At the 63rd session of the Model United Nations Conference of the Far West, which I attended this past weekend, cooperation reigned over confrontation. Member states worked together in order to solve pressing problems relating to sustainability and human rights.
When different countries come together, it is like an old family gathering to talk about their deepest and most pressing concerns. Some members of the family are rich, and some are poor.
Some of the family has been disowned and just keep showing up to the reunions. Everyone arrives to promote his or her view of how the world works.
Sometimes, U.N. member states use their ability to negotiate in a negative way. They are mean, ruthless and will cut you out of a deal in a hot second.
Delegates forget that the reason they represent their respective countries is to come home with a solution to the pressing problem, and that solution may not necessarily be their own.
It is really fun to be that argumentative delegate from the Russian Federation and just yell, “state sovereignty” and “no new funding.” These actions, however, only touch on the surface of the actual issues.
Real diplomats can use this rhetoric but behind the scenes they actually have to work to solve problems. The problems are more complex than can be solved by an easy phrase or a slogan. Language must be multi-faceted and promote the policy of the country while remaining open to the idea of compromise.
Delegates work tirelessly to try and work through the empty words that accompany the communication portion of negotiating. People come together to agree in the U.N., not to simply yell over one another.
In our emotive society, there is an emphasis on incendiary and inflammatory language. We do not really have to come to consensus in our personal lives and people live their entire lives simply being obstinate and annoyingly immutable.
People complain that the U.N. does not actually do anything helpful, but the body should not be looked upon as a legislative organization. Critics should realize that the U.N. is an important place to come together to solve problems that affect all of us.
Very few problems are individually tailored to the individual person. People are people and are conditioned by a lot of the same ideals and dynamics. The U.N. helps the international community understand that the problems facing one nation probably face all of them at once.
Consensus, the agreement of all nations to the same ideas, makes more sense than every nation going in a different direction. This mandate probably sounds weird to Americans, but each individual cannot triumph over the problems presented internationally.
The tough road through international relations cannot be traversed by only the U.S. or only North Korea. Each has inherent problems that could be referenced within the context of a body that allows international cooperation and international unity.
Reach the columnist at peter.northfelt@asu.edu or follow him at @peternorthfelt
