ASSOCIATED PRESS
Amid today’s chorus of diverging voices and opinions, came a common consensus amongst delegates in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC): ceasefires play a fundamental part in the establishment of international peace and security. Despite seemingly widespread agreement, the council began to splinter over deciding the trajectory of the discussion.
Confusion was abound as various delegates took a wide gamut of positions; some were in support of interventionist measures whilst others were staunchly opposed to heavy-handed approaches, opting to respect national sovereignty instead. In keeping the dialogue from meandering off-topic, the US delegate asserted himself as the central player in the conversation, drawing the ire of some.
Agreement across-the-board on the importance of ceasefires in global peace and security
In underscoring the urgency for effective ceasefires, delegates from Rwanda, Kenya, Ethiopia, and Columbia shared historical precedents for the loss of human life in their own domestic conflicts, citing the inability to enforce ceasefires as a central reason for the continuation of said conflicts. The delegate of Sudan stated that the aforementioned nations had “valuable insight” to offer to the council -- their tragic pasts serving as solemn reminders.
Overall, all delegates agreed on ceasefires as a pressing issue in need of much discussion, and launched into an 18-minute long unmoderated caucus to further discourse. Most notably, the delegate of China said that “(they) were happy” to coordinate peacekeeping efforts with the US. This comes despite Beijing’s fierce competition with Washington on the world stage, exemplifying the high regard the delegates today held towards the value of human life.
Rifts among Security Council begin to take shape
Although all delegates emphasised that ceasefires were imperative as a step towards safeguarding civilian lives, there was much internal debate regarding the proceedings of the sessions. While the delegate of the US reiterated the necessity of establishing a standardised framework for peacekeeping, the delegate of Mexico questioned the viability of such coercive measures.
“Each country is different , we should take various countries’ contexts into account.”, she quoted, voicing her concerns on the ability of different parties to conclude peace settlements.
Similarly, in response to the US delegate’s suggestion in the immediate imposition of sanctions on belligerent actors as a measure to ensure efficacy of ceasefire agreements, the delegate of Vietnam pointed out that this proposal was “one size fits all”; every country has varying socio-economic, military, and financial conditions -- thus rendering this blanket measure .Substantiating this, the Ethiopian delegate pointed out that one factor fueling the ongoing Tigray Conflict was economic disparity. In this situation, imposing sanctions would only “exacerbate tensions” and cause conflict to spiral further.
US takes a leading role in discussions
During the unmoderated caucus, the US delegate additionally supplemented his peacekeeping strategy proposal, pointing out that there were no current overriding authorities to adjudicate disputes and penalise noncompliance (Sosnowski, 2020). Most of the delegates agreed with this opinion, while the delegate of China expressed his concerns, adducing the “non-interventionist” stance of UNSC as a sticking point.
Throughout the committee session, it seemed apparent that the US delegate exacted influence and control over the discussions, experiencing the most airtime amongst other candidates present. Besides conducting and setting the scope of the discussion, the US delegate was quick to dismiss the Ethiopian delegate’s proposition to allow delegates who took different positions to move to another breakout room.
In general, the meandering discussions made it difficult for the delegates to come to concessions on the specifics of enforcing peacekeeping and ceasefire operations. Notwithstanding the agreements on the immediacy of ceasefire initiatives, the council has yet to come to a concrete conclusion over which approach to take. The Associated Press will continue to deliver reports as the situation develops.