BACKGROUND GUIDES The following committees will be featured at CMUNNY 2007: British East India Company, 1780 This committee will recreate the dynamics of the British East India Company in the year 1780, addressing the diverse problems that accompany the company’s rapid and volatile shift from trading company to rogue colonial state. At the time the committee meets, the East India Company is on the verge of the possibility of becoming an imperial presence while still struggling with the economics of their monopoly over Indian trade. In that year the company was deeply in debt to the British parliament, to the point where its self-destruction seemed imminent. Ideas under considerationfor dealing with the debt include opium trade with China, heavy land taxes, and enforced growth of cash crops such as indigo by the peasantry. The already-instituted plans for land revenue reform are resulting in widespread famines and peasant unrest. At the same time, there is great uncertainty as to the nature of the Company’s power itself – should it be preserved or extended, and to what extent? Perhaps more importantly, how can it be maintained? With what authority can the British East India Company rule in India? Concert of Europe, 1820 The "Concert of Europe" is the name given to the series of conferences beginning in 1815 held by the great powers of Europe. A revolutionary development in the development of European and world diplomacy, the Concert's chief aim is to maintain the balance of power in a Europe exhausted by the rise and fall of Napoleon. Delegates will represent varying visions for the future of Europe and powers great and small. Faced with the ceaseless threat of revolution and the possibility of the rise of another Napoleonic figure, the affairs of the Concert will be doused with idealism and intrigue as national self-interest battles European good. Success will see Europe through the era unscathed; failure will plunge the continent back into brutal war. First Conference of Independent African Heads of State and Government, 1963 Held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in May 1963 by His Imperial Majesty Haile Selassie, this African leader's summit convened delegates from across the continent for the purpose of overcoming regional differences in order to form the Organization of African Unity. Charged with defining Africa's future while banning together in the fight for freedom, each delegation will arrive with a political agenda that reflects their distinct situation. While some overcame colonial oppression nearly half a decade ago, others still struggle in their region's quest for independence. Amidst the fervor of revolution, European colonial powers compete in the international arena for African territory. Concurrently, an ideological battle for spheres of influence continues to develop as the U.S.S.R and the United States clash for power. As representatives of African bodies, we face the challenge of developing a "continental consensus" while addressing political concerns at the international level. Indian Cabinet, 1971 As the governing body of a nation geographically divided by the entire width of a rival nation, “home” to a surge of refugees who have crossed border lines and where eminent conflicts based on religious tensions arise constantly, the Indian Cabinet of 1971 will tackle the problems that face the nation during the East Pakistan riots of the 1970s. In the "real world," these riots ultimately led to the Bangladeshi Liberation War of 1971, but the course of history remains to be woven as the decisions the delegate make could prevent, enable, or exacerbate a regional crisis. As we progress chronologically, delegates will need to strategize how best to protect our nation from being victim to Pakistani attacks. As Cold War tensions between the Soviet Union, the United States, and Europe arise, delegates will have to balance what is best for their newly-born nation with the interests of their own conflicting beliefs as we prepare our home country for potential combat. International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, 2007 Beginning on April 6, 1994 and for the next one hundred days, hundreds of thousands of Tutsis were brutally killed by Hutus in Rwanda. Using mostly clubs, machetes, and kalashnikovs, the Hutu militia killed as many as 10,000 Tutsis each day. At CMUNNY II, the twelve delegates will have the opportunity to not only simulate the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), but to also become familiar with the international legislation that deals with genocide. Established in 1994 by the United Nations Security Council Resolution 955, the ICTR is currently situated in Tanzania. At CMUNNY II, we will try three individuals: 1) Jean-Baptiste Gatete; 2) Gaspard Kanyarukiga; and 3) Callixte Kalimanzira, who have been charged with Genocide, Complicity in Genocide, Conspiracy to Commit Genocide, and Crimes against Humanity. The genocide in Rwanda is peculiar in that these atrocities were not only known to the government, but often times even carried out by government officials. The Tribunal must render decisions in accordance with international law in order to contribute to the process of national reconciliation in Rwanda and to the maintenance of peace in the region. Working together at CMUNNY II, the delegates' decisions can provide an example to other parts of the world where similar atrocities are occurring. International Monetary Fund: South Korean Financial Crisis, 1997 Days before the start of committee, on 21 November 1997, South Korea, possessing the 11th largest economy in the world, requested aid from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in response to the collapse of its national currency (the won). As members of the IMF, you face the challenge of designing a sound financial plan for stabilizing the Korean currency and economy. With massive monetary funds, the ability to hold negotiations between banks and South Korea, and the power to impose structural, economic reforms as conditions for receiving aid at your disposal, what will be your course of action? Will you use previous models of IMF action and seek only to re-stabilize the economy, or will you attempt to alter what you perceive as the flaws that gave rise to the crisis in the first place? As the world’s economies become increasingly interconnected, the successes or failures of a single economy are hardly ever isolated. How will your actions affect an already extremely economically unstable region? Joint-Crisis Committees: Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962 In October 1962, the deployment of Soviet nuclear missiles to Cuba generated an international crisis that portrayed the pinnacle of Cold War tensions. The Cuban Missile Crisis Joint Committee will be a challenging and unique experience during which delegates will relive this confrontation between the Soviet Union and the United States. As members of the United States National Security Council or the Cuban Council of State, delegates will be charged with the tasks of constructing their nation's foreign policy, reacting to the ever-changing dynamics of the crisis, fully representing their nation's ideology, and exploring the full extent of their diplomatic skills all while averting a nuclear catastrophe. While the Soviet Politburo will not be represented, its presence will be most certainly be felt and allow delegates to explore the depth of the nuanced relationships of these three national bodies. Panamanian Rebel Junta, 1903 Although oftentimes reduced to a mere economic venture, the opening of the Canal was the causeway that would open the door to a century of United States primacy over Latin America and the wide world of the Atlantic and Pacific seas. In fact, the Canal would serve as the venue by which Cold War tensions would be imported into Latin America, the precedent for U.S. policy in the region would be set, drug trade under Noriega would flourish, and a legacy of Latin American resentment would be exported to neighboring regions. During our re-enactment, however, will the U.S. lose control over the Panamanian revolution that brought the Canal to life or will history repeat itself? If the story of the Canal were re-written, then how would changes in the nature of the Cold War, U.S.-Latin American relations and the drug trade affect the current state of the international community? State Council of the Republic of Korea, 2007 The Northeast Asian region is one of the most dynamic in the world. Since World War II, it has undergone massive changes politically, economically and culturally. No country better typifies this trend than South Korea. In the past fifty years it has come from a backwards, impoverished and war-torn state into a modern democracy with sparkling cities and globe-straddling corporations. Over the course of several days, delegates representing the Ministers in the State Council of the Republic of Korea will tackle some of the most complex and intractable problems facing the Northeast Asian region. In dealing with the North Korean nuclear crisis, as well as with balancing relations with the United States, Japan and China and other critical topics, delegates will be expected to take into consideration economic, political and cultural factors to try to come to a resolution. Over the course of several days, the committee will be continually challenged by numerous and wide-ranging crises that reflect the unpredictability and instability of the Northeast Asian region.