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Though Daniyar Khassenov has dedicated much of his life to mon- itoring the Kazakh government’s consistent violations of human rights, the young activist is now far from home, residing in the Ukraine. continued on
An Interview with Kazakh Human Rights Activist Daniyar Khassenov
How a dispute over fuel prices set off the largest protests in Kazakhstan since 1989, and what they mean for the future of this central Asian superpower.
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Article by Saoirse Aherne, staff reporter
It is from there that he joined me over zoom to provide insight into the recent unrest in Kazakhstan — a nation long heralded as the most stable in the region.
Khassenov did not leave Kazakhstan by choice, but rather was driven out due to his attempts to bring attention to it’s repressive regime. In 2019, the Khazakh government began to target Khassenov. In May of that year, a criminal case was launched against him for supposed participation in the activities of the Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan (DCK) opposition movement. Then 23 years old, Khassenov was a student of medicine and a volunteer with the Italian Federation for Human Rights. Almaty police claimed that Khassenov actively participated in DCK rallies, though Khassenov was not present at any of the events in question. Khassenov was detained numerous times throughout 2019. One day before his criminal case was launched, he was banned from leaving Kazakhstan by Almaty Police. In June of 2019, police imposed restrictions on his and his family’s bank accounts. These restrictions were lifted due to pressures from non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and the international community. Rather than face continual persecution, and fearing future threats to his safety, Khassenov fled the country.
Now 26 years of age, Khassenov is based in Ukraine and continues to work with Human Rights organizations across the world. He is unable to return to Kazakhstan, where, according to the activist, there is “No openness for criticizing the government:” Indeed, the mere act of protesting is illegal.
Khassenov’s experience as a young Kazakh activist, while tragic, is not uncommon. Yet the political repression endured in Kazakhstan over the past 30 years has rarely resulted in significant protests. That is until January of this year, when a series of demonstrations erupted across the nation. This unexpected turn of events is clearly of great interest to Khassenov, and it quickly becomes the focus of our discussion.
On the second of January, the Kazakh government removed a fuel cap on liquified petroleum gas (LPG), causing prices to spike. Many people in Kazakhstan use LPG to power their vehicles and, according to Khassenov, the financial implications of rising fuel prices inspired the initial protests. Demonstrations were first carried out in the oil-producing city of Zhanaozen, however they spread across the nation and quickly reached Almaty, the former capital of Kazakhstan.
It was there that protests escalated into violent clashes, leading Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev to declare a state of emergency and shut down internet services nationwide on January 5. This decision came after President Tokayev’s Almaty home was surrounded by thousands of angry protesters and set aflame, as reported by Time magazine.
On the 5 of January, President Tokayev also dismissed his cabinet and removed former President Nursultan Nazarbayev from his post as head of the security council. Tokayev appealed to the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) to send military forces to help deal with the protests. The CSTO is an intergovernmental military alliance between Russia, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan,
Armenia, and Tajikistan.
In a bid to appease protestors, Tokayev reinstated the fuel cap on January 6.
However, on the 6 of January, there were also heavy police crackdowns reported in Almaty by the BBC, as protestors attempted to take control of the police station. Demonstrators faced tear gas and stun grenades. Dozens were killed and hundreds were injured. The president insisted that the protests were led by foreign-backed bandits and terrorists, according to The Guardian. Russia announced the deployment of paratroopers through the CSTO to help stabilize the situation. In a televised address on January 7, Tokayev ordered security forces to “use lethal force without warning” against demonstrators.
Over the following days, violence continued in Almaty. The full extent of the bloodshed is unknown. The BBC reported that internet access was restored to the city on January 10. Yet when Khassenov and I spoke on the 11th, he maintained that access was only awarded for “one, maybe two hours a day.” Citizens are trapped in an “Information black hole,” said Khassenov. Families and friends are desperate to contact loved ones in Almaty, but this has become close to impossible due to the unpredictable internet restrictions. Moreover, Khassenov notes that these conditions posed a huge obstacle to organizing protests as “coordination requires communication.”
After over a week of unrest, the protests came to an end on the 11 of January and Russia announced that its troops had begun to withdraw on the 13.
What do protestors want? Though the rise in fuel prices sparked the initial protests, demonstrations continued even after Tokayev reinstated the fuel price cap. Khassenov described how the nature of the protests changed abruptly and “in one day, demands became political. Suddenly, protestors were chanting ‘Old man go away.’” The “Old Man” to which protesters were referring is Nursultan Nazarbayev: president of Kazakhstan from 1989 until 2019, when he stepped down from office and appointed Kassym-Jomart Tokayev to take his place. While Tokayev was acting president of Kazakhstan, Nazarbayev retained a lot of practical control over the country as chairman of the security council and “Leader of the Nation:” a constitutional role that granted him immunity from prosecution along with many policymaking privileges. Nazarbayev no longer holds these positions having been ‘removed from government’ on the 5 of January. Khassenov asserted that protesters were not simply expressing discontent with Nursultan as an individual, but rather with his legacy and the system he represents. Protestors have “democratic aspirations” the activist stated. They are tired of the old regime controlling the country, tired of having no say in how their nation is governed. Khassenov reported that on the 3 of January, the Democratic opposition movement became involved in the protests — a further demonstration of the ideological currents driving the upheaval. When asked whether the dismissal of Nazarbayev and the dissolution of the Kazakh cabinet would satisfy protesters, Khassenov could barely hold back laughter. “The Government is a façade,” he said with resignation, maintaining that Nursultan is still in control behind the scenes. According to Khassenov, Tokayev cannot truly remove Nazarbayev from power without making constitutional changes. Beyond this, Nazarbayev’s economic and political ties run deep into the foundation of Kazakhstan as a Nation; to remove his influence would require the country to be rebuilt from the ground up. Khassenov reiterated that the people want “whole regime changes, not just cosmetic changes.” Unfortunately, the new cabinet that has been created in the wake of these protests is merely “a reconfiguration of the old.” Until the “Old Man” and the old system that he represents is removed from Kazakh politics, the unrest will continue. Khassenov is adamant that “In weeks, or maybe months, people will realize that nothing has changed.” What should the International Community be doing at this time? According to Khassenov, around ten thousand people were arrested in the protests. It is unclear where
these protesters are being held, when, and if they will be released. One thing of which Khassenov is certain is that detainees are being subjected to inhumane conditions. He expressed worry for these civilians, many of whom were peaceful protesters simply expressing democratic aspirations. When asked what the international community ought to be doing with regards to Kazakhstan, Khassenov recommended an inquiry into the murders and detentions led by an He is unable to reintergovernmental organization such as the United Nations. “We turn to Kazakhstan, cannot trust our own security organizations” he stated. He also felt where, according to that powerful players, such as the United States, “should be doing the activist, there is more to promote human rights in Kazakhstan.” According to Reuters, “No openness for the State Department confirmed the “United States’ full support for criticizing the govKazakhstan’s constitutional institutions and media freedom and advoernment” cated for a peaceful, rights-respecting resolution to the crisis.” The reticence of the US government to definitively condemn the actions of Tokayev’s regime could be rooted in the fact that Kazakhstan sits atop some of the largest hydrocarbon and mineral reserves in the world along with the fact that it is the key to having a “business footprint in Central Asia, and a soft power presence,” according to Forbes. Washington sees Kazakhstan as the most developed former Soviet state in central Asia and is invested in maintaining positive relations; a US-Kazakhstan Business Council was even established in September of this year. Khassenov stated that perhaps the
most important move the international community could take is the introduction of “personal sanctions,” as Kazakh politicians and elites hold their money in Western banks. The most effective way to compel them to respect human rights would be via restriction of their economic power.
Khassenov also commented on the failure of many Western media sources to properly characterize the protestors, whom he said can be split into three groups. Firstly, there are peaceful protestors — most demonstrators fall into this category. The second group is made up of looters and criminals. They are responsible for causing much of the violence that has been reported. According to Khassenov, this group was organized by the state. Seeing that they could not control the large gatherings of pro-democracy protesters, the Kazakh government hired people to incite chaos thus justifying a violent police crackdown. Finally, the third group described by Khassenov is made up of poor and marginalized people who joined the looters out of desperation. Khassenov made sure to underline that these protests were intended to be peaceful and only became violent due to government interference.
What these protests mean for the future?
When asked, Khassenov seemed to think these protests have yet to become a movement. He described them as somewhat random and lacking a central leader or mandate. Though certain political organizations became involved in the demonstrations, they remained unstructured. This lack of coordination was exacerbated by the internet blackout and other government interferences. Moreover, the activist stated that the protests have led to no actual regime change.
On top of that, Khassenov worries that Russian involvement has set a “precedent which undermines international security.” The deployment of Russian troops via the CSTO is illegal and constitutes a “Russian invasion” stated Khassenov. The CSTO “can only act together if there is foreign threat.” Domestic political protests are not a legitimate cause for the deployment of CSTO troops. It is for this reason that President Tokayev accused “20 thousand international terrorists” of causing the unrest, though he failed to provide proof. By Khassenov’s account, the president went as far as to say that terrorists were “breaking into morgues and stealing the bodies of their comrades” to erase evidence of their involvement in the conflict.
The false claim that the protests were foreign-backed provided an excuse for Russian intervention, and Khassenov now fears that the Russians will not leave. Though Russia has announced the withdrawal of its troops, it also claims its “soldiers are not in Ukraine:” Khassenov has no trust in a nation which continues to interfere with the affairs of former Soviet states, aiding in the preservation of an oppressive regime in Belarus, threatening Ukrainian sovereignty, and now, helping to put down pro-democracy demonstrations in Kazakhstan. Nonetheless, these protests were the largest in 30 years, since Kazakhstan first gained independence from the Soviet Union. Though they may not have achieved their democratic aspirations, they are certainly significant. With the eyes of the world finally on this often-forgotten nation, there is potential for the Kazakh government to be held accountable for its numerous violations of human rights and freedoms.
FSO Safer: A Ticking Bomb in the Red Sea
Article by Emilia Kohlmeyer, staff reporter
Eight kilometers off the shore of Yemen lies a looming environmental and humanitarian catastrophe: the FSO Safer. The floating oil storage and offloading vessel is in imminent danger of sinking or exploding, which would lead to a disruption of the food supply, disrupt global trade, and cause a massive environmental disaster. The vessel is currently under control of the Houthi movement, which lacks the resources to mitigate the damage and prevent international actors’ access to the site-citing distrust due to previous agreements that were not complied with.
The United Nations have warned that a spill could reach quadruple the size of the catastrophic Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska, which is the second largest spill in US waters, affecting thousands of kilometers of coastline.
A spill from the FSO Safer could take months to clear and would have disastrous effects on its surrounding area. Currently, 80 percent of Yemen’s population is food-insecure. The nearby ports of Al Hudaya and As Salif — which receive about two thirds of Yemen’s food supply —would be blocked for up to six months. Furthermore, it would contaminate water utilized for desalination processes not only in Yemen but also in Saudi Arabia, upon which both depend. In addition, it would deplete the fishing industry which at least 1.7 million people in the surrounding region rely on. Lastly, it would impact access to the Suez Canal strait through which 10 percent of the global trade passes, having a grave impact on global supply chains.
The vessel was built in 1976 and has been anchored North of the Yemeni city Al Hudaya since 1988. It has since been utilized as a transit point for oil exports by the Yemeni government and presently harbours 1.14 million barrels of oil at a value of over 80 million US Dollars. During the Yemeni Civil War, the vessel fell into the hands of the Houthi Movement and has since faced structural disintegration.
Off-shore oil facilities next to a beach in Al- Wakrah, Qatar in January 2020. The compromise of such facilities pose a threat to marine life as well as desalination processes, which most countries in the Arabian Peninsula depend upon. Photo by Emilia Kohlmeyer
According to numerous research papers the FSO Safer has been classified at imminent risk of sinking or explosion as of October 2021.
At 50 years old, the FSO tanker has surpassed the average scrapping age of oil tankers by 19 years. Furthermore, the 50 head crew has shrunk to only seven members, a team too small to oversee the numerous essential repairs that the ship necessitates.
Since losing power in 2017, it has been declared a dead ship with only two diesel generators providing limited electricity to smaller devices. This is particularly dangerous given that it has halted essential mechanisms such as “inerting,” a process in which inert gases are pumped into the crude oil storage to counter the emission of highly flammable hydrocarbons. Therefore, the ship is susceptible to explosion by as little as a cigarette butt. It is assumed that the surrounding seabed contains Houthi mines. However, the officer responsible for laying them has been killed and therefore their location remains unknown. United Nations-led inspections have been hindered by the Houthis, who refuse to provide safety assurances. Yemen has been in a Civil War since 2014. The predominantly Sunni country was ravaged by the armed conflict between the government led
by Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi and the Shiite Houthi Movement. The single-candidate election of Hadi in 2012 led to strong Houthi opposition, who viewed the election as a The United Nations continuance of Ali Abdullah Saleh who was removed during the Arab have warned that Spring uprising in 2011. This was exacerbated by disagreements over a spill could reach the new constitution, proposals of a federal state structure, and forquadruple the size eign influence. In 2015 a Saudi-led coalition intervened to counter the of the catastrophic Houthi advance. However, with further escalation, the conflict had Exxon Valdez spill been considered a proxy war between Saudi Arabian and Iranian in Alaska... influence.
Wasteland of Agbogbloshie
Article by Mayra Kost, staff reporter
With the rise of technological development and our global dependence on electronic devices, European discarded electronic waste, or “e-waste,” is transforming entire cities in Africa into wastelands.
In the Agbogbloshie region near the Ghanaian capital, Accra, one of the largest electronic wastelands in the world, is expanding. The area currently holds over 50 million tons of e-waste, with predictions doubling the figure by 2050. Yet, the e-waste is not generated within the region, or even the continent. Instead, it is illegally imported from Europe and the United States to Africa.
The wasteland in Agbogbloshie began forming in the 1990s as large shipments from European countries, such as France, Switzerland, and the Netherlands arrived at the port of Accra with immense containers labeled as “secondhand consumer products.” In theory, the content of these containers was meant to be recyclable, expanding the market for reused electronic goods and pushing the Ghanaian economy forward. Yet, in reality, about 75 percent of these allegedly secondhand electronics cannot be further processed and are directly transported to landfills in Agbogbloshie.
While the waste is not imported directly from European incinerators, informal collectors in recycling centers or metal scrap dealers send the unusable e-waste either to African or Asian countries simply by changing their official label to “recyclable” or “secondhand” goods. The illicit trade of digital dumping proposes a more profitable option than properly recycling devices that contain toxic chemicals for most European manufacturers. ties blame the lack of surveillance in the ports, which allows about 150 thousand tons of foreign waste to enter the country annually. As regular inspections would result in a significant slowdown in the movement of multiple massive containers that the port passes daily, imported goods swiftly pass over from international waters into the country.
It appears that making a slight bureaucratic change is sufficient to continue the exploitation of the country, as the West has managed to maintain its private wasteland despite multiple conventions, namely by the Basel Action Network, an NGO that combats toxic waste importation to developing countries, and the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP). In 1989, with the signing of the Basel Convention, the first attempts to control and monitor transboundary movements of waste from Europe to Africa were made. The treaty explicitly forbade developed nations from unauthorized dumping of e-waste in less developed nations, yet the Basel Convention’s scope of power appeared to be minimal, and led to absolutely no significant change in the area. Subsequently, in 2012, a forum meeting took place between the UNEP and the Basel Action Network to discuss the violations of the 1989 Basel Convention, yet, once again, no consequential action was taken. While several meetings dedicated to this matter were organized in past years, they all shared a pattern of acknowledging the problem, but justifying the influx of waste from the West as an opportunity to create green jobs and facilitate economic development in Africa.
This idealistic thought behind “green jobs” harshly clashes with the reality of working in Agbogbloshie. Currently, the region holds about 10,000 workers who are engaged in an informal recycling process, scavenging for profitable metals by disassembling electronic devices and burning off plastic encasements on computer sites and refrigerator coils. Such fires release toxic gases into the air, amounting to abnormal levels of air pollution in the area, which puts these workers at serious risk of respiratory problems. Burns, back problems, and infected wounds as well as long-term issues like chronic nausea and lung problems are common ailments among the residents and workers in Agbogbloshie.
Moreover, the pollution has a larger effect on the country, as the region is simultaneously one of the largest food markets near Accra. Local farmers are left with no choice other than continuing their production and grazing the livestock freely on the dump site. It is estimated that one egg hatched by a free range chicken in Agbogbloshie exceeds the European food safety authority limits on chlorinated di-
Metal trash in Doha, Qatar in January 2022. Many low income areas are utilized as garbage dumps, making them essentially inhabitable. Photo by Emilia Kohlmeyer
oxins, which can cause cancer and damage the immune system, by 220 times. According to a report by the Basel Action Network, the site contains some of the most toxic chemicals on earth, putting both local farmers and consumers at an immense health risk.
Remnants of computer in Doha, Qatar in January 2022. Photo by Emilia Kohlmeyer
While the Ghanaians suffer as an entire city is taken over by an ever-growing wasteland, the West continues its covert operation, hiding behind excuses such as “Opportunity,” “Green Jobs!” and “Economic Development!” No amount of “opportunity” is worth the harm that is being inflicted upon the inhabitants of Agbogloshie, who must grapple with the inhospitable conditions of their home city with every breath of polluted air they take.
The situation in Agbogbloshie also reveals a much larger, global problem, centering around the West’s attitude towards African countries. Although colonialism is now considered to be an issue of the past, European nations are able to continue exploiting less developed countries, while the European Union maintains its public principles as “equality” and “promoting peace and stability.” The vast wasteland of Agbogloshie is living proof of this ongoing Western hypocrisy.
Iran and the United States: Fighting for hegemony at the cost of civilian lives
Server in a nightclub in Shiraz, Iran in April 2019. Often portrayed as extremely conservative by the West, Iranian people enjoy similar leisure activities such as partying. Photo by Emilia Kohlmeyer
For Iran it was an illegal assassination of a national hero; for the United States a justified pre-emptive attack on a terrorist. For the millions of civilians who reside within the Gulf region, it meant fear of what could be a death sentence by two powerful states in their unending quest for hegemony. For the international community, it is a painful reminder of its continuous failure to uphold international law. Soleimani was commander of the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and on a diplomatic mission in Baghdad when he was killed by a US drone strike on 3 January 2020. This triggered counter strikes by Iranian forces on US bases in Iraq, injuring thousands of military staff.
In Iran, thousands of mourners have marched in protest to what their government deems as “military adventurism”or reckless military strategies by the United States within the region. This is accompanied by Iraqi demands for the final withdrawal of US forces from their territory.
The States legally justified the strike as anticipatory self-defense, however it was immediately disputed that the danger Soleimani represented was “instant, overwhelming, and leaving no choice of means, and no moment of deliberation.” They failed to provide concrete evidence of an imminent threat, in effect failing to justify the principle of self-defense. The United Nations special rapporteur for investigating extrajudicial and summary execu-
tions, Agnes Callamard, concluded, “Even at the most basic level, the US did not demonstrate that striking Suleimani was ‘necessary.’” Furthermore, Iraq did not consent to the strike; therefore it concretely violated its sovereignty. Two years later, Iran’s continuous calls for action to the United Nations and Interpol sanctions on those responsible remain unanswered. International law should exist to provide a set of rules by which everyone is required to abide, despite one’s power or influence. It sets the basis for equality amongst states and their people, which is the foundation of conflict-resolution between multiple parties. When there is no consequence to the violation of said law for states which are considerably more powerful, international law fails to address its entire purpose:equal accountability. The assassination of Qasem Soleimani therefore set a dangerous precedent, highlighting that if powerful states such as the U.S. desire to bend the law according to their interests, they face no consequences. Why should other states therefore abide by the law at all? It could neither be considered fair nor necessary. This neglect of an accepted set of rules can endanger millions of civilian lives. In this particular instance, with the increasingly downright insulting rhetoric of both Iran and the States towards each other, armed conflict did not seem unlikely. Maybe Iraq would once again become the playground of the powerful – after all, strikes from both sides took place there. The ones who bear the burden of transgression from either side are innocent civilians, who are not even citizens of the perpetrating countries. They would share the same fate as Syrians, whose home is subject to a pissing contest between powerful states. The dangerous conse-
We joke about the quences of time there was almost this fight for a war, but entrenched regional hein our subconscious gemony indiis the knowledge that cate that the any diplomatic mis- current global step can claim our mechanisms next home. which are in place to protect civilians have failed to fulfill their duty. The pick-and-choose of which nation receives sanctions for its actions continues to allow a disproportionate exercise of power — often by countries that do not even lay within the region they seek to control. The guise of spreading human rights and global peace by such states can no longer serve as justification for foreign intervention. The international community cannot continue to accept it as such. Therefore, it is of increasing importance to hold officials of our own countries — and the organizations in which they participate – accountable. For too long this region has been a playground for the powerful at the expense of innocent lives. Two years have passed, and I am back in Qatar sitting in conversation with friends who have seen their homes fall victim to this power play. With the turbulence of COVID-19, many people abroad have forgotten how January 2020 felt. But we still live between 11,000 U.S. troops on the Al-Udeid base mere kilometers from our homes and our neighbor Iran, separated by a flight less than an hour. We joke about the time there was almost a war, but entrenched in our subconscious is the knowledge that any diplomatic misstep can claim our next home.
The Concept of Oral History
Changing the way we study the past, shaping the future of Humanities
Article by Angeliki Vytogianni, staff reporter
I have always been very interested in history. As soon as I realized how easily history could be used as a means of propaganda, I recognized the importance of oral history. This movement requires historians to alter the way they study the past. The value of oral history lies in personal testimonies from people that have witnessed or been involved in historical events. Studying these events in this grassroots way and paying more attention to the individual instead of government records ensures that history is shaped by the people, not by political, economic, military ideologies, or by the interests of those with power. This allows for a more humane way of looking at history, to get an accurate reflection on some of humanity’s greatest question marks and historiographical debates.
One example of this could be the post-World War I power struggle in the Ottoman Empire territories. Turks, Greeks, Armenians, and ethnic minorities all tried to claim their heritage in Asia Minor, in, mostly, hostile ways, after centuries of peaceful co-existence of this mix of nationalities up until the beginning of the 20th century. Moreover, in the Balkans, the Serbs, Bulgarians, Macedonians, Greeks, and Turks also tried to claim grounds. Historians that have studied this part of European-Middle Eastern history have mostly relied on reports, numbers and statistics provided by the governments and national organizations in the region. Novels written by Penelope Delta and other distinguished authors, intellectuals, and politicians of the time proved to be strong sources of information. However, one can easily understand that due to the complexity of this geopolitical issue, a variety of conflicting interests arose, with drastically different historiographical approaches. Thus, none of these sources can be guaranteed to accurately reflect the essence of the struggles of the time, which is when oral history comes in. With personal testimonies, voice recordings, interviews, personal letters, and diaries, oral history detaches historical events from purely governmental accounts.
Women in conversation in Souq Waqif in Qatar in January 2021. In the Middle East, passing on knowledge and experiences orally has a long tradition. Photo by Emilia Kohlmeyer
According to the Oral History Association, the term oral history refers to “a method of recording and preserving oral testimony” which results in a verbal document that is “made available in different forms to other users, researchers, and the public.” This organization also stresses the complexities of oral history in regard to legal concerns. Testimonies, interviews, and personal stories need delicate policies to protect privacy and copyrights, all analyzed in A Guide to Oral History and the Law. The author examines the most relevant court cases and cites examples of policies and procedures that oral history programs have used to avoid legal difficulties.
But oral history is not limited to researchers in history associations. Here in Menton, we have so many interesting stories and personal testimonies from important events in history to share. I was really intrigued by the prospect of being able to learn from this diverse student body, but I encourage Sciences Po to include more testimonies, and oral history into the curriculum itself. This would add to our social sciences and anthropological studies, by giving a firsthand picture of historical events and situations. Studying social and political sciences in such a prestigious university, we use history a lot, thus oral history could very well fit in our curriculum. It would be an improved way of looking at things, considering different points of view, getting different experiences, which is actually crucial to the work of a thorough historian. Instead of basing the bulk of research on governmental state archives, we can study and create different archives by interviewing people from different backgrounds to get their experiences of a particular historical period. Oral history is a very powerful tool that can make all diverse voices heard loud and clear. It gives power and space to historically oppressed and marginalized groups, and we get the option to understand the same event in greater depth, and under different lenses, depending on each person’s experiences. Indigenous populations, for example, are often not included in reports by authorities, however, by using oral history and interviewing them, we get a better sense of their reality.
In the refugee crisis, for example, listening provides more context than numbers, and head counts in the camps of Lesvos, we need to listen. Let the people talk and we listen.
2A Lilinaz Hakimi volunteered in one of the camps in Lesvos this past summer. She stressed the importance of this human-to-human connection in building empathy that cannot be replaced by statistics. In her own words, having heard the stories from the people themselves, “it is really important to hear someone’s story and connect, visualize, to understand what they are going through, understand how any historical event has so many different layers underneath.”
In the end, what it really comes down to is making history more a part of humanities like it was always intended to be. Let us not get carried away by the tendencies of our times to measure and file everything, which can be demeaning to the actual events. Let us keep being humans, keep connecting to other people and listening to them. Experiences are more valuable than any other means of sourcing, and we have so much of that.
China’s Surveillance State is Triggering a Digital Cold War
U.S. foreign policymakers should target China’s control of the internet as a top priority.
Article by Celeste Abourjeili, Editor-in-Chief
Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai’s disappearance was the social media equivalent of an 8.0 earthquake. For the first time in a long time, American eyes were drawn to China’s dystopian surveillance system. Yet, this story has already become obsolete, without any Chinese concessions. Shuai remains missing.
In the past few months, headlines have called attention to China’s quick cover-up of Shuai’s #metoo confession regarding the former vice-premier, Zhang Gaoli. Any mention of Shuai’s story was completely removed from social media and even private messaging groups within 30 minutes of her original confession.
The story, however, should not have come as a surprise to the media, nor the American public. China has long been cracking down on political dissent shared via social media. The nation’s development of its surveillance has reached terrifying levels in recent years: by 2015, the nation’s surveillance camera system, SkyNet, had already reached 100% coverage of Beijing. Near-instant facial recognition technology allows Beijing to monitor all of the movements and behaviors of its citizens with an unprecedented level of precision and detail. China’s Great Firewall project further employs millions in the crime of regulating, censoring, and slowing down domestic internet traffic. That, plus the nation’s exclusive use of domestic social media platforms, means that China has achieved the great dream of many an authoritarian state — an independent, or “sovereign,” internet.
Russia could only dream of attaining such a status. While other illiberal democracies might quake in the face of social media scandals, China shamelessly uses its control of the internet to shut down scandals on the domestic playing field. After a while, international media gets desensitized and moves on from the Peng Shuais of the world.
However, China’s surveillance state poses a real and tangible threat to the United States. The nation’s dystopia means that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has a tight grip on the peoples’ ability to spread ideas or even think freely. A basic review of survey data from the World Values Survey demonstrates that Chinese people have submitted to lower democratic values and no longer understand democracy for what it is today, due to stringent censorship measures.
For instance, the data demonstrated that, in China, the people greatly support democracy, however they believe that their government is democratic on the whole, even though China is an illiberal democracy. Meanwhile, the people showed altered perceptions of democracy with the belief that the government has the right to conduct surveillance and limit the privacy of the internet, or that the majority of Chinese journalists and media are uninvolved in corruption. In fact, there are no privately owned TV or radio stations in China according to the CIA World Factbook, and the Central Propaganda Department ensures that all domestic media outlets must gain approval from the government for all programming, so these beliefs are deeply misguided.
What is particularly troubling, besides the rights violations, is the fact that China is already in the process of selling and exporting these technologies to other illiberal regimes — 18 countries are already implementing this system. China is considered a “major exporter of broadcasting equipment worldwide” according to the CIA World Factbook’s 2020 data.
This approach to the internet and surveillance technologies demonstrates China’s intention to degrade global internet freedom and public unity on social issues. The CCP aims to restrict the flow of information not just in its own country but abroad. The party hopes to spearhead this movement — one can only imagine the control that such surveillance powers will leave to China on an international scale.
China’s flashy new tools for social control and surveillance are here to stay and to spread. The United States should brace itself for a longterm battle for internet freedom and democracy in what could be the next Cold War.
The Great Firewall of China Cartoon by Saoirse Aherne
