A Continuous Crisis Committee (often abbreviated CCC) is a Model UN committee format in which delegates respond to a single, escalating storyline that develops continuously across the duration of a conference. Unlike a General Assembly or ECOSOC simulation focused on drafting resolutions over set topics, a CCC centers on rapid decision-making, directives, press releases, and private negotiations, with a backroom or crisis staff injecting new updates that build on prior committee actions.
Each delegate represents an individual character — a cabinet minister, general, oligarch, revolutionary, or historical figure — rather than a state. Powers are defined by that character's portfolio: a finance minister can move funds, a general can deploy troops, a press secretary can shape narrative. Delegates act through:
- Directives (public committee-wide actions, voted on by the room)
- Personal or joint private directives (covert actions sent to the crisis staff)
- Communiqués to other characters, states, or fictional actors
- Press releases that may trigger public consequences
What distinguishes a continuous crisis from a standard or ad hoc crisis is narrative persistence. Updates received in session three reflect what delegates did in sessions one and two; characters can be assassinated, exiled, promoted, or bankrupted, and the arc does not reset. Many conferences pair the CCC with a second committee or "joint crisis" (JCC), where two rooms representing opposing sides — for example, NATO vs. Warsaw Pact, or Union vs. Confederacy — affect each other's updates in real time.
The format is most common at North American collegiate conferences, including those hosted by Harvard (HNMUN, WorldMUN), the University of Pennsylvania (UPMUNC), the University of Chicago (ChoMUN), and McGill (McMUN), and has spread widely to high school circuits. Strong CCC performance is typically judged on creative portfolio use, narrative coherence, diplomatic maneuvering, and the ability to anticipate staff responses.
Example
At ChoMUN 2023, the University of Chicago ran a continuous crisis committee on the Congress of Vienna, where delegates portraying Metternich, Talleyrand, and Castlereagh navigated shifting alliances across multiple sessions.
Frequently asked questions
A CCC has a known topic, character list, and background guide released before the conference, while an ad hoc crisis reveals its topic and assignments only at the start of committee.
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