United Nations Security Council (Historical UNSC, 1978)

Committee Profile

The United Nations Security Council is one of the most prominent bodies of the United Nations. Composed of 5 permanent members and 10 non-permanent members, elected for a 2 year term. The main goal of the council is to provide solutions to both global and internal conflicts by taking into account military, economic, geo-political and humanitarian implications of its decisions. This year, UNSC will be set in 1978.

Topic A: Cambodian-Vietnamese War

Our committee will first aim to resolve the crisis in Eastern Asia, after the invasion of Cambodian territory by the Vietnamese army. This regional conflict has global implications as it is a direct consequence of the Vietnam War where the Cambodian Khmer Rouge leadership was concerned by the formation of an Indochinese federation, dominated by Vietnam, in the aftermath of the war.

Topic B: Lebanese Civil War

We will subsequently turn our attention to the Lebanese Civil War in the Middle East. The conflict is already a few years old at this point and is a heated one involving rival sectarian groups. Additionally, two countries have already militarily intervened to varying degrees, further complicating the situation.

Chair Letter

Howdy Delegates,

I am Pradyumn Acharya and it’s a great joy to serve as the Chair for UNSC at BruinMUN 2023.

I’m a third-year Linguistics and Computer Science major and Mathematics minor hailing from the Bay Area. Beyond academics, I follow and play cricket, my favorite sport. I’m mainly interested in computer science, which is indicative of my aspiration to join a tech startup. With such a background, you may be wondering how I ended up in MUN.

My origin story with MUN does not rise to the lore of superhero ones; in fact, it’s quite the opposite. In ninth grade, with a peaking interest in current events and the general goings-on of the world, I joined the MUN club at my high school. From then on, there was no looking back. In my senior year of high school, I had the privilege of serving as my club president, during which club membership increased. In addition, I competed in local high school and college conferences. In college, I joined UCLA MUN my freshman year when I staffed this very conference and staffed LAMUN, the college conference hosted by UCLA. Last year, I was a senior staffer for both our conferences, and this year, I continue to have the privilege of serving as a senior staffer. In addition to that, I’m serving as an Under Secretary-General of Crisis for LAMUN this year.

The United Nations Security Council has 15 member nations, five permanent members and ten revolving members. The Security Council’s chief objective is to maintain global stability. As delegates of this committee, you will be tasked with finding solutions that may have eluded world leaders of yesteryear. You’ll be discussing highly relevant issues, and my hope is that the topics will bring out the best of your research and debating skills.

If you have any questions, please reach out to me through email.

Cheers,

Pradyumn Acharya | Chair | BruinMUN 31

unsc@bruinmun.org

CD Letter

Greetings Honourable Delegates!

My name is Tom Mekersi and I am blessed to be your Crisis Director for the United Nations Security Council Committee of BruinMUN 2023. I am a second year majoring in Political Science. My goal is to graduate with this degree to pursue my education and career in law. I am an international student coming from Nice, France. I moved to the United States and Los Angeles in Fall 2022, prior to starting my education here at UCLA. Outside of academics, I am a big sports fan. I mainly follow football (it’s called football, not soccer!), basketball and Formula 1. I am a member of the UCLA Club Basketball as a team manager. I am also part of a European cultural club, the Eurobruins. My favourite activity at UCLA is hammocking with my sorority big sisters and my fraternity brothers on sunny days!

MUN has always been an important part of my extracurriculars throughout my education. I’ve participated twice as a delegate in an international conference called THIMUN hosted in The Hague, Netherlands. I’ve also participated in my local high school conference three times, once as a delegate and twice as a chair. MUN at UCLA has given me countless opportunities to make friends and improve my research, debate and speaking skills. Last year, I was a staffer for both BruinMUN and our collegiate conference, LAMUN. This year, it is my privilege to senior staff BruinMUN and I aspire to also senior staff LAMUN, and be a part of the travel team.

The security council is one of the most important committees of the United Nations as it aims to maintain global peace and stability in order to achieve a sustainable development for all. As delegates of this committee, you will be asked to consider the economic, political, diplomatic, humanitarian and environmental implications of the issues you will be presented with in order to solve those matters to the best of your abilities. I truly hope that you will find the topics discussed enriching.

If you have any questions or concerns, don’t hesitate to reach out to me through email. I look forward to seeing you all debate those meaningful issues.

Sincerely,

Tom Mekersi | Crisis Director | BruinMUN 31

unsc@bruinmun.org