Lands End

The World Assembly,

Affirming that member nations are sovereign political communities and not constituent subdivisions of an international federation;

Holding that such political communities ultimately derive their legitimacy from the societies that they represent, and therefore remain the primary institutions through which societies govern their own affairs;

Observing that the wide variety of political, social, and economic systems present throughout the international community renders centralized regulation both necessarily inefficient and generalizing to a dangerous extent;

Acknowledging that nevertheless, certain matters require international cooperation, whether due to their transboundary nature or their relation to fundamental rights;

Cognizant that efforts to address such matters carry the risk of displacing sovereign governance from its core competencies and, in doing so, can undermine the legitimacy of this body;

Seeking to establish a durable framework governing the relationship between the Assembly and its members;

Hereby:

1. Establishes that sovereign authority is presumed to reside in member nations except where expressly modified by legislation enacted by this Assembly;

2. Recognizes the following areas of governance as core sovereign competencies ordinarily reserved to member nations:

   1. Territorial governance, including the administration of territory and the populations subject to national authority;

   2. Domestic lawmaking, judicial administration, and the enforcement of the law;

   3. Foreign relations, including all facets of diplomacy, participation in international organizations, and commerce;

   4. National defense and the protection of populations from external threats;

   5. Economic governance, including taxation, fiscal and monetary policy, public expenditure, and currency issuance;

   6. Border control, immigration policy, and employment within national territory;

   7. The management, conservation, and exploitation of resources within national jurisdiction;

   8. Cultural, linguistic, educational, and civic policy;

3. Recognizes that matters involving the above areas of governance may nonetheless require international intervention where necessary to address transboundary concerns or protect fundamental rights;

4. Establishes that legislation affecting one or more sovereign competencies shall:

   1. Identify the competencies implicated by such legislation;

   2. Explain the necessity of Assembly action with respect to those competencies;

   3. Preserve the exercise of sovereign authority to the greatest extent consistent with achieving the objectives of that legislation;

5. Establishes that where legislation affects core sovereign competencies, implementation and enforcement shall be conducted through cooperation whenever reasonably practicable, and that legislation establishing such cooperative mechanisms shall provide procedures for review or appeal of decisions made pursuant thereto;

6. Mandates that member nations ensure their diplomats or representatives to the Assembly are appropriately instructed regarding their role and responsibilities within this body, recognizing that such instruction is necessary to enable the Assembly to conduct its proceedings through informed participation by its members, while leaving the means by which such instruction is provided to the discretion of each member nation.

Co-authors: Miravana, Merethin

Understanding the connection between a nation's capacity for innovation and the future prosperity of that nation, and believing in the ardent bolstering of national pursuit of innovation in order to support both its members and their citizens, and

Noting that nations which are still in the process of their development may find it harder to support the pursuit of knowledge by their denizens, which can exacerbate global socioeconomic inequities as nations which must spend the majority of their budget on, say, fundamental welfare programs, are kept from supporting the prospects of their rise on the global stage, therefore

Enacts as follows:

1. The World Assembly shall establish the World Assembly Science and Innovation Foundation (WASIF), which shall be tasked with encouraging and promoting basic and applied scientific research and scientific education in members.

   1. WASIF shall have the authority to initiate and support diverse research in members through the establishment of scientific grants, contracts, loans, and other forms of monetary or infrastructural support, as allowed by the WASIF budget. Forms of support must be awarded through a competitive process, based on the scientific merits of the proposal, the current infrastructure in the jurisdiction the request is coming from and the prospect for creating long-term improvements of that infrastructure, and educational outcomes for researchers on the project. No grant may be awarded to a non-citizen or non-resident of a World Assembly member.

   2. WASIF shall be empowered to provide scholarships and fellowships to promising students and early-career researchers, on a basis of financial need, merit, and available funds of the WASIF budget.

   3. WASIF shall have the authority to create relevant sub-branches, subject to World Assembly legislation, to aid in the pursuit of knowledge of specific research disciplines, including the physical sciences, social sciences, medical sciences, engineering, mathematics, or any other subject areas deemed relevant.

   4. WASIF shall work with national scientific agencies, where appropriate, to foster the exchange of information between scientists who reside in different World Assembly members.

   5. WASIF shall publish a semiannual report of finances, research proposals supported, geographical areas supported, and impacts resulting from WASIF-funded research. WASIF shall also be empowered to publish information on a more regular basis, as their mission so requires.

2. The World Assembly shall establish Global Research & Development Centers (GRDCs), which are to be administered by WASIF or a sub-entity thereof, which shall perform scientific and technological research in disciplinary priorities of the World Assembly. GRDCs may be established by WASIF in response to research priorities, and shall be established either in international territory, or individual members (including entities therein) may submit proposals for the site to be located in their jurisdiction, which shall be reviewed by an independent entity.

3. WASIF shall host the World Assembly Research Consortium, which shall be a forum for the international exchange of information and research. The Research Consortium shall establish relevant journals for each discipline, as needed. Any scientist or researcher in a member nation may publish rigorous, peer-reviewed research articles in a Research Consortium journal free-of-charge, and scientists or researcher in a non-member nation may publish peer-reviewed, credible research articles in a Research Consortium journal for an affordable and fair price. An appropriate portion of revenue generated from published research in Research Consortium journal shall be given to the scientist or researcher in the form of a royalty.

4. Any research funded with World Assembly monies under the provisions of this resolution must be made available free-of-charge to all individuals residing in a member nation, and must be findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable. The information may be kept behind a paywall for individuals residing in non-member nations. This clause may be waived upon a determination by WASIF or individual members that the research performed poses a substantial risk to local, national, or international security, or otherwise has dangerous applications in the hands of bad actors.