The Disarmament and International Security Council

Devoted to the establishment and maintenance of international peace and

security, the Disarmament and International Security Committee (DISEC) of the
United Nations (UN) focuses on the topics of arms control, pacifistic conflict
resolution, and global safety.
Powers and Functions:
Article 10 of the UN Charter provides that the General Assembly and its committees
may discuss any questions or any matters within the scope of the present Charter
or relating to the powers and functions of any organs provided for in the present
Charter, and, except as provided in Article 12, may make recommendations to the
Members of the United Nations or to the Security Council or to both on any such
questions or matters. However, the First Committees resolutions are not legally
binding documents. Rather, they represent policy recommendations and action
plans that the UNGA as an entity encourages Member States to adhere to in order
to foster peace. In other words, they represent important principles that guide
Member States as they approach different issues.
Agenda:
Discussing Fourth Generation Warfare
Acquisition of Weapons of Mass Destruction by State/Non State Actors
4TH GENERATION WARFARE:
Fourth-generation warfare (4GW) is conflict characterized by a blurring of the lines
between war and politics, combatants and civilians. The term was first used in 1989
by a team of American analysts, including William S. Lind, to describe warfare's
return to a decentralized form.
4GW is an extremely effective method of warfare that the US and its allies will find
very difficult to defeat (a slow burn, rather than complete eradication, may be the
best possible outcome).
4GW can be defined as a method of warfare that uses the following to achieve a
moral victory:

Undermines enemy strengths (this may seem obvious, but most of modern
warfare has involved direct attacks on enemy strengths -- find the enemy
army and destroy it).

Uses asymmetric operations (weapons and techniques that differ

substantially from opponents).

Exploits enemies weakness

The rise of 4GW is both a product and a driver of the following:

The loss of the nation-state's monopoly on violence.

The rise of cultural, ethnic, and religious conflicts

Globalization (via technological integration).

4GW is fought on the tactical level via:

Rear area operations -- 4GW warriors do not confront a nation-state's military

but rather it society.

Psychological operations -- terror.

Ad-hoc innovation -- use of the enemy's strengths against itself.

Victory in 4GW warfare is won in the moral sphere. The aim of 4GW is to destroy the
moral bonds that allows the organic whole to exist -- cohesion. This is done by
reinforcing the following (according to John Boyd Military Strategist):

Menace. Attacks that undermine or threaten basic human survival instincts.

Mistrust. Increases divisions between groups (i.e. conservatives and liberals

in the US).

Uncertainty. Undermine economic activity by decreasing confidence in the

future.

4TH GEN WARFARE IN THE UK:

PAST INCIDENTS INVOLVING THE UK:
The Peninsular War (1807 1814): A military conflict between Napoleons Empire
and the allied powers of the Spanish, British and Portuguese for control over the
Iberian Peninsula during the Napoleonic Wars.
The Irish Troubles (1968 1998): The Troubles refers to a violent thirty-year conflict
framed by a civil rights march in Londonderry on 5 October 1968 and the Good
Friday Agreement on 10 April 1998. At the heart of the conflict lay the constitutional
status of Northern Ireland. The goal of the unionist and overwhelmingly Protestant
majority was to remain part of the United Kingdom. The goal of the nationalist and
republican, almost exclusively Catholic, minority was to become part of the Republic
of Ireland.
London Bombings (2005): Ten years ago, four suicide bombers with rucksacks full of
explosives attacked central London, killing 52 people and injuring hundreds more. It
was the worst single terrorist atrocity on British soil.
The Syrian Civil War (2011 Ongoing): More than 200,000 Syrians have lost their
lives in four years of armed conflict, which began with anti-government protests
before escalating into a full-scale civil war. More than 11 million others have been
forced from their homes as forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad and those
opposed to his rule battle each other - as well as jihadist militants from Islamic
State.
UK AND THE ISIS: OPERATION SHADER

Operation Shader is the code name given to the British participation in the ongoing
military intervention against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). The
operation began on 26 September 2014 following a formal request for assistance by
the Iraqi government. Prior to this, the Royal Air Force had been engaged in a
humanitarian relief effort over Mount Sinjar, which involved multiple humanitarian
aid airdrops by transport aircraft and the airlifting of displaced refugees in Northern
Iraq. By 21 October 2014, the intervention had extended onto Syria with the Royal
Air Force conducting surveillance flights over the country. On 7 September 2015, a
Royal Air Force MQ-9 Reaper drone conducted an airstrike in Syria which killed two
British-born ISIL fighters. On 17 September 2015, it was reported that around 330
ISIL fighters had been killed by British airstrikes, with zero civilian causalities. By 26
September 2015, ISIL had lost a quarter of its territory.
WHAT UK HAS DONE TO COMBAT 4TH GW:
Nuclear Terrorism Convention: The Nuclear Terrorism Convention (formally, the
International Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism) is a 2005
United Nations treaty designed to criminalize acts of nuclear terrorism and to
promote police and judicial cooperation to prevent, investigate and punish those
acts.
North Atlantic Treaty: The North Atlantic Treaty, signed in Washington, D.C. on 4
April 1949, is the treaty establishing the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
North Atlantic Treaty Organization: an organization formed in Washington, D.C.
(1949), comprising the 12 nations of the Atlantic Pact together with Greece, Turkey,
and the Federal Republic of Germany, for the purpose of collective defense against
aggression.
Anti - Terrorism Legislation: Anti-terrorism legislation are laws the purpose of which
is fighting terrorism. They usually, if not always, follow specific bombings or
assassinations. Anti-terrorism legislation usually includes specific amendments
allowing the state to bypass its own legislation when fighting terrorism-related
crimes, under the grounds of necessity.

Prevention of Terrorism Act (Northern Ireland), 197489

Terrorism Act 2000

Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001 (the Racial and Religious Hatred
Act was supposed to be part of it as provisions, but it was dropped)

The Prevention of Terrorism Act 2005 was intended to deal with the Law
Lords' ruling of 16 December 2004 that the detention without trial of nine
foreigners at HM Prison Belmars under Part IV of the Anti-terrorism, Crime and
Security Act 2001 was unlawful, being incompatible with the European
Convention on Human Rights. It was given Royal Assent on 11 March 2005.

The Act allows the Home Secretary to impose "control orders" on people he
suspects of involvement in terrorism, which in some cases may derogate (opt
out) from human rights laws. In April 2006, a High Court judge issued a
declaration that section 3 of the Act was incompatible with the right to a fair
trial under article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights. The Act
was described by Mr. Justice Sullivan as an 'affront to justice'. Amnesty
International, Human Rights Watch, JUSTICE and Liberty have opposed it.
Criticism of the Act included complaints about the range of restrictions that
could be imposed, the use of closed proceedings and special advocates to
hear secret evidence against the detainee, and the possibility that evidence
against detainees may include evidence obtained in other countries by
torture.

The Terrorism Act 2006 increased the limit of pre-charge detention for
terrorist suspects to 28-days after a rebellion by Labour MPs. Originally, the
Government, and Prime Minister Tony Blair, had pushed for a 90-day
detention period, but this was reduced to 28-days after a vote in the House of
Commons. Home Office Minister Damian Green announced on 20 January
2011 that the period would revert to 14 days as the order extending the
period to 28 days would be allowed to lapse at midnight on 24 January.

The Counter-Terrorism Act 2008, a section of which would have controversially

increased the limit of pre-charge detention for terrorism suspects for 42 days.
This measure was dropped from the bill after it failed to win approval in the
House of Lords.[13]

Terrorist Asset-Freezing (Temporary Provisions) Act 2010, which led to the

Terrorist Asset-Freezing etc. Act 2010

Terrorism Prevention and Investigation Measures Act 2011 received royal

assent on 14 December that year.

Counter-Terrorism and Security Act 2015

ARGUMENTS AGAINST THE ACTS:

From 1969 to 2000 Parliament passed a number of temporary Prevention of

Terrorism Acts, which included powers of internment and the removal of the
right to trial by jury in Northern Ireland;

After the tragic events of 11 September, 2001, emergency laws were passed
which allowed for the indefinite detention of foreign nationals, who were
suspected of being terrorists. Under this law, individuals could be detained
for an unlimited period at a maximum security prison despite never being
charged, let alone convicted, of any offence;

After a 2004 court ruling, that indefinite detention breached human rights
law, detention was quickly replaced by the control order regime in 2005.

Terrorism Prevention and Investigation Measures (TPIMs) were introduced

after the control orders were replaced. Like control orders, TPIMs allow for
indefinite house arrest, and other sweeping restrictions on individual
freedoms, on the basis of largely secret intelligence and suspicion;

The maximum period of detention without charge for most criminal suspects
is 24 to 96 hours. But, between 2006 and 2011, terrorism suspects could be
detained for up to 28 days without charge.

Before it was repealed, section 44 of the Terrorism Act 2000 allowed people to
be stopped and searched without suspicion. This overly broad power was
used against peaceful protesters and disproportionately against ethnic
minority groups;

Schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act 2000 is a breathtakingly broad and intrusive

power to stop, search and hold individuals at ports, airports and international
rail stations. It can be exercised without the need for any grounds of
suspecting the person has any involvement in terrorism - or any other
criminal activity.

Most recently, the Government has passed the Counter-Terrorism and

Security Act 2015, which again contains a raft of proposals as unsafe as they
are unfair - including passport seizure and retention powers, ripe for
discrimination; a regime of exclusion orders, which risks exposing British
citizens to torture; statutory 'terrorism prevention' duties for a whole range of
public bodies, including universities and schools;

WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION (WMD): a nuclear, biological, or chemical

weapon able to cause widespread devastation and loss of life.
INCIDENTS ACCUSING UK OF USING WMDS:

The deployment of Chlorine gas during the Battle of Loos in 25 th September

1915.

Britain used a range of poison gases, originally chlorine and later phosgene,
diphosgene and mustard gas. They also used relatively small amounts of the
irritant gases chloromethyl chloroformate, chloropicrin, bromacetone and
ethyl iodoacetate during the World War I.

The Royal Air Force dropped Mustard Gas on Bolshevik Troops in 1919.

British soldiers used blankets filled with smallpox spores to drive the Native
Americans out, killing around 400,000 500,000 people during the Pontiacs
Rebellion from 1763 1766.

Until the 1990s the UK deployed a wide variety of nuclear weapons around
the world, such as V bombers in Singapore in the 1960s, aircraft on Cyprus
and on Royal Navy carriers in the 1960s and 1970s.

REMOVING AND REDUCING WMD BY THE UK:

The UK has been estimated to have a stockpile of approximately 160 active nuclear
warheads and 225 nuclear warheads in total. It had renounced the use of chemical
and biological weapons in 1956 and subsequently destroyed its general stocks. This
was the direct result of the signed Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and the
Anti-Nuclear Protests and revolution in the 1990s.
UK can use the Nuclear Weapons under the conditions presented in the NPT, its
under the category Nuclear Weapon State (NWS):
Pillar 1: Non-nuclear-weapon States (NNWS) agree not to import, build or otherwise
acquire nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices. NWS are obliged not to
transfer nuclear weapons or explosive devices to NNWS. Any group of states are
permitted to establish nuclear-weapon-free zones in their respective territories.
Pillar 2: Article VI of the NPT obliges all Parties to the Treaty to undertake "to pursue
negotiations in good faith on effective measures relating to cessation of the nuclear
arms race at an early date and to nuclear disarmament, and on a Treaty on general
and complete disarmament under strict and effective international control". This is
the worlds only legally binding obligation on NWS to reduce and ultimately
eliminate their nuclear weapons. At the 2000 NPT Review Conference, State Parties
to the Treaty agreed on " 13 practical steps" to meet their disarmament
commitments.
Pillar 3: All State Parties to the Treaty agree to full exchanges of equipment,
materials and scientific and technological information for peaceful uses of nuclear
energy. NNWS parties must accept and comply with International Atomic Energy
Agency (IAEA) safeguards as a condition for peaceful nuclear co-operation. The IAEA
uses safeguard activities to verify that States honour their commitments not to use
nuclear programs for nuclear weapons. IAEA safeguards are "based on an
assessment of the correctness and completeness of the State's declarations [to the
Agency] concerning nuclear material and nuclear-related activities." The NPT
encourages international co-operation for peaceful uses of nuclear energy, from
medical diagnostics and treatments to power production.
ANTI-WMD TREATIES WHICH THE UK HAS RATIFIED:

Chemicals Weapons Convention: is an arms control treaty which outlaws the

production, stockpiling, and use of chemical weapons and their precursors.

Biological Weapons Convention: is convention on the Prohibition of the

Development, Production and Stockpiling of Bacteriological (Biological) and
Toxin Weapons and on their Destruction

Arms Trade Treaty: The Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) is a multilateral treaty that
regulates the international trade in conventional weapons.

Seabed Arms Control Treaty: treaty on the prohibition of the emplacement of

nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction on the seabed and
the ocean Floor and in the subsoil.

Treaty on the Non Proliferation on Nuclear Weapons: The NPT is a landmark

international treaty whose objective is to prevent the spread of nuclear
weapons and weapons technology, to promote cooperation in the peaceful
uses of nuclear energy and to further the goal of achieving nuclear
disarmament and general and complete disarmament.

The International Atomic Energy Agency: is an international organization that

seeks to promote the peaceful use of nuclear energy, and to inhibit its use for
any military purpose, including nuclear weapons.

THE DANGERS OF AQUISITON OF WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION:

The nexus of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and terrorism poses one of the
gravest potential risks to the national security of the United Kingdom and its global
partners. A successful WMD terrorist attack could result in hundreds of thousands of
casualties and produce far-reaching economic and political consequences that
would affect all members of the international community
HOW UK CONTROLS PROLIFERATION OF WMDS TO NON STATE ACTORS:
Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI): The Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI) is a
global effort that aims to stop trafficking of weapons of mass destruction (WMD),
their delivery systems, and related materials to and from states and non-state
actors of proliferation concern. UK is a member.

Policies:
The existence of an international legal framework supported by a range of
conventions and treaties is not on its own sufficient to dissuade some countries
from seeking to develop, produce and, in some cases, sell weapons of mass
destruction. The UK works through various international organizations and
groupings to seek peaceful means to reduce the threat posed by among others - the
nuclear programmes of Iran and the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea, as well
as working to address issues arising from Syrias possession of chemical and
biological weapons. In addition to taking forward activity to reduce the threat posed
by the programmes themselves, the UK separately works to dissuade businesses
and individuals from supporting the activity of the networks that support them.
The government published its National Counter-Proliferation Strategy in March 2012.
The strategys main aims are:

to deny terrorists the materials and expertise to make and use WMD

to stop countries such as Iran and North Korea from obtaining WMD or
advanced conventional weapons

to build up the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), UN and other

organizations and treaties that help us meet our goals through the
international community and which help to protect global security and
prosperity.

Therefore the UKs position is against the acquisition of weapons of mass

destruction by state and non-state actors.
EU, UK AND THE AGENDAS:
1. 4th gen warfare: The EUs policy is to prevent and protect according to the counter
terrorism strategies therefore the EU is more concentrated on preventing attacks
from ever happening rather than retaliating so its policy is contrasting when
compared to that of the member state UK.
2. Proliferation of Weapons: The UK works with international partners and through
organizations such as the UN, G8, NATO and the EU to reduce terrorists ability to
create, obtain or use WMD materials and technologies. The UK and EU work
together in order to disarm state and non-state actors of weapons of mass
destruction.