IS306 Mid Term
Class: IS306 Created Time: June 8, 2021 4:20 PM Database: Assignment Database Last Edited Time: February 6, 2022 4:47 PM Status: Done
Royal University of Phnom Penh Institute of Foreign Languages Department of International Studies 2020-2021
Model United Nations Mid-Term Test Time Allowed: 70 mns.
Name: Chea Resan….
Date: …08/06/2021….
Class: …A3.2…….
Score: ………………./50
I. Explaining Key Terms (10 marks) Explain the following key terms, providing as many details as possible.
- Motion to close the debate
- Position paper
- Signatories
- Unfriendly amendment
- Unmoderated caucus
Comprehension Questions (40 marks) Answer the following questions, providing clear arguments and specific examples/concrete evidence.
- Provide two reasons to reject the proposal to negotiate with the Al-Shabab. Islamic State
- Provide two reasons to reject the proposal to impose sanctions against the military government in Myanmar.
- Provide two reasons to reject ASEAN’s roles in seeking solutions to the crisis in Myanmar.
- Based on what you have learnt from the simulations, provide two reasons to explain why it is difficult to reach a resolution in the UNSC.
ANSWERS I. Explaining Key Terms
- Motion to close the debate: this happens at the end of all meetings on one topic. A state may propose to close the debate once the clauses of the draft resolution is debated and voted upon.
- Position paper: is a document written in detail of the topic of the United Nations meeting is about and also how your country relates to this topic. It is used to guide the representative of a country to understand clearly of their country’s position in the international level, its national interests, allies and, adversaries. A good position paper must provide clearly their country’s position on the topic, followed by how their country is connected and is involved in the topic, and ending with proposed resolutions that will be brought up during the MUN itself.
- Signatories refer to countries which have signed an agreement or a treaty. A signatory have not ratified or give permission for it to apply to them yet, but have signed the document in question.
- Unfriendly amendment is a proposal to change or modify a clause or parts of a resolution to the point that the author sponsor states would not unanimously agree with. At that point, the proposing state must raise a motion to propose an unfriendly amendment. After a general vote for the motion, the proposed amendment goes through either moderated or unmoderated caucuses to convince other voters before ending with a substantial vote for the amendment.
- Unmoderated caucus is a form of discussion where the room is open for states to approach one another and discuss unrestricted. In an unmoderated caucus, states normally discuss among their allies and blocs to come up with proposals to bring to another bloc. This discussion is also the place where the draft resolutions of each bloc is created as well to be propose to the chair and debated upon formally after the unmoderated caucus.
Comprehension Questions
- Provide two reasons to reject the proposal to negotiate with the Al-Shabaab.
- Al-Shabaab is a terrorist organization that is a long standing issue of Somalia. It causes security instability, unnecessary violence, and contribute to the problem of terrorism in the world as a whole. Al-Shabaab is a branch of the infamous ISIS who have been causes endless bloodshed, crimes against humanity, and unlawful acts around the world, especially in the Middle East. Their extremist acts are shown in multiple cases of suicide bombings in Mogodishu as well as fighting against both the military as well as rebels during the Somalian struggle for power. Therefore the extremist religion driven organization should not be negotiated with but rather eradicated.
- A more broad view of objecting against negotiation with Al-Shabaab would be that if we start to talk and give recognition and legitimacy to actions of these violent groups, it would almost seem like they’re getting what they want. Which is attention, fear, and disorder. Rather the international community should keep on helping the legitimate governments instead, in providing help to fight against these extremist groups.
- Provide two reasons to reject the proposal to impose sanctions against the military government in Myanmar.
- Its been proven countless times that sanctions on a country even if its a ‘targeted sanction’ or ‘smart sanction’ will inevitably cause harm to the livelihood of the citizens instead. The act of freezing assets, travel bans, and arms embargo would only slow down economic activities that people rely on to survive. Furthermore, such an extreme measure, would only be effective if every country in the world is in agreement in imposing it. If only a handful of countries impose sanctions, its government will just get their necessities from another source. Therefore, an effective sanction or attempts to limit the government’s power is very difficult to achieve if not impossible.
- Sanctions, if effective , could cause the victim country to be backed into a corner and have no choice but to fight to the bitter end. Before such extreme measures are taken, ensure that no other acts of dialogue, communication, or mediation are thoroughly explored before hand.
- Provide two reasons to reject ASEAN’s roles in seeking solutions to the 2021 Myanmar Military Coup.
- ASEAN is inherently a consensus based regional organization that stands on its fundamental principle of non-interference, consensus-based decision-making, and sovereignty. This means ASEAN can only have a small role of a communication channel between Myanmar and the international community. Any further purpose, ASEAN would not assist the international community to oppose its fellow member state. Therefore, outside measures must be secured in the cases which ASEAN’s dialogue based five point consensus does not come to fruition.
- The five point itself has been pointed out to be weak in its demands and conditions. It mostly focuses on calls for dialogue and sending aid to Myanmar. Furthermore, the discussion and agreement on the five point consensus were conducted without the presence of the legitimately elected government body National Unity Government or its party leader Aung San Suu Kyi in late 2020. Therefore, if the agreement is implemented by the Myanmar military it would not restore the democracy that is the main issue of the situation in the first place and would still keep the illegitimate government in place.
- Based on what you have learnt from the simulations, provide two reasons to explain why it is difficult to reach a resolution in the UNSC.
- The UNSC consist of 15 members, out of those the 5 permanent members are extremely powerful in vetoing votes, drafts, and amendments. It does not help that Russia, China, and the West are the world super powers contending with another for international dominance. Therefore, no real actions can be allowed by the UN as the P5 checks and balances one another until the draft agreed upon is nothing but soft measures.
- The multipolar system in the UNSC makes the body without a leader. Leaders are very important for expressing real issues, gathering support, and taking real actions. But rather, UNSC meetings are for debating between different ideologies, national principles on what is the right action to take. It causes inaction to happen in cases such as crimes against humanity, financial crisis, pandemics or international crisis that demands immediate actions.
THIS IS THE END OF THE TEST PAPER.