10 Years In Review, Vol.9 Issue 2

September 2014

Volume 9 Issue 2

UCT’S STUDENT INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS MAGAZINE

surveillance Protection or infringement of privacy?

medical potential The greatest medical advancements of the decade.

memory hardware

Consumer Culture

Are we becoming superficial thinkers?

Is technology taking ove?

10 years in review ~2004-2014~

The Cape Town Globalist

CTGLOBALIST.COM

1

the worst thing about secrecy is ssssssd.

• Is state secrecy going up or down?

• How bad is surveillance?

• What are the effects of police militarisation?

Download R2K’s 2014 Secret State of the Nation Report and find out! r2k.org.za/secrecy-report-2014 2

www.r2k.org.za

@r2kcampaign

facebook.com/right2know

september 2014

Contents

Editor-in-Chief Lyndall Thwaits

Deputy Editor Ashleigh Furlong

Content Editors Aisha Abdool Karim Beyers de Vos Alicia Chamaille Fadzai Muramba Layout Editor Daniel Rautenbach

Deputy Layout Editors JP Fawcett Ashleigh Furlong CTG President Olivia Fiorotto

Appetisers

10 Years in Review

8

18

Sports stars at their best

The greatest medical advancements of the decade.

6 9

News bites

What’s happening in the world

Q&A

With Nkosiyati Khumalo

Armchair Globalist

Flight risk?

24

Finance Philippa Cochrane

Cover Photo nieuws.vtm.be

The Cape Town Globalist is published three times a year by students at the University of Cape Town. Any opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of the Cape Town Globalist, the publication sponsors, the University of Cape Town, or Global21.

To contact the CTG, email ctglobalist@gmail.com Correction: We would like to apologise for the spelling error of Tayla-Paige Van Sittert in the previous edition.

The Cape Town Globalist

20

22

Marketing Tayla-Paige Van Sittert Contributors Aisha Abdool Karim Alicia Chamaille Ashleigh Furlong Beyers de Vos Fadzai Muramba Olivia Fiorotto Peter Beare Philippa Cochrane Tatjana Baleta Tasneem Amra Tyra Overmeyer

15

25 it image credit: Roswell Park/Flickr

News 10 11

12

A Decade in View

The Greatest of the last 10 years

Faster, Higher, Stronger

Medical Potential Suvveillance

Protection or infringement of privacy

Consumer Culture

Is technology taking over?

Extra! Extra! Read all about Has online media replaced print media?

Ebola Outbreak

Epidemic out of control

Police Brutality

The Khayelitsha Commission of Inquiry

The Rise of the Islamic State Shifts in power relations

image credit: Gwenael Piaser/Flickr

image credit: EU Humanitatian Aid/Flickr

Contributions 13

Global21

Contribution from the Yale and South AuStralian GLOBALIST

History, Politics and Science

26 Succession, Statehood and Scotland Setting political boundaries

28

30

Externalising our Memory Hardware The influence of technology on memory

Arab Spring

Democracy gound to a hault 3

The Cape Town Globalist is a member of

Global21

1 NETWORK LINKING FUTURE WORLD LEADERS

Network of International Affairs Magazines 5 LANGUAGES www.global21online.org 5 CONTINENTS

11 UNIVERSITIES 245 000 STUDENTS

Yale University • University of Toronto • University of Sydney • Hebrew University • Institut de Sciences Politiques • London School of Economics • Peking University • University of Cape Town • University of South Australia • Oxford University • Ibmec University 4

september 2014

Editorial O

ne of the first memories I have of the evolution of technology is the first time I playfully grabbed my mother’s new cellphone (brick style) off the table while sitting next to the pool, pretending to look cool while I posed for a photo which I still have today. At the time I struggled to get my head around this ‘wireless’ phone, little did I know that this was just the start of a phase of life which would rapidly snowball so fast that I now hold a touch screen – Ask Suri – instant weather report – social media orientated phone that does it all. This is just one simple example of the progression in the last ten years and I’m sure you can think of many instances in your own life where major changes have occurred (thank goodness for wireless right?) and hugely impacted your day to day lives.

This edition is appropriately themed: The Last 10 Years in Review. A chance to look over some of the best and greatest achievements the world has seen in the last decade. The edition attempts to pack a vast quantity of life into its mere 32 pages, but we hope we’ve given you something interesting to read, think about and start a conversation on with those around you.

The issues that we did manage to put into the issue include: The issues that we did manage to put into the issue include the print versus digital debate; consumer culture today, the most important medical discoveries of the last ten years and where South Africa sits in terms of the advancements made. We also look into the issue of surveillance at the hands of technology and ask whether it is a protection or violation of our privacy? As well as the rise of sportstars who continue to break world records and the possibly attributes of this occurance.

On a different note, our news articles cover a range of current affairs. These include the Ebola epidemic which continues to rapidly spread across the globe, the Islanmic State and police brutality in South Africa, focusing on the Khayelistsha Commission of Inquiry.

In this edition, given the vast expanse of the topic, we decided to show you just some of the major world events and news topics of the last decade in picture form. We’ve also dedicated some time to interviewing one of the most fashionable men – Nkosiyati Khumalo – in his position as Deputy Editor of GQ on the topic of popular culture. We also looked into airoplane safety, something that seems to have been dominating the news in 2014, which you’ll definitely want to read before you board your next flight.

In the spirit of technological developments in the last 10 years, please take a look at our website to view more on the topic and visit our Facebook (Cape Town Globalist) and Twitter (@CTGlobalist) pages. That aside, we hope you enjoy reading this edition as much as we enjoying putting it together, happy reading!

Lyndall Thwaits

Editor-in-Chief

The Cape Town Globalist

5

News bites Riots Erupt in Ferguson

A fungal parasite infects carpenter ants and causes them to die close to their colonies. This way the fungus is able to maintain a regular flow of new ants to infect. Researchers in PLOS One have done a study showing that the parasite makes the ant climb on vegetation before killing it. The dead ant then remains on the vegetation and the fungus is able to drop spores on any insects that pass by underneath the vegetation.

New York Times Science Ferguson, Missouri, has been home to multiple riots ever since Michael Brown, 18 years old, was shot and killed by a local police officer, Darren Wilson, on August 9th. The circumstances around the shooting are unclear with police and civilians giving conflicting reports. Residents began to peacefully protest the actions of the police for shooting an unarmed teenager 6 times. However, the situation quickly got out of control when police began to throw tear gas, flash grenades and fire rubber bullets at the protestors. The protests are still ongoing.

$87 million

spent on 3D printing by consumers

1 in 29,4 million average time spent watching television

chances of being killed on a single airline flight

5,11 hours

5,922,000,000 number of Google searches per day in 2013 compaired to 2007’s 1,200,000,000

Statistics courtesy of

via The Economist

27 Boko Haram militants killed

digits of t

Zombie Ants

Regulation of E-cigarettes Possible Civil War in Libya Libya warned the UN Security Council that it was on the brink of a civil war on August 27th.

The Libyan parliament recently elected an Islamist-backed deputy as the prime minister causing a divide within the country. Both factions are heavily armed and follow two rival leaders. The country has been embroiled in conflict since the elections in June. Thus far the government has been unable to regain control of the situation or counter the threat posed by the opposing militia groups. via Reuters

Twenty-seven Boko Haram militants were killed by the Cameroon army on August 27th.

These deaths were a result of militants crossing the border into Cameroon earlier in the week.

Soldiers in Cameroon have said that the Boko Haram have returned to Nigeria and the area is returning to normal. There were no Cameroonian causalities in this latest attempt by the Boko Haram to create an Islamic state. However, previous attacks by the Boko Haram resulted in the dismissal of 2 army officers, the death of 7 people and the kidnapping of the Vice Prime Minister’s wife. via Reuters 6

The World Health Organisation (WHO) released a report on Tuesday calling for strict regulations to be imposed on the use of electronic cigarettes. They believe that the government should ban smoking of e-cigarettes in public place as well as stop allowing marketing which targets young users. Given the restricted amount of information and research available regarding the risks of e-cigarettes it’s unlikely these regulations will be adopted. However, health experts have said that these suggestions would guide policy decisions. via New York Times Health september 2014

appetisers appetisers

Militant Beheading

the decade

3,25 billion average number of likes a day on instagram

80%

hours watched on Youtube per

month

1,6 billion of all e-mails sent are spam

slices of pizza eaten each second

175 million

350

people visit a zoo each year

f statisticbrain.com

The Perfect Crime Only costing the perpetrators a couple of pennies and the victims almost £40 000. So what happened to Russia’s renowned Gatchina Palace Museum? Vandals came in at night and painted the toenails of Satyr Playing the Flute statue red. The nail polish probably only costing them mere pennies in comparison to what it will cost the museum in reparations due to the way the varnish reacted to the marble. It is estimated that the reparation costs would be equivalent to installing high-tech security cameras to cover every inch of the museum’s grounds. via Orange news

Some relief follows the beheading of James Foley by militant group – Islamic State (IS).

IS rivals al Nursa Front, an official wing of al Qaeda, released journalist Peter Curtis after almost two years of imprisonment in Syria. He was greeted back on US soil with much warmth and enthusiasm, particularly by his mother.

During Curtis’ first public statement since landing in the US, his voice trembled as he thanked all those who helped in the fight to bring him home. Currently, the US is focusing on conducting surveillance flights as the IS still have at least one US hostage, Stephen Cotloff, and possibly others. via Orange News

Instability in Zimbabwe

Around one hundred protesters were met by police force in Harare, Zimbabwe when members of the Movement for Democratic Change took to the streets with a petition. The petition was for President Robert Mugabe to stabilise the economy which has been in a constant state of crisis for several decades. The economic crisis in Zimbabwe has led to spells of hyper-inflation and mass unemployment. Causing almost 300 000 Zimbabweans to flee into South Africa alone in search of employment. The protesters were thrown into marked police vans and beaten with batons. Only some have been released. via IOL Africa

Held Hostage in Ukraine Ten Russian paratroopers are being held hostage in Kiev, Ukraine just thirty kilometres from Russia’s border. The wives and mothers of the ten paratroopers are now making an appeal to Russia’s high commanders, President Vladimir Putin, God and the people of Russia to help bring their boys home. Russia’s defence ministry claims that the paratroopers crossed the border ‘by accident.’ An accident that the wives and mothers do not appreciate.

In video recorded messages the women can be seen breaking down as well as standing fiercely proclaiming that if Russia won’t do anything to bring their boys back then they – the mothers and wives – would do it. via Orange News

Panda Fakes for Room-Service Researchers at Chengdu Giant Panda Breeding Research Centre where thrilled when they thought one of their pandas was pregnant. The panda had shown signs of pregnancy – less movement and a drop in appetite – however she may have been faking it in order to receive special treatment. Whenever a panda at Chengdu is found to be pregnant they get moved into a private room and are fed more buns and fruits than they would otherwise. Researchers believe that this particular Panda faked her pregnancy in order to reap the benefits as tests showed that she was not pregnant. The Giant Panda has a notoriously low reproduction rate, worrying researchers that in the future they may become extinct. via Orange news

image credits: Flickr and Wikimedia commons The Cape Town Globalist

7

appetisers

Q& A

with

Nkosiyati Khumalo

Nkosiyati Khumalo is the Deputy Editor of GQ South Africa, one of the leading men’s magazines in the country. In this Q&A with BEYERS DE VOS, Khumalo discusses pop culture and the the impct that this has had on the last ten years.

What, in your opinion, have been the most significant international pop culture moments in the last ten years?

You could list 100 things and leave off another 300, but to pick just one – social media.

It wasn’t even a term 10 years ago and it has revolutionised all of our lives and every industry.

What have been the most important changes over the last decade as far as traditional content and traditional contentdelivery are concerned?

Technology created a revolution, first through the democratisation of the internet – increased speed an accessibility combined with lower costs – and then through the rise of mobile tech, where smartphones began to move away from the boardroom and into our personal lives. I’m of an age where I can remember clearly each step of that revolution.

Add YouTube and the advent of social media – blogs, MySpace and then Facebook in 2004 – and the ways we interact with each other have all changed. Content delivery today has to meet us there, where we are, no matter the medium or the message – info-/entertainment or advertisement. Our personal digital presence is large – Facebook, Twitter, perhaps a blog, etc. – and we’re always online, so content creators and advertisers must meet us there.

Technology created a

revolution.

The way pop culture is consumed has changed dramatically over the past ten years. What has the impact of this been?

Because we’re always online and are media saturated, we’re also a lot more media savvy: critical of news outlets; aware of the issues that accompany corporate news media ownership; much more aware of advertising in all its forms, and much less swayed by it. People can see through the crap now – and we value honesty and authenticity. You see the same thing in music – there’s a reason peo8

ple stopped listening to Gangnam Style after a while, but Aretha Franklin’s Respect is still one of the most-soundtracked songs in film, and why personal demons aside, everyone loves Amy Winehouse. That being said, the beauty in viral videos like Gangnam Style is that it did a few things really well: imitatable choreography, a funny video, and an upbeat track are the ideal components for a video to be shared – and that’s exactly what we did. When we find authentic things, or things that really entertain us – whether or not they’re selling something – we’ll share it.

unique voice, adapting it to every medium and digital platform, so that their audiences can interact with the brand in the same way they interact with anyone else they trust: email/WhatsApp/blogs/Facebook/Twitter/ YouTube/website. Print media does have to work a bit harder to bring in the advertisers, however, and more and more advertisers are attracted to titles that speak in a voice that matches or aligns with theirs – and flee from those titles that don’t.

When we find authentic

things, or things that really entertain us – whether or not they’re selling something – we’ll share it.

Do you think the print media still has a role to play in this process?

When email started taking off in the workplace – early to mid-’90s – all the talk was about how we’d move to a paperless office. I have yet to see that happen. Everyone likes to talk about how ‘print is dying’ or ‘print is dead’, and that’s simply not true. Or Rather, it’s not the whole truth.

The old ways of thinking about print media, and creating print media, are dying. Newspapers, in particular are in the adapt-or-die phase, and the ones that adapt well retain all of their brand identity and their authority. Magazines have a bit more staying power as a medium – there’s often no better place to showcase beautiful photography and share it with a wide audience than that of print magazines – but they too must adapt. The ones that do so successfully again focus on the content and preserving their

As consumers of pop culture, we are more spoilt for choice than ever before and knowing what to give our attention to is becoming increasingly more difficult.

What are your most trusted sources for pop-culture analysis and review?

I think the beauty of our time is that there is a counterpoint for every argument, and that we can be our own analysts. With the rise in voices, it’s easier to find a ‘source’ that suits your taste, and your preferred platform. Websites fulfill a different place for us than magazines or Twitter – we may read one on the bus and another over breakfast.

It’s also easier to be your own ‘source’ and add your voice to the conversation. We are our own pop-culture reviewers.

If you had to review the past decade’s cultural output, how many stars would it get? Why? Four stars, perhaps – a search for authenticity but sometimes a bit too much noise.

But how do you compare one decade’s to another? Each one is relevant to its time period. CTG Beyers we Vos is a Masters student in Creative Writing

september 2014

Air Safety in 2014

ARMCHAIR

2014 has seen multiple devastating aviation accidents causing us to question the safety of air travel. Tasneem Amra examines how safe air travel actually is.

O

n Wednesday, August 13th, a private Cessna 560XL jet carrying the Brazilian socialist party candidate, Eduardo Campos, crashed into a residential area in Santos, south of Sao Paulo, Brazil, killing him and the six other crew members and passengers on board. The jet was flying from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to the city of Guaruja, near Santos. Officials have blamed the crash on bad weather, but a federal investigation remains underway.

This is but one of a plethora of aviation accidents to have made headlines this year.

Over the past six months, some of the commercial carriers to have made headlines include: August 10th : a Sepahan Airlines plane carrying 48 passengers and crew on a scheduled domestic flight from Iran’s Mehrabad Airport to the eastern city of Tabas crashed shortly after takeoff, killing at least 39 people, and injuring nine others. The cause of the crash has been blamed on the failure of one of the plane’s engines.

July 24th: Air Algérie flight AH5017 carrying 116 passengers and crew on a scheduled international flight from Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, to Algiers, Algeria, crashed in Mali, killing all on board. The plane contacted air traffic control about 50 minutes after takeoff to request a course change because of poor weather; it then disappeared from radar.

July 23rd: TransAsia Airways flight GE222 carrying 58 passengers and crew on a scheduled domestic flight between Kaohsiung and Magong, Taiwan, crashed into a residential area near Magong Airport, killing 48 of the plane’s occupants and injuring a further five people on the ground. It crashed during a go-around following an attempted landing amidst bad weather.

July 17th: Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 carrying 298 passengers and crew on a scheduled international flight from Amsterdam, the Netherlands, to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, was shot down by a surface-to-air missile near Grabovo, Ukraine, killing all on board. The missile is believed to have been fired from the territory controlled by pro-Russian separatists; the Russian government, however, has blamed the Ukrainian government for the shoot down.

March 8th: Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 carrying 239 passengers and crew on a scheduled international flight from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to Beijing, China, disappeared en route from the radar. This led to the most expensive search in aviation history, which has, to date, yielded neither the plane status nor location, nor any plane debris.

February 16th: Nepal Airlines Flight 183 carrying 18 passengers and crew on a scheduled domestic flight from Pokhara to Jumla, Nepal, crashed into a mountain near Khidim, about 75 kilometres southwest of its destination, killing all on board. Weather was poor at the time of the accident.

The Cape Town Globalist

According to the Aviation Safety Network, there have been six further commercial aviation accidents this year.

Is 2014, then, one of the deadliest years in commercial aviation history?

Data from the Aviation Safety Network shows that the numbers of annual worldwide commercial airliner accidents and fatalities have been dropping for decades.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) found that between 2001 and 2010, the aviation accident rate was cut by 42%. Similarly, the CNN report, “Is 2014 the deadliest year for flights? Not even close”, states, “The world has been enjoying the safest-ever overall period in aviation history, according to the aviation safety number crunchers”.

2012, for example, saw the lowest number of commercial aviation accidents – 23 – since 21 accidents in 1942.

And last year saw the lowest number of commercial aviation accident-related casualties – 265 – since 1945, when there were 245 casualties. Even though the 761 casualties to date this year are almost triple that of last year – indicating a particularly bad year for aviation accident-related casualties – it is still relatively low.

Rudy Quevedo, Global Programme Director of Washington’s Flight Safety Foundation, advised in the CNN report that one also has to factor in the amount of overall aviation traffic in order to get an accurate idea about aviation safety.

Is 2014, then, one of the deadliest years in commercial aviation history?

This entails finding the aviation accident rate: the number of annual accidents is divided by the number of annual worldwide commercial aircraft departures – the latter is monitored and recorded by aviation industry trackers.

According to the IATA, the 2013 global Western-built jet accident rate was 0.41; this was the equivalent of one accident for every 2.4 million flights. “Looked at over the five-year period (2009-2013), 2013 shows a 14.6% improvement on the five-year average of 0.48”, IATA said in a press release.

Once data from the end of this year is collected and analysed, the aviation accident rate can be measured and compared to previous years; this will give a more accurate idea of commercial aviation safety in 2014.

For now, IATA claims that “over the five years [from] 2009-2013, the industry has shown improvement in both accident rates and fatalities, although year-to-year comparisons may fluctuate”. This sentiment was echoed by Quevedo to CNN, when he said that data from the past few years show less fatal accidents overall. “It’s a perfectly safe system,” he said. CTG

Tasneem Amra

is a 2nd year Film and Media Production student majoring in Interactive Media

9

Global 21

Single and Sexless:

Celibacy Syndrome in Japan

“S

o I’m writing an article about Japanese sex culture,” I begin telling Yuki Hayashi a Yale freshman from Tokyo. She interrupts my introduction with laughter. “Sex culture?” she says, smiling at my notebook. “Don’t you mean the lack thereof?”

Most Westerners are aware of Japan’s declining birthrate, but many are oblivious of another looming national disaster for the Asian powerhouse: sekkusu shinai shokogun, or celibacy syndrome.

Celibacy syndrome is the term invented by Japanese media to describe the national trend of young people retreating from interpersonal relationships and sex.

According to a 2011 survey conducted by the Japanese National Institute of Population and Social Security Research, 61 percent of unmarried men and 49 percent of unmarried women aged 18-34 were not in any kind of romantic relationship at all. A related survey by the Japan Family Planning Association (JFPA) found that 45 percent of women aged 16-24 “were not interested in or despised sexual contact [with others]”.

So why then are more and more of Japan’s 20-and30-somethings putting away the roses and picking up the anime porn? What is the source of this “hatred” towards sexual contact? Tokyo-based clinical sexologist and sex therapist Dariusz Skowronski explains that though there are many theories on what exactly sparked the surprising trend, the recent Japanese youth rebellion movement to “completely disassociate” from the older generation has played a heavy role.

“...the average Japanese married

couple spends a mere 17 minutes a week on conversation”

Jade Adia Harvey

writes for The YALE Globalist

10

Prior to the mid-20th century, Japan was relatively closed to the Western world. Yet after World War II, Japan experienced a sudden influx of American popular culture brought into the country by American soldiers.

Western influence in Japan grew steadily in the following decades through the rise of television and the Internet boom, which skyrocketed cultural exchange between the two nations to unprecedented levels. Suddenly, Japanese youth could access American romantic comedies as easily as young New Yorkers could buy a Toyota. The effects of the American-Japanese cultural wave in the East were undeniable: Japanese youth saw the effects of the on-going feminist movement in America, where single mothers could have successful careers and men were no longer expected to be the sole providers for their families, and began to rebel against traditional family and relationship structures that hold marriage as sacrosanct in what Skowronski describes as “an extreme, uniform, and distinctly Japanese way”.

Skowronski, who helps young adults in Tokyo deal with marital, intimacy and sexual issues, describes traditional gender roles in Japan as “very distinct--inflexi-

ble and clearly defined”. For centuries, the expectation for Japanese women has been to become a wife, bear children, and serve the family. The legacy of such beliefs can still be seen today in the minimal maternity leave policies of many major Japanese corporations. According to Kathy Mtasui’s concept of “Womenomics,” roughly 70 percent of Japanese women exit the workforce permanently after having their first child. Japan is consistently ranked by the World Economic Forum as one of the world’s worst nations for gender equality in the workplace. Women with careers are commonly pressured to either quit their jobs and start a family, or continue working under the label of oniyome, or “devil wife.”

Ambitious women don’t want to quit their jobs and spend their lives taking care of both their children and their aging in-laws (at 83 years and counting, Japan’s life expectancy is the world’s second-highest) while their husband leaves them home alone for most of the week.

Japanese white-collar jobs are so draining that many businessmen choose to sleep at their offices during the week to avoid long daily commutes. According to Skowronski, the average Japanese married couple spends a mere 17 minutes a week on conversation. And young men are increasingly dissuaded from marriage not only due to the plethora of other sexual outlets available, but also because of the economic costs that come with marital unions in modern Japan (Tokyo, according to CNN, is the world’s most expensive city).

While young people do not want to be bothered with sex in relationships, older married couples have not been spared from celibacy syndrome. The JFPA reports that 40 percent of married couples on Japan are “sexless,” or having sex fewer than 12 times a year. Further studies suggest that within this subset, the majority of the couples are not sexually active at all. Skowronski speculates that this sexless phenomenon amongst married couples could have its roots in the Japanese tradition of separating sexual objects and life partners. Once a partner has a child, Skowronski explains, she moves from “sexual partner” to “mother,” with mothers being seen as asexual. This tradition may have been exacerbated in recent years by an increase in the average number of work hours per week for Japanese men, keeping them in the office and away from the bed.

In contrast to the previous generations’ preoccupation with marriage and adherence to traditional gender roles, today’s Japanese youth have nurtured extreme gender stereotypes of their own: “herbivore men” and “carnivore women”. The average “Herbivore Man” is a 20-something, heterosexual male who refuses relationships and consumes huge amounts of anime and manga.

The “Carnivore Woman”, on the other hand, is a 20-something heterosexual female university graduate who is career-driven, uninterested in marriage, and apathetic towards sex. The Herbivore Man lifestyle has gradually evolved from a popular trend to a new norm, leaving “aggressive, masculine men” in the minority...

Continue reading at ctglobalist.com

G21

september 2014

Why the Ukraine Crisis is little more than a gas war

I

n the middle of a harsh European winter, at the beginning of 2009, citizens in a number of South-Eastern European nations faced an unprecedented crisis: they had been left in the cold without access to gas – a situation for which they were largely unprepared. Starting from the second day of the new year, countries like Hungary, Romania, Poland, Bulgaria, Turkey and Greece, among others, reported one after the other that pressure levels in their pipelines were falling dramatically.

Some would be left without supplies for days, leading to significant economic and humanitarian consequences.

Slovakia even officially declared a “state of emergency” over the severe energy deficiency it faced.

It was the sort of crisis that could have resulted from a shock natural disaster or the perils of wartime, yet instead it was caused by a straightforward political disagreement between neighbours, Russia and Ukraine, over gas payments. The reason why such a widespread calamity could follow from a seemingly irrelevant dispute was the fact that those countries depended on Russia for to much – and in some cases, like that of Slovakia, virtually all – of their energy; which was delivered by a pipeline that crossed through Ukraine. When Russian oil company Gazprom decided to shut off gas supplies to Ukraine because of its inability to pay off its debts (a move supported by Prime Minister Putin), everyone in the region suffered.

In fact Russia was, at the time, supplying around 30 per cent of all of Europe’s gas – its main source of energy – and most of it flowed through the Ukrainian pipeline. As a result, the bilateral misunderstanding between Russia and Ukraine sent ripple effects that swept throughout the whole continent, and citizens all over the place felt the pinch following the energy cut-offs. The 2009 dispute was not even the first of its kind; it was just one of several “gas wars” fought out between Russia and

The Cape Town Globalist

Global 21

Ukraine after 2006. The European Union (EU) thus took a raft of measures to reduce energy dependency on Russia and the delivery route running through Ukraine since then. It has, for example, developed a new pipeline (the Nord Stream) linking Russia directly to Germany, decreased the amount of its gas it imports from Russia, and increased its energy storage capacity to survive potential gas shortages caused by supply interruptions like that of 2009.

The situation is a poignant illustration of the geopolitical dimension of energy security politics Nevertheless, many EU member-states in Russia’s backyard remain heavily dependent on Russia and the Ukrainian pipeline for their gas supply. That is why Europe is looking on with concern as the current conflict in Ukraine draws out into another potential gas war. Deteriorating Russia-Ukraine trade relations over gas have always underscored, or perhaps even driven, the dispute.

Last December, the former pro-Moscow Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych abandoned a publicly favoured trade (and aid) deal with the EU in favour of closer ties with Russia and gas company Gazprom (which included paying less for its oil). The move sparked months of violent protests from Ukrainian citizens who wanted an end to Russian influence in Ukrainian politics, eventually leading to Yanukovych’s ousting. A power vacuum ensued, resulting in the referendum which saw the region of Crimea defect to Russia, and the armed conflict between the government and pro-Russian separatists in the east of the country...

Continue reading at ctglobalist.com

Matteo Gagliardi

writes for The South Australian Globalist

G21

11

NEWS

Ebola Outbreak The Ebola virus has spread rapidly through West Africa, leaving an enormous death toll in its wake. Fadzai Muramba looks at Ebola’s devastating impact and spread through the lens of globalisation.

T

he current ongoing outbreak of the Ebola virus disease in West Africa has been traced to a 2-yearold boy who died on December 6 last year in the village of Meliandou, Guinea. He is believed to have been the first human victim of the current scourge. The boy’s mother, sister and grandmother then became ill with symptoms consistent with the Ebola infection and also died. The people who were in close contact with these victims then spread the disease to other villages, and from these villages across the West African borders.

The world is just not what it was a mere 50 years ago.

Globalisation has resulted in increased modes of transportation, which have made it easy for people to move across boarders and unknowingly carry diseases along with them. Within 25 years, global trade has grown sixfold and the number of people travelling by air has increased 17-fold. Today, more than 2 million people cross borders each day and travel times are shorter than the

prevalent in these areas. In addition, contraction of the virus can only be confirmed via a blood test. This makes it tremendously difficult for people in these regions to pick up that it is, indeed, Ebola and seek treatment. The combined effect of these implications has resulted in the rapid spread of Ebola.

Symptoms of infection start two days to three weeks after contracting the virus; these include fever, intense weakness, muscle pain and headaches, followed by nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and diminished functioning of the liver and kidneys. In some people, internal or external bleeding may occur. The disease has a high mortality rate – often killing between 50% to 90% of infected people. The current epidemic we are facing has a mortality rate of 54%. It takes between 1 to 2 weeks to kill infected persons once symptoms begin to manifest themselves.

Aside from its lethality, Ebola is also highly contagious, the infection is transmitted by direct contact with the

Today, more than 2 million people cross borders each day and travel times are shorter than the incubation periods of many diseases.

Fadzai Muramba

is an Honours student in Development Studies

12

incubation periods of many diseases. What started as an isolated case in Guinea has now spread to three other countries, namely Liberia, Sierra Leone and Nigeria, with low-risk countries Kenya and Ethiopia also currently under watch. Since the end of July, Nigeria has joined the list of West African countries fighting this epidemic, recording five deaths and 16 cases thus far. Fears of a wide spread African epidemic have arisen due to Nigeria being the most densely populated state on the continent.

Ebola is caused by a virus and is a disease that affects humans and other primates. The 2014 West African Ebola outbreak is the largest outbreak to date. On August 12th the World Health Organization announced that the death toll had passed 1, 000 casualties. Compared with all other outbreaks the current one has been the worst as until now fewer than 1,000 people per year had been infected with, let alone died from, Ebola. The highest number of deaths that had ever been recorded was 431 in the 1976 epidemic. This was the first time this disease was reported.

The outbreak that began in Guinea in December 2013 was only confirmed as Ebola in March 2014, when it had spread to Liberia and Sierra Leone. An Ebola outbreak is difficult to detect, the disease typically occurs in tropical regions of Sub-Saharan Africa, usually confined to remote and poor areas. These areas have poor health care services making detection, treatment and prevention difficult to implement. Other diseases that should be ruled out before a diagnosis of the Ebola virus disease include: malaria, typhoid fever, cholera, leptospirosis, plague, relapsing fever, meningitis, hepatitis and other viral hemorrhagic fevers as these diseases are

blood, body fluids and tissues of infected animals, people or recently deceased infected individuals.

Prevention includes decreasing the spread of disease from infected monkeys and pigs to humans. Properly cooking meat and wearing protective clothing when handling meat may also be helpful, as is wearing protective clothing and washing hands when around an individual with the disease. There is no known cure or vaccine for the disease. The only treatment offered is “supportive intensive care”, which included rehydration therapy orally or intravenously.

For its own protection South Africa has imposed a travel ban on foreign nationals travelling from high-risk West African countries in order to prevent Ebola from entering the country. Only travel which is deemed absolutely essential is permitted. Though South Africans are not restricted from travelling to these countries, South African Health Minister, Aaron Motsoaledi, has cautioned against it and all returning travelers from these countries will be subjected to rigorous screening and medical assessments before being allowed entry into the country .

The unprecedented volume and speed of human mobility are perhaps the most conspicuous manifestations of the present era of globalisation. From international tourists to people travelling for business, moving from place to place has become part of human culture. People are also traveling faster and are regularly visiting parts of the world that used to be difficult to reach. This movement has dramatically changed the factors involved in the transmission of infectious diseases like Ebola, meaning that the mortality rate can be dangerously high. CTG september 2014

NEWS

A is for Accountability, B is for Brutality Aisha Abdool karim and olivia

fiorotto take a look at police

brutality and if the South African Police Service (SAPS) are being held accountable.

The YALE Globalist

image credit:Flickr

Two years ago, near a platinum mine in the North West province, the violent interactions between striking miners and police officers were characterised by the highest level of lethal police force against civilians since the end of Apartheid. Currently, a Commission of Inquiry is underway to investigate the incidents in August 2012 where at least 44 people were killed and over 70 injured in what has become known as the “Marikana massacre”.

In that same month, on the other side of the country, the Premier of the Western Cape, Helen Zille, at the urging of civil society organisations, etablished a commission to investigate allegations of vigilantism, police inefficiency and abuse in Khayelitsha. .

On the August 25th, at a ceremony at Lookout Hill, the Khayelitsha Commission of Inquiry’s official report was presented by commissioners Justice Kate O’Regan and Vusi Pikoli. The Commission was mandated to look into policing and crime in Khayelitsha and draw up appropriate recommendations. The report emphasised the prevalence of youth gangs and found that there has been a breakdown of trust between society and police in Khayelitsha.

The Marikana Commission is chaired by former Supreme Court of Appeals judge, Ian Gordon Farlam. The Commission’s official mandate is to “inquire into, make findings, report on and make recommendations” concerning the conduct of the parties involved in the horrific incidents that took place during August 2012. The first phase of the commission focused on Lonmin’s role in the events while the second phase, currently underway, looks at the socio-economic conditions of the striking miners.

When Bheki Cele, former National Police Commissioner, said that he thought police should be allowed to “shoot to kill” criminals with no thought for the consequences no one could have predicted the violent reality they would soon be facing.

Earlier this year this Human Rights Watch (HRW) released their global report and unsurprisingly they reported that human rights in South Africa are “taking a turn for the worst”.

The Cape Town Globalist

They specifically questioned the trigger happy nature of the SAPS and the use of force both in general and also during protests. Their worry is not unfounded given the 2012/2013 report by the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) which stated that 431 reported deaths were due to police action.

Over the past four years our country has been seeing a steady increase in police brutality. There have been multiple cases which illustrate the need for a growing concern regarding the actions of our police force. The actions of Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa do not inspire us to put faith in our security forces nor do they reassure us that action will be taken against police officers using excessive force. Mthethwa has previously denied the use of live ammunition in response to protests and his spokesperson has issued a statement saying that, “All police officials who have committed crimes are

A police force that does not serve and protect the public is not a police force worth having.

arrested, charged and prosecuted”.

However, Gareth Newham, Head of the Governance, Crime and Justice Division at the Institute for Security Studies, exposed another side to this argument. Newham showed that only 1% of the cases being investigated by the IPID end in conviction. This means that the police are not afraid of the consequences of their actions. They are not held accountable for their actions and are, therefore, content to continue with their philosophy that violence is always the answer.

The entire security force system needs to be re-examined and re-evaluated. A police force that does not serve and protect the public is not a police force worth having.

Unless severe disciplinary action is taken and officers are held accountable for their actions it is unlikely the police brutality we have become familiar with will dissipate. If we continue to let our police force use violence unchecked how far will they be willing to go?

Aisha Abdool Karim

is a second-year Print Journalism student Olivia Fiorotto

is an Honours student in Justice and Transformation

CTG

13

NEWS

The rise of the Islamic State Peter Beare investigates the Islamic State’s radidly expanding control over Iraq and Syria.

image credit: Wikimedia commons

T

Peter Beare

is a third-year student studying Chemical Engineering

14

he Islamic State (formerly ISIS, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) encompasses a rapidly expanding region running across north-western Iraq and eastern Syria. The recently-formed IS has overrun the military forces of both countries with little concern, and now controls several major cities as well as a considerable proportion of the Syrian oil- and gas-production facilities. These resources are all under the command of the IS leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. Just over one month ago, al-Baghdadi declared his state to be a Caliphate – the physical embodiment of the nation of Islam – with himself ascending to the position of Caliph. In taking this title, al-Baghdadi has tied the IS together with traditionalist dreams of a single, politically and religiously united Islamic Empire spreading across the Middle East.

Despite the apparent unity of Islam in his vision for the country, the Caliph leads a movement that comprises of myriad factions.These can be broadly classified by their ethnicity and political objectives, a perspective which reveals IS to be a Sunni-dominated theocracy dedicated to the aim of realizing a true Caliphate in the modern age. Critical to this goal is the “Jihad”, or war against nonbelievers – a war that the IS has already begun.

It is of no small consequence that the development of the IS is occurring coincidentally with the crises in Gaza and Crimea. Little attention has been paid to the Caliphate as a result, because global foreign policies are shifting their focus away from the actions of Islamic radicals in the Middle East. This quasi-dismissal of the IS is not limited to countries like the USA, however; in fact, it is apparently more pronounced in the states that have lost the most to the Caliph and his forces. Citizens of Baghdad, the Iraqi capital, continue with their dayto-day lives irrespective of the threat of violently antiShia IS militants invading from the territories they control on two sides of the city. Iraqi ministers and Syrian President Bashir al-Assad alike have been reported to

be unconcerned by the fact that large swathes of their respective countries are now in Caliphate hands. Neither country’s military can muster the forces required to drive the invading soldiers out of their lands, and it appears that neither harbours any particular desire to attempt this. The result of this inaction is unchecked Caliphate expansion throughout the central Middle East – those who can intervene choose not to, while those who would intervene are restricted by geography, politics or foreign policy.

Regardless of the shift in attention toward conflicts with more marked global impacts, the IS has not remained unnoticed. In the United Nations, several states already sanction the use of military force to check the Caliphate’s rapid growth – among them several neighbouring Arab nations: Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Iran and Turkey.

Russia’s established position on extreme, jihadist movements is that they are a credible threat to international peace. The placement of IS territory, however, presents a politically untenable position for the United States and the United Kingdom. Both nations have supported rebel forces in the Arab Spring uprising against al-Assad, only to see them decimated by attacks from Syrian loyalists and IS fanatics. As it stands, the United States has begun to initiate military operations in eastern Syria; the threat of an entrenched Islamic Caliphate in the region is great enough to outweigh the moral and political implications of unwittingly supporting al-Assad.

A war that the IS has already begun

The involvement of external factors is not limited to the military involvement of NATO member states. In contrast to this macro-scale view of the situation is the issue of foreign jihadis – over the past year, the Caliphate has swelled its ranks with recruits from various places.

Possibly the best-documented case of this concerns the recently-posted video uploaded by representatives of the IS. In it, an allegedly British member of IS cruelly beheading James Foley, an innocent American photojournalist. This has raised concerns in several countries at the possibility of future terrorist attacks from IS-trained locals, whose movement in and out of targeted regions would be nearly impossible to restrict. The status of the IS as a haven for Islamic radicals, a number of whom could be motivated and trained within the Caliphate, presents a real threat to countries around the world.

It is swiftly becoming less and less plausible that the IS will overextend its reach and collapse in on itself – an eventuality that many had predicted. Instead, the Caliphate looks set to continue expanding at its leisure; other Middle Eastern nations appear both unwilling to stand against al-Baghdadi and his followers, and incapable of doing so as their situation deteriorates. The IS has become a country, capable of exerting local and global influence; it must be addressed on both levels before it develops the ability to stage a large-scale Jihad, and bring about a third World War. CTG september 2014

10 Years in Review Decade In View

The greatest of the last 10 years

Faster, Higher, Stronger

Sports stars at their best

Medical potential

The greatest medical advancements of the decade.

Surveillance

Protection or infringement of privacy?

Consumer Culture

Is technology taking over?

Extra! Extra! Read all about it

Has online media replaced print media?

Image: Hugh Dutton Associés - first prize in the “Pylons of the Future” international competition for Italian energy supplier The Cape Town Globalist

15

A Decade In View

ten years

The greatest of the last 10 years

2004 Facebook

Mars Rover lands on Mars

2005

USB flash drives replace floppydisks

London’s skyline gets a new landmark Death of Pope John Paul II - mourned by thousands and leaders of over 120 countries reached by him in humanitarian efforts and charities.

Present the Middle East “Peace Process” is still going nowhere.

Wars and Issues in Israel vs.

Palestine (Gaza strip).

2006

YouTube

Twitter

Pluto demoted to “dwarf planet”

Barack Obama first African American President

Saddam Hussein executed

2007

2008

Global recession

16

iPhones and Androids

Cristina Fernández de Kirchner is elected Argentina’s first woman president.

China’s Earthquake – a magnitude 7.9 earthquake struck the Sichuan Province of China, killing more than 69,000 people.

september 2014

ten years BP Oil Spill— Up to 260 million gallons of crude oil spewed into the Gulf of Mexico over the course of three months when the Deepwater Horizon oil platform operated by British Petroleum exploded.

Arab Springs uprisings changed the situations in Egypt, Libya, Tunisia and Yemen.

WikiLeaks publishes topsecret documents about toxic waste dumping in Africa, extrajudicial slayings in Kenya and Guantanamo Bay.

Once-a-day HIV Pill launched in 2010 not only treats HIV but also help to prevent the infection.

2011

2014

War in Afganistan and Iraq finally reaching a point where troops are pulled back (2011 onwards).

Osama bin Laden dies

2010

2012

Legalisation of marijuana in Uruguay.

China overtakes USA in scientific research (scientific output and students/papers)

‘Twilight’ series by Stephanie Meyer became the books of the decade and most read by November 2009 with high grossing movie adaptations.

Swine flu

Nelson Mandela dies

2013

2009

Summer Olympic Games 2008 that took place in Beijing, China.

The Cape Town Globalist

Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II Shrinking of Arctic Sea Ice

All images Flickr creative commons 17

ten years

Faster, Higher, Stronger Every year athletes set new world records, often surpassing what scientists

believe are the limits of human speed and strength. Ashleigh Furlong

investigates whether there is a limit to what athletes can achieve.

A

t the 2012 Summer Olympics held in London, 32 new world records were set. No one doubts that in 2016 at the Rio de Janeiro games numerous more records will be broken. How does this continue to happen year after year at sporting events the world over? One would think that there is a limit to the speed a human body can run, the distance it can jump and the weight it can throw. Yet athletes continue to run faster, jump further and throw greater weights. Can we continue to supersede records forever?

One of the most important reasons for continued improvement in athletic prowess is that more people than ever before are exposed to sports at a young age and not just one or two sports but very often numerous athletic arenas, enabling more individuals to discover their talent for archery or handball. This can be further bolstered by sporting superstars emerging from nations which were up till then, underrepresented in the international sporting world, which then encourages young people from these nations test their own mettle.

If sporting skills are identified at a young age, years

18

of intense training often follows. Michael Phelps – who currently holds 39 world records, more than any other swimmer ever – began training intensely as a child and at age 15 made the 2000 Olympic team, becoming the youngest US male swimmer to do so in 68 years. Years ago it was very difficult to make a living as an athlete but now it is possible to not only to support one’s self through sport but to make it big, as Usain Bolt’s 2014 earnings of $23.2 million proves.

Once competing, athletes are also often able to remain on the field, in the pool or on the track for longer as medical advancements have meant that an injury need not be career ending. Their age can then aid them in that it allows an athlete time to improve their skills and work on their weaknesses whilst refining their physical condition.

Another important factor to consider is the impact of technological advancements on sport, both during training and competitions. Advancing the efficiency of clothing in sports has typically been the main focus of designers and engineers. Compression garments which help september 2014

ten years

“World records are indeed flattening. The likelihood that a world record occurs is becoming less and less.”

Carl Foster director of the Human Performance Laboratory at the University of Wisconsin

image credit: wwaby/Flickr

blood flow and reduce muscle oscillation upon ground contact are one such invention. At the 2012 Olympics Nike released a full body suit for runners, which was made of recycled polyester and plastic bottles. The suit has raised dots on the arms and legs which, according to Nike, can reduce drag and can increase speed in the 100-meter sprint by 0.023 seconds compared to their previous suits.

Training is also impacted by technology. Sensors can be used in swimming and boxing which monitor athletes while they train so that the data can be analysed by their coaches. High-tech cameras, a regular feature in many sports, can be used to generate performance data. The new kid on the block which has all the athletes talking is a chamber known as a CVAC pod in which athletes sit for a period of time, purportedly aiding in blood oxygencarrying capacity.

On the field, in the pool and on the track, actual equipment has also undergone many changes. Synthetic running tracks, fiberglass pole-vaulting poles and deeper swimming pools have all aided athletes in improving on their times. Some of these improvements have been controversial because they can improve times but are merely an indication of improved equipment, not athletic expertise. But even without these advancements, there is no doubt that athletes are physically faster and stronger than before.

Can athletes continue to improve? Most researchers say that performance is plateauing. “World records are The Cape Town Globalist

indeed flattening. The likelihood that a world record occurs is becoming less and less,” says Carl Foster director of the Human Performance Laboratory at the University of Wisconsin, La Crosse. According to Stanford Marine Sciences and Biomechanics Professor Mark Denny, the limits of human athletic achievement are soon going to be reached. Denny’s statistical models show that the maximum speed possible for male sprinters is just a few percentage points higher than what has already been recorded. He says that women have already reached their limits. Whether Denny will be proven wrong remains to be seen, as over and over again athletes have surpassed what scientists say is humanly possible.

Researchers say athletes cannot continue to break records at the rate which they have been and that it is more about other advances in technology and science which will be the deciding factor as to whether and how sports performance can improve. “Future limits to athletic performance will be determined less and less by the innate physiology of the athlete, and more and more by scientific and technological advances and by the stillevolving judgment on where to draw the line between what is ‘natural’ and what is artificially enhanced,” wrote Giuseppe Lippi in the 2008 British Medical Bulletin.

Lippi’s statement leads onto the murky waters of drugs and genetics. Anti-doping laws in sports are strict and testing is common but it is still an ever present reality in the world of high performance sports. In August of this year Anthony Bosch, founder of Biogenesis of America clinic, surrendered to the Drug Enforcement Administration and agreed to plead guilty to a charge of distributing steroids to high school and professional athletes.

The possibility of genetic advancements may seem rather futuristic but the reality is that it is something which could become a reality in the very near future.

Salk Institute in San Diego has done experiments with a drug that can reprogram how muscles respond to exercise. The experiment, done on mice, enabled them to run father than with just exercise training. It is these sorts of advances in genetic studies which could be one of the ways by which old records could continue to be broken.

But the question remains, is there a limit to what we should put our bodies through to achieve the status of “fastest human on earth”? CTG

Ashleigh FUrlong

is a third-year student in Print Journalism and English Literature

19

ten years

Medical Potentialccee Philippa cochrane looks at the greatest medical advancements of in the

last 10 years and where South Africa currently stands.

T

he pace of medical research and science can often appear to be slow and painstaking. However, we are living in the ever-advancing 21st Century world of science, technology and innovation where it is possibly no surprise that the field of medicine has made some encouraging and important leaps forward in the last decade. These advances are not only happening in the laboratories, pharmacies and in clinical trials – as one might imagine – but also in administration, planning and in the spread of medical knowledge. Despite moral debates around contentious issues in stem cell research and mapping the Human Genome Project, medical research is a key area of science that encourages healthier lifestyles, stimulating education and reducing overall healthcare costs. This article will review some of the major steps forward that have contributed to positive changes in the medical field over the past decade.

Pharmaceuticals and Vaccinations

Some of the most significant progress made in the last decade has paved the way for more efficient treatment of terminal illnesses and led to the development of new therapies for treating HIV, cancer and heart disease.

The drugs Herceptin and TyKerb – which burst onto the scene in the late 1990s – have opened up a number of doors for other drugs which target molecules involved in cell growth and tumour blood supplies. One of the biggest breakthroughs for cervical cancer since the papsmear in the 1940s is the 2006 approval of the HPV vaccination which reduces risks by up to 70-90%.

In the cases of heart attacks and heart disease, previous interventions still resulted in significant damage that caused heart failure and death. In the last few years, however, the risks of heart attacks have been reduced by the sustained use of drugs such as the tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) which enables clots to be cleared effectively and restore blood flow.

In the fight against HIV and AIDS, the introduction of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) has had a profound effect on treatment, and allowed patients to survive for decades. This “cocktail” approach has, in addition, been applied as a model for treating other diseases with increasing success. Furthermore, a practising doctor in Cape Town, Dr Douglas Whistance, also highlighted a recently released “3-in-1” ARV that has been helpful in treating patients, but further stated the most ideal advancement one could hope for would be a vaccine for HIV.

Robotic Surgery and Artificial Organs

The rise of minimally invasive surgery and robotic equipment performing cutting edge procedures is a phenomenon that has begun to emerge in the last decade.

These surgeries access their target areas through small incisions – which greatly reduce pain, recovery time and leave smaller scars. The use of robotic techniques 20

is not without its critics, although it has been proven to increase accuracy (particularly in cancer patients) and magnify otherwise difficult-to-work-on structures. Despite this remarkable progress, the next step is natural orifice transluminal endoscopic surgery (NOTES) which would make use of the body’s natural openings to gain access for surgery. Furthermore, robotic surgery is not the only artificial intelligence being utilised in modern surgery; various artificial organs that have been manufactured to be self-sustaining have been successfully implanted into patients. An example of this is the AbioCor Artificial Heart that removed the need for recipients to be permanently bedridden and linked to machines around the clock. These may sound like cut-scenes from the latest sci-fi blockbuster, but in reality are major steps forward in surgical procedures, which present infinite possibilities for both medical practitioners and the patients they treat.

Patient Education Revolution, Online Doctors and Technology

Although not specific to the medical field, practice in hospitals and other medical facilities, technology and information processing have made valuable improvements to the health care systems around the world.

The increase in free information and Internet access has fuelled a growing number of medical websites and online libraries to empower patients and medical practitioners. Although a few risky websites and unreliable cures have been spawned and spread on the web, on the whole the ability to access information and find medical services has increased patient help-seeking behaviour, prevention, support structures, transparency and education. In addition, doctors now find obtaining journals and diagnostic measures easier which reduces administration time, and increases patient consults. The use of information systems in medical facilities and education programmes has also made significant positive changes in daily practice.

“IT infrastructure that’s been laid down in hospitals that keeps track of patients’ visits to hospitals in the Cape Metro and has a brief summary of their illnesses, medications and reason for coming each time. Often patients come in so sick they can’t tell me, or they just don’t know what illnesses they have, or what medicine they use for it,” says Dr Whistance.

Furthermore, with the increasing use of smartphones and tablets a variety of medical companies and medical aid providers have developed Apps in order to provide more accessible services for their clients and the wider public. For example, on the Apple store page there is a category dedicated to medical apps including drug dose converters, logbooks, and quick reference diagnostic books such as the well known Merck Manual. september 2014

ten years

image credit: Leo Reynolds/Flickr

Battlefield and Emergency Medicine Although crime, violence and war are still prevalent in many countries throughout the world, the mortality rate of affected victims involved in these events has been slowly decreasing. Since 2001, the improvements in trauma care have combated the increased firepower and lowered the lethality of various weapons. In this way, one of the major underrated and least understood fields in medicine is that of the emergency medical care professionals. These professionals provide important steps of medical intervention before reaching hospitals and doctors, and developments at this stage of the process oftentimes translate into improvements in hospital care and nursing. For example, the establishment of damage control surgery – that aims to treat coagulopathy (the bloods ability to clot is impaired) – has changed trauma care and stunted a lethal post-traumatic complication.

These significant changes have meant fewer post-trauma issues, improved recovery times and reduced costs for patients and governments. Furthermore, intensified training and education have enabled increased care. For example, in South Africa the Cape Peninsula University of Technology created the extended diplomas and degrees for emergency medical care students. This in turn has produced a higher standard of trained medics and become a prerequisite for many jobs in the Metro ambulance service.

South African Medicine

Despite these changes most frequently occurring in more developed countries, they have begun to filter into developing world medical care. One hopes that these The Cape Town Globalist

positive advancements will continue as a lack of equipment, funding and trained staff are still a constant obstacle in South Africa and inhibit the public healthcare system. Dr Whistance says that South Africa is behind in terms of technology that stems mostly from a budget problem. “We barely have access to the latest scanners and we don’t use them to their full potential because of the high patient load. We simply don’t have the money to use the technology for the latest techniques and as a result nobody is trained in some of the latest techniques.

That being said, I’d say our medical knowledge is right up there with the best due to the high amount of pathology we’re exposed to. You’ll often find a doctor saying ‘if we were in the States we’d just do x, y and z but here we must make do’.”

Despite these challenges faced in South Africa and other countries around the world, progress is still being made. Some of the many examples include: Design Revolution’s cheap new machines and bulbs for faster jaundice treatments for babies, Re:Motion in India producing prosthetics that are affordable and durable in developing world conditions and Engineering World Health’s health posts teaching production of DIY ECG pads out of bottle caps (these pads are placed on the chest of a person and are linked to a machine which monitors vital heart rates and patterns). A solar powered medical instrument steriliser and sustainable health products made of organic everyday materials such as sanitary towels from banana-tree leaves are also some of the innovative products made from materials on hand.

These are just some of the many incredible ways medicine takes steps forward – even in the most unlikely of places. CTG

Philippa Cochrane is a Masters student in History.

21

ten years

Surveillance

image credit: Foter/Flickr

Ever increasing surveillance the world over has led to rising fears that we are never alone. We are watched on the streets, in shopping centres, online and sometimes even in our own homes. Tatjana Baleta investigates this phenomena.

H

acking a webcam is easier than you think. One quick web-search reveals pages of instructions on how to gain an instant window into someone else’s life, and even immediate access to controllable webcams worldwide, ready for viewing. After watching a man sitting at his desk in his home and luxury resort clients lounging on boats in the British Isles, I was sufficiently creeped out to place a sticky-note over my own webcam.

Is increased surveillance protecting

us or violating our right to privacy?

Tatjana Baleta

is a thir-year student in Genetics, Ecology and Evolution 22

Communication technology has become ubiquitous, to the extent that most people couldn’t imagine their lives without it. Technology makes our lives easier, but it also makes us easier to be monitored. The question is, is increased surveillance protecting us or violating our right to privacy?

As we become more tech-savvy, less of our lives re-

main private. Our Facebook, Instagram and Twitter profiles are packed with personal details – photos and tags of where we were and who we were with. Facebook “stalking” makes it easy to “know” a person before even meeting them. Privacy settings can protect some of your information from prying eyes, but you can’t hide from companies that tailor advertisements according to your Internet history, or government organisations that survey your Facebook page and your Google searches. Not only can these groups monitor you, they can also manipulate you. In 2012, Facebook conducted a psychological experiment on their members without their knowledge: by changing emotional words in their newsfeeds they created an “emotional contagion response” across the social network by which people who saw one emotion being expressed would themselves express similar emotions in a chain reaction.

But it doesn’t stop at profile viewing and control over our purchases and emotions. From 2008 to 2010, Britain’s surveillance agency GCHQ and the United States’ National Security Agency (NSA) intercepted and stored webcam images from over 1.8 million Yahoo users, including sexually explicit communications, as part of their “Optic Nerve” programme. These users were not september 2014

ten years

suspected of any wrong doing and yet had their private conversations monitored.

Government mass surveillance of civilian populations is becoming increasingly pronounced in many countries; according to a 2007 survey by Privacy International, a UK charity committed to the fight for privacy, the eight most “endemic surveillance societies” were (in order of increasing surveillance and decreasing privacy safeguards) Malaysia, China and Russia, followed jointly by Singapore and the UK, and then jointly by the US, Thailand and Taiwan. In Western nations such as the UK and US, mass surveillance programmes grew out of wartime censorship and code breaking and in current times they are often claimed as necessary in the fight against terrorism.

One should be wary of anti-terrorism arguments used to justify increased surveillance; it sounds all too alike the totalitarian state in George Orwell’s novel, 1984, in which the government uses the notion of an endless global war to create generalised fear and pacify civilians. The extensive government surveillance in Orwell’s dystopia (immortalised with the phrase “Big Brother is watching you”) poses striking similarities to our current world.

Even if there is credibility to the anti-terrorism arguments, in many cases a government’s surveillance actions are not strictly legal and often involve misleading the public. Last year a scandal broke out when ex-NSA contractor Edward Snowden leaked top secret documents revealing that the NSA was collecting the phone records of tens of millions of Americans –exposing the extent to which the government was spying on citizens. Recently in Britain a new surveillance bill is being rushed through parliament without any time for public debate. Britain, notoriously claimed to be “the most spied on country in the world”, has one closed circuit TV (CCTV) camera per 14 people, and owns 20 percent of all global CCTV cameras. Equipped with facial recognition and thermal technology, these cameras are capable of tracking one person as they move between cameras, providing the ultimate surveillance.

A common pro-government surveillance argument is that if you haven’t done anything wrong, you have nothing to fear – most people are law-abiding and surveillance allows the arrests of criminals, making life safer for innocent people. However, consider an analogous situation in which citizens are required to carry GPS tracking devices, enabling the government to constantly know their location. That doesn’t seem ethical.

Government surveillance is a violation of civil liberties and a threat to the right to privacy. One of the strongest issues with implementing current forms of surveillance is that it can easily be abused, and if unchallenged, could allow a lack of government transparency and even expansion into totalitarian electronic police states. Above all, one-way observation is an expression of control and grants government or corporations the power to monitor, blackmail and discriminate. It is intrusive and surreptitious, and creates a nation that treats its civilians as suspects.

Be aware of your surroundings and the information you post online; someone may be watching. CTG The Cape Town Globalist

One of the strongest issues with implementing current forms of surveillance is that it can easily

be abused, and if unchallenged, could allow a lack of government transparency and even expansion into totalitarian electronic police states.

image credit: Wikimedia Commons

23

ten years

The Romantic Consumer TYRA OVERMEYER looks at how consumers get what they want.

T

he phrase “consumer culture” often brings to mind designer labels, fast cars, and the latest iPhone. This concept of consumer culture may have been suitable during the eighteenth century, when the idea of a “consumer” first appeared , where clothing became a fashion statement that everyone wanted to invest in. However, today the consumer is more than someone who invests in all that is shiny and tangible.

The modern consumer is present in all societies as they keep the economy moving forward. The decisions that consumers make about their purchases is what motivates businesses to sell their products. Therefore, the consumer has the power every time they ask themselves, “Which one will I buy?”

selling cars or cupcakes the consumer is the determining factor in the company’s decisions. Similarly to citizens of a democracy who can deteriorate the power of a system, the consumer can deteriorate the power of corporations, the same corporations which try to manipulate us into thinking that their products are a necessity.

False Advertising

The purchase of cologne will transform you into a magnet for gorgeous women and you will be irresistible: is false advertising.

Although consumers are, in theory, in control of the way the world makes its profits, their power is undermined. According to Prasidh Raj Singh, who contributed to the Lumen Research Centre, corporations have “misled, duped, and deceived” their buyers into thinking they are providing what consumers need.

Advertisers allow the consumer to feel in control while completely manipulating their actions. Whether or not you buy an expensive pair of shoes only to starve for the rest of the month is in your control, but feeling as if you need it is not. Advertisers have tapped into our minds and have blurred our understanding of “necessity”.

Consumers, the ones with the so-called control, have been trained to believe that these companies are producing products which are going to make their lives better, whereas in reality executives are more concerned with their bulging wallets.

Sex sells

image credit: James Vaughan

The ones with the power

In the 2012 publication of Digital Virtual Consumption Vili Lehdonvirta, who is a researcher at the University of Oxford, wrote, “New technologies allow users to move from passively experiencing goods to actively participating in the experience.”

Social media is a highly accessible platform for expression in which the consumer can become active. Many YouTube users and bloggers dedicate their time to be-

Advertisers allow the consumer to feel in control

whilst completely manipulating their actions.

TYRA OVERMEYER

is a second year student in English Literature, Film Studies, and Politics 24

coming an active consumer. They are the ordinary, everyday consumers that share their opinions about products whilst fellow consumers listen. With a simple Wi-Fi connection, a new form of “word of mouth” is generated.

Consumers have the power to boycott brands and, more than just damage the brand’s reputation, actually cause the company’s profits to take a knock. This power was used in 2011 against Adidas for using kangaroo skin and in 2008 against Harrods for selling products made from real fur.

The potential to harm a business is just one aspect of this influential role consumers play, they can also guide the direction that a business takes. Whether they are

“Successive generations of hardware promises new varieties of freedom, creativity and adventure that enter consumers’ daydreams,” says Lehdonvirta of the wealthy citizen’s mass consumption of technological devices. It is becoming increasingly obvious that the connotations behind a product are very often more significant to the buyer than its function. Consumer culture has been romanticized as ideals are being consumed more than products.

Mass consumption demonstrates the aspirations and desires of the consumer rather than the product itself.

Whether the brand’s ideal is relatable or fantastical, the brand’s associations are what sells.

“Sex sells” –a well-known phrase that explains the sexualised messages conveyed through female pop culture figures in this upside-down world. It is the idea and the fantasy of it the product for sale that results in it being sold, not necessarily the product itself.

Who

The consumer is the parent wanting their child to prosper through the most expensive education available and the couple wanting to express their love through a grand wedding. We are the consumers.

Consumer culture is a reflection of the modern society in which we live. The people follow the trends when in actual fact they have the capacity to lead. Even though we determine our own lives, we follow a way of life that has been pre-programmed for us. We do what we are told is “right” and consume ideals instead of creating our own. CTG september 2014

ten years

Extra! Extra! Read all about it!

Is digital media really threatening the sales of print media?

image credit: ScaarAT/Flickr

T

he rise of online media and increased usage of the Internet to access information has led to a growing concern over the state of print media, especially newspapers. The sale of newspapers and their abilities to bring in revenue is constantly fluctuating so it’s hard to get a sense of where exactly they stand. However, the steady increase in newspaper sales since July 2013 proves that print media is not completely irrelevant yet.

Since December 2011 the sale of newspapers has been steadily declining in South Africa, with the number of newspapers sold decreasing by almost 350 000 newspapers. However, July 2013 saw a rapid increase in newspaper sales until, by July 2014, over 10 550 000 newspapers were being circulated. This increase did not last and newspaper sales have been declining once again since July 2014, but this increase symbolises an important trend.

The increase of newspaper sales is a significant development, especially when considering the period over which it occurred. From July 2013 to July 2014, South Africans began to depend on print media and bought newspapers during the months leading up to the South African elections. When South Africa was heading in to an election year, the public became dependent on local media and newspapers in order to keep them informed.

This development is significant as it shows that print media has not reached a point of insignificance, even in a time of digital media and the Internet. Given that less than 10% of South African households have internet access and 40% of South Africans have the ability to access the internet, at work or school, it is not surprising that citizens turned to print media. Global media organisations which publish their articles online, such as Reuters and Al Jazeera, are unlikely to have a large online readership in South Africa given the restricted access South Africans have to internet.

Another reason why South Africans are not reliant upon online media is that certain newspapers, such as the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times, whilst credible, require a subscription in order to access their articles. This causes another problem as many people are unwilling to pay the high subscription fee or are unable to do so, given that they may not have credit cards.

Aside from the limited access to digital media in South Africa, it is also important to consider that our media industry only properly began in 1994, after democracy.

Given how new our print media industry is, they have been unable to fully transition online. Whilst there are a few digital media outlets available, such as News24, they are only able to provide superficial coverage. South Africans need to purchase newspapers in order to get The Cape Town Globalist

full coverage of important national or local issues. Thus, in South Africa at least, the newspaper industry still has the potential to thrive as people rely on print media to receive relevant and accurate information.

Newspaper readership in North America and the United Kingdom may be declining, with American newspaper revenue dropping by 30% from 2007 to 2009. However, an interesting development in South Africa indicates that this may not be a concern for the country. There is growing readership of tabloid newspaper which are

South Africans need to purchase newspapers in order to get full coverage of important issues.

aimed at the mass market in South Africa. Tabloids which are geared towards specific cultural groups, such as City Press, have seen massive increases in their readership since 2006. Whilst newspaper sales remain fairly stagnant as readers maintain their media consumption patterns, it would seem as if there is a growing market for tabloids. Tabloids, such as the Daily Sun, which are geared towards the black, middle class and their target audience is responding as they have a readership of 5 661 000. This shows a shift of readership as people want news which is relevant to them and more locally oriented.

With the rise of tabloid journalism there is also an increase in readership of newspapers printed in local languages. Newspapers, such as Ilanga and Isolezwe, which are printed in languages other than English, like Zulu, have seen a significant growth in their readership. This is an important factor to consider in South Africa where we have 11 official languages. By providing news in alternate languages provides South Africans with a way to access news in a more understandable manner.

The change in readership patterns with South Africans switching to tabloids as opposed to other newspapers, the Mail & Guardian is a notable exception, signals the type of news South Africans are interested in. The print industry in South Africa is not dead nor is it in danger, rather there is a shift in what readers want. There is growing need for local news coverage as people want to read things that affect them directly within their communities and they want easily accessible and easy to understand news.

Global media organisations are unable to provide indepth coverage of South African issues and the South African industry has been unable to fully transition online yet. Moreover, the majority of South Africans do not have regular internet access and are therefore unlikely to switch to digital media yet. CTG

Aisha Abdool Karim

is a second- year student in Print Journalism Production 25

politics

Secession, Statehood and Scotland How many countries are they in the world?

The answer might not be as straightforward as you might think.

O

ver the last 10 years the often bloody disputes around political boundaries and territorial independence have kept cartographers busy. South Sudan ceceded from Sudan in 2011 becoming the world’s youngest country and redrawing the map of north Africa.

Earlier this year Russia’s military annexation of Crimea followed by a contraversial referendum altered de facto state borders. Suprisingly there is no standard protocol which tells us exacty how many states there are. While many use UN membership as an indicator, its numbers do not include Taiwan, Kosovo or Palestine, regions that many consider to be independent nation states but are vigorously disputed by others. Looking at declarations of independence can be useful but is certainly not definative, as the Boer-Afrikaner Volksraad and the Republic of Hout Bay well know. The reason for this difficulty is that the core requirement for being a state, is being recognised as one, and measuring international recognition is even more difficult than understanding it. Thus, the line between states and non-states is blurred, or at least dotted as shown on Google Maps, just look at Western

26

Sahara – another partly-recognised state. Nevertheless, while the concept of statehood might be fuzzy it certainly does not prevent it from being contentious, just ask Scotland and Catalonia, two regions which might be countries by the end of this year.

Statehood

In addition to being a trivia fan’s worst nightmare, the problem of statehood is critical to international law. Efforts to create international systems of accountability, such as the International Criminal Court (ICC) have been hampered by some disagreement over the issue. That is to say, how can the ICC hold states legally accountable when there is no solid criteria for what makes a state?

In international law there are two competing theories of statehood: declarative theory and constitutive theory.

Constitutive theory focuses on the recognition of the state by other states while declarative theory defines statehood according to how power is controlled in a territory. In 1933 at a conference in Montevideo, Uruguay

september 2014

politics

Fig. 1 Could this be the new Union Jack?

a convention was formed in an attempt to solve the dilemma and formalise the declarative theory. The convention declared that a state needs four things; namely a defined territory, a permanent population, government, and the capacity to enter into relations with other states.

Although this convention only involved representatives from the Americas, its influence was extensive. Currently the declarative theory is more widely accepted by the international community. Nevertheless some still argue that the actions of states demonstrating recognition of other states, while slippery, is still a powerful criteria.

Kosovo is a good although complicated example of this, as the refusal of some states to recognise its independence has prevented it from joining both the EU and the United Nations’ general assembly.

Scotland: Aye or Naw?

On the 18th of September, Scots over the age of 16 will vote in a referendum asking, “Should Scotland be an independent country?” The response to this simple six word question will determine whether or not Scotland will leave the United Kingdom; a union dating back to 1707.

Currently, opinion polls predict that this split will not happen. Nevertheless, the yes team, represented by Scottish National Party leader, Alex Salmond, has significant influence and hopes to win the support of the high number of undecided voters. Those in favour of independence believe Scottish interests would be better decided soley by the people in Scotland. They point to the fact that Scotland has been under the rule of a party that has almost no Scottish support base. While this is true it must be noted

The Cape Town Globalist

that since 1999 Scotland has had its own parliament with substantial law-making powers. Although this body is dependent from Westminster, for its funding as it has no tax raising powers, it has allowed Scotland the ability to enact separate policies and laws. In fact, some Brits who welcome the split like to point out that because of Scotland’s separate policies on education and health care, the UK spends more money per head on the Scottish than it does on the rest of its people. Perhaps more powerful than the economic and legal arguments is claim for selfdetermination and the recognition of Scottish national identity, a fair assertion that needs little explanation beyond a viewing of Braveheart and a few Bloody Marys.

The argument against independence, represented Allistar Darling, head of the Better Together campaign, holds that economically it would be better for Scotland to remain part of the UK, a leading global economic and political power. Better Together argue that even if Scotland were to keep the pound, a key issue in the debate, it would have no say in a foreign country’s currency and economic policies. Additionally an independent Scotland would be weaker in terms of security, international representation and trade relations. While Scotland has rich oil supplies, they are dwindling and it is not certain that these will be enough to support their economy and aging population. Furthermore, with regards to the question of national pride, many believe that the Scottish and British identies are not mutually exclusive but enrich each other.

Even If the referendum goes as predicted and Scotland remains part of the UK it is clear that there is a growing divide between the two nations that will need to be addressed for the union to remain powerful. CTG

olivia fiorotto

is an Honours student in Justice & Transformation

27

science

Externalising Our Memory Hardware The Internet gives us constant and easy access to every-

thing we need to know. ALICIA CHAMAILLE investigates

whether the Internet is intefering with our memories and ability to retain information.

“O

ver the last few millennial, we’ve invented a series of technologies… that have made it progressively easier and easier for us to externalize our memories,” writes Joshua Foer in Moonwalking with Einstein: the Art and Science of Remembering Everything, his recently released book, which even has Bill Gates writing reviews on it. Foer explores this concept of our memories being externalised by technologies and asks if this means whether we are condition-

According to some researchers the Internet is

making us into superficial thinkers with scattered thoughts unable to concentrate or focus ing ourselves to remember less.

Books changed the way we remember, so then to what degree has the Internet done the same? Foer points out that in the medieval times very few copies of any book existed. Thus when someone read such a book, they were in a way forced to remember it almost word for word as it would be difficult for them to have access to said book, and the knowledge it contained, again.

Jump a few hundred years later to era of mass production vis-à-vis books and one can now simply consult ones local library, pull a book off the shelf and scan the 28

index or pages of contents to relocate any gobbet of knowledge. This does not necessarily mean that books are bad for reducing our need to remember. In fact, they have made our lives easier. And lest we forget, books often shape us in some way and thus stay with us; even if it is only the sentiments and emotions of the story rather than the facts. Fast forward to twenty years ago with the introduction of the World Wide Web and everything changed.

Well, maybe not everything. The Internet being as accessible as it is – on almost all of our laptops, mobile phones, iPads and tablets amongst other things – has given us immediate access to a vast amount of information. In addition, we are connected with people all over the world with whom we can confer our thoughts and findings on almost anything. Now the question is, how does all this stored information, a literal external memory storage, affect us?

According to some researchers the Internet is making us into superficial thinkers with scattered thoughts unable to concentrate or focus without the constant stream of knowledge being presented in bite sized portions. Some of their studies have shown that people will remember more when they believe they won’t have access to the same information later but will be in need of it, than if they think they’ll be able to look it up at a later stage. This is seen in exercises and memory games. Acseptember 2014

science

Technology and the Internet have changed the ways in which we approach and think about knowledge. The problems which that may cause do not simply stop when we switch off the T.V., turn off our computers or put down our mobile phones.

image credit: Pimthida/Flickr

cording to Nobel Prize winner Eric Kandel, a renowned neuroscientist, it is only when we consciously and deliberately absorb new information that we are able to associate it “meaningfully and systematically with knowledge already well-established in memory”.

Linking new information to already established information is how we strengthen and create neuro-connections and brain maps which ultimately help us to remember. Others have used this largely accepted fact on neuro-connections to argue that every new piece of information that we connect to a pre-existing neuro-pathway strengthens those cognitive skills and pathways at the expense of others. This phenomenon is known as brain mapping thus allowing neuro-plasticity to take place in the brain. Through this, certain memories and skills are weakened and others strengthened.

What concerns some experts in the surrounding fields is that this insistence on quick snippy bits of knowledge is becoming our dominant approach to thought production. The Internet is essentially making us want flashcard knowledge rather than wells. Hence our ability to think critically, deeply, reflexively, and mindfully is altered as we tend to spend less time actively engaging in those actions. Whether it is altered negatively or positively is the larger debate at hand. Some argue that the Internet, like any other source of knowledge, does not The Cape Town Globalist

inhibit or enhance the degree to which we engage with the knowledge, while others argue that the constant stimuli given by the Internet only trains us in the art of rapid decision making.

Technology and the Internet have changed the ways in which we approach and think about knowledge. The problems which that may cause do not simply stop when we switch off the T.V., turn off our computers or put down our mobile phones. Yet when the advancements of books occurred and we started relying on the memory of others as well as our own for remembering the trivial we never worried about the validity of the information others provided. The same cannot be said for the Internet even though a person’s memory is no more valid than that found on the Internet.

As Foer says, “Our culture is an edifice built of externalised memories.” And as we grow more and more into an interconnection of systems we shall remember less and less information because we will remember more and more where to find it. But in the same way that a new book or significant moments in our lives stay with us, I believe our memories and perception of knowledge will remain a part of us. All we need to do is navigate the murky waters of technology and knowledge production and remember that at times the best source of information is ancestral. CTG

Alicia Chamaille

is a third-year student in History, and Gender.

29

history

The Arab Spring nations: a Summer, Autumn and two Winters

The mass revolution across the Middle East saw multiple countries attempting to overthrow dictators. peter Beare explores what started this “Arab Spring” and where the countries currently stand.

S

Peter Beare

is a thir-year Chemical Engineering student

30

tarting with the self-immolation of Mohamed Bouazizi in Tunisia, the revolutionary “Arab Spring” extended right across the Middle East – bringing with it mass protest action, regime changes, and hope for freedom from tyranny. The long-oppressed populations of countries like Tunisia, Egypt and Syria, tired of dictatorial rule riddled with corruption, took to the streets in rallies organised over Facebook and Twitter.

The last three years have presented a dramatic change in the political and socioeconomic landscapes of these countries; each experienced startlingly similar conditions prior to uprising, and yet a full spectrum now exists from Tunisia’s march toward democracy, to Syria’s spiral into civil war. Snapshots of the key developments in four of these states capture the full bloom of the Arab Spring, but also highlight the places in which it has swiftly withered away.

The primary motive for the series of mass rebellions that enveloped the Middle East and North Africa was undoubtedly political in nature, and thus the greatest factor in the outcome was political as well. In countries such as Tunisia and Egypt power was handed over without bloodshed, and free elections brought the Ennahda and Muslim Brotherhood organisations, respectively, into power. From this point onward, however, the paths that the two countries followed diverge: Tunisia’s ruling party chose to share power with two secular, independent parties, and to develop, what has been labelled in The Guardian as “the most liberal political ground-rules in the Arab world”. By contrast, Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood (under Mohamed Morsi) drafted a constitution that was rejected out-of-hand as a power grab. Shortly thereafter, a call rose for a military coup to prevent the Brotherhood from developing the North African nation into a theocracy. In doing so, Egypt has now completed a full cycle – having held mass riots to bring down the last General President, they have just entered a referendum to “elect” a new one: Abdel el-Sisi.

Lying somewhere in between these two extreme cases is the fate of Libya. The civil war that erupted out of the Spring was a news highlight for months on end, as NATO air forces rained bombs on critical Libyan installations – helping the rebels to end almost forty-two years of autocracy under Muammar Gaddafi. However, Libya’s

image credit: CharlesFred/Flickr

governance structure has effectively splintered into a collection of city-states without a strong political movement to step into the power vacuum he left behind. Two of these, Misrata and Zintan, are currently engaged in active warfare over the airport inside the capital of Tripoli – while, in a nearby district, the newly elected Council of Deputies debates how to select a President. In nearby Syria, there is no such problem; with the use of excessive force to suppress the uprising, President Bashir al-Assad has remained firmly in control of the country.

He now holds all of the critical western Syrian cities.

The eastern wastelands, by way of contrast, remain lawless and ungoverned – and will do so until al-Assad decides to move against the radical Islamists who have taken up residence there.

In the cases of Tunisia, Libya, Egypt and Syria, the Arab Spring has shown a wide variety of outcomes. Whilst the slightly different starting points for their respective revolutions may have had an impact, it is important to keep in mind that there is a long standing culture of autocracy in this entire region. Part of the conflict inherent in the Arab Spring is therefore ideological, as the Westernized image of “freedom” – rule by the democratically elected – clashes with the established Middle Eastern/ North African culture of hierarchical rule. Such cognitive dissonance, coupled with fierce loyalist resistance, has ensured that not one of the countries on the Arab “road to democracy” has had a smooth transition.

As it stands, the development of democracy in the Middle East and North Africa has apparently ground to a halt. Those states that have built a democracy are either bogged down by inter-factional dispute, or are struggling to exert any influence over their electorate. Those that are still in conflict are falling back into the hands of the established despots, for the most part. The only ones left are those that have reverted to their pre-Spring status, or never left it at all. This apparent lethargy must not be mistaken for revolutionary failure; the process of democratization is intricate, difficult, and, most of all, lengthy. The “Arab Spring” represents exactly what the name implies: the budding of a new state of affairs, one that, with time, may very well yield a number of liberal, democratic Arab nations. CTG september 2014

The Cape Town Globalist is looking for new team members for 2014 to continue bringing our magazine to life with high-quality content, interesting angles and strong style.

We are looking for the following positions: Society President: This person heads up the ‘society’ side of the magazine and organises our launches and speaker events.

Marketing: We need someone to market all aspects of the magazine, our on-campus profile, and event marketing. Lots of social media involved.

Deputy Layout Editor: The Deputy Layout Editor assists the Layout Editor in laying out the hard-copy magazine. Basic knowledge of InDesign required.

Content Editors: Content editors are responsible for editing the articles of the hard-copy magazine. There could possibly be other duties related to web content or contact with our international network of blogs. We need at least two content editors, possibly more.

If you are interested in being part of our team, please email us on ctglobalist@gmail.com with a letter of motivation that is less than one page and a brief CV.

The Cape Town Globalist

31

3 Ways To Write For Us:

Print

Diverse subjects, incl. Science, Philosophy and the Arts Interaction with the editor to develop writing skills Analysis-driven articles

Audio & Video Social Media Fostering Reader Interaction Online Dynamic & Creative Content

Blog

Web

Writing investigative articles for international journalism blogs High quality multi-angle approach to global issues

ctglobalist@gmail.com 32

ctglobalist.com september 2014