Chaos was the reigning factor at the end of the third unmoderated caucus in the DISEC committee of the IISPMUN. The cause? A no-holds-barred debate between 8 countries with 4 delegates for and four delegates against the topic of Private Military Companies (PMCs).
The third session of the Disarmament and International Security Committee (DISEC) was dominated by a debate between 8 countries regarding the legality and morality of Private Military Companies and their operatives. To kick off the debate, Philippines and Turkey began to exchange words, with Turkey mentioning the specialization and improved training of forces that were trained through private contractors.
Philippines fired back citing atrocities like sexual abuse and torture, and bringing to attention the sexual abuse of a 11 year old girl at the hands of 6 American soldiers in Iraq. The vice chair also involved himself in the debate in order to bring more points to light. The vice chair’s involvement made an instant impact, citing the usage of private militias by the United Kingdom in the 2003 Iraq War, as a counterpoint to the UK’s seemingly hypocritical stance on the topic.
The agenda of the debate then turned to generalization. Questions were posed on whether all violence in countries can be pinned on a PMC and how it can’t be proven that these soldiers were acting in self defense as a means of combating violent resistance.
The debate then became an argument between Nigeria and Philippines regarding the high population of terrorist groups in Nigeria and the inability of the local government and the local militia to combat these terrorists and how it impacts the safety and security of the Nigerian Government and its citizens. The delegate of Nigeria fiercely advocated for PMCs in countries that lack the stability and resources necessary to maintain peace in the country. This was further backed up through an example given of Iraq and whether it had the ability to govern itself in 2003.
In other DISEC news throughout the day, tensions flared between Pakistan and Nigeria with both countries seemingly forming and then breaking an alliance, only to form the alliance again. The delegate of Saudi Arabia also called out Yemen and Iraq in their GSL speech for attacking the oil reserves of Saudi Arabia. There were also many surprising alliances.
One of the more surprising alliances was the proposed alliance with India by China on the grounds that they both saw ‘eye to eye’ and held similar views on the regulation of PMCs. Another surprising alliance was the bloc between the United States and the United Kingdom. Tensions ran high when Canada pointed out that Russia was in violation of the Montreux document. A document created to monitor and regulate the usage of private militias. A very interesting and action-filled day 1 of the IISPMUN with tensions flaring in the DISEC committee and many surprising alliances formed. There is incredible anticipation for what follows on day two.
