Writing topic guides Writing a topic guide/preparatory paper is an essential part of setting the scene for a Model UN debate. Depending on the amount of time you have available for the debate, it can come in the form of a one page briefing or a comprehensive 30 page guide. The key purpose is to:
Topic guides should be written by the chair(s) of a committee, so that they have a good background knowledge both about their committee and about the topic(s) being debated. It is highly embarrassing and can seriously undermine a chair if a delegate knows significantly more about the history and dynamics of a topic and constantly corrects them! Below are instructions for writing a comprehensive topic guide. Depending on the scale of your conference, your topic guide does not need to be anywhere near as comprehensive, but it should fix the background debate so that your time is not wasted with arguments about some of the more indisputable historical facts, and is spent debating the way forward on the topic at hand. For shorter guides, ignore the guidance on the number of pages but try and stick to the same basic three-point structure and accommodate as many of the subsections as possible. 1) The Committee You should begin with a general introduction to the committee including:
Do not give a detailed explanation of the topic(s) at this point, but quickly explain what topic areas are generally discussed in this committee and how your committee fits into the structure of the UN system. The topic guide will become much more interesting if you can make some reference to famous historical achievements of your committee. 2) The Topic If you are offering delegates a choice of two or more topics, as is standard practice on most committees at weekend conferences, you will have to write this section for each topic.
No longer than ½ page
No longer than 5 pages
If you are discussing a more general issue you should try to name specific issues (such as conflicts, natural disasters or humanitarian catastrophes) which have occurred in relation to the topic. If you are addressing a more theoretical issue try at this stage to add some specific events to help delegates make the connection between the abstract problems you will be debating and real life events they might have heard of on the news. By the end of this section each delegate should have a basic understanding of the topic area. Many poorly prepared Model UNs fail at this point as, without a good background paper, delegates will waste time debating historical facts instead of trying to find solutions to the present issue. Without glossing over areas of genuine debate, be as clear about the historical facts as possible.
No longer than 5 pages In this section try to explain the root causes of the main problem. This is where the guide can get very challenging as most international debates are the result of a complicated mixture of different causes. While you should discuss each factor individually, also try and shed light on the causal relations between the factors. In this section you should also make some reference to the national interests of the main actors, and how they might hinder the resolution of the problem. The quality of this section will have a major impact on the course of the debate during the simulation. The more topics you raise, the more problems the delegates have to accommodate when trying to negotiate a resolution, so try to research carefully to identify all of the important underlying problems.
1-2 pages
½ page This section should quickly summarise what the main focus of the debate should be. Do not give a precise description of the contents of the resolution you expect, instead try to give some hints and a general direction in which the debate should move. 3) Further Reading At the end provide a list of sources for further reading. Try to find a balance of online sources, books and articles in newspapers. If possible, write one or two sentences about the content/focus of each source. General Tips Statistics Try and sprinkle tables, timelines, statistics and dates throughout the guide. Providing credible dates and statistics in advance will give delegates a solid basis on which to debate a solution without having to waste time disputing facts or engaging in fact-finding during the simulation. Pictures Find relevant pictures for your topic and try to provide at least one graphic per page. These may be pictures, flags, maps or charts. Layout Choose a layout for your guide and make sure that it is consistent throughout. For conferences with multiple committees, in order to look as professional as possible, the finished guides should be sent to one person or a small team who will be responsible for laying all guides out in the same style. Try to have a reasonable number of sub-headings. Try to write the position paper in a stimulating and challenging style. Many books have been written about most Model UN topics, so you need to choose carefully what is important and what should be left out.
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