Disarmament and International

Security Committee (DISEC)

Study Guide

Istanbul University Model United Nations

Contents

Contents.................................................................................................................................................. 2
First Agenda Item: The Legitimacy of Foreign Military Bases in Sovereign States............................... 4
A) Historical Background ............................................................................................................. 4
i. Foreign Military Bases Under International Law......................................................................... 5
B) Main Concepts......................................................................................................................... 6
i. Sovereignty................................................................................................................................... 6
ii. Absoluteness ............................................................................................................................... 7
iii. Exclusivity ................................................................................................................................. 7
iv. De Jure and De Facto ................................................................................................................. 7
v. Internal......................................................................................................................................... 7
vi. External ...................................................................................................................................... 7
vii. Peacebuilding ............................................................................................................................ 7
viii. Imperialism .............................................................................................................................. 8
ix. Colonialism ................................................................................................................................ 8
x. Post colonialism .......................................................................................................................... 8
C) Key Issues................................................................................................................................ 8
i. International Acts ......................................................................................................................... 8
ii. The significance of the African Continent upon the Foreign Military Presence Issue .............. 10
iii. Afro-French Relations with Regards to The Colonial Experience........................................... 10
iv. African Continent: From Colonies to Modern States ............................................................... 10
v. United Nations Peacekeeping On the African Territory............................................................ 12
D) Operation Barkhane ............................................................................................................... 12
E) The Influence of the European Withdrawal On the Military Disorder in Africa ...................... 13
F) Countries with Overseas Military Bases ................................................................................... 14
i. The United States’ Presence in The African Continent.............................................................. 14
ii. France’s Presence in The African Continent ............................................................................. 14
iii. The United Kingdom’s Presence in The African Continent .................................................... 15
iv. China’s Presence in The African Continent ............................................................................. 15
v. Canada’s Presence in The African Continent ............................................................................ 15
vi. India’s Presence in The African Continent .............................................................................. 15
vii. Italy’s Presence On the African Continent .............................................................................. 15
viii. Japan’s Presence On the African Continent ........................................................................... 15
ix. Turkey’s Presence On the African Continent ........................................................................... 16
G) Bloc Positions ........................................................................................................................ 17
 i. Djibouti....................................................................................................................................... 17
ii. Somalia...................................................................................................................................... 17
iii. Nigeria...................................................................................................................................... 17
iv. South Africa ............................................................................................................................. 17
v. Russian Federation .................................................................................................................... 17
vi. France ....................................................................................................................................... 17
vii. The United Kingdom............................................................................................................... 18
viii. People’s Republic of China .................................................................................................... 18
ix. The United States of America .................................................................................................. 18
x. Turkey ....................................................................................................................................... 18
H) Questions A Resolution Should Cover .................................................................................. 19
Second Agenda Item: Dangers and Prevention of the Weaponization of AI Technology .................... 19
A) Historical Background ........................................................................................................... 19
i. What Is Artificial Intelligence? .................................................................................................. 20
ii. What Are the Uses of Artificial Intelligence? ........................................................................... 20
B) The Capabilities of Artificial Intelligence in The Field of Armaments ................................. 21
C) Risks of Artificial Intelligence .............................................................................................. 22
D) Artificial Intelligence and Inter-Country Wars ..................................................................... 22
i. China Dominates Airspace with Artificial Intelligence ............................................................. 22
ii. Israel and Russia Working on Fully Autonomous Weapons..................................................... 23
iii. The US Will Have Tanks That Can "See" Ahead .................................................................... 24
E) Are Artificial Intelligence Robot Soldiers Coming? ................................................................. 24
F) Questions A Resolution Should Cover ...................................................................................... 25
Bibliography .......................................................................................................................................... 25
First Agenda Item: The Legitimacy of
Foreign Military Bases in Sovereign States

A) Historical Background

The notion of foreign bases outside a nation's territory was established since the concept of a
state was developed by ancient city-states. Even though the history of foreign bases is ancient,
the modern concept has found a place in literature since the Cold War. The concepts which will
be mentioned below are gradually articulated in the literature of security and securitization
discourses. A bipolar world created an eligible milieu for foreign military bases to multiply.
Ever since the beginning of the Cold War, two sides of conflict, the Soviet Union and the United
States of America, proliferated the expansion of the military bases across the globe, hence
giving the situation a fresh impetus. However, the only actors were not the United States of
America and the Soviet Union during the Cold War.

After World War II, the United States deployed its forces to large foreign bases abroad to
contain the Soviet Union. The distribution of bases in Western Europe and Northeast Asia that
received US troops and their dependents are a legacy of the Cold War, specifically the unique
situation in the early 1950s, when the so-called global threat of the Soviet Union drove many
non-Communist states together, uniting them against a shared enemy1 Throughout the Cold
War and afterward, there are multiple overseas military bases as a consequence of a bilateral
but interconnected world thus the numbers are increasing hitherto. The Gulf War is a milestone
in the increasing number of foreign military bases, especially those of the United States of
America in the 1990s. In the contemporary settings, according to the Global Research Centre,
the USA controls between 700 and 800 bases worldwide. The important conceptual difference
is whether a country's foreign bases are based on modern boundaries or colonial boundaries
which are in fact affected by the historical settings. In that regard, the United States of America
and the Soviet Union’s bases are products of the modern times, however the United Kingdom
and France's foreign military bases are legacies of the colonial era. Another section of history
that is important to consider is the French presence in Africa, which culminated in the 19th
century. Later, when French colonies in Africa began to gain their independence, between 1960
and 1995, it started to sign bilateral treaties with its former colonies on the measures regarding
military cooperation and support. One of the commitments made in these treaties was to allow
French military bases in that state's territory. ‘’Therefore, most of the operations involved in
protecting French nationals and its allied governments in Africa during the 20th century used
such bases.’’2 Other countries, such as France and the United Kingdom, also operate a
significant number of military installations abroad as a remnant of their colonial empires. The
French presence in Africa is still very remarkable and dates from the 17th century. However, it
was just in the 19th century that African territories under French influence became colonies.
‘’The new imperialism practices established in the 1880s have resulted in the scramble for

1
Pettyjohn, Stacie L. For the Future U.S. Overseas Presence, Access Agreements Are Key.
2013. [Link]
[Link]
2
Hansen, Andrew. The French Military in Africa. February 8, 2008. [Link]
france/french-military-africa/p12578
Africa, when European powers divided and annexed regions of the African continent, during
the Berlin Conference of 1884’’3

Counterterrorism forces are also significant for us to interpret the military bases in African
territory most of them being French military bases. The committee will continue on the axis of
these differentiations and controversies upon the issue, from the host nation's perspective.
Legitimacy under international law, motives, and the consequences will be taken into
consideration during debates.

i. Foreign Military Bases Under International Law

“By definition, a military base is an installation created to serve as support for military
operations and logistics’’4 The common practice to maintain the influence on a territory is
effectively handled by the foreign military bases. However, the intentions of influence may
impair the host nation’s sovereignty and that brings us the question of sovereignty. The debates
on the structure of the military bases mainly share the concerns regarding the discourse of
sovereignty which is not only about the internal and state based controversies but also the other
external elements. Sovereignty is a concept that main tenets are described and debated by
international relations theorists but the main practice is determined by the international law and
the state's external affairs. Military bases are mainly discussed from the overseas aspect since
it is in the jurisdiction of international law from the article that concerns territoriality and
sovereignty.

Sovereignty is mainly handled on the axis of consolidated democracy which African countries
lack. In addition, territorial ascendancy and border dominance are directly related to the concept
of sovereignty. According to the concept of sovereignty, no state can intervene in another state's
affairs not directly and virtually. In other words, the concept of a state's sovereignty crosses the
military aspect hence, since the beginning of 20th century, a dilemma arises. There is an
increasing urge to compromise gradually increases since the literature and practice of foreign
military bases are widely spread. Dovetailed form as a consequence of the rising need appears
as Visiting Force Agreement (VFA) and the Status of Force Agreement (SOFA)

The debates on the structure of the military bases mainly share the concerns regarding the
discourse of sovereignty which is not only about the internal and state based controversies but
also the other external elements.

a) Visiting Force Agreement and Status of Force Agreement

The Visiting Force Agreement (VFA) and the Status of Force Agreement (SOFA) have
basically the same meanings. The only substantial difference between them is their scope: the
VFA covers forces that are temporally present in a foreign territory, while the SOFA regulates
the situation of military installations effectively established in a host state 5 Both of the

3
Hansen, Andrew. The French Military in Africa. February 8, 2008. [Link]
france/french-military-africa/p12578
4
Glebov, Sergiy, and Luís Rodrigues. Military Bases: Historical Perspectives, Contemporary
Challanges. Lisbon: IOS Press, 2009.
5
Manson, Chuck. Status of Force Agreement (SOFA): What is it and how has it been
utilized? Washington: Congressional Research Service, 2012
agreements represent the superiority of international law by taking into consideration civil law.
Super territoriality is guaranteed on the root of international law and international agreements.
These agreements provide a legitimate base for states with military bases abroad. ‘’It was
unclear how customary international law would deal with criminal jurisdiction over visiting
forces, especially the problem of concurrent jurisdiction over crimes committed by visiting
forces on foreign territory. To resolve these problems, SOFAs were developed for the express
purpose of defining the legal rights and responsibilities of military forces stationed on foreign
soil. SOFAs are international agreements between states that create obligations concerning the
jurisdiction over foreign state's military or civilian citizen."6 However, exempting the
determining feature of these agreements, the practice and execution of them are dependent on
the relations between the host country and a country with a foreign military base. This situation
beats a path to uncertainties. The inclination of relations determines the final framework while
the general framework is depicted by these agreements. The agreements are multilateral or
bilateral and NATO SOFA is an important multilateral agreement by sharing jurisdictions. On
the other hand, United Nations SOFA is based on pacific principles, being the official guidelines
to peace –keeping operations. Since 2002, in the context of the peace-keeping mission in
Bosnia, the USA, and other countries started to request immunity for their troops for fear of
being prosecuted for a crime by the International Criminal Court (ICC). As a result, the UN has
adopted a SOFA for peace-keeping operations that provides broader sending-state criminal
jurisdiction than the NATO SOFA 7 There are multiple jurisdiction areas to prevent major
problems that can be caused by peacekeeping forces. Succinctly international law audits the
limits of foreign military bases and provides a legal framework for states to possess military
bases overseas.

B) Main Concepts

i. Sovereignty
In international law, it is an essential aspect of sovereignty that all states should have supreme
control over their internal affairs, subject to the recognized limitations imposed by international
law. These limitations include, in particular, the international law of human rights and the rules
forbidding the use of force. However, no state or international organization may intervene in
matters that fall within the domestic jurisdiction of another state. The concept of state
sovereignty was outlined, among other things, in a declaration on Principles of International
Law (Resolution 2625), proclaimed by the General Assembly of the United Nations in 1970.
On the other hand, as Lassa Oppenheim stated very well '' There exists perhaps no conception
the meaning of which is more controversial than that of sovereignty. It is an indisputable fact
that this conception, from the moment when it was introduced into political science until the
present day, has never had a meaning which was universally agreed upon.'' It is a truth that no
compromise exists on the final definition of sovereignty but the main concepts and the
articulated terms related directly to sovereignty are determined gradually which will be
mentioned above.

6
Rosenfeld, Erik. Applications of U.S. Status of Force Agreement to Article 98 of the Rome
Statute. Washington University
7
Ibid.
ii. Absoluteness

A sovereign power shall have absolute jurisdiction in its territory and internal affairs. It means
without any pressure or intervention from outside, a sovereign should rule, govern and manage
its scope of authority.

iii. Exclusivity
This notion denotes the main tenet of sovereignty which is an exclusive right of a nation's
jurisdiction, specifically the degree to which decisions made by the state might be challenged
or contradicted by another authority, International law, or a foreign presence on exclusivity.

iv. De Jure and De Facto

De jure, as legal sovereignty points out the determined conditions and recognition of a nation's
jurisdiction and exercised control over a territory.

De facto, as an actual aspect, sovereignty is concerned with whether control exists or not,
which includes the cooperation and respect of the locals, control over the national assets, means
of security, and the ability to handle numerous functions of governance.

v. Internal
The term refers to the relation between the governing body and its subjects, and under what
conditions and stipulations governing body holds the power of governance.

vi. External
The concept concerns the relations between sovereign power and other powers mostly other
states. External sovereignty is one of the main instruments of our agenda and it refers directly
to international law.

vii. Peacebuilding
Peace-building is a long-term process of creating the necessary conditions for sustainable
peace by addressing the deep-rooted, structural causes of violent conflict in a comprehensive
manner. Strictly speaking, peacebuilding is a phase in the peace process that occurs after
peacemaking and peacekeeping have been completed. However, these activities invariably
overlap to a greater or lesser degree, meaning that peace-building resembles what is often called
multi-dimensional peacekeeping. Peacebuilding as long-term conflict resolution involves a
wide range of strategies, economic, political, and social as well as military. These include the
following: economic reconstruction, repairing or improving the economic and social
infrastructure, de-mining, the demobilization and retraining of former combatants, the
reintegration of displaced peoples, establishing community organizations, and revising
governmental arrangements or 'state-building'.
viii. Imperialism
Imperialism is, broadly, the policy of extending the power or rule of the state beyond its
boundaries, typically through the establishment of an empire. In its earliest usage, imperialism
was an ideology that supported military expansion and imperial acquisition, usually by drawing
on nationalist and racialist doctrines. In its traditional form, imperialism involves the
establishment of formal political domination or colonialism and reflects the expansion of state
power through a process of conquest and (possibly) settlement. Modern and subtler forms of
imperialism may nevertheless involve economic domination without the establishment of
political control, or what is called neo-colonialism.

ix. Colonialism
Colonialism is the theory or practice of establishing control over foreign territory and turning
it into a colony. Colonialism is thus a particular form of imperialism. Colonialism is usually
distinguished by settlement and economic domination. As typically practiced in Africa and
south-east Asia, the colonial government was exercised by a settler community from the mother
country who were ethnically distinct from the native population. In French colonialism,
colonies were thought of as part of the mother country, meaning that colonial peoples were
granted formal rights of citizenship. In contrast, neo-colonialism involves economic domination
without direct political control, as, for example, in so-called US 'dollar imperialism' in Latin
America.8

x. Post colonialism

Postcolonialism originated as a trend in literary and cultural studies that sought to address the
cultural conditions characteristic of newly independent societies. Its purpose has primarily been
to expose and overturn the cultural and psychological dimensions of colonial rule, recognizing
that 'inner' subjugation can persist long after the political structures of colonialism have been
removed. A major thrust of postcolonialism has been to establish the legitimacy of nonwestern
and sometimes anti-western political ideas and traditions. Postcolonialism has nevertheless
taken a variety of forms. These range from Gandhi's (1869–1948) attempt to fuse Indian
nationalism with an ethic of nonviolence and self-sacrifice, ultimately rooted in Hinduism, to
forms of religious fundamentalism, most significantly Islamic fundamentalism.9

C) Key Issues

i. International Acts

In aspect of the international law, foreign military bases are addressed hand to hand with the
international agreements, which can be both bilateral and multilateral. In that respect,
international relations is the main area to determine and stipulate the ongoing actions of the
states. Envisaging and determining features of international law are profoundly concerned with

8
Heywood, Andrew, The Global Politics, 2011
9
Ibid.
the issue from the sovereignty aspect by taking limitations into consideration. However, SOFAs
and VFAs are multi-dimensional and they are produced and reproduced by the states in
question. In that regard, each agreement has its own nature, conditions, and determining lines,
differing from case to case. Due to the alterable peculiarities, the main concern appears to be
whether the implementation of these agreements is reliable or not. In this context, the
aforementioned agreement may not envisage or supervise the limits properly hence the concern
about abuse of power emerges.

a) The Oslo Guideline

Aim of the present Guidelines on the Use of Military and Civil Defense Assets in Disaster
Relief (hereinafter referred to as «Oslo Guidelines») is to establish the basic framework for
formalizing and improving the effectiveness and efficiency of the use of foreign military and
civil defense assets in international disaster relief operations. (OCHOA, 2007, pg9)

According to the guidelines ''all humanitarian assistance must be provided in accordance with
the core principles of humanity, and neutrality with full respect for the sovereignty of the states''
10
The scope of guideline is broad but the humanitarian asset ,relatedly to the foreign military
bases issue, is pointed out to prevent abuses from the states and to raise an international bound
to provide resources in need.

b) Military and Civil Defense Assets (MCDA)

MCDA comprise relief personnel, equipment, supplies and services provided by foreign
military and civil defense organizations for IDRA. Further, for the purpose of this project, civil
defense organization means any organization that, under the control of a Government, performs
the functions enumerated in paragraph 61 of Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions
of 1949. When these forces are under UN control they are referred to as UN MCDA11

c) The Resolution 2165

The resolution 2165 from December 5,1996, the 21th session of the GA, so-called
''Elimination of Foreign Military Bases in Asia, Africa, and Latin America’ ‘was the first
resolution that address the motive of the United Nations to observe and research the results of
foreign presence in some regions specifically. In that session, states ratified that ''this question
of paramount importance and therefore necessitates serious discussion because of its
implications for international peace and security.'' (United Nations General Assembly, 1996)
Afterward, Eighteen- Nation Committee on Disarmament (ENCD) is established however they
did not compromise upon any consensus. No cleared information is achieved since the non-
binding character of the Committee. As a consequence, no further discussion on the foreign
military bases is debated again in General Assembly during this period.

10
OCHOA. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Oslo Guidelines.
United Nations, 2007.
11
Ibid..
ii. The significance of the African Continent upon the Foreign Military
Presence Issue
The legal framework put forwards the maintaining peace and consolidating democracy
discourses on the arguments of foreign military presence. In that regard, the African Continent
provides an eligible milieu for foreign military presence to spread and legitimize. The
committee must consider the legitimacy level, negative and positive effects and necessity of the
foreign military presence and bases in the African Continent. Furthermore, Sahel Region’s
importance must be noticed during debates and possible solutions must be suggested by
focusing on the main motivations of countries with overseas military bases.

iii. Afro-French Relations with Regards to The Colonial Experience

Correlation between France and Africa has spatial and multiple dimensions from the colonial
era to the 1960s. By taking into consideration geo-strategic importance of the Africa Continent,
spatiality is quite expected. “The French established colonial military outposts throughout the
Sahel and Sahara and used the Foreign Legion and other forces to put down rebellions against
its authority. France created the states of Algeria, Mali, Niger, Chad, Mauritania, and Burkina
Faso and considered its colonies to be part of the metropole.”12 The countries in question are
on the roots of French influence intrinsically. Additionally, “France’s demon-strated
willingness to intervene in Chad, indeed, enticed Belgium’s ex-colonies to seek military accords
with France, including Burundi (1969), Congo-Zaire (1974), and Rwanda (1975). 196 Later
French interventions prompted certain ex-British colonies to follow suit, including the
Seychelles (1979), Malawi (1980), and Zimbabwe (1997).”13 The concept of multiplicity in
Afro-French relations is a consequence of historical changes and dynamism. One can criticize
the ongoing situation in Africa by analyzing the legacy of the colonial period and the post-
colonial period that France has significant impacts on. Militarization process oscillates between
ethnicity and colonial legacy. Apartheid in military affected the conflicts significantly.
“colonial practices normalized the idea that race and ethnicity were linked to military loyalty.
Colonial empires relied on their own ethnic kin to officer far-flung armies, despite the cost and
high mortality rates.”14 In conclusion, the colonial experience must be taken into consideration
while examining French bases on the Africa Continent.

iv. African Continent: From Colonies to Modern States

Africa, faced imperialist intentions of the West since the Mercantile-capitalist era. The
continent was used as leverage in the negotiations and provided further impetus to relations
between the Europeans. The significance of Africa even before a world war can be seen in these
words: "Russia is here, France is here, and we are in the middle. This is my map of Africa.''15
‘’The scramble for Africa was evident both inter war and post-war periods. With the end of
World War II, multiple processes of independence started among African colonies. However,

12
Burgess, Stephen, Military Intervention in Africa: French and US Approaches Compared
13
Ibid.
14
Harkness, Kristen, The Ethnic Army and the State: Explaining Coup Traps and the Difficulties of
Democratization in Africa
15
Otto von Bismarck, New York: Oxford University Press, 1978
the formal imperialism that dominated Africa was replaced by the foreign military presence and
strategic economic partnerships.’’ 16

It is a crucial truth that African movements of independence are recent, despite the fact that the
entire continent hosts foreign military bases and ravaged numerous conflicts and there are
historical incidents that must be analyzed on; however, the history of the continent has only
recently only beginning to be written. African's and Africanists' disillusionment with the
outputs of independence in the 1970s took the form of an emphasis on the external factor of
both economic and social problems. The motive behind presence in Africa in modern times is
alleged as humanitarian intervention or presence since the African territory is underdeveloped
while Africa had a significant impact on the development process hitherto. In other words,
Africa contributed to a developed Europe by underdeveloping itself.

A nation's borders are oftentimes arbitrarily drawn and do not necessarily reflect total isolation
and demarcation between people and cultures. For example, the 1885 Berlin Conference is
infamously known as a quintessential example of when the European leaders met and decided
to arbitrarily draw up borders for African nations, many of which exist to this day. 17 During
the late 19th century and belle époque, peace prevailed in the European continent however belle
époque was not that peaceful in the African continent. The movements and uprisings in the
African continent concluded with modern states as mentioned; and in the post-colonial era, the
drain from the global south through an unequal exchange is the final step for transition to a
modern state.

16
Hansen, Andrew. The French Military in Africa. February 8, 2008. [Link]
france/french-military-africa/p12578
17
855 "Berlin Conference of 1884–1885 - Oxford Reference,"
[Link]
v. United Nations Peacekeeping On the African Territory

How successful has multidimensional peacekeeping in the post-Cold War period been? UN
peacekeeping has been both effective and cost-effective when compared with the costs of
conflict and the toll in lives and economic devastation 18. A study by the Rand Corporation in
2007 which analyzed eight UN-led peacekeeping operations determined that seven of them had
succeeded in keeping the peace and six of them had helped to promote democracy19 The
analysis of Sierra Leone represented a successful peacekeeping. However, as a consequence of
multiple failures, the UN Report on the Agenda for Peace written in 1992, the primary
motivation of the UN has become permanent peace through different pathways. In order to
maintain peace in the territories in question, the presence of the UN peacekeeping troops was
not the only solution due to which the UN started to regard the security issue from a wider
perspective.

a) United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali

(Minusma)
As a consequence of the deteriorating situation on the continent by the 2010s, especially in
Mali, United Nations interfered with MINUSMA by a significant number of military forces in
2013. The Mission was asked to support the transitional authorities of Mali in the stabilization
of the country and implementation of the transitional roadmap. By unanimously
adopting resolution 2164 of 25 June 2014, the Council further decided that the Mission should
focus on duties, such as ensuring security, stabilization and protection of civilians; supporting
national political dialogue and reconciliation; and assisting the reestablishment of State
authority, the rebuilding of the security sector, and the promotion and protection of human
rights in that country.20 With this organization, one can observe the transforming approach of
the United Nations therefore can analyze the changing tenets of the security concept as
mentioned above.

D) Operation Barkhane

The Barkhane operation carried out by France since August 2014 affects Sahel countries such
as Burkina Faso, Mali, Mauritania, Niger and Chad directly. Serval Operation as the
predecessor of Barkhane operation carries out the mission to fight against jihadist groups and
maintain peace in the territory. Alleged goals of prominent missions are perfectly inherited by
Operation Barkhane. In this regard as a consequence of the operations in the Sahel region
against jihadist groups, simultaneously with the US in the Middle East, France became the
common enemy from a Muslim perspective hence the fight against France spread. The

18
Collier and Hoeffler,Development and Conflict: Centre for the Study of African Economies, 2004
19
Dobbins, James The Beginner’s Guide to Nation-Building, 2007
20
[Link]
 frequency and effectiveness of
France’s interventions lead many to
regard France as Africa’s de facto
gendarme.21Before Serval Operation
in 2013, the jihadists were between
South and North, Tunisia, Lebanon
and Northern Mali. However, the
situation changed and the jihadist
groups are in almost every part of
the Sahel region. The limited
influence of jihadists rapidly
changes hence the impetus of the so-
called peacekeeping operations in
the territory increased substantially.
Increased tension was maintained
until February 2022. France
declared withdrawal from Mali
since then, a significant amount of
soldiers deployed.

E) The Influence of the European Withdrawal On the Military Disorder in

Africa

It is now widely accepted that colonial forces in Africa were fundamental police apparatus
with few regional roles; hence the strategic dimension of European military policy in Africa
was ignored both by Africanists and European defense policies. The European reluctance to
view the history from the African aspect together with the lack of desire to rewrite the history
from the African side has caused the literature and debates on the issue to remain limited
hitherto. One of the primary reasons for African territory to host numerous foreign bases in its
territory is that, excluding Algeria, no former colonial territory gained statehood with native,
nationalist military establishments. Britain and France disassembled the nexus of imperial
military power in Africa. On
the other hand, military
manpower policies, such as
strategic implementations,
pondered defense needs on an
international basis, as well as
regional and locally in Africa.
Therefore, the military status
in Africa is articulated on the
roots of European
interventions not only
physically but also practically.
Military interdependence
between core and the
periphery, as expected, is a
slow process, and cannot be

21
Victor-Manuel Vallin, France as the Gendarme of Africa
separated rapidly. What is expected here is the gradual, prudent exemption of the post-colonial
country since the military institutions already started the separation process long before the
independence. Local attitudes of military and nationalist inclination towards the military render
the situation complex. During the early years of the 20th century, a clear bloc occurred between
the African interests of France and the United Kingdom. West African Frontier Force (W.A.F.F)
and the King's African Rifles (K.A.R) by no intention designed to integrate with colonial forces.
By 1939, the inclination towards de-militarizing the African continent transformed into a fresh
inclination and instigation towards militarization. The transformation in 1939 was a
consequence of British policy that urged African forces to serve for British interests during
WW2. On the other hand, troupes coloniales, multi-racial and imperial forces became
prominent in French defense policies. However, by an armistice, French assets in Africa were
mostly eliminated. 1943-45 campaigns resulted in an experience which later became a guideline
for the independence strategy mostly seen at a vantage point, post-1945 period. During this
period overseas military positions became overseas burdens. On the other hand, understanding
of the balance of power related closely to the relations between the core and periphery;
therefore, the clear and decisive significance of Africa alter the relations between powers in the
imperial system. The Cold War period and its afterwards had affected the process relatively
more rapidly compared to the aforementioned periods. During the surging of anti-imperial
movements in Africa, the United Kingdom and France was in a situation which avoided them
to increase their expenditures on increased military presence. The dilemmas both France and
the United Kingdom faced gained an impetus for Africa to be independent. despite the
advantageous situation of Africa during The Cold War.

F) Countries with Overseas Military Bases

As mentioned above, countries with overseas military bases are numerous which will be listed
below. It is important to understand the difference between host nations and the operator
nation’s status.

i. The United States’ Presence in The African Continent

 Burkina Faso - Ouagadougou Airport

 Cameroon – Contingency Location Garoua
 Djibouti – Camp Lemonnier
 Kenya – Camp Simba, Armed Forces Research Institute of Medical Sciences
 Niger – Niger Air Base 201
 Seychelles – United States drone base in Seychelles
 Tunisia – Drone base at Bizerte-Sidi Ahmed Air Base

ii. France’s Presence in The African Continent

 Djibouti – Les forces françaises stationnées à Djibouti (FFDj)

 Ivory Coast – Les forces françaises en Côte d'Ivoire (FFCI)
 Gabon – Les éléments français au Gabon (EFG)
 Senegal – Les éléments français au Sénégal (EFS)
 Burkina Faso – Several facilities in the country as part of Operation Barkhane
  Mauritania – Several facilities in the country as part of Operation Barkhane
 Chad – N'Djamena Air Force Base as part of Operation Barkhane
 Niger – Niamey Air Force Base as part of Operation Barkhane

iii. The United Kingdom’s Presence in The African Continent

 Kenya – British Army Training Unit

iv. China’s Presence in The African Continent

 Djibouti: Chinese People’s Liberation Army Support Base

v. Canada’s Presence in The African Continent

 Senegal – OSH – West Africa. In Spring of 2018, an Interim Operational Support Hub
(IOSH) was established at the Léopold Sédar Senghor (LSS)
airport in Dakar, Senegal to support Operation (Op) PRESENCE Task Force Mali. This
later became a standing OSH in West Africa. It allows the CAF to project and sustain
its military forces rapidly and flexibly, providing support for CAF operations staging in
or through West Africa. It ensures operational/tactical level liaison with HN and UN
Logistics hub, supporting equipment receipt and customs liaison for other Canadian
governmental departments and agencies as well as Canadian defense industries.

vi. India’s Presence in The African Continent

 Mauritius – A coastal surveillance radar system in North Agalega Island. The island
located in the Indian Ocean is leased to the Indian military for the development of
strategic assets as of India–Mauritius Military cooperation. At present, the island serves
as an Indian Military Base in Mauritius.
 Madagascar – A listening post and a radar facility in northern Madagascar

vii. Italy’s Presence On the African Continent

 Djibouti – Base Militare Nazionale di Supporto (BMNS), National Military Support

Base.

viii. Japan’s Presence On the African Continent

 Djibouti – Japan Self-Defence Force Base Djibouti

ix. Turkey’s Presence On the African Continent

 Libya – Airbases at al-Watiya, Mitiga and Misrata, in addition to Zwara. The amount
of Turkish soldiers stationed in Libya is unknown.
 Somalia – Camp TURKSOM with 2,000 personnel
 Sudan – Suakin was allocated to Turkey for 99 years after an agreement with Sudan in
December 2017. Some allege that Turkey may militarize the port city due to its
geostrategic significance in the Red Sea, which has strained Turkey's and Sudan's
relationship with Egypt. There has, however, been no development regarding a military
base within the city as of December 2021.
G) Bloc Positions

i. Djibouti
Djibouti is a country in close relations with France. Simultaneously, after 9/11, relations with
the USA have improved. Djibouti hosts the largest French overseas military base in the
continent. In order to understand its relations with West, terrorism and conflicts on the Djibouti
territory must be considered. On the other hand, the country declared its willingness to Chinese
presence therefore China established a military base in 2016.

ii. Somalia
After its independence in 1960, Somalia regarded security issues as a guarantee for its survival.
First years of the country focused on Asia however the attention shifted the alignment with the
West abruptly in the 1980s. Since then, the military presence of the West, especially the USA,
has increased substantially. Somalia integrates the Horn of Africa, a local which is object of US
interests in order to combat terrorism in the region. According to a US military spokesman, the
North-American mission is to enable East African partners to neutralize violent extremists
throughout Eastern Africa. Although there are no effective foreign military bases in Somalia,
the country receive military aid from US to combat the insurgent groups linked with Al-Qaeda,
such as Al-Shaabab 22

iii. Nigeria
Nigeria, as a country suffering from conflicts and terrorist movements in its territory,
cooperates with and welcomes the West and the United Nations.

iv. South Africa

South Africa values its relations with allies, BRICS. The country has a stable alliance with the
United States of America, working together with it on a range of issues impacting the region
and the world and developing combined joint exercises to increase defense ability from both
countries. To do this, about 1,000 US military personnel are stationed in South African territory
(United States Diplomatic Mission to South Africa 2013) Despite of the optimistic view of
South Africa, there are no military bases on its territory currently

v. Russian Federation
Russian Federation bore a serious legacy after the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991.
Numerous military bases due to its high costs are closed. However, the country still has
influence and a great number of foreign military bases in Eastern European and Central Asian
countries. On the other hand, the country had no serious intention to expand its influence and
military presence on the African continent.

vi. France

22
[Link]
graphic/2011/09/26/gIQANSmB2K_blog.html
 The current status of France can be explained by its inclination to militarily expansion towards
the Africa Continent throughout the history. However, the attitude towards the presence in the
Africa Continent claimed to be peaceful during the post-colonial era. Alleged mission on the
continent debated on the French Parliament recently. The French government argues that the
presence of troops in those countries aims to contribute to the maintenance of security and
peace, thorough peacekeeping initiatives, as the turbulent independences of these nations have
generated many internal conflicts (Council on Foreign Relations 2008)

vii. The United Kingdom

Simultaneously, with the history of expansionism, United Kingdom has numerous military
bases abroad. As a consequence of the ‘’peacekeeping’’ mission, the country has overseas bases
in Africa Continent. Bases in Kenya and Sierra Leone are alleged to maintain the peace in the
territory.

viii. People’s Republic of China

The People’s Republic of China believes in peaceful development and a multipolar world as
key parts for international stability.23 The country gradually expands its foreign military
presence.

ix. The United States of America

The United States of America plays a determinant role in the global network of military
agenda. The number of its bases increased substantially in the post-war era and culminated in
the Cold War. On the other hand, the end of the Cold War decreased US overseas bases.
However, the decreasing situation was brief since the September 11 attacks in 2001. Since then
the inclination to militarize has increased substantially. The US classifies its military bases in
host countries by its geostrategic purpose. So, its largest and more relevant bases are called
Main Operating Bases and have permanently US troops stationed in there. The Forward
Operating Sites is the classification of bases with smaller facilities aimed at bilateral military
cooperation. The last category is the Cooperative Security Locations, which serves as platform
to security cooperation activities (European Parliament 2009).

x. Turkey
Turkey’s policy of military expansion overseas and armed proliferation movements culminated
at the beginning of the 21 century. The focus shifted to the African Continent alongside the
st

Middle East. “Turkey’s African Initiative Policy process, which started in 1998, gained
momentum when our country became an observing member and strategic partner of the African
Union (AU) in 2005 and 2008 respectively. Since then, rapid progress has been made in several
fields such as trade, investment, cultural projects, security and military cooperation,
development projects. The African Initiative Policy, which was successfully completed, has
been replaced by the Africa Partnership Policy as of 2013.” The last concrete move of Turkey
is the foreign military base in Somalia. Camp TURKSOM is representing the major military
presence of Turkey abroad.

23
Foreign Policy. “How the US is encircling China with Military Bases”. August 20,
2013. <[Link]
us_is_encircling_china_with_military_bases> (
H) Questions A Resolution Should Cover
1. Is there a solution to prevent the negative effects of foreign military bases on the hosting
countries?
2. How would a binding agreement address the overseas military bases? What would the
features of such an agreement be?
3. How do we ensure that sovereignty of the host country will not be violated?
4. What would be the determinant features of rightful foreign military presence?
5. How can the committee assist the quarreled and ungoverned areas of the African
Continent?

Second Agenda Item: Dangers and

Prevention of the Weaponization of AI
Technology
A) Historical Background
Ancient Greeks, Chinese, and pre-Egyptian scientists had myths about robots. But the real
breakthrough, which we can call artificial intelligence, was first mentioned in 1956. The term
"artificial intelligence" was coined for the first time at a conference held at Dartmouth College
in New Hampshire, England.
 The British and Japanese played the most active role in the production of artificial intelligence.
British scientists who wanted to rival the work of Japanese scientists in the field of artificial
intelligence, which did not have a concrete development until the 1980s, also made a
breakthrough, and there were some attempts, although not significant, between 1987 and 1993.

The first important development took place in 1997, when the computer named Deep Blue,
produced by IBM (International Business Machines), defeated the world's most famous chess
master Garry Kas.

i. What Is Artificial Intelligence?

With the shortest explanation, it can be defined as "copying the human brain and thinking
system". To make the definition a little simpler; The sentence "to make a computer program
think like a human" can be used.

Although artificial intelligence technology has become popular in the last few years, it is
actually as old as computer technology. “Can machines think?” put forward by the British
scientist Alan Mathison Turing while the calendars were pointing to the year 1943. The question
forms the basis of the artificial intelligence technology that is being developed today. The chess
software developed for the computer by Turing between 1950-1951 is the first known use of
artificial intelligence. In short, artificial intelligence is not a new technology, contrary to popular
belief.

While doing research on artificial intelligence, definitions such as "machine learning" and
"deep learning" are often encountered. Although it is possible to establish a relationship with
artificial intelligence due to the names of these definitions, it is possible for someone unfamiliar
with the subject to think that these definitions are different technologies. In fact, artificial
intelligence is the name of the actual technology. Machine learning is one of the elements that
make up artificial intelligence. Again, technology is one of the elements of machine learning.
To reinforce this with a geographical example; artificial intelligence is the world, machine
learning is one of the countries that make up the world, and deep learning represents the cities
that make up the countries. The definition of "deep machine learning" is also used for deep
learning.

ii. What Are the Uses of Artificial Intelligence?

 Autonomous Vehicles: “Driving a car” may be removed from the dictionary in the
coming years and “riding a car” may be used instead. Because self-driving vehicles like
Tesla seem to become more common in the coming years.

 Virtual Assistants: Have an Apple phone and say “Hey Siri!” It’s easy to guess that
there is no one who does not say. Assistants such as Siri, Alexa, and Google Now are
also products of artificial intelligence.

 Support Bots: Have you ever chatted with a brand on the website or Facebook page of
a brand you have a problem with? Here, you may have contacted artificial intelligence
in these conversations. Support bots are becoming the choice of more and more brands
every day.
  Music and Movie-Series Recommendations: Wondering how Netflix or Spotify
offers recommendations that they think you might like? No, of course, these
suggestions are not made by the employees. These recommendation lists are served by
the applications' artificial intelligence programs.

 Shopping Suggestions: After looking at shoes in a mobile shopping application, do

you see shoes that you might be interested in on other social media such as Facebook
and Instagram as an advertisement? Yes, virtual intelligence is responsible for this.
Many people even think that they are being listened to by virtual intelligences.

 Security Systems: Banks, operators, and even your workplace's security system
recognizes you through voice recognition technology. Yes, it's actually virtual
intelligence that knows you

B) The Capabilities of Artificial Intelligence in The Field of Armaments

Artificial Intelligence stands out with the opportunities it offers in the fields of rapid decision
making, regeneration and high performance abilities, training and exploration/intelligence,
which are among the abilities that a strong army should have.

1. Quick Decision Making

Artificial Intelligence can make decisions much faster than humans in
line with the available inputs in today's multi-axis operational
environment. The importance of this can be better understood if it is
remembered that the inability to take quick decisions was one of the
reasons why the 1967 Arab-Israeli war ended in a great defeat for
Egypt.

2. Regeneration
Autonomous systems do not tire, a severed limb can be repaired, and
the system is easy to manufacture in its entirety. However, a fighter pilot
is trained in 20 years.

3. Achievement
Artificial Intelligence weapons, which can calculate many possibilities
as a result of high processing power, can destroy their targets with much
higher precision than humans.

4. Education
When used with augmented reality, Artificial Intelligence
applications in areas such as staff training, fighter pilot training,
technician training will be beneficial for the Armed Forces within the
existing force structure.

5. Reconnaissance/Intelligence
Computer vision software; photo, video etc. It will facilitate fast and
 reliable analysis of data to cover large areas. Facial recognition systems
will enable the fast detection of wanted enemy elements

C) Risks of Artificial Intelligence

1. Artificial Intelligence is programmed by people with different worldviews, so it is not
neutral. It is always possible for AI developers to reflect their political, military and
sociological views on AI algorithms.

2. Artificial Intelligence learns in line with the information it collects, just like humans.
When this information is contaminated by malicious institutions, organizations or
individuals, the behavior of Artificial Intelligence can develop in the desired direction.

3. A malicious programmer can take control of AI systems by exploiting software

vulnerabilities.

D) Artificial Intelligence and Inter-Country Wars

With the impact of international competition, the integration of artificial intelligence on the
battlefield is making progress faster than ever before. So, what will be the changes that this
technology, which the leading countries cannot give up despite all the discussions, will bring?
What awaits us? With the use of artificial intelligence in attack and defense systems, wars where
borders disappear and people are not involved may be waiting for us. They will be able to wage
the war themselves with the help of vehicles such as aircraft, drones or submarines under the
control of a high-tech artificial intelligence, sensors placed in the region and the algorithms they
have. Machines, which can instantly detect the slightest movement in the enemy field, will be
able to intervene much faster than when they are under the control of humans. For example,
artificial intelligence-controlled drones can be used to find wounded soldiers in the conflict
area. Unmanned aerial vehicles are also expected to be used for purposes such as oil exploration,
continental shelf protection, control of migration routes, prevention of human traffic and
smuggling.

Robot soldiers, which are shown as a more advanced technology, will be able to help people
in field missions, especially in strategy determination and search and rescue work. Soldiers on
the battlefield will be able to act much healthier by feeding on the data collected by both drone
and robot soldiers. Processing this data; that is, it may be a matter of time before we meet
machines that act on the information transmitted by the data and make decisions to attack or
withdraw. This means that people play a much more backward role in wars. It is thought that
artificial intelligence, which rushes to help the army's cyber security, may design special
weapons and even warplanes in the future.

i. China Dominates Airspace with Artificial Intelligence

These are some of the promises of artificial intelligence to the defense industry. So what have
countries that invested billions of dollars in this technology achieved so far? Who has weapons
“automated” with artificial intelligence? For example, China uses an army of drones to
dominate its airspace. These drones, which can carry mortar shells, grenade throwers and
machine guns, can also come together and carry out coordinated attacks. When the manager
receives an attack order from the soldier, the drones that take off automatically hit the locked
target in a coordinated manner and come back to the main base.
 Sky Hawk, another unmanned aerial vehicle of China that cannot be detected by radar, has
significant potential, although it is in the development process for now. Sky Hawk, which can
travel long distances at high altitudes and warn the army by reconnaissance in the conflict zone,
similar to the US B-2 bomber, will be able to share this data by communicating with other
manned and unmanned aerial vehicles. It is stated that this type of technology, which can
communicate with both manned and unmanned aerial vehicles, will accelerate target
determination, increase attack power and reduce casualties.

ii. Israel and Russia Working on Fully Autonomous Weapons

The Israeli army is also investing in autonomous, that is, self-driving drones with artificial
intelligence. The GOSHAWK drone system, especially developed to destroy kites and balloons
used for arson in the Gaza Strip, detects an arsonist device as soon as it takes off with optical
sensors; immediately takes off, destroying the threat. This whole process takes place from start
to finish, without human intervention.

Marker, the war tank-sized earth robot introduced by Russia in a video in March 2018, seems
to change the balance on the ground. In the two-minute video released, we can see Marker and
a soldier fighting shoulder to shoulder on the battlefield. Marker's sensors developed with
artificial intelligence detect the movement in front of it and lock on the target. The soldier next
to him controls the Marker, which is not a fully autonomous weapon. The soldier gives the
order to hit the target, on which the artificial intelligence is locked, by seeing it in the barrel of
his own gun. Another type of weapon presented to the public in the video is drones. 15 drones,
which act as three teams of five drones each, can act as a single unit and hit targets. It is
predicted that the operators who manage these drones today will be replaced by fully
autonomous artificial intelligence in the future.
iii. The US Will Have Tanks That Can "See" Ahead
One of the countries making the biggest investment in this technology is the USA. In a
statement made at the beginning of 2019, the US military announced that the only way to
counter some weapon systems was to take advantage of artificial intelligence. Two of the
companies that the government has been collaborating with to strengthen the defense system
with artificial intelligence, which has been aware of this for a long time, are Lockheed Martin
and Boeing. Since these two companies have developed numerous artificial intelligence
systems, it is not possible to cover all of them, but it is necessary to talk about the most up-to-
date and advanced ones. For example, Lockheed Martin's Convoy Active Safety technology
aims to make military vehicles semi-autonomous.

Artificial Intelligence, which benefits from the technology developed due to the fact that the
soldiers have difficulty in driving, especially when under fire, is immediately activated in the
moment of a sudden attack; it can see the front of the vehicle and automatically starts to follow
it by locking the other vehicle in front of it. This gives the soldier, who is the driver of the
vehicle, an opportunity to defend himself. The same company also develops autonomous
passenger vehicles for use in the army, civilian life and corporate purposes with artificial
intelligence technology. Boeing, on the other hand, aims to develop vehicles that can move
autonomously in sea, space and air.

The company's most notable production is the RQ-21A Blackjack, an unmanned aerial vehicle
that can fly to an altitude of 19,500 feet and fly approximately 16 hours a day. The vehicle can
obtain a view by processing the image and video data transferred to it with artificial intelligence
technology; that is, it can drive itself by seeing its front.

Although it has not yet been announced what kind of weapons will be integrated into this
technology, The Blackjack was delivered to the US army recently.

What will happen next? The US military has called on the defense industry for rifles enhanced
with facial recognition technology. In China, from microscopic robots to digital worms;
submarines, drones and tanks, in the cyber world and on the battlefield; In order to develop
many vehicles to be used in all kinds of wars with artificial intelligence, 31 Chinese young
people selected among 5000 people were gathered under the roof of Beijing Technology
Institute. Russia has announced that it will double its investment in artificial intelligence. In
other words, the countries that rule the world will continue to increase their investments in this
technology. This makes us think that robot soldiers, which we think we can only see in sci-fi
movies, warplanes that can hit targets without human intervention, and rifles that can
"recognize" people are not that far away.

E) Are Artificial Intelligence Robot Soldiers Coming?

In parallel with the development to be experienced in the third wave artificial intelligence
systems, we will start to see more robot soldiers in the operation area. Robots developed with
current technology can be used independently under limited conditions, as they are produced
using rule-based algorithms with decreasing accuracy in conditions of increased uncertainty.
However, mixed task groups to be formed from robots and humans will increase the operational
efficiency of armies and reduce human casualties. Robots will take on a complementary role in

24
cases where physical human characteristics are insufficient. Robots have been used in the US
Navy to respond to fires on ships.

F) Questions A Resolution Should Cover

1. How can the dangers of weaponization in Artificial Intelligence be prevented?

2. What steps should countries take to use artificial intelligence in a beneficial way?

3. How can the dangers posed by artificial intelligence to humanity be prevented?

4. Is preclusive agreement possible for the concrete movement of prevention?

5. What would be the main lines of preclusive agreement?

Bibliography
1. Pettyjohn, Stacie L. For the Future U.S. Overseas Presence, Access Agreements Are
Key.
2. 2013. [Link]
[Link]

3. Hansen, Andrew. The French Military in Africa. February 8, 2008. [Link]

france/french-military-africa/p12578

4. Glebov, Sergiy, and Luís Rodrigues. Military Bases: Historical Perspectives,

Contemporary Challanges. Lisbon: IOS Press, 2009.

5. Manson, Chuck. Status of Force Agreement (SOFA): What is it and how has it been
nutilized? Washington: Congressional Research Service, 2012.

6. Rosenfeld, Erik. Applications of U.S. Status of Force Agreement to Article 98 of the

Rome Statute. Washington University Heywood, Andrew, The Global Politics, 2011

7. OCHOA. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Oslo Guidelines. United
Nations, 2007

8. Burgess, Stephen, Military Intervention in Africa: French and US Approaches

Compared

9. Harkness, Kristen, The Ethnic Army and the State: Explaining Coup Traps and the
Difficulties of Democratization in Africa

10. Otto von Bismarck, New York: Oxford University Press, 1978
11. [Link]
nt_data/file/773526/Somalia_-_Clans_-_CPIN_V3.[Link]

25
12. Hansen, Andrew. The French Military in Africa. February 8, 2008.
[Link]

13. 855 "Berlin Conference of 1884–1885 - Oxford Reference,"

[Link]
-9780195337709-e-0467

14. Collier and Hoeffler,Development and Conflict: Centre for the Study of African
Economies, 2004

15. [Link]

16. Dobbins, James The Beginner’s Guide to Nation-Building, 2007

17. [Link]

18. [Link]

19. Victor-Manuel Vallin, France as the Gendarme of Africa

20. [Link]
graphic/2011/09/26/gIQANSmB2K_blog.html

21. Foreign Policy. “How the US is encircling China with Military Bases”. August 20, 2013.
<[Link]
rcling_china_with_military_bases>

22. [Link]

23. [Link]
publications/[Link]

24. Yeo, Andrew I. The Politics of Overseas Military Bases

25. [Link]

26. [Link]

27. [Link]
Intelligence#:~:text=Artificial%20intelligence%20is%20the%20simulation,speech%2
0recognition%20and%20machine%20vision.

28. [Link]

29. [Link]

30. [Link]

26