Disarmament and International Security Committee

Dear Delegates,

Dany Jradi

It is with great honour that I welcome you to the Disarmament and International Security Committee of Harvard National Model United Nations 2012. My name is Dany Jradi and I shall delightfully act as your director for the committee next February. I am a sophomore at Harvard and a potential candidate for an A.B. degree in Engineering Sciences, aspiring to attend Law School. I was born in the south of Lebanon, in an ancient city called Tyre, and when I was sixteen I travelled to England to study at a boarding school for two years before coming to Harvard. I rowed crew for a semester and hope to row again for my House. I am involved in the International Relations Council and a few other societies that touch upon relations and politics in the Middle East. Additionally, I have a keen interest in art, history and literature that I constantly seek to develop.

The Middle East has always attracted attention on the world international relations stage, and not least so during the past few years. Historically a center for the clash of civilizations, the foundation of the state of Israel in the second half of the twentieth century further brightened the political lights cast on the Middle East. In the past many years we have constantly witnessed news of conflict between Arab states and Israel and more recently within Arab states themselves. This year, together with your incentive and enthusiasm, I hope to achieve constructive debate in one of two bracing yet critical topics. The first is on the situation of armed political parties in Lebanon and Palestine such as Hezbollah and Hamas that seek the disestablishment of Israel, and thus their impact on international security. The second is on the role of information and telecommunication in the context of reactionary movements, drawing on countries such as Russia and China and perhaps more recent examples such as Arab countries.

I greatly encourage you to intensively research both topics. There are ample resources and information on both and the study guide should hopefully act as your starting point to further delve into your own investigation. Both topics have developed into sensitive issues for the entire world and therefore I urge you to come to conference with solid ideas of your country’s standing on them in order to help build a resourceful and proficient debate.

Please do approach me with any questions you may have as it will be my pleasure to answer them. I very much look forward to meeting all of you in February!

Sincerely yours,

Dany Jradi
Director, Disarmament and International Security Committee
Harvard National Model United Nations 2012

Topic Area A: Hezbollah and Hamas

Hezbollah and Hamas are two non-state military groups that emerged in the second half of the twentieth century in Lebanon and Occupied Palestine. The two militias were first formed as an attempt to fend off what was perceived by them as a “merciless Israeli enemy”. Although somewhat democratically representative of the people of both countries, Hezbollah and Hamas are commonly portrayed on the platform of international world affairs as a threat to international security and to the stability of the Middle East region. Yet, the two groups are politically represented in the Lebanese and Palestinian governments respectively, and they receive wide support from nationals as well as the majority of other Arab countries. Recently, their political parties have internally engaged in the politics of both countries and sparked up international debate on serious levels, for example the investigation into the assassination of the Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri in 2005 where Hezbollah is foreseen as suspect in the assassination.

Although originally aiming to free the south of Lebanon from Israeli occupation, Hezbollah have remained as cohesive as ever even after the liberation of the south in the year 2000, and further expanded their goals to freeing Palestine. Today, the political situation in the Middle East is increasingly more urgent and difficult to solve as the two groups have been receiving foreign aid from countries such as Iran and Syria. This sparks up many questions whose answers seem obscure depending on the view of the country that addresses the issue; are Hezbollah and Hamas an obstacle to peace in the Middle East? Will they purportedly form Islamic states that back up “terrorism” against Israel and the West? Should Western aid be provided to the population factions that do not support the Islamic parties’ regimes? Should Hezbollah and Hamas’ demands simply be ignored in terms of the liberation of the allegedly Palestinian land? This has become a more critical issue recently as it has developed ties with nuclear proliferation in Iran and therefore it is a matter that must be addressed with vigilant approaches taking into consideration the questions of the illegal weapons the parties acquire, their wishes and demands, their impact on peace and security and most importantly the desires of the people they represent.

Topic Area B: The Role of Information and Telecommunication in Reactionary Movements

As science and technology advance, practically nothing seems impossible. One of the world’s most recent encounters with the advancement of science and technology is the development of telecommunication methods that facilitate the growth of insurgencies that threaten the works of governments and allow for the spreading of reactionary movements across nations. Our most recent evidence of this is the springing of reactionary movements in Arab countries such as Tunisia, Egypt, Bahrain, Yemen and recently Syria, Algeria and Morocco. Such insurrection against dictatorial and monarchical rule in these Arab countries developed at a speed not hereby foreseen. Yet, their major catalyst remains to be the intricate yet simple development of telecommunication in our modern world. The use of the internet among today’s youth greatly facilitated word-spreading and event-planning to the extent that revolutions sprouted almost fanatically within a few days after they were thought of.

Social networks such as Facebook are today accessible to almost everyone regardless of their social background or living conditions and yet they are as powerful as to provide means for revolution. Is China right in forcing restrictions on utilities of the internet such as Google and Facebook as a step to tone down discontent that leads to reaction? Is it justifiable for governments to keep an eye on telecommunication and information processing in order to prevent insurrection from becoming the most prominent option for those who struggle because of poor living conditions and rights-deprivation? The role of science and technology has taken another lead into the debate on international security unrelated to weapons and arms but to websites as simple as Facebook, and therefore should something as seemingly innocent as Facebook be under the spotlight of debate on international security, stability and conflict?