Understanding the UN Security Council and its role

Background of the UN Security Council

Background:

As the international community was creating the United Nations (UN) in the aftermath of WWII it was determined that there should be a dedicated apparatus, or body, that would work exclusively to try and resolve conflict in the international arena in the hopes of preventing another major conflict. That body would become known as the UN Security Council. While the Security Council (SC) is only one branch of the UN, it is one of the most powerful branches and has one of the largest responsibilities: preventing international conflict. It is also recognized as one of the most powerful international bodies.

Typically, the Security Council is used to prevent major conflict or to ensure the safety of people living within a conflict zone. Disarmament of nuclear and chemical weapons, economic sanctions, direct military intervention, enforcement of international law and more are a sample of some of the tools that the SC uses to try and maintain order. However, the SC is often not a smoothly-running apparatus. Oftentimes their ability to take action is slowed by a heavy bureaucratic structure that tends to lead to inaction. Furthermore, the use of the veto by the permanent members can often lead to gridlock and indecisiveness. Unfortunately, when it comes to conflict, inaction and indecisiveness often leads to more conflict and loss of life.

As the Security Council has aged it has modernized its mandate to include more diverse sets of conflicts as opposed to just interstate and intrastate warfare. For instance, the council has debated how to address the prevalence of the drug trade in some third world countries. It was determined that some government and non-government actors were using profits from international drug rings to finance violent acts against other governments or against their own populations. There has been much debate about the success of these endeavours, but it demonstrates the more modern dimensions of international conflict.

So far, you’ve been collecting valuable information to use in your debate: you are familiarizing yourself with information about your respective countries and you’ve collected information about North Korea, who is the subject of our resolutions. The final phase is to begin planning your strategy for the debate by synthesizing your knowledge of your country, your knowledge about North Korea, the knowledge that you’ve gained from class and, finally, your knowledge of the UN Security Council.

For this step, your group will work towards two goals: clearly familiarizing yourself with the structure, rules and function of the United Nations Security Council and familiarizing yourself with the principles of intervention and whether they should be applied to our specific scenario. You must also keep in mind that at this stage of the project you should be thinking in the perspective of your respective countries. More specifically, you will be indicating which, if any, Resolutions your group will be supporting. Your mark will depend on the persuasiveness of the argument presented in your essay and at the debate.

Some countries are heavily in favour of intervention and others are incredibly opposed to the idea of intervention. You must be able to determine whether your country, broadly speaking, supports intervention or not. If you are having trouble determining whether or not your country would support intervention, which can happen with some of the smaller/more isolated countries, then please come and see me and I will provide you with direction.  

In comparison to the previous papers, which placed a heavy emphasis on collecting information and analyzing it, this paper will require insight and some abstract thinking. That being said, do not leave it until the last minute. Such a mistake will not only affect this paper, but also your performance in the debate.

Your Task:

The first 2 papers are about providing an explanation of the UN Security Council, what it is responsible for, whom it is comprised of, and anything else that may be of interest or relevant. The final papers are about North Korea, the threat it presents to the international community, and the manner by which it treats its population.

• Part 3 (A persuasive essay):3 Pages Minimum
  • Conduct a Threat Assessmentof North Korea.
    • Severe threat, Significant threat, Moderate threat, Low threat, No threat
  • There is MUCH information on this. Pick a position based on the findings of your research, state your position, and defend it using proper academic information.

Format:

Like all essays, you should follow the GAS Style Guide.

• A title page (Including: Title, Name, Date, Course Code, Prof Name)
• A clearly defined thesis statement outlining what you’re going to do and how you’re going to do it
• Properly formatted (Indentation, Double Spaced, Numbered Pages, Etc.) as indicated in the GAS Style Guide
• Spelling and Grammar Count!
• Times New Roman Font- Size 11 or 12
• Proper Margins
• Proper References: APA consistent throughout the paper
  • Any paper that does not have in-text citations will not be accepted and assigned a 20% late penalty
  • If you have ANY concerns about your referencing, then please contact me and we can sort it out!
  • You must use at least 4 academic sources
• Proper conclusion
• Bibliography page
  • Any paper not including a bibliography will be returned and assigned a 20% late penalty.
• Length of the paper must be a minimumof 3 full pages, not including cover page or bibliography

Consult the grading rubric found in the Course Information section of Brightspace for a description of how the essay will be graded.

 This assignment is worth a total of 30 marks, and 10% of your final grade.