UNITED NATIONS SECURITY COUNCIL
Chair: Yolanda Wang
Committee Type: Specialized
The United Nations Security Council is the UN’s principal crisis-management body, and it is responsible for maintaining international peace and security. It is the only organ of the UN that can enforce binding resolutions on member states. The UN Charter grants the Security Council authority over peacekeeping operations, the use of military force, and economic and diplomatic sanctions.
The UNSC’s 15 member states include five permanent members (the P5) with veto power over all substantive resolutions and 10 non-permanent members elected for two-year terms without veto power. A resolution is adopted if nine or more members vote for the resolution, and if it is not vetoed by any of P5. For the sake of the conference simulation, there is a chance that delegates in this committee are assigned to countries that are not currently members of the United Nations Security Council at present. These delegates will nonetheless receive equal status to non-permanent members.
Topic 1
Addressing Technological Threats in Warfare
The rapid evolution of technology is outpacing the United Nations’ ability to govern it, and the use of technologies in warfare has shifted action and accountability from humans to machines. The Security Council must consider how to regulate the use of artificial intelligence, cloud computing, and other technological advancements in war, whether they are applied to military force, intelligence operations, sensitive negotiations, or elsewhere.
Topic 2
Re-evaluating the Role of the UN Peacekeepers
The confluence of internal issues, such as peacekeepers’ failures to use force in deadly situations and ethical misconduct, as well as external challenges, including unfeasible mandates and significant expenses, have made the United Nations’ peacekeeping operations ineffective and even harmful in some cases. The Security Council must reconsider the role of its peacekeeping efforts with values of anti-imperialism, accountability, and action in order to preserve and improve one of the Council’s key enforcement mechanisms for civilian protection and global peace.