Topic: Containing and De-Escalating Sectarian Conflict
Country: Sweden
Delegate Name: Alexandre Plouff
School: Forest Hills Central High School
Topic page: background guide and all position papers All Sweden position papers GLIMUN 2015 committees
Sweden is known for being a peace seeking country, and avoiding armed pacs that cause tension with other countries. Sweden is a relatively religionless country with only 29% of its citizens claiming to be practicing their faith. (sweden.se) Also the nation of Sweden has a growing economy with a GDP of 60,430.22 (USD). So that leaves the country a fairly small chance for sectarian to occur. Although we are not inexperienced with sectarian conflict. Sweden played a big role in the Thirteen Years War against Germany. Since than Sweden takes more of a neutral stance on foreign affairs.
In today's world the Middle East tend to be the perfect region for sectarian conflict with religion playing such a huge role in day to day life. And the overlooked factor of instability in economies. When a country's economy is in distress, and the people are not making the money they feel they deserve they will look to religion as an outlet. And with the impact of religion in the countries governments in the Middle East it is bound to cause tension and at times violent outbursts. The main cause of the violent outbursts are religious extremist groups looking to overthrow the corrupt governments that hold a grip on their economies. And what the UN should look to do is find a way to de-escalate potential threats between governments and their people, and tension between neighboring countries with different religious beliefs. Sweden suggest the following to help solve these issues.
Governments should never resort to physical force against its people, unless the people are threatening the wellbeing of other citizens, or neighboring peoples. In a case of a terrorist organization the government should seek help and approval from members of the UN and should always seek a peaceful resolution first. Terrorist should never be treated lightly especially when concerning the safety of civilians. As of conflict between neighboring countries there should always be a peaceful resolution as the first plan of action. And if military conflict is inevitable the UN should look to intervene before the situation gets out of control.
