Czech Republic

Disarmament and International Security Committee

By Sabine Hain and Giovanni Corti

Topic A: Violent Non-State Actors

The Arab Spring and the subsequent violent military crackdown of the Syrian government had an unexpected, devastating side-effect: The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) prospered under the hostile environment, confounding the unprepared international community in 2014. Atrocities committed in its name pushed the previously skirted issue of Violent Non-State Actors to the front lines of international media and diplomacy. Despite the current spotlight on these high-profile radicalized forces, an equally worrying phenomenon is the acceptance of VNSAs in many modern day societies that have so far evaded direct action, becoming embedded in social and judiciary systems in seemingly beneficial roles that local governments are unable to fulfill.

Previous approaches to curbing their expansion have been meager at best, tackling separate groups and allowing less prominent organizations to fester on the sidelines, aided by unstable governments, unduly proliferated weaponry and vulnerable societies. Inevitably, their existence is justified by a significant lack of civil stability, and their sustainability to a shortcoming of efficient intervention methods. Additionally, the willingness and necessary pathways to engage VNSAs in constructive discussion is severely lacking.