UNCTEC 2020

UNCTEC 2020
COMMITTEE: Security Council of the United Nations
DELEGATION: United States of America
DELEGATE: Julieta Linares Miranda
“In God We Trust”

General Information

Official name: United States of America

Ubication: Central North America between Canada and Mexico.

Territory: 3.8 million square miles (9.8 million km2)

Population: 328,239,523

Capital: Washington, D.C.

Largest City: New York City

Type of Government: Federal Presidential Constitutional Republic

President: Donald Trump (Republican Party)

Vice President: Mike Pence (Republican Party)

Delegate Julieta Linares Miranda

Tecnológico de Monterrey Campus Cuernavaca
A01423999@itesm.mx

Religions: 73.0% Christian, 21.3% Unaffiliated, 2.1% Jewish, 0.8% Muslim, 2.9% Other

Official languages: None at federal level

National language: English

National Party: Declaration of Independence July 4, 1776

Natural Resources: metals, minerals, farmable land, abundant oil, and long coastlines

International Organisms: G7, G20, G10, permanent member of the UNSC OECD,
NATO, ADB, APEC, ASEAN, ANZUS, BIS, FAO, WHO, WTO, IAEA, IADB, ICC,

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UNCTEC 2020
COMMITTEE: Security Council of the United Nations
DELEGATION: United States of America
DELEGATE: Julieta Linares Miranda
“In God We Trust”
ICAO, IFAD, IGC, ILO, IMF, IOM, NAFTA, MIGA, NEA, OECD, OSCE, UNCTAD,
UNHCR, UNITAR, UNRWA, UNTSO, UPU, WBG, WCO, WVF, ZC.

Environmental Treaties: Fish & Wildlife Laws & Treaties, Dept. of the Interior - Fish &
Wildlife Service, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

International Disputes: Illegal migration from neighbor countries. Territorial, border

disputes.

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UNCTEC 2020
COMMITTEE: Security Council of the United Nations
DELEGATION: United States of America
DELEGATE: Julieta Linares Miranda
“In God We Trust”
Topic A: The Question of the South China Sea
The current problem that involves China´s neighbor countries and other concerned nations
is that China has being occupying the South China Sea since 2013, China is expanding its
territory by occupying international Sea, China has even placed military bases and has sent
troops to the sea.

The current situation is that China is building artificial island with cities, and actually
functioning air bases and ports to store equipment and military forces.

Not only the South China Sea is an important and indispensable trade route connecting Asia
with Europe and Africa, and it is rich in natural resources, but also the fortresses that are
being built are becoming a threat for the sovereignty of Southeast Asian nations.

The critical part is not only that China claims most of the sea, and threatens to claim all
natural resources as fossil fuels like their own, but also China is imposing its own laws like
issuing no-fly zones and flying their own J-11BH/BHS fighters.

The United States of America refuses to accept this, and aims to control China´s
expansionary actions, but most importantly the actions involving the military bases and
forces, since the armed planes with missiles represent a threat for all neighboring nations.

The U.S. has stepped up its military activity and naval presence in recent years in the
South China Sea, this includes freedom of navigation operations (FONOPs) in January and
March of 2018. In a speech during President Donald J. Trump´s visit in November 2017 to
Southeast Asia, he emphasized the importance of such operations, and of ensuring free and
open access to the South China Sea. Since May 2017, the United States has conducted six
FONOPs in the region. On January 25, 2020, a U.S Navy warship carried a Freedom of
Navigation Operation (FONOP) regarding the South China Sea, this is the most recent
operation and marked the first known U.S. Navy FONOP in the South China Sea on 2020.
This operation was carried by the USS Montgomery, an Independence-class littoral combat
ship to the Spratly Islands. During that operation, China sent two fighter-bombers
scrambling overhead to intimidate the Montgomery. “The U.S. warship asserted
navigational rights and freedoms in the Spratly Islands, consistent with international law,

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UNCTEC 2020
COMMITTEE: Security Council of the United Nations
DELEGATION: United States of America
DELEGATE: Julieta Linares Miranda
“In God We Trust”
this FONOP challenged the restrictions on innocent passage” said a spokesman for the U.S.
Navy's 7th Fleet.

The uptick in FONOPs, tensions over protests in Hong Kong and Taiwan’s ability to self-
rule, and increasing clashes between China and Vietnam in recent months have combined
to create increasing unease in the region, said Zhiqun Zhu, a professor of political science
and international relations at Bucknell University.

“In the South China Sea, both the U.S. and China have beefed up their presence,” said
Zhiqun Zhu, a professor of political science and international relations at Bucknell
University. “U.S.-China military ties have worsened as a result of Trump’s signing of the
Hong Kong acts and Beijing’s retaliation. Clashes between China and Vietnam seem
growing, with Vietnam complaining about China’s repeated intrusions into what Hanoi
calls its [exclusive economic zone]."

The FONOPs are designed to challenge China's claim to maritime rights and dominion over
several island chains in the region. This way the rights and freedoms of navigation will be
protected for all countries when the operations are respected and implemented by the
Chinese government.

The U.S. aims for China to stop with the expansion and to consider that the rock
outcroppings that are in the middle of the sea aren´t qualified as islands, so they don´t
qualify for an exclusive economic zone, so none of the countries, including China, are
entitled to an exclusive economic zone of the region. Also that about one quarter of the
world´s shipping goes through that Sea, the South China Sea should still be considered
international territory, without incrementing military and naval forces that may endanger
the safety of other neighboring countries.

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UNCTEC 2020
COMMITTEE: Security Council of the United Nations
DELEGATION: United States of America
DELEGATE: Julieta Linares Miranda
“In God We Trust”
REFERENCES TOPIC A

1. United States. (2020, February 24). Retrieved from

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States

2. SCMP Reporter. (2019). South China Sea dispute. Retrieved from South China Morning
Post Web site:

https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/article/2186449/explained-south-china-sea-dispute

3. Larter, D. B. (2020, February 18). In challenging China's claims in the South China Sea,
the US Navy is getting more assertive. Retrieved from
https://www.defensenews.com/naval/2020/02/05/in-challenging-chinas-claims-in-the-
south-china-sea-the-us-navy-is-getting-more-assertive/

4. Territorial Disputes in the South China Sea | Global Conflict Tracker. (n.d.). Retrieved
from https://www.cfr.org/interactive/global-conflict-tracker/conflict/territorial-disputes-
south-china-sea

5. Freund, E., Facini, A., Freund, E., Freund, E., Freund, E., Freund, E., … Lind, J. (n.d.).
Freedom of Navigation in the South China Sea: A Practical Guide. Retrieved from
https://www.belfercenter.org/publication/freedom-navigation-south-china-sea-practical-
guide

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UNCTEC 2020
COMMITTEE: Security Council of the United Nations
DELEGATION: United States of America
DELEGATE: Julieta Linares Miranda
“In God We Trust”

Topic B: Women and Peace and Security

The Government of the United States is deeply committed to the participation of women
while advancing peace and security in the world.

The aim is reflected when the US developed a National Action Plan (NAP, released by
President Obama) for the implementation of the UN Security Council Resolution 1325 and
the WPS agenda with the first NAP adopted in December 2011. The objective of the United
States National Plan of Action on women, peace and security is to empower half of the
world's population as equal partners to prevent conflicts and build peace in countries
threatened and affected by war, violence and insecurity.

This helps the United States to accelerate, institutionalize, and better coordinate efforts to
advance women’s inclusion in peace negotiations, peace building activities, and conflict
prevention and response; to protect women and girls from gender-based violence; and to
ensure safe, equitable access to relief and recovery assistance in areas of conflict and
insecurity. This Plan is guided by 5 principles, some of them are: First, the engagement and
protection of women as agents of peace and stability are central to the United States’ efforts
to promote security; prevent, respond to, and resolve conflict; combat violent extremism;
and rebuild societies. Second, by building on the goals for gender integration described in
the United States National Security, the United States’ efforts on Women, Peace, and
Security complement and enhance existing initiatives to advance gender equality and
women’s empowerment, ensure respect for human rights, and address the needs of
vulnerable populations in crisis and conflict environments.

Since peace and security are constantly changing, and the global understanding of the
concept of justice has also transformed, in 2016 this Action Plan was updated and has
helped the United States Government in continue building on this strong foundation. More

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UNCTEC 2020
COMMITTEE: Security Council of the United Nations
DELEGATION: United States of America
DELEGATE: Julieta Linares Miranda
“In God We Trust”
recently in June 2019, the United States adopted a national strategy on Women, Peace, and
Security with the Trump administration calling it the first of its kind.

In 2017, the Trump administration established the Women, Peace, and Security Act of
2017 (signed on October 6, 2017), which mandated a government strategy on WPS within
one year, focused on the increase in participation of women in conflict prevention and
peace building.  

In the U.S. sadly the major threats to women are violence, domestic violence (Intimate
Partner Violence or Battering), sexual violence, and murder, the main targets are young
women, low-income women, and some minorities but with the growing development of the
NAP of WPS the USAID (United States Agency for International Development) will better
address key gender and violent extremism challenges. Learning from these research
activities will inform USAID’s integration of gender based approaches into broader CVE
(Countering Violent Extremism) programming. USAID is addressing the drivers of violent
extremism through a holistic, community-based approach, such as through initiatives
providing assistance to communities in Niger, Chad, and Burkina Faso designed to reduce
risks of instability and increase resilience to violent extremism. These initiatives address
socioeconomic, political, and cultural drivers of violent extremism and focus particularly
on addressing the concerns of young men and women, who are at greatest risk of being
targeted or recruited by violent extremist organizations.
Today the U.S. dedicates to bringing the ideas and goals expressed in this document to life
in work around the world, and commit the nation and other nations to the essential effort of
empowerment and sustained, equitable peace for all. The U.S is one of the 54 countries that
have formulated such action plans. And we invite more nations to formulate these plans,
and invite them not only to be focused on process, but in budgets for real implementation
where more nations can work and live collaboratively, acting to prevent violence and
discrimination.

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UNCTEC 2020
COMMITTEE: Security Council of the United Nations
DELEGATION: United States of America
DELEGATE: Julieta Linares Miranda
“In God We Trust”
REFERENCES TOPIC B

1. Violence Against Women in the United States: Statistics. (n.d.). Retrieved from
https://now.org/resource/violence-against-women-in-the-united-states-statistic/
2. National Action Plan: United States of America. (2019, September 19). Retrieved
from https://www.peacewomen.org/nap-usa
3. Thomson Reuters Foundation. (n.d.). Tackling Violence Against Women in the
USA. Retrieved from http://www.trustconference.com/actions/i/?id=04b686aa-
b8b0-4bb1-a165-e2e7707d8162
4. https://www.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/documents/1868/National%20Action
%20Plan%20on%20Women%2C%20Peace%2C%20and%20Security.pdf