A presentation on foreign affairs for SSE Riga Debate Society. Credits to Jordan Anderson.

1. Foreign Affairs: The Most Popular
Countries in Debating Motions

2. Outline
• Somalia
• North Korea
• Iran
• Afghanistan
• Israel & Palestine
• …and a bit on Pakistan
Credits to: Jordan Anderson

3. Somalia

4. Somalia
• Used to be functioning
– Up to 1950s – an Italian colony
– 1950s-80s – a dictatorship (but a
functioning one!)
• Status Quo
– UN/US forces pulled out in early
1990s (“Black Hawk Down”)
– several groups competing for
power

5. Pirates
• Many are former fishermen
– After state failed, had to turn to
piracy
– Part of moral blame is on
Western Fishing Corporations
• Wrongdoings
– Attacking civilians
– Hijacking Saudi oil tankers
– Kidnapping tourists from
neighboring countries

6. Al-Shabaab (“The Youth”)
• A militant Islamist group
• Goal: set up an Islamic state
with Sharia laws
• Has ties with Al-Qaeda
• Love-hate relationship with
pirates
– Cooperation against transitional
government
– But mutual blackmail and conflicts

7. Transitional Federal Government
• Small Western- and African
Union-backed government
• Controlling only parts of
Mogadishu

8. Somaliland
• A de-facto independent state
– Secession after the collapse of
Somalia
• Established a decent
governance; maintains law &
peace
• Not recognized by any country

9. Motions
• THW invade Somalia
 Proposition  Opposition
 Stop piracy  Turn to guerilla war
 Restore law & order  Turn to religious war
 Long-term economic growth  Attract other Islamist
 Smash Al-Shabaab (training militias
base of Al-Qaeda)  Piracy “is morally
 Functioning government acceptable”
CAN be built  Western Fishing Companies
• THW covertly fund pirates & Al-Shabaab to fight each other

10. North Korea

11. North Korea
• Split after WW2
• Nuclear weapons
– Not many, but exist
– However, launching capabilities
are extremely poor
• China sort of supports NK

12. Motions
• THW assassinate Kim Jong-un – and his family
 Proposition  Opposition
 Entire regime based on a  Army and generals will
family heritage struggle for power
 Moral justification  Civil war or NK vs. SK war
 All are guilty
• THW allow North Korea to have nukes
 Proposition  Opposition
 Control & transparency  Very risky & unstable
 Remove fear of invasion -> NK  NK may invade SK / sell nuclear
less paranoid R&D to other bad countries
 Balance of powers (US-CN-NK)  Spiral of countries getting nukes

13. Iran

14. Iran
• 1979 – Islamic Revolution
• Ayatolla – religious leader
– Also adopts all the laws
– Elements of democracy
• Since 1980s – IR supports
foreign terrorist groups
• Status Quo
– “Arab spring” among urban youth
– Nukes; originally obtained
“because Iraq had them”
– Want to be dominant power;
counter Israel

15. Terrorist groups
• Currently Iran funds:
– Hezbollah (Lebanon)
 Make Lebanon Islamic
– Hamas (Palestine)
 Destroy Israel
• Possible reasons
– Genuinely anti-Israeli
– Use conflicts to distract attention
from Iran
– Provoke sanctions (by denying
Holocaust etc.) to profit from the
black market (e.g. satellite dishes)

16. Motions
• THW allow Iran to have nukes
• THW invade Iran
 Proposition  Opposition
 Similar to Libya  Religious insurgency
 Opposition to regime  Big country that hates NATO
• THW give Iran money / security technology
 Proposition  Opposition
 Want security -> get it  “Blame West” policy
 Help incumbents’ vested
interests in the black market

17. Afghanistan

18. Afghanistan
• Best times – kingdom up to 1980s
• 1979 – Soviet invasion; pretty
much destroyed the state
• Mujahedeen drove Soviets out –
but Somalia-style lawless little
states were created
• In the beginning the Taliban acted
against Mujahedeen
– Wanted to impose law & order

19. Status Quo
• NOT ideological war, rather Taliban insurgence
– Personal (clan) grievances
– Political factions
– Lack of centralized administration
• Pashtuns – majority of AF’s population; mountaineers
– Not everyone, but most of the Taliban is Pashtun
– No national identity, no will for central government
• NATO forces & Karzai regime – deeply corrupt
– Corruption is often the only way to control some provinces

20. Motions
• THW include the Taliban
 Proposition  Opposition
 Different factions , each wants  The new regime will impose many
peace & order things against Human Rights
 Can buy them off  Hard to negotiate – no clear leader
 The only way for a valid  Have to accept their ways to make
democracy money, i.e. poppies and heroin
• THW get (the hell) out of Afghanistan now
 Proposition  Opposition
 Everyone failed ruling them  Worse than SQ (poppies + Al-
Qaeda)
 Extremely hard to fight  Moral responsibility to current
 Mountains allies
 Tribal rules to help everyone  Counter-plan: more intelligent
funding! (e.g. Soviets in 1980s)

21. Israel & Palestine

22. Israel & Palestine
• Jewish migration began as early as in 1920s
– Zionists moving to British Mandate of Palestine
• 1948 – War of Independence
• 1973 – October War
• 1982 – peace agreement with Egypt
• 1987 and 2000 – Intifadas (internal
uprisings against Israel)

23. Status Quo
• Israel – Jewish state
• West Bank – 100+ Israeli settlements
– 300,000+ Israelis
– 1,000,000+ Arabs
• Jerusalem – a divided city
• Golan Heights – 20,000+ Israelis
• Gaza Strip – under blockade by IL army
– HAMAS opposes that

24. Motions
• THBT the West should stop ALL funding until they come to peace
 Proposition  Opposition
 A huge part of IL budget, esp.  Hamas is funded by IR; if it wins
military, is US-funded over Palestine, no more peace
 Meanwhile, Palestine depends  IL will develop a “siege mentality”
on US/EU support  US/EU support is merely
helicopters etc. – IL still can
oppress others
• THW remove settlements
 Proposition  Opposition
 IL as a whole is not quite legitimate
 Territory captured in war  Geneva convention’s aim was to
 Under Geneva convention, a prevent ethnic cleansing
 Removing settlers is ethnic
state is not allowed to settle cleansing
its citizens there  People are already there, it is
intrinsically bad to drive them out

25. Pakistan

26. Pakistan
• Both PK and IN want Kashmir
• Problems with Islamist militants
• Both are nuclear nations
– Threat of nukes being stolen is real
• Pakistani intelligence has links
with Al-Qaeda
• North-West inhabited by Pushtuns
– Problems with AF

27. Thank you for your attention!
Q&A