United Nations Security Council “At this time of extreme challenges, we must not abandon the responsibility to protect or leave it in a state of suspended animation, finely articulated in words but breached time and again in practice.” —António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations Contents Letter from the Director ................................................................................................... 4 Mandate .......................................................................................................................... 6 Research Note .................................................................................................................. 7 Relevant Excerpts from the Charter of the United Nations ............................................... 8 Chapter I. Purposes and Principles ......................................................................... 8 Chapter II. Membership ........................................................................................ 9 Chapter V. The Security Council ......................................................................... 10 Chapter VI. Pacific Settlement of Disputes ........................................................... 12 Chapter VII. Action with Respect to Threats to the Peace, Breaches of the Peace, and Acts of Aggression .......................................................................................... 13 Agenda Item: Implementation of the Responsibility to Protect........................................ 18 Foundations ........................................................................................................ 18 The Security Council and the Responsibility to Protect ........................................ 20 Members ........................................................................................................................ 23 Letter from the Director Dear Delegates, I am excited to welcome you to an educational and entertaining simulation of the United Nations Security Council at WUMUNS XIII. I am a member of the class of 2021 majoring in political science, and I have been involved in Model United Nations since my first year of high school, where I founded our middle- and high-school conferences and expanded our team’s competitive capacity. At WashU, I am treasurer of the International Relations Council, the parent organization for WUMUNS. I was director-general of operations for WUMUNS XII, under-secretary-general for internal operations for WUMUNS XI, and a crisis analyst for WUMUNS X. I have also chaired and staffed committees at WUMUNC, our college-level conference. In addition to directing the Security Council this year, I am working with the Secretariat as special advisor for operations to ensure the transfer of operations knowledge from year to year. Outside of Model UN, I play trumpet in the WashU Wind Ensemble and the Bear Nation Varsity Band, WashU’s student- run pep band. I am also proficient in Gregorian chant, and I enjoy reading detective stories and consuming considerable quantities of chocolate. I am sure many of you are expecting a Security Council full of secret military missions to save the world from terrorists. Please allow me to destroy this illusion. Although the Security Council supervises peacekeeping operations, we will not be spending our time discussing the minutiae of troop movements and figuring out which weapons peacekeepers should use. The reasons for this decision are theoretical (there is a whole bureaucracy at the United Nations devoted to peacekeeping operations so the Security Council does not get bogged down with the details) and practical (such an agenda allows the delegate who knows the name of every weapon in the world to dominate committee without demonstrating any diplomatic ability). Instead, this Security Council will allow you to hone your diplomatic skills as you ensure international peace and security through political, rather than tactical, activity. Our Security Council will strive to simulate the real organ in New York while maintaining the spontaneity of crises for which WUMUNS is known. You will have the 4 opportunity to debate an agenda item known in advance (implementation of the responsibility to protect) and will also be presented with situations that arise suddenly. This hybrid system will reward previous preparation as well as in-the-moment problem-solving. To succeed in this simulation, you will need to research the agenda item and your assigned country and accurately represent your country. You should have a good working knowledge of your country’s positions so that, in an unforeseen crisis, you can react appropriately as your country’s real diplomats would. Of course, there will be a mechanism for communicating with your government to gain its advice regarding the issues the council will discuss and any crises that emerge during our meetings. If you have any questions in the course of your preparation, please do not hesitate to email me at [email protected]. I look forward to seeing you virtually at WUMUNS XIII. Sincerely yours, Nathaniel Schetter 5 Mandate The Charter of the United Nations provides the mandate of the Security Council: to maintain international peace and security.1 The powers of the Security Council are laid out in chapters VI, VII, VIII, and XII of the Charter. Our simulation may concern the following functions and powers: to maintain international peace and security in accordance with the principles and purposes of the United Nations; to investigate any dispute or situation which might lead to international friction; to recommend methods of adjusting such disputes or the terms of settlement; to formulate plans for the establishment of a system to regulate armaments; to determine the existence of a threat to the peace or act of aggression and to recommend what action should be taken; to call on UN members to apply economic sanctions and other measures not involving the use of force to prevent or stop aggression; to take military action against an aggressor; and to recommend the admission of new UN members.2 1. UN Charter art. 24, ¶ 1, https://www.un.org/en/sections/un-charter/chapter-v/index.html. 2. Adapted from “Functions and Powers,” United Nations Security Council, United Nations, accessed January 29, 2020, https://www.un.org/securitycouncil/content/functions-and-powers. 6 Research Note Delegates should consult the United Nations Digital Library’s index of speeches (https://digitallibrary.un.org/search?ln=en&cc=Speeches) to find speeches given by their member state’s representatives. Speeches are valuable because they often provide a concise and clear articulation of the member’s position on an issue. 7 Relevant Excerpts from the Charter of the United Nations Chapter I. Purposes and Principles Article 1 The Purposes of the United Nations are: 1. To maintain international peace and security, and to that end: to take effective collective measures for the prevention and removal of threats to the peace, and for the suppression of acts of aggression or other breaches of the peace, and to bring about by peaceful means, and in conformity with the principles of justice and international law, adjustment or settlement of international disputes or situations which might lead to a breach of the peace; 2. To develop friendly relations among nations based on respect for the principle of equal rights and self-determination of peoples, and to take other appropriate measures to strengthen universal peace; 3. To achieve international co-operation in solving international problems of an economic, social, cultural, or humanitarian character, and in promoting and encouraging respect for human rights and for fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion; and 4. To be a centre for harmonizing the actions of nations in the attainment of these common ends. Article 2 The Organization and its Members, in pursuit of the Purposes stated in Article 1, shall act in accordance with the following Principles. 1. The Organization is based on the principle of the sovereign equality of all its Members. 2. All Members, in order to ensure to all of them the rights and benefits resulting from membership, shall fulfill in good faith the obligations assumed by them in accordance with the present Charter. 3. All Members shall settle their international disputes by peaceful means in such a manner that international peace and security, and justice, are not endangered. 8 4. All Members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state, or in any other manner inconsistent with the Purposes of the United Nations. 5. All Members shall give the United Nations every assistance in any action it takes in accordance with the present Charter, and shall refrain from giving assistance to any state against which the United Nations is taking preventive or enforcement action. 6. The Organization shall ensure that states which are not Members of the United Nations act in accordance with these Principles so far as may be necessary for the maintenance of international peace and security. 7. Nothing contained in the present Charter shall authorize the United Nations to intervene in matters which are essentially within the domestic jurisdiction of any state or shall require the Members to submit such matters to settlement under the present Charter; but this principle shall not prejudice the application of enforcement