The United Nations Security Council Interview—Mara Beteagu
Mara Beteagu is an eleventh grader at “Gheorghe Lazar” National College. So far, she has attended 16 conferences and was a trainer at two MUN clubs—UN Youth X MUN Club and Cosbuc MUN Club. Mara is passionate about politics, international relations, debating, and self-development. I invited her out for coffee to discuss her MUN journey and experience with maybe the most reputable committee out there, the UNSC.
Q: Hello, thank you for joining me today! What are your thoughts on the UNSC?
Mara: I think that in real life, the UNSC is the most powerful in almost any conflicts that may occur because its resolutions can produce effective measures. Also, about the UNSC in MUNs, it’s very different from the General Assembly Committees because of the debated topics. It’s considered an advanced committee because people with more experience join it and the topics are extremely challenging. For me, as a delegate and as a chairperson, it means more responsibility. Seeing it as in real life, we have to work towards achieving something that will be implemented.
Q: Could you tell me about your first experience with this MUN committee?
Mara: My first Security Council was at the YouthMUN in Galati. It was at the beginning of tenth grade and I didn’t know what to expect. It was such a powerful committee with very known people from the MUN community. I could say I was a bit overwhelmed because I had to process the debate, and then, actually, make something myself: explain my position, put everything into words in the committee.
So, it was a bit difficult, and I didn’t have that spark “Oh, the UNSC is my favourite MUN Committee!” That didn’t happen at my first Security Council; it happened at my second. I didn’t know at that point whether I would continue to join but I found it very interesting—I saw that there were more heated debates, the topic was more challenging. It had intrigued me at that point because I had only participated in two SOCHUM committees and one African Union. Therefore, the UNSC was very different in means of approaching the topics, the solutions, and so on.
Q: It's wonderful that you continued participating in the UNSC. About that, which topic would you say was the most difficult you’ve ever tackled?
Mara: This one is in general: we had to tackle terrorism in the Middle East, which is extremely challenging because it depends on the country it happens in. You have to think of how you can approach such a twisted situation; how you can collaborate with the countries in the Middle East; to think about counter-terrorism policies. I represented the USA so, it was an even more challenging thing to do, having the veto power. First of all, I had to understand the whole situation, all the governments, all the presences, the rebel groups. Afterwards, see how the USA acted and research about everyone else and their position.
Q: I’m sure the USA is a pretty complex country to represent, but what’s your favorite country in the UNSC?
Mara: Hm, I’m still going to say the USA because I had an amazing experience with it. It challenged me a lot since its policy wasn’t easy to understand. I had to research a lot, understand how the leaders acted, and how each administration took measures. I have never represented Russia but I think that’s also very challenging. The USA and Russia use vetoes the most and there’s even more pressure, the conflict between them being very noticeable.
Q: I’m so glad you mentioned veto power! You know that there is some criticism surrounding the UNSC. What are your thoughts on veto and how member states are using it?
Mara: I think the veto power is currently a challenge for the UNSC because member states can block resolutions. Maybe without veto, we would’ve solved more conflicts, but we can only imagine this. At the same time, there is this argument that countries that have veto are representing their bloc or allies. We can see the example of the US with Israel, or how Russia is vetoing every resolution regarding measures in Crimea. At the end of the day, this is problematic in regards to reaching an actual solution and consensus.
Q: What advice would you give to the delegates wishing to attend the UNSC?
Mara: First of all, don’t worry because you know it’s an advanced committee. If you don’t think about it that much, then you will see it as a regular committee. Do a lot of research—I advise this to everyone, but especially in the UNSC. You have to know everybody’s position because it’s more complicated since you have to collaborate with only the other 14 countries. If you are a P5, be open but still respect your policy. I advise the delegates to have a strategy in mind because many times you are going to be tackling military aspects; you have to know how to work with troops in regions, or how to work with deployment, armament, etc.
Q: Since you’ve mentioned it—could you share with us some research and strategy methods you have used in the past?
Mara: For example, when I was in the UNSC as the USA, I knew that somehow the whole committee was divided in the USA's bloc and Russia's bloc. I approached the countries that were somehow in between—for example, I remember Turkey, which was a NATO member, but also a good ally of Russia so, I tried to give them some advantages to be on my side. Also, I always kept Israel on my side, having them defend me. I created a powerful coalition with France and the UK and I was open to discussion with the other P5 members— Russia and China— even though I haven’t breached my policy in any way, I still wanted to listen to their ideas.
Q: The UNSC is well known for all sorts of crazy stories. Do you have an interesting story?
Mara: My crazy story is actually about not being crazy in the Security Council. I’ve attended four and in all of them, the resolution passed. I knew that in almost every other Security Council, there was no resolution because someone vetoed it. But in my case, every time the resolution passed. It was very interesting because it showed me that we can slightly reach a consensus in the UNSC on some hot topics. There are crazy stories with countries vetoing the resolutions and so on but it didn’t happen to me.
Q: I think reaching consensus reflects a lot about your abilities as a delegate and as a moderator.
Mara: It does, and in general, it’s like the climax of the committee, how it works, and the topics. For example, at my first UNSC, we had something regarding the Arctic zone and everyone explained what they want to achieve. What we need to do and what we aim for was pretty straightforward so, maybe the topics also help a bit.
Q: You held many positions at MUN conferences: from delegate to chairperson to Secretary-General, and so on— among them, which one was your favorite?
Mara: I enjoy all of them but it’s different when you are a member of the Secretariat because you don’t interact with only one committee. You work a lot for the position and the whole conference. For example, as a delegate, you start your research two weeks before the conference. As a chairperson, maybe one month or two, with the study guides. But as a member of the Secretariat, you have to start way before thinking about everything through from topics, committees, checking the study guides, and making sure that the debate in the committee goes accordingly.
For me, it was very nice to think about topics and committees with my team because it's our opportunity to put on the table some very interesting proposals. It was very nice that I could share some topics I wanted to debate or moderate and allow the participants to tackle them, with me just assisting from the side.
Q: What helped you overcome the challenges you had encountered in your MUN journey?
Mara: In the beginning, my only challenge was that I had to understand what MUN was. We didn’t have a MUN club and I didn't interact with people from the community. I simply saw on one girl’s Instagram that she attended and I was like “That’s cool, that’s something with countries. I like geography…and also public speaking.” I didn’t know what it was but after my first conference, I finally understood.
The biggest challenge for me was reaching that point where you are between being a delegate and a chairperson. I applied to many positions before being chairperson for the first time. I had this passion and need to share the knowledge with other people. That’s a challenge that comes in every MUNer’s way—when you go from a delegate to a chairperson; when you go from a chairperson to a member of the Secretariat; there are these steps that you have to make. These transitions from one step to another are not necessarily difficult but require patience and perseverance. You have to admit maybe you will have to apply to five MUNs before getting your desired position.
Also, being a chairperson gives you another perspective. When I was chairing, I was actually like “Hm, but I love debating myself.” Having the best performance that you can, is what counts. It’s not like the chairpersons take the position and then do nothing. They also have to take the scores; make the study guides; and also supervise and somehow help the delegate when they encounter issues.
Q: True, and give punishments too! Is there a valuable lesson you have learned throughout your MUN journey?
Mara: I think there are many lessons I have taken from MUN conferences. One of them is that the problems are just bigger than us— the world just doesn’t revolve around us and we have to work for a higher cause. This motivated me for what I want to study in the future because I realized that I need to do something meaningful. I have also learned that, in general, collaboration and negotiation are essential; and I don’t mean only in politics. Those things don't come for granted and that you have to work a lot to obtain them.
Q: Do you think MUNs will help you in your future career?
Mara: Besides the CV, it will help me in general as my extracurricular activity. After attending MUNs, I didn’t just stop researching. Getting a bit back to the question from before, it also taught me a principle that I have to point out —fairness. I learned a lot about being fair in the committee; not only from being a delegate but also from being a chairperson. Also, it taught me about responsibility because when you are representing a country, you aren’t there just to debate and make fun; you are also in a position that in real life is extremely important. I think it will help me a lot and sincerely I’m looking forward to becoming a real representative of a country someday.
Q: Oh, wow! I think you have so much potential! Returning to the UNSC, what attracted you to it?
Mara: The topics because that’s the first thing you come across first. The first MUN was the thing with the Arctic and it just seemed very interesting. The topic wasn’t debated previously so I wanted to try something new out. At my second MUN, which was about terrorism, I saw how twisted it was that I just needed to go there and see how it works.
Q: I think that a lot of the delegates are intrigued at first by the topics, especially in the UNSC.
Mara: Because these are big topics on an international level. At CosbucMUN, we had a topic about Boko Haram, an organization in Africa. At other MUNs we also debated the South China Sea and other terrorist organizations. They are just topics that you can’t omit in your daily life; you come across them and want to debate.
Q: And now that we are reaching the end of our interview, is there anything else you would like to add?
Mara: Regarding the UNSC, I advise every MUNer to try it at least once in their MUN journey. Even though you are a SOCHUM or an ECOFIN fan, you have to try it once just to see how it works because the climate is a bit different. I hope that everybody in the community continues to be extremely passionate about these conferences. Just have the right approach and place yourself in the position of a diplomat. This helped me understand the higher purpose of MUNs and not just filling it as an activity. When you are simulating the whole thing, live the whole story. Even though it's break time, even though you go home, you are still focused on that because that’s your target at that point. This would be it.
Q: Thank you so much for taking your time!
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