Disarmament and International

Security Committee (DISEC) Author: Mariana Sánchez Vanegas,

Valeria Nuñez Ordóñez, Daniela María

Pimiento Figueroa

Time for opening speech: 90 seconds

The United Nations Disarmament and

International Security Committee (DISEC)

was the first main Committee in the

General Assembly when the charter of the

United Nations (UN) was signed in the

1945. DISEC was created with the purpose

of establishing an international forum to

discuss peace and security, relating

problematics amongst members of the

international community. The committee

has the aim of establishing general

principles of governing disarmament and

the regulation of military equipment, as

well as it also gives recommendations

concerning to such principles to the

members of the security council. Chapter

IV of the Charter reinforces this same

premise. The commission works with the

United Nations Disarmament Commission

and the Geneva-based Conference on

Disarmament.

TOPIC A: AI MILITARIZATION

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the simulation

of human intelligence represented in

machines, specifically in computer

systems. These processes include learning,

(the acquisition of information and rules

in order to use it properly), reasoning

(using programmed UI’s to arrive to

approximate or definite conclusions), and

self-correction, (the capacity to fix and

control an error in the system without

external help). The main applications that

AI include are machine vision, data

analysis, recognition of most types

including speech and scanning, and expert

systems. Artificial intelligence (AI) is a

rapidly growing field of technology with

potentially significant national security

consequences. The United States

Department of Defense (DOD) and other

countries are designing military roles for

AI applications in order to start applying

them in real life battles. In fields such as

data collection and analysis, logistics,

cyber operations, command and control,

and a number of semi-autonomous and

autonomous devices are some of the

military roles that have been created

through time to address this issue.

AI can be categorized into two main

manners. Weak AI, also known as Artificial

Narrow Intelligence ( ANI ) refers to a

system that is designed and trained for a

particular task. Virtual personal assistants

such as Apple’s “Siri” is an example of a

weak AI, this artificial intelligence is

programmed to help the user browse

through its respective device, however it

has limited programmed interactions

making it not able to solve an unfamiliar

situation without the need of human

intervention. Email spam filters are

another example of weak AI, as the

computer uses an algorithm to learn

which messages are likely to be spam, and

how they redirect from the inbox to the

spam folder.

On the other hand, strong AI, also known

as artificial general intelligence, is a

system in which generalized cognitive

human skills are provided. When an

unfamiliar task is presented, a strong AI

system is able to find a solution without

the need of human intervention as they

can understand or learn any intellectual

task that a human being can. Some

theorists argue that a system with Strong

AI would be able to undergo the same

development process as a human,

beginning with a childlike mind and even

reaching adult thoughts through time;

This would make the robot capable of

having interaction with the world and

learning from it, obtaining its own

common sense and language. An example

of this technology is an AI program who

taught itself to play 49 classic Atari games.

The program was instructed to obtain the

highest score it could in the game

“Breakout”, it was able to overcome

humans in just 2.5 hours. Researchers let

the program continue and to their

surprise, the program developed a

strategy that was not directly

incorporated into the system.

On the other hand, there’s another

subcategory of AI, called Artificial Super

Intelligence (ASI) which is a technology

that has a superior role regarding power

and sophisticated intelligence presumably

greater than humans as it can think about

abstractions which the human being is not

able to reach.

HISTORICAL CONTEXT

William Grey Walter, a British robotics

pioneer invented robots called Elmer and

Elsie who mimic lifelike behavior using

elementary electronics in 1948. They were

taught to find their charging stations once

they started running low on power.

Afterwards, in 1954 George Devol

invented the first digitally operated and a

programmable robot called the Unimate.

Afterwards, in 1956, Devol and his

partnership Joseph Engelberger formed

the world's first robot company. In 1959,

Computer-assisted manufacturing was

demonstrated at the Servomechanisms

Lab at MIT for the first time.

Research into artificial intelligence in

weapons began to happen in the early

1960s. The first computer-controlled

artificial robotic arm was designed in

1963. The "Rancho Arm" was created for

physically disabled people. It had six joints

that gave it the flexibility of a human arm.

And later on in 196” a Stanford Arm was

the first electrically powered,

computer-controlled robot arm designed

by mechanical engineering student Victor

Scheinman.

Two of the organizations that were

investing in this early work were DARPA

and the Office of Naval Research. DARPA,

which stands for The Defense Advanced

Research Project Agency started working

in 1958 as a reaction to the launch of

Sputnik. In 1974 a Silver Arm, another

robotic arm, was designed to perform

small-parts assembly using feedback from

touch and pressure sensors.

On the other hand, the Office of Naval

Research coordinates, executes and

promotes science and technology

programs of the United States Navy and

marine corps. Since the mid-2010s, the

application of artificial intelligence in our

society began. The implementation of AI

has prevailed in modern culture; From the

voice recognition systems, up to the

banking software responsible for the

recognition of credit card fraud.

Nowadays companies are applying this

kind of technology into the military.

Through time humanity has made

advances in electronics, metallurgy and

carpentry that have been adapted for

military purposes. The original tools for

hunting were designed for a military use.

The militarization of artificial intelligence

has advanced exponentially during the last

years, and the main military powers have

been investing large resources in

emerging technologies. States are

constantly revolutionizing their

technologies by creating new weapons,

drones and robots to calculate their

possible dominance in a battle within war.

After it, many ethical, social, political and

economical implications began to be

evaluated in depth, and still governments,

scientists and workers are searching for a

proper way to use AI in military. Hence,

it’s expected that the requests for AI

governance at international level increase,

thus, the United Nations are well

positioned and willing to offer a

commonly agreed platform in which the

prevention, foresight, and cooperation are

ensured among states and other

stakeholders to address the impact of new

technologies.

Timeline for AI evolution since 1990.

Retrieved from:

https://business.linkedin.com/en-uk/mar

keting-solutions/blog/posts/content-mark

eting/2018/The-history-and-future-of-AI-

all-in-one-Infographic

CAUSES

DEVELOPMENT

As seen in many nations around the world,

the development in autonomous weapon

systems (AWS) is progressing rapidly. The

autonomous military systems have been

used by armed forces around the world

for many decades and their importance to

battlefields of the future is crucial.

Nowadays they can be found performing

various combat roles from search and

rescue, explosive disarmament,

reconnaissance, fire and logistic support,

and finally in lethal combat duties. Some

believe we will see fully automated lethal

autonomous systems in the near future

potentially making the role of human

soldier obsolete due to how ambitious

humanity is for development.

MILITARIZATION

On the other hand, technology is aimed

to be used in weapons of artificial

intelligence to combat wars more

effectively and reduce the amount of

people’s deaths in battles. Soldiers and

armed forces around the world are

seeking for efficiency during their combats

and prevent civilian deaths, hence AI

started to be implemented, in order to

benefit the military industry and the

battlefield as it combines autonomy with

programmable entities. Efficiency benefits

will come from predictive analytics that

can lower long-term costs and also

determine the best practice for fixing a

problem. On the other hand, Military

robots were created in efforts of a

solution and response to the great loss of

soldiers since World War I. Hence, AI

seeks to be able to carry out objective

settlement operations in different ways

with the implementation of newest

technologies to do so. The first robots

created at this time were small devices

controlled by means of a reduced control,

these devices were located by radar. An

example of these devices was the first

“Crocodile Schneider Torpille Terrestre”,

This compact French robot was able to

support a 40 kg explosive charge around a

territory.

COMPETITION

The growing competition between

countries regarding the use of artificial

intelligence in military and weapons has

created tension between them as they all

strive to be the best in the use of these

type of technologies. This has lead them

to release every time more and more

examples of the use of this technology,

and difficult advances with this one in

order to know which is the country who

manipulates AI better and is equipped

with its latest technology.

EFFICIENCY

Artificial intelligence may benefit the

military industry and the battlefield as it

combines autonomy with computer vision.

Efficiency benefits will come from

predictive analytics that can lower

long-term costs and also determine the

best practice for fixing a problem. With the

use of AI weapons, targets can be more

easily dismissed, as for accuracy-based

programming possessed by such

applications of modern tech.

Reasons for Adopting AI Worldwide Retrieved from: https://www.forbes.com/sites/louiscolumbus/2018/01/12/10-charts-that-will-change-your-perspective-on-artificial-intelligences-growth/

REPERCUSSIONS

As artificial intelligence works its ways into

industries such as healthcare, finance,

agriculture, manufacturing, market and

security, governments around the world,

companies are investing more everyday in

another of its applications: the

autonomous weapons systems (AWS).

These investments are seen as the

beginning of AI’s arms race. Even though,

the aim of using AI as a technology for

revolutionizing military weapons in order

to make battle procedures easier, the

implementation of programs such as

(AWS) and (DOD) Department of defense

from the United States transformed

evolution into a highly destabilizing

development, this is because of the

change the implementation of AI

applications has made in the community.

This technology has faced challenges

related to the correct operation and

control of armed AI, such as the possibility

of incorrect detection of targets resulting

in unwanted casualties or even an

innocent citizen. Much like the nuclear

arms race of the XX century, this type of

military escalation its ultimately

unwinnable. It proposes the idea of speed

over safety in the development of new

technologies, and as these technologies

tend to proliferate, real results and big

changes need time. Currently, many

countries are researching for battlefield

robots, and autonomous recognition

devices, such as the military unmanned

combat aerial vehicle (UCAV) programmed

to carry aircraft ordnance such as missiles

and /or ATGMs and is used for drone

strikes including the United States, China,

Russia, and the United Kingdom.

Some experts suggest that AI applications

cannot stimulate genuine human traits

and that the implementation of AI

technology in fields such as customer

service, or even psychotherapy was

deeply misguided. Few other experts,

were disturbed by the fact that AI

researchers were visualizing the human

mind as nothing more than computing

program which suggested that AI research

devalues human life.

AI and AWS systems are worked and

investigated deeply, up to a point that

they are able of creating thousands of

human robot soldiers with the use of new

technologies which could produce many

consequences. First of all, the loss of the

jobs of battlefield soldiers not trained to

operate machinery could happen due to

the fact that AI machines would need

rigorous maintenance in order to work

properly and without failures. Also, as

these machines are robots they would

never experience fatigue, meaning that

they would never run out of energy, in

comparison to a human being. This means

that as AI machines are more efficient that

humans is highly probable that companies

start to use machines in order to develop

human being jobs, in order to produce or

manufacture quicker.

On the other hand, there is a high

probability for the machine to fail by any

chance provoked by a misidentification of

objective, so the AI soldier could end with

the life of an allied or innocent civilian.

Finally, they could produce disturbances in

society and could be used as a potential

threat with incorrect intentions that could

end up into more violence producing war,

destruction and death. (Top Countries in

the Race for Artificial Intelligence).

Retrieved from: https://

asgard.vc/global-ai/

INTERNATIONAL ACTIONS

I. UNICRI and Centre for Artificial

Intelligence and Robotics.

In 2015, the United Nations Interregional

Crime and Justice Research Institute

(UNICRI) established a center on AI and

robotics in order to help focus expertise

on Artificial Intelligence throughout the

UN in a single agency. With the help of

The Hague and the ministry of foreign

Affairs of The Netherlands, UNICRI host

county sponsored an agreement for the

opening of a center of AI and robotics in

The Hague and the Netherlands in

September 2017. This centre was created

in order to investigate the risks and

benefits of AI and robotics in terms of

security and awareness raising, education

and more.

II. International Telecommunication Union.

The ITU is a specialized agency of the UN

for the information and communication

technologies and has become one of the

key UN platforms for exploring the impact

of AI. The ITU states that it will “will

provide a neutral platform for

government, industry and academia to

build a common understanding of the

capabilities of emerging AI technologies

and consequent needs for technical

standardization and policy guidance”.

III. CCW Informal Meeting of Experts

(2013–2016)

The convention on the prohibition or

restriction on the use of Certain

Conventional Weapons Which May Be

Deemed to Be Excessively Injurious or to

Have Indiscriminate Effects (usually

referred to as the Convention on Certain

Conventional Weapons, CCW). With three

different annexed protocols, according to

the UN Office at Geneva (UNOG), the

convention was adopted on October 10 of

1980, and enter into regulation on

December 2, 1983.

IV. CCW Group of Governmental Experts

Meetings (2017–2018) At the 2016 fifth

CWW review conference, presided by the

Ambassador Tehmina Janjua of Pakistan,

the High contracting parties decided to

establish a group of governmental experts

(GGL) on laws to meet in 2017 with a

mandate to asses question regarding to

emerging technologies, specifically, in the

area of autonomous weapons systems.

STUDY CASES

United States: The United States of

America is giving a tough competition to

China in terms of becoming an AI

superpower. The American military wants

to expand its use of artificial intelligence

for war. The strategy that the US strives to

implement is increasing the use of AI

systems throughout the military, from

decision-making to predicting problems in

planes or ships. It urges the military to

provide AI training to change “its culture,

skills and approaches.” And it supports

investment and partnership with

education and industry in AI research. In

fact, with the well-established tech culture

in US, the country has been benefited with

$10 billion venture capital channeling in

direction of AI.

China: China’s leadership, including

president Xi Jinping, believes that being at

the forefront in AI technology is crucial to

the future of the global military and

economic power competition. Chinese

military officials have said that their main

goal is to incorporate commercial AI

technology to “narrow the gap between

the Chinese military and global advanced

powers.” In fact the State Council of

People’s Republic of China has declared to

become a $150 billion AI global leader by

2030. Moreover, the country has

published a number of research papers on

deep learning which is comparatively

more than other leading countries.

Russia: Russia considers that AI will

influence international security and

warfare. Russia’s investments in artificial

intelligence and other emerging

technologies that can help its soldiers

counter the physical, cognitive, and

operational challenges of urban warfare

and perform better in future conflicts. In

the near future, Defense Ministry experts

hope to develop AI capable of operations

approximating human brain function. The

incorporation of AI into semi- autonomous

and autonomous ground and air vehicles

can potentially help improve force

protection, increase situational

awareness, and ensure freedom of

maneuver and movement in complex

urban terrain.

United Kingdom: In the continent of

Europe, the UK is the clear leader with 121

AI-empowered firms. Tech businesses

within the UK raised private funding sum

of $8.6 billion in 2017. The amount is

almost 38 percentage of entire

assignment capital investment done inside

the United Kingdom that year. The same

12 months UK government introduced the

funding of $78 million to help robotics and

AI research projects.

ORIENTATION AND OBJECTIVE OF THE

COMMITTEE

During this committee, delegates are

expected to evaluate the social, ethical,

political and economical implications of

implementing artificial intelligence as a

source to improve the effectiveness of

military weapons and artifacts in real life

war conflicts and issues. Moreover, taking

into account DISEC is a Disarmament and

International Security Committee,

delegates are also expected to reach

solutions under the goals of this

organization, such as maintaining

worldwide peace and security and

regulate the use of armaments. Taking

into account AI is a source which is not

approved by all countries, delegates

should investigate properly the position of

their country towards the subject in order

to be able of reaching viable and realistic

arguments in favor or against of the

implementation of this type of technology

in the military.

GUIDING QUESTIONS

1.Is your country in favor or against in the

implementation of AI in military, and why?

2.Up to what extent is the implementation

of artificial intelligence correct in terms of

ethical implications?

3. Has your country developed any type of

AI in military? If yes, in which opportunity?

Was it successful?

4. How the implementation of AI could

represent a possible threat to

international peace and security?

5. Why do you country thinks it’s feasible

or not to use AI in militarization? Would

the use of this robots be an advance for

humanity?

6. For those countries who have

experimented with AI and had conflicts,

which solutions do you country has to

resolve them?

SOURCES

Bryan spear. Military Use of Artificial

Intelligence. Retrieved from: https://

www.techwalla.com/articles/military-

use-artificial-intelligence

U.N. Disarmament and International

Security (First Committee). Retrieved

Artificial from:

https://www.un.org/en/ga/first/

Intelligence, the Military and increasingly

Autonomous Weapons. Eugenio García.

(2019). The

Retrieved from: https:// Militarization of

Artificial Intelligence: A

futureoflife.org/2019/05/09/state-of- ai/

Wake-Up Call for the Global South.

Retrieved from: https://

papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?

abstract_id=3452323

SUPPORT LINKS

Kristen Gronlund. (2019). State of AI:

1 https://towardsdatascience.com/

the-impact-of-artificial-

intelligence-8615d1d9b7ac

2. https://www.forbes.com/sites/

cognitiveworld/2019/01/14/the-

weaponization-of-artificial-

intelligence/#74d1a7a13686

3. https://www.rand.org/blog/

2017/09/artificial-intelligence-and-the-

military.html

4. https://voxeu.org/taxonomy/term/6604

5.https://www.vox.com/videos/2017/12/

19/16792294/artificial-intelligence-limits-

of-ai

6. https://video.foxnews.com/v/608855543

7001#sp=show-clips

TOPIC B: REGULATION AND PREVENTION

OF CHILD SOLDIERS

A child soldier is defined as, any boy or girl

under the age of 18 who is recruited or

used by any armed force or armed group.

Nowadays, Thousands of children are

serving as soldiers in armed conflicts

around the world. Children are recruited

by state armed forces and armed groups

outside government control. The majority

are recruited by armed opposition groups,

this makes the problem harder to address,

taking into account these groups are less

visible and harder to negotiate with.

Children participate in fights, suicide

missions or are used as messengers. Many

are recruited or abducted by force, while

others are incentivized to join, making

them believe it is their best option for

survival. In the majority of the cases of

child soldiers, they do not have access to

formal education or basic needs, and are

force to live in low quality life conditions.

HISTORICAL CONTEXT

The First international standards set 15

years as the minimum age for “direct”

participation in armed conflict. This was

supported by the 1949 Geneva

Conventions and the 1977 additional

protocols. Even though the protocols take

out the “direct” characterizations and

added the prohibition of recruitment for

minors under the age of 15.

Later, the convention on the rights of the

child of 1989 tried to raise the minimum

age to 18 for direct participation in armed

conflict, yet faced the opposition from

world powers, such as the United States

and Great Britain. In 2000 a coalition

made by the Red Cross, Human Rights

Watch and other entities, pushed for the

passing of the protocol on the

involvement of children in armed conflict

which raised the minimum age for

voluntary recruitment to 18 years, and

acknowledge the proper/necessary

protections for people under the age of

18.

The first trial of the ICC due to the use of

children in armed conflict, was attributed

to Thomas Lubanga, former leader of the

Congolese Patriotic Union. He recruited

children under 15 to fight as soldiers in

the war of the Democratic Republic of

Congo between 1998 and 2003. This was

the first case in history in which the forced

recruitment of children in a conflict was

judged.

Through time, there had also been many

cases of child soldiers, for example,

Colombia’s forty-year civil war between

insurgent groups and the government.

During this war an estimate of 14,000

children serve in combat, gather

intelligence, made and deployed mines

and were often forced to commit

appalling human right violations.

Nowadays there is an estimate 200,000 to

500,000 children that are involved in

armed conflict as child soldiers.

Countries were children are affected by

armed conflict.

Retrieved from:

(http://mikemcguire0.tripod.com/id8.htm

)

CAUSES

Current situation of Children:

The majority of the children that join

armed groups voluntary are incentivized

by their current life conditions. When they

do not receive, a decent quality of life,

they usually ought to foster survival by

joining these armed groups.

Therefore, Children in particular situations

such as poverty and displacement are

more vulnerable to be recruited. For

example, according to UNICEF in Africa

there are more than 11 million of children

that are under the age of 15, and are

already orphans. Children in this situation

are easily recruited due to their lack of

aid, from the government. This facilitates

the manipulation or influence that the

armed groups have on them due to their

vulnerability.

In addition some rebel groups such as

those in the Democratic republic of

Congo, offer children “opportunities” such

as: food, security, shelter and survival,

many others may join because they feel

mistreated by the government and

experience injustice.

Lack of government control

A lot of the child soldiers are taken from

their families and kidnapped, later trained

for combat, and leave with no option

rather than make part of the belligerent

force.

This is due to the lack of government

control, regulations and strategies to

protect and prevent child soldiers.

REPERCUSSIONS

War has a very negative impact on

children, it affect them in many ways, as

said by the psychologist Elisabeth Schauer,

“ children of war and child soldiers are

particularly vulnerable group and often

suffer devastating long term

consequences due to the acts of violence

experienced or witnesses.“ consequently,

exposure to trauma leads to higher risks

of psychological disorders.

Millions of children have been disabled by

war, many of them have inadequate

access to rehabilitation services.

Furthermore, conditions in which child

soldiers live in war, lead to a series of

health issues, such as malnutrition. Also it

is important to emphasize on the lack of

health services that children have access

to during war. During war child soldiers

also are used as “sex slaves” (specially

girls), children are constantly raped,

this leads to and mental/emotional issues

and trauma. Last but not least, child

soldiers lose the possibility to have

education due to their involvement in

illegal armed groups.

CURRENT SITUATION

Retrieved from

(https://childrenandarmedconflict.un.org/

children-not-soldiers/)

INTERNATIONAL ACTIONS

In 2002, 159 countries signed and 126

countries ratified an international treaty,

the Optional Protocol to the Convention

on the right of the Child, this treaty

prohibits the involvement of children

under 18 in armed conflict. Therefore,

crimes related to child soldiers can be

trialed in the International Criminal Court

(ICC). Although this solution has not been

efficient enough, taking into account the

convention has been violated many times

in different occasions, for example, child

soldiers are being recruited as a

reinforcement to the armed forces of: the

Islamic state, Yemen opposition forces,

Somali rebels, between others.

According to UNICEF, child soldiers are

currently enrolled in approximately 30

conflicts around the world.

Furthermore in 2014, the campaign

“children, not soldiers” was incentivized,

which was created by the social

representative of the secretary-general for

children and armed conflict with UNICEF.

The campaign ended at the end of 2016, it

helped thousands of children to be

released and reintegrated. The campaign

had numerous achievements, it was

launched in most countries concerned.

STUDY CASES

The Syrian Arab Republic: Through the

civil war that has existed since 2011, there

has been a great number of verified

recruitment of child soldiers.

In 2017 the United Nations reported 362

cases of recruitment of child soldiers

(since April, 2016). From the 362 cases,

274 cases were recruited from the

ISIL/ISIS, 62 cases were from Free Syrian

Army, 11 cases were from Liwa’ al Tawhid,

5 cases were from popular committees, 4

cases were from the Kurdish People's

Protection Units, 3 cases were from Ahrar

al-Sham, 2 cases were from the Nusrah

front, and 1 case was from the Anny of

Islam. Although This number only

represents the percentage of cases that

were verified. Nevertheless There were

many cases that have gone unreported.

From these cases more of the half of the

children, were under the age of 15.

Nowadays there have been 806 verified

cases of recruitment and use of children.

Some children are in family units that fight

alongside one another. The majority of

these units are not affiliated with any

particular side, and are usually created

with the purpose to defend a district from

pro and anti regime forces; they coerce

minors to separated from their family to

fight.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo:

The Democratic Republic of the Congo has

passed through several civil wars (1994

and 1998). Since then, children have been

forced into child soldiering, by different

parties involved. One out of ten children

are taught to be child soldiers, for the DRC

that is approximately 30,000 child

soldiers.

Around 15% to 30% of all new recruits are

children.

Many of these child soldiers don’t return

to their families when war ends, either

because their families did not welcome

them back or because they were killed.

Children were recruited from refugee

camps in Rwanda, and child soldiers were

present in provinces of Ituri, Equateur etc.

Even though the war “formally” ended in

2003, child recruitment did not end; many

children escaped or were forcibly

re-recruited. Child soldiers were also

arrested, detained, and trialed in military

courts for military offences and other

crimes allegedly committed while they

were in armed forces.

ORIENTATION AND OBJECTIVE OF THE

COMMITTEE

Delegates are expected to analyze the

causes and repercussions of the topic,

explain why did previous solutions fail or

were not completely effective, and come

up with an efficient, solution (which can

be a legal framework, new organization,

new treaty or committee etc) that

guarantees and looks towards the

regulation and prevention of child

soldiers. Furthermore we expect the

solution is drafted, working with fellow

organizations such as the UN, and both

the International Court of Justice and

International Criminal Court to ensure a

proper persecution for those who attempt

to disrupt peace and agreements paced in

the solution that the committee reaches

to.

GUIDING QUESTIONS

● Has your country, or armed forces

inside your country recruited child

soldiers?

● Has your country signed or ratified

the optional protocol to the convention

on the right of the child ?

● Which methods and regulations

does your country have in order to

prevent child soldiers ?

● Which actions can be taken in

order to regulate and prevent child

soldiers ?

● What are the consequences of

child soldiers, and why it is important to

prevent these actions ?

SOURCES

Child soldiers. (2017, December 15).

Retrieved December 1, 2019, from

https://theirworld.org/explainers/child-sol

diers.

Primer juicio por el reclutamiento de niños

soldado. (2009, January 27). El Pais .

Retrieved from

https://elpais.com/diario/2009/01/27/int

ernacional/1233010808_850215.html

Child soldiers. (2017, December 15).

Retrieved December 1, 2019, from

https://theirworld.org/explainers/child-sol

diers.

The effects that war has on children and

child soldiers. (2017), Breanna V.Kingsley.

Retrieved December 7 ,2019 ,from

https://commons.emich.edu/cgi/viewcont

ent.cgi?article=1520&context=honors

SUPPORT LINKS

● https://theirworld.org/explainers/

child-soldiers

● https://gsdrc.org/document-library

/the-consequences-of-child-soldiering/

● https://childrenandarmedconflict.

un.org/six-grave-violations/child-soldiers/

TOPIC C: FOREIGN INTERVENTIONS IN

CIVIL WARS

INTRODUCTION

A civil war is an armed conflict between

organized groups within the same state. It

is a high-intensity conflict, often involving

regular armed forces, that is sustained,

organized and large-scaled. Civil wars have

unfortunately become a routine rather

than exceptional events in the last few

decades. Foreign involvement in a Civil

War refers to political, military, logistical,

diplomatic and operational support to

parties involved in the War. There is a

clear contrast between foreign

interventions which refers to a specific

country’s actions and international

interventions which refers to international

governing bodies, like the UN, to take part

in existing conflicts.

HISTORICAL CONTEXT

Throughout history, foreign intervention

in armed conflicts have been the standard

to afront the opposition of a specific civil

war case. The involvement of foreign

powers can have a dramatic impact on the

course and nature of internal conflicts by

changing the relationships between

parties to dispute or even creating rivals

within the diplomatic spectrum. Since its

creation, the UN has often been called

upon to prevent disputes from escalating

into war, or to help restore peace when

armed conflict does break out, and to

promote lasting harmony in societies

emerging from wars.

In the past 70 years UN has conducted 68

peacekeeping operations, which have

ranged from direct military intervention to

monitoring electoral integrity. Fifteen

operations are currently ongoing in

Western Sahara, Liberia, Côte d’Ivoire,

Sudan, Congo, among other countries.

Many of these were interventions into

civil wars, and each has relied upon a

resolution made specifically for the

situation by the Security Council. The

1980's was the deadliest and most

perilous decade after the fighting, since

most deaths were brought about by

common clashes. After WWII, numerous

nations were in furnished battle to choose

which sort of government they would

have. During this timespan, different

worldwide mediations occurred to

attempt to convince different nations to

adopt a simmilar kind of government. UN

peacemaking extended during the 90’s, as

the end of the Cold War made new

chances to stop common wars through

arranged harmony settlements.

Expansionism in Africa self-destructed

after the end of World War II, opening up

political and military intercession open

doors for significant virus war controls

that contended with more established

supreme forces to control the whole

decolonization process. Foreign help for

some African systems, that advanced

outside interests, prompted numerous

times of debasement and misruling that

filled in as the establishment for some,

post-war clashes. After the virus war, the

intention in military intercession was

never again the "socialist risk", but instead

the "obligation to ensure". Thus, remote

political and military mediation frequently

hurt the those whom had authoritatively

wanted to help. Regardless of the US

military's huge inclusion in significant

clashes, for example, the Korean War, the

Vietnam War and a few Middle East

clashes, there hasn't been an official US

revelation of war since WWII.

The Korean war began in 1950 after the

attack of South Korea from North Korea.

The attack spoke to socialist headway in

Asia and terrified the United States on

account of the well known domino

hypothesis; in the event that one country

tumbled to the Soviets and socialism,

numerous others would fall before long.

Thus, the United States wanted to

mediate in the contention for the sole

reason for halting the ascent of socialism

and the Soviet Union. A sum of 21

countries from the United Nations went to

the guide of South Korea however the

United States despite everything spoke to

90% of the all out soldiers that were

battling. The battling between the

different sides proceeded until 1953 when

a peace negotiation was marked making

the Korean neutral ground that isolated

North and South Korea. Nonetheless,

there was no genuine harmony bargain

marked to end the contention, such huge

numbers of still accept that North and

South Korea are still in fact at war.

In the event that these outcomes are not

only the results of inherent qualities of

common wars or common war states, for

what reason does outsider intercession

some of the time lead to alluring

outcomes and at times reverse discharge?

For what reason do a few intercessions

facilitate compromise and others bring

about impasse? For what reason did

global powers neglect to satisfy their

objectives in Afghanistan and Somalia?

For what reason was Mozambique fruitful

in remaking post-war society? Would we

be able to expect that the new Libyan

government will have the option to prevail

with regards to building a superior nation

to live in? Is there any broad strategy for

the worldwide network to decidedly add

to quicker compromise and post-war

advancement? These inquiries are a piece

of a puzzle about the impacts of mediation

on the span and result of common war

and post-war advancement, and the

writing on common war intercession gives

significant insights.

CAUSES

Certain countries are more prone to civil

war than others, but distant history and

ethnic tensions are rarely the best

explanations for a conflict, instead at a

nation’s recent past and, most important,

its economic conditions.

Today, about 900 million people live in

such societies. Four billion more live in

countries that are either already middle

income or on track to becoming so, thanks

to rapidly growing and diversifying

economies. This group, which includes the

economic success stories of the

post-World War II era, faces fairly low risk

of civil war. The potential for conflict is

concentrated among the countries

inhabited by the world’s remaining 1.1

billion people. These countries typically

have declining economies and rely on

natural resources, such as diamonds or oil

for a large proportion of national income.

As the British, French, Portuguese, and

Soviet empires successively dissolved

during the last century, the number of

such countries increased in waves. The

reason is that those interventions

pursuing self-interest produce a

less-respondent government and reduce

available resources. Military victory is

more likely to improve post-war quality of

life than is a negotiated settlement.

However, the positive effects of military

victory are without baised support from

foreign powers. Its proved that

multilateral intervention using nonviolent

methods and having an unbiased stance

may be the best way for the international

community to help post-war

development.

REPERCUSSIONS

Global Intervention may become at times

a serious complexity, due to the physical

harm the host country population might

suffer. Also violating internal sovereignty

which leads to injustice amongst the

members of the international community.

Foreign intervention may have a positive

or a negative influence in an internal

conflict, it may bring peace in the country

or may make the situation worse, which

could end in an international war.

According to the World Bank more than

1.5 billion people live in countries affected

by violent conflict. “Countries affected by

conflict are marked by recession and

stagnant or even deteriorating economic

wellbeing” (World Bank 2011). In light of

this relationship it is no wonder that state

fragility and civil war have become central

topics in the development debate. The

connection between conflict and poverty

has also served as an additional argument

for both diplomatic and military

interventions in developing countries.

It is possible and in fact likely that poverty

leads to conflict as much as conflict leads

to economic deterioration. It is therefore

important to identify the specific channels

through which conflict affects the

economy. This would keep the national

sovereignty intact and there would also be

proper restoration of justice among

people, which would maintain the peace

inside the country and also globally.

THE IMPACTS OF MEDIATION

On common war length and result, be that

as it may, will in general be conflicting

with interveners' aims. Regardless of

whether interveners are spurred by

helpful concerns or personal

responsibility, they will in general neglect

to accomplish their best result: a quicker

triumph for their protégé or a quicker

arranged settlement. Rather, one-sided

interveners prevail with regards to

hindering military triumph by their

protégé's opponent.

Impartial interveners assume a job in

deferring time until government triumph,

paying little mind to their expectation. The

impacts of mediation on post-war

improvement are fairly steady with

interveners' aim. Multilateral mediation

propelled by philanthropic concerns will in

general advance post-war prosperity by

expanding assets accessible for post-war

recreation. Then again,one-sided

intercession will further improve post-war

personal satisfaction. The utilization of

power likewise impact affects post-war

advancement. The explanation is that

those mediations pressing together

personal circumstance produce a

less-respondent government and decrease

accessible assets.

Military triumph: This method is the

bound to improve post-war personal

satisfaction than is an arranged

settlement. Nonetheless, the beneficial

outcomes of military triumph are

acknowledged just when a gathering wins

a triumph without one-sided support from

outside forces.

In order to be involved in a civil war,

interveners make decisions on whether to

be biased or neutral; whether to intervene

through the UN or unilaterally; and

whether to use military force. Note that

interveners do not randomly choose

intervention methods. They opt for

intervention strategies that can justify

their motives or are effective in achieving

their goals (Weiss 1999; Finnemore 2003;

Barnett and Weiss 2008; Gent 2008).

Therefore, we can expect that

intervention methods, by reflecting

interveners’ motives and goals, are likely

to make differences in intervention

effects.

CURRENT SITUATIONS

International involvement: This issue is

very controversial since it rises a variety of

extreme expressions from many states,

such as China and Middle Eastern

countries. As it has been already

mentioned, UN’s founding charter it is

binding to protect and promote

international peace and security. If a civil

conflict has an important impact to the

global community (such as nuclear

weapons, refugees fleeing the country)

and reaches a point to threaten

international peace, the UN must

intervene. This however could define a

huge number of conflicts as

“international.” The other side of the story

would be if fighting actually spilled over

into neighboring states. While this is

definitely an issue where the UN would

deem to be “international,” it runs the risk

of having already grown to a large scale

where the UN would be hard pressed to

intervene successfully, not to mention the

immense loss of life and infrastructure

damages. This could be considered the

most pressing issue the committee faces

because should it not be resolved, future

conflicts could be rendered ineffectual

merely by the reluctance of certain key

nations to intervene, as seen in the Syrian

crisis. Also, promoting lasting peace in

societies in need is another major goal for

the UN. The main difficulty is that the UN

finds no framework when it comes to in

any kind of internal conflicts, due to the

fact that this organization was designed to

handle international conflicts and to

preserve peace and security. The General

Assembly and other bodies of the United

Nations, supported by the Office for

Disarmament Affairs, work to strive

towards international peace and security

through the pursuit of the elimination of

nuclear weapons and other weapons of

mass destruction and the regulation of

conventional arms. The only solution is

individual resolutions from Disarmament

Committee and Security Council which are

not always efficient because there is a

significant delay in producing and

implementing the recommended

measures. This issue stands out when the

UN attempts to solve internal security

problems, such as the intervention in civil

wars in the Congo, Indonesia and, most

recently, in Syria.

Study cases: One of the most significant

issues is the Syrian civil war. The Syrian

Revolution, is a progressing furnished

clash occurring in Syria. The contention

started in the late- winter of 2011 inside

the setting of Arab Spring fights, with

across the nation challenges President

Bashar al-Assad's legislature, whose

powers reacted with savage crackdowns.

Foreign involvement in the Syrian Civil

War refers to political, military and

operational support to parties involved in

the ongoing conflict in Syria that began in

March 2011, as well as active foreign

involvement. Most parties involved in the

war in Syria receive various types of

support from foreign countries and

entities based outside Syria. The ongoing

conflict in Syria is widely described as a

series of overlapping proxy wars between

the regional and world powers, primarily

between the US and Russia as well as

between Iran and Saudi Arabia.

GUIDANCE AND OBJECTIVE OF THE

COMMITTEE

It is expected that delegates find how

foreign interventions affects and provide

socially, economically and political

impacts on their country, at the same time

find consensus and new ways to regulate

civil wars. In addition, the proposal of

different solutions that have not yet been

implemented for this topic is expected. As

a possible result of this issue.

GUIDING QUESTIONS

● How can the UN best serve

countries that need help during an

internal conflict?

● When is the UN allowed to

intervene in a civil conflict, and when is

the UN obligated to do so?

● What are the limits to UN

mediation of a conflict?

● Do single nations have the right to

intervene in another sovereign nations

conflicts?

● How will the UN monitor and

protect refugees in a civil crisis, as well as

ensure their return and establishment in a

post conflict scenario?

SOURCES

-https://www.cambridge.org/core/journal

s/ review-of-international-studies/article/

foreign-intervention-and-warfare-in-civil-

wars/

1E31B0E90D2BF22638DF36B2405D7303

http://www.un.org/en/globalissues/

peacesecurity/

http://www.un.org/en/peacekeeping/

operations/current.shtml

http://www.un.org/en/peacekeeping/

operations/pkmandates.shtm l

http://vmun.com/wp-content/uploads/20

14/ DISEC.pdf

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/

Foreign_involvement_in_the_Syrian_Civil

_Wa r