The Caravel | Volume III, Issue III

VOL UM E I II | ISSU E III

WASHINGTON, D.C. TH U R S D A Y A P RI L 21, 2016

EAST ASIA & OCEANIA 7.0 Magnitude Earthquake Strikes Japan p.2

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Understanding the Panama Papers Gabriel Gorre, The Anchor The Panama Papers, the largest leak in whistleblower history, have brought to light the dubious activities of the rich and powerful. The Papers, which include 2.6 terabytes of data (1000 times the size of the Wikileaks leak in 2010), outline the activities of Mossack Fonseca, a Panamanian law firm used by individuals from around the world who aim to store their wealth through the use of shell corporations.

These entities, which exist only on paper and have no actual physical presence, have legitimate uses (including land purchases for foreigners), but are also used by international criminals and tax evaders alike. They allow wealthy individuals to protect their wealth from creditors, regulators, and tax officials. A number of world leaders and their families See Panama Papers on pg. 16

in North Korea p.3

E. EUROPE & CENTRAL ASIA Ukrainian Pilot Sentenced to 22 Years in Prison p.4 Nagorno-Karabakh p.5 Georgetown Honors Climate Change Leader p.6 Peru’s Future Uncertain after Elections p.7

MIDDLE EAST & N. AFRICA Morocco Expels UN from Western Sahara p.8 Indian Prime Minister Visits Saudi Arabia p.9

SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA Fuel Shortage Disrupts Nigerian Daily Life p.10 Angola Sentences 17 Opposition Activists p.11

SOUTH & SOUTHEAST ASIA Troubles Persist for Farmers in Nepal p.12 Singapore Delays Signing Cybersecurity Bill p.13

WESTERN EUROPE Police and Migrants Clash on Greek Border p.14 Suspects in Brussels Attacks Arrested p.15

COURTESY OF SAM LEE SFS ‘19

LATAM & THE CARIBBEAN

Bashar al-Assad was one of many international politicians implicated in the Panama Papers.

Georgetown Welcomes Academic Spotlight: Edward Snowden Sam Kim, The Anchor Former CIA employee and NSA government contractor Edward Snowden, who is currently in exile in Russia, received a warm welcome from the Georgetown University Lecture Fund through Skype. The webcast with the polemic figure took place in the Georgetown’s Lohrfink Auditorium before an eager audience. Snowden made headlines in May 2013 when he leaked details of a sizable internet and phone surveillance program run by the U.S. intelligence community. He leaked an estimated 50,000 to 200,000 NSA documents. Snowden was charged with theft of government property and communication of classified information following the documents’ release.

Undeniably, Snowden influenced American citizens’ thoughts about national security and data collection

and perpetuated both a political and cultural dialogue. The controversy around Snowden has even been made into an an off-Broadway play called Privacy, starring Daniel Radcliffe.

Mainly, however, Snowden’s leak prompted a backlash among American voters protective of their privacy. That reaction ushered in the Freedom Act, signed into law in June 2015. The law extends three expiring surveillance provisions of the Patriot Act and amends the provision allowing the bulk collection of U.S. phone records by the NSA. Its proponents view the law as a civil rights victory, but its critics see it as a threat to national security.

Despite the controversy surrounding him, Snowden’s invitation to speak to students was met with enthusiasm. In fact, the event’s description painted Snowden in a largely favorable light, describing him See Edward Snowden on pg. 16

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Bohesa Won, The Anchor Professor Hoffman was a freshman at Connecticut College in 1972, watching the Summer Olympic games, when the Munich Massacre began to unfold. “All of a sudden the Olympic games were hijacked…It was the first time I really noticed what terrorism was,” he described of the terrorist attack, which resulted in the deaths of eleven Israeli Olympic team members.

Moved by the power of the incident, he later began studying terrorism as a graduate student at Oxford University.

At a time when most students were studying strategic nuclear issues in light of the Warsaw and NATO Pact, which he describes as “confrontation in a conventional sense,” Professor Hoffman remained fascinated by the influence of terrorism. In 1977, when France arrested Abu Daoud, the mastermind behind the Munich Attack,

and violated extradition treaties with Israel and west Germany by refusing to let the terrorist go, Professor Hoffman found himself questioning, “What is it about terrorism that has this power to cause governments to go back on their word and to break treaty agreements that they wouldn’t have done with an ordinary criminal?”

His curiosity prompted him to pursue studies in terrorism and insurgency, an area which he has now studied for the past forty years. The career path he has taken since his years as a student has been marked by determination in the face of danger.

At the time when he first began his studies, he described, “Few scholars had even met terrorists, few had been to the conflict zones. It was something that was done from the safety of university libraries.” With a laugh, he continued, “I suppose retrospectively, See Academic Spotlight on pg. 16

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EAST ASIA & OCEANIA Liberals Upset South Korea’s General Election Outgoing David Lim

WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Members of South Korea’s ruling Saenuri Party could not hide their disbelief and frustration as they witnessed the opposing Minjoo Party of Korea (MPK) gain an additional seat in the 20th General Election on April 13, slating it as the public favorite. Despite numerous polls that favored a relatively easy victory for the

conservative Saenuri, the results defied all expectations, with MPK taking 123 seats, Saenuri with 122, People’s Party with 38, Justice Party with 6, and independents with 11.

The ballot includes all 300 seats, with proportional representation allocating 47 of them. Here, parties receive an allocation of seats proportional to these votes. Saenuri managed to earn 17 seats while MPK

The National Assembly Proceeding Hall, where the National Assembly congregates.

and People’s Party retained 13 each.

The last time the liberals held a majority in the National Assembly, between 2004 and 2008, they capitalized on public sympathy towards President Roh Moo Hyun as conservatives attempted to impeach him. Now, even without forming a coalition with the People’s Party, MPK can effectively establish a check on President Park for the remaining 22 months of her tenure.

The results indicate three major implications for Korean politics.

First, the geographical distribution of votes shows a major breakdown of the regionalism that has plagued all branches of the Korean government.

For the first time in 31 years, citizens of Daegu, the home turf for Saenuri, elected the MPK candidate Kim Boo Kyum into one of its 12 districts.

Citizens of Busan, another stronghold for a conservative bloc, welcomed 5 members of the MPK. Secondly, the People’s Party’s upset in the Honam region, the home of MPK, conveyed a message to the public that its position as a third party represents a serious force in Korean politics. MPK forfeited 22 seats out

of 28 total in the Honam region to the People’s Party, including all 8 seats in Gwangju. With over 20 seats in the National Assembly, the People’s Party passed the threshold required for recognition as a parliamentary group, officially consolidating its legitimacy.

Finally, while it may seem too premature to discuss the presidential election for next year, the polls indicate a change in the political balance of power. Saenuri’s leader Kim Moo Sung announced his resignation as the party’s leader in the aftermath, inflicting significant damage on his chances on next year’s ballot. This also presents an opportunity for those advocating for United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki Moon as the Saenuri candidate to gain significant momentum.

Moon Jae In, former presidential candidate for 2012 and still a leading candidate for the liberals, also received significant pressure to drop out of the race after the fiasco. Prior to the election, Moon said that he would refrain from further political ambitions if he could not win support from Honam.

7.0 Earthquake Hits Kumamoto, Kyushu Julia Rhodes

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Japan experienced its most severe earthquake since 2011 on April 14.

The quake registered at a magnitude of 7 on the Richter scale in the Kumamoto Prefecture and Kyushu.

The tremors destroyed over 20 homes, sparked multiple fires, and left 1,800 without shelter. Even though an estimated 40,000 homes lost power following the earthquake, the country has acted swiftly to mitigate potential damage. In the face of such violent quakes, Japan’s energy infrastructure remained uncompromised: nuclear power plants in Kyushu and Shikoku did not face any malfunctions.

The country lies in the Ring of Fire, a region in the Pacific belt that experiences 90% of the world’s earthquakes. In 2011, tremors that were hundreds of miles off the coast of Japan caused a tsunami,

which provoked a meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear facility.

This tragic incident resulted in the death of almost 18,000 and societal retaliation against nuclear energy.

Following the April 14 earthquake, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his cabinet quickly set up emergency housing, deployed over 350 members of the Self-Defense Forces, and hosted a press conference to assuage the public’s fears. While the government has not issued any tsunami warnings, it has acted swiftly to avoid the mistakes of 2011, after which a commission found the nuclear meltdown as a “fundamentally manmade disaster.” The governing Liberal Democratic Party has advocated for greater reliance on nuclear energy, so his cabinet seeks to handle this earthquake with clarity, transparency, and calm.

Taiwanese President Intervenes in South China Sea Jackie Landry

Taiwan’s outgoing president, Ma Ying-jeou, has decided to make a tactical visit to the Pengjia Island in order to officially state Taiwan’s sovereignty over conflict territories in the South China Sea. Beginning in January, Ma has made several visits to other islands, such as Taiping Island, with the focus of actively promoting territorial dominance. His visits come at a time when Beijing has begun to manufacture multiple islands fashioned with airplane runways and aircraft military bases.

Ma has repeatedly said that his intentions are to promote peace in order to mitigate the steady build up of collective land-grab paranoia.

China has reconfirmed with Taiwan that it has a duty to protect China’s territorial interests. On the other hand, the American Institute in Taiwan has publicly stated that it believes Ma’s actions are “extremely unhelpful,” as they do not ease any tension.

However, some analysts believe that Ma is only going through all of this trouble in order to build his legacy. They believe that his lame-duck position is compelling him to make one last push towards growing Taiwan’s political presence. Some members of the Democratic Progressive Party believe that Ma has been supporting Beijing during his January visit to Taiping Island, which is claimed by Beijing, Taipei, Brunei, Malaysia, Vietnam, and the Philippines. Ma is speculated to behave this way because of his desire to foster closer ties with China.

Regardless of Ma’s final political activities, Taiwan will have a new political landscape as its first female president, Tsai Ing-wen from the Democratic Progressive Party, takes office. A new political ideology could possibly help or hinder the South China Sea dispute.

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Responses to Sanctions on North Korea North Korea’s only newspaper, the state-run Rodong Shinmun released an article last week that warned readers that North Koreans may have to prepare for another “arduous March, during which we will have to chew the roots of plants once again [to survive].” According to the Worker’s Party, upcoming shortages of food and other supplies will come as a result of the extensive new sanctions levied against the socialist state in March 2016. The UN sanctions, which have signatories from the United States, China, and many other nations, are a response to North Korea’s fourth nuclear test in January of this year.

The UN sanctions are more extensive than any previous sanctions against North Korea, requiring all cargo going in and coming out of North Korea to be inspected for materials that could potentially be used for the country’s nuclear weapons program.

Predictions about the potential effects the new sanctions could have on different sections of North Korean society are mixed. The most common criticism of sanctions as a tool of diplomatic strategy is that

they too often hurt the citizens of the states they are used against, while political leaders and members of elite circles are left relatively unaffected.

However, Georgetown University Asian Studies Chair Professor Victor Cha estimates that the sanctions could have a significant effect even on the upper strata of North Korean society – if they continue to be implemented correctly. “I’m curious to see how [down the line], these sanctions could affect foreign tourists’ perceptions of Pyongyang,” he said, referring to the North Korean capital, where most of the country’s wealth is stored and displayed. “When things in Pyongyang start to deteriorate, that’s how you know that the sanctions are really having an effect.”

Despite differing predictions about which parts of the North Korean population will be most severely affected by the new sanctions, most experts agree inspectors in China-where sanctions against North Korea have rarely been enforced to their entirety--will play the most important role in order for the effectiveness of the sanctions. Trade between the United States and North Korea has been sparse since the DPRK’s Cold

War beginnings in the 1950s, so it is unlikely that eliminating what remains of a practically nonexistent trade relationship would have much of an effect on the Communist state. China, however, provides approximately eighty percent of imports to North Korea, including important intermediate goods such as fuel and machinery, as well as aid in the form of food and fuel. Trade between the two countries was over 6.86 billion in 2014, up from just over 500 million in 2000.

However, as part of the new sanctions, Chinese trade with North Korea could rapidly decrease, which could prove devastating to North Korea’s already stagnant economy.

Like most negotiations with North Korea, there is little certainty as to the longevity or effectiveness of the latest round of sanctions. In the meantime, officials in the United States and around the world have little choice but to wait and see how their contemporaries in Pyongyang will react.

WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Sarah Mack

The front page of Rodong Shinmun, North Korea’s only newspaper.

Andrea Su A commercial made by cosmetics brand SK-II glorifying sheng nü (leftover women) in China went viral after it was released on April 7. The 4-minute long video, titled “Marriage

The women revealed feelings of pressure and inferiority due to the perception of unmarried women Market Takeover,” featured short testimonies from Chinese women who fit the label of “leftover”, meaning that they are over the age of 27 and unmarried. The women revealed feelings of pressure and inferiority due to the perception of unmarried women being incomplete in Chinese culture.

Additionally, they felt guilt and shame toward their parents, who had to bear the pain of seeing their daughters as “leftovers.”

The video targeted a hot spot in People’s Square, Shanghai, known

as the marriage market. In the park, parents gather on the weekends to advertise their children, showcasing on one sheet of paper the most important features of their son or daughter, which commonly include age, height, education level, salary, and other assets. The video ended with a re-envisioning of the marriage market that showcased photographs of leftover women captioned with a selfempowering statement, emphasizing their beauty and confidence in being unmarried. In a heart-warming closing scene, daughters and parents reconciled under the understanding that a woman’s value is not dictated by

Daughters and parents reconciled under the understanding that a woman’s value is not dictated by her age her age or marital status.

Since SK-II posted the video to its official Weibo account, it has

WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Commercial Featuring “Leftover Women” In China Goes Viral

Following Chinese wedding traditions, the bride arrives in a jiao.

received near 5,000 likes and been shared more than 25,000 times. Not only has it proven popular in China, it has also received more than one million views on YouTube. As Leta Hong Fincher, author of Leftover Women: The Resurgence of Gender Inequality in China, pointed out, what

made the commercial so powerful was its closeness to “the actual state” of women in China today. It helped to spread a message of empowerment to the demographic of leftover women in hopes that they will not have to feel ashamed of their status anymore.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Jee Young Kim

O

n April 16, 2014, the South Korean ferry, Sewol, sank off the southern coast of the peninsula. The total death toll reached over 300, most of which were high school students on their way to Jeju Island for a field trip. The event seemed even more devastating because many believed the deaths to have been avoidable if the captain, crew, and coast guard had been more responsible.

As the ferry was sinking, the crew members reportedly told the passengers to stay put and await rescuers, but the rescuers came too late. Intensifying public anger, a video surfaced of the captain safely reaching the Korean Coast Guard in his underwear, while hundreds of the passengers remained trapped on board. The captain was found guilty of murder and sentenced to life in prison.

On the first anniversary of this tragedy, South Korean President Park Geun-hye announced that it was time to devise a plan to salvage the ship and bring it above water, as nine bodies are still believed to be trapped inside.

Now approaching the second anniversary of the ship’s sinking, the South Korean government has officially announced its plans to accomplish that goal. According to CNN, this attempt would be the first of its kind. On April 14, the deputy minister for the Marine Policy Office announced that “the ministry has used long-term maritime data to put together a salvage operation plan, which is projected to finish by the end of July.”

The operation, which involves the use of lifting beams that would be connected to wires on a crane, requires an immense amount of strategy and precision. To further complicate matters, the area where the ship sank experiences strong tidal waves that make such an ambitious plan much more difficult to carry out.

But people must not forget how the Sewol incident deeply stirred the entirety of South Korea’s population. Proponents of the plan believe that reuniting those nine families with their loved ones is not only a matter of morals or ethics, but also a necessary measure that the South Korean government must take in the interest of its people.

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EASTERN EUROPE & CENTRAL ASIA Ukrainian Pilot Sentenced to 22 Years in Prison Putin’s On April 6, Nadiya Savchenko, the Ukrainian pilot captured and arrested by pro-Russian forces in Eastern Ukraine, was sentenced to 22 years in a Russian prison, heightening political tensions between Kiev and Moscow.

Russia has accused Savchenko of killing two Russian journalists, Igor Kornelyuk and Anton Voloshin, with artillery fire aimed at pro-Russian forces in Ukraine in 2014.

Her trial ignited a media firestorm in March. As reported by the BBC, Savchenko has become a symbol of resistance in Ukraine as a beacon of defiance and hope during the days since her detainment. The trial, deemed “infamous” by Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, was seen as a farce or show trial by Western analysts and leaders, the New York Times reports.

Nadiya herself had been particularly vocal about the illegitimate nature of the trial, claiming it to be an example of Russian showmanship.

Nadiya gave a powerful closing statement during her trial.

“I admit no guilt and I recognize

neither the court nor the verdict. If I am found guilty, I will not appeal.

I want the entire democratic world to understand that Russia is a Third World country with a totalitarian regime and a petty tyrant for a dictator and it spits on international law and human rights,” she said.

The support for Savchenko in Ukraine has been overwhelming. In October 2014, just months after her detainment, she was elected to the Ukrainian Parliament in absentia, Interfax reports. At her trial, Ukrainian protesters unfurled a national flag in response to her 22-year sentence.

She was also awarded the highest Ukrainian national honor.

The debate wages on about where and when Nadiya was captured.

Russians claim she snuck into Russia and was captured there, but her defense says that she was captured in Ukraine an hour before the attack. As such, she is either a common criminal as the Russians argue, or she was abducted by a foreign power and taken as a prisoner of war.

In its defense, Russia points to the United States and its “practice of arresting Russian nationals in third

FREEDOM HOUSE NATIONS IN TRANSIT 2016

countries on charges brought in the United States.” Russia has entertained discussion about a prisoner trade, but only if the US ceases said practice, the Moscow Times reports. Pravda claims that her detention is lawful, citing Guantanamo Bay as evidence of Western countries like the United States behaving similarly.

Interestingly, Nadiya’s full name, Nadejda, means “hope,” symbolic of the Ukrainian people’s hope for peace

and freedom from aggression with Russia. The current situation in Eastern Ukraine remains unsolved, with proRussian aggressors still fighting; yet, Savchenko’s sentencing may draw more international attention to the current crisis and generate productive dialogue about the issue. As for now, Nadiya has declared another hunger strike, stating that the Russians will return her to Ukraine “either dead or alive.”

WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Jack Treval

March in honor of Boris Nemtsov with a banner that reads “Free Nadejda Savchenko”.

Refugee Border Clash in Alex Snyder Large clashes with Macedonian police over attempted border crossings occurred on April 10. According to Reuters, police action, which included stun grenades, tear gas, and rubber bullets, resulted in the injury of over 300 migrants.

According to Deutsche Welle, many refugees allegedly attempted to cross in response to flyers in Arabic distributed by activists. The flyers incorrectly stated that the borders had been reopened.

50,000 refugees are trapped in Greece and approximately 11,000 in the migrant camp at Idomini alone; border closures have prevented them from continuing their journeys to northwestern Europe. Greek government spokesman George Kyritsis criticized the Macedonian response, saying, “[t]he indiscriminate

use of chemicals, rubber bullets, and stun grenades against vulnerable populations ... is a dangerous and deplorable act.”

Apart from the events in Macedonia, tensions regarding refugee influx continue to escalate: Austria and Italy met on Friday to discuss concerns over Austria’s desire to regulate or even close parts of its borders in response to the crisis, limiting passage into the Schengen free zone. Beyond the traditional haven of Germany, refugee flows have also significantly affected Nordic Europe. Some claim that Russia and the Federal Security Service (FSB) monitor and maintain a flow of migrants through Russia and into Finland as a sort of political tool.

Others, including Politico, see Russia as trying to destabilize Europe through frozen geopolitical conflict in Syria and creating the recent clashes we have seen in Macedonia.

Paranoia: Russian Praetorian Denis Tchaouchev Russian President Vladimir Putin made waves on April 5 after announcing the creation of a new National Guard, intended to replace the nation’s riot police unit (OMON) and the special forces unit (SOBR).

According to Radio Free Europe, the new National Guard will be made up of roughly 180,000 soldiers recruited from the Interior Ministry, the Federal Drug Control Service, and the Federal Migration Service. The force may be additionally augmented with heavy armaments and tanks. The Guard will be led by Viktor Zolokov, Putin’s former head bodyguard, effectively placing it under Putin’s direct control.

The BBC reports that Putin claims that the force will be used to counter terrorism and crime in Russia; however, members of the opposition see the creation of the National Guard as a step towards suppressing political dissent. Elena Slabunova, head of the opposition Liberal Yabloko party, claims that the National Guard will be used by the Russian political elite “to protect themselves from protests.”

Others have accused Putin of intending to shut down possible political dissent before the September parliamentary elections.

Nikolay Petrov of the European Council on Foreign Relations argues that Putin’s actions are meant to balance out the power gains of the siloviki, or Russian military elites.

Petrov claims that the establishment of the National Guard is a power play

by Putin to create a group that can suppress dissent among elites as well as among citizens, thereby restraining the military elites from interfering in Putin’s goals. Therefore, the force of the National Guard would allow Putin not only to suppress the public, but also to cow his political rivals into submission.

Regardless of his original intentions, Putin’s formation of the National Guard serves to further consolidate his power. It has also demonstrated Putin’s continued movement towards overt dictatorship.

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EDITOR’S NOTE:

On April 1, fighting erupted in the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave of Azerbaijan. The conflict between the Armenian separatist majority in the region, backed by the Armenian Republic, and the Azerbaijani government has been raging intermittently since 1988.

According to the BBC, accounts of the death toll vary wildly. The Azerbaijani Defense Ministry claims to have killed up to 170 Armenian troops. The Armenians, however, claim to have only lost 20 volunteers. News sources are unable to independently verify either account.

The government Azeri forces, the majority ethnic group in Azerbaijan, were able to break through the Armenian lines in an attempt to capture the high ground within Nagorno-Karabakh.

Despite this important strategic victory, the Azerbaijani government in Baku called a ceasefire to “unilaterally cease hostilities” on April 3. However, this did little to stop the fighting, which continued into the next day, allowing the conflict to develop into the worst outbreak of fighting since

an inconclusive truce in 1994. The separatists of Nagorno-Karabakh refuse to lay down their arms until the land that they lost over the weekend is returned to them.

Sargsyan vowed to officially recognize the independence of NagornoKarabakh if the fighting escalates. He acknowledged the imminent threat of “large scale war.”

Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry promised to prepare to attack the capital of the region, Stepanakert, if Armenian forces continued to shell civilian targets surrounding Nagorno-

The Azerbaijani Defense Ministry claims to have killed up to 170 Armenian troops The Wall Street Journal reports that a spokesman for the government of the breakaway republic accused Turkey of meddling on the side of the Azeris.

“Azerbaijan couldn’t take that kind of initiative on its own,” he said.

Turkey’s President Erdogan has made no effort to hide his consistent support for Azerbaijan’s right to govern over Nagorno-Karabakh, saying, “Surely, Karabakh will one day return to its rightful owner and be Azerbaijan’s.”

According to Al Jazeera, both the governments of Azerbaijan and Armenia issued separate ultimatums on April 4 in response to continued fighting. Armenian President Serzh

Karabakh.

Meanwhile in Moscow, a spokesman for the Kremlin said that Russian leadership is “seriously worried” about the instability in the region. Russia was the mediator that brokered the treaty that ended the violent Nagorno-Karabakh war in 1994.

WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Percy Metcalfe

Azerbaijani refugees from the Karabakh during the war.

Ukraine-European Trade Agreement Haunts Europe Anna Nesterova In a political move that shook Europe, Dutch voters largely rejected the ratification of a trade agreement that would have served to further integrate Ukraine into the economic sphere of the European Union (EU).

The Ukraine-European Association Agreement, which had to be ratified by all 28 EU member countries in order to pass, would have increased trade between Ukraine and the EU by opening markets and removing tariffs on goods.

This is not the first time the Ukraine-European Association Agreement has sparked international controversy. In 2013, former Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych brought the agreement to headlines when he refused to sign it in favor of a Russian loan bailout, a sign that many interpreted as a rejection of the EU in favor of closer Russian ties.

The popular Dutch rejection of the agreement was an eerie echo of the events in Ukraine. On April 6, 32 percent of Dutch voters showed up to voice their opinions on the

referendum, above the needed threshold of thirty percent to make its results binding. Sixty-one percent voted against ratification, to the surprise of Dutch Prime Minister Mark

In 2013, former Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych brought the agreement to headlines when he refused to sign it in favor of a Russian loan bailout Rutte, who had been campaigning for a ‘Yes’ vote. Rutte announced that due to the widespread opposition, he can no longer proceed automatically with the ratification.

Reasons for the overwhelming rejection are varied. For many Dutch voters, the referendum was less about Ukraine and more about providing Eurosceptics a forum through which to take a stand against what they perceive as an increasing dominance

from Brussels. In a statement to Russia Today, Dutch Socialist Party MP Tiny Kox proclaimed that there are “too many powers in Europe at the moment who intervene in our internal matters of other countries. We should pay more respect to the national sovereignty and in this case, the sovereignty of the Dutch citizens to decide.”

Others note the fact that the referendum scored many ‘Yes’ votes across Amsterdam and university cities like Leiden and Utrecht indicates that the tension could be another manifestation of the generation gap between younger and older voters over the future of the EU, similar to the current situation in the UK. Still others, according to a survey carried out by the Guardian, are quick to point out that the voting threshold of thirty percent was barely met, implying that many people who might have voted ‘Yes’ simply did not show up.

The European Commission brushed aside the referendum results, stating that the referendum could have no effect on the agreement; the referendum had already been signed, unanimously adopted by

all the EU heads of state, and set in action two years ago (albeit without official democratic approval).

Likewise, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin also took the results lightly, responding that, “nothing has changed,” and that “European integration of Ukraine cannot be stopped.”

The tension could be another manifestation of the generation gap between younger and older voters Integration with Europe has been the favored platform of the Poroshenko regime, and the Ukraine-Europe Association Agreement was hailed as the first step towards achieving closer ties. According to Reuters, the European Commission has now promised to propose extending visafree travel to Ukrainians, despite the clear opposition demonstrated by the Netherlands towards further integration.

Tamara Evdokimova

O

n April 13, Russian SU-24 fighter jets performed a flyby maneuver in close proximity of the USS Donald Cook missile stationed in the Baltic Sea. During the incident, the American ship was engaged in military exercises with a Polish helicopter. There is no question about whether the flyby was intentional – the Russians repeated the same trick over and over for two days.

A calculated move, the event was clearly intended to signal that the Americans are not welcome in Russia’s backyard, regardless of the area’s international waters status.

The American military community and the White House were outraged, and John Kerry claimed that the American ship had grounds to fire at the Russian jets, according to UPI. Russian media, however, questioned why the American government had reacted so harshly, Russia Today reports.

“The Russian pilots undertook a maneuver that was in accordance with all the necessary safety rules,” Major General Igor Konashenkov said.

Ironically, on the day of the incident, Vox interviewed Defense Secretary Ash Carter about deterrence in the 21st century. Not the least among U.S. deterrence challenges today is, of course, Russia.

Carter referred to the “little green men phenomena” in the Ukraine as an example of Russia’s subtle evasion of international law.

From the annexation of Crimea to the intervention in Syria and now the harassment of American ships, Russia continues to violate international norms while pointing at the U.S. as the true aggressor.

The only international criminal, according to Vladimir Putin, is the United States because it exercises its great-power influence to bend international law in its favor.

Putin even asserted his belief that the Panama Papers leak was an American plot to destabilize Russia.

Now, Russia has entered the race with its eye on the prize of global hegemony. This stunt with SU-24 is just another move in “a staring game that continues until one side blinks,” as the Observer comments.

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LATIN AMERICA & THE CARIBBEAN Kyle Tillotson

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n its semiannual report issued on April 12, the World Bank paints a picture of Latin America in transition. After nearly a decade of sustained economic growth, the region has now entered a second straight year of economic contraction. For stakeholders, observers, and policymakers, the question now becomes whether or not Latin America has hit a plateau.

By and large, this economic contraction has arisen from falling commodity prices. Since 2014, the entire world has seen falling prices of energy, metals, and foodstuffs that are most harmful to the extractive, exportoriented economies common in Latin America. During the early years of the 21st century, a protracted commodity boom had the opposite effect as exports of natural gas, minerals, and livestock brought newfound wealth and investment to Latin America.

During this time, poverty in the region was cut in half. These gains now appear to be in jeopardy.

One cannot help but notice the accompanying receding of Latin America’s liberal politics. Just as the prosperity of the first years of the 21st century was accompanied by a new breed of liberal populism, popularly called the Pink Tide, Latin America’s changing fortunes ushered leftist leaders out the door.

In just the past year, Argentine voters have elected the Conservative Mauricio Macri while those in Bolivia denied Evo Morales the right to run for a third term. In Venezuela, economic hardships have shattered the regime of Nicolas Maduro and Hugo Chavez. Corruption looks to do the same to the legacy of Dilma Rousseff and Lula da Silva in Brazil. As many Pink Tide leaders campaigned with pledges of prosperity and equality, their prospects cannot be separated from the economic success of their respective countries.

Only time will tell if these changes are a slight diversion from steady development or a turning point in Latin American history.

Georgetown Honors Climate Change Leader Anastasia Chacon Georgetown University awarded United Nations climate change global leader Christiana Figueres an honorary Doctorate in Humane Letters on April 8 in recognition of ‘‘her transformative leadership on the issue of climate change, her concern for its effect on the world’s most vulnerable people, and her demonstration of the importance and effectiveness of multilateral global diplomacy,’’ as the director of the Institute for Women, Peace and Security Melanne Verveer stated in her reading of the degree citation.

Christiana Figueres, from Costa Rica, serves as the Executive Secretary for the United Nations Framework Convention for Climate Change (UNFCCC). Before assuming this title in 2010, Figueres held various public service positions in her country, including Counselor at the Embassy of Costa Rica in Germany, Director of International Cooperation in the Ministry of Planning, and Chief of Staff to the Minister of Agriculture. In 1995, she was part of the Costa Rican climate change negotiating team for fourteen years, working both on the

UNFCCC and the Kyoto Protocol negotiations. She also represented Latin America on the Board of the Clean Development Mechanism and founded a non-profit organization, the Center for Sustainable Development of the Americas, which she directed for eight years.

As executive secretary for the UNFCCC, Figueres has led many climate change conferences, most notably the Conference of the Parties in Paris. In the summit, 195 nations reached an agreement to ‘‘hold the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius (…), recognizing that this would significantly reduce the risks and impacts of climate change’’, The New York Times reports. This ambitious goal aims to reduce emissions from forest degradation and carbon emissions, as well as explores different policy approaches to the issue.

One such policy has taken effect in Figueres’ own home country, Costa Rica. The small Central American country holds a renewable energy

policy that covers 99 percent of the country’s population. In 2015, Costa Rica announced it had gone 285 consecutive days running only on renewable energy, according to La Nación. Figueres herself has recognized the country’s exemplary position in the field, acknowledging its leadership when setting carbon neutrality goals in 2009. Nonetheless, she recognizes that Costa Rica, and the world at large, still face important challenges in the fight against climate change.

‘‘The Paris Agreement is a living testimony of mankind’s ability to rise to unprecedented challenges because we have never faced a challenge as grand and as seemingly overwhelming as climate change,’’ Figueres stated in her acceptance speech of the honorary Doctorate at Gaston Hall. ‘‘The long road to Paris was paved with relentless optimism, stubborn trust and the conviction that we do share the moral responsibility to protect the most vulnerable,’’ she added.

WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

EDITOR’S NOTE:

Christiana Figueres speaks at Chatham House.

On Fridays, Venezuela Saves Electricity Valeria Balza “I think a woman looks better when she lets her hair dry naturally,” said Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro on April 6 as he addressed the country’s worsening power shortages.

Along with recommending reduced appliance usage, Maduro declared every Friday in April and May a federal holiday in order to save electricity, reported El País.

The decree comes after a drought, coupled with low investment and maintenance in energy infrastructure, plunged the country into a spiraling energy crisis. According to Newsweek, the South American nation depends on hydropower for 60 percent of its electricity; yet, the country’s dams are facing decreasing water levels. Freddy Brito, Vice Minister for the Energy and Industry Sector contended that high temperatures have provoked higher

use of air conditioning. In a country where the energy sector requires heavy subsidies, demand for electricity remains steady.

The shortened work week excludes food-industry workers, as Venezuela already faces widespread shortages amid an economic crisis that has raised food prices by 315 percent in one year, reports Time magazine. Supermarkets see long lines of customers that often last over five hours; a four-day work week in the food sector would likely have exacerbated the situation.

According to NPR, the Venezuelan opposition criticized the government’s measures, deeming them reckless in the face of a worsening recession, shortages of foods and medicines, and triple-digit inflation. “For Maduro, the best way to resolve this crisis is to reduce the country’s productivity,” said Caracas city councillor Jesus Armas.

“Fridays are free bread and circuses.”

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Human Rights Watch Critizices Mexico’s Child Migrant Policies

Peru’s Future Uncertain after Elections After the general election on April 10, Peru is one step closer to having a new president. According to the National Office of Electoral Processes, Keiko Fujimori had a considerable lead with nearly 40 percent of votes, while her rival Pedro Kuczynski came in second, with just over 20 percent.

Because no candidate surpassed the required 50 percent threshold required for victory, Fujimori must now face Kuczynski in a second, runoff election on June 5, 2016.

Celebrating her victory, Fujimori proudly declared the victory as a sign of the people’s desire for reconciliation and the end of internal conflict.

According to her official Twitter account, the election is one step closer to a “united, reconciled, and more just” Peru.

However, the general election was only the first step in a battle that will unfold over the next few months and culminate in June’s run-off election.

As the race narrows down to two, candidates must broaden their appeal and attempt to win the support of the 40 percent of voters whose first choice was eliminated.

Going forward, one fundamental topic will shape the election: the

continued effects of the legacy of Keiko’s father, Alberto Fujimori. His legacy has proven to be a doubleedged sword, receiving both support and criticism for the ideology known as Fujimorismo.

Despite continued efforts to distance herself from this legacy, she still falls under his shadow.

Consequently, Fujimori has garnered

Kucyznski’s campaign could take advantage of the growing sentiments against Fujimorismo a significant amount of opposition amid fear that her tactics could destabilize democracy. On April 5, protests spread across Lima that opposed Fujimori’s potential election and Fujimorismo’s presumed implications.

In the face of opposition, Fujimori has continuously sought to deviate from her father’s polarizing beliefs while highlighting her strengths: consistent support for free trade, strength in the face of terrorism, and political and economic stability.

Fujimori recently pledged to respect human rights and various freedoms

in an attempt to signal her deviation from authoritarianism.

On the other hand, Kucyznski’s campaign could take advantage of the growing sentiments against Fujimorismo heading into June.

According to Ipsos’ opinion polling data, nearly 45 percent of respondents reported a definitive decision to not vote for Fujimori.

Moreover, in a hypothetical runoff between Fujimori and Kucyznski at the time of polling, data suggested a slight edge in Kucyznski’s favor. Thus, there is a potential for Kucyznski to garner widespread support by clinching the anti-Fujimori vote. In fact, according to political analyst Luis Benavente for El Comercio, “the electors of [presidential candidates] Mendoza, Barnechea” and some others will gravitate toward Kucyznski “in an almost natural way.”

In the eyes of many Peruvians, the election comes at a pivotal moment in Peru’s history. It is a moment in which the people must choose between the stability of Fujimori and the unquestioned democratic principles of Kucyznski. These democratic principles are presumed to be at risk under Fujimorismo.

Argentina’s Politicians Investigated Bret Reinking Argentine prosecutors launched an investigation on April 11 of former President of Argentina, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, on charges of money laundering and corruption, as reported by The Guardian. The financial irregularities noted by the prosecutors include the sale of futures at below-market rates that may have cost Argentina $5 billion, and attempts to shelter payments for public work contracts ‘won’ by Lázaro Báez, a close family friend of the Kirchners, in offshore accounts. While judge Sebastián Casanello believes there is sufficient evidence to indict Fernández, her supporters believe her the victim of an unfair case of political prosecution by the former opposition bloc, currently in power.

Fernández de Kirchner and her late husband and predecessor Nestor Kirchner held the Argentine presidency since 2003 and presided over an unstable and increasingly isolated economy characterized by

a boom-and-bust pattern of growth and isolation from global trade.

Regardless, support for government programs such as a universal child allowance has made Fernández de Kirchner popular among the working class. Her administration has also earned international praise for her human rights record, including the reopening of trials against abusive officers belonging to the military junta under the rule of which nearly 30,000 dissidents went missing between 1976 and 1983.

Fernandez’s supporters believe her the victim of an unfair case of political prosecution by the opposition The opposition, led by Buenos Aires mayor Mauricio Macri, won the October 2015 presidential election on a platform of greater transparency and market-oriented reform. However,

Macri’s first few months in office have proven difficult: Bloomberg reports that the Argentine Peso has lost a third of its value since the beginning of Macri’s term, and his public approval barely hovers above 50 percent, according to the Buenos Aires Herald. Since the release of those ratings, Macri’s approval has likely dipped further. BBC reports that the Panama Papers leaks have named him as having benefitted from sheltering a Bahamas-based shell company that he reportedly owned. He now faces investigation.

On the other hand, it appeared clear that Fernández de Kirchner had not lost support when large, enthusiastic crowds greeted her upon returning to Buenos Aires for her court hearing. This represented her first public appearance since handing over the presidency.

Sebastián Casanello will hear both the Fernández and Macri cases in a scandal that may severely tarnish the images of the two largest political forces in Argentina.

Brendan Keenan In a report issued on March 31, Human Rights Watch condemned the Mexican government for granting refugee status to less than one percent of child migrants from Central America. According to the report, only 52 of the more than 35,000 Central American migrant children apprehended in Mexico in 2015 were granted asylum, while the rest were detained or deported. As more migrants have continued to stream into Mexico in 2016, another mass migrant crisis looms ahead.

The Mexican government’s actions reflect the spike in migrants fleeing Central America’s Northern Triangle, a region made up of El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua, as violence has risen to historic levels.

The murder rate in El Salvador alone has increased 70 percent from 2015, making it, according to The Guardian, the most dangerous peacetime country in the world. Neighboring Honduras and Guatemala also rank among the most violent countries in the world. Reuters noted that the region has not been this violent since its devastating civil wars of the 1980s.

The violence has catalyzed mass exoduses from the region. The United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) reported that in 2015, nations near the Northern Triangle, including Mexico and the United States, faced historic numbers of asylum applications from Central America.

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Bryce Couch

According to UNHCR, the countries with the most incoming migrants need to develop a streamlined way to gain legal status, offer assistance to children making solo asylum claims, and develop an infrastructure to house refugees.

The US has begun trying to address the underlying causes for migration. In December 2015, Congress passed a $750 million aid package to help end violence and develop infrastructure in the Northern Triangle. Unfortunately, these funds will take months to actually reach Central America. In the interim, violent gangs will continue to snatch authority and sovereignty away from the governments of the Northern Triangle at an alarming rate.

In El Salvador, for example, gangs such as MS13 and Barrio 18 have carved fiefs out of the country. With tens of thousands of members, and financed by the drug trade, the gangs operate like the self-styled Islamic State in Syria. By imposing curfews, erecting barricades, implementing a draconian legal system, and providing food aid to the population, the gangs have undercut the legitimacy of the states nominally in charge of the territory. As states are forced to negotiate ceasefires with the gangs, the latter gain even more legitimacy.

If left unchecked, the status quo in the Northern Triangle could normalize the role of gangs as legitimate members of civil society If so, violence will persist and the exodus will continue.

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MIDDLE EAST & NORTH AFRICA Morocco Expels UN from Western Sahara United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon visited Bir-Lehlou, a UN base and refugee town located in the disputed territory of the Western Sahara, on March 5. During his visit, he declared that the native Sahrawis were living in a state of “occupation.”

Morocco immediately condemned the Secretary’s assessment, announced the immediate expulsion of all UN peacekeepers present in the region, and canceled its $3 million voluntary contribution to the mission.

Since 1975, Morocco has taken advantage of the Spanish withdrawal to occupy and control the Western Saharan territories. As a response, the Polisario Front, representing the interest of the Sahrawis, declared the creation of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, which Morocco has refused to recognize.

Moroccan authorities have since then built a “Wall of Sands,” manned by 100,000 men in order to stifle local guerillas, forcing several hundred

thousands of Sahrawis to flee and relocate in neighboring Algeria and Mauritania. In an attempt to monitor both sides of the conflict, and of the wall, the United Nations granted the UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO), a mandate to oversee the ceasefire and referendum, which would settle the fate of the region. Today, MINURSO has been present on the ground for over 25 years and has produced no tangible results.

UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric assured that Ban “has not and will not take sides on the issue of Western Sahara,” and that his statement expressed his emotional reaction to Sahrawi suffering.

Dujarric added that the UN sought “to encourage the parties to negotiate without precondition and in good faith to find a mutually acceptable political solution which will provide for the self-determination of the people of Western Sahara.” However, Morocco’s Minister of Foreign Affairs subsequently stated that the expulsion

Andrew Schneider

WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Guillaume Biganzoli

MINURSO headquarters in El Aaiun, Western Sahara.

of the mission’s staff was “irreversible,” and that the situation was “the result of an old strategy of manipulation against which Morocco has warned.”

Timing could not have been worse for Ban. On April 28, the Security Council is expected to vote to prolong the MINURSO mandate which ends on April 30. Ban thus decided to delay his annual report on the “situation concerning the Western Sahara” to the Security Council, which was supposed to be held earlier this month.

Although most member countries recognize the right to self-determination of the Sahrawis, Morocco’s important allies in the

Security Council, namely France, render all hopes of political resolution null. Finding an answer to the conflict would stabilize a region recently destabilized by the menacing presence of radical groups in the unruly Sahara.

The Independent Diplomat warns that “Morocco has a long history of calculated overreaction when it comes to Western Sahara” and beseeches members of the Security Council to not fall into the “temptation to do the easy thing and kick the can down the road with platitudes of support that are not backed by concrete action.

The people of Western Sahara deserve better,” it concludes.

After over a year of civil war in Yemen, the country’s warring factions reached a temporary ceasefire on April 10 in advance of peace talks between the Yemeni government and Houthi forces.

The ceasefire is a product of continued diplomatic negotiations between the Yemeni government; their ally in the war, Saudi Arabia; and the Houthi rebels who now nominally control most of western Yemen. Recent reports suggest that negotiations between Houthi and Saudi forces have already led to decreased violence near the Saudi-Yemeni border. In a promising sign leading up to the peace talks, the Houthis have also exchanged nine Saudi prisoners for 109 of their own.

Despite the ceasefire, sporadic violence has continued in various areas, including a suicide bombing in the government controlled port of

Fighting has largely halted across the country Ida Adibi

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As Israel demolishes Palestinian buildings in the West Bank at a rapid pace, it is inciting international scrutiny.

In the first few months of 2016, Israel surpassed the total number of West Bank demolitions completed last year. From January 1 to March 7, Israel razed an average of 71 buildings a week, compared to the 17 that were destroyed in 2015. Israel claims that it has only demolished illegal structures; however, the international community has reacted with skepticism.

Israel has bulldozed a variety of buildings, including a school built by the European Union. The damage has left many Palestinian communities in shambles.

On April 1, the United States Department of State made a statement addressing the recent rise in Israeli demolition of Palestinian buildings

in the West Bank. State Department spokesperson Elizabeth Trudeau called Israel’s actions “indicative of a damaging trend of demolition, displacement, and land confiscation.”

“They also call into question the Israeli government’s commitment to that two state solution,” she said.

Earlier this year, Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the issue, reiterating Israel’s legal right to remove illegal structures.

Many Palestinian buildings are built without permits and do not adhere to zoning restrictions. However, it is often difficult for Palestinians to acquire building permits and zoning information. The United Nations Assistant Secretary General has called on the European Union to respond to Israel’s actions and hopes to send an effective political message that will deter Israel from pursuing further demolitions.

Aden that killed eight people. Even so, fighting has largely halted across the country since the implementation of the ceasefire.

International actors have assigned increasing importance to the success of this round of peace talks. Although the war has mainly been fought between government and Houthi forces, the chaos has allowed a local branch of Al-Qaeda to take control of a large swath of territory in central Yemen. If peace talks fail and fighting resumes, this branch of Al-Qaeda will continue to abuse the power-vacuum left in the wake of the conflict and expand its control of territory at the expense of both other parties.

International actors have universally praised the ceasefire and peace talks, and the Saudi government itself has expressed optimism about the upcoming round of formal peace talks that will begin on April 18 in Kuwait.

A PR. 21, 2016 | 9

Pakistan Accuses Indian Man of Spying Pakistan announced that local police forces in the insurgency-ridden region of Balochistan arrested an Indian spy, Kulbhushan Jadhav, on March 24. Police provided a video of Jadhav’s confession as proof of his motives. In the video, Jadhav calmly admits to being a naval officer under orders from India’s external intelligence service, known as RAW (Research and Analysis Wing), and to instigating a Baloch nationalist insurgency against Pakistan’s central government. Jadhav said that during his fourteen-year service with RAW he lived in the port city of Chabahar in Iran while planning and executing RAW intelligence missions in Balochistan and Karachi, Pakistan’s largest city.

The credibility of this video confession is deeply contested, and India denies that Jadhav is a current member of the Indian navy. Details of the affair remain unclear and Pakistan continues to deny India consular access to Jadhav. This development has further strained not only Pakistan’s relations with its long-term rival India, but also with its neighbor to the west,

Iran.

Historically, Iran and Pakistan have been allies. In 1947, Iran was the first to officially recognize Pakistan as an independent nation. The two countries have a history of economic and military cooperation: Iran supported Pakistan in its conflict with India, and Pakistan reciprocated by supporting Iran during the Iraq-Iran war of the 1980s. Despite Pakistan’s evident discrimination toward its minority Shi’ite population (who hold a strong majority in Iran), Pakistanis are the most pro-Iran nationality in the world, according to The Washington Post. However, it seems that recent developments may be straining these relations.

In the wake of Jadhav’s arrest, Director General Asma Bajwa of Pakistan’s intelligence agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), tweeted, “There is concern that RAW is involved in Pakistan, especially in Balochistan, and sometimes it also uses the soil of our brother country Iran.”

Further, Pakistani Chief of Army Staff Raheel Sharif allegedly requested Iran to help Pakistan crack down on RAW in Balochistan.

Meanwhile, it appears that recent geopolitical developments, particularly the P5 +1 nuclear deal, have improved previously lukewarm Iran-India economic cooperation. In 2014, India provided the first installment of funding for the construction of the strategically-positioned Chabahar Port, which offers an efficient landsea route through Afghanistan for oil and gas trade between Iran and India.

This port would enable trade routes to entirely avoid passing through Pakistan. With India’s sanctions on Iran lifted earlier this year, oil flows

more freely (and cheaply) to India.

With the removal of sanctions and the warming of India-Iran relations, one may wonder whether Pakistan’s sudden arrest of Kulbhushan Jadhav and its subsequent requests for Iran to criticize India show that Islamabad is feeling somewhat defensive of its primacy in Iran’s book. Nonetheless, it seems possible that this incident of tension may be overcome and relations between these South Asian neighbors may continue to improve as Iran gradually re-joins the international economic community.

INDIAN EXPRESS

Elizabeth Humphrey

Accused spy Kulbhushan Jadhav appears in a “confession video” released by Pakistan.

Indian Prime Minister Modi Visits Saudi Arabia Preetham Chippada Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Saudi Arabia to visit King Salman bin Abdul-Aziz on April 2 to discuss the strategic partnership between the two countries, with a special focus on counter-terrorism, energy, and trade. PM Modi received a warm welcome, and signed five bilateral agreements with the Saudis, encompassing the strengthening of maritime security, humanitarian assistance in conflict situations, and facilitation of intelligence exchange related to terrorist operations.

The bilateral agreements signal a further step in Saudi Arabia’s commitment to counterterrorism policies. In 2012, Saudi Arabia deported Sayed Zabiuddin, a key suspect in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, to India. The National, an Emirati newspaper, described this as a paradigm shift, as Indian terror suspects living in Pakistan used to easily travel to Saudi Arabia with new names and Pakistani passports.

During his visit, Modi also met with senior officials of the Saudi

Arabian Oil Company (Aramco) to discuss energy and investment opportunities. Both India and Saudi Arabia have significant economic interests in the bilateral relations. An estimated six to seven million Indian citizens reside in Saudi Arabia, with India benefitting from an estimated

The meeting could symbolize that Saudi Arabia is shifting its favor away from Pakistan and towards India $35 billion in remittances each year.

Saudi Arabia is India’s largest oil provider, and bilateral trade between the countries totals $40 billion.

Modi’s visit can also be viewed from the perspectives of Middle East diplomacy and India-Pakistan relations. “The U.S. has backed off from playing a political or strategic role in the region and Europe is completely self-absorbed. Moreover, Asia has

transformed into the principal market for East Asian energy. All this builds the mutuality of interest between the two sides and calls for fresh ideas,” reported Talmiz Ahmad, former Indian ambassador to Saudi Arabia, to Al Arabiya English. Ahmad claims that India appears properly positioned to assume the role of diplomacy and peace in the region. Ahmad echoes the positive sentiment with which crowds greeted the first Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and chanted, “marhaba rasool al salam [Welcome, prophet of peace].”

King Salman awarded PM Modi the King Abdul Aziz Order of Merit medal, the kingdom’s highest honor. A purely civilian leader of Pakistan has never received the medal. This gesture could symbolize Saudi Arabia shifting its favor from Pakistan to India.

This shift appears bolstered by the fact that just hours before PM Modi’s visit, the United States and Saudi Arabia announced sanctions against four Pakistani individuals and two terrorist entities, including Lashkare-Taiba, a group also implicated in the Mumbai attacks. India has demanded

such a response for a long time.

Pakistan’s relations with Saudi Arabia have weakened since Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif refused to provide military troops to assist Saudi Arabia to participate in the conflict in Yemen a year ago. Saudi Arabia expected a quick and easy victory, but has met with a stalemate.

Saudi Arabia’s new found preference for India can seem as if Modi plans to take advantage of weakened SaudiPakistani relations.

Pakistan’s perspective for decades has held that bonds between Muslim countries will prevent a Hindu India from successful bilateral relations in the Middle East, and most signs verify Pakistan will continue as a key ally to Saudi Arabia. The economic and military ties between the countries represent longstanding and valuable links for both countries. Saudi foreign minister Adel Al Jubeir assured that “relations with Pakistan do not come at the expense of relations with India.”

Saudi Arabia, however, has signaled that Pakistan should not take the alliance for granted.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Nick Simon

L

ast week, the U.S. news program 60 Minutes broadcasted a story on the 28 classified pages of the 9/11 Commission Report, which ostensibly outline Saudi Arabia’s aid to the terrorists responsible for 9/11. The story has spurred renewed reflection on Saudi Arabia’s influence on extremism in the Middle East, especially given the rise of the self-styled Islamic State (IS).

Saudi Arabia has been a crucial American ally for decades, but it is also a key financier of Islamic radicalism. The Saudi monarchy established the state in an alliance with a clergy who espouse Wahhabism, a puritanical brand of Sunni Islam.

Saudi donors have spent billions funding fundamentalist television channels, newspapers, and mosques across the region. In doing so, they have propagated a creed that denounces modernity, the West, religious tolerance, and women’s rights.

Saudi Arabia has also directly financed terrorist groups. A U.S. State Department memorandum called Saudi donors “the most significant source of funding” for Sunni terrorist groups and exposed that Saudi officials do little to stymie the terrorist funding.

Saudi Islamist exploits were also instrumental in IS’s rise.

When the Syrian civil war broke out in 2011, Saudi Arabia financed fundamentalist Sunni militant groups, some of which are now united with IS. Moreover, according to Princeton University scholar Cole Bunzel, an expert on Wahhabism, the Saudi brand of radical Islam is “fundamental to the Islamic State’s ideology.”

Unsurprisingly, IS recruiters have found fertile ground in Saudi Arabia. Threatened by their encroachments, the Saudi regime has aided the fight by joining the U.S. coalition against the group, designating it a terrorist organization, and announcing that it would lead its own anti-IS coalition.

Thus, although Saudi Arabia has been an instrumental force in funding terrorism and fundamentalism throughout the region, it now faces a powerful rival that threatens its ideological dominance over Sunni extremism.

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SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA Benin a Symbol of Democratic Progress The past few months in Africa have been mired by controversial elections in places such as the Republic of the Congo and Zanzibar, but Benin extended its impressive run of democratic rule following Patrice Talon’s upset victory over Prime Minister Lionel Zinsou at the end of March. The successful transition in such a tightly contested election provides a glimpse into what multiparty elections may look like across the continent in the near future.

The election was much closer than expected: Zinsou, a respected economist, faced stiff competition from Talon, a successful cotton magnate. After an inconclusive first round with over thirty candidates, Talon surged to victory in the runoff, capturing 65.4 percent of the vote.

Following this announcement Zinsou was quick to concede defeat.

With another successful election wrapped up, Benin shines as one of Africa’s most vibrant democracies.

As more and more African countries elect their heads of state with limited controversy and violence, one can get a better picture of what democracy on the continent will look like.

For one, Benin’s election involved successful political consolidation.

Following the first round, Talon worked to gain the support of 22 opposition candidates. Even though Zinsou had the support of the two of the biggest opposition parties, Talon, who ran as an independent, garnered enough diverse allies to pull ahead in the runoff. This type of successful coalition building is only possible in multiparty states, and it institutionalizes cooperation and partnership in government.

The participation of political outsiders was also notable. Zinsou made his name working at banks in France, while Talon rose to dominate the cotton industry and manage Benin’s biggest port in Cotonou.

Such a diverse array of candidates reflects a strengthening of democratic institutions, as experienced individuals

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Anriudha Vaddadi

Incumbent Elected to Sixth Term in Chad

Former Prime Minister Lionel Zinsou was surprisingly defeated in Benin.

can feel safe about running for office without fear of punishment from the incumbent government.

The role and efficacy of the Beninese diaspora, which comprises approximately one-third of the country’s actual population, was significant as well. Approximately 300,000 Beninese living abroad were able to vote in this election, giving them sizable influence. Often times African emigrants are kept from participating in elections, as they tend to represent opposition groups. In Benin, however, the diaspora has been able to vote since 1995. Increasing

democratization might mean that diasporas will be given a larger voice in elections across the continent.

Benin’s success story is not an isolated case. The past year of elections has shown how the continent is becoming increasingly democratic: the successful transition of power in Nigeria and the return to multiparty rule in Burkina Faso can set precedents for peers and subsequent governments to follow. Benin’s elections illustrate how as democratic institutions mature, they can instill more inclusivity and cooperation in the political process.

Fuel Shortage Disrupts Nigerian Daily Life Jessica Hickle

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In recent weeks, Nigeria has fallen victim to one of its worst fuel shortages in recent memory. Despite promises of government action to mitigate the crisis, the situation continues to deteriorate. The fuel scarcity has left people without gas for their cars or generators, and drivers have taken to social media to demand relief.

The current fuel shortage is the result of several factors. The first of these issues is that Nigeria has a limited domestic refining capacity.

Despite being a major producer of crude oil, most of the oil is exported to be refined into usable petroleum, heating oil, and other market-ready products. It is then imported back into Nigeria for sale on the domestic market. Nigeria relies heavily on these foreign refineries, as its domestic capacity only provides about

25 percent of the country’s fuel needs.

This, coupled with the larger problem of Nigeria’s complex pricecontrol system on consumer staples such as petroleum, aggravate the issue. In January of this year, the Nigerian government ended fuel subsidies on the grounds that they were no longer needed. Some fuel distributors disagreed with this move and, in protest, stopped selling fuel.

This set off the current crisis.

Crises in fuel availability have particularly negative effects on countries like Nigeria that are largely dependent on diesel for power.

Electricity output is stagnant and frequent power cuts make electricity unreliable. As a result, businesses and households rely on fuel-powered private generators. If fuel remains scarce, Nigerian businesses will find it difficult to maintain productivity and the econonomy could take an even greater hit.

In many ways the 2016 Chadian presidential election is both a turning point and a continuation. Over 4 million Chadians went to the polls on April 10 in the most highly contested and free presidential election since the beginning of current president Idriss Déby’s 26-year grip on power.

Due to a series of electoral procedure changes and returned stability after a peace settlement with neighboring Sudan, many opposition groups saw a legitimate opportunity to put an end to Déby’s rule. The introduction of biometric identification cards this election cycle in particular was seen as a significant step in elections that have for decades been plagued by fraud and ballot stuffing. As a result, both the Union for Renewal and Democracy and Federation, Action for the Republic, which form the so-called radical opposition, participated in this year’s election, a break from their 2006 and 2011 electoral boycotts.

The Constitutional Council selected 13 opposition candidates for the presidential election, up from just two in 2011. Despite an invigorated political engagement marked by 85 percent turnout, most experts predicted Déby to handily win his sixth consecutive election.

While observers agree conditions were more democratic than in prior years, it still remains unclear if the election was really free and fair. In a report from the African Union, poll agents were observed to “have not shown great mastery of election practices,” and in 50 percent of electoral offices, officials did not “master the counting technique.”

Although the report concluded that “overall, the presidential election gave citizens the opportunity to freely choose their leaders…in a peaceful atmosphere,” legitimate concerns remain. If Déby manages to win, as is widely predicted, the newfound confidence in Chad’s electoral system could disappear.

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Angola Sentences 17 Opposition Activists An Angolan court sentenced 17 activists on March 28 for allegedly rebelling against the government last year. The group consists of 15 young activists that have come to be known as the Angola 15, as well as two other affiliated members.

The detained activists were accused of planning an uprising against the Angolan government. They were first arrested in June 2015 while holding a book club discussion on nonviolent resistance. Luaty Beirão, a rapper and dual Angolan and Portuguese national is a notable member of the Angola 15 whose detainment last June sparked protests in Portugal, the former holder of Angola during the colonial era and an important trading partner.

The court’s decision to sentence the accused activists showcases the increasingly deteriorating status of rights and freedom in Angola. Amnesty International’s Deprose Muchena says, “The activists have been wrongly convicted in a deeply politicized trial.

They are the victims of a government determined to intimidate anyone who dares to question its repressive policies.”

In objection to their unjust imprisonment, the arrested activists went on a hunger strike last September.

Beirão continued his hunger strike for 36 days, a day for each year Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos has been in power. Following the hunger

general criticism of the MPLA focus on the unequal distribution of the country’s oil wealth.

The MPLA government, which has ruled the country since Angola’s independence in 1975, regularly emphasizes big infrastructure projects.

With help from its partners, China and Brazil, the government has prioritized the construction of roads and football stadiums rather than investing in education, healthcare, or economic development. The wealth acquired from oil revenues has remained concentrated within a small elite, while

All 17 of the accused activists were sentenced to serve verdicts ranging from two to eight years strikes, the Angolan government arrested other Angolan activists holding a vigil for the release of the Angola 15.

Despite the strikes, vigils, protests in Portugal, an #Angola15 Twitter campaign, and even a letter of concern from the US Senate’s Committee on Foreign Relations, all 17 activists were sentenced to serve verdicts ranging from two to eight years.

The activists are tied to a greater political movement against the ruling People’s Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) and President dos Santos. The activists’ grievances and

millions of Angolans live without access to basic services. Additionally, unemployment remains high and the majority of Angolans continue to live in slum-like conditions.

President dos Santos, who assumed office in 1979, announced earlier last month that he would step down in 2018. His remarks were met with skepticism as he has made similar promises in the past. All of this has taken place amid concerns about worsening corruption and growing unrest among civil society in the southern African country.

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Helen Alemayehu

Luaty Beirão, second from right, on trial with other activists.

Jonathan Dörnhofer As more details emerge from the massive leak of client data from Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca, evidence of shady financial practices by African leaders continues to crystallize. The law firm specializes in helping clients avoid higher taxes by hiding their assets in shell companies headquartered in offshore tax havens.

These practices have been linked to leaders of at least 17 African countries.

The cost of these illicit financial practices on African governments has been estimated at $50 billion per year by the African Union’s High Level Panel on Illicit Financial Flows (HLPIFF). The OECD has estimated that the costs could be closer to $150 billion per year.

In some cases, the leaks have allowed these costs to be traced more accurately. An oil company doing business in Uganda was advised

by Mossack Fonseca to register in Mauritius, thereby avoiding $400 million in taxes to the Ugandan government, according to the BBC. Among those implicated is Nigeria’s

Senate President Bukola Saraki, who listed overseas assets under his wife’s name to circumvent laws requiring him to disclose his assets.

The issues in Nigeria are not limited to politicians, however, with businessman Aliko Dangote, Africa’s wealthiest man, implicated in holding four offshore companies headquartered in the Seychelles to avoid Nigerian taxes.

Leaders in several southern African countries were also named in the leaks, including Botswana’s president of the Court of Appeal, who used British offshore companies to hold wealth; the nephew of South Africa’s President, who acquired oil assets in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) through an offshore company; and several associates of Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, who used offshore accounts to dodge financial sanctions on their government.

Other African officials also saw their names emerge from among the 11.5 million Mossack Fonseca documents, including a former Sudanese President who hid $2.75 million behind a shell company in the

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Panama Papers Reveal Illicit Practices of African Leaders

Nigerian businessman Aliko Dangote was implicated in the Panama Papers leak.

British Virgin Islands (BVI); a former Rwandan Defense Minister who used a company also registered in the BVI to lease private jets for government officials; and the twin sister of the DRC’s President who used offshore companies to purchase assets within the country, thereby evading laws mandating the disclosure of domestic assets held by public officials.

Thus far, only South Africa’s government has pledged to investigate citizens named in the papers, although

Rwanda has at least admitted to the actions outlined in the leaks. Most other states have remained silent on the issue or even gone on the offensive, with the DRC’s government threatening legal action against any domestic media outlet that names implicated politicians.

Nevertheless, the chairman of the HLPIFF has called the leaks “most welcome,” and has pledged an African Union investigation into those implicated in criminal activity.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Jonathan Dörnhofer, Anirudha Vaddadi

W

ith news from Africa focusing almost exclusively on terrorism, corruption, and poverty, it is sometimes important to remind ourselves of the genuine democratic and economic progress blossoming across the continent.

Last month, an upstart challenger defeated the incumbent Prime Minister (and groomed successor) in Benin’s presidential election, underscoring the strides the country has made towards a true electoral democracy since the transition from a one-party state in the early 1990s.

In Zambia, the incumbent president faces a tough challenge from several opponents in the campaign for an election scheduled for August that will mark the third straight competitive, free, and fair election in the southern African country.

Progress is visible in western Africa as well. Bucking the trend of other African leaders, who have been extending their mandates by removing constitutional term limits, Senegalese President Macky Sall pushed to lower the term length in his country to five years. In a referendum on March 22nd, Senegalese citizens overwhelmingly voted in favor of of the measure. This continues Senegal’s trend of being one of the most democratic countries in Africa, with contested elections held regularly since 1978.

There is also economic progress to report, with the African Export-Import Bank predicting a 50 percent growth in intraAfrican trade within the next five years, going from $170 billion today to $250 billion in 2021.

This is an especially encouraging sign considering the historically extractive and export-oriented nature of Africa’s economies.

More intracontinental trade could lead to more stability in the business cycle of Africa, with less dependence on overseas buyers of raw goods and the global commodities supercycle.

While it is still crucial to address and combat the many issues that still exist on the continent, it is also necessary to be mindful of the progress that is being made, upon which even greater advances can be built.

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The Spread of Terror: IS In South East Asia Phalguni Vetrichelvan Multiple explosions and gunfire were reported near the Sarinah shopping mall in central Jakarta, Indonesia on January 14. Two blasts went off, the first inside a Starbucks and another at a police post outside the mall, injuring 23 and killing two.

Even though Indonesia has the largest Muslim population in the world, it sees relatively few terrorist incidents compared to its counterparts in the Middle East. However, the fact that the Islamic State (IS) claimed responsibility for January’s attack has raised growing concern that IS is making inroads within the country and the wider region.

The Indonesian police reported in November that they had received intelligence of IS threatening to carry out an attack in the country. In the weeks leading up to Thursday’s attack, the police arrested 16 terrorism suspects in Jakarta and across the main island of Java but failed to uncover the plot. This failure raises questions

about the effectiveness of Indonesia’s elite counter terrorism force known as Detachment 88.

Created after the 2002 attack in Bali that killed over 200 people, the force has been largely successful in its counter-terrorism efforts. It has

January’s attack has raised growing concern that IS is making inroads within the country killed or captured much of Jemaah Islamiah’s leadership, the group linked to Al Qaeda responsible for the Bali attack. Still, JI has been expanding into Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand, presenting a new threat of terrorism to South East Asia as a whole.

Over 87 percent of the Indonesian population identifies as Muslim.

While Indonesia has long been touted as a model for moderate Islam, Aceh

Province on the Island of Sumatra has housed a more conservative Muslim population fighting for autonomy for years. Since its first separatist movement in the 1950s, the province has gained more autonomy, notably visible through its permission to practice Sharia law, obtained in 2005.

Human rights groups continue to protest these laws, but their removal might lead to another insurgency.

The Philippines faces a similar issue with the Muslim population of Mindanao Island fighting for autonomy. The Philippines is home to a number of militant groups, including the Abu Sayyaf Group, Jemaah Islamiyah, the Moro National Liberation Front, and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. These groups have conducted more than one hundred attacks within the Philippines since 2004. The Filipino government has taken significant steps to combat terrorism, but terrorists continue to use the country as a base to organize, raise funds, train, and operate.

A report conducted by the Soufan Group, a security and intelligence consulting group, showed that approximately 600 Southeast Asians are fighting in Syria as of December 2015. The vast majority are from Indonesia, with Malaysians coming

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SOUTH & SOUTHEAST ASIA

Police post damaged by the bombing in front of Sarinah Mall.

a distant second. A former Filipino president told reporters in August 2014 that at least 100 of his countrymen were training in Islamic Stateheld territory in Iraq, with Filipino nationals showing up on IS beheading videos as forms of recruitment. This reflects an upward trend of IS foreign fighters originating in Southeast Asian countries, especialling in those with Muslim insurgent movements such as Indonesia and the Philippines.

Fears about surges in recruitment rates remain in Indonesia and Malaysia, as do concerns about growing domestic support for these

groups within the country. A 2013 PEW poll reported that 78 percent of Indonesian Muslims and 63 percent of Malaysian Muslims had a “favorable” view of IS. In addition, 18 percent of Malaysian Muslims but only 7 percent of Indonesian Muslims found suicide bombing acceptable. The Indonesian and Philippine governments’ fragile relationships with certain secessionist regions make them possible hotbeds for recruitment. Ultimately, before counter-terrorism measures can be effective, the channel of recruitment must be stopped.

Troubles Persist for Nepal Farmers Jessica Li

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Farmers in Nepal have suffered continued financial stress following the Nepal Earthquake of April 2015. In the Kathmandu Valley, farmers lost their livestock, seeds, and tools as a result of the earthquake. These losses have been exacerbated by India’s recent blockade, which has dramatically increased the price of fuel and farming tools. Farmer Bhunti Ramtyal is an example of the plight that many farmers in the region face: he lost half of his home to the earthquake and can no longer afford to buy seeds and fertilizer after prices rose by 80 percent in the past year.

Struggling farmers signal larger troubles for the crucial agricultural industry of Nepal. The International Labor Organization reports that the industry composes thirty-four percent of the country’s GDP, but the United States Agency for International Development reports that the lack of “improved seeds, new technologies and market opportunities,” has caused the agricultural sector to decline,

causing both hunger and migration.

Currently, the government is working with other actors to improve situations in Nepal. Scidev.net reports that scientists are conducting research on the improvement of indigenous seeds to increase biodiversity in crops.

In January, the Nepali government also instituted a new Agriculture

Struggling farmers signal larger troubles for the crucial agricultural industry Development Strategy to address “farmer’s rights and seed sovereignty.”

However, the government has failed to prioritize the initiative, which many farmers in rural areas have not yet even heard of. Seed farmer Bishnu Bahadur Rawal comments, “It would be better if the policy is revised and reformed after considering inputs from farmers. Farmers do not know much about the policy.”

However, advancements in the field of renewable energy are providing a more optimistic outlook for the agricultural industry. Organizations such as iDE Nepal and SunFarmer have helped to install a Solar Water MUS (Multiple Use System) in Syangja, which has increased water accessibility for farmers. Farmers in the Kavrepalanchok and Patlekhet districts have also learned to employ “climatesmart” practices by lining ponds with plastic to gather rainfall for irrigation.

As forty percent of Nepalese children under five are stunted and twenty-nine percent are underweight, according to the World Health Organization, it is clear that the Nepali government must prioritize food security. Considering the ineffectiveness of certain agricultural policies, the best course of action for the government may be to invest in new technologies and renewable energy to repair damages caused by the earthquake and to improve agricultural production for the country as a whole.

A PR. 21, 2016 | 13

Singapore Delays Signing Cybersecurity Bill Theresa Marie Romualdez

Singapore’s companies have fallen victim to cybercrime since 2014. Of the five most pervasive economic crimes, cyber crime ranks second at forty-three percent. The number of cybercrime incidents has also increased from fifteen percent to fortythree percent in the last two years.

Small and medium sized enterprises (or SMEs) bear the brunt of the effects of cyber crime due to

Twenty percent of Singapore’s companies have fallen victim to cybercrime since 2014

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The Singaporean Parliament has decided to table a Cybersecurity Bill in 2017 which will strengthen laws against online crime, The Straits Times reports. Channel NewsAsia reports that the Singapore Police Force (SPF) found that the 4 percent increase in crime in the past year was largely a result of cyber crime.

Both residents and companies are at risk from the prevalence of online cheating and scams as Singapore becomes increasingly interconnected.

Singapore is set to become the most hotspot-dense city in the world, currently second to Japan. Nearing the decision to discuss the Cybersecurity

Bill, Parliament also decided to double the number of hotspots to 20,000 by 2018. Already, there are two million frequent users on Singapore’s public wifi network, Wireless@SG, clocking up to 10 million hours a month.

The interconnectedness of the nation-state is increasing the ease with which online criminals are able to operate. SPF’s Commercial Affairs Director, David Chew, states, “You could as well be transacting with a guy in [Singapore] or Nigeria for all you know, because the quality of the signal is so good.”

The increasing accessibility of the Internet and online transactions are most strongly reflected in Singapore’s economic sector: twenty percent of

Singapore Telecommunications’s satellite dishes service over 5 million people.

both cost and lack of awareness.

According to the Minister of Communications and Information, Yaacob Ibrahim, their “lack of IT staff ” means that they must rely on “off-the-shelf solutions,” leaving them particularly vulnerable to cybercrime.

In 2014, Singapore’s highest percapita losses resulted from cybercrime: on average, it costs $1,448 per victim.

By the end of 2014, 1,560 accounts with Singpass, Singapore’s e-government services portal, were breached.

Currently, Singapore’s National Cyber Security Research and Development

Program is set to collaborate with seven Singapore government agencies, including the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Home Affairs, and the Cyber Security Agency, among others. The government has also decided to have Eugene Kaspersky, Russian cybersecurity expert, join the international advisory panel for the program.

Currently, the banking and financial sectors are critical to the defense of Singapore’s cyber technologies. The most difficult aspects of improving the security of the country’s cyber technology will be the disparities within the financial sector and the borderless nature of cyber security threats. Large companies like Deloitte already have their own cross sector cybersecurity centers with hundreds of people, but smaller branch offices lack the same capacity. As Singapore becomes a hub for international trade and business, it becomes increasingly critical to develop strong cybersecurity infrastructure.

As Ibrahim states, “It is inevitable that Singapore’s critical information infrastructure will at some point be targets…. [Singapore’s Cybersecurity Bill] is the necessary foundation for a successful digital economy.”

Media Censorship and Government Accountability in Laos Arista Jhanjee

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Laos government spokespeople announced on April 6 that press regulations and restrictions on foreign media will not obstruct foreign journalists in their coverage of the upcoming ASEAN mit, to be hosted

by Laos in November. Vorasack Pravongviengkham, the Deputy Director of Laos National Radio, emphasized that new regulations that came into effect in January requiring foreign media reports to undergo government screening will not apply to the majority of coverage by foreign

outlets of the ASEAN Summit.

Only films and documentaries, he stated, would be subjected to screenings.

Press restrictions within Laos apply to domestic as well as foreign media outlets. Though the national constitution technically guarantees freedom of the press, it also specifies penalties involving varying terms of imprisonment for media reporters who issue propaganda against the Communist state, engage in defamation or misinformation, or threaten “national culture.” The lack of prosecution, punishment, and

ASEAN Leaders gather at the 23rd ASEAN Summit.

intimidation of media reporters thus far stems largely from practices of self-censorship within the media community. Media outlets are expected to draw largely from government information in constructing news reports, while state officials practice media censorship and actively disseminate media content rules. In fact, most newspaper, television, and radio outlets in Laos are affiliated with or run by the government.

Various laws have reinforced media restrictions and censorship. The Media Law of 2008 officially affirmed media reporters’ right to access public records, receive information from state officials, and provide news coverage. In reality, however, journalists are often unable to secure meetings with or obtain information from government representatives. In 2014, the government of Laos also took steps to place restrictions on webbased information and news through an Internet censorship decree. Under the new law, website administrators must review web user content before it is posted and actively block or refrain from providing services to those who oppose government regulations

and policies. Additionally, the law empowers both the information, culture, tourism, and public security sectors to investigate and monitor web content and users.

Due to the extensive restrictions outlined above, media outlets are unable to act as watchdogs of state policy and the quality of governance, particularly within the context of controversial social issues. For example, the government of Laos has prevented international and independent media coverage of the resettlement and treatment of the Hmong population within the country, preferring instead to issue its own reports. Moreover, the recently enacted Internet decree has constrained the viability of online spaces as tools for the monitoring of government accountability. Two individuals have thus far been arrested for posting online information and documents related to sensitive topics such as foreign land concessions and police extortion. Such incidents suggest that the lack of autonomy of domestic news media sources within Laos carries significant and negative implications for government accountability and legitimacy.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Ho Yao Nian

W

hat is Southeast Asia?

Needless to say, my answer to this question before taking up the region’s editorship and that after are quite different. I am Southeast Asian. Born and raised in Singapore, I am classified first based on my nationality and subsequently Singapore’s membership in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

Yet, what makes for regional identity? These are pertinent questions not just for myself as a Southeast Asian, but also for “outsiders” who have for centuries engaged in the region. Today, the international media acknowledges Southeast Asia as a region of growing political and economic significance.

Through the Trans-Pacific Partnership, we see an emerging consumer and manufacturing base.

With ASEAN, we see the possibility of a political bloc with wider regional clout.

But Southeast Asia’s regional identity is far more nuanced and complex than a mere 49 year old organization. Linked by material culture, religion and sometimes kingship traditions, polities in early history had fluid borders and extensive links both within and without what we see today as Southeast Asia. It would take the fascination with demarcating territories during the colonial era and regional politicking by external powers during the Pacific and Cold Wars before the cementing of Southeast Asia’s identity today in the form of ASEAN. What does this all mean for the region today then? ASEAN is its own unique institution. With a vastly different set of historical circumstances and composition, ASEAN cannot be compared to or expected to perform like other regional organizations like the European Union (EU).

Regionalization has to be mediated by regional exigencies. In ASEAN, peace has prevailed amongst diversity because consensus remains key. Looking ahead, Southeast Asia’s unique history wherein East and West converged means that ASEAN cannot isolate itself from the wider region. ASEAN will have to play a central role but we must remain realistic about what ASEAN can and cannot do.

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WESTERN EUROPE Panama Papers Reveal Corruption in Soccer Police raided the Union of European Football Association’s (UEFA) headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland on April 6, following allegations in the Panama Papers that UEFA knowingly helped private companies earn a profit from selling broadcast rights for highprofile international games to regional networks.

The Panama Papers, a collection of eleven million documents, exposed offshore accounts of nearly 215,000 companies and over 14,150 individuals.

The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, which has analyzed the leaked documents, revealed that Mossack Fonesca, a Panamanian law-firm, has been knowingly helping its clients evade taxes, avoid sanctions, and launder money.

British Prime Minister David Cameron is reportedly on the list, accused of holding a significant family inheritance within offshore accounts.

Many of Russian President Vladimir

Putin’s closest associates, as well as champion Argentinian soccer player Lionel Messi, have faced similar scrutiny because of the scandal.

According to the documents released in the Panama Papers leak, UEFA sold broadcast rights for Champions League matches for three years, from 2006 to 2009, to Argentine company Cross Trading. UEFA confirmed that Gianni Infantino, currently the head of FIFA but an employee of UEFA at the time, was one of two officials to sign the contract with Cross Trading, Reuters reported.

The problem lies in allegations that Hugo and Mariano Jinkis, the owners of Cross Trading, resold the broadcast rights to Teleamazonas, a Ecuadorean broadcaster, for three times what the company paid UEFA. The documents for which the Swiss police were searching would draw UEFA into the corruption scandal by directly linking it with Cross Trading’s decision to resell the broadcast rights at a profit. Since Hugo Jinkis was

he saw as a personal attack on his integrity. Infantino welcomes further investigations following the raid at UEFA. However, revelations about alleged corruption within UEFA come just months after reports that Qatar was awarded the 2022 FIFA World Cup after Qatari soccer officials bribed FIFA. Now, the UEFA raid and accusations brought by the Panama Papers have reignited the conversation on corruption in soccer and raise the question of how deep-seated it is within the sport’s institutions.

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Tara Subramaniam

earlier found to have allegedly bribed FIFA executives in return for media and marketing rights for certain games and tournaments, his association with UEFA would throw the European soccer federation’s integrity into question as well. Infantino himself is also facing investigation given his involvement with both organizations.

UEFA insists that all deals with Cross Trading were legal and unrelated to Cross Trading’s other corrupt transactions with FIFA executives. At a press conference, Infantino stated he was “dismayed by the reports” which

Swiss police raided the headquarters of UEFA on April 6.

German Steelworkers Protest Reforms Brandon Greenblatt Nearly 45,000 German steelworkers protested European Union measures which would consolidate the German steel industry in favor of importing cheap Chinese coal on April 11, EU Observer reported.

According to Deutsche Welle, the protesters gathered mainly in the western states of NordrheinWestfalen and Saarland as well as the capital, Berlin. The steelworkers, many of whom belong to Germany’s engineering union IG Metall, also called for policies to safeguard their jobs and provide representation in relevant policy-making in Brussels.

Some members of the German government responded favorably to the protests. Alluding to Chinese coal dumping, German Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel remarked, “We have nothing against China getting market economy status but only if it behaves

like a market economy.” Protesters reiterated that German steel remains preferable to that from China, which since 2010 has doubled its steel exports to the EU, Die Zeit reported.

The steelworkers protested under the motto “Coal is the Future” and argued, despite recent policies encouraging clean energy and sustainable development in the EU, that steel remains an essential component of German industry.

Hans Jürgen Kerkhoff, president of the German Steel Federation, directly criticized regulation from Brussels in an interview granted prior to the protests.

He emphasized that proposed policies to de-carbonize the steel industry would be “a threat to its existence.”

For now, the German steelworkers await further word from Brussels as to whether or not Chinese coal dumping and environmental regulation from the European Union will continue.

Police and Migrants Clash on Greek Border Andreas Paraskevopoulos Hundreds of refugees were injured during a clash with Macedonia (FYROM) police along the Greek border on April 10, Euronews reported. According to eyewitness accounts, FYROM police fired tear gas and rubber bullets at migrants who tried to cross the border from Greece into FYROM. Proto Thema reported that tension mounted the night of April 9, when fliers written in Arabic were distributed in the refugee camp, enticing the migrants to gather and storm the border. Ekathimerini stated that many people, including children, suffered from injuries and respiratory problems during attacks the next day.

The Greek government and United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) condemned the attacks. Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras accused FYROM of “shaming Europe by firing tear gas and rubber bullets at migrants.” He added, “This is a great shame for European culture and for countries who want to be part of it.”

According to Ekathimerini, the Foreign Ministry of FYROM responded by saying that its security forces “acted with the greatest possible restraint, sense of duty and professionalism in order to deal with the violent protests.”

In one point of contention, Proto Thema alleged that FYROM police illegally exercised force within the Greek side of the border. However, both Greece and FYROM disputed this claim. Even though videos show the FYROM police operating on the Greek side of the fence, Greek authorities explained that the fence is a few meters within the territory of FYROM. Tensions could escalate as the borders remain closed. As CNN Greece reported, the Greek Ambassador to FYROM, Theocharis Lalakos, said that violence cannot, under any case, resolve the issue. Lalakos concluded by asking FYROM authorities to show restraint, vigilance, and responsibility in their actions.

A PR. 21, 2016 | 15

Suspects in Brussels Attacks Arrested Police arrested six people linked to the self-styled Islamic State militant group in Belgium on April 8 for their involvement in the recent Brussels bombings, according to Euronews.

The Brussels attacks occurred on March 22 when a total of three bombs exploded, two at Brussels’ Zaventem airport and one at Maelbeek Metro Station. The attacks killed 31 people and left many more severely wounded. According to Euronews, the Islamic State claimed responsibility and connected the attacks to terrorist activity perpetrated in Paris in November of last year.

Belgian security forces deployed in full force to track down members of the Franco-Belgian group of the Islamic State fighters connected to both the Paris and Brussels attacks.

A manhunt eventually led Belgian police to the neighborhood of Uccle in Brussels where they found and arrested six suspects.

Two brothers, Ibrahim F. and Smail F., along with Herve BM, Bilal EM, Osama K, Mohamed Abrini, have been named among those arrested, according to Euronews. BBC News

reported that police have charged four of the six with terror offences, including murder.

The arrest and incrimination of Mohamed Abrini appears especially significant as he remains a key suspect in the Paris attacks and played a major role in the Brussels bombings. Of

Belgium’s Federal Prosecution Office said that, “After being confronted with the results of the different expert examinations, he confessed his presence at the crime scene.”

Furthermore, Abrini has released details about the group’s decision to bomb Brussels. The Guardian reported that Abrini told police that the FrancoBelgian group of Islamic State fighters involved in the Paris attacks had initially planned to attack France again at the Euro 2016 soccer championships

A manhunt eventually led Belgian police to the neighborhood of Uccle in Brussels where they found and arrested six suspects Belgian-Moroccan descent, Abrini likely traveled to Syria, according to BBC, where he may have received training from Islamic State leaders.

In the Paris attacks, investigators suspect he drove the Renault Clio the gunmen used before the attacks. In the Brussels attacks, widely circulated CCTV footage caught Abrini wearing a hat and leaving Zaventem Airport immediately after the bombings.

Abrini has already acknowledged some involvement in the Brussels explosions. A statement released by

rather than target Brussels. However, because Salah Abdeslam, a key member of the group and main suspect in the Paris attacks, was arrested on March 18 and purportedly cooperated with law officials, the group changed course and planned the airport and metro bombings for four days later.

Belgian police remain on alert for any retaliation that could result from the arrests and have joined other law enforcement officials in heightening security across Europe.

WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Mary Zuccarello

Beligan police captured six terrorists suspected of organizing the March 22 bombings.

Nuit Debout Protests Take Hold in France Tancrède Fulconis Crowds of protesters have occupied the Place de la Republique in Paris in demonstrations against the proposed new French labor code published on March 31. The anti-establishment demonstrators have remained in the square every night since the end of March, giving the movement its nickname Nuit Debout (Up All Night).

Some protesters have even been sleeping on the ground, according to Le Monde.

On the busiest day, the demonstrators were estimated to number nearly 100,000, according to the labor unions supporting the movement. The Nuit Debout movement is composed largely of youth who are afraid of being abandoned by the French government, especially since the new labor code heavily favors employers. The movement has spread rapidly to other cities in France as well as Belgium.

Originally aimed at opposing the new French labor code, Nuit Debout has evolved into a real political movement which, according to the

Huffington Post, does not affiliate with any parties and does not have a leader.

Instead, it is organized as an agora, where individuals sign up to give various speeches or raise issues which they think are relevant to the labor situation. One activist interviewed by the Huffington Post said that “the movement attempts to transcend the demonstrations and emerge into a concrete anti-system movement.”

Nuit Debout aspires to combat the “anti-democratic elites who stand outside of any national or political order,” according to Le Monde. An opinion poll conducted by IfopFiducial on April 12 for the newspaper Metronews states that 76 percent of France’s youth identify with the claims made by the Nuit Debout movement, and 61 percent support its actions.

The distinctive aspect of the Nuit Debout movement is its total rejection of politicians and the political class, a reflection of the fact that 84 percent of France’s youth today disapproves of the current political class.

Le Petit Journal reported that the ideal politician for the organizers of the movement would be someone “new to

politics, who had experiences working in a small or medium enterprise.”

The Nuit Debout movement is composed largely of youth who are afraid of being abandoned by the French government, especially since the new labor code heaviliy favors employers.

Reactions among France’s establishment political class remain mixed. The far-right National Front (FN) called for a total dissolution of the movement, with a spokesperson for the party stating in L’Express that Nuit Debout was a “center for the destruction of Paris.”

On the other end of the spectrum, the French Communist Party (PCF) applauded the demonstrators.

Leftist presidential hopeful Jean Luc Mélenchon drew parallels with the

Indignados in Spain who occupied the Puerta del Sol in Madrid in response to the austerity measures imposed by the International Monetary Fund and European Union in 2011.

France’s government has approached Nuit Debout with caution, sending police forces to protect protesters and to clean the protest site in the morning, according to Le Monde.

The mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo (PS), stated in Marianne that “while it is legitimate to dream of another world, it is not to degrade the one we live in.” President Francois Hollande has been reluctant to address the movement entirely.

The Nuit Debout movement crystallizes a wave of protests against the current system and calls for major changes in French society. Many have repeated the words of the first socialist French President Francois Mitterrand, who led the country between 1981 and 1995: “The youths are not always right, but it is always wrong for a society to ignore them.”

EDITOR’S NOTE: Brandon Greenblatt, Mary Zuccarello

O

n April 14, the European Parliament approved the Passenger Name Record (PNR) system, requiring airlines to disclose passenger records to European Union member states, Deutsche Welle reported.

European leaders praised the law and hailed it as an essential mechanism for shoring up their counter-terrorist capabilities.

An overwhelming majority of the European Parliament supported the legislation, with 416 voting for it, 179 against, and 9 abstentions. Martin Shulz, president of the European Parliament, expressed his appreciation for the body’s unity following the vote.

BBC News described how, while airlines routinely track passenger data, the PNR system is the first policy that uniformly covers the entire EU. Supporters expect the system will streamline counter-terrorism operations among the EU’s 28 member states.

Indeed, the PNR directive now appears more necessary than ever. Recent terrorist attacks by the self-styled Islamic State devastated Paris and Brussels, and law enforcement officials have likely not even begun to scratch the surface of Europe’s terrorist networks. The PNR system seems like a necessary step towards protecting the nearly 509 million residents of the EU. In an interesting turn of events, however, approval of the PNR system came just one day after the European Parliament, in an entirely separate piece of legislation, updated its digital data protection laws on April 13.

According to an official European Parliament press release, new regulations allow the EU to fine corporations that invade their customers’ online privacy and ensure that all citizens will be notified when their data is hacked.

The conflicting nature of these two laws is notable. On the one hand, the European Parliament has vowed to protect its citizens’ privacy, yet it simultaneously enhances its capability to track and share their travel data. The EU is undoubtedly striking a delicate balance between personal liberty and national security to which there is no clear answer.

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THE ANCHOR Panama Papers Sam Kim, Nicole Carolin

J

ohn Barnhill, who affirmed that “when government fears the people, there is liberty”, would find the current criterion for government accountability nothing short of breathtaking. International leaders have struggled to prevent efforts to unearth past corrupt practices, which are under scrutiny by monitoring firms and hackers protected by the anonymity of the Internet.

This growing phenomenon termed “hacktivism” offers an opportunity for individuals to seek their own vision of justice.

This brand of vigilante justice is certainly invigorating, but the chances of its abuse are high. It can lead to slander without consequences, as users realize that their actions are protected by the vastness of the webspace. It jeopardizes national security because it forces government agencies to focus on public perception of their actions rather than their actual mission, protecting the United States.

While it may be preferable for a government to be held accountable by its citizens, the possibility that a government may be deemed incompetent is also a chilling prospect.

Panama Papers, from pg. 1 have been connected to these practices as a result of the leak, prompting public outcry that has affected the domestic politics of numerous countries.

In the Middle East, a number of major players have been implicated in the leak. This includes President Bashar al-Assad of Syria, members of the House of Saud in Saudi Arabia (including King Salman), the family of Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, and a number of Israeli companies and shareholders, among others.

The largest backlash occurred against Assad. His main opposition in the brutal Syrian Civil War has sought to use these revelations to find and freeze the assets of Assad and his associates in an effort to harm the Syrian president financially. In Pakistan, there have been calls for Sharif to resign in light of information gathered from the leak. The reaction to the other revelations, including the involvement of the Saudi Royal family, has been more muted.

In Europe, similar calls for resignation have already ended a career. In Iceland, the Prime Minister, Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson, resigned after mass public outcry and demonstrations because of his connections to shell corporations in

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the British Virgin Islands. He is the first government official to resign as a result of the Panama Papers. In the UK, Prime Minister David Cameron faces calls for an investigation after it was revealed that his father once controlled an offshore trust fund that did not pay taxes and that he had profited from after selling his (and his wife’s) interest in the fund. Though he claims he paid all appropriate taxes, the outcry continues.

But it is in Latin America where the Panama Papers may have the greatest influence. The leak has created significant political havoc in an area already dealing with political turmoil. Brazil is still reeling from the fallout of the Petrobras scandal, in which the state-owned oil company was used for money laundering purposes. 57 individuals previously involved in the scandal, including a member of the opposition party heavily involved in impeachment proceedings against President Dilma Rousseff, are implicated. At this point, these disclosures have not halted the

impeachment process.

In Argentina, the Panama Papers revealed that newly elected President Mauricio Macri, who ran on a platform of transparency and disclosure, acted as the director of a Bahamian shell corporation from 1998 to 2009, a fact that he did not mention during the electoral process. Macri is now being investigated for these activities, though he claims that none of them were illegal and that he has nothing to hide. The Panama Papers also implicate members of the administration of the previous President, Christina Kirchner, as well as other entities connected to Mossack Fonseca that may have assisted in the theft of millions of dollars from government contracts.

Some good has come from the Panama Papers revelations. Within Panama, the headquarters of Mossack Fonseca were raided by Panamanian police as part of an investigation into possible illegal activity by the firm.

On an international scale, regulators and lawmakers have moved to increase oversight and regulation of

multinational corporations in an effort to reduce tax evasion.

In the EU, the European Commission has put forth legislation that would force multinational corporations to reveal their profits earned within the union, and taxes paid to each member of the EU, on top of revealing all their finances connected to tax havens. Most recently, tax investigators from 28 countries met in Paris in order to work towards a plan to reduce tax evasion on an international scale.

The data and names released thus far forms only the tip of the iceberg considering the sheer mass of data involved in the leak. As more names are revealed, pressure will mount for the creation of an overarching structure to fight tax evasion and other fraudulent activities throughout the world. Ultimately, the Panama Papers could prove to be a force that increases global transparency and government accountability.

Academic Spotlight

America’s first war on terrorism during the Reagan administration in an attempt to illuminate lessons from that period which could be applicable to today.

When asked what he liked to do in his free time, Professor Hoffman let out a thoughtful sigh and chuckled as he responded, “I’m working almost all the time is the sad truth.” Nonetheless, what hobbies and passions he does pursue in his spare time is a compelling story on its own. He described, “I like music a lot, especially live music.”

He professed to be the least musical person in his family—his son plays the guitar while his daughter is very good at singing—but at the moment, he is trying to learn to play the piano.

As a big dog lover, he spends a lot of time with his labradoodle and he also confesses that he immensely enjoys writing—whether articles for his academic work or long commentaries on subjects he is passionate about on Facebook.

Professor Hoffman’s love for films is particularly pronounced: having lived in Los Angeles for 14 years, watching films is a big part of his life. He concluded that he also enjoys hiking, particularly in the desert or in Scotland, “which is two very different environments,” he added. The statement only underscores a truly unique personality: a terrorist expert with a deep-rooted appreciation for the arts.

Edward Snowden

Academic Spotlight, from pg. 1 really stupidly, I decided to go to these conflict zones firsthand.”

Professor Hoffman would continue on to become a globally recognized terrorism expert and hold the Corporate Chair in Counterterrorism and Counterinsurgency at the Rand Corporation, writing critically acclaimed books, and acting as Scholarin-Residence for Counterterrorism at the Central Intelligence Agency in 2004. He came to Georgetown in 2004 to teach as a professor and serve as Director of the Center for Security Studies and of the Security Studies Program.

Although he will be stepping down from his position as Director of the Center for Security Studies at the end of the semester due to his upcoming sabbatical leave, Professor Hoffman explained that serving as director has been the most impactful experience in his career. “Working with the faculty and the staff and the students and building something that really served the needs of our students in a way that either propelled their career forward or opened up the door for their careers: I think that has really been the most meaningful.”

During his sabbatical leave, Professor Hoffman will work on his next book, which involves research in archives in California, Britain, and D.C. The upcoming book will analyze

Edward Snowden, from pg. 1 as “a polemic figure” having been “awarded various distinctions for courage, public service, integrity, and peace.” Lecture Fund also described him as “a prominent thought leader in the field of global cybersecurity, espionage, data, and technology.”

The clearly one-sided headlines that describe him were refreshing and unexpected, especially given Georgetown University’s extensive connections with leaders in the security field.

Reflecting on his actions, Snowden stated that “public representations were different than private realities”, pointing out that the leaks were rooted in neither protest nor activism.

The unresolved component of the discussion rests on that exact remark. Professor Doyle, the event’s moderator and adjunct law professor at Georgetown, posed a question that Snowden must answer if he wishes to return to the U.S.: can Snowden win a lawsuit against the NSA by proving that its surveillance program is harmful to society and violates individuals’ privacy? At the same time, could he provide greater transparency regarding his perceived hypocrisy, criticizing the U.S. with the protection of an arguably insincere Russia? While the session was too short for a satisfying answer for the questions, it is certain that actions will speak louder than words in both cases.