Note: Due to rapidly changing circumstances in the international community, this session of the UNSC will reflect the global issues of February 2012.
Topic 1: Neutralizing al-Shabaab as an organization in the territories and sea lanes of the Horn of Africa
Topic 2: Ensure the political stability of the Korean Peninsula and maintain the security of North Korea's weapons stockpiles
To all of you, I offer a cordial and warm welcome to 760 United Nations Plaza.
It is imperative that we lay out the main issues which I hope you will all address at the upcoming session. For nearly 20 years, the United Nations has striven to assist the Somali people in establishing a peaceful, unified, and prosperous state. Yet our efforts, however laudable, have met with minimal success and an unacceptable number of casualties. Somalia stands now as a testament to the failure of global cooperation and the horrors of societal anarchy. Beyond the danger this situation poses to the people of Somalia, the country's lawlessness now poses a threat to surrounding nations as well as to the lines of global trade passing around the Horn of Africa. Principle among these emerging threats is Harakat al-Shabaab al-Mujahedeen--whose attacks threaten to unsettle the entire region. It is imperative that the UN work in conjunction with the African Union and with the Somali people to neutralize the operational-capacity of the al-Shabaab network.
Secondly, it is with a weary eye that we turn to the current situation in North Korea. In light of the recent death of Kim Jong-il, the international community must ensure a stable transfer-of-power and maintain the security of the country's weapons stockpiles. On a personal note, Secretary General Ban has asked that, in this time of transition, promoting the prosperity and basic human rights of every North Korean man and women must be of primary importance--and must not be made subservient to political-military calculations. He maintains that this is a singular opportunity to bring peaceful coexistence to a region which has seen more the half-a-century of military tension and superpower competition.
For those representatives newly appointed by your respective governments, my name is Nicholas Bellomy and I will be your facilitator and chairman for the impending session beginning on February 16th. In order to better understand the needs and political mood of the American public, when not serving in New York, I disguise myself as a junior at Georgetown University in Washington, DC, "studying" International Politics and Security Studies with a focus on Chinese-American relations. I have even been known to conduct information-gathering missions on America's agricultural sector by returning to my "home" in Napa Valley, California.
And now to the brains of the operation, Mr. Sam Ungar who will help you manage any global crises that should arise. Like myself, Sam disguises himself as a senior at Georgetown, majoring in Government. Sam commutes to our UN Headquarters from Scotts Plains, New Jersey. And though he is always committed to the international unity embodied in the UN Charter, he does love nothing more than American baseball, apple pie, Nebraska corn-fed beef, and listening to the Star Spangled banner. In a famous quote from Mr. Ungar now enshrined in gold letters over the office of the American delegation: "America, after all, is like my Siamese twin."
I look forward to meeting all of you in person in the coming month.
Respectfully,
Nicholas Bellomy
Chair, United Nations Security Council
NAIMUN XLIX
nmb44@georgetown.edu
