Yesterday we had an interesting exercise in one of our classes. Titled "UN Peacekeeping in the Middle East", the course i have signed up with Dr Isaac Kfir, a visiting professor from Israel attempts to look at the historical role that UN has played in the peace keeping process in the greater Middle East ( including Israel). Just for the sake of clarity, Middle East includes Turkey, Israel and all the other Arab countries which are part of the Arab league.
One of the biggest take-aways from yesterday's class was a look at how complicated the process of writing a UN resolution is. Having looked at several dozen resolutions - Uniting for peace resolution ( 1950), Resolutions 452 etc.. we had gotten used to the language, the ambiguity and the nature of resolutions. But actually drafting a mock resolution for a hostile situation between Syracusia ( hypothetical state) and Cornellia with a non-state actor ( Onandaga county college) brought home some key points that one needs to keep in mind when drafting one. Here are some insights :
1) Never appear to take sides while drafting a resolution
2) Do not open a door you cannot close( in the matter of rehabilitation of victims, compensations etc..)
3) Do acknowledge the long-term implications of the words being used
4) Always be ware of the power of each word you put down on paper and be prepared for criticism
5) Consult other members of the team when drafting it
6) Look at how the big 5 ( permanent members of the Security Council ) are going to react to it. Will it ever make it past them ?
The exercise appeared to be a great one in principle. But the bigger question is : Will i ever get an opportunity to actually draft one ? Perhaps time will tell...
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