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POSITION PAPER

Researching your assigned country properly involves some writing. A delegate would not be fully prepared for a conference without a solid position paper. The purpose of the position paper is to give you an opportunity to assemble your research into an organized policy statement. Your general goals and underlying principles should be clearly stated.  A position paper should be concise, accurate, well written, and understandable. Each paper should be edited carefully; give the paper to a group of your peers to have it reviewed for content, grammar, and spelling before you take it with you to the conference. A good position paper will also provide some suggestions for resolving the problem at hand.

SAMPLE POSITION PAPER

France on the Issue of International Terrorism:

    France defines a terrorist as anyone who is in any way involved in planning, implementing, sponsoring, or participating in a terrorist act. Furthermore, a terrorist act is one where a small group of people attempt to impose their political views on a large group, usually a government, by injuring innocent people. The French Republic feels that convening an international conference to define terrorism and to differentiate between terrorism and the legitimate desires of peoples to gain autonomy would only provide a false link between the two ideas. France was victimized by terrorism in the past and therefore believes it to be of utmost importance to establish an international tribunal to try, sentence, and punish terrorists for crimes against humanity.

RESOLUTION
    A resolution is generally one long sentence. It begins with the Subject, then uses what are known as Preambulatory Phrases to describe the resolution’s intent and motivation before moving on to describe the specific action which is being taken by the Assembly in the Operative Clause. Diplomatic communication requires sensitivity, and the appropriate use of language and protocol is essential. A word or phrase can mean the difference between success and failure. Therefore, you must always be precise in the language you employ when writing a resolution, and it is generally required that specific phrases be used to introduce each separate clause in any resolution.

    The first section of a Resolution is the list of Preambulatory Phrases. These phrases state the nature of the problem and establish the reasons and precedents for the actions, which will be outlined in the second half of the resolution. The first word of each clause is underlined, and each clause ends with a comma.

The second section of a resolution contains the Operative Clauses, the actions that will be taken by the body. These numbered clauses all begin with underlined, present-tense action verbs which are generally stronger than the words used in the preamble. Each operative clause is followed by a semicolon, except for the last one, which ends with a period. (Thus, each resolution is a single, albeit long, sentence.)

SAMPLE RESOLUTION

Topic: Status of Comic Strips in Sunday Newspapers

Deploring the precipitous drop in the quality of national comic strips in the past five years, a trend which threatens to ruin the Sunday mornings of millions of citizens all over the world,

Taking into account the retirement of Bill Waterson, which has accelerated this trend toward bad humor and worse artistic ability,

Realizing that Calvin and Hobbes was all that held the Sunday Comics Page against the forces of aesthetic barbarism,

1. Appeals to the newspaper editors around the world to take action to improve the sliding quality of comic strips in their publications;

2. Congratulates the author and creator of Calvin and Hobbes for his decade-long contribution to world humor;

3. Expresses its sincere hope that Mr. Waterson will return from retirement, and that all up-and-coming artists will learn from his work;

4. Urges the United Nations, in cooperation with the Secretary-General and all member governments, institute an international annual Calvin and Hobbes appreciation day, to be observed on a day which will best please all concerned;

5. Requests the Secretary-General to use his good offices to facilitate the implementation of this resolution as quickly as possible, and to submit to the General Assembly each year a report on the progress made toward this goal.

(Source: Mr. Robert Crawford)

SAMPLE POSITION PAPER AND RESOLUTION

Topic:  Italian Forces Begin the Invasion of Ethiopia:

In the past year, the nations of Italy and Ethiopia have been hurling an onslaught of recriminations and accusations against each other. A bitter conclusion to this verbal conflict is now the Italian invasion of Ethiopia. This marks the beginning of a new phase of this issue. This phase must be terminated quickly and efficiently to preserve the rights of sovereign nations against unprovoked aggression. Last December, Italian and Ethiopian troops engaged in battle at Walwal on a disputed section of the Ethiopian Somaliland frontier. While the Italian head-of-state Benito Mussolini demanded an apology and reparations, the Ethiopian leader, Emperor Haile Selassie I came to us, the League of Nations insisting that an investigation take place to determine the issue of responsibility.

Although no major battles have taken place, the Italian Air Force is attacking with full might, and Ethiopia is accusing Italy of indiscriminate bombing of civilian targets and the use of biological warfare. Meanwhile, Italian troops are advancing slowly toward the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa. These facts clearly lay the blame upon Italy, who maintains that there invasion is intended to “restore order.” Upon this basis, the nation of China stands to charge the nation of Italy with a violation of the Kellogg-Briand Pact of 1928, which declares war to be unlawful, and of League of Nations charter, which states that the intention of the League of Nations is: (1) to promote international cooperation, and (2) to maintain peace by settling disputes peacefully and reducing armaments. China proposes a resolution:

Protecting the rights of sovereign nations and specifically the citizens and government of Ethiopia,

Cognizant of the fact Italy has perpetrated heinous acts of cruelty against humanity,

Having examined the evidence thoroughly the following steps will be taken by this League of Nations:

 (1) Urges the immediate adoption of economic sanctions banning international trade with Italy be introduced;

 (2) Further invites a daily committee to be organized for the purpose of reviewing of the topic conducted by a panel of representatives from the permanent members of the council not including the accused nation of Italy;

 (3) Strongly recommends a daily report on status by the Italian and Ethiopian delegation;

 (4) Emphasizes the need of an investigation team to Ethiopia to report to the review committee (from section 2 - and the assembly and council meetings;

 (5) Affirms the urgency for Italy to be temporarily removed of permanent member status (removal from Council but maintaining access to assembly) until this issue has been resolved, upon which Italy’s permanent status will be reinstated, removed, or Italy is expelled from the League of Nations depending on resolution of topic;

 (5a) If after 24 hours of passing, no plans for Italian troop withdrawal have been initiated, Italy will be dropped as a permanent member. If a plan is initiated, Italian permanent membership will remain temporarily invalid until all troops have been removed from Ethiopian territory at which time, permanent membership will be reinstated;

 (5b) If Italian troops are not removed from Ethiopian territory within 1 week, Italy will be dropped as a permanent member;

 (5c) If Italy is dropped as a permanent member, and no plans exist to remove troops in Ethiopia, or the troops are not being removed on a timely basis, then the Council will vote on further punishment or methods of dealing with the issue including expelling Italy from the League of Nations, notwithstanding military action.

 This issue is very sensitive for our nation as China is facing unprovoked aggression from Japan at this time and setting a standard in dealing with the problem is of paramount importance.

 (Source: Evan Rosenberg)