By HERVE TORN BOUGARD

Overseas Family School

Unlike other committees, the Security Council debates an issue clause by clause, coming down to one resolution by the end of the conference. The main difference between the Security Council and other councils is that the security council is able to take military action if required, and therefore does not need to rely on UN peacekeepers. The issues debated by the SC tend to involve terrorism, possible warfare, genocide, and large scale manslaughter (as these tend to be issues which require immediate military action). However, unlike the real UN, the right to veto in MUN tends to be abused by the five permanent members of the security council (the delegates of China, the UK, the US, Russia and France).

     “We use the right to veto as much as possible -we consider it a privilege. For example, the delegate of Russia is probably going to veto any resolutions which involve helping Kosovo from passing,” said Mohammed Omar, delegate of the United Kingdom.

     During this conference, the SC will address four main issues: the rebel forces which are challenging the  government in Haiti, child soldiers in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Taliban terrorists in Afghanistan and finally Kosovo’s independence from Russia. It can be said that the permanent members of the SC have more influence over delegates than others, due to their power to veto. Therefore, resolutions tend to favor these permanent residents, making the debate more challenging for the security council’s delegates of smaller countries.