Model United Nations organized by the BSH Jena and the JenMUN e.V.

On the 13th and 14th of June, 22 Students engaged in an extracurricular simulation of the United Nations Security Council. Representing 15 countries as well as the correspondence service, the chair and the secretary general, the students simulated the negotiations about a fictional, yet not unrealistic scenario: Greenland’s independence and its request for admission to the United Nations.

The simulation served as a place to learn about the rules of procedure of the United Nations and develop one's skills in negotiating, public speaking and critical thinking. Students of nine different nationalities and six different subjects were present during the event. The simulation and the accompanying social events thus also fostered significant international and interdisciplinary exchange.

The event was organized by the chairs of the Student Association for Foreign and Security Policy Jena and the chairs of the Model United Nations Jena e.V.: Leon Wilke, Sander König, Josef Mlejnek and Jonas Hoppe. The topic of the simulation was introduced by two guest lectures from the political scientists Christopher Brucker and Ina Siemer (Chair of International Relations) in the weeks leading up to the event.

During the simulation, delegates worked together constructively to create two different draft resolutions, touching upon a wide range of relevant issues including geostrategic, environmental, economic and normative concerns. After long discussion, the first resolution was eventually vetoed. The second resolution could no longer be discussed due to time constraints. Nonetheless, the simulation was productive, developing a broad consensus upon which an eventual recommendation for admissions could have been built. The simulation also produced a separate treaty between the People’s Republic of China, the Russian Federation, the Federal Republic of Somalia, the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and the Republic of Sierra Leone. The delegate of France, Nathalie Neuberger, won the “Best Delegate” award for particularly outstanding diplomatic work. The delegates of Guyana, Sophia Moisel and Mutwald Wiese, received the “Best Position Paper” award. Honorary mentions include the participants Ben Keberle, Julia Arweiler and Yannis Stallmach, who received a commended delegate award each.

The event organisers would like to highlight that all participants were strongly engaged and did excellent work during the simulation. We would therefore like to thank each and every one of them, as well as Christopher Brucker, Ina Siemer and the Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena for making this simulation possible.