The Arab Spring is an ongoing revolutionary movement seeking governmental reform in the Arab World. It began in December 18, 2010 when Mohamed Bouazizi lit himself on fire, as a protest, in Tunisia. His act brought latent resentment and unrest to the fore of several countries nearby and led to subsequent protests fighting against unemployment, food inflation, corruption, lack of freedom of speech, lack of political freedoms, police brutality, low minimum wages, and low quality of life. In Tunisia, the protests led to president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali fleeing to Saudi Arabia, and a promise of free elections in the near future. In Egypt, President Mubarak was ousted from power, and reforms are taking place in many countries. Still, revolutions continue to affect the above countries and others, including Libya, Bahrain, Syria, Yemen, Algeria, Iraq, Jordan, Morocco, Oman, Israel, Kuwait, Lebanon, Mauritania, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Western Sahara, and other Arabic-speaking states.

Responses to the Arab Spring have been greatly varied. In general, there has been widespread condemnation of harsh responses by governments to protests, but countries including the United States, France, and Iran have spoke at times in favour of how the governments attempted to stop uprisings. The rising price of oil in the revolutionary countries due to unrest—and possible permanent increase in its value—has also led to concern and contributed to the 2011 energy crisis. Also worrying to many is the possibility of the wave of civil unrest spreading to other countries, throughout the world. Protests about the Arab Spring and responses to it have occurred in dozens of faraway countries including the United States, the United Kingdom, and China. It is imperative for DISEC to formulate a comprehensive position on and response to the Arab Spring.

Private military companies (PMCs) are private organizations formed for the purpose of warfare. They perform a variety of war- or security-related tasks, and governments use them both domestically and abroad. Every major country in the world has contracted out to PMCs, which have been involved in conflicts as diverse as the war in Iraq and the 1995 civil war in Sierra Leone.

Private military companies can fill many useful roles. For example, they can allow non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to work more effectively, and the military often uses them when they cannot act in an area or when they’re overstretched. But the usage of private military companies also create worrying issues: they have little accountability, due to loopholes in international regulations, which are rarely targeted at them. In circumstances such as the Abu Ghraib prison scandal in 2006, military contractors could avoid prosecution or blame altogether. DISEC will need to weigh the pros and cons of the widespread usage of private military companies, working to minimise the issues and increase accountability while still preserving the important roles that they play in many states.