Open Topic

Topic: Open Topic
Country: Argentina
Delegate Name: Tim McKeeby
School: Forest Hills Central High School

Argentina, in cooperation with Norway produced and organized a “Global Conference on the Protection of Civilians under International Humanitarian Law”, in May of 2013.With nearly three-hundred participants representing ninety-four States; this particular conference expressed the concern for safety and security for civilians both during a war crisis and for humanitarian missions.

Supporting the concepts of peace, respect, and security for human right, Argentina states that the Security Council must stay committed to the protection of civilians. In recent statements the Security Council has agreed that the protection for civilian rights “has changed little”. Argentina acknowledges that the Security Council must take further actions in promoting full respect of international law, humanitarian law, human rights law, refugee law, and the fight against impunity. Regardless of the existence or not of an armed conflict, States must respect all legal norms aimed at the protection of civilians.

Protection of UN mandated missions for humanitarian needs in foreign countries need continuous support and awareness. Those mandates have to be providing necessary resources in a timely and effective manner. Argentina has developed training courses for the armed forces, with an emphasis in those resource allocations that form part of Argentine contingents of UN peace-keeping operations. Therefore Argentina encourages the support and growth of the protection of UN humanitarian and peace-keeping mandates.

Argentina asks for support from the Security Council to continue with the conference including but not limited to the recent “Global Conference on the Protection of Civilians under International Humanitarian Law”. Funding and training is necessary to further this process. Argentina seeks that the Security Council continues the search to strengthen the protections of all global civilians.

Topic: Open Topic
Country: Guatemala
Delegate Name: Winston Richards
School: Forest Hills Central High School

Starting under Richard Nixon, the United States began to ramp up its approach on drugs, taking a much steeper, stricter route and thus significantly raising their amount of incarcerations. As a part of this new policy the United States has played a major role in combating the exportation and trade of narcotics/illegal drugs from South and Central America. The War on Drugs has indirectly led to an increase in drug cartels and the power they hold.

Guatemala, Central America, and all of South America have been complying with the United States and its war on drugs for the past forty years, but it is time to admit it is failing. The United States continues to spend millions but no progress is being shown. Guatemala, along with all the other countries south of the border have continually suffered as drug cartels have become increasingly more brutal and powerful. In Mexico the drug war has brought the country into turmoil, where corruption runs amok and cartels behead people on a regular basis. It has even gone to the extreme, where individual communities are creating there own militias to keep cartels and federal troops out.

Although this is not a Security Council issue rather a United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime issue, Guatemala finds the War on Drugs to be of the utmost importance. As a way to combat growing violence and tensions in South and Central America, Guatemala would like to take a new approach, legalization. By loosening standards the violence associated with drugs would decline and the government could tax legal drugs and profit from them. This would also promote individual freedom and choice.

As mentioned Guatemala feels the United States' War on Drugs is a failed policy and hopes to combat it in a more liberal manner, legalization. Guatemala is close allies to the United States and does not mean this as a personal attack but merely a suggestion to revise its old ways.

Topic: Open Topic
Country: Luxembourg
Delegate Name: Ian Leuty
School: Kalamazoo Central High School

The goal of the Nation of Luxembourg is the wellbeing and humanitarian benefit of citizens of nation- states world wide. The actions of nations such as Australia and those involved in the European Union model a behavior that should be praised and emulated worldwide. The burden of peacekeeping and humanitarian relief ought to sit on the shoulders of the fellow delegated nations of the United Nations.

As a country born out of conflict and occupation, the Sovereign Luxembourg Republic values the negotiatory skills and peaceful resolution making ability of it's fellow E.U. members.

As the Nation of Luxembourg has done, monetary and military contributions must be made to the efforts that will improve the ethical wellbeing of countries in need such as the Barbary region.

In addition to the contributions of the Republic of Luxembourg to peacekeeping efforts as a contingency, preventative actions in the form of peaceful negotiations must be taken. The Nation of Luxembourg favorably contributes it's delegates for the skilled resolution of conflicts through discussion and trial.

The goal of the Nation of Luxembourg is the wellbeing and humanitarian benefit of citizens of nation- states world wide. The actions of nations such as Australia and those involved in the European Union model a behavior that should be praised and emulated worldwide. The burden of peacekeeping and humanitarian relief ought to sit on the shoulders of the fellow delegated nations of the United Nations.

As a country born out of conflict and occupation, the Sovereign Luxembourg Republic values the negotiatory skills and peaceful resolution making ability of it's fellow E.U. members.

As the Nation of Luxembourg has done, monetary and military contributions must be made to the efforts that will improve the ethical wellbeing of countries in need such as the Barbary region.

In addition to the contributions of the Republic of Luxembourg to peacekeeping efforts as a contingency, preventative actions in the form of peaceful negotiations must be taken. The Nation of Luxembourg favorably contributes it's delegates for the skilled resolution of conflicts through discussion and trial.

Topic: Open Topic
Country: South Korea
Delegate Name: Keenan Smith
School: Flint Southwestern Classical Academy

Over around sixty years have passed since the United Nations was founded, with the principles of equality and dialogue being at the core of our beliefs. Many of the most pressing and hotly-debated issues since then have made the agenda of our various agencies, with our fair share of both failures and successes. However, as the Republic of Korea has come to see, there exists in many cases an issue with the very structure of our organization that prevents us from being as effective as we could on all issues. Several nations, such as Germany, Brazil, India and Japan, have moved to have themselves be included in the permanent-membership status Therefore, we believe that Security Council Reform should be the third topic discussed in our meeting.

The Republic of Korea, as well as many other smaller nations, know how very useless some nations are made to feel when they are not having their turn at the Security Council round table. We have seen time and again solid, beneficial resolutions that could have greatly impacted an issue be shot down by the veto-powers. In addition, the number of non-permanent members should be increased so as to allow for greater representation of the world’s various peoples. The veto power becomes an abusive and undiplomatic technique for certain nations to get their way. While we support the current veto-powers and their positions on the Council, we believe that there is definitely room for improvement in this area.

The Republic of Korea believes that the Security Council should become more effective. Achieving this should be done by increasing the number of non-permanent member states. The increasing of the number of non-permanent seats would allow for a much more democratic representation of the world’s people. Critics say that this would reduce the effective nature of the Council, but we disagree. A number of 20-24 nations on the Council would hardly bog down the Council’s work, and it’s a small price to pay for expanding the discussion on the most pressing issues of international security.

Topic: Open Topic
Country: United States
Delegate Name: Nathaniel Hawkins
School: Mattawan High School

There is a growing concern of the situation involving the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK). On 7 July 2013, a ship belonging to the DPRK, the Chong Chon Gang, was detained passing through the Panama Canal on its way to Cuba. Panama discovered a massive shipment of arms hidden amongst the shipment of sugar. This draws concerns from the international community regarding the possible joint militarization of the DPRK and Cuba, and also because the secrecy surrounding the DPRK’S weapon trading.

The United States is deeply concerned with this issue because of the close alliance between the United States and the Republic of Korea (ROK). The Korean Peninsula has, at least for the past few months, been experiencing a period of repairing and rebuilding. This began on 16 September when the DPRK and ROK reopened the jointly run Kaesong industrial complex, located inside the borders of the DPRK. On 21 September, however, the DPRK announced that this needed to be further delayed, accusing the ROK of “reckless and vicious confrontational racket”.. Adding to the tension on the Korean Peninsula is the fact that no reported progress towards re-launching the six-party talks with China, Japan, the Republic of Korea (ROK), Russia and the US. The nation of China has began taking unilateral action against the DPRK by cutting off its own exports tot eh DPRK of materials that can be used to manufacture weapons of mass destruction, which the DPRK could be secretly supplying to Cuba. This action on the part of China was in response to satellite imagery showing hot wastewater being discharged from the plutonium reactor at the Yongbyon nuclear complex on 3 October. The DPRK announced in April that it would restart the reactor, which was partially dismantled in 2007 as part of an agreement under the six-party talks. The tension increased when activity in the DPRK’s main underground test site skyrocketed. This observation on 24 October indicates that the DPRK is preparing for a second nuclear test. In its agreement with the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, the United States is alarmed by this increase in nuclear activity in the DPRK. The United States is also very alarmed by the weapons trade that has been covertly occurring between the DPRK and Cuba for a time span that is entirely unknown since the Chong Chon Gang was the first ship to be intercepted between the two nations. The possibility of Cuba having nuclear weapons, which may have been provided by the DPRK unbeknownst to the world, presents a secondary Cuban Missile Crisis situation and perhaps another Cold War type of action between the United States and the DPRK or Cuba.

This alarming situation requires the attention of the Security Council, as well as the international community, because it could escalate very quickly. China, in its unilateral action, sets an example that immediate action is necessary. By cutting off its supply of technologies and chemicals that could be used for nuclear power, though they were never intended for that use in the first place, is a prime example of deterring a catastrophic situation. The United States, however, urges for a multilateral solution that involves every nation and not just a select few initiating separate solutions. This issue is vastly complex and attention is needed in the following areas: the DPRK’s arms trade with Cuba, the reactivation of a plutonium-based reactor in the DPRK, the foreshadowing of a second nuclear arms test, and the ever-present possibility that a nation could misuse nuclear power and launch an attack on another nation.