Special Political and Decolonization Committee SPECPOL

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.