2018 CONFERENCE 2021 CORNELL MODEL UNITED NATIONS

2018
CORNELL MODEL UNITED NATIONS
      CONFERENCE 2021

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CMUNC 2021 Secretariat
        Secretary-General
         Malvika Narayan

         Director-General
         Bryan Weintraub

          Chief of Staff
      James “Hamz” Piccirilli

        Director of Events
        Alexandra Tsalikis

       Director of Outreach
        Akosa Nwadiogbu

    Director of Communications
           Annie Rogers

        Director of Finance
         Daniel Bernstein

      Director of Operations
       Andrew Landesman

     Under-Secretary Generals
        Robyn Bardmesser
          Avery Bower
           John Clancy
        Mariana Goldlust

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From Your Chair
Dear Delegates,

Welcome to the Post-Snap Marvel Committee! I’m glad you all chose this

committee – we should definitely get to hear some great debate in this twist on

one of the biggest media franchises of our time. I can’t wait to see all of the clever

ideas you bring to the table to meet the challenges at hand! I hope to hear some

fresh and interesting ideas! If you have any questions about the committee, the

conference, or Cornell, you’re more than welcome to reach out to me at

ajw282@cornell.edu.

My name is Alex Weiss – I’m a freshman at Cornell studying Information

Science in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. I was heavily involved

with Model UN in high school, and I’m looking forward to my first experience

on the other side of the dais! I’m going to do my absolute best to ensure that you

all have an enjoyable experience during the conference.

I hope you’re all excited for a fun weekend filled with lively debate!

Alex Weiss
2018 Chair
CMUNC 2021

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Introduction to the Committee

      After the events of Avengers: Infinity War, the universe is in shambles.

Half of all life has been extinguished by Thanos; those of us left behind must

figure out how to pick up the pieces.1 Two weeks after the Snap, the UNSC met

to plan a unified global response to Thanos’ invasion. However, they could not

agree on how to proceed. Therefore, under UNGA Resolution 377, the eleventh

Emergency Special Session of the General Assembly has been convened. We

have three topics with which we have been charged: first, we must formulate a

plan to keep Earth safe from future attacks – this includes deciding whether or

not to try and hunt down Thanos, determining how we can bolster our defenses,

and any other action necessary to protect Earth. Second, we must lay out

guidelines for nations to repair their infrastructure and return to “normal life” as

quickly and safely as possible. Finally, we must determine how the Sokovia

Accords played into Thanos’ victory and revise them accordingly.

      This committee will operate under the standard parliamentary procedure;

our ultimate goal is to create resolutions to address each of the three overarching

topics. However, we do expect that the remaining Enhanced Individuals will

have strong opinions about our actions – they may act accordingly, so we will

communicate any statements from them or relay any news of their actions.

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Additionally, if the committee wishes to bring in certain individuals for a Q&A, it

may pass a directive to invite them (though they are under no obligation to

come). Finally, this committee will only be dealing with events before the end of

Infinity War – events that take place in Endgame are not considered canon. We

will not operate under the assumption that everybody in the committee is a

Marvel expert and do our best to make the committee a positive experience for

everybody regardless of prior exposure to Marvel. That said, we highly

recommend that you watch the Marvel movies before Infinity War to ensure

that you are as well-prepared as possible for committee.

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Topic A: Earth Safety

      Though there is no longer an immediate threat to our people, we cannot

drop our guard. Thanos and many other supervillains are still out there. How

should we focus our resources to best ensure planetary safety – hunting down

Thanos or bolstering our defenses? There’s no guarantee that the Mad Titan will

return, but of course, there’s no guarantee that he won’t. And even if Thanos

doesn’t come back, who knows what kind of threats are out there, just waiting to

strike?

      Options to consider could include bolstering weaponry, creating alliances

between defense organizations, creating new defense organizations.

Additionally, Enhanced Individuals can definitely be a part of the conversation

regarding defense (although this will likely also be addressed during debate of

the Sokovia Accords). Be sure to consider how any new technology will be

developed – perhaps there are weapons manufacturers out there who might be

convinced to work with us? Finally, you should ensure that the new defense

program is structured in such a way as to promote unity among nations, not

divide them. This defense program should exist to protect the world, which

means it shouldn’t be possible for one nation to leverage against another.

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Topic B: Sokovia Accords

      The Sokovia Accords indisputably factored into Thanos’ ability to obtain

all six Infinity Stones. The ensuing division between the Avengers that believed

in the Accords and those that opposed them allowed Thanos to have a much

easier time defeating Earth. Additionally, as Rhodes pointed out to Thaddeus

Ross, if it weren’t for the Accords, Vision would have been at the Avengers’ HQ

when the Black Order tried to get the Mind Stone, instead of in Scotland2. That

said, the Accords certainly have their place – after all, the Avengers caused

destruction in Nigeria, Sokovia, and New York (just to name a few examples)

with limited accountability3. Therefore, we must revise the Sokovia Accords in

order to strike a balance between holding Enhanced Individuals accountable for

their actions and allowing them to protect us from interstellar threats.

      We must remember that as the General Assembly we cannot compel

Enhanced Individuals to work with us, so we will format the rewritten Sokovia

Accords as a series of recommendations for federal governments. Even these

governments may struggle to impose their will on Enhanced Individuals – as

Maria Hill once put it to Nick Fury, “I don't see Thor signing on a dotted line if

he ever shows up again” 4. How can we write the new Accords to ensure that

Enhanced Individuals will agree to work with us, rather than causing another

Civil War?

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Topic C: Infrastructure Repair

      Half of all life on Earth is gone. One-quarter of all children have been

turned into orphans. Half of all politicians, CEOs, doctors, lawyers, and teachers

disappeared. The world has fallen apart, and we must begin to figure out how to

put it back together. How should we get resources to those who need them?

Would money be better off if it were allocated to hospitals or schools? How do

countries without a chain of succession move forward? Half of all police forces

and militaries worldwide are gone – who will enforce the rule of law? These are

just the beginnings of the questions we will need to answer. We do have plenty

of resources – after all, the point of the Snap was to reduce the number of

mouths to feed. But we have no infrastructure through which to use them. We

must determine how we can effectively rebuild society from the ground up.

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Key Positions

NOTE: INSTEAD OF COUNTRIES’ POSITIONS, IMPORTANT INDIVIDUALS’

POSITIONS ARE LISTED BELOW. IF YOUR COUNTRY IS EVER SHOWN IN

THE MCU (E.G. WAKANDA, THE UNITED STATES, SOKOVIA, ETC.), YOU

SHOULD INFER THEIR POSITION. OTHERWISE, YOU CAN CRAFT YOUR

OWN STANCE. YOU CAN USE THESE POSITIONS AS FODDER FOR IDEAS.

Pro-Accords Individuals:

Tony Stark – Tony led the faction of Avengers that supported the Sokovia

Accords, acutely regretting his role in the Ultron Offensive.5

King T’Chaka – T’Chaka lobbied for the Sokovia Accords, arguing that

unregulated enhanced individuals are a threat to global peace.6

Anti-Accords Individuals:

Steve Rogers: Captain America led the faction of Avengers that opposed the

Sokovia Accords, concerned that they would be “surrendering the right to

choose” what they did.7

James Rhodes: While Rhodes had originally expressed support for the Accords,

during the Infinity War he came to believe that the Accords had severely

weakened the Ave

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Questions Resolutions Must Address

1. Should we try and hunt down Thanos? If so, should he be summarily

   executed or put on trial?

2. How can we bolster our weaponry and military organizations to ensure we

   are never caught defenseless again by interstellar threats?

3. Were the Sokovia Accords to blame for Thanos’ ability to gather all six

   Stones?

4. How can we properly repair national infrastructure that is currently in

   shambles? Make sure to consider both physical and governmental

   infrastructure.

5. How can we help individuals hurt by the Snap? Specific groups –

   orphaned children, the diseased, etc. – should be addressed.

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Works Cited

Avengers: Age of Ultron. Film. United States: Marvel Studios, 2015.

Avengers: Infinity War. Film. United States: Walt Disney Studios Motion Picture,
2018.

Avengers: Endgame. Film. United States: Walt Disney Studios Motion Picture,
2019.

Captain America: Civil War. United States: Marvel Studios, 2016

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