Model UN at the Real UN
The United Nations in Vienna
As the Director General of UC Davis's Model United Nations program, I had been looking forward to today's UN visit for the entire month. Once we got through the security, we got to see the fountain and it was so crazy to be this close to one of only 4 headquarters of international diplomacy.
The group was split into 2 for our guided tour of the Vienna International Center, more commonly known to the Viennese as UNO-City. Built in the 1970s, as much of modern day Vienna was, the VIC is home to the International Atomic Energy Agency, the autonomous organization within the UN System in charge of maintaining international nuclear energy safety regulations and decreasing nuclear weapons testing worldwide.
Our first stop was M Building, a conference building built in the mid-2000s as an addition to the VIC complex. Walking through there, we got to see the many flags on display as well as so many UN employees and diplomats. We were also able to observe this model of the complex which was funny to me because it was literally a Model UN.
What struck me is how similar being in that building felt to being at a MUN conference. Everyone was wearing suits, important conversations were happening in hallways, and every tiny, windowless, conference room had a sign on the door explaining the topic they were discussing. If I didn't know better, I would think I was back in a hotel somewhere for a MUN conference. Thankfully, I do know better and was able to appreciate that everyone in these rooms were experts thoughtfully crafting international solutions to global nuclear problems.
I have my fair share of problems with the United Nations system from the outdated and harmful P5 in the UNSC to the lack of accountability for international crimes but I would be lying if I said simply existing in a space literally built on the premise of international cooperation wasn't inspiring. I've done dozens of simulations of this process but there's nothing like the real thing.
As part of the tour, we were able to look at this globe which showed the prominence of nuclear weapons' testing worldwide. By quite a wide margin, the United States has conducted far more nuclear tests than any other nation. After the US is the former Soviet Union followed by France, then the United Kingdom, India, Pakistan, and the DPRK. It is the policy of the IAEA to do everything they can to stop nuclear weapons' testing as it has disastrous environmental effects and also only leads to increased nuclearization as well as a higher chance of nuclear violence. While DISEC is the UN agency more directly involved in stopping nuclear war and working toward international disarmament, the IAEA does what it can within its scope to promote nuclear safety.
Following our tour of the VIC, we were able to hear about the important work of the IAEA from Press and Public Information Officer Sinead Harvey. I'm going to be honest, when I heard we would be getting a lecture on the IAEA after the tour, I expected it to be a ready-made slideshow delivered by the lowest level intern. To hear about this from someone that speaks to the press about nuclear issues daily and was rushed into work at 4 am to talk about Ukraine the day Russia began its attacks there was insane. Never in a million years did I expect someone with Harvey's experience, knowledge, and expertise to address a group of students and I'm so glad I got to learn about this organization from her.
Once we had heard about the IAEA from Harvey, we were able to have lunch in the UN Cafe which is typically reserved for diplomats, visiting experts, and UN employees. That was a very cool place to eat lunch and the food was both delicious and affordable! If I worked there, I would have trouble not going there every day for lunch.
After a long afternoon of editing our film project, a group of us headed to this adorable Irish pub in Stephansplatz before making our way to Pratersauna, a nightclub in a former 1960s sauna.
While this pub was lovely, the club was definitely not our vibe. It was fun to be there for a little while but most of the people there were creepy and the music wasn't good. I was able to intervene and distract a man who was making my friend uncomfortable and, because of my American accent, he started talking to me about US issues. After a minute, he asked me "Are you voting for Trump or, who's that other one, the girl?" to which I replied "Vice President Kamala Harris? I'm voting for her."
This man then tried to explain to me that he supports Trump despite living in Austria because he believes it's better for Europe when the US has a "strong President" and I guess he thinks Trump would be that? He also said he knows that Biden is a pedophile so dude was a little off his rocker. Thankfully, I was able to distract him for long enough and make him so uncomfortable through extended awkward silences that, other than a brief interlude by a bathroom to ask me if I wanted to do speed with him, he left us alone for most of the night.
Even with all of that, today was a remarkably good day and I'm so thankful for the opportunity to walk through the UN and for the funny story Pratersauna gave me.
