Shanghai Cooperation Organization
Shanghai Cooperation Organization
Dear Delegates of HNMUN 2011,
我欢迎大家参加这次哈佛模拟联合国2011年的上海合作组织。
It is my sincere pleasure to welcome all delegates to the Shanghai Cooperation Organization of Harvard National Model United Nations 2011. My name is Sofia Hou and I will serve as your committee chair during these four days of diplomacy, intrigue, and joviality!
As I am writing this, I am currently a rising sophomore intending to concentrate in economics. I was originally born in Tianjin, China; I immigrated at the age of six to Ottawa, Canada; I went on an exchange program to Germany at the age of sixteen; now I have finally arrived at a new, foreign land called the United States for my college studies. My interests and hobbies include painting, hiking, playing badminton and basketball (despite my vertically challenged self), play instruments, and sleeping –for sleep is such a luxury these days. If you have not yet guessed from the second line of this letter, I love speaking in my mother tongue! Feel free to email me in English, Mandarin, or French!
The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), the counterbalance to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), will not be a conventional committee in the ECOSOC Regional Bodies. First of all, as you all may have noticed, there are only six official members: China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. However, we have decided to add more nations. More importantly, this committee will run in conjunction to NATO–this will be made clearer in the study guide, for the topic areas of debate will be the same. The procedural structure will also be different because you will issue short, frequent communiqués and press releases while you work towards a bigger resolution. Both committees will be in frequent communication and the actions of NATO will affect those of the SCO. You will be forced to respond quickly and effectively while cooperating with the members of both SCO and NATO.
我希望大家能一快合作，达到新的成绩。
Cheers,
Sofia Hou
Director, Shanghai Cooperation Organization
Harvard National Model United Nations 2011
Topic Area A: Terrorism and Global Security
Terrorism. Extremism. Separatism. These are issues at the heart of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. As a result of accelerating globalization, nations today face new threats and challenges with regard to global security. Easy access to communication, information, and transportation allows terrorist and paramilitary organizations to share their strategic moves on one continent while they carry out their operations on another. Member states share one goal: to collaboratively take action against terrorism in Central Asia. The Regional Antiterrorism Structure (RATS) establish in 2004 was just one of the first steps. The SCO has since then expanded its activities to include military cooperation, intelligence sharing, and counterterrorism planning. Multiple joint military exercises, or large-scale war games, were held as counter-terrorist measures. However, many believe that the SCO has evolved a defense alliance system to counterbalance the powers of NATO, in particular the powers of the United States. The U.S. was even rejected when it applied for observer status in 2005. While there are conflicts of interest at play; terrorism and global security are issues that face both the SCO and NATO. As members of the SCO, what is the best method of approach to cooperate with nations of NATO? What are the limits of intelligence sharing? Furthermore, how can one country’s own agenda be reconciled with that of the collective?
Topic Area B: Expansion of the SCO and NATO
As much as military and economic cooperation are crucial values to the SCO, the geopolitical aspect has never really fell short of attention. Control of Eurasian landmass in itself is of utmost importance. Geo-strategist Zbigniew Brzezinski believed that controlling it was the key to global domination. The SCO, recognizing the U.S. and NATO presence, must counterbalance their activities. In fact, the SCO has encouraged western nations such as the U.S. to remove their military presence from its member states. Hence, there is ostensible friction between SCO and NATO states, as both parties attempt to expand beyond existing borders. In the case of Russia, the Russian government does not wish to see any ex-Soviet countries forge closer ties with NATO; this resentment could be seen as a feeling carried over from the Cold War. This expansion even encompasses economic expansion with oil and gas being key resources. In a game of geopolitics, there are landmines wherever one treads.
