Modern Warfare, At Sea

While many gamers have recently been enjoying the new title "Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2" navies around the world have been busy coming up with their own forms of modern warfare. The article below gives an interesting look at what could be the warship of the future, at least for the United States.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33431534/ns/us_news-military

West Coast of Africa New Pirate Haven?

A new pirate attack off the coast of Benin highlights the West Coast of Africa as an area of growing maritime violence.

Spanish boat freed

Good news, a Spanish ship has been released by pirates today. This article by the BBC wonders how much ransom was paid and also gives some updates on other naval hostage situations. The ending of this article was particularly interesting as it reveals the complex roots of naval violence.

"Somali pirates, using "mother ships" to launch their small-boat attacks on vessels, have extended their range to an area off the Seychelles in recent months in order to evade the navies patrolling the Horn of Africa.

More than 10 ships and 200 hostages are currently being held by pirates operating in waters off Somalia.

Many of the pirates began as fishermen and say they are stopping illegal foreign fishing boats stealing Somali fish, BBC international development correspondent Mark Doyle reports.

The upsurge in piracy in the region is a consequence of the failure to find a solution to Somalia's political disputes, our correspondent notes.

The weak central government faces an Islamist insurgency and parts of the country have broken away to form autonomous regions."

The BBC also kindly provides this helpful video on how to counter pirate attacks.

Yarrr maties, violence on the seas is a laughing matter

You know I can't say I've ever been a huge fan of South Park, but when I told my friend I was doing some research on piracy in Somalia he informed me that there was a South Park episode on that. Thrown in with the usual vulgarity and jokes (some great some not so much) was a very interesting line delivered by one of the pirates about the truly desperate state these pirates often find themselves in. When it comes down to it, these people are resorting to violence often as a last resort and that is something that the international community seriously has to consider when dealing with them. Say what you will about South Park but their writers can be quite insightful. If their brand of comedy is your thing I recommend taking a look at it. Otherwise if you're a military person or just want to get a better view of the military element of dealing with piracy take a look at this training video from EU NAVFOR.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6-fBCzMCaM&feature=related

for more information on the EU mission check out their website
http://www.mschoa.org/About.aspx

Welcome to the 2010 HSMUN Security Council!

Considering it's Halloween, we ask our SC delegates to not only get into character for their responsible behaviour tonight, but also for their delegate positions on The Security Council. Check the blogs frequently, as we promise not to neglect you like last year!

Will love,

Aidan & Nolan (Dais Staff)

Elana (Intervention)

HSMUN is coming...Are You Ready?

With February 19th fast-approaching, you should all be relatively familiar with the SC's topic of Self-Determination (see background paper link to your right).

However, as Security Council delegates, the rest of the UN looks to you as the models of delegate poise and grace. Think of yourselves as the 'cool kids on the block', the ones with a car/motorcycle and amazing fashion sense. You are the ones whose friends bum rides off of and ask to pick up the tab at a fancy resturant. Such are the ways of the Security Council as well, with the rest of the world looking to you for support and direction.

To prepare you for this arduous task, the news team has put together this informative video.



Carry the banner of HSMUN high and proud SC delegates; the world is counting on you.

For more news, and to see some of your fellow delegates, visit our Facebook group

--LK

Iraqi's Vote Shows Progress

While we seem to have heard that the fledgling democracy in Iraq is growing stronger each day ad infinitum for the last 6 years, a few more baby steps were taken recently with Iraqi's heading to the polls for provincial elections. Voters proudly displaying their purple ink-dipped fingers have been the poster-child's of Iraqi democracy.

The provincial election comes at a key moment in Iraq, with newly elected President Barak Obama looking to scale back the US presence in that country. In response, the Iraqi's must be willing and able to step-up and govern themselves. High turn-out and low violence are not the only distinguishing features of this election; Sunni voter turn-out was ~60%, a reversal of the 2005 election boycott supported by Cleric Moqtada Al-Sadr. This is an important shift in the populous' thinking, one that shows that the Iraqi people are fervently interested in self-determination of their own country. Also significant is the apparent renunciation of faith-based politics, with pre-election polls and early-returns showing Iraqi's are increasingly supporting secular parties.
Though, the Western world continues to hold its breath and hope that this experiment in Middle East self-determination will be successful, I think that a small sign of relief might be in order.

http://www.examiner.com/x-2543-DC-Foreign-Policy-Examiner~y2009m1d31-High-turnout-and-low-violence-in-Iraqi-provincial-elections-acclaimed-a

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/02/world/middleeast/02iraq.html?hp

http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/meast/02/01/iraq.election/

-LK