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Ending U.S. Arms Sales to Saudi Arabia and the Russia Pivot

Hey delegates! As a follow up to my earlier post about U.S. military aid to Saudi Arabia, I want to bring up some analysis of the implications of the U.S. ending its arms sales to Saudi Arabia. As previously established, the U.S. is one of the greatest contributors of military aid to Saudi Arabia, primarily in the form of selling weapons, aircrafts, spare parts, and more. This has primarily been used to fuel the current war and humanitarian catastrophe in Yemen, with 15 million on the brink of famine. But what would happen if the U.S. were to put a stop to this sale of arms? For one, Derek Chollet of Foreign Policy writes in November that ending arms sales would make Saudi Arabia pivot away from the United States and establish a stronger alliance with Russia, who would step in and supply them with weapons. This pivot to Russia would be very problematic for 2 main reasons. First, rather than continue to mediate peace talks as the U.S. is pursuing, Chollet continues that without t
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Critical Infrastructure

In discussions of cyberattacks, one of the most widely-used terms is "critical infrastructure"--infrastructure that is integral in society's functioning. For example, consider the energy grid. If the power in a large city were to go out for an extended period of time, it would impact hospitals and emergency services. In the winter, a lack of heat can be life-threatening in cold areas. In fact, attacks against power grids have already begun--Russia, for example, hacked Ukraine's power grid in 2015, shutting off the power in Kiev, Ukraine's capital. Although the attacks only lasted a few hours, they demonstrated the potential of hacks against critical infrastructure and the need for strong cyber-protection ( More information on the Russia-Ukraine hack .). Other kinds of critical infrastructure include: Communications Chemicals Critical Manufacturing Dams Defense Bases Food and Agriculture Emergency Services Financial Services Healthcare Transporta
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Venezuela ft U.S. Military Aid

Hi Delegates, As you must be aware, Venezuela has been in a crisis since 2016. One that has led to hyperinflation and political unrests to mention a few. Russia has been reported to provide military aid to the incumbent government. The following article is about the recent move by the US Military to ensure things don't spiral out of control for Venezuela and the rest of the world. A couple of things to note: - Venezuela is neighbors with Colombia which happens to be country the US has been trying to keep in check due to its drug trafficking history to the U.S. - Venezuela has twice as the number of generals and ranking army officers as the U.S military. As you read this article, I would for you to think of ways this new move by the U.S. military could protect the people of Venezuela or exacerbate the crisis in the South American region. Think about what this means in terms of U.S. - Russia relationship as well. Link: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/16/world/americas
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Importance of U.S Foreign Aid

Hey Delegates, This article relates to the foreign aid that the US gives to its allies and those countries in need. In 2017, the Trump Administration proposed a 28% cut in spending for the USAID. Is this cut warranted or unfeasible? What is the importance of military aid? Many politicians have been known to favor aid, and think it is important as it helps to foster "economic growth and democratization". But then why is it the case that the US government is looking to cut aid spending? The article takes a look into specific examples and talks about how the US could benefit from these cuts, or could be putting itself and its credibility in danger. Here is the link: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2017/07/19/theres-another-big-reason-u-s-foreign-aid-is-important-it-helps-us-get-what-we-want/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.1692491fd369
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Is Cyberterrorism = Terrorism?

Hi Delegates! Hope your research is coming along well. In today's post, I wanted to shed light on the topic of cyber terrorism and how seriously they are considered as threats. If you can recall from the topic synopsis, it was stated that the UN still does not have a proper definition for cyberterrorism and hence why it is so imperative to discuss these issues. In an article released late last year by BBC, it was stated that the UK considers a cyber-security threat as serious as general terrorism, especially after the 600 cyber attacks that required a national response within the last year. This included the attack on the NHS in May last year that resulted in the disrupted hospital and GP appointments. So the real question is this - should every country link cyber-terrorism to the same threat level as general terrorism? Why or why not? Would it help open up the discussion on cyber terrorism? Here is the link to the article: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-41547478 Give it a
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US Military Aid to Saudi Arabia

Hey delegates! The argument I'd like to present to you today concerns U.S. military aid to Saudi Arabia. As you all know, in 2015, a Saudi-led coalition intervened in Yemen's civil war, and since then, the war has devolved into a humanitarian catastrophe. Unfortunately, the US has played a major role in this disaster. According to the LA Times in June, US weaponry is behind all 17,000 airstrikes carried out by the Saudi-led coalition. While this is problematic, it is not the focus of the article I'd like everyone to read today. The article I want you all to take a look at is written by Professor Mohamad Bazzi of NYU in September, who writes that instead of using arms sales as leverage, the U.S. has provided unconditional support for Saudi actions, eliminating any incentive to negotiate or prevent civilian casualties. As a result, the U.S. has implicitly emboldened war-hawk politicians in the Saudi government to pursue more militaristic policies instead of diplomatic o
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Inequality in the Distribution of Military Aid

Hey delegates! As it gets closer to conference, it is very important that everyone begins to consolidate ideas and grasp a good understanding of certain aspects of the topics. For the topic of military aid, one aspect that we would urge you all to pay attention to is how countries distribute military aid. For example, as noted in our topic synopsis, the regional distribution of US aid is highly disproportionate - over half of aid goes to the Middle East, while equally tumultuous regions in Africa get less than 25 percent. We want delegates to think about the explanation for this unequal distribution of military aid, not just from the US, but from many other countries as well. In addition, I urge everyone to learn about the impacts of this unequal distribution for the regions that receive less attention. A pretty significant example of this is the famine in Somalia that peaked in 2017 and is still ongoing. The article I would like to present to you today is published by Al Ja
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