Chairs:
Head Chair: Kai Beasley
Vice Chairs: Laura Shehadi & Alexandru Chesaru
Head Chair: Kai Beasley
Vice Chairs: Laura Shehadi & Alexandru Chesaru
Committee Description:
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The Security Council, coming into existence on the 17th of January of 1946 in Westminster, London, is known to be one of the six most important bodies that comprises the United Nations nowadays. Having the main purpose of maintaining and preserving international security and safety, the Security Council is structured by having a total of fifteen members, where five of those are permanent and, therefore, exert a massive influence on how the council will function overall due to their important veto rights. The five permanent members include: The People’s Republic of China, France, The USSR/Russia, The United Kingdom and The United States, whilst the other ten members present within the Security Council are for the most part elected by the General Assembly for terms that approximately lasts two years in full.
Following a more historical pathway, the Historical Security Council has the main purpose of tackling certain issues that have already been resolved with the viewpoint precisely centered at the time of the conflict, focusing greatly on avoiding mentioning the aftermath of the situation throughout the debate. As a certain issue has to be at least 10 years old in order to be introduced in the Historical Security Council, its main objective is to make sure that individuals are pondering about these conflicts with a more contemporary perspective in order to attempt to find plausible solutions that will positively impact the world. |
Study Guide
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Topic 1: Tackling the Suez Canal Crisis, 1956
It is 1956, at the height of the Cold War, and both the US and the USSR have been vying for control in the middle east. Egypt specifically has been seen as a powerful potential ally in the region, but the US's alliance with Israel prevented them from fulfilling Egypt's request to buy arms. Instead, the US and its NATO allies agreed to fund the Aswan High Dam, a project to revitalize Egypt's economy. The US hoped it could use this project to incentivize Egyptian president Gamel Abdel Nasser to help end the Arab-Israeli conflict. However, Nasser still wanted weapons, so he turned to communist Czechoslovakia, who were happy to sell them to him. In response, the US pulled all funding for the dam on the 19th of July. Finally, on the 26th of July, tensions came to a head, and in a speech in Alexandria, Nasser announced that he was nationalizing the Suez Canal, and the Egyptian military seized it from its previous owner, the Suez Canal Company. Britain and France, the company's principal shareholders, were immediately enraged, and Israel saw an opportunity to strike at Egypt, and the three countries soon began secret talks. On the 29th of October, Israeli forces invaded the Sinai peninsula, and yesterday, the 5th of November 1956, the French and British militaries landed paratroopers on the banks of the canal after their demands for a ceasefire were ignored. Now the UN Security Council has convened to find a solution to this conflict.
Topic 2: Addressing efforts for stability in Kosovo, 1999
It is 1999, and the State of Yugolsavia has crumbled through a series of deadly wars and conflicts. By 1998, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Macedonia had all split off from the federation, which now consisted of only Serbia, Montenegro, and the autonomous provinces of Vojvodina and Kosovo. Kosovo, while being politically controlled almost entirely by Serbia, has a majority Albanian population, and they had long desired full independence from Serb rule. The Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) has been fighting for freedom since 1995, however in the last year they have significantly increased their efforts and have been met by parallel increases in their opposition from Serb forces. Starting in mid-1998, foreign powers started taking interest in the war due to alleged war crimes being committed against the Albanians, and on the 30th of October the Kosovo Verification Mission (KVM), a joint NATO-OSCE unarmed observation and peacekeeping mission, was deployed in Kosovo. The KVM was insufficient to end the conflict, and fighting resumed in December. Finally, seeing that their attempts at peaceful resolution were failing, NATO leadership called for a peace conference in Rambouillet, France, and threatened that they would take military action against any who did not comply. These peace talks began in February, but quickly collapsed due to irreconcilable differences of opinion about the future of Kosovo. Two days ago, the KVM monitors withdrew for their own safety, and yesterday NATO initiated a bombing campaign. Today, the UN Security Council has convened to resolve the issue.
It is 1956, at the height of the Cold War, and both the US and the USSR have been vying for control in the middle east. Egypt specifically has been seen as a powerful potential ally in the region, but the US's alliance with Israel prevented them from fulfilling Egypt's request to buy arms. Instead, the US and its NATO allies agreed to fund the Aswan High Dam, a project to revitalize Egypt's economy. The US hoped it could use this project to incentivize Egyptian president Gamel Abdel Nasser to help end the Arab-Israeli conflict. However, Nasser still wanted weapons, so he turned to communist Czechoslovakia, who were happy to sell them to him. In response, the US pulled all funding for the dam on the 19th of July. Finally, on the 26th of July, tensions came to a head, and in a speech in Alexandria, Nasser announced that he was nationalizing the Suez Canal, and the Egyptian military seized it from its previous owner, the Suez Canal Company. Britain and France, the company's principal shareholders, were immediately enraged, and Israel saw an opportunity to strike at Egypt, and the three countries soon began secret talks. On the 29th of October, Israeli forces invaded the Sinai peninsula, and yesterday, the 5th of November 1956, the French and British militaries landed paratroopers on the banks of the canal after their demands for a ceasefire were ignored. Now the UN Security Council has convened to find a solution to this conflict.
Topic 2: Addressing efforts for stability in Kosovo, 1999
It is 1999, and the State of Yugolsavia has crumbled through a series of deadly wars and conflicts. By 1998, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Macedonia had all split off from the federation, which now consisted of only Serbia, Montenegro, and the autonomous provinces of Vojvodina and Kosovo. Kosovo, while being politically controlled almost entirely by Serbia, has a majority Albanian population, and they had long desired full independence from Serb rule. The Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) has been fighting for freedom since 1995, however in the last year they have significantly increased their efforts and have been met by parallel increases in their opposition from Serb forces. Starting in mid-1998, foreign powers started taking interest in the war due to alleged war crimes being committed against the Albanians, and on the 30th of October the Kosovo Verification Mission (KVM), a joint NATO-OSCE unarmed observation and peacekeeping mission, was deployed in Kosovo. The KVM was insufficient to end the conflict, and fighting resumed in December. Finally, seeing that their attempts at peaceful resolution were failing, NATO leadership called for a peace conference in Rambouillet, France, and threatened that they would take military action against any who did not comply. These peace talks began in February, but quickly collapsed due to irreconcilable differences of opinion about the future of Kosovo. Two days ago, the KVM monitors withdrew for their own safety, and yesterday NATO initiated a bombing campaign. Today, the UN Security Council has convened to resolve the issue.