Special Political and Decolonization Committee SPECPOL
GROUP: GENERAL ASSEMBLIES
- Topic A: The Use of Private Military Companies
- Topic B: Non-Self-Governing Territories
TOPIC A The Use of Private Military Companies
TOPIC B Non-Self-Governing Territories
DELEGATION SIZE Single
EXECUTIVES
- Viren Maira (he/him)
- Israel Pierre (he/him)
The Special Political and Decolonization Committee (SPECPOL) is the fourth committee of the United Nations General Assembly. It is intended to tackle issues that pertain to decolonization and related political issues. The purpose of this committee is to find solutions to the generational and historically derived impacts of colonialism found throughout the world. This may include but is not limited to exploitation by race, class, gender and more that may be due to the direct actions of countries in the past. The agenda for this session of the SPECPOL will focus on Private Military Companies (PMCs) and Non-Self-Governing Territories (NSGTs) and how to address each issue respectively.
Topic A: The Use of Private Military Companies
Private military companies (PMCs) are entities that are heavily involved in modern warfare. More specifically they often serve to provide supplemental or complementary support to domestic and overseas military operations. Their support roles can range from armed infantry units to logistics support, training, recon, and more. Their versatility makes them very appealing to many national governments in need of extra support and many countries, such as the United States, actively rely on them for modern warfare. However, there are many ways in which these companies are problematic and further global imperialism. One of the major issues with PMCs is that they allow many states to write blank checks, giving them plausible deniability for any actions taken by the PMC. In dealing with this topic, delegates will have to tackle modern issues of the military industrial complex, address the role of force in state building, and suppress continued threats of imperialism throughout various parts of the world. This topic will allow delegates to reimagine how we view the role of armed forces and consider creating new paradigms for international relations.
Topic B: Non-Self-Governing Territories
The UN charter defines a Non-Self-Governing Territory (NSGT) as one “whose people have not yet attained a full measure of self-government.” The UN’s list of existing NSGTs is down to 17 from the original total of 72 and includes territories such as the Cayman Islands, Bermuda, and Guam. Despite the significant progress that the UN has made since the list was created in 1946, there is still much more work that needs to be done for the success of this global decolonization effort. Delegates will be tasked with creating a new framework that allows for NSGTs to eventually gain their independence and prevents the future colonization of overseas territories. In constructing this framework, delegates will be encouraged to consider the political aspirations and varying levels of readiness for independence of each NSGT, while being careful to ensure that newly independent territories are able to find a place on the world stage so that their people can achieve prosperity. Delegates must determine how best to reconcile these issues and more in order for colonialism to finally become a relic of the past.
Committee Members
United States
Afghanistan
Albania
Algeria
Andorra
Angola
Anguilla
Antigua and Barbuda
Argentina
Armenia
Australia
Austria
Azerbaijan
Bahamas
Bahrain
Bangladesh
Barbados
Belarus
Belgium
Belize
Benin
Bhutan
Bolivia, Plurinational State of
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Botswana
Brazil
Brunei Darussalam
Bulgaria
Burkina Faso
Burundi
Cambodia
Cameroon
Canada
Cape Verde
Central African Republic
Chad
Chile
China
Colombia
Comoros
Congo
Congo, the Democratic Republic of the
Costa Rica
Cote d'Ivoire
Croatia
Cuba
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Denmark
Djibouti
Dominica
Dominican Republic
Ecuador
Egypt
El Salvador
Equatorial Guinea
Eritrea
Estonia
Ethiopia
Fiji
Finland
France
Gabon
Gambia
Georgia
Germany
Ghana
Greece
Grenada
Guatemala
Guinea
Guinea-Bissau
Guyana
Haiti
Holy See (Vatican City State)
Honduras
Hungary
Iceland
India
Indonesia
Iran, Islamic Republic of
Iraq
Ireland
Israel
Italy
Jamaica
Japan
Jordan
Kazakhstan
Kenya
Kiribati
Korea, Democratic People's Republic of
Korea, Republic of
Kuwait
Kyrgyzstan
Lao People's Democratic Republic
Latvia
Lebanon
Lesotho
Liberia
Libya
Liechtenstein
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Macedonia, the Former Yugoslav Republic of
Madagascar
Malawi
Malaysia
Maldives
Mali
Malta
Marshall Islands
Mauritania
Mauritius
Mexico
Micronesia, Federated States of
Moldova, Republic of
Monaco
Mongolia
Montenegro
Morocco
Mozambique
Myanmar
Namibia
Nauru
Nepal
Netherlands
New Zealand
Nicaragua
Niger
Nigeria
Norway
Oman
Pakistan
Palau
Peru
Panama
Papua New Guinea
Paraguay
Philippines
Poland
Portugal
Qatar
Romania
Russian Federation
Rwanda
Saint Kitts and Nevis
Saint Lucia
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Samoa
San Marino
Sao Tome and Principe
Saudi Arabia
Senegal
Serbia
Seychelles
Sierra Leone
Singapore
Slovakia
Slovenia
Solomon Islands
Somalia
South Africa
South Sudan
Spain
Sri Lanka
Sudan
Suriname
Swaziland
Sweden
Switzerland
Syrian Arab Republic
Tajikistan
Tanzania, United Republic of
Thailand
Timor-Leste
Togo
Tonga
Trinidad and Tobago
Tunisia
Turkey
Turkmenistan
Tuvalu
Uganda
Ukraine
United Arab Emirates
United Kingdom
Uruguay
Uzbekistan
Vanuatu
Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of
Vietnam
Yemen
Zambia
Zimbabwe