Return To: 2024 Handbook

2024 Handbook

The Security Council

The following updates are available:

Security Council Situation Report 11 October 2024

Topics

Membership of the Security Council Membership of the Security Council

  • Algeria
  • China
  • Ecuador
  • France
  • Guyana
  • Japan
  • Malta
  • Mozambique
  • Republic of Korea
  • Russian Federation
  • Sierra Leone
  • Slovenia
  • Switzerland
  • United Kingdom
  • United States of America

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Introduction Introduction

The topics covered in this chapter are a guide to help direct your research on your State’s positions. Updates on likely topics for the Contemporary Security Council will be posted online throughout the fall. These updates will be linked at the top of this page, directly under the Security Council header as they are published. The Contemporary Security Council topics below are current as of 1 June 2024 and may not include all topics that the Council might discuss at Conference. With the ever-changing nature of international peace and security, what is important to the Council may change between now and the start of Conference. However, representatives are encouraged to be familiar with these topics and the topics addressed in the fall updates.

For each topic area, representatives should consider the following questions to help them in gaining a better understanding of the issues at hand, particularly from their country’s perspective:

  • How did this situation begin?
  • Which parties are involved in the situation and what are their concerns?
  • How have similar situations or conflicts been peacefully resolved?
  • What roles can the United Nations take in the situation? What roles should the United Nations take in the situation?
  • If there are non-state actors involved in a conflict, are there any States supporting them? If so, which ones?

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The situation in the Middle East, including the Palestine question The situation in the Middle East, including the Palestine question

The Situation in Gaza

On 7 October 2023, Hamas and allied organizations controlling the Palestinian territory of Gaza launched a coordinated attack against Israel. Many elements of the attack appear to have been chosen to inflict civilian casualties. Approximately 1,400 Israelis were killed and hostages were taken. The Israeli government responded with a declaration of war against Hamas and imposed a “total siege” on Gaza, cutting off supplies of water, food, electricity and fuel. Gaza is heavily reliant on supplies from Israel to ensure provision of food, basic emergency services and sanitation. Following heavy aerial and artillery bombardment throughout most of Gaza, the Israeli military surrounded Gaza City in the north of Gaza and mounted military operations in the south near the cities of Khan Younis and Rafah. Of Gaza’s pre-war population of 2 million, approximately 1.7 million people have fled to the south, principally around Rafah. During the spring of 2024, the Israeli government repeatedly announced a plan to attack and occupy Rafah as part of its war against Hamas The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights warned an Israeli ground attack on Rafah would “incur massive loss of life and would heighten the risk of further atrocity crimes”. On 24 May, the International Court of Justice ordered Israel to halt its offensive near the outskirts of Rafah and to keep the Rafah border crossing open. Despite the order from the International Court of Justice, the Israeli government has continued to conduct airstrikes in Rafah. Peace talks between Hamas and Israel have been ongoing since the start of the conflict, but there has been little progress in securing even a temporary ceasefire.

By late April 2024, the estimated death toll in Gaza reached 34,000 people, the majority believed to be women and children. The Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres, warned that famine in northern Gaza is imminent and that 1.1 million people in Gaza are facing catastrophic hunger, according to an Integrated Food Security Phase Classification report. Secretary-General Guterres said this represents the highest number of people facing catastrophic hunger ever recorded by the Integrated Food Security Classification system. Despite pressure from the United Nations, the United States and statements from the Israeli government saying they would work to allow more aid into Gaza, the number of aid trucks entering Gaza each day remains approximately half of the pre-war level. Due to difficulties in delivering aid to Gaza by land, the United States constructed a floating dock and pier in Gaza where ships can offload aid. However, after the pier was completed the World Food Program warned the plan may fail due to a lack of security, citing the recent looting of aid trucks.

During the Israel-Hamas conflict, the United Nations Security Council has held numerous meetings and votes on resolutions. However, the Security Council frequently has found itself deadlocked with permanent members exercising their veto power to block resolutions. Speakers in the General Assembly have said continued vetoes of Security Council resolutions embolden the Israeli government, and Secretary-General Guterres warned the Security Council has “severely—perhaps fatally—undermined its authority”. On 24 March, the Security Council passed Resolution 2728 demanding an immediate release of hostages, lifting barriers to humanitarian aid and a ceasefire for the month of Ramadan to lay the groundwork for a further ceasefire. After a draft resolution failed to pass due to a veto from Russia and China, Resolution 2728 passed when the United States of America abstained.

Since the conflict began, Secretary-General Guterres has warned of the potential for the conflict to spread to the broader Middle East. Along Israel’s border with Lebanon, there has been continuous low-level fighting between the Israeli military and Hezbollah, a powerful political party in Lebanon that maintains its own army. In late April 2024, following an Israeli airstrike against the Iranian consulate in Syria, Iran launched multiple missiles against Israel in response with many of those missiles shot down. Following the attacks by Israel and Iran, the Secretary-General again warned the region is on a “knife edge”.

The Situation in the West Bank

Since capturing the West Bank in 1967 during the Six-Day War, Israel has continued to maintain and establish new settlements in the region. Under the terms of the Oslo Agreement establishing peace between Israel and Palestine, Israel retained administrative control of approximately 60 percent of the West Bank, known as Area C. In the areas under Israeli control, formal and informal settlements have been established. Construction of the settlements displaced Palestinians living in the area, at times with violence. The construction of the Israeli settlements in the West Bank and displacement of Palestinians contributed to violent clashes between Palestinians and Israeli settlers, and received significant international criticism, including from the United Nations Security Council in 2016. Although disputed by Israel, the settlements are generally held to be illegal under international law and create obstacles to the two-state solution for peace in the region.

Despite this international criticism, the Israeli government has continued to expand Israeli settlements in the West Bank. Since the start of 2023, nearly 2,000 Palestinians living in the West Bank have been displaced due to violence directed at them from Israeli settlers, 43 percent occurring since 7 October. In March 2024 UN Human Rights Chief, Volker Turk, reported to the United Nations Human Rights Council that the Israeli government announced another 3,476 settler homes would be built in the West Bank. Combined with the 24,300 settler homes announced in 2023, this represented the highest rate of new settler homes announced since 2017. In the report, Mr. Turk noted that since 7 October, the UN Human Rights Office has documented 396 Palestinians killed by Israeli forces in the West Bank and another nine killed by Israeli settlers. The report also documented instances where settlers were observed wearing Israeli military uniforms or bearing military-issue rifles.

Bibliography

United Nations Documents

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The Situation in Abyei The Situation in Abyei

The border region, Abyei, between present day Sudan and South Sudan has been disputed for decades. Decolonization of the region in the 1950s created one state of Sudan; South Sudan wasn’t internationally recognized as a separate state until 2011. Sudan experienced internal conflict almost constantly. A temporary resolution to the conflict was reached in 2005 when the sides signed the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), also called the Naivasha Agreement. This Agreement called for a permanent ceasefire monitored by the United Nations Mission in the Sudan (UNMIS), a referendum vote in 2011 on whether South Sudan wanted to become an independent state and for the oil profits of the Abyei region to be split.

The current conflict in Abyei broke out in 2011 over a dispute on the referendum vote. South Sudan was officially recognized as its own sovereign country. However, the region of Abyei was claimed by both countries. The United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA) was formed by the Security Council through Resolution 1990 due to the “violence, escalating tensions, and population displacements.” UNISFA was given the mandate to ensure the safe delivery of humanitarian aid with permission to use force as necessary to protect civilians and those delivering humanitarian aid.

However, even after the deployment of peacekeepers, the violence in the region continued, with violent disputes happening between various rebel and militia groups. In January of 2024, an attack occurred by the Twic faction in the village of Juba leaving 52 dead, including two peacekeepers, and 64 wounded. There have been reports of peacekeeper vehicles being targeted. In response the Security Council condemned the actions of the violent attacks and reaffirmed its commitment to UNISFA. UNISFA is set for renewal in November 2024.

Bibliography

United Nations Documents

  • United Nations, Security Council (27 June 2011). Resolution 1990. S/RES/1990(2011).

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The Situation in Nagorno-Karabakh The Situation in Nagorno-Karabakh

Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, conflict broke out between the former Soviet republics of Armenia and Azerbaijan over the Nagorno-Karabakh region. Although Nagorno-Karabakh was officially part of Azerbaijan, it was largely populated by ethnic Armenians who broke away from Azerbaijan with the support of the Armenian government. A Russian-brokered ceasefire proved only marginally effective and armed clashes between Azerbaijan and Armenia over Nagorno-Karabakh continued for the next thirty years.

On 19 September 2023, Azerbaijan launched what it described as “local counter-terrorism activities” against Nagorno-Karabakh. In a meeting of the Security Council, Azerbaijan claimed it was responding to continued Armenian support for Nagorno-Karabakh and the death of Azerbaijani police in explosions placed by pro-Armenian forces. Armenia denied the accusations, blaming Azerbaijan for blockading the region. The blockades helped Azerbaijan’s army quickly and easily defeat Armenian forces and take control of Armenian positions in Nagorno-Karabakh. On 21 September Armenia accepted Azerbaijan’s demands to disarm the local Nagorno-Karabakh forces and agreed to the integration of Nagorno-Karabakh into Azerbaijan on 1 January 2024. Following the Azerbaijani victory, Azerbaijan announced it wished to integrate the ethnic Armenians living in Nagorno-Karabakh into Azerbaijan as “equal citizens”. However, due to the history between Armenia and Azerbaijan and claims of ethnic cleansing in the 1990s, approximately 120,000 ethnic Armenians—almost the entire population of Nagorno-Karabakh—left for Armenia. A multiple-UN-Agency team sent to the region shortly after the conflict reported it saw no damage to civilian infrastructure and did not come across any reports of violence toward civilians following the ceasefire. Despite the assistance provided by the United Nations, the Armenian government has been struggling to support the refugees from Nagorno-Karabakh and has faced major protests and demonstrations over its conciliatory approach to peace talks with Azerbaijan.

Since the conflict, progress toward a formal peace agreement remains slow. In December 2023, Armenia and Azerbaijan agreed to a prisoner exchange and for the first time issued a joint statement without a third party serving as mediator. However, major issues remain unsettled including transportation links between Azerbaijan and its territorial enclave of Nakhchivan inside Armenia and disputes over which maps to use for drawing the final border. Despite the ongoing peace talks, Armenia and Azerbaijani forces have exchanged gunfire across the border, resulting in four dead Armenian soldiers in February 2024. In March 2024 Armenia agreed to hand over four villages to Azerbaijan. The Armenian government said it had hoped to include the villages in a territorial exchange for Armenian villages under Azerbaijani control. However, the Armenian government said Azerbaijan refused the proposed exchange, and Armenia decided to hand over the villages to avoid war. In April 2024 the Russian government announced it would remove all of its peacekeepers—approximately 2,000 soldiers—from Nagorno-Karabakh. The withdrawal of Russian peacekeepers is seen as a response to Armenia increasingly looking to the United States and the European Union for support, rather than its traditional ally Russia.

Bibliography

United Nations Documents

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The Situation in Ukraine The Situation in Ukraine

In 2014 the Russian Federation gained control of the Crimea peninsula in Ukraine, an action that sparked conflict between the two countries which has extended to the present day. In 2020 Ukraine began negotiations with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) to eventually become a member state. The Russian Federation warned Ukraine not to attempt building further alliances with NATO, but Ukraine continued to pursue new relationships. In February 2022 the Russian Federation invaded eastern Ukraine under the justification of protecting the national security of the Russian Federation against the new allies Ukraine had acquired. Fighting in numerous regions in Eastern Ukraine began and still continues today.

The Security Council has discussed the situation in Ukraine many times. However, a resolution has not passed. Previously, only one draft was brought to the floor, but it failed due to a veto from the Russian Federation. The maintenance of international peace and security in Ukraine has been on the agenda and discussed in session every month in 2024. In the February debrief, it was noted that there has been a trend of increase in violence compared to the end of 2023.

Bibliography

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The Situation in the South China Sea The Situation in the South China Sea

Since the 1970s, China, Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam have pressed competing territorial claims on islands and waters in the South China Sea, with China pressing the most expansive claims. Although the islands themselves—principally the Spratly and Paracel Islands and the Scarborough Shoal—are small and largely uninhabited, it is believed the region has substantial oil and natural gas reserves, along with productive fishing areas and heavily used shipping lanes. In 2002 China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which includes those countries with competing territorial claims in the South China Sea, signed the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea. In the Declaration, the parties pledged to abide by the United Nations Charter and international laws to promote peace and stability in the region.

In 2013 the Philippines began international arbitration proceedings against China regarding the status of islands in the South China Sea, claiming China unlawfully interfered inside the Philippine Exclusive Economic Zone. In 2016 the arbitration court ruled in favor of the Philippines. However, the Chinese government declined to acknowledge the ruling and continued to press its territorial claims in the South China Sea, known as the “Nine-Dash Line,” citing historic rights to the area. Regional negotiations on the topic are stalled, as China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations are divided and China has signaled its preference for bilateral negotiations with individual countries.

China’s choice to ignore the arbitration court’s ruling and stalled regional negotiations have led to increased military tensions between China and the Philippines, especially in regard to the Second Thomas Shoal. China claims territorial rights over the Second Thomas Shoal, citing its location within the “Nine-Dash Line”; where, in an earlier dispute over the area during the late 1990’s, the Philippines intentionally grounded a transport ship, the BRP Sierra Madre, to strengthen the Philippine territorial claims to the area. In recent years, the Philippine government has accused the Chinese government of taking aggressive actions to press its territorial claims. Journalists invited onto ships by the Philippine government have documented Chinese coast guard ships using water cannons and near-collisions to deter Philippine vessels attempting to resupply the soldiers stationed on the BRP Sierra Madre. In April 2024, the United States of America, the Philippines and France announced they would hold joint military exercises in the region, focusing on retaking small islands.

Bibliography

 

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