Committees

See our committees and background guides from NATOSim 2019 to get a sense of our topics and mandate in any given year.

Committees and Descriptions (2019)

North Atlantic Council: The Question of Kosovo, 2019

Director – Arina Dmitrenko (arina.dmitrenko@gmail.com)

The tensions between Kosovars, Serbs and Albanians in the erstwhile Republic of Yugoslavia did not end with the dissolution of the Yugoslavian state. In 1999, NATO undertook a bombing campaign in response to the humanitarian catastrophe unfolding in Kosovo at the hands of Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic. That bombing campaign informed the shape of the region and continues to cast a shadow over Kosovo’s statehood to this day. Following its unilateral declaration of independence in 2008, Kosovo has faced issues with diplomatic recognition, leading to an inability to join the UN, as well as continued border disputes and tensions with neighboring countries. Can the North Atlantic Council – NATO’s premier decision-making body – adjudicate some of these disputes and reach a new consensus on the future of Kosovo?


Resource Policy and Planning Board: Chaos in the Crescent, 2015

Director – Tessa di Vizio (tessa.divizio@mail.utoronto.ca)

On July 28th, 2015, NATO held only its fifth extraordinary meeting at the request of member-state Turkey. Under Article 4 of its founding treaty, such a meeting may be called for when a member-state believes that its “territorial integrity, political independence or security” to be in jeopardy. Given the escalating clashes between various official and unofficial armed groups (the Turkish military, Kurdish rebels, and the Islamic State), this meeting is a crucial inflection point in the future outcomes of the region. What exactly does Turkey require from NATO at this meeting, and if NATO is in a position to provide it, should it?


Deliberating Force: The Bosnian War, 1995

Director – Adil Rehman (adilsafirehman@gmail.com)

The breakup of Yugoslavia in 1992 brought with it a series of violent conflicts that tore through southeastern Europe for nearly a decade. Among these was the Bosnian War, a complex struggle with its roots in centuries-old religious and ethnic divisions. In July of 1995, these divisions culminated in the Srebrenica Massacre, where over 8000 people were killed in what has since been called an act of genocide. Following Srebrenica, both the United Nations and NATO have agreed that direct action must be taken to prevent further bloodshed. Delegates in this committee are tasked with ending the violence in Bosnia through the means at NATO’s disposal. Can NATO establish enduring peace amidst the volatility of the Balkans?