Meet your Director, Belle Butler!
Gabriella Butler is the Director of DISEC for the 2024 UCMUN conference. Gabriella has no prior Model UN experience except for being the Assistant Director for the Human Rights committee at the 2022 UCMUN conference. Gabriella has been a member of FBLA, Student Government, and even captain of the high school basketball team in high school. Gabriella is a double major in Human rights and History with a minor in Crime and Justice. She is very interested in the topics she has picked for this year's conference and is really looking forward to the lively debate. Please feel free to reach out to get to know her better before the conference! Gabriella.butler@uconn.edu
Meet your Topic Specialist, Ashley Jacob!
Ashley is a sophomore majoring in Computer Science with a minor in Mathematics. After having been an Assistant Director for UNSC, this will be her first time as a Topic Specialist. She is interested in game design and loves learning more about new technology. In her free time, Ashley enjoys reading, playing video games, and working on programming projects. You will always be able to find her exploring new areas on campus. She is excited to watch the delegates debate in DISEC. Feel free to contact her at ashley.jacob@uconn.edu.
Topic A: Cyber Warfare
Cyber warfare is defined as multiple attacks against the government of another nation-state. Cyber warfare has been in the news recently for countries like the USA, Russia, and China. These being major global superpowers, cyberwarfare is mainly predominant in these countries. Cyber warfare is the future of the world with the ever evolving technology. As technology advances, war weapons become more advanced in addition to cyber warfare becoming more widespread and common. Not everything is considered cyber war. For example, cyberespionage is an activity that some countries take part in that lead to an attack on the cybersecurity of other countries, however this is not fully cyber war. Leaders in international work have put thought into whether cyber war is a real thing or not. This being said, they are arguing if “war” is the best word for these attacks. Instead they suggest we use words like attacks and espionage or even terrorism. Recently, India, Germany, China, Russia, Georgia, and many other countries are either perpetrators or victims of cyber attacks.
Topic B: Pirates
Pirates were humans that were more predominant in history than today however, they are not how the movies made them seem. Pirates in history and even modern day wait in the sea to stop people in embargo ships to rob them. This is a threat to national security because pirates stopped people from all over the world. Pirates used to sail around in ships and rob people trying to ship cargo overseas. Piracy has taken the lives of many throughout history. In addition to this, it is a major threat to the economy and stability of certain countries in the world. Maritime Piracy allows for many terrorist attacks on the people sailing through. Piracy involves the robbery, usually armed robbery, of people sailing with commerce across the sea. Piracy in the past few decades has had a resurgence since the past. The main goal piracy is to get the most money, or the most stuff with monetary value as possible. This involves kidnapping, hit and runs, hijacking, and stealing ships