YMCA Youth & Government Model United Nations
Distr.: General
Security Council
March 2015
Original: English
TOPIC
PREPARATION
GUIDE
Islamic State
Situation with the
S/15/TPG/2
Section 1
Topic Background
1.1 The Islamic Extremist group commonly known as ISIS or ISIL has its roots in Iraq’s alQaeda, and for a brief time in was knows as al Qaeda in Iraq (AQI). The group is now better
known as The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) or Islamic State of Iraq and
Syria or Islamic State of Iraq and ash-Sham (ISIS).
1.2 In 2014 ISIL renamed itself the “Islamic State” proclaimed itself to be a “caliphate” or an
Islamic government led by a political and religious successor to the Prophet Mohammed.
This proclamation seemed to be an attempt to gain international legitimacy. The new name
and the idea of a caliphate has been widely criticized and condemned, with the UN, various
governments, and mainstream Muslim groups refusing to acknowledge it.i As caliphate, it
claims religious, political and military authority over all Muslims worldwide and that "the
legality of all emirates, groups, states, and organizations, becomes null by the expansion of
the caliphate's authority and arrival of its troops to their areas".ii
1.3 Currently the UN, the US, the UK, The European Union, Canada, Indonesia, Malaysia,
Turkey, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Syria, Egypt, India, and Russia have all
designated the Islamic State as a terrorist organization. Amnesty International reports that the
Islamic State is responsible for Ethnic Cleansing on a “Historic Scale.”
1.4 The goal of the Islamic State group is international legitimacy and recognition as a Nation
State under its leader, al-Baghdadi. The Islamic State practices a particularly extreme
interpretation of Islam, known as “Salfari,” which promotes violence against non-believers.
1.5 The Islamic State currently occupies portions of Iraq and Syria, Sinai, and Eastern Libya. Its
primary areas of operation are in Syria and Iraq, Currently, over 60 nations of the world are
currently directly or indirectly engaged in armed combat against the Islamic State.
1.6 The Islamic State is well known for posting videos online showing its destruction of
historical artifacts and the beheading of captured soldiers as well as non-combatants such as
journalists and civilians.
1.7 The United Nations released a report in 2014 detailing war crimes committed by Islamic
State fighters in Syria including mass killings, ethnic cleansing of non-Muslims, murder of
civilians, forcing captured women into sexual slavery, and the destruction of cultural and
religious heritage. iii
S/15/TPG/2
Section 2
Pre-Summit Tasks
2.1 Answer Guiding Questions
2.2 Research Additional Sources
Section 3
Guiding Questions
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How is your country currently responding to the Islamic State?
How can countries cooperate more effectively to eliminate the Islamic State?
How can your country impact the Islamic State’s ability to recruit followers?
How can your country impact the Islamic State’s ability to get resources? (money, guns)
Section 4
Further Research
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http://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=S/RES/1284(1999)
http://www.un.org/depts/unmovic/new/pages/index.asp
http://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=S/RES/1441(2002)
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/iz.html
i
Lawrence, Jessica. "Iraq crisis: Could an ISIS caliphate ever govern the entire Muslim world?"
ii
"ISIS announces formation of Caliphate, rebrands as 'Islamic State'"
iii
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_State_of_Iraq_and_the_Levant
2