MODEL BERLIN CONFERENCE

    In 1884, German chancellor Otto von Bismarck called together 14 of the major western powers of the world to negotiate questions and end confusion over the control of Africa. At the time of the conference, 80% of Africa remained under traditional and local control. What ultimately resulted was a hodgepodge of geometric boundaries that divided Africa into fifty irregular countries. By the time independence returned to Africa in 1950, the realm had acquired a legacy of political fragmentation that could neither be eliminated nor made to operate satisfactorily.  Now, it is YOUR chance to turn back the clock and establish a system of boundaries and countries (20-25 for this simulation) that will improve the future of the African continent.

GETTING STARTED

    Your first responsibility is to research your assigned country; there are a few links provided on this site to get you started.  This will allow you to represent your assigned nation intelligently, and to act “in character” even when specific information about a topic may not be available (e.g. what type of government exists in your country?  What types of problems have occurred in your country's past that could have been prevented?).

    Secondly, you must familiarize yourself with the continent of Africa through maps and data, not just information on your assigned country.  You must then establish criteria by which you will prioritize the delimitation of the boundaries of Africa.  There are many priorities you may consider - language, religion, access to major oceans, seas, or rivers (prevent landlocked states as much as possible), cultures/established tribal kingdoms, population (density & total), mineral access & arable land, physical landscape, etc...  As you can see, you have quite a responsibility on your hands.

POSITION PAPERS AND RESOLUTIONS

    When you have gathered enough data and maps, and have established the underlying criteria and philosophies guiding your country's decisions, you are then ready to construct your position paper and proposed resolution.  Your position paper will contain your country's underlying criteria and philosophies in dealing with the establishment of the borders of Africa.  It needs to be only one to two paragraphs long, and does not propose any specific solutions to the problem.

    Your resolution will immediately follow the position paper, and is essentially one long sentence. It begins with the Subject (e.g. The Congo on the Issue of Establishing the Boundaries of Africa), then uses what are known as Preambulatory Clauses (a list can be found toward the bottom of the rules page in this site) to describe the resolution’s intent and motivation before moving on to describe the specific action which will be taken by the Berlin Conference in the Operative Clauses, which offer specific solutions to the problem (some samples are provided in this site).

ROLE-PLAYING

    The largest part of a Model Berlin Conference is accurately playing the role called for by your country assignment, and the delegate who knows this will do well.  Every member of each delegation is responsible for their own participation in the simulation.  Failure to be adequately prepared each day may reflect negatively on the delegate's individual grade.  A list of the rules of precedence, including a sample of points and motions, will be given to each delegate on the first day of the simulation.

    Now, remember that the point of this exercise is to resolve disputes, which threaten the African continent, and not to create disputes.  Have FUN!