Actually, I wanted to post this a few days back but is once again delayed by tasks I have to complete. Also, I came across LOTS of topics to post about, which is not a common phenomenon for me, since I always can't seem to find any relevant topic to post about. Just that I don't have the chance to. Now, finally I can post something.
Anyways, this thing happened on Wednesday just three days back. Together with the rest of my class 1243A, we were having History tutorial, touching on the topic of the United Nations. My History teacher came up with an interesting activity. For those who doesn't know, there's something called the Security Council within the United Nations(UN). It has 15 member countries in total, and of which, 5 are permanent members: US, Russia, China, Britain and France(forgive me for being lazy to spell the official names of these nations). Go check it out yourself if you wish to know more.
Like I've said, there are 15 member countries in total within the Security Council, and there's 1 Secretary-General in the UN. And my class has exactly 16 students and all are present. You see the connection? So, my History teacher decided to create a Mock Security Council meeting. Okay, here is how it goes. He called us to move tables together to create some sort of a semi-rectangle, and one table is placed out of the formation where everyone can see, which is for the Secretary-General.
Everyone is named after a country, serving as the representative of that particular country, while one lucky(or unlucky) soul is to become the Secretary-General and conduct the meeting. Well, guess what? If there's something the "Security Council" can decide on unanimously, it's the nomination of the Secretary-General. And that one unlucky soul is... Me. When my History teacher announced his plans for the day, I already know that I'm doomed to take the position of the Secretary-General, since almost everybody is my class calls me "Mr. President"... And I can't even recall how it started in the first place.
If that's bad enough, there's more to come. As if me getting stuck in the "hot-seat" as the Secretary-General isn't entertaining enough, my worst dreams have come true. Sometimes I wish I'm not THAT prophetic. Back when there was history debates organised by our dear History teacher, it became very clear that we have two very ummm... powerful debating powers within the class itself. Because of those debates we had, I nicknamed those two as "the two superpowers" and "the Cold War rivals", namely the US and USSR in reference to the Cold War conflict. And the two girls "happened" to be the representatives for exactly these two countries during these Mock Security Council meeting. Oh My God. Mutually Assured Destruction.
Permanent members in the Security Council(SC) hold special "veto" powers, which can immediately prevent any bill or action or resolution be passed even when there's only one veto. To add on to that, the bill or resolution can only be passed when there's at least 9/15 members votes. That's pretty difficult, considering the fact that the permanent members have to have their own nation's interests to be taken care of, and the large majority of the SC members to raise their hand in agreement in order for a bill or resolution to be passed successfully.
Here's the piece of instructions for my role as Secretary-General:
The Secretary General's role is to facilitate the meeting and to attempt to pass resolutions on each of the following agenda (i.e. he/she will propose a resolution then call for votes on it):
1: Two new nations wish to join the United Nations: Vietnam and Portugal. Security Council members are to discuss and vote on their applications for membership.
2: There is a major civil war in the Congo, posing a severe threat to peace and security in the region. Peacekeeping measures are urgently needed and the Security Council has to decide on the appropriate steps to take.
3: The UN's budget for the forthcoming year has to be decided. It has been proposed that the contribution from developed countries should be raised by 35% so as to fund additional peacekeeping forces as well as to aid the development of poorer nations.
Note: The list here is made up by our teacher, although the Congo Crisis had really happened.
Being the History person I am, I immediately sighed and shook my head upon looking at this list. It's virtually almost impossible to pass any resolution to any of these agendas unless there are huge compromise from the members. Yes, my teacher wanted to bring up the problems the United Nations face in terms of the decision-making process within the Security Council. There's self-interests to be taken care of by each party, be it a superpower in a midst of a Cold War rivalry, an used-to-be empire which is in a financial crisis suffered from a gruelling war and had their attention on other issues such as decolonisation, an ally of a certain power, a country involved in a national crisis(Congo in this case), a country in the midst of improving it's reputation and developing their status, a country which may be very wealthy but just refuse to pay up and all sorts of things. I emphasise that I'm not pointing fingers at any particular person or country, just stating the facts here.
So with all these in their minds, how is it possible for a resolution to be passed without facing stiff problems? There can be a conflict of interests everywhere, anywhere.
Actually we did it, somehow... We passed last two of the three written above, which is a major achievement since it was set up to fail actually. But it wasn't without making compromises that we did it, members are forced to compromise one or more of their own agendas(each will have three) in order to permit the passing of a resolution. It was really an entertaining session of my class, and I assure you, you will laugh at us if you witnessed what actually transpired in the classroom. I wished it was filmed down, seriously. It's just too funny and utterly chaotic. My teacher and I tried out best to keep some form of order in the discussion, which we did eventually, but that didn't stop us from having a fun discussion.
Again, although it's pretty obvious from the start, it's not anywhere near "easy" to make an almost unanimous decision within the Security Council, and it's definitely not easy to be a Secretary-General. Indeed, the role of the UN is indispensable, to preserve the peace and security in the international community as a whole. Peace and security which people had died and shed blood for during the previous wars. And of course, to make the world a better place. Sounds like a huge ambition, and seems almost unattainable. But still, it's a good cause to continue fighting for. Perhaps not the "fighting" you might have in mind.
Salutes to all the Secretary-Generals for their efforts. It must have been really tough being one, I admit, though I'm just one for a mock SC discussion. You gotta have lots of positive attributes within your personality in order to be a Secretary-General of the UN.
Still, it fuelled me to continue heading towards my personal goal and fulfilling my ambition. To change the world, even if it's just a little bit. Of course, change for the better.
P.S According to my teacher, we might have another session similar to this. One which is like a mock General Assembly with the entire lecture group in a lecture theatre. Heh, I'm pretty pumped up for it.
P.S According to my teacher, we might have another session similar to this. One which is like a mock General Assembly with the entire lecture group in a lecture theatre. Heh, I'm pretty pumped up for it.
Disclaimer: Please DO NOT take any offence on whatever I've written here because I meant not offence to anyone or any particular nation or organisation or whatever.
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