Martin Institute
University of Idaho
Wash. State University

The Pacific Northwest

Model United Nations

The Pacific Northwest Model United Nations (PNMUN) sponsored by the Martin Institute and Martin School of International Affairs, hosts a one-and-one-half day United Nations simulation for secondary school students. The conference takes place in late October at the University of Idaho.

The Organization

In 1999, Dr. Rand Lewis, director of the Martin Institute, began preparations for hosting the first High School Model United Nations to be held at the University of Idaho in over 20 years. Dr. Bill Smith has served as the faculty advisor since 2001. The PNMUN is directed by students from the International Studies Program and the Model UN class at the University of Idaho.

The Participants

The PNMUN is designed to accommodate 4-5 high school groups from the Pacific Northwest. First semester students in the University of Idaho’s Fall MUN class and beginning students in Washington State University’s UN and Global Diplomacy course also join the simulation.

The Conference

Committee sessions begin at 1:30 in the afternoon and continue until 4:45 p.m. After a dinner provided by UI’s New Student Services, committees reconvene from 6-9 p.m. On Saturday, high school participants reconvene in groups of 15 - 30 to model a Security Council crisis situation from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.

A “pre-conference” training session can be arranged on Friday morning for the PNMUN staff to train a high school group on using UN procedures, or to tour the University of Idaho campus.

The Objectives

The object is to seek, through discussion, negotiation and debate, solutions to the various problems of the world. These include questions of human rights, the protection of the environment, economic development, disarmament, the problems of youth and of refugees, as well as issues of war and peace. Delegates can learn to break away from narrow, national self-interest towards true international cooperation. The research and preparation required, the adoption of views and attitudes other than their own, the involvement and interaction with other high school and university students from around the region all combine to give the delegates a deep insight into the world's problems, to make them aware of the causes of conflict between nations and to lead them to a better understanding of the interests and motivations of others.

PNMUN Credits

This section is dedicated to providing credit for the information that was collected to assist in our web site development.

Berkeley Model United Nations of California, American Model United Nations of Chicago, National High School Model United Nations, National Model United Nations and the United Nations have assisted us in developing delegate materials for the conference. We appreciate their help very much.

The Hague International Model United Nations set up and developed the links in the research section. They were very concise and we utilized them in our web page.

We also want to thank those students who have provided their time and effort to the conference. Without them, this wouldn't be possible.