The Angolan Civil War is one of the most geopolitically entangled conflicts of the Cold War era—where a domestic power vacuum quickly turned into a multinational diplomatic crisis. As Portugal withdrew following the 1974 Carnation Revolution, Angola's independence was immediately consumed by internal rivalries among MPLA, FNLA, and UNITA, each backed by competing regional and global powers. What began as a struggle for national identity soon became a proxy war, where diplomacy, military strategy, and ideological alignment blurred into a single battlefield. In this committee, delegates will investigate the political dynamics that emerged from decolonization and debate whether the conflict's diplomatic trajectory could have changed history.
The committee will unfold in three chronological and thematic phases:
1. Transition and Fracture (January–March 1975)
Delegates will explore the aftermath of the Alvor Agreement and the fragile efforts to form a transitional government. Emphasis will be placed on the reasons for institutional collapse, the failure to integrate rival forces, and the ideological and ethnic divides that paralyzed power-sharing.
2. Foreign Involvement and Diplomatic Breakdown (April–June 1975)
This phase focuses on the growing role of foreign actors: how the USSR, Cuba, the US, Zaire, China, and South Africa used diplomacy, covert operations, and military aid to shape the internal conflict. Delegates will assess whether diplomatic solutions were still viable before armed confrontation escalated.
3. Collapse or Compromise? (July–October 1975)
Delegates will evaluate late-stage negotiation attempts, recognition disputes, and the race to control Luanda. Could regional mediation or international frameworks have prevented civil war? Or was confrontation already inevitable?