Welcome to Writing a Position Paper!
Come here for research and position paper writing tips as well as advice for how to become the delegate that you strive to be in Model United Nations! This page will have everything from how to write an award-winning research paper to the most efficient way to cite to how to keep yourself up to date with the latest news.
What is a Position Paper?
For most or all conferences that you go to in MUN, you will have to write a position paper. This is a paper anywhere from 2-15 pages (based on the requirements of the committee) and will entail multiple sections that you will be asked to write on. Often times, if you want to be eligible for awards, you will have to submit the paper before a certain deadline. There are also research awards where you normally submit the paper at an earlier deadline, and awards are given based on a grading scale. Usually, you will have to write a position paper for each topic that you will debate, so if you have two topics, you will write two papers.
In order to write a good position paper, it is essential that you go to the website of the conference or committee and look at what are their requirements. There is almost always a rubric that contains how the paper will be graded and what sections the paper will entail. If you want to write a good paper, its is important that you follow the rubric, especially the format and writing order so your chair isn't confused when grading it. Even if you disagree with the order of the sections, just go along with the order listed, or your chair will have a negative impression of you and the chance of getting a research award and your conference experience might be tainted before the conference even starts.
Your chairs will have written a background guide that is a short summary of the topic and provides some questions to consider. It is important that you read this guide, but to avoid repeating what it mentioned unless it is a key event as nobody likes boring repetition. Background guides are always a great way to learn about the topic in general before you delve into specific position research.
Below, I will list out some suggestions for sections that often appear on position papers and provide some samples.
*Note: All this advice applies mainly to specialized and general assembly position papers. Papers for crisis committees usually depend on the conference or chair, so check their website for the correct instructions.
Past and Current International Action:
- Go over briefly past solutions mentioned in Topic Synopsis, don't in-depth analyze the
- Your chair doesn't want you to repeat what he/she said, so just briefly mention past important actions
- Remember to point our potential factors for failure or success
- Dive into past solutions beyond what was mentioned in BG Guide
- Provide innovative solutions your country may have implemented
- Bringing up little-known but relevant and creative solutions can help you with other parts of the paper
- Remember to use "in-text" citations for exact numbers
- You don't want to accused of plagiarizing or not giving appropriate credit
- Use footnotes and MLA citation format for everything that should be attributed to other people
Country Position
- Support claims with evidence from government sources
- Look to your governments's website or state sponsored media to get a perspective of what your country believes on certain issues
- Press releases or statements by key government officials are always very useful to quote
- Support non-factual cases with evidence
- When drawing conclusions on what your country believes, prove it by citing previous actions that were done
- However, be careful when citing past actions as sometimes, there is a regime change and the opinions of countries change
- Looking at voting records in the United Nations is also a great way to draw conclusions
- Cite positions with official websites
- Don't reference private media as their job isn't to report what your government thinks, but what is actually happening
- Governments or leaders have websites that are a great source to reference and find solutions
Proposed Solutions
- . Incentives, incentives, incentives!!!
- Always write about why a country should do something, and provide rewarding reasons
- In international relations, people will never waste their time doing something unless there are rewards they can reap
- UN has limits for everything (eg: donation caps)
- Never trust the UN to be able to carry out everything you want it to
- Has the authority to recommend, not completely enforce its resolutions
- Big countries are better funded and more equipped to do certain things (carrying out an invasion, enforcing economic sanctions, funding projects) than the UN
- Look for NGO's out there that do similar things to your solutions
- You don't want to repeat something that is already occurring, rather, you want to increase its reach and capabilities by suggesting additional funding or personnel
- UN is scrapped for resources - consider cost-effectiveness of solution
- Opportunity cost is big for governments and it is considered a loss if they don't make the most they can out of a certain situation
- Most countries won't want to commit to a solution that requires lots of funding and effort from them
- Mix long-term and short-term solutions so that lasting issues can be resolved and immediate results can be seen
- Be careful with subcommittees and UN departments (Will it be biased? Security Council, P5 have veto power, etc…
- Don't suggest solutions that will be vetoed or objected to by major countries
- Be careful with wording as to not offend important countries that have different stances on the issue compared to your nation
Questions to Consider
- Answer the questions directly to make good points
- Don't be wordy or use eloquent language, chairs just want a strong reply
- Add evidence to support your statements; cite previous actions to build a strong case
- Need to do in-depth research into the questions
- Often times, people will neglect the questions to consider, but they are really important as they are some of the biggest issues that the debate will often be centered on
Overall Quality:
- Keep an organized structure
- Make sure it flows well and is clear to read
- Include citations as reference for government-related facts
- IN-TEXT CITATIONS (Don't want to plagiarize)
- Use Times New Roman Font, size 12
- Use 1 inch margins
Below are a variety of award winning position papers on different topics
education_in_developing_nations_posoition_paper_topic_1.pdf | |
File Size: | 139 kb |
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smunc_position_paper_topic_2_safety_of_syrian_refugee_camps.pdf | |
File Size: | 82 kb |
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facilitation_of_protests_position_paper_topic_2.pdf | |
File Size: | 115 kb |
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smunc_position_paper_topic_1_illicit_small_arms_trade.pdf | |
File Size: | 70 kb |
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bmun_position_paper_ireland_topic_1_peacekeepers.pdf | |
File Size: | 135 kb |
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bmun_position_paper_ireland_topic_2_south_sudan.pdf | |
File Size: | 115 kb |
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north_korea_pacmun_position_paper.docx | |
File Size: | 24 kb |
File Type: | docx |
south_china_sea_pacmun_position_paper.docx | |
File Size: | 22 kb |
File Type: | docx |
asian_regional_trade_pacmun_position_paper.docx | |
File Size: | 23 kb |
File Type: | docx |
india_pakistan_pacmun_position__paper.pdf | |
File Size: | 85 kb |
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delegate_code_of_conduct.pdf | |
File Size: | 135 kb |
File Type: |