Gulf Cooperation Council

About the Committee:

The Gulf Cooperation Council will be focusing on two major events in the Middle East. The first event is the 2011 Arab Spring. The suicide of one Tunisian citizen has boiled over into widespread protests against government corruption and economic mismanagement across the Middle East. In Bahrain, dissatisfaction with the Sunni ruling family has erupted into an uprising calling for greater political freedom for the nation’s Shia citizens. Whether this dispute will be solved peacefully or not remains to be seen. The second event is the 2017 Qatar blockade. Many of Qatar's neighbors have been alarmed by Qatar’s conciliatory reaction to the Arab Spring. In contrast to its neighbors, Qatar’s government has met with opposition groups and protesters have received favorable coverage by its media outlets. As a result of these and other long standing issues, several Middle Eastern governments have severed ties with the Qatari government and have issued a list of demands for the blockade to end. How this crisis will be resolved rests in the hands of the Gulf Cooperation Council.

A LETTER FROM THE DaiS:

Hello Delegates!

Welcome to the Gulf Cooperation Council! My name is Amanda Jaworsky and I will be the director of GCC at MUNUM XXXVII. I am a senior in LSA double majoring in Economics and Linguistics, and I am planning on going into investment underwriting. Outside of MUNUM, I am a member of the Michigan Journal of Economics and the esteemed Squirrel Club. In my free time I love walking, being outdoors, and caring for my large collection of almost-dead house plants. This is my fourth year as a MUNUM dais-member and my second year as a director. In high school, MUNUM was one of my favorite conferences and I’m grateful to have been a part of such a great organization for so many years. I hope you all enjoy this committee as much as I enjoyed my past MUNUM committees!

Hi everyone! My name is Sebastian, and I am an assistant director for the Gulf Cooperation Council for MUNUM XXXVII. I am a sophomore studying industrial and operations engineering. Outside of MUNUM, I am involved in the Games and Cards Club. In my free time, I like to go on walks, play video games, and watch hockey. This is my second year at MUNUM and I am very excited to work with you all. I hope you all enjoy this committee and I can’t wait to see what you all can come up with!

We are extremely excited for the conference and look forward to getting to know all of you in the coming months! If you have any questions about anything (the conference, our committee, what we’re studying, life at Michigan, etc.), don’t hesitate to reach out―we’d love to hear from you

Best,

Amanda Jaworsky (she/her/hers): amjawors@umich.edu

Sebastian Padilla (he/him/his): sebastp@umich.edu