Historical Security Council, 1950

Dear Delegates,

It is with sincere pleasure that I welcome you to the Historical Security Council of Harvard National Model United Nations 2010. My name is Jaymin Kim, and I am absolutely thrilled and honored to serve you as Director of the Historical Security Council.

I am a sophomore at Harvard College, planning to concentrate in Literature with a secondary in Economics. I am devoted to questioning, discussing, and raising awareness about international issues and conflicts. My passion for international relations derives from my life experiences. I grew up in Korea, spent most of my life in New Zealand, and finished high school in Canada, and thus have been exposed to numerous cultures and societies. At Harvard I am involved in the International Relations Council, under which I am Director for this committee, and also Director of Substantive Support for Harvard Model United Nations 2010. I am also an enthusiast for parliamentary debating, and serve as the Vice President Finance for the Harvard Speech and Parliamentary Debate Society. I was Assistant Director for this very Historical Security Council in my freshman year, and am extremely excited to direct it for HNMUN 2010.

As soon as we enter the conference room we will be in the year of 1950, a time of high tension replete with new frontiers that have yet to be explored on the international stage. I have chosen the focus of this Historical Security Council to revolve around the beginnings of the Korean War and the contentious debate involving the nomination of the United Nations Secretary General. The Korean War topic has great potential for investigating ways in which the Security Council tries to solve for proxy war conflicts and humanitarian crises that involve more of the dispute between world superpowers and their alliances than the nation in which the war takes place. Exploring the Security Council’s influence in nominating the next Secretary-General will provide greater understanding of the Security Council’s various roles within the United Nations as well as the function and tasks that a Secretary-General is expected to undertake. Both topics will challenge you with numerous crises, and “expecting the unexpected” will likely become the motto of our committee by the end of four exciting days of debate and political disputes. I have strived to provide topics that will genuinely provoke much debate and discussion not only about critical events in history, but also about the function and structure of the Security Council. I hope that you will join me in going back in time to 1950, the most challenging year for the Security Council since its inception four years ago. Our purpose is to learn from history’s problems and mistakes by uncovering strategies and questions that the past did not have time for, and finally pose them to today’s international community ourselves.

As you prepare for this most exciting conference, I encourage you to direct any questions you may have to me at jmkim@fas.harvard.edu. I look forward to meeting you in person and conducting four unforgettably challenging but refreshing days with you with much anticipation.

Sincerely,

Jaymin Kim
Director, Historical Security Council
Harvard National Model United Nations 2010

Topic Area A: The Korean War

Amidst the chaos of 1950, were the series of events in Korea inevitable? Or would a few minor tweaks change history? Critical controversies were abundant during this time, not least within the Security Council itself. Not all members of the Security Council were present when some of the most significant decisions were made, including the decision to mobilize UN troops against North Korea – in fact, a veto power was conspicuously absent. The USSR had been boycotting the Security Council as they protested the fact that the Republic of China, instead of the People’s Republic of China, was occupying a seat at the Security Council. Upon realizing their plan had backfired, the USSR came back, much to the frustration of many members of the Security Council. The Korean War was a proxy war in which the US and USSR clashed during the Cold War via another country’s dispute. But while the clash seemed to be between the two superpowers, there were stressful tensions throughout the international community, as each nation, no matter how small or big, would have to play its cards very carefully in order to survive. With much Cold War tension in the air, a severe disparity between communist and democratic ideologies pervaded. Due to serious lapses in cooperation within the Security Council, making democratic missions and aid extremely difficult, the year of 1950 saw the US to propose the Uniting for Peace resolution to the General Assembly, to mitigate the extreme power that the veto gave to the P5 nations. The Korean War was the most demanding test that the United Nations faced since its inception (1945), and delegates will be challenged to tackle tasks as relatively young Security Council had to – both expected and unexpected.

Topic Area B: Nomination of the Secretary-General

What is the purpose of the Security Council? How does it function within the United Nations itself? In this somewhat untraditional and challenging topic, delegates will experience how the Security Council decides who to recommend to the General Assembly as the next Secretary-General. The contentions and issues raised, controversies wrought, and the structural flaws of the Security Council that became evident throughout the process will become clear. The first Secretary-General was Trygve Lie, from Norway. Interestingly enough, the most controversial Secretary-General nomination process occurred in 1950 following Lie’s first term. The Security Council of 1950 faced exceptional circumstances which have never occurred again; the SC was unable to nominate a Secretary-General to the General Assembly. The veto powers were working against each other, preventing a consensus from being reached. It was truly a case of a veto deadlock. The Security Council failed to recommend a Secretary-General to the General Assembly, and the General Assembly passed a resolution on its own, allowing for the reelection of Trygve Lie. How might the history of Secretary-Generals, and thus the outlook of the United Nations, have changed if even a few changes had been introduced? Throughout the reenactment of the Security Council’s deliberations on the next Secretary-General, the role of the Secretary-General in the UN and why the Secretary-General is indeed important overall to the UN and the international community will become clear.