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POSITION PAPER

Researching your assigned country properly involves some writing. A delegate would not be fully prepared for a conference without a solid position paper. The purpose of the position paper is to give you an opportunity to assemble your research into an organized policy statement. Your general goals and underlying principles should be clearly stated. 

A Position Paper should include three sections, outlined below:

A. Background of the Topic

· In your country’s opinion, what are the main elements of the problem?

· What are the roots of those elements?

B. Position taken by your delegation

· What are your national interests in the situation?

· National interests are what a country would like to see happen in the world.  These interests are not subject to compromise, but instead generally idealized goals or methods of solving specific problems.

· What are your nation’s policies on the topic?

· National policies are the country’s attempts to secure its interests.  These policy positions are usually open to negotiation.

· What steps would you like to see taken to deal with the problem?

· Your opinions on actions you can or cannot support (on potential resolution components). Highlight the steps your country would you like to see taken to deal with the problem.  Although these sections provide flexibility, you need to keep in mind the interests of your nation. Possible resolutions must be consistent with your country's national interests and current national policies.

C. Justification for your positions

· What are your main reasons for supporting these positions?

· What do you predict will be the main opposition to your proposals?

Position Papers should roughly adhere to the following form, with the Country, the Committee, and the Topic included at the top. Please limit each topic area to one single-spaced typed page as best as you can.

SAMPLE POSITION PAPER

Topic:  China on the Invasion of Ethiopia by Italian Forces (1935):

A.  In the past year, the nations of Italy and Ethiopia have been hurling an onslaught of recriminations and accusations against each other. A bitter conclusion to this verbal conflict is now the Italian invasion of Ethiopia. This marks the beginning of a new phase of this issue. This phase must be terminated quickly and efficiently to preserve the rights of sovereign nations against unprovoked aggression. Last December, Italian and Ethiopian troops engaged in battle at Walwal on a disputed section of the Ethiopian Somaliland frontier. While the Italian head-of-state Benito Mussolini demanded an apology and reparations, the Ethiopian leader, Emperor Haile Selassie I came to us, the League of Nations insisting that an investigation take place to determine the issue of responsibility.   It is clear to this delegation that Italy is invading Ethiopia in part, due to their previous defeat at the hands of the Ethiopians at the Battle of Adowa in 1896.

B.  Although no major battles have taken place at this time, the Italian Air Force is attacking with full might, and Ethiopia is accusing Italy of indiscriminate bombing of civilian targets and the use of biological warfare by means of chlorine gas.  Meanwhile, Italian troops are advancing slowly toward the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa.  These facts clearly lay the blame upon Italy, who maintains that their invasion is intended to “restore order.”  China despises the use of biological warfare, and the meaningless assault on innocent civilians.  China desires for Italy to immediately cease all offensive actions, and remove all troops from Ethiopian territory.  Furthermore, China calls on the League of Nations to organize a commission to fully investigate the issue.  We would support world-wide economic sanctions against Italy if they refuse.

C.  Upon this basis, the nation of China stands to charge the state of Italy with a violation of the Kellogg-Briand Pact of 1928, which declares war to be unlawful, and of League of Nations charter, which states that the intention of the League of Nations is: (1) to promote international cooperation, and (2) to maintain peace by settling disputes peacefully and reducing armaments.  Although all nations are suffering through a Great Depression, failure to address unprovoked and unjust hostilities against sovereign states will only lead to further violence and a destabilization of the world order.

RESOLUTION
    A resolution is generally one long sentence. It begins with the Subject, then uses what are known as Preambulatory Phrases to describe the resolution’s intent and motivation before moving on to describe the specific action which is being taken by the Assembly in the Operative Clause. Diplomatic communication requires sensitivity, and the appropriate use of language and protocol is essential. A word or phrase can mean the difference between success and failure. Therefore, you must always be precise in the language you employ when writing a resolution, and it is generally required that specific phrases be used to introduce each separate clause in any resolution.

    The first section of a Resolution is the list of Preambulatory Phrases. These phrases state the nature of the problem and establish the reasons and precedents for the actions, which will be outlined in the second half of the resolution. The first word of each clause is underlined, and each clause ends with a comma.

The second section of a resolution contains the Operative Clauses, the actions that will be taken by the body. These numbered clauses all begin with underlined, present-tense action verbs which are generally stronger than the words used in the preamble. Each operative clause is followed by a semicolon, except for the last one, which ends with a period. (Thus, each resolution is a single, albeit long, sentence.)

SAMPLE RESOLUTION

Topic: Status of Comic Strips in Sunday Newspapers

Deploring the precipitous drop in the quality of national comic strips in the past five years, a trend which threatens to ruin the Sunday mornings of millions of citizens all over the world,

Taking into account the retirement of Bill Waterson, which has accelerated this trend toward bad humor and worse artistic ability,

Realizing that Calvin and Hobbes was all that held the Sunday Comics Page against the forces of aesthetic barbarism,

1. Appeals to the newspaper editors around the world to take action to improve the sliding quality of comic strips in their publications;

2. Congratulates the author and creator of Calvin and Hobbes for his decade-long contribution to world humor;

3. Expresses its sincere hope that Mr. Waterson will return from retirement, and that all up-and-coming artists will learn from his work;

4. Urges the United Nations, in cooperation with the Secretary-General and all member governments, institute an international annual Calvin and Hobbes appreciation day, to be observed on a day which will best please all concerned;

5. Requests the Secretary-General to use his good offices to facilitate the implementation of this resolution as quickly as possible, and to submit to the General Assembly each year a report on the progress made toward this goal.

(Source: Mr. Robert Crawford)

SAMPLE POSITION PAPER AND RESOLUTION

Topic:  China on the Invasion of Ethiopia by Italian Forces (1935):

A.  In the past year, the nations of Italy and Ethiopia have been hurling an onslaught of recriminations and accusations against each other. A bitter conclusion to this verbal conflict is now the Italian invasion of Ethiopia. This marks the beginning of a new phase of this issue. This phase must be terminated quickly and efficiently to preserve the rights of sovereign nations against unprovoked aggression. Last December, Italian and Ethiopian troops engaged in battle at Walwal on a disputed section of the Ethiopian Somaliland frontier. While the Italian head-of-state Benito Mussolini demanded an apology and reparations, the Ethiopian leader, Emperor Haile Selassie I came to us, the League of Nations insisting that an investigation take place to determine the issue of responsibility.   It is clear to this delegation that Italy is invading Ethiopia in part, due to their previous defeat at the hands of the Ethiopians at the Battle of Adowa in 1896.

B.  Although no major battles have taken place at this time, the Italian Air Force is attacking with full might, and Ethiopia is accusing Italy of indiscriminate bombing of civilian targets and the use of biological warfare by means of chlorine gas.  Meanwhile, Italian troops are advancing slowly toward the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa.  These facts clearly lay the blame upon Italy, who maintains that their invasion is intended to “restore order.”  China despises the use of biological warfare, and the meaningless assault on innocent civilians.  China desires for Italy to immediately cease all offensive actions, and remove all troops from Ethiopian territory.  Furthermore, China calls on the League of Nations to organize a commission to fully investigate the issue.  We would support world-wide economic sanctions against Italy if they refuse.

C.  Upon this basis, the nation of China stands to charge the state of Italy with a violation of the Kellogg-Briand Pact of 1928, which declares war to be unlawful, and of League of Nations charter, which states that the intention of the League of Nations is: (1) to promote international cooperation, and (2) to maintain peace by settling disputes peacefully and reducing armaments.  Although all nations are suffering through a Great Depression, failure to address unprovoked and unjust hostilities against sovereign states will only lead to further violence and a destabilization of the world order.

China proposes a resolution:

Protecting the rights of sovereign nations and specifically the citizens and government of Ethiopia,

Cognizant of the fact Italy has perpetrated heinous acts of cruelty against humanity,

Having examined the evidence thoroughly the following steps will be taken by this League of Nations:

 (1) Urges an immediate cease-fire and direct withdrawal of all Italian troops from Ethiopia's sovereign territory ;

 (2) Authorizes the immediate adoption of economic sanctions banning international trade with Italy if they fail to comply with the conditions of section 1;

 (3) Further invites a daily committee to be organized for the purpose of reviewing of the topic conducted by a panel of representatives from the permanent members of the council not including the accused nation of Italy;

 (4) Strongly recommends a daily report on status by the Italian and Ethiopian delegation ;

 (5) Emphasizes the need of an investigation team to Ethiopia to report to the review committee (from section 3 - and the assembly and council meetings;

 (6) Affirms the urgency for Italy to be temporarily removed of permanent member status (removal from Council but maintaining access to assembly) until this issue has been resolved, upon which Italy’s permanent status will be reinstated, removed, or Italy is expelled from the League of Nations depending on resolution of topic;

 (6a) If after 24 hours of passing, no plans for Italian troop withdrawal have been initiated, Italy will be dropped as a permanent member. If a plan is initiated, Italian permanent membership will remain temporarily invalid until all troops have been removed from Ethiopian territory at which time, permanent membership will be reinstated;

 (6b) If Italian troops are not removed from Ethiopian territory within 1 week, Italy will be dropped as a permanent member;

 (6c) If Italy is dropped as a permanent member, and no plans exist to remove troops in Ethiopia, or the troops are not being removed on a timely basis, then the Council will vote on further punishment or methods of dealing with the issue including expelling Italy from the League of Nations, notwithstanding military action.

 This issue is very sensitive for our nation as China is facing unprovoked aggression from Japan at this time and setting a standard in dealing with the problem is of paramount importance.

 (Source: Evan Rosenberg and Dan Snyder)

BIBLIOGRAPHY

A bibliography is an alphabetical list of books and other sources used when writing a report. It is the last page of the report and should be arranged alphabetically by author (or title, if no author appears in the entry). For this project you must include a bibliography citing all the sources you - and your group - used (preferably all on one page).

Here is a sample bibliography:

BBC. (n.d.). Guinea-Bissau: First Ecowas peacekeeping troops arrive. Retrieved January 5th, 2016, from BBC News: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-18110585

Fortin, J. (2012, May 7th). Guinea-Bissau: ECOWAS Troops Arrive For Peacekeeping Mission. Retrieved January 5th, 2016, from International Business Times: http://www.ibtimes.com/guinea-bissau-ecowas-troops-arrive-peacekeeping-mission-698968

Goodman, J. (n.d.). A Background Guide for the Special Political and Decolonization Committee. Retrieved January 5th, 2016, from Harvard MUN: http://harvardmun.org/assets/pdfs/guides/GA_SPECPOL_16.pdf

United Nations. (n.d.). Principles of UN peacekeeping. Retrieved January 5th, 2016, from United Nations Peacekeeping: http://www.un.org/en/peacekeeping/operations/principles.shtml

United Nations. (2015, September 21st). Security Council welcomes appointment of Guinea-Bissau PM, stresses national reconciliation. Retrieved January 5th, 2016, from United Nations Integrated Peace-Building Office in Guinea-Bissau: http://uniogbis.unmissions.org/Default.aspx?tabid=9919&ctl=Details&mid=12838&ItemID=21179&language=en-US

University of Geneva. (2012, June 8th). Guinea-Bissau Peace Operations. Retrieved January 6th, 2016, from Rule of Law in Armed Conflicts Project: http://www.geneva-academy.ch/RULAC/peace_operations.php?id_state=81

Xinhua. (2014, November 5th). UN evaluates its peacekeeping mission in Guinea Bissau. Retrieved January 5th, 2016, from Xinhua, english.news.cn: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2014-11/05/c_133768261.htm