Introductory Letter

Dear MUN Directors,
We cordially invite you to attend the eighteenth annual Berlin Model United Nations Conference to be held at the John F. Kennedy School.

This year's theme

Global Ethics: Rules for Global Welfare

reflects concerns that have been recently voiced around the world, especially among the younger generation that moral behaviour is of little relevance to politics or international affairs. Jean-Marc Coicaud and Daniel Warner in their study Ethics and International Affairs: Extent and Limits have written that "ethics is concerned with being as close as possible to realizing the idea, the positive idea, of what it is to be a human being. It is about approaching as closely as possible a sense of what is essentially human in our nature. In thinking and acting in an ethical manner, the individual makes himself a witness to what positively distinguishes humans: the quest for dignity." As humans we do not live in isolation but are political and social beings who share the same basic drives. While dependent on one another we are at the same time in a state of competition with one another. Possessing or demonstrating an ethical attitude presumes that others have rights, including the right to live in and with dignity. In effect practicing ethical behaviour means reciprocally respecting the rights of all human beings. When applied to international affairs, global ethics means ensuring that all can live with dignity. In practice this will result in the fair and equitable distribution of power and responsibilities in the areas such as human rights, humanitarian intervention, migration, international economic justice, and the environment.

The current worldwide recession has rekindled the debate regarding the necessity to reconcile ethics and international affairs. Disaffected by political agendas geared mainly towards economic growth and disillusioned by a fiscal policy which sets priority on freedom of capital flow, many young people fear that after the world economy's recuperation, it will be back to "business as usual," regardless of the human and economic costs the current crisis is imposing on future generations. Consequently, voices are being heard, demanding that global governmental structures and global rules be established based on joint values and norms in order to ensure that global actors conduct business according to ethical guidelines.

The issues to be discussed demonstrate the necessity to take immediate concrete steps towards erecting an international order based on globally accepted norms that acknowledge human dignity and promote an equitable sharing of the world's resources. Through debate it will become clear that it is our mutual responsibility to alleviate hindrances for individuals and peoples to pursue their happiness. It is imperative that BERMUN participants be willing to acknowledge their own responsibility towards promoting global welfare, and that they be willing to adjust their attitudes and behavior as members of civil societies and the world community.

With the choice of the theme we continue in the BERMUN tradition of promoting meaningful debates and feasible solutions. In the deliberations of the Youth Assembly and the BERMUN International Court of Justice aspects of personal responsibility and global ethics will be addressed. Through their high quality newspaper BEARMUN, the Press Team will provide informative articles covering the issues and sessions of the conference. Your students are welcome to apply in these BERMUN organs as well.

We look forward to greeting you and your students at the eighteenth annual Berlin Model United Nations Conference

Yours truly,
Dr. Walter Peterson, BERMUN Director
Karin Hövermann, BERMUN Director