Committee: Security Council Topic: Cooperation between UN and Regional Bodies Chair: Daniel Zhu

Introduction
From the African Union Mission to Somalia, to the European Union Force Althea in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the contribution of regional bodies is becoming increasingly important to the maintenance of international peace, both in terms of maintaining peace agreements or, in the case of Somalia, assisting internationally recognized governments in reclaiming control of a lawless country. The importance of regional bodies manifests itself in a number of ways. Economic groups such as the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) or the North American Free Trade Agreement are becoming increasingly important to international commerce, while groups such as the Association of South East Asian States (ASEAN) and the European Union (EU) serve as major diplomatic blocs, both in international and in more direct multilateral diplomacy. Many of these groups, most notably the aforementioned European Union, serve in more than one of these functions. Most important to the question that the Security Council is faced with is the role that many regional groups, such as the African Union or the EU play in maintaining international peace. This is a role that recent developments have brought to the forefront. As Syria descended into civil war, the Arab League suspended Syrias membership and eventually withdrew its monitors following the failure of the Arab League negotiated peace deal. In a more successful example, in the infamously lawless country of Somalia, a national government which once controlled only several city blocks in the capital of Mogadishu has now ejected the Al-Shabab rebels from all major cities and towns, with the aid of AU troops. This is an achievement that UN peacekeepers have failed to achieve. It is clear that attempts by regional bodies to assist in the maintenance of international political stability vary wildly in success, or lack thereof. Delegates, your task is to design a framework for the UN cooperation with regional bodies that maximizes their contribution to world peace.

Committee: Security Council Topic: Cooperation between UN and Regional Bodies Chair: Daniel Zhu

Key Terms
Regional Body: A multinational organization whose membership is characterized by a defined region, either a geographic grouping or one based on an economic region. Peacekeeping: Efforts to maintain peace deals and ceasefires through monitoring of the terms and conditions of agreements, protection of civilians, assistance in disarmament, and the restoration of rule of law. Intervention: The use or threat of force by an external country or organization to attempt to alter the behavior or situation of a country. Mandate: A commission in which the United Nations entrusts a party with the authority needed to complete a certain mission.

Organization Acronyms: ASEAN: Association of South East Asian States AU: African Union ECOWAS: Economic Community of West Africa EU: European Union NAFTA: North American Free Trade Agreement NATO: North Atlantic Treaty Organization OAC: Organization of American States

Committee: Security Council Topic: Cooperation between UN and Regional Bodies Chair: Daniel Zhu

Cases
African Union Mission In Somalia
Somalia began its descent into anarchy with the fall of the military dictator General Barre in 1991, with the autonomous region of Somaliland declaring its (unrecognized) independence from Somalia, and the rest of the country descending into warlordism. Aside from an abortive US-led UN intervention in 1992-1995, Somalia has lacked international intervention, despite its state of disarray. In 2007, the African Union created a mission to support Somalias internationally recognized Transitional Federal Government, which was the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM). The mission was given a UN mandate later that year, and has since fought to expand the Transitional Federal Governments territorial control. Following the fall of Kismayo, the Al Shabab militias last major stronghold, in September 2012, the mission tentatively appears to have achieved their basic goal, but it remains to be seen whether they will be able to establish effective, long term governance in Somalia. In this case, a regional body has, with the blessing of the United Nations, provided the military capacity needed to assist a national government in its civil conflict. However, there remains much work to be done in terms of nation building; establishing a lasting peace and rule of law, convincing former militants to set aside arms, and reintegrating the breakaway regions of Somaliland and Puntland. All of these are issues in which this regional intervention may further benefit from the expertise in peace-building that the United Nations can offer.

Committee: Security Council Topic: Cooperation between UN and Regional Bodies Chair: Daniel Zhu

Libyan Civil War

In 2011, protests against the longstanding dictatorship of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi began in several Libyan cities, as part of the wider Arab Spring. Gaddafi responded with brutal crackdowns against then-peaceful protestors, leading to both condemnations from the international community and the reorganization of protestors into rebel militias. In March, the Security Council passed a resolution authorizing the Arab League or any other willing member state to enforce a nofly zone against Gaddafis bombings of rebel positions. Despite the fact that it was the Arab League specifically mentioned in the resolution, the bulk of the enforcement of the resolution fell instead to NATO, particularly France, the UK and the US. Despite the fact that NATO is often disparaged as an obsolete organization, its technical knowledge helped facilitate a short, though not bloodless, rebel victory. Again, it is clear that a regional organization with a mandate from the United Nations has assisted in maintaining democratic governance, against groups without democratic legitimacy and with poor human rights records. Here, however, aid was primarily used to eliminate the technological advantage of a dictator rather than to directly enforce the laws of a government.

Questions for Debate

Despite the fact that both examples represent clear military interventions, the question itself is somewhat open to interpretation; the examples were selected because they were clear-cut cases of regional interventions. There are plenty of other ways that regional bodies can and do assist in the maintenance of peace, ranging from humanitarian aid to economic sanctions. One of your primary tasks in this framework will be to delineate what tasks, whether the imposition of sanctions, the deployment of peacekeepers or any other role, are best done by the United Nations itself, and which tasks can be delegated to regional bodies to support broader efforts. A framework must be both flexible enough to adapt to specific circumstances, but also not so vague that it does not provide meaningful guidance. The chair looks forward to seeing your solutions to this question.

Committee: Security Council Topic: Cooperation between UN and Regional Bodies Chair: Daniel Zhu

Bibliography
http://www.consilium.europa.eu/homepage?lang=en http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2011/09/201192017594330402. html http://www.bendbulletin.com/article/20120129/NEWS0107/201290416/ http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/sep/28/kenyan-soldiers-capturekismayo-somalia http://www.un.org/en/peacekeeping/missions/past/unosom2backgr1.html http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/05/world/africa/05somaliland.html?_r=0 http://www.undemocracy.com/S-RES-1744(2007).pdf http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12796972 http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs//2011/sc10200.doc.htm