North Atlantic Treaty Organization, 1961

Dear Delegates,

My name is Daniel Handlin. I will be your director for the NATO 1961 committee, in which we will attempt to avoid a nuclear conflict during the height of a Cold War crisis. I think this will be a fun and unique conference because we will have an opportunity to deal with a problem where the stakes are much higher than any problems we face today, where the consequences are literally the survival or destruction of humanity depending on your choices.

During our time in this committee we will have the opportunity to explore a unique moment in the Cold War- during an actual crisis in Berlin in 1961, in which American and Soviet tanks faced each other across the border. We will simulate the response of the highest body of NATO, the North Atlantic Council, to the crisis. The truly exciting thing about our committee is our freedom of action- in order to achieve the dual goals of avoiding war but also not losing prestige, we will have to find some response that lies in the medium between retreating and backing down from the confrontation, to an all-out conventional invasion of East Germany. Clearly the possibilities are almost endless. I think it will be interesting and illuminating to simulate a decision-making body whose decision affect the entire population and future of the world in a very immediate and imminent way.

Our committee will also feature a unique method of building delegations. We will have eight countries, each with a delegation of two (the defense minister and the foreign minister of each country). But each of these delegations will have two delegates from different schools- that is, no delegation will have two students from the same school. This model offers, we believe, a number of novel advantages over the traditional model: it will provide for additional debate within delegations as to the appropriate course of action by each nation, as of course would be the case in a real country; it will offer the chance to work with new people in a different setting; and also, we hope that some delegates will be able to team up with people with whom they might have done MUN in high school, offering the opportunity to reunite with old friends and make new ones.

I am excited about the conduct and makeup of our committee and I hope that we can explore this distinctive turning point in world history together. I think this committee will allow you to explore memorably big issues in a real-world setting, and should be a highlight of your Model UN career.

Sincerely,

Daniel Handlin
Director, North Atlantic Treaty Organization 1961
Harvard National Model United Nations 2010

Topic Area: Conflict Along the Berlin Wall

The NATO North Atlantic Council, the primary decision-making body within NATO, will be meeting to discuss the rising tensions between the NATO and the Soviet Union over the question of Berlin in late October 1961. Beyond being immersed in a continual crisis situation, each nation will have a delegation consisting of two delegates from different schools, one acting as defense minister and one filling the role of foreign minister. These two students will apply together for each delegation from their respective schools. This will allow delegates to work with either those with whom they have had favorable experiences in other conferences, or with old friends from high school.

The Council will be meeting early in the afternoon of 27 October 1961. A few days prior to this, East German troops had illegally tried to prevent a US diplomat from crossing the border. NATO has decided the appropriate action is to test the border by sending another diplomat across, this time backed up with military force in case the East Germans again make another illegal attempt to prevent the crossing. We will seek ways of dealing with the Soviet threat to the NATO presence in West Berlin, and avoid a breakout of war over the city, while at the same time attempting not to lose prestige or international political standing by simply giving up Berlin to the Soviets. At the height of the Cold War, avoiding nuclear war is, of course, of utmost importance.