Topic: Containing and De-Escalating Sectarian Conflict
Country: Kuwait
Delegate Name: Noah Alderton
School: Fishers High School
Topic page: background guide and all position papers All Kuwait position papers GLIMUN 2015 committees
The State of Kuwait has long been a site of sectarian differences. Currently our nation is composed of both Sunni and Shiite Muslims, with approximately 30 percent being Shiite. However, unlike many other nations, Kuwait has been able to maintain the peaceful coexistence between our Sunni and Shiite populations for many years. As stated in Chapter 1, Article 1, Clause 1 of the Charter of the United Nations, the purposes of the United Nations include, “To maintain international peace and security, and to that end: to take effective collective measures for the prevention and removal of threats to the peace, and for the suppression of acts of aggression or other breaches of the peace, and to bring about by peaceful means.” We agree with this charter and believe that much needs to be done as the international community to address ongoing sectarian violence as well to prevent future sectarian violence.
Although the State of Kuwait is a strong supporter of ending sectarian violence, we believe that this change must come from the nation itself, and not from the United Nations. The root of most sectarian violence is the lack of equal rights available to all people. In Kuwait, we have provided equal public welfare access to all our citizens. These public welfare options include healthcare, education, government occupations, and housing. By treating all of our citizens equally, we remove the main cause of sectarian divisions. However, our results are not necessarily applicable to all instance of sectarian violence. It is necessary that we find solutions to sectarian violence on a case by case basis.
We find that the purpose of the United Nations in sectarian conflicts is to act as a non-partisan negotiating resource between the differing sides of a conflict. We highly encourage that the respective leaders of sectarian groups use peaceful means to negotiate a consensual agreement to end any instances of sectarian disagreement or violence. However using any forceful international means to end sectarian violence is not advisable. Any forceful means to end sectarian violence should come within the nation the violence is occurring itself. Nations have the inherent right to stabilize their countries using legal means. We find bringing international military resources into a region with sectarian division will do nothing but destabilize the region even more. The United Nations, however, should provide designated locations in which sectarian leaders can negotiate their differences in a peaceful way. The State of Kuwait believe that the only instance in which UN peacekeepers should be used is at the request of any negotiations between feuding sects. For example, UN peacekeepers could be used to ensure a ceasefire is being maintained. Sectarian violence can only be cured by the people that start it. Getting the United Nations and the international community involved in these situations will only destabilized the region even more.
Works Cited
Gowan, Richard. "Can U.N. Peacekeepers Fight Terrorists?" Brookings. The Brookings Institution, 30 June 2015. Web. 03 Nov. 2015.
Wells, Madeleine. "Sectarianism and Authoritarianism in Kuwait." The Washington Post. The Washington Post, 13 Apr. 2015. Web. 03 Nov. 2015.
