© 2018 American University Model United Nations Conference All rights reserved. No part of this background guide may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means whatsoever without express written permission from the American University Model United Nations Conference Secretariat. Please direct all questions to [email protected] Emily Michels & Sophia Casabonne Chairs Dear Delegates, Welcome to AmeriMUNC VI at American University! Our names are Sophia and Emily, and we’ll be your committee chairs for this year’s conference. We very excited to meet each and every one of you when the day comes, but in the meantime please make the most of your pre-conference research. Sophia is a junior at American University in the School of International Service, with a minor in Russian Studies. She is also a member of the AU Honors Program. Sophia is currently studying abroad in St. Petersburg, Russia. Originally from Albany, New York, Sophia joined the AU Model United Nations Team her freshman year, and also served on the AmeriMUNC V Secretariat as the Director of Communications. In her free time, Sophia loves talking about Russia, spending time with her Phi Mu sisters, and watching Law and Order. She can't wait to be back on campus for AmeriMUNC VI! Emily is a junior at American University majoring in International Studies. She grew up in Huntington Beach, California and was very involved in her high school's Model UN team, participating in around 18 conferences before she graduated. Upon coming to American, she has remained involved in Model UN by staffing Amerimunc and was a Vice Chair for the Russian Cabinet last year. Additionally, she currently serves as the Under-Secretary General of Economic and Social Council committees at the National High School Model United Nations Conference in New York. Outside of Model UN, she takes part in her Christian group called Chi Alpha and her sorority, Alpha Epsilon Phi. She is also a big fan of chocolate, Ariana Grande, Twitter, singing, and finding fun restaurants! AmeriMUNC is very Security Council-centric conference, putting you in the middle of all the action and giving you plenty of cross-committee interaction. Regardless of whether you’ve chosen to sit on the Security Council or have been assigned to the committee, you should know your role comes with great power and responsibility. The Security Council is the UN organ with most enforceability on the international stage, particularly under the mandate of maintaining international peace and security, a fact which which should not be taken lightly by any of the council’s members. With tensions rising between international hegemons, interactions between members of the council can be very complex and I look forward to seeing this committee develop. See you soon! Emily and Sophia Chairs United Nations Security Council UNITED NATIONS SECURITY COUNCIL ABOUT THE UNSC About the UNSC At AmeriMUNC VI, the UNSC is unlike any other committee. Instead of specifically dealing with one issue throughout the duration of the weekend, the UNSC will act as an overarching body that will tackle three entirely separate conflicts. The conflicts the UNSC will be tackling are as followed: the crisis in Kiribati, the crisis in the Philippines, and the crisis in North Korea. For this reason, the UNSC does not have a background guide. Instead, delegates are encouraged to read the background guides of the committees above. There is no particular order in which these conflicts will be tackled, though once an issue is dealt with, the UNSC will not go back; we will devote one or two continuous committee sessions for the conflict in Kiribati, one or two continuous committee sessions for the Philippines, and one or two continuous committee sessions for the conflict in North Korea. For clarity, during these one or two committee sessions that the UNSC is dealing with a specific conflict, the UNSC and the corresponding committee (Kiribati Evacuation Force, Executive Council of the Philippines National Police, and Cabinets of North Korea/South Korea/USA/Russia/China/Japan) will essentially act as a joint-crisis conflict. As an example, let’s suppose that a tsunami is approaching the Island of Kiribati. Delegates in the UNSC would be presented with this update, and would then be expected to respond to the crisis in the form of crisis notes and directives. Following updates would include how individual crisis notes and directives affected the crisis as well as how the Kiribati committee responded. This would continue for a committee session or two until the crisis is resolved. Afterwords, the UNSC would move to address a new crisis in either the Philippines or in or around the Korean Peninsula. Portfolio Powers For crisis, each double delegation will be acting as the ambassadors of your respective country to the United Nations Security Council. As representatives of various countries to the UNSC, you will be given certain leeway to dictate your country’s policy; if you make a reasonable proposal for your country to take a certain action, it will most likely be granted. Thus, you will have full crisis powers as the individual ambassador themself and special crisis powers to influence and sometimes dictate the policy of your respective country as well. UNSC | USA UNITED STATES Nikki Haley United States Ambassador to the United Nations Capital: Washington, D.C. GDP: $19.390 trillion Population: 325,719,178 National Language: No official language Biography Nikki Haley currently serves as the 29th United States Ambassador to the United Nations. Haley was born on January 20th, 1972 in Bamberg, South Carolina. She currently resides in the United Nations Plaza with her husband, Michael Haley, and two children, Rena and Nalin. By friends and family, she’s always been referred to as “Nikki” her entire life. Her parents, Ajit Singh Randhawa and Raj Kaur Randhawa, emigrated from Amritsar District, located in Punjab, India. Additionally, her father, Raj, is a retired professor from Punjab Agricultural University, while her mother earned her law degree from the University of Delhi. Notably, when her father obtained his PhD degree in 1969, their family moved to South Carolina. Haley’s mother, Raj Randhawa, received a master’s degree in the study of education. Haley also has two brothers and one sister, named Mitti and Charan and Simran. Mitti, served in the Desert Storm and is a retired member of the US Army Chemical Corps. Whereas, Charan is a web designer. Her sister, Simran, is an alumna of Fashion Institute of Technology and is currently a radio host. When Haley was 12, she started working, helping her mother with recording financial transactions in her clothing shop, “Exotica International.” Moreover, she graduated from Orangeburg Preparatory Schools in Orangeburg, South Carolina in 1989. Years later, she earned her bachelor's degree in accounting from Clemson University. Prior to joining her family’s clothing business, Haley first worked for the FCR Corporation, which is a recycling company. Later, she was promoted to Exotica International’s Controller, and Chief Financial Officer. In 1998, she was named to the Board of Directors of the Orangeburg County Chamber of Commerce. Then, named to the Board of Directors of the Lexington Chamber of Commerce in 2003. As she worked her way up, in 2003, she became the treasurer of the National Association of Women Business Owners, which is a US organization focuses on networking women-owned businesses, in order to better provide support and resources. In addition, she was chair of the Lexington Gala, in which she was responsible for raising money for a local hospital. Haley first entered the realm of politics in 2004, when she ran for the South Carolina House of Representatives, to represent District 87. This district was located UNSC | USA in Lexington County, South Carolina. During this election, she challenged the incumbent state representative at the time, Larry Koon. In the Republican primary, it was known that Koon was the longest serving member of the South Carolina Statehouse. Some main pillars of her platform include, education reform in schools, and property tax relief to those impacted. In the primaries, Koon won just 42% of the vote, as she placed in second place. In the runoff, she was able to defeat him by 55% of the vote. In the general election, she ran unopposed. Then, she became the first Indian-American to hold office in South Carolina, breaking significant barriers. When running for her re-election, she ran unopposed. Then, for a third term, won against Democrat Edgar Gomez in the election. For the 2014 elections, Haley announced in August of 2013 that she would run for a second term as governor. She was challenged in the Republican primary by Tom Ervin, who is an attorney. Although, Ervin later announced that he would run the rest of his gubernatorial campaign as an Independent. Once again, Vincent Sheheen was her challenger for the Democratic Party. In the general election, Haley was re-elected in November, with a 55.9% of the vote, which her margin almost tripling compared to her first. Despite her term being set to conclude on January 9th, 2019, she resigned on January 24th, 2017, to serve as the US Ambassador to the UN. In November of 2016, President-elect Donald Trump announced his intent to nominate Haley for Ambassador to the UN. So, in January of 2017, the nomination was sent to the US Senate. Haley was then confirmed by the Senate by a vote of 96-4. She is the first Indian-American to hold a cabinet level position as well. In the beginning of her tenure, Haley announced to the U.N.