Conference challenged participants’ problem solving skills
Victoria Alarcon
Features & Opinions Editor
@excalweb
Five York students, two cities, five awards.
Students from across the globe came together February 16 to compete at the 27th annual International Model NATO (MNATO) Conference in Washington, DC Among the hundreds were five York students who took home five awards and finished in third place out of 28 university delegations.
The three-day event invited hundreds of university and college students to test their knowledge on world issues and see how quickly students can respond to crises. In five separate committees, students representing different NATO members around the world were given challenges to solve while respecting different opinions and strategies.
“MNATO conferences consist of crisis management, negotiating with partners, and working with different personality types,” says club president Elijah Arulappan, who represented the Hellenic Republic of Greece along with his fellow York students.
World issues ranged from missile defence co-operation with Russia to a strategic plan for transition in Afghanistan. Awards went to students who brought a solid solution while showing knowledge about their country’s foreign policy and good presentation skills.
“It was challenging to be able to think on your feet, utilizing your research to adapt to the ‘crisis scenarios,’ and I feel blessed that I was able to adapt the skills to tackle such moments where fast thinking is a necessity,” says Mohsin Yousuf, another of the five York students who attended the conference.
Though the MNATO conferences do intrigue many political science students, the conference is always open to any student who has an interest in world issues and foreign policy.
The different conferences are also an outlet for students to practice their debating skills, public speaking, and further learn about global politics.
“These abilities will translate into any practical job in the future,” says second-year political science student Carina Maximenco, who received the prestigious Outstanding Delegate Award. “MNATO conferences are not just simulations, they are challenges. You compete to challenge other universities, you compete to challenge your fellow members but more than anything you compete to challenge yourself.”
The goal of the MNATO conferences are to simulate the NATO Summit taking place this year from May 20 to 21, where 28 heads of state will gather in Chicago.
With files from Osama Butt
What is NATO? : NATO, also known as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, is an alliance between 28 countries from Europe and North America that agree to mutual defence if a member is attacked by another country.
