At the Yale Model U.N. Conference in Europe, high school students from around the world tried to simulate real diplomacy—and ran into the wall of American exceptionalism.
The United Nations was in a crisis: Elon Musk had taken control of the European Space Agency and all of its outposts in space to further the development of Starlink. Delegates to the U.N., already in a special committee discussing equitable ways to militarize outer space, discovered Musk’s plans. Hurriedly, the representatives from Japan, Germany, and Egypt came up with a way to rein in the rogue billionaire: kidnap him. Musk, ever noncompliant, hid out on the moon, took several ESA scientists hostage, and lobbed threats at the U.N. After a day-long stalemate, the delegates found a way to bring Musk safely down to Earth, regaining control of the ESA.
