Lincoln's War Cabinet, 1861
Aryan Bhattacharjee
Fellow Americans,
As the Chairperson of Lincoln’s War Cabinet (i.e. yours truly being Lincoln himself), I extend, to all of you, my warmest welcome to this year’s edition of DSMUN. I am Aryan Bhattacharjee, in class 12, and pursuing the IB Diploma Program. I love drama, debating, music, writing and debating. The common thread, I tell myself, across my interests listed is expressing oneself, and one’s views on our dear world carefully constructed, completely and uninhibitedly—something I look forward to seeing in committee from all of you. For, in my mind, the excitement of Model UN is that here, you can’t persuade an audience with just hard-bred logic or clever argumentation; who you are, and you interact with your fellow delegates too, and sometimes definitively, decides the influence you will wield in committee. Thus, lobbying and persuasion, with research and argument being prerequisites, will go a long way in judging delegates’ performance.
We live in a world where the very foundations of our society: equality and freedom, are being brazenly challenged across the world. The American Civil War represents, in a manner, modern humanity’s first step towards an equal global village; perhaps simulating it will provide us with insights applicable to our own turbulent times.
With regard to the agenda at hand, we will discuss but one: responding to the battle and subsequent defeat at Fort Sumter. To me, the goal of this intellectual exercise—the simulation of the Civil War—is to leave no stone unturned and explore every possibility challenging ourselves every step of the way. Ours being a constant crisis committee makes this possible—and most exciting. It implies that no moment spent committee will be predictable, anticipated. And that every step of the way you will be presented with new and provocative developments, forcing you to think on your feet and uncovering completely the depth to which you’ve understood the times and dynamics of mid-late nineteenth century North America.
One thing I and my deputy Chairpersons, Varen Talwar and Zuber Chawla, can assure you of: your time in committee will be carefully crafted and well planned to help you get the most out of this experience. If you yourselves are prepared too, as I most certainly expect you to be, together we can make this unforgettable.
Aryan Bhattacharjee
Chairperson
Lincoln’s War Cabinet, 1861
Agenda
- Retaliating to the Attack and Subsequent Defeat at the Battle of Fort Sumter