Security Council

Dear Delegates,

Graeme Crews

Welcome to the most powerful body in the United Nations—the Security Council! My name is Graeme Crews, and I will be your director for what promises to be an engaging and satisfying four days of debate at HNMUN 2012 Security Council.

I am a junior at Harvard in Leverett House, concentrating in Social Studies with a citation in Spanish. In addition to HNMUN, my MUN experience includes participation in ICMUN, our traveling team, HMUN, our high school conference, and WorldMUN, our conference held internationally. Aside from participation in Model UN, I am Publicity Chair of the Harvard Speech and Parliamentary Debate Society, compete in inter-collegiate debate tournaments, and work for Harvard to solicit alumni donations. Some of my less intensive extracurricular activities include watching trashy TV shows, consuming large amounts of sweets, and spending an inordinate amount of time on Facebook.

Our committee’s topic will focus on the border conflict between Afghanistan and Pakistan, and more generally, the strained relations between the two nations.  As a delegate to the United Nations Security Council, you will have the task of mediating the ethnic and political struggles caused by a 1500-mile demarcation line drawn almost arbitrarily in 1894, and to this day, unrecognized by Afghanistan.  Cross border smuggling is rampant; trafficking of drugs, arms, and even people pervades the criminalized economy. With the United States’ anti-terrorism agenda in the region, this border, wrought with suspected militant groups, poses a major threat to regional and global security. The War on terrorism in Colombia is a time sensitive issue that could have drastic consequences if not dealt with swiftly and accordingly. Reconciling differences and strengthening cooperation amongst each other are vital aims in order to follow the Security Council’s leading role in promoting democracy, defending human rights, alleviating poverty, fighting terrorism, confront ing il legal drugs, and ending corruption.

I am extremely excited for HNMUN 2012 and look forward to the insight you will undoubtedly bring to the two contentious issues facing us. If you have any questions, I urge you to contact me at graeme.crews@college.harvard.edu. I look forward to committee session in February. Get ready!

Best Regards,

Graeme Crews
Director, Security Council
Harvard National Model United Nations 2012

Topic Area A: Afghanistan and Pakistan: The Durand Line

The 1500-mile Durand Line, which was determined to be the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan in 1893, is one of the most dangerous in the Middle East.  People on both sides of the line consider it a “soft border,” and the government of Afghanistan has never officially recognized it.  Incidents of violence have only increased since the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan, and U.S. intelligence repeatedly cites the growing strength of Al-Qaeda and the resurgence of the to be rooted in the safe havens in this region.  Tribal groups on both sides of the line consider it their right to move freely about; each nation offers sanctuary to the other’s opponents, which breeds even more mistrust and bitterness between the neighbors.  Moreover, the criminalized economy, dealing in drug and arms trafficking, reinforces the transborder political and military networks.  What reforms should be implemented to provide increased transparency into the border activities?  What measures can defray the violence, and how should the UNSC navigate the political and ethnic tensions to beget a long-lasting peace for Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the Middle East as a whole?

Topic Area B: The Situation in Colombia

Despite being a standing middle power as Latin America’s fourth largest economy, Colombia has a long history of armed violence and faces many problems today. Currently there is an ongoing conflict which is often named as the “Colombian Armed Conflict” or the “Colombian Civil War.” It started in 1964 and ever since Colombia has been stirred with drug trade, guerrilla insurgencies like Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), and paramilitary groups such as the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC), leading to internal armed conflict.

The Colombian Civil War has three primary sides: the guerillas, the government and the paramilitaries. Guerillas, insurgent groups, like the FARC claim that they are fighting for the rights of the poor and for socialism in Colombia, as an extension of the (agrarian) Marxist-Leninist revolutionary guerrilla movement in Latin America, which has a long history. In return, the government of Columbia claims to be fighting for stability and peace in the country, whereas the right-wing paramilitary forces, such as the AUC, claim that they are only responding to the threats posed by the guerilla insurgents. Both the paramilitary forces and the guerilla fighters are allegedly engaged in drug trafficking to fund their activities and many human rights violations have taken place as part of this conflict.

The Colombian Armed Conflict has claimed the lives of thousands, injured tens of thousands of people and displaced millions, largely destabilizing Columbia and the surrounding region. It will be the job of our Security Council to seek ways to stop the fighting and the drug trafficking (and also to disarm and dismember the guerilla and paramilitary forces), in order to achieve peace and stability in the region.