The General Assembly has been held in gridlock for the past three days, only moving forward from the topic of genocide and mass atrocities due to time constraints. Though resolutions have been drafted and debated time and time again, Syria and Brazil continuously call for p27s and unmoderated caucuses. Obvious frustration plagues the assembly as they are forced to move from their first agenda item to their special agenda item, bridging the technological divide between developed and developing nations. The Russian Federation, United States, and Saudi Arabia all express their frustrations regarding the halting of voting blocks. Evan Josten, delegate from the United States, calls out the “hypocrisy of those who will call out a bureaucratic nightmare but will also vote for a proposed 1-minute unmoderated caucus.” The United States has proposed a board resolution that hopes to create a generalized preventative action plan for genocide. Syria, on the other hand, calls for more specialized preventative actions that are region-specific. Their bloc, Arab and African nations, has been able to draft and nearly finish their resolution. Delegate from Eritrea, Callum Mackay, feels “they are ready to go to substantial debate.” Syria, as of current, is the main reason why the General Assembly has not been able to get any movement on their resolutions. The Russian Federation’s delegate, Vlada Smoot, directly calls out Syria, as they are “really frustrated as the delegate of Syria feels that not everyone has been heard, yet they have spoken twice, along with other nations.”

Syria still maintains a position that they “want direct action that addresses the root causes of genocide, not just call to action resolutions, as many others have.” Syria has placed a target on their back, holding back debates and agenda items so they may push their own direct action resolution through. Syria’s staunch blockade of resolution action has caused time constraints on the General Assembly. As they move into their special agenda item, I’m curious as to how the genocide and mass atrocities will affect the speed and thoroughness delegates exude as they write their resolutions.

Michaela Appiah
World Press Reporter
Weber State University