September 16, 2019
Username:
 In 2022-Proliferation of Ballistic Missiles

Topic:
Country: Colombia
Delegate Name: Marie Schafer

Ballistic Missiles, and their introduction into society, have continued to be a conflict for years since gunpowder was discovered in the early thirteenth century. The problem with such dangerous devices is the lack of regulation that both has been placed on them, as well as the regulation allowed to be placed upon them. While there are some attempts that have been made towards regulating missiles, such as the Hague Code of Conduct against Ballistic Missile Proliferation (HCOC) and the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR), these are in no way legally binding for countries. Considering that missiles could potentially carry weapons of mass destruction, the fact that so many countries are taking on building up these weapons, contributing to the steady rise in the number of such devices, is extremely concerning.
Being one of the 93 countries that signed the HCOC, Colombia is dedicated to pursuing the integrity of our world, and steadily decreasing the number of ballistic missiles in an effort to resume peace and prosperity. Colombia has not passed any specific legislature on this topic, being one of the lesser developed countries with little access to the money and materials for such measures. Colombia has no possession of missile defense devices which would help them protect themselves from the weapons of other countries. Considering this, Colombia does not support the continued building of defense weapons by nations with access to such abilities. In the scenario that a missile is launched where there is a need for such defense, there are already so many nuclear weapons found across the globe that the amount of destruction following would be catastrophic regardless of defense mechanisms.
As a member of both the NTP and the TPNW, Colombia believes that through allowing the continued production and building of defensive missiles, the result will simply be further development of nuclear weapons and hazardous missiles, which is a direction the country is attempting to step away from. While the country believes that scientific developments and findings will help the intellectual community grow, at the expense of putting all the efforts towards weapon dismantlement to waste, such growth and focus in fields is not as valuable. Even with consideration of national sovereignty, Colombia hopes that they can work with other delegates from countries who have similar opinions and can stand as a united front.