Dear Delegates,

Welcome to NCSC and the simulation of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, set in the year 2010. My name is Rebecca Heide and I will be your chair for this committee. I am a junior in the Georgetown School of Foreign Service, majoring in International Political Economy and pursuing a certificate in International Business Diplomacy. I am excited to be working with our crisis manager, Monica Munn, also a SFS junior, who is pursuing a degree in International Politics - Security Studies, and a certificate in Arab Studies. Last year we served as Executive Director and Secretary-General for NAIMUN, the high school conference our organization sponsors, so we are very glad to be back in committee and spending time with you all (rather than thousands of high schoolers). This year’s NCSC promises to be exciting - with the conference back on campus for the first time in recent memory, we look forward to welcoming you to Georgetown!

This simulation will be a unique committee, as a small but influential cabinet set several years into the future. Our simulation will focus on the geopolitical considerations faced by OPEC member states and the organization as a whole, given the “historic” developments of the next few years and the crises that will arise as our committee progresses. The background guide will provide you with information about the projected events of late 2008 and 2009, several topics of discussion to begin our debate, and some information about the structure of our committee. Preparation will help you formulate country policy, debate within the organization, and come up with the best policies for OPEC, your country, or a bloc of countries to pursue. We will look forward to seeing how you can incorporate your background knowledge, the position of the country you are representing, and your ability to respond to changing situations into effective debate and developing successful strategies. While this is a futuristic, crisis-based simulation, we encourage you to keep a realistic frame of mind, seeking to pursue solutions that are not only innovative and effective, but also (somewhat) reasonable.

If you have any questions about NCSC, our committee, or anything else, please feel free to contact us. We look forward to meeting you in October!

Hoya Saxa,

Rebecca Heide
Chair, Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries
rah47(at)georgetown.edu

Monica Munn
Crisis Manager, Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries
mkm53(at)georgetown.edu