Historical Security Council, 1967

Dear Delegates,

It is my distinct pleasure to welcome you to Harvard National Model United Nations 2011 and to the Historical Security Council.  I am thrilled to have the honor of serving as your director for the Security Council of 1967 as we embark on a journey into the history of world peacekeeping in the Mediterranean and the Middle East.

A few words about myself: I was born in Anqing, China but have spent most of my life in Dublin, Ohio. I am now a sophomore at Harvard College planning to concentrate in Chemistry and/or Physics.  I have participated in Model UN since high school, and it has been a large part of my life since then.  Last year, due to my interest in history, I served as an Assistant Director of this very committee, and I am currently serving as Director of Crisis for Harvard Model UN, our sister conference. I also enjoy playing violin for the Harvard’s Mozart Society Orchestra and volunteer teaching at a local elementary school, as well as spending time walking along the beautiful Charles River and wandering into Boston on the weekends.

Our committee this year will revolve around two historical topics that promise to be full of excitement and high tension.  When you step inside the conference room, the year will be 1967 and you, as part of the UN Security Council of the time, will have a grand task before you: to mediate the situations in Cyprus and the Middle East, and to respond to any crises in an effective and timely manner.  The crisis in Cyprus will push us to take decisive action to deal with ethnic tensions on a Mediterranean island governed recently by British rule.  Exploring the ways in which the UN can respond differently before the outbreak of the Six-Day War will lead us to conclusions that could have had drastically different consequences on our current state of world affairs.  This is a time in which the UNSC must struggle with its jurisdiction in world affairs—how much should the UN intervene, and how effective will its actions be?

In the following study guide, I hope to provide a foundation for the questions that we will be addressing in committee.  I urge you to research more into these key moments in history, and to address any questions or concerns you may have to me in the upcoming months.  I look forward to exploring the possibilities of 1967 together, and most of all, to meeting all of you at conference in February!

Sincerely,

Serena Bai
Director, Historical Security Council
Harvard National Model United Nations 2011

Topic Area A: The Cyprus Crisis

Ever since World War II, the island of Cyprus has been under British rule.  When the British departed in 1960, Cyprus established its independence and ran immediately into the major challenge of ethic groups wresting over government control.  The United Nations Security Council adopted in 1964 a resolution to establish the UNFICYP as a regular presence in Cyprus, but as tensions between the Greek and Turkish Cypriots mounted, numerous skirmishes and instances of violence have broken out.

The two ethnic groups are entirely opposed on the question of governmental control and structure—how will they be reconciled?  How will the Security Council react to the actions and conflicting interests of Turkey and Greece, who are both NATO allies and strong influences in the Mediterranean region?  Other NATO members hold some of the seats on the Security Council, and behind closed doors, it is known that Turkey has an important role in countering the activities of the USSR in the Black Sea.  Can the UNSC avoid lapses in internal and international cooperation to bring peace to this island nation?

At this critical and oft-overlooked point in history, you and your fellow delegates will lead the UNSC in mediating ethnic tensions as well as coming to terms with the tensions within this very committee. The fight, the bombs, the ultimatums—what will be the fate of Cyprus as the interests of its stronger neighbors overtake it?  And what will be the role of the UNSC in deciding this fate in a conflict it cannot avoid?

Topic Area B: The Situation in the Middle East

In the aftermath of the Suez Crisis of 1956, the United Nations Emergency Force (UNEF) was deployed to the Middle East to preserve the peace. Though it was originally intended as a temporary peacekeeping force, it quickly settled into the routine of patrolling the Gaza Strip and the international frontier.  After more than a decade, the presence of the UNEF was recognized and expected; its presence, though expensive, was a safeguarding of an uneasy peace, but peace nonetheless.

But in 1964, when the Arab League official declared its intentions to liquidate Israel, the UNEF’s presence was the major roadblock. Egypt Prime Minister Gamal Abdel Nasser simply decided to tell the UNEF to clear out.  A message was conveyed to the head UNEF commander on May 16, 1967, requesting him to leave the buffer zone. The decision is now before the UNSC.  Should the UN withdraw all its forces and influence from a region in which it has kept the peace so long?  Or should the UN exert influence through external means without direct involvement?

Historically, this was the crisis inciting the outbreak of the Six-Day War.  But what now will be the outcome when you, as a member of the UNSC in 1967, work with the rest of the committee to direct the UN’s involvement?   Throughout the reenactment of this critical point in the history of the conflict of the Middle East, the role of the UN and its jurisdiction in the international community will become clear.