Concordia International School Shanghai Model United Nations ◆ Seventh Annual Session
Forum:
The General Assembly 1st Committee
Issue:
Accelerating international efforts to ensure the stability and territorial
integrity of Afghanistan
Student Officer: Larissa Xu
Position:
Deputy Chair
Introduction
While Afghanistan had experienced unrest from as early 1978, the issue caught the media’s attention
after the 9-11 attack on the United States. From 2001 to 2014 when the U.S. and NATO formally ended
the war, more than 2,200 Americans lost their lives serving in Afghanistan. However, the issue is far from
solved. The country’s economic and humanitarian situation is devastated from this long-lasting war and
plans for a transitional government is ill crafted. The Taliban and al-Qaeda still remains in Afghanistan and
holds great power in the neighboring country Pakistan.
Definition of Key Terms
Taliban
An Islamic fundamentalist organization that has been active in
Afghanistan and Pakistan. It ruled Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001
and gave refugee to the al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden after the
9-11 event.
Al-Qaeda
Figure 1: the Taliban
A terrorist, militant group active in the Middle East. Its most active branch is active in Yemen and
Saudi Arabia; however, they have also been extremely active in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
History
United States War in Afghanistan
The war in Afghanistan can be roughly separated into three sections. The first section is from 1999 to
2001. The second section, 2001 through 2014, is marked by the involvement of the United States in the
war. After the 9/11 attack in 2001, the U.S. almost immediately sent troops into Afghanistan after Taliban
and al-Qaeda. NATO also sent troops into Afghanistan to combat the Taliban shortly afterwards. In 2009,
Concordia International School Shanghai Model United Nations ◆ Seventh Annual Session
President Obama decided to temporarily increase the U.S. troop presence in Afghanistan. The aim of this
implementation was to protect the Afghan population from Taliban attacks and also supporting efforts to
reintegrate insurgents back into the society. In 2014, December 28th, the United States and NATO
formally ended their 13 year long war in Afghanistan. At that time, the U.S. led international force fighting
in Afghanistan has reached a number of 13,500 soldiers. The last section of the war, 2015 to present, is
marked by the transition of the U.S. from a leading role to a supporting role in the rehabilitation of the
country.
Current Situation
While President Obama has expressed the fact that the U.S. forces will remain at least two more
years in Afghanistan, participating in counter-terrorism operations, there is no overall plan for transition or
a clear goal of what Afghanistan should look like after the U.S. withdraws all its troops. Taliban and
al-Qaeda are far from vanquished and still hold power in Afghanistan and Pakistan. There is a general
consensus among the NATO nations that the budget for Afghanistan-related operations need to be
reduced—however, this may cause economic issues that have not been clearly addressed.
Key Issues
Humanitarian situation
The humanitarian situation is dire. The life expectancy is as low as 50 years old with death rate as
high as 14 deaths/1000 people. According to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
(OCHA), civilians attempting to move around are being shot at and injured/killed. Civilian casualties are
expected to hit 10,000 in 2014 as Taliban continued to launch attacks. Water and electricity is cut off,
making food supplies hard to access. Communication and transportation infrastructures have been
destroyed, further hindering access to humanitarian aid.
Economic situation
Afghanistan is a landlocked country that is still recovering from decades of conflict. The economy has
improved since the fall of the Taliban regime but is still highly reliant on international funds. Most of its
population continues to suffer from shortage of shelter, food, and occupation. High criminal rates, weak
governance, insecurity, and lack of infrastructures all pose significant obstacles to economic development.
While the newly elected President, Ashraf Ghani, has stated his dedication to reviving the economy, the
withdrawal of international troops in 2014 will no doubt worsen the economic situation.
Concordia International School Shanghai Model United Nations ◆ Seventh Annual Session
Governance and military
With the fall of the Taliban regime, Afghanistan is in great need of a transition government.
Presidential elections were held in 2014. However, the elections were far from peaceful. On June 6th,
Abdulla narrowly escaped an assassination attempt. When Ghani was declared winner, the results in the
second round came under heavy accusations of fraud. Abdullah threatened civil war and the issue was
managed with an agreement of power sharing between the two candidates. The transition government
was thus set—but with the threat of Taliban and insecurity, the governance remained weak.
In 2011, the U.S. proposed to start gradually handing the
responsibility of protecting civilians to the Afghan military.
However, this aim was not achieved. Civilian casualties
remained high and the local military was ill prepared to fight
Figure 2: U.S. Troops and ANDSF
against the Taliban. In 2014, the U.S. completed its transition
to the Afghanistan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF). However, ANDSF is having difficulties
with preventing gains from Taliban and protecting its citizens. The state of ANDSF is in drastic
confusion—their responsibilities is increasing at an alarming speed while the U.S. and other NATO
powers is quickly cutting their support.
Major Parties Involved and Their Views
The United States of America
Refer to the “history” section above
Afghanistan
The Afghanistan government is supported by the U.S. and NATO forces in its fight against the Taliban
and al-Qaeda. However, prior to 2001, Afghanistan was under the Taliban regime. The Afghanistan that is
post-Taliban was never given a chance of peaceful development. The Afghanistan government has called
for more humanitarian aid and officially stated at the Bonn Conference that it will need major outside aid
through at least 2020.
Pakistan
The issue of Afghanistan is often discussed with the issue of Pakistan because Taliban and al-Qaeda
both have strongholds inside of Pakistan. Pakistan supports efforts in fighting against these terrorist
Concordia International School Shanghai Model United Nations ◆ Seventh Annual Session
organizations; however, recently, there had been tension in the relationship between the U.S. and
Pakistan.
Timeline of Relevant Resolutions, Treaties and Events
Date
Description of event
September 11th, 2011
Al-Qaeda leader bin Laden launches a terrorist attack on the U.S.
Resolution 1386 adopted by the Security Council to authorize peacekeeping
December, 2001
force in Afghanistan
January, 2002
Deployment of foreign peacekeepers led by NATO to fight against the Taliban
Resolution 1883 adopted by the SC to extend NATO’s mandate until 2009, and
September, 2008
condemning the target of civilians by militant groups
March, 2009
Obama decides to increase troops in Afghanistan
January, 2012
Taliban agrees to move towards peace talks with the Afghan government
June, 2013
Afghan army takes command from NATO forces for security operations
June, 2014
Ashraf Ghani is elected president of Afghanistan
October, 2014
The U.S. ends operations in Afghanistan
Taliban briefly captures Kunduz in northern Afghanistan and is considered their
September, 2015
most significant advance since 2001
Evaluation of Previous Attempts to Resolve the Issue
The efforts of NATO and the U.S. in its combat against terrorism in Afghanistan can be considered
successful; however, the rehabilitation efforts are far from satisfactory. As mentioned above, the ANDSF
have not been effective in protecting civilian population nor has it been successful in combating terrorist
organizations. Peace talks have been proposed but have been generally unsuccessful. Taliban has stated
that it will not stop attacks until the all foreign forces are removed from Afghanistan. However, the aid of
these foreign troops are still absolutely necessary in keeping the stability of the country.
Concordia International School Shanghai Model United Nations ◆ Seventh Annual Session
Nonetheless, international support for Afghanistan is quite satisfactory. By Resolution 1386, the
International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) was established. The Tokyo conference in 2002 generated
over $4.5 billion in support and was able to provide necessary humanitarian aid and rebuild infrastructure.
Possible Solutions
In order to improve the territorial integrity of Afghanistan, the efficiency of ANDSF must be improved.
The ANDSF is currently supported by the U.S.; however, the U.S. had also been pulling troops out of
Afghanistan constantly. One solution to improve this may be to send UN experts into Afghanistan to aid
the U.S. in this or to authorize NATO and other relevant inter-governmental organizations to do a similar
thing. A resolution similar to 1386 can be crafted, except focusing on support rather than direct
intervention.
Second of all, the economic situation in Afghanistan must be improved. In order to do this,
communication and transportation infrastructures must be rebuilt. Delegate can asks for relevant NGOs
to aid in these constructions while asking for peace talks between Taliban and the Afghan government to
makes these constructions possible.
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