Canisius College Model UN-Megan Poynter

Megan Poynter

A writer of the extensive Model UN Topic Guides sent out to Model participants, Megan Poynter has written several pieces on current and past international relations issues that are topics of discussion amongst students and politicians across the globe. Below are the overviews of her pieces. Click the link following each overview to get more information.

Indonesian Revolution Conflict Overview

After the surrender of Imperial Japan and the end of World War Two, the Netherlands has tried to regain control of its’ former colony known to the locals as Indonesia. Newly appointed President Sukarno declared Indonesia’s independence from Dutch and Japanese authority two days after the Japanese’s surrender. However, this has not been accepted by both of the island republic’s former colonizers. Fighting has broken out between the Indonesian Republicans, the Pemudas who joined them, and the Dutch and the 1 Japanese both trying to retake the newly declared independent nation. This has led to three years of violence across the islands. Japanese military members who abandoned their posts following Japan’s surrender have been supplying weaponry to pro-Republican movements in Indonesia, with some even joining the fighting. There were still Dutch prisoners of war being held by the Japanese at the end of the war and once they were free, violence began between the supporters of the Dutch and those who wanted a Republic of Indonesia. Japanese forces fall on both sides of this conflict as well as the Allies such as the United Kingdom, who had originally shown its’ support for the Netherlands by sending troops to help in the recapturing process. After the Netherlands’ launched a major military offensive known as “police action” they regained control of all deep-water ports in Java and natural resources in Sumatra, Medan, Palembang, and Padang. The hostile takeover may have been successful but caused backlash from The United States and the United Kingdom, stopping the Dutch from a complete conquest. Most recently this has spurred the creation of the UN Good Offices Committee with American and Belgian representatives in an effort to settle negotiations for a ceasefire. As of the end of 1947, no ceasefire has been agreed to.

To read more, click here.

Iranian Nuclear Crisis Overview

Over the last decade, there have been negotiations and talks between western states and Iran to limit the amount of nuclear energy produced and the amount of nuclear mining that has been taking place over the last fifty years. The Islamic Republic of Iran has been producing nuclear power since 1967 after its’ first nuclear reactor went critical. While the Shah Reza Pahlavi announced in 1974 that through the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) the state would be producing over 23,000 megawatts of energy over the next twenty years. This included the construction of 23 nuclear power plants and the development of a full nuclear cycle. After the Iranian Revolution in 1979, the severing of US-Iranian ties with the seizure of the U.S embassy in Tehran, and the overall weakening of Iran’s relations with the west, the world stage has taken more notice of Iran’s nuclear capabilities. In early 2015, the Iran Nuclear Deal Framework was nothing more than a preliminary framework agreement that was agreed upon by the Islamic Republic of Iran and the P5+1 which includes the United Kingdom, France, the United States, Russia, and China (the P5 nations) as well as Germany due to its economic entanglement with the Iranian nuclear program and the adverse effects further sanctions could have on the German economy. On July 14th, 2015 the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action was announced. The plan was a comprehensive agreement between Iran and the P5+1 as well as the EU based on the April 2015 framework. However, on May 8th, 2018 the United States President Donald Trump announced that the USA was withdrawing from the deal. After the United States’ announcement that it will be leaving the agreement France, Germany and the United Kingdom released a joint statement stating that the United Nations Security Council resolution endorsing the nuclear deal remained a “binding international legal framework for the resolution of dispute.” The withdrawal has caused concerns in Iran because of the impacts it will have on the economy with the possibilities of American sanctions being imposed once again. On May 17th 2018, the European Commission announced its’ intentions to implement the blocking statute of 1996 to declare the US’s sanctions against Iran illegal in Europe and ban European citizens and companies from complying with them.

Moving forward the issue at hand is how to proceed with the denuclearization of the region without the US’s support.

To read more, click here.