Writing Section 2: Country Position

What Country Position Really Means

Section 2 is where most position papers fail. Delegates write what they personally think the country should do rather than what the country actually does and why. Your job is not to be a policy advisor imagining ideal outcomes — it is to be a diplomatic interpreter explaining how this nation's history, interests, alliances, and values shape its stance on the topic.

A strong country position section answers four questions:

1. What has this country done? — Voting record, treaty ratifications, policy actions, relevant domestic legislation.
2. Why does it care? — National interest, geographic vulnerability, economic stakes, ideological commitments.
3. Who does it align with? — Regional blocs, voting coalitions, strategic partnerships.
4. Where is the tension? — Internal contradictions, competing priorities, areas where interests diverge from rhetoric.

The fourth question is what separates good papers from great ones. Every country has tensions in its foreign policy. China advocates for state sovereignty while expanding its Belt and Road Initiative into other nations' infrastructure. The United States champions human rights while maintaining relationships with authoritarian allies. Brazil protects Amazonian sovereignty while facing international pressure on deforestation. Acknowledging these tensions — diplomatically — shows sophisticated understanding.

Where to Find Your Country's Position

The best source for any country's UN position is what that country has actually said at the UN. Here are the key sources, ranked by usefulness:

1. UN Voting Records (digitallibrary.un.org): Search by country and topic to find how your nation voted on relevant resolutions. A 'yes' on A/RES/77/276 (ICJ advisory opinion on climate change) tells you more about a country's climate stance than any news article.

2. General Debate Statements: Every September, heads of state address the GA. These speeches reveal national priorities. Search '[Country] General Debate [Year]' on the UN website for full transcripts.

3. Ministry of Foreign Affairs Websites: Most countries publish official position statements. Japan's MOFA, India's MEA, Brazil's Itamaraty — these are gold mines for official language and framing.

4. Treaty Ratification Status: The UN Treaty Collection (treaties.un.org) shows which treaties your country has signed, ratified, or entered reservations on. Reservations are especially revealing — they show exactly where a country's support has limits.

5. Regional Organization Positions: If your country belongs to the African Union, ASEAN, the EU, or the Arab League, check the bloc's collective statements. Countries often vote as blocs, and referencing bloc positions strengthens your paper.

Avoid relying solely on news articles or Wikipedia. These sources tell you what outsiders think about a country's position, not what the country itself says.

Writing with Nuance

Avoid binary framing. Countries rarely 'support' or 'oppose' an issue entirely. They support certain aspects, have reservations about others, and seek modifications on specific points. Your language should reflect this complexity.

Weak: 'India supports nuclear disarmament.' Strong: 'India has consistently advocated for universal, non-discriminatory nuclear disarmament, as reflected in its 1988 Rajiv Gandhi Action Plan and annual sponsorship of GA resolutions on a Nuclear Weapons Convention. However, India maintains that disarmament must be pursued within a framework that addresses the security concerns of all states, which is why it has not signed the NPT — viewing it as an unequal treaty that legitimizes the nuclear arsenals of five states while denying others the right to self-defense.'

The strong version captures India's genuine position: pro-disarmament in principle, but with specific conditions rooted in a coherent critique of the NPT's structure. This kind of nuance is what chairs look for.

Diplomatic hedging phrases that reflect real UN language:

• 'While recognizing the importance of X, [Country] maintains that...'
• '[Country] reaffirms its commitment to Y, while emphasizing the need for...'
• 'In line with its obligations under Z, [Country] has consistently supported...'
• '[Country] notes with concern that... and calls upon the international community to...'