TAU's Model UN Brings Friends and Continents Together

With approximately 130 global and local participants, including a large delegation from Germany, TAU’s 2023 Model UN (MUN or TAUMUN) – conference, held in Ramat Aviv from June 19-22, marked another year of success for this world’s budding diplomats. 

“Every year’s conference is special and unique, and this year was no different” says TAUMUN conference organizer, secretary general and TAU student Avi Wolicki. “This year’s conference held the theme of ‘at the crossroads between continents’ … the theme was heavily debated between all delegates from over 10 different countries.” 

About Model UN

During Model UN – an event which fosters global diplomacy, critical thinking and public speaking – students from high school and beyond act as representatives from United Nations (UN) member countries, debating and reviewing some of the most prominent global issues of today. 

The conference mirrors the actual work conducted by UN committees, with TAUMUN 2023 holding mock council sessions for the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), European Commission (EC), Security Council (UNSC) and International Court of Justice (ICJ); unique to MUN, crisis committees were also held.

For each meeting, delegates and representatives are assigned to each participant by the organizers of the conference and the amount of time for preparation can vary. 

TAUMUN Crisis Committee in Focus

For this year’s TAUMUN crisis committee on the diplomatic tensions related to Taiwan, assignments were given only 24 hours in advance. That didn’t stop Charlotte Pascal and Lars Lunar – both from Germany – from each taking home a prize for best crisis committee delegate.

For Lunar, who is currently completing law school at the University of Hamburg, being assigned to play United States of America President Joe Biden on short notice didn’t deter him, given his long-standing interest in Taiwan and US relations.  

“I’ve watched a lot of political documentaries, and so I knew right away how I wanted to approach it,” says Lunar. “Joe Biden is very renowned in his politics, and I already knew a lot about him … I decided to take a more vice-presidential Biden approach to diplomacy: less hard and more friendly.” 

For Pascal, a political science master’s student from the University of Freiburg who played Chinese diplomat and politician Liu Jieyi, it was also important to prioritize diplomacy: “You have an option to be very aggressive, but I knew that would probably result in a war and conflict … my focus was on appeasement and moderation between China and Taiwan; we managed to avoid a war and keep peace.”

Diplomacy + Friendship

For Pascal, Model UN is also about so much more than diplomatic practice. “MUN is really great for meeting inspiring people …. it’s about what unites us over our differences; you get a really great worldview by participating,” says Pascal.

For Lunar, the friendships made through Model UN are also ultimately what is most important.

“The Israelis who participated here … I’ve had them stay at my flat before and I’ve stayed at theirs. We’ve all become very good friends,” he says.

Interested in joining or learning more? Visit the TAUMUN website.