Architectural Criticism Ananthakrishnan Narasimhan gives a rundown of the heated debate in the African Union (AU) that centred around the controversial African Peace and Security Architecture.
Eritrea assumes the domination pose.
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t the start of the session on Day 2, the AU almost unanimously agreed that they would discuss the African Peace and Security Architecture (APSA); the APSA consists of five components: the Peace and Security Council (PSC), the Continental Early Warning System (CEWS), the African Standby Force (ASF), the Panel of the Wise (PotW) and the Peace Fund (PF). These different components work in tandem for the furthering and betterment of nations in the African Union. The components, though seemingly impressive on their own, have very poor coordination between themselves, and this was an issue brought forth by many of the delegates today. The PSC, as mentioned by the Delegate of Nigeria, has had over 250 meets and has been active, authorizing peacekeeping in Burundi, Somalia and many other African nations. However, the credibility of the PSC is declining, due to the exposed gap between the authorization of peacekeeping measures and the ability to implement them. The PSC is heavily understaffed and equipped, and the relations between the AU and the PSC remain vague. The criteria for PSC membership is poorly
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enforced as well. There needs to be better understanding and cooperation between the PSC and the AU, as was mentioned by the delegate of Mauritania today. The criteria for PSC membership is poorly enforced as well. There needs to be better understanding and cooperation between the PSC and the AU, as was mentioned by the Delegate of Mauritania today. The CEWS has many shortcomings as well; cooperation between the RECs is poor due to conflict between them; also, connectivity between the RMs is attenuated. Another problem faced by the RMs is lack of personnel; number of personnel will have to surely be increased, as the delegate of Eritrea had mentioned. Moving on to the ASF, the management of the ASF needs to be strengthened for sure; the proposed structure for the peace operations division should surely be implemented, mentioned the Delegate of Swaziland. Also, centres of excellence (where training for the members of the ASF is provided) need to be provided guidance and leadership. There are many logistical gaps in the ASF, mentioned the Delegate of Angola; he also mentioned that there are no regional depots of the ASF at all; they need to be put in place. Further, the tactics of the ASF are not clearly defined and implemented; all armies should have tactics for mobilization. Next is the Peace Fund: theoretically, it is one of the key pillars of the ASPA, according to the Delegate of Sudan; he also asked a pertinent question: why is there no money in the Peace Fund? Though most of the nations in the AU are at (rather violent) conflict, either internally or externally (or even both), only 5-6% of the AU budget has been allocated to the PF. Money for the PF can come from both within and without Africa, said the Delegate of Sierra-Leone, who was also ready and willing to let the AU exploit blood diamond reserves in his country to even the economy. All coun-
tries of the AU should enhance their resource potential, he said. The last, but not the least, is the PotW. This panel is rather vague, due to it being clarified as a conflict prevention panel; this could mean either preventing conflicts or intervening when conflicts escalate,
mentioned the delegate of Nigeria, and if it means the former, they would be mediators and if not they would be drawn into talks with the nations. They are, for now, simply an advisory panel, whose views need to be considered but not necessarily implemented.
Nigeria seems overjoyed about being referred to twice in this article.
Campaign: #BadassKrishna Is #Goodass
Thank you for being such a sport, Krishna Dayanidhi! We all love you!
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Whispers From the Outside
Trade Tête-à-tête with Germany
While the credibility of news reports was challenged, talks proceeded regardless of it on Day 2, reports Sreenivas V. Rao from the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).
Harsha Jayanthi from the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) interviews the Delegate of Germany to get some clarity on the trade practices of the country.
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pdate after update after update tumbled in, on a day of fast moving events at SSN MUN 2014. There is a definite course that the UNSC is taking now, and at the time of writing, a tense nuclear crisis is rapidly developing. However, the Council is proceeding on news reports of questionable authenticity.
cent citizens. The Zionist state chose to up the ante, with Prime Minister Golda Meir putting nuclear warheads on full standby, or so, reported the Soviet mouthpiece, the Pravda. The members of the UNSC were divided in their response to the update, with some expressing outrage, while others questioned the veracity of the news reports.
In the wee hours of the morning, an update rolled out in the form of a news report from The New York Times, stating that the USS Assurance had been destroyed by an unidentified aircraft, while the HMS Plymouth suffered heavy damages. The two ships had been participating in controversial naval exercises in the Mediterranean, jointly held by the US, UK and France. Three Libyan reconnaissance aircrafts were also shot down in the vicinity.
The essence of the Pravda report was that the Soviet reconnaissance satellite, the Zenit2M, had spotted a caravan of trucks moving across Israeli territories, carrying what experts believed to be nuclear warheads.
When the UNSC was formally in session, the Delegate of the United States of America (UNSC) was quick to cry foul over the happenings, and threatened dire consequences over the attacks, as well as the ongoing military occupation of the Suez Canal by Egypt. He believed it was no longer a question of regional problems, but that it was quickly snowballing into a global economic crisis. The delegate of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics condemned the recent attacks, but felt that Libya was justified. He also called for a verification of the reports, believing it to be a ploy for sympathy by the United States. The Peoples’ Republic of China was also quick to cast aspersions on the legitimacy of The New York Times report, and shared the USSR’s belief of a sympathy ploy at play.
The picture in itself provided no visual confirmation, and whether or not the report was trustworthy was a choice left to the delegates. The Delegate of Iraq was suspicious from the very beginning about the authenticity, and pointed out that the Pravda is not a UN approved news source. He also called for the USA and the USSR to distance themselves from any further involvement with the crisis, going so far as to threaten the countries with an oil embargo. The Delegate was categorical in stating that the Middle East was fully capable of resolving this crisis by itself, and the only aid that was required of the West was humanitarian aid.
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ould you reaffirm your country’s stand on free trade?
Germany: Germany has been for the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) only if the clauses involved are fair to both sides. We are currently negotiating an FTA with Canada, which resembles the one it will enter into with the USA. What are your views on subsides in the globalized world? Germany: Subsidies are essential for countries, but our aim should be to decouple subsidies in the long run. Subsidies should help in the improvement of state rather than become dependent on them. Your country has stated that it will remove all export subsidies by 2015. What is the road-map for achieving such a goal?
Germany: The main reason export subsidies are given is to match the market price when the cost of production itself is higher. Germany’s exports are strong enough to do without these subsidies. Reduction will be gradual to moderate its effects. Regarding imports, developed countries like yours (the European Union) have hard import quotas and tariffs. It is felt this is affecting trade from least developed countries. Could these barriers be reduced over time as well? Germany: Yes, there will be a reduction on all possible import quotas. The one that remains will be empirical for the sustainability of markets in Germany. Recent research by organisations like world bank has found that if trade barriers were reduced by 33%, world
Every news report is being scrutinized for its accuracy, but that has not prevented the countries from calling for the cessation of hostilities. Tensions were visible during the unmoderated caucus, and as time is running out for the conclusion of the three day council, one can only hope that productive resolutions are adopted on the final day.
The post lunch session saw paranoia overtaking Israel, with the Syrian army marching upto Tel Aviv, armed with Scud B and C missiles capable of endangering millions of inno-
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wealth would increase in hundreds of billions-most of it will be gained by the least developed countries. What is your view of this? Is it fair for them to gain the most benefit or does Germany demand equality? Germany: Germany hopes that markets will be fair. However idealistic this may be, it is important to understand the difficulties faced by these countries, hence there is a need to provide a fair ground for them. Moving on to domestic subsidies, I have gathered that Germany favours support for farmers for improvingtheir technology. How different is this type of support in the USA, which many have called trade distorting? Germany: Basically, we give farmers the highest subsidies for using renewable sources to power improvement in methods of cultivating so that in the long run, they could help themselves as the subsidies could be removed. Throughout the committee, we have witnessed a divide between the
developed countries bloc and the developing countries. What is your view on this divide? Germany: Personally speaking it would not be fair to disregard the efforts of certain countries to lead the race. However, the divide between these blocs should not be increased on the basis of unfair trade practices, or lack of opportunity.
Let It Blow This is a parody of the popular Disney track - Let it Go. This has been written by Farhan Faisal with the perspective of the Israeli delegate.
What do you think of direct cash transfers as a solution to the subsidy problem? Germany: No, Germany has been trying to move for the idea of technological transfer and other forms of non-monetary aid as it would help the receivers take the next step so as to stabilise themselves. Finally, to summarise, which resolutions is Germany planning to move? Germany: We are trying to emphasize the adoption of CAP as a model and to look at subsidies for renewable energy. But, we just have to see where the crisis is going to place our priorities.
The smoke glows dark in Mount Zion tonight, We wonder: “Who is this foe?” The Kingdom of pure Damnation, And we wish one another “Mazel Tov.” Al-Assad is cooing like a bully in disguise, He couldn’t stop butchering, Habibi knows that we have tried. Don’t let the Syrians in, Don’t let the Syrians see, All the evil that was just set free, Don’t conceal the truth so let them know, that they need to go. Let it Blow, Let it Blow. We love killing more and more. Let it Blow, Let it Blow. We love doing it more and more. We don’t care, What the world ‘s going to say.
Reporter for the International Press, Harsha Jayanthi, interviews the Delegate of Germany.
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The Golan Heights is ours anyway. It is funny how the Zionists, Forced the Americans to help us out. And the money that forever controls them, Can never stop us at all. It’s time to see What the Syrians can acquire, With the SCUD B and the SCUD C missiles, To wipe us clear or to hold a cease-fire, They just don’t know. Let it Blow. Let it Blow. We need Arab blood more and more. Let it Blow. Let it Blow. We just don’t care anymore. Here we stand, And here we stay. Let the Arabs move on. The War never bothered us anyway.
Let hell rage on,
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A Definitive Definition
No One Asked to be a Hero
Kasthuriramanan Sivaguru reports from the United Nations Human Resources Council (UNHRC), as it was determined not to discuss any other topic from the agenda without defining the term ‘unlawful combatants.’
The Soviet and American presence in the Middle East needs to be understood and must be resolved before the actual conflict, writes Farhan Faisal from the UNSC.
fighters or combatants who do not carry insignia approved by party(s). A counter definition proposed by the delegates of United States of America (USA), United Kingdom (UK), Israel, United Arab Emirates (UAE) and 15 other countries more or less summed up the former definition, but also included humanitarian laws, failure of recognition by any military troop, carrying illegal arms and ammunitions, and recruitment of child soldiers.
The Delegate of USA makes a point.
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he formal session of debate on the ‘Status of unlawful combatants’ took an unexpected route by focusing more on getting a crystal clear idea about ‘unlawful combatants’ before moving on to discuss the status of such groups. After nearly an hour of informal discussion among the delegates, the Executive Board released two press notes on the definition of the term ‘unlawful combatants.’ The definition provided by the Delegates of Russia, Japan, India, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) and 13 other countries said that ‘unlawful combatants’ are people who perform activities which are in violation of the rules of war. A lot of reference was made to the flaws of the Fourth Geneva Conventions. It also included civilians who organized themselves as self-styled-para-military
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Unfortunately, the Council could not narrow down to a single meaning for ‘unlawful combatants’ due to a clash of opinions and foreign laws between different countries. This just makes the task of framing the resolution quite challenging, particularly with clashing definitions. The two groups which split today were at random, and this same group of delegates may not be in the same block while framing the resolution. Nevertheless, the Executive Board felt that it was for the good that the council spent much time on defining the agenda because one cannot discuss a topic unless its meaning is wholly understood. With this the UNHRC went on to discuss more pressing issues which will be covered in upcoming articles.
The Delegate of China shares her view.
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uman beings are free except when humanity needs them. Sometimes humanity needs something more than a loaded gun. It needs mutual respect and ideals that are worth fighting for. On the second day of the emergency meeting of the UNSC, there was a surge of international support for the affected parties in this conflict. Some chose to support the Arab nations, as they believed it was morally wrong for Israel to snatch what was once theirs, while some claim that Israel was the victim in this conflict. But the most crucial statement that was thrown into the council was from the Delegate of Iraq who believed that at the heart of the entire conflict, it was always either the Union of Socialist Soviet Republic (USSR) or United States of America (USA) trying to monopolize their presence in the Middle East. This statement was backed by the claims that both superpowers were in this for the Oil reserves that the Middle East possesses. Control over this commodity by either one party would threaten the dependence of every other nation. But the Delegate of USSR clearly mentioned that they condemned the attack of the American Navy vessels on the Libyan reconnaissance aircrafts earlier today. However, he supported the Libyan army’s claim that they were pushed to retaliate as they had never attacked first as per the initial reports. He also stressed that the authenticity of the report must be “testified.” Israel’s biggest ally, USA, however went defensive by claiming that the “events that have unfolded” were no longer regional and that it concerned about USSR’s presence near the Suez Canal. Hence, they believed that they had to support the Israelis and wouldn’t abandon them. The Delegate of USA believed that if the war could not be stopped then it would definitely lead to a Global Economic Crisis something along the lines of the Great Depression
The Delegate of USA in deep thought. after World War II. As per the new update, the Syrian Army had ventured deep into Israel’s territories by crossing the River of Jordan and the Golan Heights. They are now in Zefat which is just 170kms away from the capital, Tel Aviv. Israel raised apprehensions that their SCUD-B missiles could threaten the lives of innocent civilians. Since the USSR has been the weapons arsenal supplier for both Egypt and Syria for a considerable period of time, they received a lot of criticisms from member nations of the UNSC. They immediately stated that the “stage was ripe” for a negotiation session between the Arabs and the Israelis. At the end of this session, it was noted that countries like Cuba and the People’s Republic of China believed that the Arabs must stop their invasion and retreat so that there is a possibility for a negotiation that could be setup for the benefit of all. It was understood that both sides have lost assets. Most of the other member nations stressed that both the USSR and USA must retreat as this was not their fight. Nobody asked the superpowers to assist them. No one asked them to be a hero.
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A Pressing Affair
Trading Globalization for Development
The Press Conference at the African Union (AU) was a rather smooth affair for the reporter’s (Ananthakrishnan Narasimhan) questions were all answered, in the manner expected of the delegates present in the council.
The second day of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) saw a heated debate over the merits of protectionist policies and their cascading effect on free trade. Harsha Jayanthi reports.
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he Delegate of Kenya was quick to answer the first question of the conference that was posed to him regarding his stance with respect to the impending mass pull-out from the International Criminal Court of the African Union, seeing as his President was charged by the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the AU was of the opinion that the charges were wrong. The Kenyan representative was firm in his stand that his government was in support of the backing-out and mentioned that he would recommend the same to the AU as well. The Delegates of Sudan and South Sudan were next; when questioned about whether they knew the whereabouts of the rebel leader, Joseph Kony (a rebel who has been amassing the Lord’s Resistance Army, recruiting child soldiers and committing terrible acts of violence said to be in hiding somewhere in the countries of Sudan or South Sudan), they were of the opinion that the whereabouts were unknown; however, they were quick to mention that the United States of America (USA) had sent aid to Uganda in response to the requests of the African Union for support. The AU was then questioned as a whole as to whether, seeing as Joseph Kony was in hiding only due to his being a wanted criminal by the ICC, they would still stand with the Delegate and Government of Kenya and support the mass pull-out from the ICC, seeing as failure to recognize the rulings of the ICC could build courage in Kony and could even cause him to start an armed revolution. Egypt said that the AU had passed a resolution, tabled by Uganda, on dropping the charges by ICC on the Kenyan President. The resolution basically states that the AU
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will take care of the President themselves and does not want the ICC to interfere; furthermore, the Kony issue was being taken care of as well. When the Delegate of Nigeria was questioned regarding the problem of the rebel group named Boko Haram in their country (which is killing people in the name of protesting against ‘western’ education), especially if they were going to go ahead with requesting foreign powers to help increase literacy rates in Africa (as some council members previously stated), he mentioned that his Government had already set measures in motion to address this problem, and that he had substantiated upon this matter in his previous speeches. The Delegate of Guinea-Bissau was asked to elaborate upon the ‘unrest’ that her country faced with an example; she mentioned the incident that occurred on the evening of 12th April, 2012, when the military staged a coup d’ etat and arrested the interim president along with another presidential candidate. Lastly, when the Delegate of Swaziland was posed a query regarding whether his statement, ‘even a small push will instigate a revolution’ was a reference to the (admittedly incredible) movie, ‘The Dark Knight’ (in which the Joker asserts that “madness… is like gravity; all it needs is a little push”), the Delegate appeared to be consumed by awe, and in a slightly high-pitched voice admitted that that was from where he derived the inspiration.
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he Delegate of the United States of America (USA) kick-started the debate in Council by proclaiming that protectionist policies were needed to help augment the economic development of countries. Yet, at the same time, the Delegate continued to say that such policies affected free trade. The Delegate of Indonesia and Ethiopia were in agreement, with the former adding that environmental rules have to be relaxed to encourage the growth of industries. The Delegate of Ethiopia also stated that such policies would help small farmers and industries grow. The Delegate of Russia was in concord with Ethiopia, stating that protectionist policies would help home-made products. The voice of dissention came from Brazil, which said it believes protectionism by large countries affects the least developed countries, due to the presence of import subsidies. This would lead to the destruction of local products which could be developed independently by flooding the market with unnecessary, cheap goods from developed countries. Furthermore, such subsidies would reduce least developed countries’ trade into developed countries, leading to reduced foreign capital, which the least developed countries needed for development. China stepped in, with the claim that flow of such unwanted products led to increases in tariff by the least developed countries to control them, thus further contributing to the subsidy problem. The United States of America (USA) went on to state that regional trade agreements, are the best way forward, allowing efficient trade between desirable partners. Their argument was countered by China, which said such trade decisions will not merely affect a few countries, but the whole system. Germany stepped in to state that protectionism had both good
The Delegate of UK. and bad benefits and that if the negative effects overweighed the positives; such policies have to be scrapped. The preceding proceedings were dominated with discussions on buffer stocks, renewable energy, and energy subsidies. Many countries expressed concern on buffer stocks, held by countries like China and India. Release of such stocks would mean dangerous price fluctuations on the global platform. However, such fears were answered by China, stating that these stocks were needed in view of the risk of disasters, which could leave large populations needing food support. Other countries, with lower populations can easily keep low food stocks, yet be prepared for any emergency situation. This unfortunately is not the case with highly populated countries. Energy discussions were soon kicked off when the Delegate of Kuwait moved a motion on the basis of subsidies in energy sources. Preceding this, China spoke of the World Bank’s subsidy for energy resources among other related matters. The Delegate of the United Kingdom followed this up, putting forward a warning that subsidies for fossil fuels can be harmful. The session concluded with all delegates in agreement that renewable energy technology is the ideal way forward for the world.
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The Day the Wall Comes Down
Is Unarmed = Lawful?
The presence of nuclear weapons by Israel could threaten the status quo in the Middle East, writes Farhan Faisal from the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).
Kasthuriramanan Sivaguru examines the shortcomings in the debate at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) on the discussion related to unarmed combatants.
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he moment has finally arrived. The State of Israel has finally decided to reveal its trump card. At least that was the claim of the Soviet news agencyPravda. The paper claimed that the Israeli Prime Minister, Golda Meir, had ordered the army to ready the Nuclear Launchers to counter the advancing forces of the Egyptians and the Syrians. If this report was indeed true, then Israel can no longer play the victim card any longer, said the Delegate of Syria. It also goes against Israel’s earlier statements that they were not in possession of nuclear weapons. The report further claimed that the Zenit-2M spy satellite, which was launched by the Soviets on 3 October 1973, took images of the military convoy containing nuclear weapons travelling towards north Israel to get closer to Syria. This move would make Syria vulnerable to a possible nuclear attack, which would be devastating. The idea was to hold this as leverage against the Syrian invasion into Israel. The Delegate of Iraq however was curious and doubted the authenticity of the article from Pravda. But he reinstated that both USA and USSR must withdraw their presence from the Middle East as he believed that this would only make matters worse. He also warned the Americans that an embargo will be put into effect if they refuse to comply to their requests. The Delegate of Saudi Arabia also joined the bandwagon by warning
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the Americans that economic sanctions and an embargo would be imposed against them. But the Delegate of USA was clear when he proclaimed that “ no form of embargo” would threaten them. He also clarified that most Arab nations were relying on their technical assistance and they would stop their support to such nations if economic sanctions were imposed on them. The status quo between the member nations now escalated to a whole new level. The Delegate of France expressed his concerns on the usage of nuclear weapons and wondered if all this misery was worth it in the end. The Delegate of Syria then pleads with the member nations that they were only trying to get back all the regions that they lost during the 1967 war. He further warned that USA must not assist in transferring any form of nuclear arsenal to Israel. The Syrians believed that they were indeed the victims again. Finally, the Delegate of Israel explained that the source of this particular news could have been fabricated and that it could have been a reflection of Soviet propaganda to malign the conflicted nations. Even if this news article was true or not, Israel has chosen to not answer whether they indeed possess nuclear weapons. They need to make their stance clear. The wall of secrecy must be brought down and they must make their stance clear. This has been the underlying belief of the Arab nations in the Middle East.
nlawful combatants - Even before we go into the status, protection rules and so on, we need to understand what it really means, who they are, why they are named so and what they represent. Who is a combatant? “A combatant is someone who is engaged in a fighting during a war.” But in this context I would like to interpret it in an improvised way. A combatant is one who is ‘involved’ directly or indirectly in a war. It was believed that a war comprised of just two factors - civilians and military troops. But then, even wars and fights undergo improvisations. One is entitled to represent a country, or a nation, or a group, in a war or a fight if and only if he or she is officially legalized by the government. To put it in simple words, a legal written proof is a must for an individual to represent a nation during a war. This is where the loophole emerges. It was found that some people who claimed to be civilians turned out to be from the rivalry camp who would intrude foreign territory to create disruption. Such people, who try to involve themselves in a war without their country’s law giving them the right to, can be termed as ‘unlawful combatants.’ One common misconception is that people often tend to associate the word ‘combat’ with armed forces of ambush. They fail to open their eyes to unarmed combatants who are still capable of being an agent of chaos. The perfect example would be spies and saboteurs who wear civilian clothing and infiltrate the enemy territory, thus exposing the enemy’s weak security. The delegates of the UNHRC turned a blind eye (on purpose?) to unarmed combatants as they felt that spies could not possibly pose any threat to a nation’s security. This shows their ignorance to the recent wars in Iraq where Fedayeen fighters dressed in civilian clothing hid
among civilians and used them as a shield to escape. The Delegates deviated from this topic of spies by coming to a conclusion that it was unnecessary to discuss it as spies were none but a nation’s agent sent to the enemy camp and hence, they come in the form of orders from higher authority. The huge flaw in this is, if a spy is sent on his/her government’s orders, why does that government not have any written proof of having military personnel spy another nation for his/her nation? The answer is simple. Sending spies is illegal according to international laws. So even though they do not cause any immediate threat to civilians, they are on an illegal mission interfering with an ongoing war between two nations. That’s why I feel that unarmed combatants also deserve to be termed as ‘unlawful combatants.’ This gives rise to a question on whether ‘armed’ and ‘unarmed’ combatants deserve to be given the same rules of protection and tried in the same way. Individuals involved in any form of combat need to be tried on an international basis overlooked by the respective nations involved. But in case of unarmed combatants like spies, the Government itself goes out of the law in sending spies to other nations. So in such cases, the nation should also be penalized. A slow poison is always much worse that sudden death. The topic of unarmed combatants cannot be overlooked as it is one of the most important parts of the agenda as Article 45(3) of the Geneva Conventions exempts spies as far as protected status goes. This remains a yet to be discussed and most pressing issue in hand on whether spies and other unarmed come under unlawful combatants or not.
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Are Sanctions the Way Ahead? Statistically speaking, these conventional methods of enforcing international laws are barely successful, says Sreenivas V, from the Union Nations Security Council (UNSC). Under Chapter VII of the Charter, the Security Council can take enforcement measures to maintain or restore international peace and security. Such measures range from economic and/or other sanctions not involving the use of armed force to international military action. The use of mandatory sanctions is intended to apply pressure on a State or entity to comply with the objectives set by the Security Council without resorting to the use of force. Sanctions thus offer the Security Council an important instrument to enforce its decisions. The universal character of the United Nations makes it an especially appropriate body to establish and monitor such measures. Sanctions can be of various types, for example, there are diplomatic sanctions, which entail the shutting down of embassies in a country, or the curtailing of diplomatic talks. There are economic sanctions- typically a ban on trade, at times, limited to certain sectors like military weapons. And there are also sports sanctions, which involve boycotting sporting ties with countries, and/or boycotting sporting events that are conducted in those countries. In theory, sanctions force countries to toe a line set by governing bodies, but in practice, the effectiveness of such measures are debatable. For example, the sanctions imposed by the United States on the DPRK, are portrayed as malicious actions of an imperialist power within North Korea. So the sanctions have an adverse effect of uniting the citizens of the country against a common “external” traitor. Larger nations can enforce sanctions on smaller nations, thereby arm-twisting them into agreeing with unpopular resolutions. Despite the lack of proof over effectiveness,
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of sanctions remain a go-to for Western nations in enforcing international laws. Lack of proof aside, there have certainly been instances where sanctions have yielded productive results. Under the pressure of sanctions from the US and the UN, the erstwhile Gaddafi government of Libya admitted to responsibility for the 1988 Lockerbie bombings, renounced its program for the production of WMDs.
time, not 34%. Pape goes on to state that the main reason sanctions fail is because of the nature of the target state. “They key reason that sanctions fail is that modern states are not fragile. Nationalism often makes states and societies willing to endure considerable punishment rather than abandon their national interests. States involved in coercive disputed often accept high costs, including civilian suffering, to achieve their objectives. ...Even in the weak
-est and most fractured states, external pressure is more likely to enhance the nationalist legitimacy of rulers than to undermine it.” However, Pape insists that sanctions can be successful. The termination of South Africa’s Apartheid regime is a valid example. The fact that states are willing to employ sanctions instead of troops to bring about regime or policy changes is an indication that they wish to give peace a chance first.
It is seen that the UN sanctions on Liberia’s lucrative timber trade in 2003, added to existing sanctions, contributing to the downfall of President Charles Taylor, who now awaits a war crimes trial in The Hague. However, Libya and Liberia may just be exceptions that prove the rule, for many African states at war, UN sanctions, mainly in the form of arms embargoes, have had a poor track record, experts say. They cite the cases of delayed or poorly implemented sanctions against Somalia and Rwanda in the early 1990s, as well as initial efforts to halt the flow of arms into devastating civil wars in Angola and Sierra Leone. Studies undertaken by the UN, and also by external researchers vary in the conclusions of efficacy. A study by Gary Hufbauer, Jeffrey Schott, and Kimberly Ann Elliot first promulgated “key evidence that sanctions can achieve ambitious foreign policy goals.” In their study, the reviewed 115 cases between 1914 and 1990 where sanctions were used, and found that 40 cases, or 34% were successful. But in a seminal paper for International Security, titled “Why Economist Sanctions Do Not Work,” Robert A. Pape writes that sanctions were in fact only effective 5% of the
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INTERNATIONAL PRESS - SSN MUN 2014
Head of International Press Noorain Mohammed Nadim
Internal Head of International Press Sankaran Vaidyanathan
Reporters
African Union - Ananthakrishnan Narasimhan ECOSOC - Ajjeet Verghese, Harsha J., Prathyusha R, UNGA-DISEC - Kanishka Nambiar, Ranjini Ramesh UNHRC - Kasthuriramanan Sivaguru UNSC - Farhan Faisal, Sreenivas V. Rao
Photographers
Arun Mozhi Chaitanya Reddy Rajan Alwan Sudesh Krishnakumar
Cover Page Design
Noorain Mohammed Nadim
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