What is a crisis committee?
Most committees at CMUNNY XV are continuous crisis committees.
Crisis committees are an innovative form of Model UN. In traditional, General Assembly-style Model UN committees, delegates represent countries, simulate United Nations and intergovernmental bodies, and write long-form resolutions that solve a broad international issue. These committees are large, ranging anywhere from 45 to 300 people, and debate is slow and focused on collaboration — delegates form blocs and work together for the entire weekend to craft legislation. This legislation is then presented to the committee and voted on. For the first time in CMUNNY history, CMUNNY XV will run two committees as General Assemblies: the Organization of American States and the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.
In crisis committees, delegates represent characters in small, fast-paced simulations in which they are presented with a variety of short-term emergencies, called crisis updates, that need to be solved. Rather than using a speaker’s list to facilitate debate, crisis committees take a more fluid form. Debate takes place almost entirely through moderated and unmoderated caucuses and instead of passing formal resolutions, delegates write directives, or short action orders, to solve the problems with which they are presented. Crisis committees also incorporate backroom, meaning that delegates can take individual, secret actions to further their own interests without the knowledge of the rest of the committee. Depending on what actions are taken, these covert actions are often incorporated into debate and become crises of their own. This results in a dynamic committee experience that is more unpredictable — and more exciting.
What is the flow of debate in a crisis committee?
The flow, or pattern of debate in crisis committees is mostly structured as the following:
Crisis Update. The Crisis Director, Crisis Analyst, or another member of the committee staff will announce a situation to the committee. These updates can be anything from a sudden disease outbreak to a natural disaster to a declaration of war and can take place in a variety of forms such as a guest speaker, newspaper article, or video. Delegates may often ask the Crisis Director several questions about the update.
Debate and Public Directives. After the crisis update is announced, delegates will debate on what actions the committee should take in response. This debate often takes place in the form of moderated and unmoderated caucuses during which directives are written, merged, and handed to the Dais for voting.
Crisis Notes. While debate is ongoing, delegates may take independent action to address the crisis or further their personal objectives through writing crisis notes. These notes are written and sent directly to the Crisis Director and delegates may write them at any point debate is open.
Voting. Once the Chair has received an adequate number of directives, the committee will move into voting procedure. First, the Chair will read each directive out loud to the committee. Then, delegates will have the option to make for and against speeches commenting on the directives. Finally, delegates will vote on the directives. Ones that pass will be incorporated into the crisis simulation.
New Crisis Update. Based on actions taken in directives and crisis notes, the Crisis Director will give the committee a new crisis update and the cycle will begin anew.
Why crisis?
CMUNNY has been at the forefront of innovation since its inception as one of the first all-crisis conferences on the college Model UN circuit. This year, we are offering a variety of unique crisis committees to satisfy all interests, simulating narratives from the hunt for the Unabomber to the production process of a reality television show.
Crisis committees offer the opportunity for delegates to indulge their most creative impulses: debate is faster-paced; the committee structure of crisis committees tends to be looser and more changeable; the topics discussed cover a greater scope and breadth, with the possibility of incorporating all sorts of knowledge specializations into debate through backroom notes and crisis arcs.
Crisis, in short, offers an alternative to the traditional Model UN experience, one that for many high school delegates consisted of sitting in the back of a 300-person hotel ballroom playing tic-tac-toe over notes. Crisis committees, in their small size, specialized topic areas, and opportunities for immersive role-playing, allow all delegates to take a more active role in debate. Though they pose a challenge — in their requirement that delegates multi-task in the front and back rooms — successful participation in a crisis committee offers one of the most rewarding experiences on the circuit.
How to prepare for a crisis committee?
The key idea to keep in mind whilst preparing for a crisis committee is to expect the unexpected. Consequently, delegates, through their preparation, should seek to establish a broad schematic of knowledge about their topic and character that is both tailored to the topics they predict the committee will discuss and is flexible to be used in a variety of crisis scenarios. The following three steps are the suggested subjects of research all delegates should perform before entering a crisis committee, though extra preparation is often helpful. Please keep in mind that it is against CMUNNY rules to prewrite crisis notes or directives.
Read the background guide. The background is written by your Crisis Director and/or specifically to prepare you for the committee. It will give you the best idea of the type of knowledge your committee staff is expecting you to have when you enter the room, and will often provide you with further resources or avenues for research.
Do basic background research. Outside of what is in the background guide, you should also do basic research on your committee and the topics introduced in the background guide. Sub-fields of this type of research include the history and time period of the committee, the resources available to your committee, and any important figures or organizations related to your committee.
Do character and portfolio research. Though your background guide will provide you with a short character description, you will also want to look more deeply into the motives, resources, and opinions of your character and the powers available to them in order to plan what stance you will take on the committee’s various topics.