UNGA Study Guide

8/13/2019 UNGA Study Guide

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DOC/VJMUN/2014/GA/STUDYGUIDE

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MODEL UNITED NATIONSUNGA STUDY GUIDE


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An Introduction to the General Assembly

TheUnited

Nations

General

Assemblys

first

session

took

place

on

10th

January,

1946.

51

members

attendedtheconferenceatLondonsWestminsterCentralHall.Atpresent,thereare132members

inthisorganoftheUnitedNations,representingalmostallcountries,blocs,opinionsandforemostof

allthepeople,oftheworld.

ItwascreatedintheformofaWorldParliament,adeliberativeassemblytoformulatethefuture

ofourworldeveryaspectofitsocial,cultural,economic,scientific,political,environmentaland

humanitarian.

Article10ofUnitedNationsCharterstates,TheGeneralAssemblymaydiscussanyquestionsorany

matterswithinthescopeofthepresentCharterorrelatingtothepowersandfunctionsofanyorgans

providedforinthepresentCharter.Itsscopewasfurtherincreasedinits5thsessiononNovember3,1950,whenaUnitedStatessponsoredresolutionnamedUnitingforPeacewasaccepted.Now,

theGeneralAssembly Resolves that if theSecurityCouncil,becauseof lackofunanimityof the

permanentmembers,failstoexerciseitsprimaryresponsibilityforthemaintenanceofinternational

peaceandsecurityinanycasewherethereappearstobeathreattopeace,itwillitselfconsiderthe

matterimmediatelytomakerecommendationstoitsMembersofcollectivemeasurestobetakenin

thenameofInternationalPeaceandSecurity.IftheGeneralAssemblyisnotinsessionatthetime

suchasessioniscalledfor,anEmergencySpecialSessionwillbeconvened,towhichallmemberswill

havetoattendwithin24hoursofitsbeginning.Tothisdate,fivesuchEmergencySpecialSessions

havebeenconvened.ThreeoutoffiveweretodiscussanissueintheMiddleEast,twooutofwhich

wererelated

specifically

to

an

armed

struggle

between

Israel

and

Arabs

[The

Suez

Crisis

(1956)

and

TheSixDayWar(1967)].

History

Before there was an OPEC (the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries), the great oil

companiesoftheWestruledtheroost.Oilisthelifebloodoftheindustrializednations.Itisusedin

planes,cars,tanks,skyscrapers,fertilizer,drugsandsynthetics.YetbackbeforethedaysofOPEC,the

greatoilcompaniesoftenretained65%ormoreoftherevenuefromaproductthatwas


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producedonsomeoneelse'sproperty.Thenin1960,manyoftheoilproducingnations,fromboth

theMiddleEastandelsewhere,formedacarteltoprotecttheirinterests.

Beforetheembargo,theindustrializedWest,especially

theUnited

States,

had

taken

cheap

and

plentiful

petroleum for granted. Between 1945 and the late

1970s, the West and Japan consumed more oil and

minerals thanhadbeenused in allprevious recorded

history.OilconsumptionintheUnitedStateshadmore

than doubled between 1950 and 1974. With only 6

percent of the world's population, the U.S. was

consuming33percentoftheworld'senergy.

The goal of OPEC was to present a common front in

negotiations with the giant oil companies, which

themselvesworked

closely

together.

OPEC

set

the

stage

foranewprocessinwhichtheproducernationswould

eventuallytakeoverthefunctionsofthecompanies,at

least in production, and retain much more of the

revenues. But OPEC really had little impact from its

foundingin1960until1973.Thenallhellbrokeloose.

In 1973, theU.S. and theWesternworldwere in the

midstofan inflationary spiral.Theworldhadbecomehighlyvulnerable tocommoditycartels,as

twentyyearsofprosperityandacceleratingpopulationgrowthhadcreatedheavydemandforraw

materials.In

the

U.S.,

consumer

prices

were

rising

at

an

8.5%

clip,

while

inflation

rates

in

other

nations

wereoftenmuchhigher.Thedemand forMiddleEasternoilhadbeen increasing throughout the

industrializedworldand theneedsof thesecountriesgrew far faster thanproduction.OPECwas

growingstrongeranditwasdeterminedtoincreaseitsshareoftheprofits.

PresidentNixon,aspartofhisillfatedpricecontrolprogram,hadslappedcontrolsonoilinMarch

1973.TheU.S.,whichhadbeenselfsufficientinenergyasrecentlyas1950,wasnowimportingsome

35%ofitsenergyneeds.U.S.petroleumreserveswerenearlygone.Governments,corporationsand

individualswereentirelyunpreparedforwhatwouldhappennext.


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Freeze Date

The

Freeze

date

for

this

committee

will

be

the

7th

of

October

1973.

Basically

it

means

that

committee

willbeconvenedonthisday.So,wewillnotbeawareofanyissueoccurringafterthisdate.(Inthe

studyguidewemayhavementioneda feweventsoccurring lateron.Butthat isjust forabetter

understandingofthiscrisisandshouldnotbeusedincommittee)

The Agenda

FORMATION OF THE ORGANIZATION OF PETROLEUM EXPORTINGCOUNTRIES(OPEC)OPECisanoilcartelwhosemissionistocoordinatethepoliciesoftheoilproducingcountries.The

goalistosecureasteadyincometothememberstatesandtosecuresupplyofoiltotheconsumers.

OPEC is an intergovernmental organization that was created at the Baghdad Conference on

September1014,1960,byIraq,Kuwait,Iran,SaudiArabiaandVenezuela.Lateritwasjoinedbynine

moregovernments:Libya,UnitedArabEmirates,Qatar,Indonesia,Algeria,Nigeria,Ecuador,Angola,

andGabon.OPECwasheadquarteredinGeneva,SwitzerlandbeforemovingtoVienna,Austria,on

September1,1965.

OPECwasformedatatimewhenthe internationaloilmarketwas largelyseparate fromcentrally

plannedeconomies,

and

was

dominated

by

multinational

companies.

OPEC's

Policy

Statement'

states

thatthereisarightofallcountriestoexercisesovereigntyovertheirnaturalresources.BecauseOPEC

isanorganisationofcountries(notoilcompanies),individualmembershavesovereignimmunityfor

theiractions,meaningthatOPECisnotregardedasbeingsubjectto"Antitrust"orCompetitionLaw

inthenormalway.

VenezuelaandIranwerethefirstcountriestomovetowardstheestablishmentofOPECinthe1960s

by approaching Iraq,Kuwait and SaudiArabia in1949, suggesting that theyexchange views and

exploreavenues for regularandclosercommunicationamongpetroleumproducingnations. The

founding members are Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela. Later members include

Algeria,Angola,

Ecuador,

Gabon,

Indonesia,

Libya,

Qatar,

Nigeria,

and

the

United

Arab

Emirates.


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In1014September1960,attheinitiativeoftheVenezuelanEnergyandMinesministerJuanPablo

PrezAlfonsoandtheSaudiArabianEnergyandMinesministerAbdullahalTariki,thegovernments

ofIraq,Iran,Kuwait,SaudiArabiaandVenezuelametinBaghdadtodiscusswaystoincreasetheprice

ofthecrudeoilproducedbytheirrespectivecountries.

YOMKIPPURWARIn1971,EgyptianpresidentAnwarSadatraisedthepossibilityofsigninganagreementwithIsrael,provided

thatall the territoriescapturedby the Israeliswere returned.Forall the talkofpeace, though, itwasstill

violencethatgrabbedtheheadlines.Duringthesummerof1972,PalestinianterroristsinfiltratedtheMunich

Olympicsandmurdered11Israeliathletes.

Withnoprogress towardpeace,Sadatbegan to say thatwarwas inevitableand thathewasprepared to

sacrificeonemillion soldiers in the showdownwith Israel.Throughout1972and formuchof1973,Sadat

threatenedwarunlesstheUnitedStatesforcedIsraeltoaccepthisinterpretationofResolution242total

Israeliwithdrawal

from

territories

taken

in

1967.

Simultaneously,SadatappealedtotheSovietstobringpressureontheUnitedStatesandtoprovideEgyptwith

moreoffensiveweapons.TheSovietUnionwasmoreinterestedinmaintainingtheappearanceofdtentewith

theUnitedStates thanaconfrontation in theMiddleEast; therefore, it rejectedSadatsdemands.Sadats

responsewastoabruptlyexpelapproximately20,000SovietadvisersfromEgypt.

InanApril1973interview,SadatagainwarnedthathewouldrenewthewarwithIsrael.Butitwasthesame

threathehadmadein1971and1972,andmostobserversremainedskeptical.Infact,almostuptothestart

oftheshooting,nooneexpectedawar.Thenewsofthe imminentattackonIsraeltookuscompletelyby

surprise,

PresidentNixon

said

later,

As

recently

as

the

day

before,

the

CIA

had

reported

that

war

in

the

Middle

East

wasunlikely.

EgyptandSyriacaught Israeloffguardwhen they invadedthe Jewish land,yesterday,onYomKippur, the

holiestdayoftheirpeople.TheEgyptianaswellasSyrianarmystagedmilitaryexercises,ontheirsidesofthe

SuezCanalandGolanHeightsrespectivelyandcalledupmostoftheirreservetroops.However,theIsraelis

dismissedthesepreparationsofwarasmeremilitaryexercises.

Israelsmilitarystrategyisbasedonthethinkingthat,ifintelligencewasreceivedofanimpendingattack,then

IsraelwouldconductapreemptivestrikeagainsttheArabs.Clearly,IsraelreliedonandtrusteditsIntelligence

AgencyMossad,eventotheextentthattheybelievedthatMossadwouldgiveIsraelatleast48hoursnotice

beforeawar.

However,

Mossad

failed

Israel

this

time.


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GoldaMeir,IsraelsPrimeMinisterandMosheDayan,theMinisterforDefence,both,werenotinthefavour

of a preemptive strike against the Arabs, as it would have cost them the invaluable American support

(Kissinger,SecretaryofStateapparentlysentMeiracablesayingDontpreempt),asUSAwouldnothelp

Israelifitwasasanaggressor.Also,theythoughtwarwasnotnecessarilyimminentasSyriawouldnotattack

withoutEgypt

and

Egypt

would

not

attack

until

and

unless

it

had

all

the

weapons

it

required

from

the

Soviets.

TheEgyptianshavecrossed theSuezCanalalready.TheSyrianshavealready takenoverMt.Hermon, the

highestpointintheregion,astrategicvantagepoint,owingtoanunobstructed360viewofthearea.Almost

amilliontroopswiththousandsoftanks,aircrafts,etc.arereadytoinvadeIsrael.Israelisstilljustcallingupits

reserves.

OILCRISISTheArabsbelievethatJerusalemshouldbeintheirhands,

notinIsraels.Hence,theyhaveannounceda70%hikeinoil

pricesand

a5%

cut

in

production

directed

mostly

towards

theIsrael supportingWesternworld.Asoilisvitaltotheir

economies, severalWestern countriesmightbedeterred

fromhelpingIsraelmilitarily.Thiswillalmostcertainlylead

to Israelsdefeatas the large forceoftheSovietUnion is

behindtheEgyptianandSyrianarmies.

Theyhavealso said that theymay imposeacompleteoil

embargo on any and all nations that aid Israel. Their

demandtosuchnationsinreturnforuninterruptedsupply

ofoil

was

declaring

support

for

the

implementation

of

UNSCR242,especiallytheclausestatingIsraelswithdrawal

topre1967borders.

One of the reasons why the impact of the crisis was so

dramaticwasthat,intheyearsprecedingthecrisistheUS

dependencyon importedoilshad steadily increased.This

canbewitnessedbythefactthatin1970only22%ofAmericasfuelconsumptionrelieduponforeignfuel,but

thishadrisento36%bythetimethecrisiscommencedin1973.AnotherproblemwasthefactthattheUShad

aweak internalpoliticalstrategy inrelation toenergyconservation,whichmeantthe impactwasperhaps

greaterthanitmighthavebeenhadconsumersbeenandautomobilebeenencouragedtooptforautomobiles

thathadagreaterlevelofefficiencyintermsoffuelconsumption.ThedifficultyfortheUSgoingforwardis


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that,unlessitaddressesandembracesenergysavingpoliciesinamorepositiveway,itseconomywillcontinue

to remain vulnerable to disruption and disturbances that occur within the major oilproducing nations

throughouttheworld,especiallyintheMiddleEast.

Current Situation

Oilprocured fromtheMiddleEastcontinuestosustainahighdemandofconsumptiondueto its

betterqualityandrelativelylowerprices.Moreover,oiltradewiththeMiddleEastisfurtherfavoured

dueto itsproximitytoContinentalEuropeandAsiathrough landandsearoutes. (VenezuelanOil

hardlyfindsitspresenceonIndianandChinesesoils.)Furthermore,complementingthehighdemand

fortheArabOilisthepresenceofhighsupplyoftheOilwithintheMiddleEast.Statisticshighlight

thattheMiddleEastaccountsforhalfoftheworldsreservesofcrudeoil,producingnearly1000

milliontonnesperyear.Outofthe1000millionproduced,thenetoilrequirementoftheMiddleEast

isapproximatedtoaround60milliontonnes.InstarkcontrasttothissituationisthatoftheWestern

World.Theratioofoilrequirementtooilproductioninthelattercaseisimmenselyskewed;while

theWestern

world

produces

around

640

million

tonnes

of

oil

per

year,

it

requires

1500

million

tonnes

peryear.

Inoileconomics,theglobalpriceofcrudeoilissameforallcountries.(However,thecostofrefining

andthedomestictaximposedbycountries,makethepriceofpetrolordieseldifferentaroundthe

world).Thecrudeoilpriceisdecidedbyaseriesofformulae.However,twoinferencesstandoutin

thisdiscourse: first, thepriceofcrudeoilhas tobe sameeverywhere, irrespectiveofwhethera

countrygetsitsoilsupplyfromVenezuelaornot.Moreover,thepriceofoilinacountrywouldalso

increase ifVenezuelacuts itscrudeoilexports.Secondly, iftheMiddleEastcutsoilproductionor

exports,thepriceofoilwillincreasedrasticallyintheWorldasarepercussionsoastosustainmarket

equilibrium.

In such a situation, the proposed Oil Embargo would not be as successful in blackmailing and

threateningtheWesternWorld,astheproposedcut inoilexportsandproductionwould. Hence,

evenaminordisturbanceinthisregionhasthecapabilitytoplungetheworldinacrisislikesituation.


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Events leading to the war

The pivotal factor that motivated Syria andEgypttoinvadeIsraelwastheirhumiliatingandcrushing

defeat.

Witness

to

their

widely

prevalentacrimoniousattitudeistherampanthijackings,massmurders,andbombings thatwere specifically aimed against the Israeligovernment by groups such as the PFLP(Popular Front for Liberation ofPalestine).Notableattacksagainst Israelwerethe Munich Massacre of 1972, Lod AirportMassacreandthefailedhijackingofElAlflight219aspartoftheDawsonsFieldHijackings.

On

September

13,

the

Israeli

and

Syrian

armies

met each other in a violent crossfire thatresulted in the lossof twelveSyrianaircraftsandone Israeliaircraft.Justafewweeksago,therewasmassmobilisationoftroopsontheSuez Canal as well as the Golan Heights byEgypt and Syria respectively. However, Israelmistook this mobilisation to simply be atraining exercise. Their understanding of themobilisationarose from the fact thata largenumber of Egyptian reserve forces went toMecca as pilgrims at the end of September

eachyear.

Furthermore, the Israeli Governmentsmisinterpretation of the armed mobilisationcouldbealsotracedbacktoMayofthisyearwhenonnotificationbyawellplacedspyinEgypt,Israelthoughtthatthesimilarmobilisationoftroopswasapreparationforaninvasion.TheGovernmentreactedbycallingupallofitsreservedforces (nearly a fifth of its working population) and brought Israels daily activities to a halt.However,themobilisationhadturnedouttobeafalsealarm.Humiliated,theIsraeliGovernmentdidnotwishtorepeattheirmistake.


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The Attack

TheattackbyEgyptandSyriawaswellplannedandwasoneofthefewcrucialArabsecretskeptfromtheMossad.TheychoseYomKippur,theholiestdayofJudaism,toinvadeIsraelasmostofIsraels

Jewish

soldiers

would

be

off

duty

with

their

families.

Some

sources

also

state

that

their

motivationforchoosingthisdaylayinthetheorythat IsraeliswouldbetooweaktorepulsetheAraboffensiveafteradayoffastingTheEgyptianSecondandThirdarmiesinvadedtheSinaifromtheNorthernandSouthernfrontiersrespectively.TheyquicklypenetratedtheBarLevLineandthethin Israeli lineofdefence.Theymadeuseof theirAir Force to attack Israelibases andHawkSurfacetoAirMissiles. Israelhadconstructedhugesandwallson itssideoftheSuezCanalandEgyptianengineers spent around 2hours in thewarbreaking through thesewalls to facilitatecrossingofheavyarmourandtanksacrosstheCanal.TheSyrianAirForcemadeuseofairstrikesagainst Israelimilitarypositions in theGolan, taking controlofMt.Hermon (thebest strategicadvantageeithersidecouldwishfor)yesterdayitself.YesterdayEgyptstartedablockadeagainstIsraelishippingontheStraitsofBabelMandeb(separatingtheRedSeafromtheGulfofAden).

SeveralArabnationsandSovietUnionhavepledgedsupporttothearmiesofEgyptandSyria.TheyhavealsosignalledtheirreadinesstouseoilasaweaponagainstthecountriesoftheIsraelibloc.Hence,severalIsraeliallieshaveshownanuneasinessinopenlysupportingIsrael,asoilrunsnotonlytheirvehiclesbutalsotheireconomies.

MilitaryoffensesasapartofOperationBadr


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Changes in the oil world in 1973

OnMarch161973,theOPEChadheldits32ndmeeting.Duringthemeeting,themembernations

discussedthepossibilityofraisingpricesofcrudeoil,soastooffsetthereducedvalueoftheUSdollar.

Thishad

led

to

a5.7

percent

increase

in

oil

prices

by

the

OPEC

on

April

1.

Consequently,

on

June

1,

eightOPECcountrieshadonceagainincreasedoilpricesby11.9percent.ArabnationssuchasLibya,

IranandIraqnationalizedtheconcessionsofvariousoilcompanies.TheShahofIranhadannounced

on23JanuaryanoperatingagreementbetweenIranandaconsortiumofoilcompanies(theSeven

SistersastheywerecalledbyEnricoMattei).OnSeptember16theOPECreiterateditssupportfor

thepricehikes.Asaresult,wecanseethattheideaofusingtheOilWeapontogainfavourinthe

IsraelPalestineissuewaslongembalmedinthemindsoftheArableaders.

USOilProductionand ImportsInAugust, theUSCostof LivingCouncil imposedanew twotierprice ceilingondomestic crude

petroleumsales.Accordingtothissystem,oldoil(oilproducedatorbelow1972levels)weretobe

soldat

the

May

15,

1973

posted

price

plus

35

cents,

while

the

new

oil

(oil

produced

above

1972


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levels)wastobesoldatuncontrolledprices,soastoallowthemarketforcestodecideitsownprices.

PresidentNixonimplementedthispolicytoprovideanincentivetoproduceincreasedquantitiesof

domesticcrudeoil.Althoughthepolicywasexpectedtoaidinthegenerationofmarginalincrements

inthedomesticcrudeoilsupply,theoverarchingideawastopromotedomesticoilproductioninthe

lightofthecomingenergycrisis.

AfterNassersdeath in 1970,Anwar Sadat emerged as thenew Egyptian leader.Hebelieved in

Clausewitzsdictum that Warwas the continuationof politicsbyothermeans.Hehad amore

diplomaticandshrewdapproachtotheissue.HeconvincedKingFaisalofSaudiArabiathattheArab

nationsmustusetheOilWeapontoachievetheirgoalsintheIsraelPalestineconflict.

Today,themembersoftheOPECarethreateningtoraisepricesofoilby70%andcutproductionby

5%alongwithembargoesagainstanynationsthatsupportIsrael.Thisissettoresultintheriseof

priceofonebarrelofcrudeoilfrom$3.01to$5.11.ThePossibleImpactoftheIssuetheOilWeapon

has,inthepast,failedtoachieveitspoliticalandeconomicgoals.However,thistimeitssuccessis

highlyplausible formultiple reasons.This timearound, thereareaconsiderablenumberofArab

nationswho

are

all

threatening

to

use

the

Oil

Weapon;

anumber

much

larger

than

ever

witnessed

inhistory.Thededicationofthenationstothiscauseisunprecedentedandisfurtheraccentuatedby

anincreasedgovernmentcontroloveroilproductionandexportintheirrespectivenations.Suchis

themomentumofthecrisisthatitissettochangetheveryfaceofoiltradeandcreateitsrippleeffect

ontoeverynation.

Untilnow,changesinthepriceofoilhavebeendecidedafternegotiationsbetweentheoilcompanies

andtheOPEC.AlthoughtheOPEChasusuallysucceededingettingitswaythroughthedeliberations,

themerepresenceofnegotiationsanddiscussionshadensuredacertainamountofstabilityinthe

oilmarket.WiththeOPECsettotakethepricingofoilintoitsownhands,thefutureofoilisfraught

withchaos

and

uncertainty.

It

is

for

the

first

time

that

there

would

be

amarked

decrease

in

oil

production.Everycountryintheworld,irrespectiveofitssupporttoIsraelortheArabswillbebrought

underthenegativeimplicationsofarbitraryoilpricing.Keepinginmindthegravityofthesituation,

membersoftheinternationalcommunity,especiallythosewhosupportIsrael,areunderacompelling

pressuretocomplywiththewishesoftheArabs.Thisalsomeansthattargetednationswillnotbe

abletoprocurethisoilfromelsewheresincetherewillbeaworldwideshortageofoil.Withwinter

approaching,thismeansthatthousandsoffamiliesaroundtheglobewillhavetobravethecold.

Thisissuewillalsohaveahugeimpactontothepoliticaldiscourseoftheworld.Nationswhocurrently

supportIsraelmightbecompelledtosupporttheArabnationsoratleasttostopaidingIsrael.Many

nationssuchasBritain,FranceandJapanwhocannotaffordadecreaseinoilimports,wouldbeforced


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tosidewiththeArabs.The issuecouldalsohaveanoppositeeffect;that is,nationswhocurrently

supporttheArabscouldbesoaggravatedbythereducedamountsofoilandtheincreasedpricesthat

theywouldbegintosupportIsrael.

The implicationsofthiscrisisare largeand leavenonation inunaffectedor in isolation.Thevery

dynamicsof

diplomacy,

economics

and

warfare

is

set

to

change.

Such

avolatile

situation

must

be

handledwiththeutmostcare.

Documents

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