The Seeds of Conflict
Reporting from the United Nation General Assembly–Disarmament and International Security (UNGA- DISEC), Kavya Datla decodes the various causes of conflict in the Middle East.
It is no secret that the Middle East has been home to conflict for centuries now. [1] While the reasons are multiple, the result is a conflict struck nation. Musing upon the same, the delegates expressed their views on the causes of instability in the Middle Eastern region.
“Most Middle Eastern conflicts have followed a certain pattern. Each case has an unstable government, a rebel group and western backing,” said the Delegate of Syria.
The Delegate of Syria believed that the United States of America’s continuous effort to intervene under the pretext of an unstable Syrian government was a faux. He stated that these efforts came with an underlying intention of self interest. He emphasised that most wars in the Middle East are sustained due to the Western forces backing multiple blocks of the conflict. Soon after, the Delegate of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (Saudi Arabia) went on record to state that the Muslim world demands its privacy and sees itself as its leading representative. Under that light, the Delegate of Saudi Arabia called attention to the fact that Saudi Arabia was one one of the First Nations to condemn the actions of Doctor Bashar Al-Assad (Assad). The Delegate of the Russian Federation added to the discussion by calling upon the international forum to condemn any ambitious nations which intervene in the Middle East and North Africa region (MENA) with the motives of draining their resources.
The Delegate of the People’s Republic of China followed up by questioning the competence of the Turkish government to deal with the multiple conflicts present in their state. Following suit was the Delegate of The United States of America (USA), who expressed his view that Assad and his government must be condemned and acted against.
Several other delegates expressed similar such views. What was to be noted here is that despite varied stances, the idea of conflict, an unstable government, and a tale with a common narrative had been widely discussed and accepted by the delegates of these nations.
Source:
[1]http://studies.aljazeera.net/en/reports/2018/09/shifts-middle-east-balance-power-historical-perspective-180902084750811.html
(Edited by Keerthisree Raghu.)
Yes, We Can?
Reshma Raghunadharao, reporting from the United Nations General Assembly-Disarmament and International Security (UNGA–DISEC), trails the need for the definition of the term “political instability”, as discussed by the committee.
The committee deliberated on the need for a definition of the term “political instability”. A range of stances was presented by the delegates.
The Delegate of the Kingdom of Thailand began the discussion by pointing out that political instability as a term was not defined by the United Nations (UN). But taking general consensus into account, the Delegate called political instability to be the cause of segmentation of various governments. The Delegate drew attention to the common misconception of political instability always leading to complete instability of a region and quashed it, citing the case of Italy. The involvement of religious factions and the military during the political violence and subsequent destabilization was pointed out as a reason to define the term “political instability”.
The Delegate of the Republic of France continued to agree on the need for a definition and went on to quote the existing definition of political instability as “the uninterrupted continuation of political democracy, with the absence of a major political rule while accommodating the absence of a major political movement opposing the democratic rule of international recognition”. The Delegate then called the area of said definition to be grey and called for a case study followed by the establishment of a proper definition in order to move forward and deal with the causes and effects.
The Delegate of the Kingdom of Morocco seconded the existing definition proposed by the French delegate and went on to quote several other existing definitions and asked for a comprehensive definition encompassing the existing definitions.
The Delegate of the Hellenic Republic took an entirely different stance, condemning the increase of human rights violations and the glorification of violence. The Delegate further deemed globalisation to be a destructive element to their nation and shed light on the loss of funding which affected the European Union as a whole. Calling the need for definitions another argument leading to a new wave of political instability, the Delegate instead stressed on proper applicable solutions.
Along the lines of the Greek delegate, the delegate of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela brought the committee’s attention to the financial duress in their nation and quipped that a definition as such would hinder the possibility of the inclusion of a new issue or would limit the inclusion of an existing issue due to the rigidity of the literature. The Delegate then stated that they only wanted the stress on their nation to be lifted and that their last concern was a definition.
A plethora of stances was expressed by the delegates, with polar inferences on the ground. Despite the differences in opinion, the whole committee agreed on comprehensive planning for a solution.
(Edited by Keerthisree Raghu.)
On Terrorism and Beyond
Reporting from the United Nations General Assembly–Disarmament and International Security (UNGA- DISEC), Kavya Datla reports about terrorism and political instability.
In many cases across the world, conflicts have worsened due to the lack of effective post-conflict measures, claimed the delegates of the committee. This, according to them, is due to the presence of unstable governments or other violent non-state actors. The committee elaborated on their views of this branch of the agenda in a brief session.
The Delegate of the Republic of Poland brought to light the fact that poor post-conflict measures have played a significant role in sustaining conflict. The Delegate of the Republic of Azerbaijan emphasised that the root cause of poor post-conflict measures has been unstable governments in conflict struck regions. He also mentioned that the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) pose a great threat to global security. The Delegate of the Republic of Maldives drove along a similar road and mentioned that the Taliban were the root cause of conflict in the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan (Afghanistan). He stressed that poor governance and economic failure were further adding to the situation in Afghanistan.
The Delegate of the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal highlighted that polarised political parties or views are an important cause of conflict and that this often leveraged the possibility of a proxy war. The Delegate of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam further elaborated on this stance, explaining that developed countries often swooped into areas of conflict creating a proxy war in order to drain oil and gas resources. The Delegate the Republic of France added to this by stating that most cases of conflict have seen unstable governments, rebel groups and extremist groups that add fuel to the existing fire. The Delegate of the Republic of Iraq opined over the effect of extremist groups in fuelling conflict in their region over the course of history.
Amidst various such similar views, the delegate of Canada presented polar solutions stating that developed countries must intervene in conflict struck areas in order to fast-track post-conflict measures. A similar view was also presented by the Delegate of the United States of America (USA).
Delegates also touched upon the other causes such as, illegal arms, untimely political transition, and refugees.
On an ending note, the committee agreed upon the fact that it was necessary for delegates of all countries to reach a common consensus on framing viable solutions and putting them to the test.
(Edited by Keerthisree Raghu.)
What is yours is Mine; Never Vice Versa
Reshma Raghunadharao, reporting from the United Nations General Assembly–Disarmament and International Security (UNGA-DISEC), follows the stances put forth by the delegates on terrorism as a cause for political instability.
The committee engaged in a discussion on the global arena’s situation on terrorism being a cause of political instability. Various issues were brought to light by the delegates.
The deliberation began with the Delegate of the Republic of Zambia sympathising with the countries in conflict due to terrorism. The Delegate went on to state that a well-thought-out mandated centre for battling terrorism was the need of the hour. The Delegate of the Republic of El Salvador seconded the Delegate of Zambia, asking for emphasis on the conflict in the Middle East and consequentially condemned the two-faced approach of certain nations under the guise of democracy and freedom.
The Delegate of the Republic of India called upon the committee’s attention to the conflict in Kashmir and condemned the Islamic Republic of Pakistan’s unwarranted involvement in the same. The Delegate of United Mexican States consequentially slammed the recent Pulwama attacks and brought to the committee’s attention, the economic aspects of terrorism and the expenditure involved, quoting the Syrian Arab Republic and the State of Libya as examples.
The Delegate of the Hellenic Republic urged the committee to understand the facets of religious intolerance and asked for the member nations present to stop entertaining the misconception of associating religions to terrorism and vice versa.
The Delegate of the United States of America (USA) asked for the committee to recognize the Kurds, keeping in mind, the aid doled out by them with regard to the Islamic State. The delegate called the Syrian National Coalition the recognized government and went on state that their presence in terrorism-affected nations was warranted and their mission was to free all the oppressed.
The Delegate of the Republic of France stated that there existed a symbiotic relationship between terrorism and political instability and explained the dynamics of the same. The authority provided by the United Nations Security Council for foreign intervention is hailed by the United Nations and its member states and thus, the Delegate called for the effective combating of terrorism.
The delegates brought to the limelight the situation in their respective nations and subsequently arrived at a consensus on the need for the elimination of terrorism.
(Edited by Keerthisree Raghu.)