All’s well in the Sweden of Richard Tater

The Daily Dictator

A few words of advice:

1.Smile.2.‘i’ before ‘e’ except after ‘c’.3.Eat your greens.4.Dance like no-one is watching.5.Kindness is free, give it out

generously.

Beyond that, I’m afraid you’re on your own

See every day at this session as a new challenge and a new opportunity. This is a unique meeting of minds which we are all lucky to be a part of and this shouldn’t be forgotten. There will come a time when you are acutely aware of the experience becoming the memory, but until then, make the most of it.

Your Editress,

Carlene Kuschke

PS: 6. Wear Sunscreen.

E D I TO R I A L

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1. Editorial

3. Dictators of the Day

4. Atlantic Tensions

5.Dictatorial Q&A

7. Pause for thought

9. Clichés

10. Aunty Gunilla

‧C O N T E N TS ‧11. Organised Insight

12. Riksdag

13. In Other News... 2

D i c t a t o r s o f t h e d a y1. Age: 87

2. Reign of power: 1980 - present

3. Terrible deeds: racist government policy; violence against presidential election opponents.

4. Fun fact: Since 1980, the inflation in Zimbabwe has increased with over 200 million percent. This is no typo.

1. Age: 69

2. Reign of power: 1997 - present

3. Terrible deeds: Ongoing violent conflicts with South Korea; secret nuclear weapon manufacturing.

4. Fun fact: Kim Jong-Il is a fan of Rambo and Eric Clapton. He even invited Eric Clapton to play in Pyongyang.

Robert Mugabe

Kim Jong-Il

By Jeroen Blom

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Since the topic for the committee on Legal Affairs (JURI) focuses on increased transparency of information it seems only fitting to start by looking at the effects of such an event.

In the winter of 2010 the international non-profit organisation Wikileaks published a series of leaked internal US state department memos containing unflattering descriptions of Europe’s leaders. Amongst which, but definitely not limited to, Germany’s Prime Minister Angela Merkel was described as “risk-averse” and “rarely creative”, the French President Nicholas S a r k o z y a s “ t h i n - s k i n n e d ” a n d “authoritarian” and the Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi as “feckless, vain and ineffective”. In addition to that description, Mr. Berlusconi was also

credited with being the Russian Prime Minister’s mouthpiece in the west.

Naturally this caused some discomfort amongst the affected nations’ politicians but most of them were quick to reassure the United States that the secret memos would have no effect on their future relations. This could be seen as a good will gesture or as a sign of humility towards America.

Unfortunately one specific country comes to mind when examining particularly supportive nations of the US. Well into the 21st century the UK-US relationship continues to be one of the most important bilateral partnerships in modern political history. The most notable evidence of this is the fight against terrorism, in particular the recently concluded war in Iraq and war in Afghanistan.

These few but clear indicators seem to suggest that since the United States of America took on the role of being the current “world hegemony”, it has taken it’s role very seriously, although perhaps it’s hesitance in reaction to the spring uprising in North Africa and the Middle East can be seen as a reduction in direct intervention in new conflicts.

Atlantic Tensions

Stephan Larsson

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Ceren Hazan gets to know the session ‘dictator’ a little better.

When did you start EYP?

I started EYP in 2004 in Durham in an International Session. There wasn’t a real selection process at that time in Turkey. I was in the MUN club and I had to write an essay to be selected. Apparently I was selected and I was sent to an IS.

What was the reason that kept you going on with EYP?

It was mostly because of a ‘girl’. I actually kept going because I wanted to see her again, but after that I stayed because of the people in general; discussing some topics inside and outside of committee work. You can discuss things with people in EYP, they have their own opinions and they understand you too. I met most of my best friends in EYP or my best friends ended up doing EYP.

Which one do you think was your best session?

Best session? Other than this session obviously, it was probably IYF 2007. It was a session taking place at my school in my last year of high school. We had a really emotional closing ceremony in the end.

What is the funniest memory you have had in EYP?

French McDonald’s instance. But if you are to ask the best moment I had in EYP, then it is when had a picnic in a park with all of my journalists when I was an editor. It was like a non-EYP moment in an EYP session.

What is your favourite part of the session?

My favourite part of the session is the first day you meet your committee, the morning of teambuilding. It is full of excitement and energy and smiling faces.

Q&A

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How would you feel if I called you “The Dictator of the Session”?

In some ways it is a right statement, however in many ways it is wrong. I think the two dictators of the session are the head organisers; Rebecca and Elisa. I am a steady but loving hand to guide them, I’m a bit more like a democratic desperate.

What are your expectations from the session?

First of all, raising awareness on the session theme. It’s so great that we have a delegation from Belarus. Also I hope that the committees will have good resolutions which they are happy with and they can debate on. Lastly, FUN! That’s what EYP is mainly about. You come back to debate of course but mainly to have fun and meet people that you have fun with.

What do you want to say to the participants in the session?

Enjoy the session and make sure you find at least one thing that made you happy and that will inspire you to come back again.

“Find at least one thing that made you happy

.”and that will inspire

you to come back.

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Pausefor

Lukashenko, freedom fighter.

by Jeroen BlomWhat is freedom? Freedom is the ability to do what you want. This is a very common and decent definition, which has been, in different phrasing, very famously defended by Immanuel Kant, who defined freedom as rational self-control (loose translation). Yet even such a widely accepted and intuitional definition can lead to odd consequences. In this article I will demonstrate this by pointing out that Lukashenko can be seen as the Braveheart of our time, just by focusing on the wrong aspect of the definition.

Freedom is the ability to do what you want. This definition can be read in two ways:(1) Freedom is defined as the absence of external obstructions or impediments on what you can do.

That means that your freedom is reduced if others force you or reduce the options that you have (e.g. by putting you in jail, forcing you not to leave the country or stealing your money). This is called negative freedom (because it is defined in reducing and disabling terms).

(2) Freedom is defined by how well you know what you want. An example: if you’re high on marijuana, you may believe that you want to eat that moving hamburger (later finding out it is actually a cat). However, you don’t really want this. That means that if you’re clean and sober,

you better know what you want, and thus are more able to do what you want, and thus are more free. This is called positive freedom (because it is defined in enabling terms).

The problem lies with positive freedom. How can we know exactly what we want? We can think of a million examples of cases where people find that their initial desires weren’t their true desires after all. A little girl wanting to become a princess, a young couple that only sees the cutesy side of children, Gregory House, M.D. giving the wrong drug to one of his patients because he doesn’t know what’s wrong with her yet. People often don’t know what their true desires are.

But what makes a desire your real desire? A common, and pretty good answer lies with

rationale. This has been advocated by Immanuel Kant and Plato amongst others. If your desire is purely and completely rational, then it is your true desire. This means that drug-induced, emotional and ignorant desires are all not true desires. Only rational people will know what they want (and can maybe even figure out what others really want).

But who are the rational people? Of course, we all possess rationale, but would you really say that we are all purely and completely rational? Hillbillies in the Southern USA, racists and mentally handicapped people may have some amount of rationale, but they certainly can’t be said to be solely rational in their decision-making. It seems that there is a certain “rational elite”, who knows what they want and are the best fitted for figuring out what other people

thought.

want. If they are best to figure out what others really want, then obviously they should be heads of state, or at least government officials. Who better than the rational as providers of rights and resources?

But what if the head of state, the rational elite, finds that the people really want to feel safe and secure (a plausible statement) and that free journalism or political activism will only undermine the state and destroy the feeling of security? They would be free, perhaps even obliged, to ban free press and throw everyone who opposes them in jail.

Thus, Lukashenko can simply claim that he is part of the rational elite (he can give his own arguments and simply argue that everyone who opposes him does so

on non-rational grounds; a self-fulfilling prophecy indeed) and implement all his crazy rules with the justification that it serves the true desires of the people.

Obviously something has gone horribly wrong in this argument. The problem, as stated before, is positive freedom. We shouldn’t think of freedom in positive terms, because it can be used to justify things that should not be associated with freedom. We must instead focus on negative freedom. Lukashenko can then no longer claim to be a freedom fighter, because imprisonment, discrimination and rigged elections are all prime examples of the external limitation of the options of the people, and thus a reduction in their freedom.

This article aims to show the dangers of ambiguity and the gross consequences of subtle differences. I urge you all to take this into consideration during committee work and stay sharp, focused and attentive so that you may all deliver a loophole-free resolution which we can all be proud of.

This article was based on the essay Two Concepts of Liberty by Isaiah Berlin (1958).

“Who better than the rational as providers of rights and resources?”

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Filippo Ranalli

finds the tr

uth

in age old C

lichés

Clichés, what about them? They often affect our daily lives, especially when it comes to meeting people from various countries. Now in EYP, we learn to which extent they are actually true and how much of them are made up; well conscious on the fact that in a well spread cliché, there always is a sprinkle of truth in it, especially if it is well known in more than a single country. You might ask yourself what all this might be leading to, and it will surely be what you were expecting, in other words, a list of clichés, freshly-baked by the delegates. When I, as a citizen of Bella Italia, publicly declare I do not like pizza, I get skeptical laughs or astonished expressions as if I told them my car has square wheels; but, obviously, I do love pizza.

Once a Swede came up to me and said, “how do you make an Italian shut up?”, “Hmmm dunno, you shoot him?”, “No, you cut off his hands!”. This time, I wasn’t laughing along with the others, but then I realized speeches and everyday situations are often accompanied by gesture-talking in my country. The other stereotypes associated to Italians are Pasta, Mafia, Berlusconi, traffic, gesture talking, Roman Empire, poor English, extreme loudness in public places, Vespa, the Pope, Macho men, fashion, Espresso, and prolonged dependence on their Momma. While on the other hand, when

asked the delegates what things come to their mind after hearing the word Sweden, they answered: meat balls, blondes, ice and Mellanmjölk! (compromise). When they heard Germany instead, the clichés turned out to be sausages, punctuality, efficiency, beer, festivals, getting up at dawn at the dawn to occupy seats with towels, not the best sense of humor and cars. Furthermore, Napoleon, baguettes, escargots, Tour Eiffel, strikes, funny English accent, painters and stylish dressing obviously were associated to our lovely French neighbors. If all the session countries’ clichés were to be mentioned…well I just won’t do it, but, to conclude, stereotypes stretch out in our daily lives in a large amount, but they are not to be taken as God’s final word, as only Dick Tater’s is, in fact, I’ve met really funny Germans, quiet Italians, and French lads with a merveilleux English accent.

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Aunty Gunilla

An Introduction

My children,

It is a pleasure to finally meet you all. Allow me to introduce myself; I’m Aunt Gunilla and I’m here to keep a watchful eye on you. I have many years of expertise behind me as an advisor of relationships, nutrition, style and personal hygiene. Throughout the session I will be here to answer your heartfelt questions and report on any juicy gossip that comes my way. Therefore I ask you all to visit my gossip box and hand in your questions and any stories from your day and evening activities. In my future column this sessions romantic mambo jumbo, fashion mishaps and unshaven faces will be exposed. So, please prepare to pour your heart out and have no fear to open up to your trustworthy aunt.

And just like the Swedish would say, ‘puss och kram’ hugs and kisses.

Yours truly,

Aunty Gunilla

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I spy with my little eye … organizers scurrying around. You might not see them very often and might not really know their names: these are the behind-the-scenes-machines of the session. If there’s anyone you want to thank for this session, it should be these people above anyone else. These are the people who created the session in the first place. None of us would be enjoying the beautiful Stockholm without them. Even Mr Tater cannot stop the organizers from creating the best week of your year.

Now, you might wonder what they do, because you never actually see them. Their obvious tasks are the dreadfully early wake up calls, the provision of food and coffee every once in a while and requesting you to hurry up. But as I said before, that is not all they do: most importantly the session would not be happening without them. Another thing is that they made sure the session officials were as awesome as they could ever be (you know we are the coolest officials you could possibly have). The organizers are always there to help you with a smile on their face, even though they work day and night and end up doing the most annoying tasks that no one else wants to do. While you are having late night parties, they are having meetings and arranging everything to make sure the next day is going to be perfect for you. I could go on endlessly about what the lovely organizers do 24/7.

Moral of the story: next time you see an organizer, smile and wave, guys, smile and wave.

Orgasmic Orgas

Marijke Saenen

The Swedish ParliamentWritten by Veronica Xanthopoulos

In honor of our coming General Assembly’s location, the Swedish Parliament, I would like to give a short introduction to its functions and responsibilities.

Democracy is about the equal value and rights of all people. In a democracy everyone has the opportunity to exercise political influence. The rights and freedoms enjoyed by Sweden's citizens are set out in the written Constitution. The Constitution states that all public power proceeds from the people and that the Swedish parliament or Riksdag as it is called in Sweden is the foremost representative of the people. Therefore, the Riksdag is a of vital importance for the Swedish democracy

The Riksdag is a unicameral assembly with 349 members, each serving a period of four years. For many years, no single political party in Sweden has managed to gain more than 50% of the votes, so political parties with similar agendas cooperate on several issues, forming coalition governments or other formalized alliances. Currently, two major blocs exist in parliament, the socialist/green Red-Greens and the conservative/liberal Alliance for Sweden

Elections for all 349 members are held every four years. As of today Sweden has the second highest percentage of women represented in parliament with 47 %.

The head of state is the highest individual representative of a country. In Sweden, this position is held by the King Carl XVI Gustav. As Head of State, the King is responsible for opening the new parliamentary session. He is also chair of the Advisory Council on Foreign Affairs. The duties of Sweden's head of state are primarily of a representative and ceremonial nature.

While it is a common opinion that the Swedish constitution is highly democratic, one could ask what a ruling monarch has to do with equal values and rights of all people. However, it is important to note that the duties of Sweden's head of state are primarily of a representative and ceremonial nature.

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In Other News...

Stephan Larsson

• The Onion - Slow-Thinking Bystander Weighing Pros And Cons Of Pulling Man Out Of River

• The Onion - Harry Connick, Jr. Dies In Piano Fire

•The Onion – Starbucks turned 40yrs

•The Sun - A Leading druid yesterday appeared in court accused of illegally claiming £40,000 in benefits.

• The Onion - Man Wakes Up From Bender With Financial Problems Solved

•Der Spiegel – Norwegian Boy Fends Off Wolf Pack with Heavy Metal Music

•AOL News - German Girl Saddles Up Her Cow and Rides It Like a Horse

• Buzzfeed.com – Girl yawned so hard she can’t close her mouth

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