Background Guide

Coming Soon

Topics

1.NATO's Role in The Post-9/11 New World Order 2.The Expansion of NATO

Bogdan Ignaschenko

My name is Bogdan Ignaschenko and I would like to welcome you to the NATO committee. It is my pleasure and honour to be serving as your chair for UPMUNC XLII.

Before I delve into the substantive issues of the committee, I wanted to give you a brief overview of who I am. A proud member of the class of 2009, I am majoring in Statistics and Finance. Although, not directly related to my core studies, I have a strong interest in international relations and development economics. This interest is evident given my mild obsession with the Economist and the BBC news website, which I check an unhealthy amount of times per day. You never know when simmering conflict might break out into all-out war, and I like to make sure that I am among the first couple million people to find out. I have been deeply involved with Model UN for several years and I am the Director-General for ILMUNC, Penn’s high school conference. I was born and raised in Kyiv, Ukraine, so the NATO-themed debate is very relevant to me. Beyond all things international, I have a very eclectic set of interests, so I am sure that we will find something to talk about between what will most certainly be dynamic and heated, yet constructive debate sessions.

Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, and consequently NATO’s clearly defined role as a counterbalance to the nations of the Warsaw pact, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization has been suffering an existential crisis. Solving this crisis and defining a clear function for NATO in the post-9/11 new world order will be the first topic that we will be discussing. Addressing mechanisms of implementation will be just as, if not more important than proclaiming actionable goals. Our second topic for the committee is NATO expansion. With the inclusion of many ex-Warsaw-Pact states, NATO is by no means a “North Atlantic” organization per se. Should geographical constraints be placed on NATO’s expansion? Should Ukraine and Georgia be permitted to become members? To liven debate, these two countries, along with Russia, will be present as non-voting members in our committee.

I look forward to meeting all of you come November. If you have any questions about committee, researching positions, or life in general, feel free to e-mail me.