AVAAMUN 2014 Study Guide.pdf

8/10/2019 AVAAMUN 2014 Study Guide.pdf

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ARMED GROUPS AS DISRUPTORS OF SOCIAL STABILITY

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CONTENTS

A word from your Dais.................................................................................................. 3

DISEC and the United Nations System ............................................................................ 4

Armed Groups Around the World ................................................................................... 5

Draft Resolution of the Committee ................................................................................ 9

Guidelines and Recommendation ................................................................................. 12


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A WORD FROM YOUR DAIS

ello Delegates, my name is Miguel Patio Nez and I will be your Committees

President this year. I am a senior student of International Studies at

Universidad Central de Venezuela; I am 24 years old and currently working at

the International Relations Direction of Fundacin Musical Simn Bolvar which serves as

the administrative branch of El Sistema Nacional de Orquestas y Coros Juveniles e

Infantiles de Venezuela.

I have had some experience with Model United Nations in the past, as well as other

models like the Organization of American States, to name a few: I have participated

twice in EIMUN-UCV where I got recognition as Best Delegate and Outstanding

Delegate, I also participated in MOVENUs 2013 Crisis Committee: Council of The King, a

Game of Thrones oriented committee; As for my other Models experience, I was a

Delegate in the Washington Model Organization of American States (WMOAS) First

Committee: Juridical and Political Affairs. I also have some experience as a MUN

authority: I was Vice-President in the English Committee of AVAAMUN 2013; I am

currently Head Delegate of the UCV Delegation to the 2015 Edition of WMOAS as well

as President of the First Committee for the 2015 edition in Washington DC, USA.

For this years AVAAMUN we picked a topic that would reach us all in a personal level,Armed Groups are a reality in many parts of the world and more specifically something

that we are currently living in Venezuela, the objective of a MUN, as you will see, is not

only to develop our negotiation, oratory and written skills, one of the main aspects of a

MUN is to gather students and provide them with the guidelines and friendly

environment for them to find new, fresh and creative solutions to problems that

sometimes our current world leaders cannot find. Because, that is who we are, the future

leaders of our world, and it comes to us to try to solve these issues that affect us all. It is

a great responsibility but I am confident that, if we put our best effort into it, we canmake a difference in this world that needs so much from us.

Miguel E. Patio Nez

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DISEC AND THE

UNITED NATIONS

SYSTEM

he United Nations (UN) is an

International Multilateral

Organization that dates back to

the end of World War II (WWII), it is the

result of a political process in which thewinning nations of said war (United

States of America, United Kingdom,

France, Soviet Union and China) made a

commitment to resolve their differences

peacefully through dialogue and mutual

understanding instead of using violent

ways, it was created as a space for

diplomacy and cooperation where

decisions could be made to create a

better world. Subsequently, the UN

grew, it began to tackle different areas

of interests and branches began to

sprout, agencies, commissions,

committees, up to the very intricate and

complex System that we have nowadays,

the UN System covers virtually every

topic that could be of interest to the

International Community, all of this

sustained by the principles of the

Organization consecrated in the UNs

Charter. This System depends on two

main bodies, the General Assembly,

where every nation part of the UN has a

saying and most importantly a vote, and

the Security Council, where there are

only 15 nations at a time, 5 of which are

permanent members and the other 10

rotate periodically to guarantee equal

participation of all Member States.

The Disarmament and International

Security Committee(DISEC) is the First

Committee of the General Assembly of

United Nations and its functions are

guided by the UNs Charter following

the principles of cooperation in the

maintenance of peace, collective

security, disarmament, and armsregulations. It aims to achieve stability

by lowering the armaments around the

world through cooperative

arrangements among nations.

According to the Official UN website1

the DISEC Committee works in close

cooperation with other UN agencies

such as: The United Nations

Disarmament Commission and the

1 General Assembly First Committee: Disarmament

and International Security. Available at:

http://www.un.org/en/ga/first/index.shtml

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Conference on Disarmament held in

Geneva, Switzerland.

We are currently on the 69th session of

the General Assembly and the Bureau is

constituted by Chairperson His

Excellency Mr. Courtenay Rattray

(Jamaica) and Vice-Chairpersons: Mr.

Saad Abdullah N. Al Saad (Saudi Arabia),

Ms. Mara Victoria Gonzlez Romn

(Spain) and Ms. Narcisa Daciana

Vladulescu (Romania).

H.E. Mr. Courtenay Rattray.

The DISEC Committee has

representation from all 193 UN Member

States and it is structured as follows:First, a General Debate in which all

Member States bring topics into the

table where they are sorted for a more

specific debate, second, a Thematic

Discussion where Member States focus

on one or two topics at a time and try to

find adequate, feasible and effective

solutions to them and, lastly, Action of

Draft, this is where all the discussions

actually take shape, where the

Committee finds consensus and resolves

to take action to solve a topic or a

problem that is affecting the

International Community.

For our debate we already have a

specific topic in which our Member

States will focus on Armed Groups as

Disruptors of Social Stability so, for

practical matters we will begin our

simulation on phase two of the normal

DISEC dynamic.

ARMED GROUPS

AROUND THE

WORLD

o begin our discussion of the

topic we would have to start by

saying some basic definitions on

what Armed Groups are, their

categories, where they are and how they

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impact Nations and the International

Community.

Armed Groups are also known as Violent

Non-State Actors (VNSA)2 and they can

be defined as [an] organization that

uses illegal violence to reach its

goals.3 They are a common actor in

todays definition of warfare, 4th

generation warfare, which, as William

Lind said in 1989, is the kind of warfare

where political lines are blurred, where

civilians and combatants are not clearly

defined. The 4th generation warfare is

characterized by the absence of a set up

war scenario, where the force-monopoly

is not clear and the battle takes pre-

medieval strategies.

VNSA take advantage of these new set

of strategies, the absence of clear lines

and the mixture of combatants and

civilians to balance the war-scale against

well organized, well financed National

Armies and International Agencies.

Armed Groups can be separated into

several types: Warlords, Militias,

Paramilitary Forces, Insurgencies,

2Violent Non-State Actor (VNSA). Available at:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Violent_non-

state_actor3Ibid.

Terrorist Organizations, Criminal

Organizations, Gangs and Cartels.

Warlords are essentially individuals that

possess both military and civil control

over a sub-region of a country through

military forces that are loyal to the

person over the central government of

that country. We can find some

examples of Warlords in regions like the

Kurds Tribe in Iraq, some local tribes in

Afghanistan, the Gorno-Badakshan in

Tajikistan, some countries in Africa like

Sudan, Libya, Somalia, Sierra Leone,

Mali, Democratic Republic of Congo,

and even some Drug-lords in Colombia.

Sub-region of Kurdistan in northwestern Iraq.

Militias are originally part-time forces of

a National Army, in the 18th and 19th

century they were citizen-armies with no

professional training, however, by the

20th century National Governments


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began the professionalization process of

these forces to the point where, today,

most countries have a Militia component

and that the only difference with the

National Armies is their part-time aspect

and the responsibilities they have. Some

militias however, have deviated from

their original course or have been

created to serve different purposes, for

instance Militias considered Private

Armies that serve the interests of

particulars, being these persons or even

companies around the world.

Paramilitary Forces can be subdivided

into several categories ranging from

professional aid to the National Security

Forces in a State, such as Special

Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) in theUnited States of America, to more

radical and disruptors of social stability

such as the Revolutionary Armed Forces

of Colombia (FARC), Red Brigades in

Italy, Liberians United for Reconciliation

and Democracy (LURD) in Liberia,

Taliban in Afghanistan and many morearound the world4, we are going to

focus on the latter group as they

4List of Guerilla Movements. Available at:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_guerrilla_move

ments

represent a threat to International

Security.

FARC Leaders in the Colombo-Venezuelan

Border.

Insurgencies are defined as armed

rebellions against a constituted

authority by the Department of

Defense of the United States of

America5. These rebellions have a very

special characteristic, they are extremely

hard to fight against in a typical warfare

because the insurgents often use

civilians as decoys and hide among

them utilizing guerrilla-type strategies

to achieve their goals. The United States

of America has implemented Counter-

Insurgency Tactics (COIN) to fight

against some of these insurgencies in

Iraq and Afghanistan in the past decade

with mixed results6. COIN proves to be

5Insurgency. Available at:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insurgency6NASR, V. The Indispensable Nation: American

Foreign Policy in Retreat. (2013). Chapters 2 to 5.


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an effective measure against

insurgencies but also proves to be

expensive and requires a lot of time,

situation that would explain the reason

for the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq

to persist after a decade of the

intervention of the USA back in 2002

and 2003.

Terrorist Organizations are a very

polemic topic since there is no formal

definition of what a terrorist is, however,

some Criminal Organizations have been

labeled as Terrorist Organizations by the

United States, European Union and the

North Atlantic Treaty Organization

(NATO). This list includes Al-Qaeda in all

their regional branches in Africa, Middle

East and Southern Asia, Boko Haram inWestern Africa (Nigeria, Cameroon,

Chad and Niger), The Caucasus Emirate

in Southern Russia, ETA in Spain, Hamas

in Palestine and Qatar, Hezbollah in

Lebanon and all its branches around the

Middle East, some branches of the

Muslim Brotherhood, the Army of thePure (Lashkar-e-Taiba) in Afghanistan,

India, Pakistan and Bangladesh and

several more, a complete list of these

organizations can be viewed online7.

The United Nations lacks of a General

List for these organizations, instead it

has several lists based on context and

goals it wants to achieve, for instance,

UN Regime List 12678has all the names

and sanctions to Al-Qaeda members

around the world.

Somali al-Shebab, Regional Branch of Al-Qaeda

in Somalia.

Criminal Organizations are very complex

because they change from country to

country, some of these organizations

even have transcended borders and are

now working on an international scale,

the crimes vary from violence, drugs,

arms trafficking, financial crimes, human

trafficking and even cybercrimes such as

7List of Terrorist Organizations. Available at:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_designated_ter

rorist_organizations8UN Regime List 1267. Available at:

http://www.un.org/sc/committees/1267/AQList.htm

#alqaedaent


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identity theft, internet frauds, copyright

infringement; and therefore the strategy

that must be taken is very different,

international cooperation is important

because Criminal Organizations are

constantly mutating. A very useful and

easy to learn definition of how these

organizations work is available online9.

Some examples of famous Criminal

Organizations are: The Yakuza in Japan,

The Sicilian Mafia Cosa Nostra in Italy,

the Pashtun in Pakistan, the Triads in

China, Le Milieu (Underworld) in France,

to name a few.

Yakuza Organization in Japan.

Gangs and Cartels represent a very

specific type of criminal organizations,

the first is focused on street violence

and urban conflicts, as for the second it

is most often associated with drug

9Organized Crime. Available at:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organized_crime

trafficking, both represent a challenge

for the International Community and the

United Nations DISEC.

Now that we have briefly described the

types, characteristics and examples of

different Armed Groups, or Violent Non-

State Actors, the Dais will move onto

setting some guidelines for the

development of the debate through

AVAAMUN. These guidelines are for you

to follow but are not mandatory or in

any case binding, creativity is a powerful

tool that can inspire others to greatness

if used appropriately.

DRAFT

RESOLUTION OFTHE COMMITTEE

he Resolution is the ultimate

instrument of the committee, it is

our goal, what we should aim to

achieve. It represents the committees

consensus on the measures that will be

taken in order to solve a specific topic,

in our case, The Armed Groups as

Disruptors of Social Stability.

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There is no perfect guideline for a

perfect resolution, the idea is to present

creative ideas to solve a topic, we want

you to experiment with your creativity

so we do not want to restrain your

possibilities, however, you should take

into consideration the attributions of

our committee before you present an

idea that might be out of topic or that

represents the attribution of another

committee.

Furthermore, a good Draft Resolution

for this specific topic should take into

consideration the following tips:

Do not try to create a new

Agency, instead try to look for

previous efforts made by the UN

or any other International

Organization, chances are that

the Agency you are trying to

create already exists and has

already done some work that you

can look into for research

purposes.

Always ask yourself the basic

questions about your Operative

Clauses: What are you trying to

do? How are you going to do it?

Who is going to be involved?

Where is it going to take place?

When is it going to start and

finish? Who is going to be in

charge of overseeing your idea?

Try not to cover too many ideas

at once; the Draft Resolutions

should be very specific but also

very general at the same time.

This means that it should be

specific enough to not leave gaps

and questions unanswered, but

also general enough to be

applicable in any region of the

world.

Remember that our topic affects

every country in a different way,

be open-minded enough to let

other countries share their

experiences with you and try to

work together to find solutions

that adequate to all of you.

Dont be afraid to ask for help to

other Committees, Agencies or

Commissions both inside and

outside the UN System.

Positive actions tackle negative

actions every time. Remember

that the principles of the UN

establish cooperation as one of

its pillars, leave sanctions,


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blockages, and blacklists as your

last resource to solve an issue.

If your idea is too ambitious and

tries to solve too many things at

once, break it into several parts

so you can choose the most

important ones if you have to

compromise in a difficult

negotiation.

If your idea is not being

considered by some countries,

propose a Pilot Program, a test-

drive seems less aggressive and

some countries respond

positively to changes at a slower

pace.

When trying to create programs,

educational campaigns, training

workshops, capacitation centers,

etc. always take into

consideration the funding, who is

going to pay for that? How is it

going to be paid for? If you are

asking Member States for funds,

take into consideration smaller

economies that may not have the

resources to pay for something

too expensive. Be creative with

the funding methods, and if you

are going to use public funding

be very specific about how your

program is going to be covered.

Our topic has very different types

of Armed Groups, you should try

to focus on the ones that pose

the bigger threat to stability

according to your experience and

the debate that we have. One

resolution cannot solve every

problem in the world. Instead, it

tackles specific problems through

well-organized plans of action.

Nuclear weapons represent a

huge threat to International

Security and this represents,

indeed, a topic of discussion for

DISEC, however, we would like

you to focus on other kinds of

threats such as violence,

insecurity, social inequity, Human

Rights violation, and massive

migrations due to social

instability, genocides, drugs,urban violence, and rural

guerrillas. The reason is that

Nuclear Weapons only touch our

topic in a very tangential way


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being Latin America a Nuclear

Weapon Free Zone, only a few

countries actually possessing

Nuclear Warheads nowadays and

all the regulation that already

exists for this topic, hence, do not

focus on this specific kind of

threat.

GUIDELINES AND

RECOMMENDATION

n order for you to successfully

present your ideas to the committee,

we recommend some basic websites

that you should visit:

United Nations Official Website,

as this will be your first hand

informer on the current events in

the organization as well as an

insight on the DISEC committee.

Your countrys Ministry of Foreign

Affairs website, this will help you

understand the official position of

your country, as well as serve as a

database for documents you

might want to read.

Global news networks such, but

not limited to, BBC International,

EuroNews, CNN, Al Jazeera

English, El Pais (Spain), New York

Times, Washington Post, Foreign

Affairs website, etc.

Google news about a certain

Armed Group and its relation to

your country, this will help you

form an idea on previous efforts

your country has made regarding

a specific topic.

NGOs websites such as Amnesty

International, Reporters Without

Borders, etc.

Previous resolutions approved by

DISEC in order for you to

understand the scope and

approach that the committee has,

to fully grasp the real attributions

of it without stepping onto other

committees area of expertise.

Any other official and trustworthy

source of information that you

feel will help you present your

ideas into the committee, do not

be afraid to bring statistics,

graphics, charts, pictures, and any

other support material.

Remember to carefully read and

understand the Rules of

Procedure as this will prove most

I


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helpful during the debate, a

delegate that is confident with

introducing motions and points

at the right time will always be

accurate in the debate.

The motions and points are your

tools; utilize them to influence

the flow of debate towards your

interests as a country.

Remember to maintain a

diplomatic posture at all times,

you are the representative of an

entire country and should behave

as it.

Charisma is a powerful tool in a

debate, your attitude can move

mountains if you know how to

use it, it can help you with a

difficult negotiation, or it can be

that extra spark you need for

your speeches. A truthful smile

goes a long way.

Your speeches have two main

aspects, What you say and

How you say it, the first is the

result of all your research, the

more you know about a topic, the

more confident you look when

you are explaining that topic; the

second is your body language,

your gestures, eyes, hands, the

way you stand. Dominate them

both and you will be an excellent

delegate.

Be creative with your Working

Papers, they do not have a

specific format, this is your

opportunity to shine.

Some delegates are the best at

giving speeches, some delegates

are the best negotiating, and

some delegates have the

brightest and most creative ideas,

identify your strengths and utilize

them, at the same time identify

your weaknesses and work on

them.

A well timed speech has a

structure, it presents one or two

ideas at time, do not try to cover

too many ideas in one speech,

instead, use several speeches to

present your ideas.

There is no guidebook for the

perfect speech, practice goes a

long way in this matter, learn to

understand the dynamic of the

committee, when to discuss the

problems, when to propose

solutions, when to shift directions


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if the committee seems to hit an

impasse.

Dont be afraid to practice in

front of a mirror, you will see how

you speak in public and polish

your posture, as well as timing

your speeches to last one, two or

three minutes.

Do not be afraid when the Dais

taps the table, it is just a

reminder that your time is

running out and you need to start

closing your speech, thank the

audience or utilize a strong catch

phrase.

The Dais is there to help you,

dont hesitate to approach us

should you have any doubt

during the committee or even

during your preparation,

remember we are all students

and we are there to help each

other.

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