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3. Should Bashar al-Assad be recommended to the international Criminal Court? 4. Is armed intervention a feasible and effective approach? 5. How does the Security Council plan to coordinate with other united Nations agencies to address this issue, and what other resources does it intend to employ? 6. How will the Security Council continue to engage foreign ministries of Syria’s neighboring countries, which have become embroiled in the violence? Suggestions for Further Research Please note that this background guide is intended to serve as a comprehensive overview of the crisis in Syria, and by no means are its contents exhaustive. I have outlined major sources of tension in the conflict, which you should use as a springboard for further research that directly engages your delegation’s stake in Syria’s political development and peace process. Moreover, as this topic is highly current, I would recommend reading reliable news media (BBC News, Al Jazeera, CNN, United Nations Press Releases from both the Security Council and Human Rights Council) to stay updated on evolving dimensions of the conflict. However, as you approach these valuable resources, please be especially attentive to issues of objectivity. Al-Jazeera, for instance, is a Qatari-owned television network, and the Gulf states have been especially vocal in their opposition to Assad and his regime. thus, in your research, you should always be asking yourself who the source is and whether it presents a uniquely motivated stance that needs to be taken into account during debate. For additional reading, i would suggest the following recently published texts: • Revolt in Syria: eye-witness to the uprising by Stephen Starr (2012) for firsthand testimony from a cross-section of Syrian society affected by the violent conflict and citizens’ varied political beliefs • The Syrian Rebellion by Fouad Ajami (2012) for a historical perspective on the rebellion and a comparison between the reigns of Bashar al- Assad and his father Hafez al-Assad • The Battle for the Arab Spring: revolution, counter-revolution, and the making of a new era by Lin Noueihed and Alex Warren (2012) for discussion of the challenges many Arab nations confront as they attempt to build sustainable democratic institutions, tackle political Islam, and compete economically on the international stage Topic B: The Situation in Mali Northern Mali has served as the site of a violent separatist insurgency since January 2012. Following a coup d’état that ousted President Amadou Tomani and bred considerable political instability in its immediate aftermath, the once-nomadic Tuareg rebels claimed control of Northern Mali with the help of their organization, the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA). The MNLA subsequently declared Azawad’s formal independence from Mali. Notably, the United Nations Security Council condemned the coup, along with many other international diplomatic bodies. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), for instance, suspended Mali’s membership and imposed sanctions against the country. eCOWAS also presided over negotiations that stipulated that both Tomani and the leader of the interim government would resign, sanctions would be removed, rebels would be granted amnesty, and power would be transferred to the National Assembly of Mali, led by its Speaker dioncounda traore. However, renewed offensives have seen armed groups loot massive amounts of food from the World Food Programme’s warehouses in several parts of Northern Mali, which caused the WFP to cease its operations there at the start of April. thus the violent insurgency has not only crafted a landscape rife with political uncertainty but also highlighted a critical humanitarian dimension of the conflict for the Council’s immediate attention. Historical Background the tuaregs (or so-called Blue Men of desert because of the indigo dye coloring their traditional clothes) are a pastoral nomadic people who occupy a large portion of the land in the Sahara and the Sahel— 22 Melbourne Host Directorate PTY LTD | Office of Media and Design
anging from Libya to the northern part of Niger to southern Algeria to northern Mali and to Burkina Faso. Mali is home to roughly one million of this region’s Tuareg population, which totals anywhere between two to three million. 132 The Tuareg can be further divided into regional groups such as the Kel Adrar (Kidal in Mali), Iwellemeden (West Niger), and Kel Owey (Air in north central Niger). 133 Geographic distribution of Tuareg peoples in the Sahara and Sahel regions of northern Africa. throughout post-colonial history, the Malian Tuaregs have experienced marginalization by state policies of modernization and sedentarization. Following the appropriation of dune rangelands for cultivation by sedentary farmers, the pastoral Tuaregs were displaced to lands of poorer biological productivity. 134 Historical tensions between the Tuaregs and the Malian government have catalyzed three major rebellions in the country’s recent history, outside of the present ongoing conflict—in 1962- 1964, 1990-1995, and 2007-2009. 135 Decolonization and Birth of the Malian Republic French West Africa (L’Afrique-Occidentale Françaises, AOF) experienced decolonization largely due to the outcomes of World War ii. Charles de Gaulle thereafter pledged to give France’s colonial subjects a stronger voice in the broader French political arena. 136 By October 26, French Sudan—which would eventually become the Republic of Mali—had elected a Constitutional Assembly that went on to draft a new Constitution allowing political parties. 137 the creation of the Republique Soudainaise in 1958 dissolved the AOF. By February 1959, French Sudan and Senegal had together formed the francophone Mali Federation. 138 However, disagreements regarding the political future of this Federation led the Republique Soudainaise to declare its independence from the Mali Federation, under the new (and current) name of the Republic of Mali on 22 September 1960. 139 Despite the Malian Republic’s proclamation of its independence in September of 1960, “both the state and the Malian nation had yet to be created.” 140 The new country faced a weak infrastructure and lacked a professionally trained population devoted to industry. Moreover, at this time, the Malian political elite constructed the Malian national identity around Mali’s largest ethnic groups, the Mande and Bambara, to the notable exclusion of the Tamasheq-speaking Tuaregs. To compound this tension, the Kel Tamasheq and other minority groups such as the Moors also did not see themselves as Malian. 141 this early identity distinction would lay the historical groundwork for future sentiments of marginalization among the Tuaregs. Furthermore, because the idea of a Malian nation was not yet significantly entrenched in the minds of the country’s citizens, the government’s early treatment of the tuaregs would shape the Tuareg minority’s conception of and allegiance to the Malian nation-state. The First Tuareg Rebellion, 1962-1964 The First Tuareg Rebellion, also known as the Alfellaga, occurred shortly after Mali gained independence. Already disenchanted with their position in the new Malian state, the Tuaregs began to imagine their own state, made up of the tuaregpopulated territories of northern Mali, northern Niger, and southern Algeria, called Azawad. 142 tuaregs at this time felt that they were acutely and disproportionately plagued by early post-colonial Mali’s economic struggles and the oversight of a government administration that was not sympathetic towards Tuaregs’ pastoral culture compared to that of other sedentary farming groups in Mali. 143 For some especially dissatisfied Tuareg leaders, the state’s efforts at modernization became synonymous with land dispossession. Furthermore, the disappointing economic realities of the early 1960s in Mali appeared in direct contrast to the optimistic rhetoric routinely 23 Melbourne Host Directorate PTY LTD | Office of Media and Design
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Page 9 and 10: and civil society could take root.
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Page 39 and 40: 222 Chester, Penelope. “Mali: Imm
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