Topic B

Occupation of Disputed Territories

Question of Establishing International Guidelines for
Dealing with the Occupation of Disputed Territories

Chairs: Caio Hachem & Matheus Bevilacqua

Background Information
In the era of the nation-state, confrontations over borders and
territorial ownership have become ever-increasing issues. Places like Kashmir,
the Falkland Islands, Taiwan, the Crimean
Peninsula, and the Palestinian territories
have become major historical concerns for
several nations, with different states having
gone to war in the past over the territories. Several territories remain sources
of confrontation even today, with the conflict in the South China Sea
providing an off-land example. As of now, the international community has
inadequately mitigated the risk of
these disputes leading to conflict due
to a lack of protocol for allocating the
territories fairly. Since one or more
party already inhabits these territories, this process becomes immensely
more complicated as more time goes by.
The international community must find ways to stem the problem
early and, if an occupation of territory cannot be avoided, must decide how
to handle the allocation of territory fairly and practically. Furthermore, these
disputes usually place the local population in extremely dire and risky

situations to the point of where hundreds, if not thousands of lives are lost.
Should the international community be the decision maker, or should they
help mediate the negotiation between the
involved parties? Should the international
community intervene in such conflicts or
should it allow the involved parties to tackle
these issue independently? In what ways can the committee prevent conflict,
and how should these procedures be carried out? How can the committee
help set up a protocol for handling future cases of disputed territories?