The surprising lesson I learned about diplomacy while at the Model UN

It was something that caught my eye, a flyer on a wall painted full of them: the first ever McMaster Model United Nations was being planned, and it needed delegates.

I’m rather unaccustomed to joining clubs I know nothing about, so I surprised myself when I decided to take up the opportunity.

After I signed up, I was assigned a country and was asked to write a position paper on potential topics for the UN’s General Assembly.

It was then that I began to research my country – Qatar. I prepared myself for the General Assembly by studying the economic and cultural events that were influential in Qatar, as well as the religious dogma and historical UN voting practices of Qatar and neighboring countries in the Middle East.

At this point, I felt fairly confident of my ability to present topics on environmentally displaced refugees and developing a sustainable framework for universal access to clean water and sanitation from the perspective of Qatar.

Then came February 26, the first day we would all come together as delegates from our given nations. I arrived early and was able to meet representatives of Singapore, Gabon, and Egypt, all of whom had unique views on their country’s stances, as well as what they planned on doing for debates.

It was engaging, and I loved every moment of it – almost everyone there was a new face, but we quickly made friends. The opening ceremony was fantastic, and the keynote speaker, Llyod Axworthy, was an exceptional speaker that brought both political humour as well as the importance of our mission at the model UN.

We began to debate on the first full day of the conference. As a representative of Qatar, I argued for the need for water security in the world. This is due to Qatar having a very short supply of reserve water in the case of emergency infrastructure failure. However, the General Assembly decided that Environmentally Displaced Refugees (EDRs) were a more pressing matter.

It was a long-winded debate over what should be decided as the definition and ultimately nearing the end of the day we had very little accomplished other than remnants of ideas from select groups.

After we finished our discussion for the day we began to write working papers as groups of individuals, slowly outlining slight differences in plans that we might pursue over the weekend. Overall, there were three main blocs working on papers.

As dinnertime approached we moved to the Art Gallery of Hamilton, and it was again a great time to interact with people in a much more informal manner then the model UN. I was excited to see many of the individuals attending, especially President Patrick Deane.

As the night progressed we were assigned seating at tables, and I was with the representatives of Lebanon, Iran, Belgium, and Slovenia. Many of the individuals at our table were actually from some of the nearby countries to Qatar, such as the UAE, Iran, and Lebanon.

During dinner I was able to discuss certain elements of culture, but I was still caught off guard at how much I didn’t know. Despite the fact that I studied a fair amount about Qatar, I had no idea of how people from the region felt about Qataris, nor did I truly understand the culture at all. It was an enlightening experience and I learned a tremendous amount about Middle Eastern culture.

I finished the night by talking to the Provost and with Dr. Deane, in which I discussed his letter, and how it gave me the passion to persevere and come to this event.

The final day was brief: the Czech Republic and I, along with our other sponsors, merged working papers with the Netherlands and her sponsors that detailed both the definition, and the long and short term implications of our soon-to-be resolution.

After we were questioned on the document for a while we went into voting, and there was almost unanimous agreement on it. Everyone was happy we came to a universal solution.

As the closing ceremonies drew to an end, I was awarded one of the Most Diplomatic in the General Assembly – something I never would have thought possible as a representative of Qatar. But as I have learned from the model UN, it matters not what country you represent, but rather the ideals which you uphold.

It has been my pleasure to be a part of this momentous event for McMaster, and I look forward to next year.