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TSR Model United Nations History
TSR Wiki > Life > Debating > TSR Model UN > MUN History
TSR Model United Nations Session I
The proposal for a Model United Nations on TSR was first touted in May 2005 by a little known member named Dexnell. The idea was met with strong support and interest (the original thread can be seen here). The idea was soon given the go ahead by the powers that be, and the MUN was officially born.
The oldest thread which exists in the MUN was created on 20th May 2005. The first threads in the MUN subforum were largely to do with logistics and organisation, rather than being in-character. In these threads, the first Secretary General was announced, and although the voting records were destroyed during the TSR "upgrade" in late January 2006, it can be seen that Deej2 won that election.
(It is interesting to note that despite being the driving force behind creating the MUN, Dexnell received very little support in his attempt to become the first Secretary General. After his unsuccessful campaign, he rarely, if ever, participated in the MUN. He would go on to serve as Speaker in the House of Commons (HoC), but eventually resigned. He has long since departed TSR - the forgotten founder of the MUN!)
Deej2 was largely responsible for getting the MUN off its feet, and the core rules of the MUN were laid down by him on 8th July 2005 (a thread which still stood as a sticky at the top of the MUN subforum until it was rewritten by Nefarious in June 2007), and by the London bombings on 7th July, the forum was active enough to hold debate.
On 1st November 2005, Deej2 resigned from his role as Secretary General, subject to the election of his successor. This election, like the first one, was done by nominations. The following nominations were made:
- Kondar nominated beekeeper
- Agent Smith nominated Bismarck
- Aiman nominated Agent Smith
Despite the initial success of the MUN, its popularity slowly ebbed away, and some felt it was not active enough to have a long term future:
"I'm afraid it is stagnant. The (M)UN is not working, and it will not work unless we stimulate more interest and involvement" - Beekeeper
Although records were also destroyed in the 2006 update, we know that Beekeeper and Agent Smith had an equal amount of votes in the election. However, before another election was made Beekeeper made a surprise retirement from the race, and so the position of Secretary General was formally given to Agent Smith.
TSR Model United Nations Session II
Agent Smith immediately began a plan - which he announced during the election and which was endorsed by Beekeeper - to redistribute countries. Although in the long run this turned out to be a wise move, at the time it was a controversial topic that turned into a heated debate, with some even calling for Agent Smith's resignation mere days after he was elected. The main debate was taking place here.
This thread also gives us a snapshot of the representatives from the 16th April 2006.
Agent Smith's reign was largely successful, and turned the MUN into a very active and popular subforum.
During the time of Agent Smith's reign, several members came forward who would turn out to play a major role in the MUN in the future. For example, UnaChance, who had a brief spell as France and later the USA in the future, Brimstone who served as France for some time, and also Nightowl, who as of 19th July 2006 acted as Secretary General after joining in January as Malaysia and after a week being elected to represent China up until April 22nd. The Secretary General election for Agent Smith's successor happened slowly, with the first call for nominations being posted over a month before the actual election. This produced odd results in the election, as can be observed here.
The period of seven days during the election was a time dubbed "the week of anarchy" in the MUN, due to the lack of debate that actually occurred. This is best shown in the 48 page Election thread. However, in this thread the celebrations were stalled by allegations of rep whoring over one of the candidates from the French representative election, who had withdrawn his nomination from the Secretary General election. Eventually, Nightowl won the election by securing 60% of the vote.
TSR Model United Nations Session III
Once Nightowl became SG, he immediately carried out some reforms of the MUN, for example the placing of time limits on debating in the Security Council so motions and resolutions have a better chance of seeing an outcome; purging it of inactive members by a strict week long roll call every two months; He also created the “SC Voting Forum” so members of the “General Assembly”, i.e. those not on the Security Council, can see how the voting was going as well as seeing members' voting records. He has also created the hugely popular Off Topic Thread AKA The “MUN Society”, which was the chat thread for the MUN.
In July 2006, brimstone became the first Deputy Secretary General. In this role, he held minimod powers and took control of the MUN forum whilst SG Nightowl was on holiday. The position of "Temporary Secretary General" with similar authority was granted to A Y A Z when Secretary General Craghyrax was absent in August 2007.
TSR Model United Nations Session IV
Nightowl was succeeded by Apollo as Secretary General. The vote can be seen here.
Apollos reign was short and undramatic. The biggest issue was the controversial Human Rights Council, an elected body that passed human rights resolutions. This was eventually scrapped.
Apollo oversaw a growing membership, but also saw several inactive members who had to be removed.
TSR Model United Nations Session V
Then came Nefarious until summer 2007.
The reign of Nefarious was judged to be a successful one, although activity tailed off towards the end, as people left to do exams and go to university. It was during his reign that the MUN Member of the Month scheme was introduced (see MotM). In attempt to raise recognition of the MUN and to inspire more debate and participation, Nefarious decided to completely overhaul the charter. Alongside this was the removal of all countries and new elections for P5 and non-premanent members of the SC. Although contraversial at the time, it appears that it did increase activity markedly. The scheme also involved the election of a new Secretary General, Nefarious having decided to stand down. This unremarkable election was fought between 6+6=12 and Craghyrax, the latter being the victor with 10 votes to 2. This was the second time 6+6=12 had lost an SG election by only a few votes, the last time being to Apollo.
TSR Model United Nations Session VI
The reign of Craghyrax as Secretary General was highly successful, many new members joined and new debate was stimulated. The main change in this time was the relative status of the UN's Organisations and Observers. Whereas previously there was only the UNHCR represented by Ethereal, once wackysparkle took over the WHO in Nefarious' reign she began to try and raise the level of recognition in the GA. The arrangements for UNO's are now complete, after many weeks of intense debate. Recent additions include a UNO Headquarters sticky, an ordered structure to the number and theme of UNO threads, and a new clause added to the charter. Alongside this debate, the MUN discussed the possibility of dual representation (eg one member holding more than one position). ukebert suggested that active members be allowed to represent both a nation and a UNO. The MUN voted against this change, though it was later incorporated under the terms of Dual-Representation, during the term of SG Mrgd291190. In this way the MUN has seen evolution and greater definition in recent times.
Craghyrax stepped down in September 2008 as the longest serving Secretary General in the history of the MUN, though this achievement was later beaten my Mrgd291190. The election to find her successor was fought between 01kij114, wackysparkle and ukebert. The latter triumphed by a margin of 4 votes over wackysparkle.
TSR Model United Nations Session VII
The stewardship of ukebert was characterised by his advancing of the Position Paper idea that he had first touted as the Liechtenstein representative. He also presided over numerous heated debates, including the Israel-Gaza conflict and the first Hypothetical scenario - the US' bombing of Iranian nuclear facilities. The reign of ukebert was seen as being very successful in continuing the good work started by his predecessor, and he was the first Secretary General to promote the MUN in the wider TSR community.
In January 2009, ukebert announced his resignation after 5 months in the post, and Mrgd291190 was elected as the 8th Secretary General in February 2009, narrowly defeating Student2806 in the closest election in MUN history.
TSR Model United Nations Session VIII
Mrgd291190's election was characterised by proposals for major reforms to the MUN, which included the introduction of Dual Representation of nations, regular Hypothetical/Historical scenarios, and proposals for a brand new position - the Attorney General. A highly successful Hypothetical revolving around a conflict between North and South Korea followed, with the USA and France allying with the latter and engaging in a full military confrontation.
In February 2010, following months of Mrgd291190 encountering internet and activity problems, DayneD89 was elected as the first Deputy Secretary General to temporarily cover for the SG's admin and housekeeping duties. Mrgd291190 resigned shortly thereafter, bringing an end to the longest term of a Secretary General - 15 months. DayneD89 won the ensuing election to become the 9th Secretary General in May 2010.
TSR Model United Nations Session IX
Shortly after Dayne's appointment, elections took place for two new created positions. Student2806 and Mrgd291190 became the first permanent Deputy Secretary General and Attorney General, respectively. Under Dayne, links between the MUN and the TSR's House of Commons developed, with the HOC finally getting a representative in the MUN. veggie4life briefly held the position, but he was replaced by Musty_Elbow. The position was later decided to be held by the current HoC Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs.
Due to personal reasons, Dayne was absent for some of his tenure and Student2806, as Deputy Secretary General, handled admin duties for a period. In September 2010, Dayne announced his resignation and in the subsequent election, Student2806 was chosen as the 10th Secretary General.
TSR Model United Nations Session X
Student ran the Model United Nations for 9 months, with little controversy or problems.
TSR Model United Nations Session XI
In July 2011 Thunder_Chunky was elected as the 11th Secretary General of the Model United Nations. By the time he stood down in December 2012, he had served for 17 months, making him the longest serving Secretary General.
TSR Model United Nations Session XII
In December 2012, Birchington was elected as the 12th Secretary General.
