Disarmament and International Security Committee (DISEC) Chairs: Anindita Sisodiya & Catherine Park
Email: anisis21@bergen.org Topic A: Yemeni Civil War The Yemeni Civil War first started as a conflict between a predominantly Sunni government and the Ansar Allah, a group of Yemeni-based Shiite rebels also known as the “Houthis”. However in recent years, this conflict has garnered the attention of many entities including foriegn nations and militant groups. Foreign involvement through illegal arms trade, embargoes, and sanctions, has exacerbated the conflict. Delegates must come up with ways to combat this issue and ensure political stability in Yemen by dealing with foreign intervention, the flow of illegal arms, terrorist organizations, such as the AQAP, and the Houthi rebels. Topic B: Arms Trafficking in the Illegal Drug Trade According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, the total value of the global arms trade in 2017 was at least $95 billion, with the top hundred arms companies making an estimated $398.2 billion worth of sales. Like any other lucrative business, the sale of firearms spawned an expansive black market, an issue that has preoccupied the United Nations General Assembly First Committee for years. Illegal small arms trafficking has amounted to a $1 billion-a-year global business, thanks to the desirability of and high demand for these weapons. Today, the links between illicit firearms trafficking and illicit drug trafficking are more apparent than ever; the business of the latter often drives and facilitates the former. Delegates will need to analyze the nature and trends of both markets and develop comprehensive solutions to tackle the trafficking of both drugs and firearms and severing the link between the two. 
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