The Precarious Paris of the East: Shanghai Municipal Council, 1928

Shanghai, known by foreigners as the “Paris of the East”, has undergone an explosion of growth during the 1920s, creating a new Gilded Age for its citizens. The bustling metropolis’s wealth, built from both its sale of luxury products and opium, is juxtaposed with the array of political interests vying for control of its corridors. 

Since the late 19th century, the Shanghai Municipal Council has controlled the roads, buildings, and everything in between in the city, and now in 1928, has finally opened its seats up to Chinese councilors. Twisting this narrative, delegates will all play the roles of Shanghai citizens, from Communists to White Russians to Green Gang members and more. Vicious distrust and inflamed tensions plague the Council, yet delegates must find a way to work together to combat foreign influence and defend against crises that consume its citizenry, all while maintaining Shanghai’s image as the luxury and fine arts capital of the Eastern Hemisphere.

This high-stakes municipal council will be a chance for delegates to compete in a high-pressure, high-flying committee and will be made of a unique pocket of characters, each ready to betray and backstab to amass power. Finally given a seat at the table, can the delegates manage to elevate Shanghai’s glory into a powerful city for all its citizens, or will the city consume them into its clutches?

Chair: John Schwendinger

  • John Schwendinger is a member of Georgetown’s School of Foreign Service Class of 2026, studying Regional and Comparative Studies with minors in German and Mathematics. As he will surely mention within a few minutes of meeting him, he comes from the frigid and beautiful state of Minnesota, though he is sad to announce that most of his accent has been lost in his years in Washington, D.C. This is his fourth and final time staffing NCSC, though only his second time in-room, so he is extra excited to meet you through more than just your crisis notes.  Other than Model UN, John is also on the board of the European Club, edits articles for the Georgetown Journal of International Affairs, and makes guest appearances at any event that promises free food.

    On weekends where he isn’t scootering between the Georgetown campus and the Washington Hilton for NCSC, he enjoys letting the NFL and Formula 1 determine his mood, singing Christmas songs in the shower (no matter the month), and doing online geography quizzes instead of his homework while fueled by Celsius and his third Doordash order of the week. When he feels like being more productive, he might work on his undergraduate thesis that centers on Chinese development in the early 20th century, which is just one of the many reasons he is thrilled to welcome everyone to this committee and the best NCSC yet.

CRisis Manager:
Mary Abi-Karam

  • Mary Abi-Karam is part of the Georgetown School of Foreign Service Class of 2027, majoring in Culture and Politics with a specialization in gender, media and entertainment, and AI. Hailing from the sunny beaches of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, she made her way to the Hilltop after transferring from UNC—bringing with her five years of experience in all things MUN. Before joining GUMUN’s travel team, she chaired and served as a crisis director for a JCC at UNCMUNC and MUNCH, and has even coached high school delegates (meaning she’s spent a truly alarming number of hours explaining how to write operative clauses). Now, she competes with Georgetown’s Model UN team.

    At Georgetown, Mary is a member of Project Maverick, GU’s Alpha Kappa Theta Iota Chapter, and the GU Arab Society. She also serves as the Director of Special Events for the Georgetown International Relations Club (she knows how to throw a good party).

    When she’s not going to class or collecting gavels, Mary can usually be found asleep, in the makerspace sewing her own clothes, or at the poker table, surprising unsuspecting men with her ability to do basic probability math. Her music taste is objectively valid: itsmurph (who she saw live, which, frankly, makes her better than most people), MF DOOM, and Erykah Badu.

    She’s excited to join the NCSC team this year and looks forward to helping run a sharp, well-organized conference.

USG: Sanjay Rajesh

This committee is in the Councils Organ, and your Under-Secretary-General is Sanjay Rajesh. Committees in this organ are councils crises with 22-30 delegates.


If you have any questions about your committee, please reach out to s.rajesh@modelun.org.