North Model United Nations Conference

April 9, 2016

A Background Guide for the

Disarmament and International

Security Committee

DISEC

Alan Xu SECRETARY-GENERAL

Janavi Janakiraman DIRECTOR-GENERAL

Sunny Nikam DIRECTOR-GENERAL

Dillon Sumanthiran UNDER-SECRETARY-GENERAL OF

FINANCIAL AFFAIRS

Miriam Li UNDER-SECRETARY-GENERAL OF

COMMUNICATIONS

Aasha Shaik UNDER-SECRETARY-GENERAL OF

SPECIAL OPERATIONS

Shreekumar Kale UNDER-SECRETARY-GENERAL OF

LOGISTICS

Amar Desai HEAD DELEGATE

Ryan Zhang HEAD DELEGATE

West Windsor-Plainsboro HS

North

90 Grovers Mill Rd.

Plainsboro, NJ 08536

Email: inquiry@northmunc.com

www.NorthMUNC.com

North Model United Nations Conference 2016

A LETTER FROM THE CHAIR

Hello NorthMunc Delegates!

My name is Miriam Li; I am a senior this year at North and am very excited for

NorthMUNC. I am the Under Secretary General of Communications for North

MUN and will be one of your chairs for NorthMUNC’s DISEC

Committee. Outside of MUN I am also the President of North Model Congress

and play the oboe in High School North’s Wind Ensemble. In my spare time I

enjoy camping and watching That 70’s Show.

I’d also like to briefly introduce our staff-members. Hamza Mustafa is a junior

at North and has been in North MUN since his freshman year. Hamza also plays

tennis and volunteers for the Trenton Soup Kitchen. Tarun Bommakanti has also

been in North MUN since his freshman year, and enjoys playing the violin when

he’s not doing MUN.

The topic for our committee will be the crime-terror-nexus. We picked this topic

because we thought it would not only be challenging and interesting, but also

complex enough so that delegates could introduce creative solutions and have

more lively debate on the issue. We encourage you to go beyond the scope of

what is introduced in the background guide during your research, and make sure

to reach out to us if you have any questions about the committee! I’m looking

forward to meeting you all and to a great conference.

Sincerely,

Miriam Li

Chair

General Assembly: DISEC

Alan Xu SECRETARY-GENERAL

Janavi Janakiraman DIRECTOR-GENERAL

Sunny Nikam DIRECTOR-GENERAL

Dillon Sumanthiran UNDER-SECRETARY-GENERAL OF

FINANCIAL AFFAIRS

Miriam Li UNDER-SECRETARY-GENERAL OF

COMMUNICATIONS

Aasha Shaik UNDER-SECRETARY-GENERAL OF

SPECIAL OPERATIONS

Shreekumar Kale UNDER-SECRETARY-GENERAL OF

LOGISTICS

Amar Desai HEAD DELEGATE

Ryan Zhang HEAD DELEGATE

West Windsor-Plainsboro HS

North

90 Grovers Mill Rd.

Plainsboro, NJ 08536

Email: inquiry@northmunc.com

www.NorthMUNC.com

North Model United Nations Conference 2016

A LETTER FROM THE MODERATOR

Hey Delegates!

My name is Amar Desai and I am very excited to be your moderator for the

DISEC committee at the very first NORTHMUNC. DISEC is the classic MUN

committee, and I look forward to seeing the great resolutions, speeches, and

delegates that this committee has to offer.

Before I get into what I expect out of delegates and how to prepare for this

committee, let me tell you about myself. I am currently a junior at West Windsor-

Plainsboro High School North and the Head Delegate of our Model UN team.

Model UN has been one of my favorite activities in high school, and I typically

take large committees like DISEC, so I hope I can use that experience to make

this committee run smoother. Outside of Model UN, I love playing

tennis, researching new breakthroughs in the field of medicine, and participating

in other activities and clubs in my school like Student Council or Relay for Life.

Some of my hobbies include biking with friends and working on my table tennis

game.

This year in DISEC we will be discussing a rather involved topic, the Crime-

Terror Nexus. More than ever, the connection between organized crime and

terrorism is present in our international community today, and with a plethora of

problems to solve this topic will allow delegates to form diverse solutions. In

terms of what I look for in a delegate, a good delegate is someone that takes an

initiative to change the direction of committee. With a topic as open and

complicated as this, I assure you that you will have several opportunities to sway

the committee in a certain direction, and I will be very attentive as to which

delegates change the movement of committee and revitalize certain aspects of the

problem.

On that note, I believe it is equally important for someone to be a leader in terms

of the “back-room” aspect of MUN, and I look favorably upon delegates that can

lead their blocs to concise and purposeful resolutions in a diplomatic and gracious

manner. If you guys have any questions about Model UN, the committee, or just

want to introduce yourself, please feel free to contact me at

amardesai95@gmail.com. I am very excited to meet you all in April and I can’t

wait to see what this committee has to offer.

Sincerely,

Amar Desai

Moderator

General Assembly: DISEC

1 North Model United Nations Conference 2016

Committee Introduction:

DISEC, the First Committee of the General

Assembly, has historically been assigned topics

of international security and disarmament.

Formed in 1945, DISEC has served as a forum

for the international community to debate issues

pertaining to creating and maintaining global

security. Since its inception, DISEC has dealt

with threats to international security in regions

all over the world, most notably in the Middle

East and Sub-Saharan Africa. Moreover,

negotiations in the First Committee have led to

the creation of nearly all international treaties

regarding disarmament such as the Nuclear Non-

Proliferation Treaty and the Chemical Weapons

Convention.

This committee serves to take measures

necessary for the prevention and reduction of

international hostilities and conflict on matters

that are not already discussed by the United

Nations Security Council. DISEC has also

played a critical role in promoting the global

effort for disarmament of both conventional

weapons and weapons of mass destruction and in

facilitating international peace and security.

While the various studies initiated by DISEC

have been invaluable to the Security Council for

its continued operations, DISEC’s main

contributions to preserving and creating global

security are its numerous recommendations for

peacekeeping missions to the UN Security

Council. Starting in 1948, the first peacekeeping

efforts in Israel and the Middle-East have

worked to monitor ceasefires, supervise

armistice agreements, and prevent isolated

incidents from escalating within the region.

Since then, the Security Council has authorized

over sixty peacekeeping missions, the vast

majority of these missions having first been

recommended by DISEC.

Topic of Discussion: The Crime-Terror

Nexus

Statement of the Issue:

As one of her last acts as Secretary of State,

Hillary Clinton appeared before a Senate Foreign

Relations Committee and stated that Al-Qaeda

is, “not only a terrorist syndicate, it is a criminal

enterprise.” Clinton’s testimony is considered to

be representative of a growing consensus within

the global community that today’s most pressing

security challenges are closely entwined and

interrelated. The intersection of criminal

networks and terrorist organizations can be

separated into three broad categories.

The first of these categories is coexistence;

criminals and terrorists that occupy and operate

in the same geographic regions can form a

symbiotic relationship with each other, garnering

massive influence over large populations. The

second category, cooperation, involves criminal

networks and terrorists who feel that their mutual

interests or views are served and are not

immediately threatened by working together.

The final category is convergence; criminals and

terrorists each engage in behavior that is more

commonly associated with the other. The

connection between organized crime and

terrorism may seem obvious but the nexus

remains blurred, both conceptually and in reality.

Many top security experts agree that there is a

link between organized crime and terrorism, but

what that relationship entails and how these

organizations work with each other is vague and

varies by circumstance. Therefore, greater clarity

about the nexus is critical in order to properly

address the threat that these groups pose.

History of the Issue:

Before and throughout the Cold War, there was

no known significant connection between

organized crime and terrorism. However, the

2 A Background Guide for the Disarmament and International Security Committee

disintegration of the Soviet Union created

conditions that made terrorism operations

extremely difficult to undergo due to a lack of

funding. Thus, terrorist groups started to ally

themselves with organized crime organizations,

a phenomenon that continues today in the 21st

century. The nature of alliances between these

two sects can vary from long-term operations to

short-term assistance.

Alliances include ties established for a variety of

reasons. For instance, one group may be seeking

expert knowledge (i.e. money-laundering,

counterfeiting, or bomb-making) or operational

support (i.e. access to smuggling routes). In one

occasion, Colombian authorities have reported

that the Medellin cocaine cartel (FARC) hired

the ELN (National Liberation Army) to plant car

bombs in 1993 because they did not have the

capabilities to conduct terrorist acts themselves.

Furthermore, FARC has entered into alliances

with criminal groups outside of Colombia,

including Mexican drug trafficking groups.

Although FARC has denied this relationship, US

government officials have reported that FARC

sends cocaine to Mexico in return for arms.

In addition to straightforward alliances that deal

with provision of specific resources, alliances

have been formed on other more complicated

needs. Commonly cited alliances typically

involve “narco-terrorism”, which involves the

international drug trade. This is best exemplified

by international smuggling operations that move

various commodities including illicit narcotics,

weapons, and human cargo between countries

and continents. For example, the Islamic

Movement of Uzbekistan entered into a strategic

relationship with the Afghan drug mafia and

Central Asian criminal groups to ensure that

shipments of heroin could be safely transported

between Afghanistan and the Russian

Federation. There are also numerous reports

suggesting that militants linked to Al Qaeda have

established connections with Bosnian criminal

organizations to establish a route for trafficking

Afghan heroin into Europe via the Balkans. The

Pakistan-based Indian criminal organization, D-

Company, led by Dawood Ibrahim, has

established relations with numerous terrorist

groups including Al Qaeda, the LTTE, and

Lashkar e-Tayyaba. Furthermore, it is also

believed that criminal networks in southern

Thailand have smuggled small arms into Sri

Lanka and the Indonesian conflict zones of

Aceh, Sulawesi and Maluku with the specific

intent of arming terrorist groups. Despite

evidence of connections between criminal and

terrorist organizations dating back to the Cold

War, the issue was not actively debated and

addressed through policy creation until the late

20th century.

Following the September 11th attacks in New

York City, several countries including the United

States enacted measures in the war of

counterterrorism specifically targeted at

diminishing the alliances between criminal and

terrorist groups. These measures included

blocking financial assets of informal banking

entities, and financially crippling non-

governmental organizations that supported

terrorist organizations. The evaporation of

funding encouraged these organizations to turn

to narco-terrorist acts and pair up with

transnational organizations to obtain assets

beneficial to both groups, further exacerbating

the issue. Thus, DISEC is tasked with addressing

the growing threat of the crime-terror nexus and

working towards eliminating the presence of

these organizations.

Relevant International Action

Governments and multilateral organizations

around the world are beginning to recognize that

today’s most pressing security challenges are too

closely connected, transnational and vast to be

confronted either one at a time or confronted

unilaterally. Bureaucratic change is often a slow

3 North Model United Nations Conference 2016

and difficult process, but there are indications

that governments and organizations are taking

steps in the right direction to address the issue.

The United States State Department recently

conducted investigations into large poaching

networks in Africa and their connections with

terrorist syndicates. In late-2012, the State

Department directed U.S. intelligence teams to

start tracking wildlife poachers in Africa and

Asia to ascertain the impact of their activities on

U.S. national security; however, they found that

the al-Qaeda associated, Somalia-based terrorist

group al-Shabab was among the groups using

poaching to fund its activities. The investigation

revealed that poaching was no longer just a crime

committed by small and unorganized groups, but

rather another example of transnational

terrorism’s many sources of funding that

involves sophisticated operations and

technology that can facilitate the movement

through global networks of a ton or more of

contraband at a time. As former Secretary of

State Hillary Clinton said, when poachers have

‘helicopters, night vision goggles, automatic

weapons, which pose a threat to human life as

well as wildlife’, poaching can no longer be

considered just an environmental problem but

part of a wider security agenda.

Figure 1 Somalia’s Shebab militia funded by illegal poaching trade. Digital image. Intelligence Briefs. N.p., 21 May 2015. Web.

As evidence mounts in support of a connection

between organized crime and terrorism,

countries are beginning to integrate their efforts

to fight these issues in unison. Fighting each

issue in isolation has proven to be largely

fruitless, as many countries are realizing after

more than a decade of counterterrorism action

following 9/11. In 2012, the Organization for

Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE)

established a Transnational Threats Department,

which aimed to strengthen coordination and

coherence within Europe on addressing the

interconnected threats of terrorism, organized

crime and narcotics trafficking. In the wake of

the OSCE’s initiative, there have been calls for

the European Union to follow suit, which would

be in line with developments that have already

taken place in the EU’s policy approaches over

the past few years.

The United Nations has taken firm stances on

terrorism and organized crime in the past, but

only recently adopted a resolution

recommending nations investigate and work to

break the tie between the two syndicates. In

September 2006, the General Assembly adopted,

in the form of a resolution and an annexed plan

of action, the United Nations Global Counter

Terrorism strategy. Consisting of a portal for

victims of terrorism, a Counter-Terrorism

Implementation Task Force, and many

international legal instruments, the UN effort to

combat terrorism has been very extensive, but

limited in its impact.

Analysis

Increasing since the end of the Cold War and the

subsequent decline of state sponsorship for

terrorism, organized criminal activities have

become a major revenue source for terrorist

groups worldwide. Building on the precedent set

by narco-terrorism, as it emerged in Latin

America in the 1980s, the use of crime has

become an important factor in the evolution of

4 A Background Guide for the Disarmament and International Security Committee

terrorism. As such, the 1990s can be described as

the decade in which the crime–terror nexus was

consolidated. Generally referring to the

relationship between organized crime and

terrorism, the nexus most commonly applies to

situations in which there are straightforward uses

of crime by terrorist groups as a source of

funding—such the drug trade, or engaging in

credit card fraud. The nexus has also been used

to relate to the formation of alliances between

criminal and terrorist organizations. These types

of relationships constitute the major components

of the nexus, as it currently exists; however the

relationship between organized crime and

terrorism has evolved into something more

complex.

As depicted in the chart above, organized crime

and terrorism exist on the same plane, and thus

are theoretically capable of converging at a

central point. Organized crime is situated on the

far left, with traditional terrorism situated on the

far right—each holding distinct and separate

positions. At the fulcrum of the continuum lies

the point of ‘convergence’, where a single entity

simultaneously exhibits criminal and terrorist

characteristics. In assessing the various

relationships that have developed between

criminally and politically motivated groups, it is

important to consider the context and the

particular motivations of each group involved.

In the middle of the chart lies perhaps the most

volatile and dangerous situation in which a

symbiotic relationship between crime and terror

could flourish. This section of the crime–terror

continuum specifically refers to the situations in

which weak or failed states foster the

convergence between transnational organized

crime and terrorism, and ultimately create a safe

haven for the continued operations of convergent

groups. The ‘black hole’ syndrome encompasses

two situations: first, where the primary

motivations of groups engaged in a civil war

evolves from a focus on political aims to a focus

on criminal aims; second, it refers to the

emergence of a ‘black hole’ state—a state

successfully taken over by a hybrid group

consisting an amalgam of a criminal enterprise

and a terrorist syndicate. One of the most well-

known and relevant examples of this second

scenario is the Islamic State that engages in

crime to finance its campaign of terror and

violence in Syria and Iraq. What these two

scenarios have in common, and the reason why

they perfectly illustrate the most extreme point

(the black hole) along the chart, is that they

reveal the ultimate danger of the convergence

between these two threats: the creation or

promotion of a condition of civil (or regional)

war to secure economic and political power.

States that fall within this category, as a result of

current or past experiences, include Afghanistan,

Angola, Syria, Iraq, Myanmar, North Korea,

Sierra Leone, and Tajikistan. Furthermore, areas

in Pakistan (the Northwest Frontier Province),

Indonesia and Thailand—where government

control is extremely weak—are also in danger of

succumbing to the ‘black hole’ syndrome.

Figure 2 Makarenko, Tamara. The Crime Terror Continuum. Digital image. “The Crime–Terror Continuum: Tracing the Interplay between Transnational Organised Crime and Terrorism”. Routledge, n.d. Web.

5 North Model United Nations Conference 2016

Possible Solutions

The following bullet points are suggestions for

what could be include in a resolution that

addresses the above problems:

Take regional approaches to the

regulation of the drug trade by adapting

resolutions to the specific issues and

standards of the targeted region

Increase international cooperation to

ensure an augmentation in global seizures

of illegally trafficked substances

Support stricter enforcement of

guidelines regulating terrorist actions

within the UN and stronger incentives to

cooperate against narco- terrorist

movements

Work with skilled diplomats to enhance

communication between anti-terroristic

organizations and the UN to achieve

conflict-free resolutions.

Solutions that address the potential for

cooperation between organized crime and

terrorist groups which should lead to

governments and law enforcement

agencies developing assertive and

coordinated counter-strategies.

Bloc Positions

North America/Latin America

Central and South America are primarily

concerned with the violence and lawlessness that

result from the power of interconnected

transnational organizations and drug cartels.

Dating back to1993, The Crime Terror Nexus

has presented itself as a severe issue since

Colombian troops organized threats to the

country with terrorist organizations. Mexico,

Venezuela, and Colombia in particular have

faced a significant strain in illicit drug trade

between their respective nations. Colombia’s

cocaine production has revolutionized its

economy, Venezuelan traffickers have

cooperated with Colombian Liberation forces, in

what is considered a major portion of the Crime

Terror Nexus, and The United States shares a key

smuggling issue with its bordering country,

Mexico. Often times, this drug production is

used as a primary means of economic

domination and support for drug cartels, and as a

result the majority of these drugs are exported to

the United States, for consumption. Thus, these

states should be concerned with limiting the

influence of illicit trade of drugs through

organizations that match the Crime-Terror

Nexus.

Europe

Most E.U. member-states treat militant

Islamist terrorism as the greatest threat to

security. This is reinforced by evidence that

associated terrorist networks operate in most

European countries. Although independent

terrorist cells have been responsible for most

plots uncovered this past decade, the most

serious terrorist plots were organized by cells

that maintained operational connections to larger

networks based outside the E.U. While Europe is

not considered the focal point of the Crime

Terror Nexus, According to OCTA(Overseas

Countries and Territories of the European

Union.), “The Balkan axis, comprising the

Western Balkans and South East Europe, will

assume an even more prominent role in the

trafficking of illicit commodities to E.U.

markets.” Thus, Organized crime groups from

the Balkans continue to play an important role in

the operation and expansion of illicit markets

within the E.U. With projections over European

territories playing an influential role in the Crime

Terror Nexus, European countries should

consider ways to prevent their countries from

obtaining larger terrorist organizations.

Middle East

The Middle East has a very significant

role analogous to Southern and Central Africa.

6 A Background Guide for the Disarmament and International Security Committee

With countries such as Afghanistan producing

high amounts of opium and other illicit drugs,

drug trafficking has become an integral part to

the economy of this region. As a result, the

majority of extremist organizations originate

from the Middle East. The Middle East is

generally governed with weak control measures

over illegal activities. Thus, The Crime Terror

Nexus has been able to evolve within this region

and vastly rich organizations such as ISIS have

formed. Middle Eastern countries should

prioritize controlling illicit drug trades and

containing transit operations, as well as focusing

on law enforcement.

Questions a Resolution Must Answer

How can international intervention be

used in individual regions, such as The

Middle East and Southern America, to

reduce the connections between cartels

and transnational corporations?

How can the effectiveness of current trade

routes as a source of revenue in the

Middle East be stifled?

How specifically can large terrorist

organizations acquaintances within The

Crime Terror Nexus be oppressed and

resisted?

How can illegal drug trafficking be

regulated without interfering with the

necessary and legal medical uses of some

drugs?

Where does the preservation of national

sovereignty lie in the framework of a

solution to counter the crime terror

nexus?

What can be done to address the root

causes of why criminal and terrorist

organizations choose to work in unison?

How can the benefits provided to civilians

by criminal and terrorist organizations be

provided through legal means?

How can the international community

ensure that political stability is restored in

regions where criminal terrorist

syndicates are ousted?

Conclusion

The Crime Terror Nexus presents a prevalent

issue that affects the international community in

several distinct ways. Motive and increased

communication between transnational

organizations and terrorist groups has resulted in

a large scale world crisis. Furthermore, issues

related to the Crime Terror Nexus such as drug

trafficking and economic issues make this issue

even more prevalent. Truly, a solution that will

finally contain and destroy this network will be

one that is built on a multifarious approach; there

is no one main solution to this issue, rather, a

series of solutions that all must be taken for

progress. DISEC is challenged with a

multifaceted problem of making the world safer

while eliminating the proposed problem of the

Crime Terror Nexus.

Helpful Links

http://www.iracm.com/wp-

content/uploads/2013/01/makarenko-global-

crime-5399.pdf

www.ccsenet.org/journal/index.php/ass/article/d

ownload/6218/4894

http://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/articles/12

740/crime-terror-nexus-requires-integrated-

security-approaches

http://www.isn.ethz.ch/Digital-

Library/Articles/Special-

Feature/Detail/?id=152622&contextid774=1526

22&contextid775=152620

http://www.stabilityjournal.org/articles/10.5334

/sta.ea/

7 North Model United Nations Conference 2016

http://www.start.umd.edu/pubs/START_ECDB

_USCrimeTerrorNexusTradeDiversion_Researc

hBrief_Oct2014.pdf

http://jia.sipa.columbia.edu/crime-terrorism-

nexus/

http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17

440572.2014.931227#.VfuHESBViko

www.dtic.mil/cgi-

bin/GetTRDoc?AD=ADA424418

http://www.academia.edu/10181726/The_Failed

_State-Organized_Crime-

Terrorism_Nexus_The_cases_of_Boko_Haram

_and_Al-_Qaeda_in_the_Islamic_Maghreb