Wait a minute... Why does this even matter?

Hello, bonjour, guten tag, مرحبا , and hei delegates!

By this point, you should have read the background papers and begun looking into what you need for your position papers. I know from my experience as a delegate that this is the point where I begin to ask myself, "why does this even matter?" This refers to two things; the idea of writing the position paper/preparing, and why the topic being discussed is important.

Well, going into the conference having done the paper and researched gives you something to say. A three day model UN conference is much more fun if you aren't just sitting there. When you have a topic like cross-border terrorism, lots of dialogue is good... like cookies... you can never have too many.

As for the second thing, cross-border terrorism has had a huge effect on the global order and how we percieve it. Our entire outlook on war and how it is waged has changed. The United Nations was founded out of the wreckage of WW2. The Security Council and many of its other bodies were designed in a manner to address another WW2 style conflict. That is to say, wars between states. Now, you have non-state actors coming into play. Actors who base their operations within states who may not be hostile to the victims of the organization. This presents a massive challenge to the Security Council. It wasn't designed to resolve conflict of this manner. You must find a way. How then does the international community respond? After 9/11, we didn't know what to do. George Bush declared "a war on terror". But, to be serious (we all know he isn't), you can't battle an idea. You can't defeat an emotion (unless you're a Vulcan... shhh Star Trek is awesome). The international community decided to take action how? By attacking Afghanistan... A STATE. They justified their actions by claiming that they harboured al-Quaeda. Would taking broader action against the organizations themselves be more efficient? Should the states who harbour and (on occasion) fund these organizations face the same punishment as Afganistan? You decide.

"If Clinton had only attacked terrorism as much as he attacks George Bush we wouldn't be in this problem." -Dennis Miller

Good luck delegates. The world is counting on you... sort of... if you think about it... TERRORISM IS BAD!