Youth NATO participants rise to global action

It’s a summer modelling job, so to speak.

While many students are pursuing summer vacation, political science major Sam Vlessing is pursuing international peace and security as he heads an entire delegation of students who want to make a difference.

Mr. Vlessing’s summer plans started half a year ago, when he applied to attend the first-ever model North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) youth summit, MoNYS 2012.

“I was happy enough to go as an individual applicant, but to head the delegation from Canada is awesome!” he says in an email, as he works at his summer internship in Amsterdam.

After reviewing his application, organizers asked Mr. Vlessing to assemble a Canadian group to attend the summit in Brussels, Belgium. He sent out emails and hung posters around campus, eventually filling the delegate positions with four fellow Dalhousie students: Luke Schuster, a major of international development studies; Morgan Knox and Veronique Rendell-Fournier, both political science students; and Joseph Shupac, a recent economics graduate.

Global decision-making

Mr. Vlessing and company are the only youth delegation representing Canada at the summit, which runs July 8-13.

There are 29 delegations in total, with each group attending on behalf of a country. Delegates from North America and Europe, as well as Asia, Australia and South Africa are will be participating in discussions that simulate NATO’s decision-making processes.

Mr. Vlessing—who will be entering his third year as a double-major (he’s also studying in Dal’s Environment, Sustainability and Society program)—believes that NATO campaigns require “innovative thinking and strategic thinking in order to be successful.”

For students who followed NATO’s intervention in Libya in 2011 (or, for those who’ve been watching longer, Serbia in 1999), the conference is an opportunity to experience the organization’s inner workings first-hand.  

“These events help students develop skills that may one day help them in their political, or even any other, career,” says Mr. Vlessing.

Responsible approach

The Summit’s central theme is "political responsibility through leadership, innovation and strategic thinking in the XXI century."

“By signing onto NATO, a collective security alliance, all 29 member states are obligated to assist each other in removing security threats; that’s their practical obligation,” explains Mr. Vlessing.

“I would define this type of political responsibility as standing up for what you believe in.”

During the week, youth delegates will learn about NATO proceedings by sitting on six committees: the North Atlantic Council, the Defence Policy and Planning Committee, the Political Partnership Committee, the Operation Policy Committee, the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council and the NATO-Russia Council.

“I would like to enter politics in the far future,” says Mr. Vlessing, who will be writing his LSATs this summer in hopes of attending law school in the US. “Maybe one day become prime minister,” he adds tentatively.

But for now Mr. Vlessing is excited to take learning outside of the classroom.

“This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to deal with real world issues with some of the brightest minds of our generation.”