YMGE. November 24-27, 2011 YALE MODEL GOVERNMENT EUROPE

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1 YMGE November 24-27, 2011 YALE MODEL GOVERNMENT EUROPE

2 OUR VISION Dear Faculty Advisors and Delegates, On behalf of the YMGE Secretariat and staff, it is our great pleasure to invite you to the inaugural session of Yale Model Government Europe. YMGE 2011 will be held at the Diplomat Hotel in Prague, Czech Republic from Thursday, November 24 to Sunday, November 27, Building on the success of Yale s distinguished annual YMUN conference and Yale International Relations Association s long-standing commitment to global engagement, we could not be more excited to invite you to our MUN conference: one that promises to be more realistic, more engaging, and ultimately, a better learning experience for all involved. Our staff of dedicated Yale students has already begun extensive preparations, and we could not be more excited to embark on this new experience together! YMGE was created in effort to reimagine the Model UN conference in a way that would be both more educational and more dynamic for our delegates. To that end, we have combined the best of American and European conferences to create a hybrid format that promises to be a better experience. Our conference will comprise two types of sessions. In standard committee debate, delegates will be placed in a parliament, European government, or supranational body to discuss important issues pertaining to the future of Europe and the international community. In crisis sessions, all committees will have to table their individual debates to come together and solve an issue that threatens the integrity of the international system and European integration. Each committee will have to be responsive to the actions taken elsewhere, and we expect this fast-paced and dynamic form of debate to immerse our delegates in the realities of global diplomacy. This year, the committees will examine the issue of Energy, Security, and Nations, which will color both some topics within committees and the crisis. Registration materials will be available in early spring. If you have any questions before then, please do not hesitate to contact us. We look forward to seeing you in Prague! Sincerely, Georgios Stasinopoulos and Michael Zucker Presidents, YMGE

3 Why Model UN? Model United Nations provides students the opportunity to learn about and discuss today s most relevant issues of international diplomacy through participation in an academic simulation of the United Nations General Assembly and other multilateral UN bodies and International Organizations. At YMGE, we extend this simulation to the workings of the European Union, one of the most powerful players in the international sphere today. It is also one of the most complex, integrating individual nations domestic politics and foreign affairs into a supranational framework that itself plays into a larger understanding of global politics. By simulating European government alongside traditional UN committees, we challenge students to engage with the true intricacies of world affairs. Through a process of preconference research and in-conference debate, caucusing, and resolution-writing, students work to fashion global solutions to these questions, while simultaneously articulating and defending the opinions of the real cabinet officials, Parliament members, and UN ambassadors they represent. YMGE allows participants to expand both their understanding and abilities. Pre-conference research on a country s domestic and foreign policies adds to a partipant s knowledge and appreciation of domestic and international politics. By converting this research into resolutions and material for discussion in committee, students hone their analytical abilities, while the debate and lobbying processes afford students the opportunity to practice their public speaking and conflict resolution skills. Also unique to YMGE, we present delegates with the challenge of an integrated crisis (explained in more detail later in the Prospectus)-- a way to continuously engage delegates and encourage them to adapt creatively to unexpected political situations that occur often in the real world. MUN and YMGE participants come away from a conference with a more acute understanding of the world we live in and with a greater commitment to finding solutions for its problems.

4 Why YALE? A new and innovative conference, Yale Model Government Europe draws on a large and distinctive background in Model United Nations. Run by members of the Yale International Relations Association--students with a passion and background in Model UN and international affairs--ymge combines the prestige and history of Yale Model UN with a fresh spark of creativity and faithfulness to real-world politics that traditional Model UN lacks. What distinguishes YMGE from other conferences is its unique dedication to fostering a educational atmosphere in which delegates can really learn about international relations and realistic global and European affairs, as well as its deep commitment to the idea of global citizenship. TOP THREE REASONS TO CHOOSE YMGE: DYNAMIC COMMITEES: Run by creative and dedicated Yale students, the innovative committees at YMGE provide an space for delegates to learn about international affairs and master the skills necessary in international diplomacy. The unique structure of committees and crises makes for a one-of-a-kind experience that goes far beyond traditional Model UN. See next page for more details! DEDICATED STAFF: YMGE boasts a staff of Yale undergraduates who as secretariat members, dais teams, and staffers are all dedicated to making YMGE the best conference possible. Our staff is also highly experienced; most have years of Model UN experience on both the high school and collegiate level, and many are also members of Yale s own Model U.N. team, MUNTY, which is the top-ranked college team in the country. All staffers also attend crisis training and staff Yale s high school conference, soon entering its thirty-eighth year, and college conference, comprised completely of crisis committees. AN UNFORGETTABLE WEEKEND: Our incredible committee experience is set in downtown Prague, so delegates get to experience a historical city even as they live the cutting edge of global poiltics. With unique crises, an extraordinary staff, and an incredible host city, we are sure that YMGE will be a conference experience you will never forget!

5 COMMITTEE STRUCTURE We could not be more excited to work with all of you as we develop a new paradigm of Model United Nations, featuring an unprecedented integrated crises, innovative committees, and a focus on breaking entrenched Model U.N. power dynamics. The conference will emulate the proceedings of the European Union and its nations constituent parliaments and ministries. Amongst the twenty committees that will be stimulated at the conference, there will be: - Five parliaments (European, British, French, German, and the U.S. Senate) These parliaments will engage in traditional formal debate on contemporary topics such as immigration, the rising power of China, and the tradeoff between security and liberty. - Five specialized committees These committees will target hotspots in global affairs with a European bent, including Kosovo, climate change, and cybersecurity. - Ten national cabinets The final ten committees are a sampling of national cabinets from across the European Union: the nine most populous members and the Czech Republic. They will be discussing issues unique to their respective agendas, such as financial regulation, agricultural policy, and the war in Afghanistan. The British, French, and German cabinets will be discussing the same topics as their respective parliaments, but will concentrate more on implementation than theory.

6 INTEGRATED CRISIS As in the real world, these committees form the framework of an integrated Europe: when something happens in the world that affects one committee, it affects all committees. In order to make the simulation as close to real-life as possible, we take the idea of a crisis to the next level. Rather than merely waking delegates up in the middle of the night for a crisis, the crisis at YMGE will be an unexpected reshuffling of the stable political context that is established in the first few committee sessions. It will test the flexibilityand creativity of delegates and require them to adapt quickly to a realist, changing world, as well as interact and cooperate with delegatres in many different committees. Every committee will be kept abreast of developments in each of the others; if a new policy passed by the Belgian cabinet has repercussions in Denmark, it will be up to the Danish ministers to react.in connecting the proceedings of committees, when the crisis begins, rather than falling primarily under the portfolio of one or a few cabinet ministers, the cabinets will be reshuffled to form European Councils of Ministers (CoMs), uniting all the ministers of a given portfolio into a joint task force with a mandate to tackle their aspect of the crisis. The aim of this crisis is to simulate the proceedings undertaken by European ministers in times of difficulty, and to expose student participants to a new dimension of global cooperation and politics. Unifying Theme: Energy Each year, the crisis will have as its theme a major contemporary issue. This year, it will be energy: developing new sources, moving towards energy independence, resolving environmental problems, slowing climate change, and ensuring the steady supply of energy that all developed countries depend on. Each minister will simultaneously remain in close contact with his or her whole cabinet and national parliament, in order to abide by his or her country s national policy in debate. During the crisis, delegates will alternate between national cabinets and reshuffled CoMs to further ensure policy coherence. The parliaments and specialized committees, while not reshuffling, will, of course, be kept updated on the crisis as it develops and the actions of the national cabinets and European CoMs. Depending on the committee, its focus will shift toward a crisis-related topic. The parliaments are key platforms for articulating policy, mustering support, or registering opposition to actions taken by any crisis player; and the ministers must be alert that disobedience may carry a summons or subpoena to explain themselves before their parliaments.

7 Location: Logistics The conference will take place at the Diplomat Hotel, located in the business district of Prague, Czech Republic. It is a stunning four-star hotel in a bustling global city, within walking distance to restaurants and shops. There is also direct bus service to the Prague International Airport. Conference Schedule: Wednesday, November 23, PM Early registration Thursday, November 24, PM Registration 3-5PM Opening Ceremonies 5-6:30PM Dinner: delegations will have an opportunity to purchase an opening ceremonies dinner in the hotel 6:30-9PM Committee Meeting 1 (Lobbying) 9:30-11:30PM Committee Meeting 2 Friday, November 25, :30PM Crisis Meeting 1 4-6:30 PM Crisis Meeting 2 8:30-11:30PM Crisis Meeting 3 Saturday, November 26, AM Crisis Meeting 4 11:30AM-1:30PM Crisis Meeting 5 2:30-5PM Committee Meeting 3 Sunday, November 27, AM-1PM Committee Meeting 4 2PM-4PM Closing Ceremonies

8 Registration Deadlines: Early registration will be open until August 15th. Registration will continue after this date until all positions are filled. Fees: Early registration: - Delegate: 135 EUR per student - Advisor: 55 EUR per advisor - Delegation: 95 EUR per school Regular registration*: - Delegate: 185 EUR per student - Advisor: 85 EUR per advisor - Delegation: 145 EUR per school *Fees may come down with sponsorships. Please contact us for more information. Contact Information: For more information, please visit us at: YMGE.ORG To register, please contact the YMGE team at: RECRUITMENT@YMGE.ORG We look forward to seeing you in Prague soon! 2010 by Eileen Shim, YUMGA