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CERRITOS
GA PLENARY
DIRECTOR: BETTY ZHANG
CERRITOS GA Plenary
General Assembly Plenary
Welcome Statement ………………………………………………………….…………………………………………………………………... 2
A Note from Your Director ..................................................................................................................................... 3
Committee Introduction ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………... 3
Terrorism in the Middle East …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 4
Background ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 4
United Nations Involvement ……………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 4
Bloc Positions ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 5
Basic Solutions …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………... 6
Questions to Consider ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………... 7
Sources ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………... 8
TABLE OF CONTENTS
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CERRITOS HIGH SCHOOL MODEL UNITED NATIONS Annual Novice Conference • October 10, 2015
WELCOME STATEMENT
Dear Delegates,
Welcome to Cerritos Novice 2015!
It is our highest honor and pleasure to welcome you to our annual novice
conference here at Cerritos High School. On behalf of the Cerritos High School Model
United Nations program we are proud to host another year of this long-standing
conference. Here at CHS, we take absolute pride in this extensive program and its ability
to create new and lasting friendships while also encouraging stimulating and intellectual
discussion for high school students all across the globe.
The CHSMUN program boasts continually being nationally ranked, while our
delegates have the opportunity to compete at conferences all around the nation. Our head
chairs are selected from only the best seniors our program has to offer and they undergo
a rigorous training process to ensure they are qualified to moderate and grade the quality
of debate in each of our committees. Our chairs are the same delegates that represent our
delegation at universities and conferences to the best of their ability. Our topic synopses
have been reviewed and revised countless times to ensure that as a delegate you have the
tools and understanding to be successful in committee. Our advisors and staff have put in
countless hours to ensure you have an amazing experience at our conference and that you
are encouraged to continue on in Model United Nations at your prospective schools.
With 25 novice committees and 2 middle school committees, CHSMUN 2015 will
provide a quality experience for beginners to learn and develop your skills as delegates.
If you have any comments, concerns, or questions, please contact us. We look
forward to seeing you at CHSMUN Novice 2015!
Sincerely,
Justin Cooley and Joyce Kye
Secretary-Generals 2015-2016
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Justin Cooley
Secretary-General
Joyce Kye
Secretary-General
Joseph Shin
Under Secretary-General
of Conferences
Sophia Anigbo
Under Secretary-General
of Delegate Affairs
Betty Zhang
Under Secretary-General
of Finance
Rohan Patel
Under Secretary-General
of Technology
CERRITOS HIGH SCHOOL MODEL UNITED NATIONS Annual Novice Conference • October 10, 2015
Justin Cooley
Secretary-General
Joyce Kye
Secretary-General
Joseph Shin
Under Secretary-General
of Conferences
Sophia Anigbo
Under Secretary-General
of Delegate Affairs
Betty Zhang
Under Secretary-General
of Finance
Rohan Patel
Under Secretary-General
of Technology
———
Betty Zhang
GA Plenary
Director
A NOTE FROM YOUR DIRECTOR
Hello delegates,
My name is Betty Zhang, I’m currently a senior and am now in my fifth year of
MUN, as the USG of Finance. I’ve had the amazing opportunity to attend many
conferences throughout high school, such as NHSMUN, UCLA, UC Davis, and
RHSMUN. Looking back, MUN has been the highlight of high school, and I discovered
my passion for debate, which has inspired me to pursue a career of law. By researching
and discussing worldly issues with others, I became a better speaker and more confident,
aware of world news, what I could do to bring change, and . I have a really unique voice
and I’m really involved in school with Varsity Badminton, CSF, Leo’s, Imagiscience, Key
Club, and ASB. Outside of school, I volunteer at the Aquarium of the Pacific and my
church, sing, and watch Netflix or movies, run, or drive around looking for food places.
I hope that you all will take this conference as a learning experience and an eye-
opener to what MUN is all about. Take this opportunity and try out all the new things you
possibly can, so you can find out how MUN works, how you should prepare, how to
enjoy a conference. This may all seem very new right now, but I promise you that after
this conference you will know a lot more about MUN and see all the fun you can have
with it! If you have any concerns or questions, please don’t be afraid to ask me anything!
I look forward to seeing you all,
Betty Zhang
Director, GA Plenary
COMMITTEE INTRODUCTION
Established in 1945 under the Charter of the United Nations, the General
Assembly Plenary is one of the six primary organs of the United Nations. Under the GA
lie the six main committees that cover social, economic, and military aspects around the
world. It is the chief policymaking body that comprises of all 193 members of the UN
with equal representation, guaranteeing a unique forum for multilateral discussion. It also
plays a significant role in standardizing and codifying international law. The landmark
Millennium Declaration in 2000 is one of the most significant achievements of the UN, as
it reflects the efforts of member states to reach goals that will attain peace, security, and
development. In special cases, the GA may take actions in cases of breach of peace when
the Security Council fails to act due to a negative vote by a permanent member. Each
member states have one vote, but GA cannot enforce the laws it legislates. 3
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TERRORISM IN THE MIDDLE EAST
BACKGROUND
Terrorism, defined as the use of violent pursuits in achieving political goals, poses as the most threatening
security concern of modern day, particularly in the Middle East. Insurgencies rose due to sectarian interests and
dictatorial regimes, combined with foreign and international military interventions that eventually escalated the
problem from regional to global. Dating back to as early as 1968, causes of terrorism have long been speculated
by politicians as well as ordinary citizens, but the most commonly accepted cause is the Israeli-Palestinian
conflict, which created the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) committed to the creation of a Palestinian
state. Despite their origins, all terrorist groups are extremely anti-Western and held common Marxist beliefs,
making them more unpredictable and volatile, and their extensive networks of communication and
transportation of arms across borders is very difficult to track.
The situation only escalated in 1979, when there was a dramatic increase in terrorist groups due to the
Iranian Islamic revolution that sparked fear of a revolutionary Shia Islam and the anti-Soviet mujahedeen war.
State-sponsored terrorism also emerged, such as the Iranian-backed and Syria-supported Hezbollah, the first
terrorist organization to use suicide bombers in the Middle East, and the Islamic Resistance Movement
(HAMAS). The disintegration of Cold War states in Africa, and Afghanistan provided areas for terrorist
recruitment and training, advancements in conventional weaponry, and increased smuggling of arms and drugs.
Afghanistan became a ground for terrorist activities, supporting regimes such as Taliban and Muslim
Brotherhood, and the type of terrorists transitioned from Palestinian to Islamic insurgencies with the creation of
al-Qaeda by Osama Bin Laden, one of the most dangerous Islamic terrorist groups in the Middle East.
Additionally with the Arab Spring conflict between the Shiites and Sunnis in 2001, al-Qaeda’s goal is to
“reestablish the Islamic state” and remove all foreign presence, including U.S. and Israel, from the Middle East.
It serves as the core of a loose umbrella organization that includes many Sunni Islamic extremists, and it was the
primary suspect of the September 11th attack on U.S. ground.
Then when al-Qaeda fought U.S. in 2003 after toppling Saddam Hussein, Iraq’s dictator, the group
evolved into the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) led by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, and is now deemed the most
powerful and effective extremist group in the world. ISIS participated in the overthrow of President Bashar al-
Assad of Syria, and then in 2013 began its assault on western Iraq and Shia Muslims, regarding Western
countries as enemies of Islam. ISIS’s success attracted many young Muslims to join, assembling 35,000 fighters
and made billions of dollars, and more recently, captured U.S. journalists and Japanese-Americans and released
gruesome beheading videos as a way of provoking the West. ISIS is now making its advance in Iran and has
already taken control of Mosul, the second largest city in Iraq; if not stopped, the capital of Iran, Baghdad, can
crumble under ISIS and tear the country apart.
UNITED NATIONS INVOLVEMENT
The UN as well as the rest of the international community has been taking comprehensive action against
terrorism roaming in the Middle East, which not only threaten global security but also economic interests of
nations associated with the Middle East. In response to the September 11th attack, Security Council adopted
Resolution 1373 that created the Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC). It comprises all 15 members
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of Security Council, is in charge of carrying out Resolution 1373 which outlined freezing financial support for
terrorist groups, cooperating with other governments in arrest and prosecution of terrorists, and suppressing the
provision of safe haven and sustenance support for terrorism. Then in 2004, resolution 1535 established the
Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED) to assist the CTC in its work. CTED has an
Assessment and Technical Assistance Office (ATAO) that is further divided into three geographical clusters for
specialized regional implementation of the resolutions stated.
The Organization for Security and Co-Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) addresses a wide range of security
-related concerns including arms control, human rights, and economic activities. OSCE dates back to the détente
era of the 1970s, as it was created by the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe (CSCE) to
encourage multilateral negotiations between the West and East. There are over 57 participating states spanning
across three continents, making it the second most comprehensive source of anti-terrorism committee after the
CTC. More recently, the United Nations Third Committee (SOCHUM) adopted resolution A/c.3/69/L.3
condemning the Syrian government for its human rights abuses, due to the beheadings of several American
journalists such as James Foley and Steve Sotloff by ISIS.
U.S. and NATO has already established a de facto agreement that called for necessary military
intervention in the Middle East if the situation requires, and the 2004 NATO Conference of National
Armaments Directors (CNAD) developed the Defence Against Terrorism Programme of Work (DAT POW)
that use newly adopted strategies to detect, disrupt and defeat the networks of terrorists. But the United Nations
is reluctant to resort to military intervention, since the beheadings of 21 Egyptian Christians in February of this
year prompted Egypt to call for military action against ISIS but was refused. Since the cultural and regional
diversity of the Middle East is at great risk, Security Council has stated that in September of 2015, it will launch a
prevention program dedicated to the containment extremism and strengthen support for the protection of
diversity in the Middle East, while the UN Network on Racial Discrimination and Minorities help support the
livelihoods of many targeted minorities in Iraq and Iran.
One particularly outstanding non-governmental organization, the Middle East Media Research Institute
(MEMRI), is the primary source of information forum that connects Middle East to the West and the South.
MEMRI documents anti-Semitic themes and research on Islamic ideology in up to seven different languages, and
its branch offices are distributed around global locations. The UN now aims to build an international coalition
that can defeat ISIS, stabilize the region, and initiate peaceful political transitions, with U.S. playing the biggest
role in ground and aerial combats.
BLOC POSITIONS
Western Bloc
The geographical proximity of Western European nations, such as Spain, Italy and Greece, to the
Middle East complicates ties, thus making European countries hesitant in endangering those relations using
military action. This bloc lacks collective action and each nation has its own individual concerns over
relationships with their close neighbors, even when they are the closest to being exposed to extremist influence.
This has already occurred in France, known as the Charlie Hebdo attack in January of 2015, with suspects that
were presumably associated with Middle Eastern extremists. The most highlighted is definitely the Russian-
Ukraine conflict, in which Russia is accused of training terrorist groups to infiltrate Ukraine with the
purpose of collecting intelligence. Russia’s hybrid war and its promotion of terrorism in
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Ukraine, although not directly connected with Islamic extremists, can evolve into state-sponsored terrorism just
like the ones supported by Iraq and Iran.
Latin and Caribbean Bloc
Islamic groups do not seem to have an active presence in this bloc, but their potential to develop links with drug
trafficking organizations and cartels pose serious future security concerns. Most of incidents in the past five years
attribute to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), the nation’s oldest and largest insurgency.
But there have been more reports of direct collusions of Islamic militants and drug cartels as well as al-Qaeda
and Hezbollah presence in the tri-border area of Paraguay, Brazil, and Argentina, while Cuba claimed there were
alleged “missile sites” belonging to Hezbollah. This bloc will become vulnerable under extremist influence and
therefore should be paid attention to.
African Bloc
Being the most affected bloc, African nations have experienced a sharp increase of terrorist activities since 2013.
The Somalia-based terrorist group al-Shabaab carried out systematic attacks in Kenya, while the Somali security
forces and the AU Mission in Somalia (AMISON) were unable to undertake consistent offensives against the
group. In West Africa, conflicts in Nigeria continued throughout Northern Africa, with Boko Haram and related
groups committing thousands of attacks, resulting in over a thousand casualties in 2013 alone. Other Eastern
African nations dedicated regional and domestic efforts to detect, deter, and prosecute terrorists, in addition to
developing counterterrorism strategies. Current African efforts to stop terrorism activity are mainly focused on
border security, regional information sharing, and counter-extremism.
Asian-Pacific Bloc
Countries in this region have been weakening their terrorist activities and have effectively constrained major
terrorist groups such as Jemaah Islamiya (JI), Jemaah Anshorut Tauhid (JAT), and the Abu Sayyaf Group
(ASG). However, attacks are still rampant in Indonesia, particularly against police, and in Philippines where
improvised explosive devices (IEDs) combined with the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) created
dozens of casualties. More importantly, all aforementioned groups have the capability to connect with those in
the Middle East. Australia is the regional leader in the fight against terrorism and has worked through bilateral
and regional initiatives in ASEAN and Pacific Island Forum. Japan, similarly, have established coherent
frameworks in the ASEAN-Japan Counterterrorism meeting.
BASIC SOLUTIONS
Since terrorism in the Middle East has been an ongoing conflict that affects humanitarian, security, and
cultural aspects, delegates have a very wide range of subtopics that the solutions can address. In terms of
humanitarian, there are the refugee crises, proper distribution of outside aid, and human rights; in terms of
cultural aspects, there are dangers experienced by minorities and the preservation of indigenous cultures, but
delegates should be aware that many other existing UN organizations are already covering these concerns, such
as the UNHCR, Third Committee, etc., therefore these can be considered when determining the effectiveness of
a solution, but should not be the main focus of all the solutions. Rather, security is deemed as the most pressing
concern when it comes to regional terrorism, so some security aspects that are worth discussing include border
control, illegal arms trade, conspiracy funding toward terrorist groups, and monitored military zones that are
away from crowded civilian areas. These aspects should all emphasize the need for global, regional, and
national collaborations and effective security-building measures that do not encompass military
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interventions or tactics that can infuriate and further provoke violence and abuse.
Delegates should be aware that peace talks become increasingly complicated when it comes to terrorist
groups, as peace talks are solely dependent on both parties’ willingness to compromise, which is very difficult to
accomplish when it comes to extremists. Therefore, it is best to approach a solution such as peace talks with clear
caution. Also, since the recruitment of young people as terrorists by ISIS is an emerging issue, it would be
helpful for delegates to think about possible ways to counteract this fast-expanding extremist influence.
QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER
1. How has Middle Eastern terrorism affected your nation both domestically and politically?
2. What organizations or methods can be used for the enforcement of security measures in the Middle East?
3. Should the sovereignty or a country’s basic rights, be preserved or violated when outside forces intervene?
Ex: Syria, Iraq
4. How should your country approach their foreign policies toward terrorism in the Middle East especially if
they have stringent economic or historical ties with the region?
5. How effective have peace talks been among your country and those in the Middle East, if there are any?
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SOURCES
1. Moore, John. "The Evolution of Islamic Terrorism: An Overview." PBS. PBS, n.d. Web. 25 May 2015.
<http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/target/etc/modern.html>
2. Sinai, Joshua. "How to Define Terrorism | Sinai | Perspectives on Terrorism." How to Define Terrorism |
Sinai | Perspectives on Terrorism. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 May 2015. <http://www.terrorismanalysts.com/pt/
index.php/pot/article/view/33/html>
3. Rabil, Robert. "The ISIS Chronicles: A History." The National Interest. The National Interest, n.d. Web. 25
May 2015. <http://nationalinterest.org/feature/the-isis-chronicles-history-10895>
4. "OSCE." Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 May 2015. <http://
www.osce.org/>
5. "UN Counter-Terrorism Committee." UN News Center. UN, n.d. Web. 25 May 2015. <http://www.un.org/
en/sc/ctc/>
6. "Defeating ISIS: An Integrated Strategy to Advance Middle East Stability." Name. Center for American Pro-
gress, n.d. Web. 25 May 2015. <https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/security/report/2014/09/10/96739/
defeating-isis-an-integrated-strategy-to-advance-middle-east-stability/>
7. "MEMRI - The Middle East Media Research Institute." MEMRI - The Middle East Media Research Insti-
tute. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 May 2015. <http://www.memri.org/>
8. "Chapter 2. Country Reports: Africa Overview." U.S. Department of State. U.S. Department of State, n.d.
Web. 25 May 2015. http://www.state.gov/j/ct/rls/crt/2013/224820.htm
9. "Chapter 2. Country Reports: East Asia and Pacific Overview." U.S. Department of State. U.S. Department
of State, n.d. Web. 25 May 2015. <http://www.state.gov/j/ct/rls/crt/2013/224821.htm>
10. "Is Russia a State Sponsor of Terrorism?" Is Russia a State Sponsor of Terrorism? New Eastern Europe, n.d.
Web. 25 May 2015. <http://neweasterneurope.eu/interviews/1461-is-russia-a-state-sponsor-of-terrorism>
11. "What Is the Real Threat of Islamic Terrorism in Latin America?" The Christian Science Monitor. The
Christian Science Monitor, n.d. Web. 25 May 2015. <http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Americas/Latin-
America-Monitor/2012/0814/What-is-the-real-threat-of-Islamic-terrorism-in-Latin-America>
12. "2015 Paris Terror Attacks Fast Facts - CNN.com." CNN. Cable News Network, n.d. Web. 25 May
2015.<http://www.cnn.com/2015/01/21/europe/2015-paris-terror-attacks-fast-facts/>
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