Iran Hides Nuclear Facility

This morning the G20 Summit started off with a bang. Obama, Sarkozy and Brown took the podium to condemn Iran's admission of a second nuclear enrichment facility. There is now news that Medvedev will be releasing a statement shortly and there is a good chance that will reveal a harder stance from Russia. China too is now considering future action. While so far the only threats are sanctions, there is no doubt that tensions in the Middle East, particularly between Israel and Iran, are running high.

Iranian Nuclear Sites - BBC
Full video of address by Obama, Sarkozy and Brown - AP and Washington Post

Showtime: The UN in September

This week is turning out to be rather exciting in terms of UN news, unsurprising given the number of international leaders currently in attendance. The past few days we've had news regarding climate change from China and the US in particular at the Secretary-General's summit, we've seen inflammatory speeches from the likes of Ahmadinejad and Gaddafi, to more defensive ones from Brown and Sarkozy, and this morning Obama chaired a historic Security Council meeting which voted unanimously for nuclear disarmament. I must say, September is always one of my favorite times of the year for the UN.
However, much of this is just passing fancy. There are already articles lowering expectations for the climate change conference in Copenhagen in December, disappointed op eds on the performance of Obama, and an interesting piece in the NY Times about Gadaffi's tent. Still, this is a big moment for Obama in proving himself on the international stage and injecting new leadership into the UN. Contrary to his predecessor he is proving willing to work within the system and is certainly providing more hope that change might be possible on issues like climate change or nuclear disarmament. In recent weeks he has also warmed relations with Russia and tried to improve relations between Israel and Palestine, but has also faced serious questions on the future of the mission in Afghanistan. There is no doubt that Obama is stretched thin on his foreign policy front. Indeed, with the G20 summit coming up, he is unlikely to take a break from the world stage any time soon.

Obama At the UN: Think of Me as FDR, not Bush - The Nation

Welcome to HSMUN 2010!

Welcome to the 2010 edition of the HSMUN blog! Here you will find random posts from your secretariat with conference information, research links, topical news stories and anything else we feel like posting. We strongly encourage you to check both this blog and your committee blog regularly as we will attempt to update pretty regularly. Links to all the committee blogs can be found in the sidebar.
For those of you who are unfamiliar with the University of Alberta's HSMUN, it is a three day conference from February 18-20, 2010, which sees over 350 high school students from across the province descend upon campus to debate topics in seven different committees. Our goal is to provide a positive atmosphere for students to develop their public speaking, critical thinking and negotiating skills while also learning about international relations. Further information can be found on our website, where we will also be posting the registration package shortly.