The Death of Stalin: The North Atlantic Treaty Organization
Note: At the beginning of Session I, each committee will receive around a 1 page background guide unique to their settlement/committee with additional information that will influence the flow of committee.
Topic 1: The Military Response
Topic 2: Broadening Global Democracy
It is March 5th, 1953, and the brutal Russian winter is in full force. Joseph Stalin, the beating heart at the center of the Soviet world, is dead. The Soviet public is currently blissfully unaware of this fact. But those in power know, and have been planning for this moment for decades: the vultures are already circling. For the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and its allies, this is a golden moment of opportunity: for the West, and democracy, to triumph. But the organization's thirteen heads of state and their allies have very different views on how this opportunity can be exploited, and motives... Try to organize a coherent strategy in the Soviet crisis. Or perhaps American hegemony doesn't look too promising: take advantage of the moment to advance your nation's own agendas...
Co-chairs
Noah Kasky and Leilani Ropati
Noah Kasky is a rising third year at UVA from Olympia, Washington majoring in Foreign Affairs, and minoring in Arabic and History. Having been a junior staffer for a North Vietnam committee at VICS in the spring, Noah is extremely exciting to have the opportunity to work with the delegates more directly as the NATO Chair for WGSS at VAMUN in the fall. Outside of Model UN, Noah is a member of UVA’s Army ROTC program. Noah enjoys reading and hiking in his free time and hopes to eventually attend law school.
Leilani Ropati is a rising third-year undergraduate student at UVA from Woodbridge, Virginia majoring in Foreign Affairs, minoring in Korean Language & Culture and a premedical student. Having been a junior crisis staffer at VAMUN XLIII, Leilani Ropati is excited to serve as VAMUN’s Crisis Director for the NATO Crisis Simulation. Outside of MUN, Leilani is the Command Sergeant Major for the Army ROTC Battalion. She serves as the Assistant Managing Editor for the Seriatim Journal of American Politics and is a Staff Writer for the Virginia Journal of International Relations. She is part of the Historian Committee for Asian Student Union and volunteers as an EMT for the local fire department.
