In the last two decades, the world has experienced breathtaking technological progress. In the course of the third and fourth industrial revolutions, phenomena such as the internet and artificial intelligence and more have all become realities. However, this impressive development has caused the appearance of several challenges, such as the prospect of cyber warfare and cyber terrorism, digital media censorship, the blurring of the line between intellectual property and the common domain, and perhaps above all, dramatic social change as the relentless pace of automation makes an increasing amount of jobs obsolete.
These processes not only have the potential to fundamentally change human society, but they have already begun to do so. Just as new legal frameworks need to be created and economic measures must be addressed at the national level, the UN must confront a range of new issues to continue fulfilling its mission of protecting human rights in a radically changing world.
The 13th annual BERMUN2 conference aims to consider and address these challenges. The Human Rights Council (HRC) and the Special Conference (SPC) will address the legal aspects of digital surveillance in the light of extremism and media censorship. Meanwhile, the Disarmament Committee (DC) will discuss cyber warfare, and the ECOSOC will explore the changing definition of intellectual property amid an era of information explosion with increasing complexity. Finally, both the Security Council (SC) and the Model International Court of Justice (ICJ) will address the issue of nuclear weapons. The Security Council (SC) will debate the pressing question of sanctions against North Korea in light of its nuclear program. For the first time at BERMUN2, there will be the ICJ, which will be a simulation of a real ICJ case. This year, the court will hear the case of “The Marshall Islands v. UK, Pakistan and India on the question of their obligations to nuclear disarmament”.
The effects of technological innovation will particularly affect young people, and this is why we believe that we should address this issue. We are sure that it will provoke lively debate and provide for a successful conference.
Xenia Gouras, Secretary-General
Toyah Höher, President of the General Assembly
Jonas Thiergart, Deputy Secretary-General
