgets in the past. It is important to note that the United States' military budget is
nearly equal to the rest of the world's military budgets combined, to identify the current trends and understand where to work hardest - as a
delegate who represents a country that wants lower military budgets, any action you recommend or that the committee takes will be
perceived to be significantly less effective if it does not include a reduction in American military spending. (Most conferences provide a
background guide with a section on each topic, which provides an overview of the topic and history of actions taken by individual countries
and by international organizations on the issue. These background guides are an excellent starting point for a general understanding and
usually include a bibliography to jump-start your research in this area.)
4) Your country's position within the committee.
This is a section of your research that might not give you anything helpful, but if you can find something here about your country and
committee's relationship, it can be very helpful. What you're looking for includes: Does the committee meet in your country? Were you a
founder or key leader in the creation of the committee or organization? Are you currently Chair or President of the organization? Historically,

have you had conflict with the organization or been kicked out / suspended from its membership? Understanding your place in the committee
shouldn't take too long, but might let you know how likely you are to be listened to. For example, Egypt was the host of the Arab League
from 1945 to 1979, but the league met in Tunisia from 1979 to 1989 while Egypt's membership was suspended following the EgyptianIsraeli peace accords of 1979. Now the League meets in Cairo once again, and if you're a delegate representing Egypt on the League of Arab
States, that information is helpful to you; it allows you to "welcome" fellow delegates to your country during the first session, and allows you
to recognize that you are a major player in the League, to the point that your actions affect the entire organization.
5) Your country's position on your topic(s).
Researching your country's position on your topic will be the section of your research that you should spend most of your research time on.
You should consult country-specific websites, such as your country's Ministry of Foreign Affairs or Department of State (or the equivalent
national authority on foreign relations), and search them for the topic - your goal is to find a timely statement of policy by someone in that
agency on that topic. For example, Alex as the United States would look for a statement on "Reduction of Military Budgets" made by Hillary
Clinton (the American Secretary of State as of the time of this writing) or one of the Assistant or Deputy Secretaries of State for
Disarmament. Ideally, Alex would also find statements by the current American President, Barack Obama. The most timely statement by the
highest-ranking person is the one you should use, in case policy has changed or been overruled. Also, you should look at the country's
mission to the UN (you can find many of these at www.un.int) to see if they've made statements at the UN about the topic. These are among
the many places you should look for information, to answer a simple question: "What does your country want done on this issue?"
6) Your country's goals for the committee's discussion of your topic(s).
This section isn't really its own item to research - most of the time, it's where you coalesce everything else you have looked up in the
previous sections. Sometimes, there are specific things you can find while researching, however. The United States in 2002-2003 had a
different policy on Iraq within the Security Council than it did in NATO's North Atlantic Council, and because of the mandate of different
committees, its position on Iraq within the General Assembly First Committee (on Disarmament and International Security) was also
different. But if you can't find a distinct committee-specific policy for your country on your topic, you just want to combine everything else
you've found and come up with the answer to the question: "What does (your country) want (your committee) to do about (your topic) at this
conference?" The answer to this question will also complete a great deal of work on your position paper, when you begin to write it.
An important note on perspective:
It is important to know the truth of what's going on in your country, but what you will actually be sharing publicly will be your research on
what your country says is happening there. For example, Israel is widely believed to have nuclear weapons, but denies this. Iran is widely
believed to be developing nuclear weapons, but their position is that all nuclear efforts in Iran are for nuclear power and other peaceful
purposes. Knowing that Israel has nuclear weapons is important for your decision-making during committee, but when writing or speaking
publicly while representing Israel, you would state the official position of Israel by denying possession of nuclear weapons. Other examples
include Iran's President saying that there are no homosexual Iranians, China denying human rights abuses (in Taiwan and Tibet, or with the
Falun Gong), Sudan denying human rights abuses in Darfur and during the previous civil war, Israel denying their use of extra-judicial
executions and collective punishment in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, etc. etc. If you represent any of these countries, or any country
that denies that they have done something that everyone knows they've done, you need to play the role -deny, deny, deny.