HISTORIC SECURITY
COUNCIL
2017 TOPICS
Year of Focus - 1991
Gulf War – Iraqi Invasion of Kuwait
Yugoslav Wars
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INTRODUCTION
The Early ‘90s set the basis for international relations through the United Nations that
are continually (or trying to be) upheld by the international community at large. The
policies of Glasnost and Perestroika pushed by Mikhail Gorbachev, as well as his refusal
to stamp out dissent in Poland eventually led to the unraveling of the Union of Soviet
Socialist Republics in December of ‘91. With the Soviet Union backing away from a significant portion of Security Council decisions, and the People's Republic of China not
being overly interested in asserting itself (compared to today) in the Security Councilthe Western contingent of the P5 could essentially push anything they wanted through.
For the 2017 Historic Security Council, we are going to operate under what the Soviet
Union may have acted in the Security Council if a Communist Party hardliner (More Stalinist/Leninist than say Gorbachev) had risen to control of the Soviet Union. As well as
the People’s Republic of China taking a more active role in attempting to lead the Security Council. However, assume no changes to any other country in question unless your
foreign policy is tied to either the USSR, or the PRC.
How would these changes have shaped the ‘90s particularly related to the Iraqi Invasion of Kuwait, and the start of the Yugoslav Wars?
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Gulf War – Iraqi Invasion of Kuwait
Background:
On August 2nd 1990, Iraq invaded Kuwait to punish Kuwait over an argument stemming
from economic issues. Prior to the invasion of Kuwait the two countries were strong allies.
During the Iran-Iraq War, Kuwait was very supportive of Iraq and acted as a major port for
Iraq.
The issue that came between the two countries happened after the Iran-Iraq war ended.
Iraq owed about 14 Billion USD to Kuwait (Which Saddam probably could have paid, but he
bankrupted Iraq during the war, and was massively afraid of a Military Coup because he
wouldn’t have had enough money to pay his soldiers). Iraq asked Kuwait to waive the debt
as a kind payment to Iraq for protecting the Arab world from a Persian invasion. Kuwait
chose not to waive the debt.
Throughout the late ‘80s both countries tried to resolve the outstanding debt to no avail,
and the issue was entirely exacerbated by the big money in Oil Production. Iraq asked fellow OPEC members to reduce the supply of crude oil production to thereby raise prices of
oil to pay back debts.
Kuwait did not agree with this reduction in supply, and asked to increase their crude oil
production by 50%. This move infuriated Iraq, and the Foreign Minister of Iraq Tariq Aziz
said "every US$1 drop in the price of a barrel of oil caused a US$1 billion drop in Iraq's annual revenues triggering an acute financial crisis in Baghdad."
The Historic Security Council will begin this topic after the successful invasion of
Kuwait. It will be your job to try to find a solution, or not (as the case may be).
Research:
Timeline of events – Gulf War
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/gulf/cron/
Operation Desert Storm – 25 years later
https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2016/01/operation-desert-storm-25-years-since-thefirst-gulf-war/424191/
Desert Storm, the Last Classic War
https://www.wsj.com/articles/desert-storm-the-last-classic-war-1438354990
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Moments in U.S. Diplomatic History – Desert Storm
http://adst.org/2013/01/desert-storm-the-war-never-really-ended-part-i/
Looking Back at Desert Storm
http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2016-01-17/from-1991-looking-back-at-desertstorm
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Yugoslav Wars (1991-2001)
Background:
The best historical background for this is contained within the following document
https://www.aph.gov.au/binaries/library/pubs/rp/1995-96/96rp14.pdf I highly suggest you read it
fully to truly appreciate how flagrantly the Security Council failed the people of Yugoslavia. Because
even when the Security Council did finally intervene, they still failed to prevent thousands of
deaths. All in all, the conflict left 140,000 dead, and over 4,000,000 displaced.
The Historic Security Council will begin this topic after the declarations of independence by
Croatia, and Slovenia. It will be your job to try to find a solution, or not (as the case may
be). Unlike the other topic, there is a component of genocide in this conflict that the UN did
not handle well in any fashion in the 1990s, to what extent are your respective governments comfortable with that? Moreover, if a UN peacekeeper mission is proposed- make
sure to include a Rules of Engagement that could prevent another Srebrenica Massacre
Research:
The Fall of Srebrenica and the Failure of UN Peacekeeping
https://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/reports/bosnia1095web.pdf
The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia
http://www.icty.org/en/about/what-former-yugoslavia/conflicts
The Breakup of Yugoslavia
https://history.state.gov/milestones/1989-1992/breakup-yugoslavia
The Bosnian Genocide
http://www.history.com/topics/bosnian-genocide
Bosnia Srebenica United Nations Peacekeeping
https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2015/07/bosnia-srebenica-united-nations-peacekeeping/398078/
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