Crisis IașiMUN 2021 review

From Russian interference in Ukraine, to the dawn of the apocalypse, and even to the idea of failed Nazi experiments, the Crisis Committee of Iași MUN was both uncannily similar to real world politics and eerily fictitious.

First topic

Climate change – by the people, for the people, and of the people – plagued an imagined future. With the world stage being at risk of falling onto itself, mother nature sent out the signal for cooperation among all world leaders. Only through cooperation would the planet be able to sort itself out for livelihood and climatic stability. Naturally, world leaders followed through… for the opening statements.

Hastily, alliances were formed, resources were dealt, and plans were put on paper. Two main factions arose out of the crisis. The first one, the United Front, was formed by an agreement of the Russian Federation and the People’s Republic of China. Also comprising regional powers such as Japan, Iran, Romania, or South Africa, the front had one major promise for its members: protection against “anti-climatic western imperialism”. Opposingly, western powers, including the US and the UK allied themselves with countries such as the United Arab Emirates and India, promising stability.

The first direct environmental consequence – rising sea levels sinking cities – caused a refugee crisis, out of which both pacts nefariously profiteered. Meanwhile, as the tide of peace was unstably rising, the United Front was planning out its first covert operation for expanding its reach over the global food reserve. After diplomatic talks failed, Russia, together with its allies, declared war on Ukraine.

A military success, yet a logistical failure, that’s what the invasion amounted to. While Kiev was swiftly conquered, the farmlands were scorched by retreating troops.

Adding insult to injury, a major power outage followed. Each diplomatic action, including directives and speeches, now cost resources. Yet, nothing held populists back from making their countries’ lack of policy position heard. Resources were rapidly decreasing. Thankfully, new fuel reserves were found in Iran, which each alliance had a chance to explore. In a betting-type game, leaders discovered whether luck was on their side. Not only did the United Front not get any new resources, but they lost around 96% of all front resources. The Russian leader’s (the author himself) gambling problem cost the alliance gravely. It wasn’t until space exploration commenced that the alliance was able to get back onto its feet.

To better represent itself on the world stage, Iran acquired a penguin. It is yet unclear why (or how) that happened, but the running joke was the cherry on top of an already great committee.

Cracking under pressure, the UK declared war on South Africa, which was promptly joined by its allies in defence. With only 10 minutes of the conference remaining, Russia decided to cede South African diamond mines, as to assure that the globe would have at least 10 more years of existence.

With at least half of the horsemen of the climatic apocalypse sorted out with, the result was a (non-astounding) success.

Second topic

The rules of the game were once again rewritten, as the second topic literally concerned neo-humans – a sicklier version of superheroes. The goal of the game was coercion. Nobody yet knew where neo-humans actually came from. All that was known was that at least some of them were employed by Neocorp, a digital media company that produced superhero themed entertainment. Each country had a different approach to its neo-humans. Many countries denied having neo-humans, despite having clear-cut plans of using them for the furtherment of their own political goals. For example, Russia built military/research camps in Irkutsk, where it carefully planned the manipulation of neo-humans as super soldiers which would be eventually used to subdue the west.

Yet, the general Russian population wasn’t as open to welcoming neo-humans. Neo-abolitionists were, in simple terms, far-right terrorists that carried out (mostly external) attacks against neo-humans.

The biggest surprise of all proved to be the video of Skylar, one of the Neocorp alleged neo-humans, attesting that neo-humans are, in fact, not superheroes as previously claimed, but a failed nazi experiment. They had lower life expectancies, lower intelligence, and could be easily subdued to follow orders.

This time as well, Iran got a penguin. The penguin was delegated with the unique responsibility of representing Persian neo-humans.

Discussions began on ways of isolating them from the rest of the world. From Madagascar to Alaska, from Switzerland to the Middle East, world leaders gathered to discuss where the around 40 neo-humans could be stationed. Though, one country was not willing to cede those who it now considered its citizens – The Russian Federation.

With threats flying around in fiery speeches, with weaponry being pointed at each other, the world found itself at a crossroads. With the whole world pitied out against the Russian Federation and its around 19 neo-humans, Russia threatened nuclear war.

It is yet unclear what followed, since that is where the crisis ended, but the world might very well be facing a new dawn of international relations – one that might lead us back to the first topic.

Overall, IașiMUN was wonderfully enjoyable. The crisis committee even managed to „meet up” with other committees, by joining their Just Dance socials. I am fully grateful to the chairs, the secretariat and each person that made this online conference one to remember.