Topic 1: Combatting the role of blood diamonds in financing weaponry and fueling armed conflicts 

A blood diamond, more commonly known as a “conflict diamond”, is a diamond mined in war zones which is then sold or traded to aid or finance armed conflicts against governments.” Various rebel and terrorist groups have used forceful labor to extract blood diamonds from war zones, putting millions of children and adults at risk of violence and exploitation. These practices not only fuel conflicts but also cause severe human rights abuses and instability in the region. The nature of the diamond also aids in smuggling them to the marketplace as they are highly concealed and relatively small, so they are easy to resell and transport in the form of currency which allows them to be exchanged for support and weapons.

Blood diamonds were mainly associated with 4 countries: Sierra Leone, Angola, the democratic republic of Congo, and Liberia. Many rebel groups took advantage of these downsides and initiated deadly civil wars in Sierra Leone and Angola. Many of these diggers live in ongoing poverty while the rest of the people who work in the diamond industry make healthy profits through trading diamonds in financing opposing groups in armed conflicts.

Topic 2: Reintegrating Pariah states as a means to Tackle Threats to International Security and Stability. 

Pariah state is a term used for a country that is an outcast internationally, they are not accepted by many if not most of the governments around the world and stand alone. There are currently 13 pariah states, and some of the well-known examples are Afghanistan, Russia, Sudan, Syria, and North Korea. These Pariah states are isolated from the international community due to terrorism or in general to provide a secure location for terrorist organizations, abuse of human rights, the spread of nuclear weapons and technology, or generally causing aggressive actions towards other countries.

Russia, a well-known country, was considered a pariah state after invading Ukraine in 2022, which led to its exclusion from the international community and suspension from major activities such as the Olympics. Cutting off Russia led to a massive shock to the global economy, causing it to contract by 0.17% in 2022; with a significant increase in the price of energy such as crude oil and food markets. Another example is Afghanistan, after being considered a pariah state, years of conflict have displaced millions and has heavily disrupted the agricultural economy. Problems like this have often happened, especially after being declared pariah states. This shows that reintegrating pariah states can be a good way to ensure international stability and security.