The Caravel | Volume VII, Issue I

VOL UM E 7 | ISSU E 1

@thecaravel

W A SH I N G TON , D.C. M ON DA Y OCTOBER 15, 2018

@TheCaravelGU

Canadian Trade Experts Troubled by Trump Veto

WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Alejandra Rocha

Remnants of the colonial past, like this monument to the Battle of Delville Wood, are facing closer examination in South Africa.

The United States, Canada, and Mexico reached the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) on September 30. USMCA’s Article 32 has been a source of controversy in Canada, as it aims to prevent the country from engaging in free trade talks with China.

Given the current U.S. administration’s efforts to thwart China’s rise in trade, international trade experts are referring to the Article as the Trump veto.

Article 32 says that “a Party shall inform the other Parties of its intentions to commence free trade agreement negotiations with a non-market country.” this provision will require Ottawa to consult with other USMCA partners if it intends to pursue a trade deal with a non-market economy.

Even if it is not spelled out, there is no doubt that the reference to non-market economies was made regarding

China. According to CBC News, Larry Kudlow, Director of the United States National Economic Council, said that “the continent as a whole now stands united against what [he’s] going to call unfair trading practices by you-knowwho—starts with a C, and ends with an A.” Trudeau, who traveled to Beijing last December in a futile attempt to open up free trade negotiations, has faced a wave of criticisms from trade experts who have expressed their concern that Ottawa might have signed away an integral element of its sovereignty to Washington, CBC News reports.

“Those efforts are not dead,” Trudeau told reporters in British Columbia. “Despite the provision, we as always will look for ways to engage, deepen, and improve our trading relationship with [China].”

See “Experts Troubled” on p. 6

South African City Renamed Makhanda Kurdish Election Foreshadows Regional Unrest Grahamstown, a city in the Eastern Cape of South Africa, was renamed Makhanda on October 3. Since the end of apartheid, dozens of settlements, streets, and even an airport have changed their names, a phenomenon with ties to the country’s colonial past.

As reported by IOL, a South African online newspaper, Grahamstown was originally named for notorious Lieutenant Colonel John Graham, who is remembered for his cruelty towards Xhosa natives during the Frontier Wars. Graham is infamous for instilling fear in those he conquered by burning homes, crops, and livestock and butchering women and children in mass extermination efforts. Arts and

Culture Minister Nathi Mthethwa has said that “the name of John Graham is one that evokes unimaginable pain.”

In contrast to Graham’s legacy, Makhanda ka Nxele was a doctor, prophet, philosopher, and warrior whose heroics in the Frontier Wars included an attack on a British garrison in the city. He was one of the first black political leaders to be imprisoned on Robben Island. Mthethwa remarked that ”the renaming of this town will ensure that [Makhanda’s] memory is immortalised, and rightfully so.”

According to South African Geographical Names Council Chairperson (SAGNC) Johnny Mohlala, “Coming out of our [apartheid] history, part of the transition towards social cohesion

requires there must be some form of reparation…One route to restore the dignity…is through name changing.

It’s a contribution towards the transformation of the South African heritage landscape.”

The change was not without opposition. Mthethwa revealed that he received more than 300 letters objecting to the name change, many citing the high cost and importance of remembering history.

Several opponents reasoned that an article published in the Government Gazette in June declaring the name change “was defective because it did not state the fact that the public has one month to object or complain to the minister [by] his June 29 [decision date].”

THE ANCHOR, 2-3

W. EUROPE & CANADA, 6-7

Through the Eyes of Another: Visiting “Carne y Arena,” p. 3

Québec Future Coalition Makes Surprise Gains, p. 6

LATAM & THE CARIBBEAN, 8-9 Jair Bolsonaro Dominates Ahead of Brazilian Elections, p. 9

E. EUROPE & RUSSIA, 4-5 Macedonian Name Referendum Fails, p. 5

Denmark Celebrates 75th Anniversary of Jewish Rescue, p. 7

Ashanee Kottage

See “City Renamed Makhanda” on p. 14

INDO-ASIA-PACIFIC, 10-11 China and Vatican Agree on Bishop Appointments, p. 10

Advait Arun Kurdish parliamentary elections, which were originally scheduled for last year but were delayed due to the political fallout following the region’s bid for independence from Iraq, took place on September 30. The results, which were supposed to have been officially announced on October 3, have been delayed due to numerous complaints and allegations of fraud, according to Reuters.

After three decades of a tenuous power-sharing agreement between the two primary Kurdish parties, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) has the potential to dominate its main rival, the Patriotic Union of

Kurdistan Party (PUK).

The two parties agreed to a power-sharing agreement in the 1990s after a four-year civil war. Following the American invasion of Iraq in 2003, the agreement was extended to allow the KDP’s leader, Masoud Barzani, to serve as president of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) while the PUK’s leader, the late Jalal Talabani, assumed the chiefly ceremonial presidency of Iraq’s federal government.

The now-fractured leadership of the PUK, however, has given the KDP an opening to renege on the power-sharing arrangement. For the first time, the KDP nominated their own candidate for the Iraqi presidency.

See “Election Foreshadows” on p. 12

MIDDLE EAST & C.ASIA, 12-13

N. & SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA, 14-15

U.N. to Expand War Crimes Investgation in Yemen, p. 13

Zimbabwe Fights Cholera with Vaccination Drive, p. 14

Forum Highlights Central Asia’s Energy Future, p. 13

Police Attack Unarmed Protesters in eSwatini, p. 15

2 | OCT . 1 5 , 2 0 1 8

THE ANCHOR

Student-Activist Makes Voice Heard on the Hill Tamara Evdokimova What do you do when your elected representatives refuse to listen to you?

When news of Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court broke in early July 2018, activists on social media encouraged voters to call their senators and oppose his confirmation. But for Angela Maske (NHS ’19), a Kentucky native, this wasn’t an option.

“I have had some interactions with my senators’ offices—[that would be] Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul—I have lobbied in their offices before for various issues, I met with staffers,” Maske explained. “They’re always super nice to me, very pleasant, very friendly, but [they] never have committed to following through on any of the topics that I care about.”

President of H*yas for Choice and a Global Health major in the School of Nursing and Health Studies, Maske has advocated for reproductive healthcare access on and off campus since first arriving at Georgetown. Aware of McConnell and Paul’s hostility toward reproductive rights, Maske took the

fight where she felt it could make the most impact—to Senators Susan Collins (R-ME) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK).

“The week after Kavanaugh’s nomination was announced, I started going to visit their offices on Capitol Hill. I would go before I went to my internship,” she said. “I would just walk into their offices, introduce myself, and say, ‘I’m not a constituent, but I’m from Kentucky, and my senators aren’t standing up for my rights, so here are the reasons why Senator Collins or Senator Murkowski should not vote to confirm Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court.’”

For Maske, the choice to vocally oppose Kavanaugh’s nomination was not a spur of the moment decision but rather an organic extension of the work she’s done at Georgetown—expanding access to condoms and, more recently, to emergency contraception.

“One of Kavanaugh’s previous decisions was on a case with a religious employer, who was trying to deny birth control coverage to their employees,” Maske said, referring to Kavanaugh’s dissent in the 2015 Priests for Life v.

Burwell case. That decision upheld the Affordable Care Act mandate that employers provide birth control coverage to employees. “There are really a lot of parallels between the work that I do on campus, the vision I have for what a better Georgetown can look like, and why I was doing this work on Kavanaugh.”

Having faced many challenges in trying to convince the Georgetown administration to expand contraceptive access, Maske learned to devise creative solutions to pressing problems. That creativity carried over to her political activity. “With the Kavanaugh nomination, I was not going the traditional route toward making my voice heard because I knew that my senators were not going to uplift my voice in this process.”

Maske’s advocacy has also provided her with an unexpected platform to raise awareness of problems plaguing her home state of Kentucky. With only one remaining abortion clinic in Louisville, residents seeking an abortion face a mandatory 24-hour waiting period—a restriction that can mean over four hours of travel

in each direction and overnight hotel expenses.

“Being able to uplift and share [the] issues that face my community back home was important for me because, especially at a place like Georgetown, we don’t hear a lot about folks from across the country, who maybe aren’t from Massachusetts, New Jersey, or California, and who do face these issues and end up coming here,” Maske said.

After weeks spent visiting senators’ offices, Maske also participated in a line-the-halls action in support of Dr. Christine Blasey Ford on September 27, the day of Ford’s testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

“Once the hearing started, everyone was crowded in the Hart [Senate Office Building] atrium, and it was actually very emotional because many people were watching the hearing on their phones and playing it out loud, so you could hear it echoing through the atrium, all of Dr. Ford’s testimony,” Maske described the scene.

“I remember there was one person there who had notches on her arm,

it was four different notches with the dates that she was assaulted. It was just a very emotionally intense space to be in, but it was also very powerful. I think it also speaks to the fact that the people who are coming out to express support and to really fight to ensure that the voices of survivors are heard are survivors themselves.”

As Kavanaugh is expected to be confirmed, Maske plans to continue her reproductive rights advocacy at the local and national levels. She wants to ensure that Georgetown students have access to information that will enable them to make healthy decisions about their bodies. Moreover, she hopes to create a campus that affirms all gender identities and sexualities and is safe for the people of color, trans, and queer people.

“My goal isn’t so much to change people’s minds about reproductive justice, but to make them realize that if you want to deny people access to reproductive healthcare…[that means] you believe that they are less deserving of living up to their full potential as human beings than you are.”

French Politics and the World Cup Caleb Yip, Travel Bryce Couch Joshua Haney Christopher Stein Suzie Kim Devanshi Patnaik Andrew Choi Kristina Yarovinsky Chris Rhim Janny Zhang Hannah Casey Jia Sheng Christopher Stein Sarah Bothner Ga Ram Lee Tammy Evdokimova Eric Schichlein Emma Oechsner Felipe Lobo Koerich Isabelle Lahaussois Louisa Christen James Gordy Jia Sheng Jackson Gillette Irene Chun Preetham Chippada Michael Abi-Habib Bethania Michael Sarah Mathys

ADMINISTRATIVE BOARD Publisher Editor-in-Chief Director of Digital Operations Executive Director EXECUTIVE BOARD Marketing Analytics and Research Finance Business Development IT and Design Social Events EDITORIAL BOARD Copy Chief Copy Chief The Anchor Editor The Anchor Editor Eastern Europe and Russia Editor Eastern Europe and Russia Editor Western Europe and Canada Editor Western Europe and Canada Editor Latin America and the Caribbean Editor Latin America and the Caribbean Editor Indo-Asia-Pacific Editor Indo-Asia-Pacific Editor Indo-Asia-Pacific Editor Middle East and Central Asia Editor Middle East and Central Asia Editor North and Sub-Saharan Africa Editor North and Sub-Saharan Africa Editor

When I heard that the World Cup was going to take place during my study abroad in Paris, I was excited to be able to cheer on the French team.

I didn’t have very high expectations— the last time France won was 20 years ago. So, I was ecstatic when the team made it to the finals. My host brother and I went to the Champs-Elysees to celebrate. Although I’m not usually a big sports fan, as fireworks and flares lit the sky, World Cup fever caught me up like everyone else.

It was an incredible experience to be able to see France unite and celebrate their victory in the World Cup. From what my host family told me, the only time France ever shows so much national pride is during the World Cup; I’ve never seen more French flags flying than during the few days after the country’s win. It brought people together like nothing else did, especially given the makeup of the team, which was one of the most diverse in recent years.

Many players on the team have

their roots in Francophone African or Caribbean countries, and it was incredibly heartening to see such undivided support given the xenophobic—and at times racist— rhetoric that has dominated recent European elections. During France’s first World Cup win, the team composition was much the same; in fact, they were called the “Black, White, Beur,” with Beur representing those of Maghrebi descent.

And yet, within this solidarity I could see hints of the underlying tensions as well. In class, we discussed Trevor Noah’s humorous “Africa won the World Cup” line, as well as the French ambassador to the United State’s rebuttal. In his letter, he claimed that to call those on the team African instead of French undermined their French identity and gave legitimacy to the racist idea that to be French is also to be white. I was surprised at the strength of his rebuttal, but he did have valid points.

Part of the problem has to do with the difference in approach to immigration—France has long

had a policy of assimilation, where immigrants become “French,” while in the U.S., immigrants generally integrate into society while maintaining their own culture. In France, Trevor Noah’s remarks were widely criticized, but they did help expose the tensions that weren’t apparent at first glance.

Although it may not be as easy to see, the events surrounding France’s victory at the World Cup do reflect the deeper, underlying tensions that continue to exist on the questions of what it means to be French and how France treats its African immigrants.

I don’t think that either France or the U.S. is more successful than the other—they have different approaches, and each has its challenges, but being able to understand how the French think about what it means to be French is important to understanding French society. Although there will likely always be tensions, but the fact that such a diverse team is able to capture the world’s imagination is encouragement enough.

O CT. 15, 2018 | 3

Through Eyes of Another: Visiting “Carne y Arena” Bryce Couch, Opinion “Carne y Arena (Virtually present, Physically invisible)” is a hybrid art exhibition and virtual reality simulation that explores the human experience of immigrants and refugees. The exhibit, created by Academy Award-winning director Alejandro Iñárritu, debuted at the seventieth Cannes Film Festival and won a special Oscar for its storytelling.

Based on true accounts from Central American and Mexican refugees, the virtual reality experience places the viewer on the scene, blurring the line between subject and bystander. In doing so, it enables the viewer to move through the scene and immerse him or herself in the environment, sensation, and feelings of a refugee.

Arriving at the site of “Carne y Arena,” I encountered a building studded with metal fragments from the U.S.-Mexico border. Entering the exhibit, I was confronted with a staggering sense of disorientation.

The exhibit is split into three rooms with different environments, deconstructing the notion of a traditional exhibit.

Cold. Sterile. Gray. Empty.

Silent. The walls were covered with instructions: remove your socks and shoes, and place them in the storage bin. Covering the floor were the remains of dust-covered shoes and clothing items that were recovered from the border zone. An alarm jarringly broke the silence of the holding cell, and with the alarm, I was instructed to enter a larger room.

Barefoot, I stepped into the room, covered in coarse sand and again surrounded by fragments from the border fence. Operators placed the Oculus Rift over my eyes and strapped a backpack to my back. As the darkness faded, I found myself in the desert at the border.

For six-and-a-half minutes, I was a bystander and a subject of the experience. A group of refugees started taking shape—men, women, and children of all ages made their way toward me, led by a coyote. Some were injured, some were tired, and some were determined to continue the journey. The light of day faded, and we were again shrouded in darkness.

A bright light, the jarring blare of

sirens, and an overwhelming gust of wind accompanied a helicopter. We tried to take cover, but border agents found us. The scene played out as I was confronted by border agents— with a rifle in my face—and ultimately separated from the group.

It would be naive not to address the significance of such an exhibit in the current political climate. The nation is polarized over immigration.

This art installation gained public momentum in a landscape marred by the separation and detention of children at the border, directives to limit green cards for legal immigrants, and a pattern of presidential and congressional rhetoric rooted in racism and xenophobia.

Iñárrritu undercuts politically charged rhetoric by offering the viewer an immersive story grounded in the testimonies of real migrants from Mexico and Central America. This realism is represented best by the characters themselves: the faces seen in the exhibition are the faces of the very migrants who lent their stories to its formation. Exiting the installation, I entered an after-experience that

displayed the testimonies of these individuals, adding to the urgency of the issue.

“Carne y Arena” arrives at a pivotal moment in American politics.

Our rhetoric on immigration is deeply flawed due to its overreliance on security theory. This line of reasoning fosters a cycle of violence at the expense of refugees. To address immigration more effectively, refugees must be humanized. We must abandon emotional appeals and target causal factors. We must confront the issue itself. “Carne y Arena” provides us an opportunity to experience migration: its fears, dangers, and uncertainties. Hopefully, with this experience, all viewers—regardless of political orientation—are able to participate in a more constructive debate on migration, the travails of immigrants bound for America, and how our rhetoric fosters these cycles of violence.

The next block of tickets for October 15 to 31 will become available on October 15 at 8:00 AM. Tickets are released every two weeks for the duration of the exhibit.

Sean Spicer’s Dishonest Arguments Have a Point Former White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer spoke at Georgetown University on September 17 as part of a promotion tour for his new book, The Briefing. The event was hosted by the Institute of Politics and Public Service at the McCourt School of Public Policy and was moderated

by Mo Elleithee. Spicer is a polarizing figure in Washington and has not always been truthful in his press briefings.

While most of his claims during the event were true, several of them were either exaggerated or misrepresented.

Throughout the discussion, Spicer made several valid points, but the way he presented his argument perfectly demonstrates how facts and truth are increasingly politicized in a way that detracts from the actual issue at hand.

The conversation began with Spicer’s tenure in the Trump White House, with Elleithee asking him why he enjoys working in communications. He responded that most political positions are focused on elections. In contrast, Spicer called a press position a daily battle where you knew “whether or not you got the coverage you wanted or killed the story” by the next day. It was clear that he relished that daily

battle and the intensity of the job, and throughout much of the conversation, he had the same combative attitude when making arguments.

The topic soon shifted to bias in the media, which Spicer claimed is endemic. As proof, Sean Spicer cited a recent Pew Center study and claimed that it found “92 percent of coverage [of Trump] was negative.” The study, in fact, does not say this. It compares coverage from President Barack Obama’s first 100 days of office to Trump’s and concludes that only five percent of coverage was positive, which would seem to corroborate Spicer’s claim.

This, however, ignores the fact that 33 percent of coverage was rated neutral, meaning that only 62 percent was negative. The fact of the matter is that Spicer makes a valid claim— coverage of this administration has been far more negative than during previous administrations, and that should raise questions. However, in misrepresenting the data, Spicer not only undermines the trustworthiness of studies and research in general, he also makes it more difficult to genuinely discuss the problem. By making claims that skew people’s perceptions of data to score political points or advance an argument, he contributes to an environment where

trust in scientific data is no longer guaranteed, hamstringing any attempt to discuss the underlying issue in an intellectually honest way.

In a similar manner, when asked whether or not the press was the enemy of the people, he resolutely disagreed.

However, he then followed up with a call for a fair and free press and condemned the media’s refusal to condemn other networks for making mistakes. This led to a strong rebuttal from the moderator, who gave the example of news organizations like the Washington Post criticizing the New York Times for an inaccurate story about Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley’s drapes. Again,

CAMILLA WASIAK (MSB '20)

Caleb Yip, Opinion

Spicer made a reasonable argument that news organizations should do more to fact-check prior to publishing articles, since efforts to correct misleading, but his underlying argument was weakened by the evidence that he used.

By claiming that news organizations do not call out their own, he detracts from the perfectly reasonable arguments he should be making instead.

There is no question that the role of media in politics today needs to be carefully examined, but Spicer’s dangerous cocktail of truth, half-truth, and falsehood does more to contribute to the problem than the solution.

Sean Spicer makes fallible arguments about free speech.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Tamara Evdokimova

T

o say it's been a tough month for women would be a considerable understatement. After a bitter struggle between Republicans and Democrats in the Senate Judiciary Committee, Judge Brett Kavanaugh was confirmed to the Supreme Court on October 6 by a narrow, two-vote margin. Dr. Christine Blasey Ford's testimony and a second round of FBI investigations into it did not succeed at thwarting the appointment.

It did, however, bring forth an outpouring of sexual assault survivor accounts from women across the country and inspire protests and activism. On our own campus, reproductive justice activist Angela Maske (NHS '19) devoted weeks to lobbying Senators Susan Collins (R-ME) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) to vote against Kavanaugh's confirmation.

Kavanaugh's nomination process came at a turning point in a cultural crisis spurred by #MeToo a year ago. This year, individuals from all walks of life—from media company executives to college professors— had to grapple with the movement's revelations, to make a choice between speaking truth to power or staying hidden. The Caravel leadership worked to reevaluate our mission and to acknowledge the responsibility we have as a media outlet not to ignore crucial societal shifts taking place around us. In an effort to bring attention to hard conversations surrounding sexual harassment and discrimination, we launched Compass Gender, a newsletter dealing with gender, sexuality, and intersectionality.

For me, Compass Gender was also born of #MeToo and the fundamental exhaustion that comes with being a woman in this pivotal cultural moment, which simultaneously pulled back the curtain on the silent suffering of generations of women and brought forth anger, outrage, and denial from those refusing to part with an ounce of their privilege. Compass Gender is my challenge to the feeling of profound helplessness that comes with scrolling through Twitter every morning, confronted by fresh allegations of assault and unspeakable, anonymous misogyny.

To write about these topics is but one small act in keeping bigotry and violence from creeping back into the shadows where we have allowed it to fester for generations.

But one act, however small, is better than inaction.

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EASTERN EUROPE & RUSSIA Eric Schichlein

T

hree journalists have been murdered in the European Union in the last year. All were known for their pursuit of tough stories, which painted the authorities in a harsh light.

Maltese investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia was murdered on October 16, 2017, by a car bomb, according to BBC. She became well-known for using the Panama Papers to uncover links between offshore money and the Maltese prime minister’s inner circle, reports NPR. Then Slovakian investigative journalist Jan Kuciak was murdered on February 21, 2018. At the time of his death, he was uncovering possible ties between Slovakian politicians and the Italian Mafia, according to Deutsche Welle. Finally, TV reporter Viktoria Marinova was found dead on October 6, 2018; most recently, she worked on covering the story of two Bulgarian journalists arrested for uncovering corruption in the country, reports BBC. While it is too soon to assess the response of the Bulgarian authorities to Marinova’s death, the official responses to Caruana Galizia and Kuciak’s deaths present a telling view of the relationship between the government and journalists in southern and eastern Europe. In Caruana Galizia’s case, the Maltese government arrested three men for planting the car bomb that killed her, but the identity of whomever ordered the assassination remains unknown, reports NPR. In Kuciak’s case, the identity of the mastermind behind the assassination also remains unknown, several individuals were recently arrested for Kuciak’s murder, per Deutsche Welle.

This trend of hamstrung, halfhearted investigations into the murder of those willing to confront the corrupt powers-that-be bodes ill for any investigation into Marinova’s death. If a government proves unwilling to properly investigate such deaths and aid such efforts to fight corruption, the voters must punish them accordingly.

Turkey and the Netherlands Bury the Hatchet Ismary Guardarrama

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu and Dutch Foreign Minister Stef Blok decided on October 3 to end a two-year-long dispute and made plans to strengthen ties in economics and share intelligence between the two countries. The two diplomats confirmed this decision while the Dutch foreign minister was visiting Ankara, Turkey’s capital.

According to Hürriyet Daily News, the deterioration of relations between the two countries began in April 2017, when the Netherlands prevented Turkish politicians from campaigning in Turkish communities in the Netherlands ahead of a referendum which would determine whether or not Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan would remain in power.

This referendum was met with protests that turned violent as Dutch-Turkish protesters outside of the Turkish consulate in Rotterdam clashed with riot police, wrote the NL Times.

The NL Times also reported that

Erdoğan accused the Netherlands of Nazism and fascism, as well as complicity in the mass murder of Srebrenica in 1995, which took place during the Bosnian war. Turkey then imposed sanctions on the Netherlands, resulting in a diplomatic crisis as ambassadors were withdrawn from both countries. The Netherlands also refused to congratulate Erdoğan when he won the referendum.

Hürriyet Daily News wrote that Turkey forbade the Dutch ambassador to leave Ankara at the time. Tensions were further heightened between the two former-allies when the Dutch government recognized the Armenian Genocide in February 2018, as reported by the NL Times. Earlier this year in February, the Netherlands withdrew their ambassador from Turkey and claimed that until there was a Turkish ambassador in the Netherlands, it would not reinstate a Dutch ambassador in Turkey.

However, Hürriyet Daily News reports that in accordance with the agenda of Erdoğan’s recent trip to Germany, Turkey’s Foreign Minister

Russia Introduces Digital Profiles to Track Citizens Morgan Smith The Russian government plans to digitally track its citizens as part of an ambitious economic digitization program. Dmitry Kuznetsov, head of Information Technologies of the Russian Pension Fund, outlined these plans at a conference on September 27.

TASS, a Russian news agency, reported that Kuznetzov estimated that 80 percent of Russians will have digitized profiles by 2025.

Approved by a presidential decree in July 2017, Russia’s comprehensive $53 million Digital Economy Program aims to develop and promote wideranging new technologies that will apply to many aspects of everyday life.

MediaLeaks.ru reported that Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev stated that the program will ensure global competitiveness and national security.

According to TASS, the multipronged program emphasizes government regulation, education, cybersecurity, information

infrastructure, and research. Drawing the most attention, however, has been the program’s intention to track the personal development trajectory of Russian citizens, per the Moscow Times.

“Every achievement in a person’s life— the misses, mistakes, big projects—will be recorded,” explained Kuznetzov.

The personal development trajectory of every citizen will exist in the digital world from birth onwards in the form of digital profiles, according to MediaLeaks.ru. Maintained by the government, the profiles will be available to academic institutions, potential employers, and other major organizations.

These trajectories will be used to assess skills and develop talents within the education system, reports MediaLeaks.ru. Upon graduation, the compiled personal data is transferred to the employer, who will use the digital profile to track successes and failures.

These plans remain in their infancy; whether or not the Russian government can execute them successfully remains to be seen.

claimed, “We now want to revive our relations with Europe and the EU. We have this commitment and we have received a similar approach from the EU and Europe. This must continue.”

Blok agreed that restoring diplomatic ties would be beneficial for both countries and discussed the issues they could tackle together, as reported by the NL Times. “Think of the fight against ISIS, the risk of returning fighters from Syria and consular issues, but also concerns about the rule of law and the human rights situation in Turkey,” said Blok.

WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

EDITOR’S NOTE:

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu.

In regards to the rule of law and human rights situation in Turkey, Hürriyet Daily News reported that the Dutch foreign minister noted that Turkey was taking the proper steps towards reviving EU accession talks in the country, though no specific details were offered.

In economic terms, the increase of bilateral trade relations was still in talks when the decision to restore diplomatic ties occurred. Blok stated that a joint economic council would meet soon to discuss ways to improve economic relations.

O CT. 15, 2018 | 5

Cooper Vardy

For the past 26 years, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) and the nation of Greece have disagreed bitterly over ownership of the name Macedonia. Though the clash of nomenclature may appear petty to an outside observer, FYROM has felt real effects. As Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) writes, Athens has consistently vetoed the membership of FYROM in both NATO and the EU. The conflict between the Balkan states has roots in the cultural identity of both nations. Greece, as noted

by NPR, “prizes its ancient history above all else” and refuses to concede the ancient name of its northern province, from which Alexander the Great’s sprawling empire emerged.

FYROM, on the other hand, has endeavored to claim the title as cultural Macedonians, speaking a Slavic language and decorating the capital streets of Skopje with Bronze Age heroes, BBC reports.

A solution, however, was proposed earlier in the year, with both governments happy to resolve the

spat by referring to FYROM as North Macedonia, reports Balkan Insight.

This name change would, in theory, granted access to both the military stability NATO supplies in the region as well as economic assistance to the Balkan state from the European Union.

“We do it because of our future in the EU and NATO. Everyone is aware why we do it.”

-PM Zaev

On October 1, a referendum to decide the future of the country was held to subdued results. Rather than a decisive verdict in what the Economist describes as “the most important vote in the region’s recent history,” fewer than 40 percent of the country’s 1.8 million eligible voters took to the polls; 50 percent turnout is required to pass the measure. The vote revealed strong support, with more than 90 percent encouraging the amendment to change the name.

Nevertheless, the decision remains unpopular among most Macedonians,

who sees it as a necessary evil. “We don’t change the name because we want to,” Prime Minister Zoran Zaev told the BBC, “We do it because of our future in the EU and NATO. Everyone is aware why we do it.” These views were echoed by Information Minister Damjan Manchevski, who said, “Our citizens were sick of the problem. It has been weighing on Macedonia for such a long time and not letting us advance.”

The Washington Post notes that many Western voices, including NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and former-President George W. Bush, who pushed for Macedonian entrance into NATO as early as 2008, congratulated Zaev’s efforts. The Economist suggests that a vigorous “online boycott campaign” succeeded in persuading many Macedonians not to cast their ballots, disqualifying the result, and requiring further debate behind closed doors in Skopje’s parliament. With a split house, and uncertain results in the near future, the stunted verdict is expected to prolong the conflict for an indeterminate period.

Russia Counters Report on Alleged Poisoning Brandon Duran The Russian government and media have worked to counter a new report about the Salisbury nerve-agent attack produced by investigative website Bellingcat and its Russian partner, the Insider. The report releases the alleged true identity of a Russian man who Britain has accused of executing the nerve-agent attack on former Russian spy Sergei Skripal in Salisbury, England in early March 2018.

British Prime Minister Theresa May reported to Parliament back in September that the two Russian nationals charged as suspects were identified as officers from Russia’s military intelligence, per the Guardian.

Novichok, the poisoning agent, was identified as a military grade nerve agent produced exclusively by Russia.

It originates with the Soviets back in the 1970s and can cause suffocation and heart failure.

Bellingcat’s report establishes that poisoning suspect Ruslan Boshirov is actually Anatoliy Chepiga, a colonel in the Russian military. According to the report, Chepiga is a highly

decorated officer of the Russian Military Intelligence who received Russia’s highest state award, Hero of the Russian Federation.

Through this investigation, Bellingcat concluded that the two suspects involved in the poisoning were Russian officers operating on a clandestine government mission.

Even with widespread Western allegations against Moscow, President Vladimir Putin has forcefully denied such accusations, claiming that both men are private civilians. The Russian leader called the claims nonsense and mocked them.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that “many people look alike, but I cannot tell you who this citizen who was pointed out in this investigation is.” Maria Zakharova, the spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, suggested in a September Facebook post that “there is no evidence” that the Russian government was behind the attack.

Frants Klintsevich, a member of Russia’s upper house of parliament, labeled the accusations a “typical conspiracy” when talking to state-run

RIA Novosti.

Aleksandr Mikhailov, in an interview with Russia’s National News Service, called the Bellingcat investigation “nonsense,” suggesting that British media will “spin tall tales.”

Bellingcat’s report undermines Russia’s response as it questions the lack of a basis for Anatoliy Chepiga’s honoring with an award from Putin. Most recipients have detailed descriptions of their acts, but Chepiga’s includes only a brief statement: “By decree from the Russian president.”

With more and more evidence pointing to the Russian government, tensions between the Kremlin and Britain are high. Back in April, Russian Ambassador to the UN Vassily Nebenzia told his British colleagues that they are “playing with fire and [will] be sorry,” according to Reuters.

British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt recently warned that Russia would pay a high price if it didn’t abide to international rules, per the Guardian. The two countries are currently at a deadlock regarding the attack.

Partial Victory for LGBTQ+ Rights in Romania Maximilian Dunat

Romania’s Constitutional Court in Bucharest ruled that gay couples have the same family rights as straight couples on September 27, according to the Washington Post. The vote will not affect marriage rights, as the Romanian Civil Code clarifies that the term spouse refers to a heterosexual pairing, noted Balkan Insight.

In its decision, the court cited Article 7 of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, Article 8 of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights, and Article 26 of Romania’s Constitution.

The decision comes ahead of a constitutional referendum planned for October 6 and 7 to define marriage as between opposite sexes.

Currently, Article 48 of the Romanian Constitution speaks of a “marriage of the spouses.” Should the measure pass, Human Rights Watch says, “the spouses” will be rephrased to say “a man and a woman.”

Per Reuters, the planning process began in September 2017 after the advocacy group Coalition for the Family collected 3 million signatures in favor of the amendment. Social Democratic Party leader Liviu Dragnea planned to hold the referendum that fall, but the date was not finalized until September 1, 2018, according to Digi 24.

This is not the first time a country has held a vote to exclude same-sex couples from marriage rights. The Guardian reports that Croatia held a similar referendum in 2013, in which 65 percent of voters supported a ban.

Unlike Croatia, which Balkan Insight says granted same-sex couples equality in everything but adoption under the 2014 Same Sex LifePartnership Act, Romania remains among a few EU member states to offer no form of recognition for gay couples.

Romania is deeply religious—Pew

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Macedonian Name Referendum Fails

found that 64 percent of Romanians are absolutely certain of God’s existence, the highest in the EU and among the highest in all of Europe, and 82 percent believe that homosexuality is morally wrong. In 2017, Romania received a D rating on the Global Barometer of Gay Rights, indicating intolerant attitudes and policies towards homosexuals in the country, according to the Conversation.

The Romanian Orthodox Church endorsed the upcoming ballot.

According to Romania Insider, Patriarch Daniel, head of the Church, said that participation is a “patriotic, national and profoundly democratic act” and condemned the opposition.

Opponents of the referendum include the Evangelical Church of Augustan Profession, a Germanspeaking Protestant Church tied to the Transylvanian Saxon minority. The church suggested that the initiative is intended to draw attention away from institutional problems that are rampant in Romania’s government, reports the AP. Balkan Insight reports that the referendum is estimated to cost 43 million Euros, which critics propose ought to be invested in Romania’s crumbling public services. Romania spends less on health and education than any other EU country, and its infant mortality rate is double the EU average.

Romanian President Klaus Iohannis—a Transylvanian Saxon himself—has also criticized the referendum. Reuters reports that he expressed support for tolerance of minorities and repudiated religious fundamentalism.

Although prominent LGBT rights group Accept has celebrated the Constitutional Court’s decision as proof that the referendum is unnecessary, it remains to be seen whether the Court’s ruling will translate into increased protections for gay couples in the country.

Romanian President Klaus Iohannis pictured at the 2017 Tallinn Digital Summit.

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WESTERN EUROPE & CANADA Felipe Lobo Koerich

F

ew women will be surprised by the fact that 55 percent of European women have experienced sexist hate speech since they turned 15, according to the Council of Europe. In fact, 21 percent experienced sexist speech in the month preceding the survey.

Another jarring report by the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights found that 21 percent of women experienced physical or sexual violence at the hands of a domestic partner since turning 15; 19 percent were stalked; 57 percent were sexually harassed; and 32.5 percent experienced physical or sexual violence before turning 15.

Belgium and France have begun taking steps to improve the situation. Both nations recently outlawed sexist hate speech, such as catcalling. In Belgium, courts fined a male driver €3,000 ($3,460) for insulting a police officer because of her gender and telling her she should find a job “adapted to women,” the Independent reports.

Likewise, the French legislature banned catcalling and all other unwanted and sexually aggressive speech in August in reaction to the widespread harassment and sexism French women face. In September, courts fined a drunk man €300 ($346) for insulting, sexist comments he made to a woman riding a bus in Paris, reports the New York Times.

Eliminating sexism, misogyny, and gender- and sex-based harassment will require changing norms. It requires guaranteeing and ensuring the rights of women to not be harassed. It requires hearing and believing women. It requires action.

By making it clear through laws, fines, and arrests that sexist hate speech and harassment are not acceptable, society may slowly start to change. These laws encourage women to speak up, force authorities to take their complaints seriously, and may begin to change cultures from the bottom-up—by viewing women as worthy of the same dignity, respect, and treatment as men.

Québec Future Coalition Makes Surprise Gains William Greer The newly founded center-right Québec Future Coalition (CAQ) won a major upset against the establishment parties in Québec’s National Assembly elections held on Octber 1. The party received 37 percent of the popular vote and 74 seats out of the 125 in the province’s assembly though founded only in 2011, reports the Guardian.

CAQ’s party chief and the new Québec premier is François Legault, a Québecois nationalist and formermember of the Québec Party (PQ), the official opposition heading into this election, who founded the nationalist and autonomist party in 2011. The party campaigned on tax cuts, reduction in immigration to the province, and an increase in public spending on health and education, according to the Washington Post.

The Guardian reports that the party pledged to lower the number of immigrants entering the province annually from 50,000 to 40,000 as well as require a French language and values test after three years, although this would require negotiations with Ottawa since the Canadian federal government determines permanent residency and

citizenship. Additionally, the party promised to raise the education budget by 3.5 percent annually without a tax hike.

The two establishment parties, PQ, the traditional Québec nationalist and sovereignist party, and the Liberal Party, the federalist party, faced their worst elections in half a century. PQ, established in 1968 to advocate for independence of Francophone Québec from largely Anglophone Canada, received 17 percent of the popular vote and 9 seats, losing its official party status.

The Liberal Party, the incumbents, received 25 percent of the vote and 32 seats. According to the Washington Post, together, the two establishment parties received 42 percent of the vote, indicating a major political realignment in Québec.

The Canadian Broadcasting Company reports that for the last 50 years, these two parties have dominated Québec’s politics over the question of independence. Twice, in 1980 and 1995, PQ governments held referendums on independence for the province. Both failed, although the latter was incredibly close. The question of Québec’s independence now seems moot as CAQ advocates increased autonomy instead

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Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and CAQ leader François Legault meet in April.

of independence for the province.

Another newly founded party, Solidarity Québec, emerged as the new voice for independence. The party, a left-wing sovereignist party founded in 2006, now holds more seats in Québec’s National Assembly than PQ. The party received 16 percent of the popular vote and ten seats. The Washington Post reports that the younger generation of Québecois sovereignists sees PQ as a party of the baby boomers, contributing to its electoral decline.

Another unprecedented shift to come from in this election was the

record number of women voted into office. Female legislators won 52 seats, or 42 percent of the total, the highest ever for Québec’s National Assembly.

For Justin Trudeau, Canada’s prime minister and leader of the Liberal Party, this election came as particularly bad news. According to the Washington Post, since he became prime minister in 2015, his Liberal Party has lost control in Ontario, British Columbia, and now Québec, the three most populous provinces, an ill omen for the upcoming national elections for Canada’s parliament set for October 21.

Experts Troubled, cont’d from p.1 Alejandra Rocha

Trade experts are not yet convinced—it troubles them that the sovereign right to classify free market economies will no longer abide by international standards or remain within a country’s own jurisdiction.

According to CBC News, trade experts are extremely worried that the hindering of their relationship with their second-largest trading partner will severely compromise Canadian national interests.

Wenran Jiang, a senior fellow at the University of British Columbia, wrote about the agreement in the Globe and Mail, saying, “If you are looking for a twenty-first-century version of the 19th century colonialera unequal treaty between nations, look no further than the recently announced United States-MexicoCanada Agreement.”

The provision “sent a very strong signal to the rest of the world that you’re either with us versus China, or you’re against us,” Jorge Guajardo, a former Mexican ambassador, told BBC. “Beijing should be very concerned,” he added.

China—currently celebrating the Golden Week, a seven-day national holiday—has not yet commented on the USMCA or Article 32 and its influence on Sino-Canadian trade.

The new trilateral trade deal came as a consensus 14 months in the making which replaced the nearly 25-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

The USMCA’s provisions will not start until 2020. Congress, Mexico’s Chamber of Deputies, and Canada’s Parliament have yet to ratify the agreement, and the leaders of all three countries must sign it before it goes into effect.

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Carl Tulevech The Danish government will hold a memorial celebration on October 11 in Gilleleje Kirke, Denmark to commemorate the rescue of Danish Jews 75 years ago during World War II. The Nazis sought to ghettoize or kill this ethnic group and project their ideology of purity in what they considered an Aryan nation.

The Nazis murdered approximately six million European Jews during their reign. While they faced little resistance to their genocide in some nations, Danish King Christian X opposed their persecution of the Jews, slowing Nazi efforts. The Nazis sought to keep peaceful relations with the Danes and maintain their relationship with King Christian. According to CPH Post, for example, Danish Jews were neither required to register nor wear the yellow star of David, leaving them, for the most part, unrecognizable to Danish Nazi officials during the first two years of Nazi occupation.

As the war dragged on, Germany began to extract resources from Denmark, leaving the country emaciated. The Danes revolted against German factories, assaulted Nazi officers, and held demonstrations. As

a result, in 1942, Germany declared Denmark enemy territory and sought a complete takeover of the country.

On September 23, 1942, the Nazis invaded using Gestapo trucks, seeking to arrest the 8,000 Danish Jews and deport them to occupied Czechoslovakia, described the CPH Post. Although they mobilized extensive resources for this campaign, they captured only 202 Jews, mostly elderly. The Danish government had warned the population in advance and in person, since Denmark’s phones were tapped, and the Danish Jews went into hiding. Furthermore, Danish police refused to cooperate with the Nazi officials and obstructed further deportation of the Jews.

“The courage that Danish citizens showed 75 years ago still moves me today.”

-PM Rasmussen In addition to protecting Danish Jews from deportation, the Danish government successfully transported Jews to hiding places in Køge and Gilleleje, reports the CPH Post.

The Danes sought to send Jewish citizens to a more permanent hiding place in Sweden. According to the CPH Post, the night between October 1 and 2, the Nazis raided the entire country, seeking Jewish expulsion.

However, over 7,000 Jews had already escaped by boat. Although 51 of those captured in Denmark died in the Theresienstadt concentration camp in Czechoslovakia, the vast majority of the Danish Jews were saved, a miracle when compared to statistics concerning Jews from other Nazioccupied European nations.

Denmark, at the time, was the only Nazi-occupied state to fight against the persecution of their Jewish countrymen. The memorial event will celebrate the Danish resistance to the genocide of their Jewish citizens and to the Nazi occupation more generally.

Israeli President Reuvin Rivlen, Danish Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen, and representatives of the Jewish Society in Denmark will attend the memorial ceremony. The CPH Post emphasized the importance of the rescue to modern Danish history, quoting the prime minister, who said, “the courage that Danish citizens showed 75 years ago still moves me today.”

Italian Deficit Plan Risks Defying EU Ryan Nowaczyk The Italian government announced on September 27 plans to increase Italy’s budget deficit to 2.4 percent of GDP for 2019 in order to fund the current coalition’s programs. The announcement has worried investors and incurred warnings from European Commission officials.

The technical European Union (EU) debt ceiling is 3 percent of GDP for any member state, but fiscal rules also require that governments enact policies to move towards a balanced budget or a surplus. Italy’s public debt is 131 percent of GDP, the secondhighest in the EU after Greece, and its growth rate remains slow. According to Politico’s analysis, the deficit increase, in possible violation of EU rules, reflects Italian party leaders’ populist platforms and their opposition to EU intervention.

The 5-Star Movement (M5S) and The League, which govern in a coalition represented by Deputy Prime Ministers Luigi Di Maio and Matteo Salvini, respectively, took office in June after March elections. According to Politico, the parties campaigned on

platforms including a universal basic income, a minimum pension of €780 ($900) a month, and an income tax cut for one million workers. Reuters also listed a lower retirement age and investment in infrastructure as other key campaign promises. These programs would cost a total of €20 billion ($23 billion), half of which would go toward M5S’s “citizens’ income.”

The previous center-left government wanted a 0.8 percent GDP deficit. Italian Minister of Economy and Finance Giovanni Tria, who belongs to neither ruling party, had proposed a 1.6 percent GDP deficit limit, allotting €12 billion ($13.8 billion) for government spending, but party leaders demanded more. In a September 27 cabinet meeting, Tria agreed to the 2.4 percent deficit, and the cabinet approved the document outlining the 2019 budget law. As Politico reported, Di Maio proclaimed, “It’s a budget for the people that doesn’t favor the powerful.”

Brussels disapproves. Reuters quoted European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker’s claiming that the deficit could lead to

a repeat of the Greek debt crisis, “we have to prevent Italy from being able to get special treatment here that, if everybody were to get it, would mean the end of the euro.”

The budget law has to be submitted to the European Commission by October 15 and to Italy’s parliament

by October 20, and must be approved before the year ends. The European Commission can identify violations of fiscal rules and demand a new draft. However, since 2013, when the European Commission received the power to vet draft budgets, it has never rejected a draft. It has labeled some “at risk of non-compliance” or “at serious risk of non-compliance” and negotiated with governments.

Politico predicts that punishing Italy, whether via budget rejection or with fines, could legitimize rhetoric from Di Maio and Salvini that accuses the EU of bureaucratic overreach.

At a meeting of finance ministers and EU economic commissioners in Luxembourg on October 1, Tria suggested that the details of the draft budget were not final, but he declined questions about reversing the deficit increase.

Brussels Rejects British PM Theresa May’s Brexit Plan Peyton Rhodes The Brexit debate between the U.K. and the EU sharpened recently, with Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab attacking the EU’s negotiating position on October 1.

This comes after Prime Minister Theresa May responded to European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and the EU’s rejection of her Chequers Plan with an indignant televised statement on September 13.

She declared it “not acceptable” to turn away her solution without offering a new one. The statement came one day after Juncker officially denied May’s proposal for new economic relations between the EU and the U.K. More than a year after the U.K. officially voted to leave the EU in a referendum, the future of the two states’ relationships remains unclear amid tense negotiations over Brexit.

According to the Guardian, Juncker rejected May’s Chequers Plan over fears that it would give the United Kingdom an unfair economic advantage over EU member states.

May’s plan proposed the free trade of goods across the U.K.-EU border.

However, since the U.K. will no longer be a member of the EU, they will cease to be subject to EU environmental and safety restrictions. This loophole would allow the U.K. to bypass expenses incurred by these restrictions, allowing cheaper manufacturing and exportation of British goods, reports the Guardian.

Just a day after Juncker revealed the official European position on the Chequers Plan, May blasted the EU for their inability to provide an adequate answer to her proposal. According to

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Denmark Celebrates 75th Anniversary of Jewish Rescue

France 24, May considers the ball to be in the EU’s court now.

In her televised statement, May said, “We now need to hear from the EU what the real issues are, what their alternative is, so that we can discuss them. Until we do, we cannot make progress,” France 24 writes.

EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier is drafting an answer to the Chequers Plan, but in the meantime, EU member states and May’s government remain in the dark about possible alternate solutions, the Guardian wrote.

The tension and uncertainty surrounding the future of U.K.-EU relations only mount with this new frustration of May’s proposal—and both entities’ insistence on the other’s provision of a solution seems unlikely to change soon. In response to May’s comment about the ball being in the EU’s court, an EU official responded that the ball was “just as much in the U.K.’s court as the EU’s,” reports the Guardian.

The fact that some of May’s fellow British leaders share Europe’s disdain for the Chequers Plan may further complicate future decision making.

Among others, Jeremy Corbyn, leader of the opposition Labour Party, and Nicola Sturgeon, first minister of Scotland, both made official statements calling May’s plan “dreadful” and “a disaster” France 24 reports.

It remains to be seen whether the release of Barnier’s counterpoints to the Chequers Plan will clear-up any disputes. May and Juncker will continue to pursue a consensus on the status of U.K.-EU relations before the fast-approaching spring of 2019 when the U.K. will officially leave the European Union.

Prime Minister Theresa May at a press conference with EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker in Brussels.

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LATIN AMERICA & THE CARIBBEAN James Gordy

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hirteen countries in Latin America and the Caribbean held presidential or legislative elections in 2018, beginning a year of major political transitions in some of the region’s most populous states, according to the Americas Society.

Reuters reported on Cuba’s elections for the National Assembly in March, after which members of the Assembly chose Miguel Díaz-Canel as the next president in April, marking the first time that the office has been held by someone other than Raúl or Fidel Castro since 1976.

Costa Rica and Paraguay both elected new presidents in April.

The left-wing Citizens’ Action Party held onto power in Costa Rica with candidate Carlos Alvarado in an election that centered on an InterAmerican Court of Human Rights ruling in favor of gay marriage, according to the Human Rights Campaign.

Americas Quarterly reported that Mario Abdo Benítez of the right-wing Colorado Party won in Paraguay, continuing the party’s nearly uninterrupted rule over the country since 1947.

Colombians voted in two rounds in May and June, eventually electing Iván Duque from the right-wing Democratic Centre party. The Guardian reported that Duque defeated left-winger Gustavo Petro in a close election that focused on the peace accord with FARC rebels and the growing crisis in neighboring Venezuela.

Mexico held elections in July, choosing the left-wing populist Andrés Manuel López Obrador and his MORENA electoral alliance to govern the country. According to TeleSur, the election was a repudiation of the governing Institutional Revolution Party, as López Obrador campaigned as a political outsider against traditional parties, corruption, and economic neoliberalism.

Meanwhile, as the Caravel goes to print, the Economist has reported that Brazilians will go to the polls for the first round of a presidential election on October 7 with far-right candidate Jair Bolsonaro leading pre-election polls.

Latin American countries have recently elected left- and right-wing candidates from incumbent parties and outsider political movements, defying attempts to classify elections as part of a region-wide political trend.

Presidential Speech Denies Humanitarian Crisis Leticia Chacon Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro gave an unexpected speech at the United Nations General Assembly in New York City on September 26, speaking on Venezuela’s political, economic, and social situation. His address to the General Assembly was partially in response to joint claims by other nations that the Venezuelan government is guilty of committing crimes against humanity.

Maduro had not attended the United Nations General Assembly meetings since 2015. According to Reuters, he had originally stated on September 18 that he was not going to attend this year’s meeting, due to safety concerns. “I want to go to New York but I have to take care of my security,” Maduro said at a news conference leading up to the annual event.

Maduro spent a large part of his address discussing relations with the United States. As reported by Foreign Policy, his appearance came one day after the Trump administration announced new financial sanctions against members of Maduro’s inner circle. Charged with corruption, these

individuals include Maduro’s wife, Cilia Flores, who joined him on his trip to New York City for the General Assembly meeting. During his speech, Maduro described the sanctions as “illegal” and “unilateral.”

In his address to the General Assembly on September 25, President Donald Trump briefly discussed Venezuela’s current situation, saying, “Not long ago, Venezuela was one of the richest countries on Earth. Today, socialism has bankrupted the oil-rich nation and driven its people into abject poverty.”

Throughout the annual meeting, several member states—particularly those of Latin America—spoke out against the actions of Maduro’s government, citing violations of human rights. According to Voice of America (VOA), shortly before Maduro’s speech, Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Peru, Paraguay, and Canada officially requested that the International Criminal Court (ICC) investigate the president. This referral is the first time that UN-member countries have recommended another member country to the ICC, noted Time.

Venezuelan Immigration Crisis Costs Colombia Juliana Albuquerque According to Colombian President Iván Duque, the World Bank will release a report this week pointing to the loss of 0.5 percent of Colombia’s GDP due to mass immigration of Venezuelan refugees into the country.

Colombia Reports claims it is a fraction worth roughly $1.5 billion.

Reuters estimates that around one million Venezuelans have entered Colombia over the past 16 months.

Vice President of the Council of the Americas Eric Farnsworth has stated that Colombia will be increasingly strained by the influx of the refugees, citing the host country’s dip in economic growth in 2017: their slowest pace of expansion since the global financial crisis, according to Bloomberg.

Venezuelans are fleeing the collapsing economy of their country, lacking basic amenities such as food and water; According to Devex, hyperinflation is set to hit 1 million

percent this year. The refugees have entered other South American countries, but the mass of the exodus leads to Colombia, due to the shared frontier and previous leniency with refugees: a week before leaving office, former-President Juan Manuel Santos granted 440,000 Venezuelans in Colombia permanent residency papers, reported the Miami Herald.

Such policies, however, appear to have taken a toll on the economy, as the country battles issues of its own such as corruption, drug trafficking, and constant guerrilla threats from the FARC and ELN, despite the peace treaty signed in 2016.

Duque recently spoke at the UN General Assembly, stressing the need for a global response to the crisis.

He reasserted the same views he had expressed in an interview with BBC when he said, “The most important thing at this moment is that if the dictatorship does not end, the migration will not stop.”

Possible charges against the Venezuelan government include murder, torture, and crimes against humanity. Andres Rodriguez Pedotti, the foreign minister of Paraguay, explained the multilateral request: “To remain indifferent or speculative in front of this reality can be perceived as being complicit with the regime. We are not going to be complicit.”

Maduro’s speech, reported on by UN News, was generally defensive, fighting back against what other nations said about his administration.

He promised that his speech described the truth of Venezuela’s situation,

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claiming that the nation “is on its feet… and will never come to its knees.” He asserted that the current migration crisis is a fabrication by the media so that the United States can take control of Venezuela.

Maduro, who has been attempting to meet with Trump since the 2016 U.S. election, claimed to be open to dialogue with the American president.

A meeting between Maduro and Trump did not transpire at the United Nations General Assembly, and a dialogue has not yet been scheduled between the two.

A protestor waves a Venezuelan flag during anti-Maduro demonstrations in 2017.

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Lima Mayoral Race Mired in Controversy Jair Bolsonaro Dominates Ahead of Brazilian Elections

With Peruvian municipal and regional elections are just around the corner, the nation’s second most important elected position, the mayor of Lima, is at stake. According to LatinNews, there are a multitude of choices for voters, as the race involves 20 candidates. Currently, the front-runners are Ricardo Belmont, Renzo Reggiardo, and Daniel Urresti.

As voting day, October 7, rapidly approaches, major controversies and concerns are having important effects on this upcoming election.

Daniel Urresti, a former minister of the interior with a military background, has attracted the most controversy. Urresti has been on trial for three years for the murder of journalist Hugo Bustios in 1988 but was cleared of all charges on October 4, according to the Guardian.

Urresti was also accused of raping and intimidating a female witness to the crime but has denied these allegations, according to the Republic.

Urresti is running on a platform of increased national security and has expressed interest in enhanced

surveillance, according to El Comercio. Many of his supporters are attracted to Urresti because of his experience as a military officer and his support of police. According to the New York Times, a supporter named Bruno Chapiana said in reference to Urresti, “We want someone who has personality and has the courage to fight delinquents.”

Urresti has been on trial for three years for the murder of journalist Hugo Bustios.

Although candidate Ricardo Belmont is not considered as controversial as Urresti, his rhetoric has put fear into the hearts of many residing in Peru.

In the past few years, Venezuelans fleeing an economic crisis have sought refuge in Peru. Human Rights Watch estimates that 395,000 Venezuelans now live in Peru, and that an

additional 126,000 Venezuelans are seeking asylum there.

Towards the end of August 2018, Belmont stated “[Venezuelans are] going to take jobs from us poor Peruvians,” according to Reuters.

Referring to Venezuelan immigrants as a threat to Peru’s success has caused many in this community to fear what foreign policy changes he may advocate for if elected.

Former-Congressmen Renzo Reggiardo has also made the news, and has publicly denounced opponent Daniel Urresti. According to a poll published by the Republic in September, Reggiardo was polling in the lead with 17 percent. Reggiardo has called for the exclusion of Urresti in the election because of the allegations against him. In reference to the National Electoral Council’s judgement on Urresti’s situation, Reggiardo stated that he “did not trust the impartiality of the electoral body” and that Urresti’s candidacy was “a mockery for Lima,” according to Peru.21. Reggiardo and Belmont have refused to participate in a depate hosted by the National Electoral Council.

AMLO Proposes New National Guard Oscar Avila October 2 marked the fiftieth anniversary of the Tlatelolco massacre, when student protestors were shot and imprisoned by the Mexican army. During a ceremony of remembrance, Mexican presidentelect Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who is commonly called AMLO, vowed to never use the armed forces against the populace and proposed to create a National Guard to ensure the public’s well-being. These policies are among ALMO’s key initiatives to reform Mexico’s security forces, which come at a time when violence in the country remains historically high with an average of 85 homicides per day, according to El País.

The Tlatelolco massacre of students protesting the policies of President Gustavo Díaz Ordaz was carried out by the Mexican Army and the Olympic Brigade secret police force.

The anniversary serves as a reminder of the deep-rooted corruption and authoritarian tendencies of the Mexican government, trends which

AMLO campaigned against to win the presidency. Previous administrations denied government involvements until President Vicente Fox from the National Action Party declassified a variety of documents that confirmed the incident as state-sponsored.

Even so, as TeleSur notes, only Luis Echeverría Álvarez, Interior Secretary at the time, was indicted.

Violence remains historically high with an average of 85 homicides per day.

AMLO and his National Regeneration Movement Party ran heavily on a platform of rooting out corruption. The creation of the National Guard is one of many policies ALMO has espoused concerning the armed forces, but as LatinNews observes, the idea of uniting the army and federal police into a single department was already proposed by the outgoing Peña Nieto administration and failed

to materialize. However, ALMO benefits from his party controlling both the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies and according to Excelsior, the combined effort of the army and federal police in Acapulco to maintain security also has eased doubts about combining the departments.

AMLO has also doubled down on the dissolution of the Center for Investigation and National Security and the Presidential Guard, due to their unpopularity with the public.

The presentation of the new guard as an institution of peace remains questionable, as international and domestic NGOs claim the move would bring Mexico closer towards a military state. Though Obrador, according to Excelsior, announced that the current realities leave the withdrawal of the military from the streets impossible, his proposal that the National Guard could take its place remains criticized.

As Max Morales, a Mexican security analyst with Telemundo, says, “[Obrador’s] main issue, for him, is to keep incumbents in place… but it’d be a mistake.”

Sean Fulmer

Brazilians will vote in the first round of the presidential elections on October 7 to determine who will succeed outgoing President Michel Temer. The media and politicians are framing this election as a clash between far-right and left-wing policies, with major consequences for Brazil’s future.

Literate Brazilians aged 18 to 70 are legally obligated to vote, with over 147 million individuals eligible. If a candidate does not win a majority of the vote in the first round, a runoff election consisting of the top two candidates will be held on October 28. According to polling agency IBOPE, the most likely candidates to move forward to the runoff election are far-right Deputy Jair Bolsonaro of the Social Liberal Party and centerleft politician Fernando Haddad of the Workers’ Party. Following closely behind is leftist candidate Ciro Gomes of the Democratic Labor Party.

The Workers’ Party is the party of Lula, the disgraced but beloved former president of Brazil. Lula won consecutive elections with unprecedented levels of support from the Brazilian public. According to the Nation, he introduced major social welfare programs that grew the middle class of Brazil. However, Lula was sentenced to 12 years in prison in 2018 for receiving an alleged bribe.

Originally, Lula planned to run in the election, but his recent conviction for corruption prohibits him from becoming a candidate. Therefore,

THE NATION

Casey Gilfillan

Haddad was selected to be the candidate for the Workers’ Party on September 9, according to Globo.

Jair Bolsonaro currently leads every major poll. He openly praised the former Brazilian military dictatorship and has repeatedly made racist, sexist, and homophobic remarks. On September 6, an individual stabbed Bolsonaro, which turned him into a martyr figure for his supporters, according to Folha de São Paulo. Since the attack, Datafolha has reported that polls show his support increasing. Public protests based on #EleNão, a Brazilian offshoot of the #MeToo movement, broke out around Brazil on September 30. These large protests were seen as a repudiation of Bolsonaro’s far-right policies and sexist remarks, according to BBC. Bolsonaro is slated to advance to the runoff election with 26 percent of the vote in the first round, according to DataPoder360. Despite Bolsonaro’s relatively large base of support, he also faces high levels of rejection.

According to Datafolha, 45 percent of Brazilians say that they would never vote for him. Most of the other presidential candidates are projected to either tie or beat Bolsonaro in the runoff election. Haddad has a three point margin over Bolsonaro in the run-off, according to DataPoder360.

As Brazilians go to the polls, it is clear that the balance of the country depends on the outcome of this election. Both sides of the political spectrum argue that this year could be the breaking point for their agendas.

Bolsonaro poses with supporters at a military graduation.

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INDO-ASIA-PACIFIC Jia Sheng

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saka Mayor Hirofumi Yoshimura on October 2 declared that it would formally terminate its sister-city relationship with San Francisco, 61 years after the two port cities bonded over their similarities in geography and economic drivers.

Conflict between the two cities erupted over a San Francisco statue symbolizing three comfort women with the inscription, “Hundreds of thousands of women forced into slavery,” according to Asahi News.

The statue was commissioned in September 2017 by a local private group and later donated to the San Francisco government. The Japan Times reports that the mayor of San Francisco, London Breed, accepted the statue despite repeated requests against such action from Yoshimura.

According to the Japan Times, Yoshimura considered severing the tie between Osaka and San Francisco in November 2017 but decided to postpone it due to the sudden death of the former-mayor of San Francisco, Edwin Lee. The plan resurfaced in September 2018 when Yoshimura sent Breed a request to cancel the transfer of the statue to the city government, according to Asahi News. The article reports that Breed did not respond before the end of September deadline.

According to the Japan Times, on the day Yoshimura officially cut ties between Osaka and San Francisco, he also sent a tenpage letter in which he expressed “solemn disappointment” over the action taken by the San Francisco government.”

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, Breed also expressed disappointment with Yoshimura’s insistence on breaking the tie between the cities but remained hopeful for the continuation of friendship between the citizens of San Francisco and Osaka, commenting that “we’re committed to our sister-city relationship… we want them to continue maintain that relationship.”

The event comes amid a series of challenges to U.S.-Japan relations, including recent disputes over trade policies and tensions over the U.S. military presence on Okinawa. Such disruptions in bilateral relations promise some conflict, and though they may not create immediate change, issues of this sort may create barriers for future business and political cooperation between the two countries.

China and Vatican Agree on Bishop Appointments Serena Lu The Chinese government and the Vatican signed a provisional deal to reconcile the ongoing dispute over the appointment of bishops on September 22. In the agreement, the Chinese government officially recognized the pope as the head of the Catholic Church in return for the power to nominate all future bishops.

Although it was not immediately clear whether the Vatican or the Chinese government would have the final say in bishop appointments, Pope Francis announced in a September 25 press conference that he would still be the final arbiter.

Since 1957, when the Chinese government first established the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association (CCPA), the Catholic community in China has been split between underground churches run by locallyappointed bishops recognized by the Vatican, and the state-supervised CCPA, run by government-appointed bishops, many unrecognized by the Vatican. This rift represents a larger philosophical dispute, with some underground churchgoers accusing

CCPA members of selling out, while CCPA members insist that cooperation with the government is the only viable future for Catholicism in China.

However, as Dr. Anthony E. Clark, a scholar of Chinese history, notes in the Catholic World Report, there is still a sizable overlap between these two communities, with bishops from both communities working together to promote Catholicism.

The agreement is an attempt to bridge these two communities. The Vatican lifted the excommunications of seven previously unrecognized bishops appointed by the Chinese government, recognizing them as official bishops. In turn, the Vatican required that previous Vatican-approved bishops operating underground to discontinue their practices. According to the New York Times, Greg Burke, spokesman for the Vatican, said that the purpose of the deal was to “[allow] the faithful to have bishops who are in communion with Rome but at the same time recognized

by Chinese authorities.”

This deal comes on the heels of the Chinese government’s escalating crackdown on officially tolerated religions, including Protestantism,

WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

EDITOR’S NOTE:

Pope Francis greets supporters in St. Peter’s Square.

Buddhism, Islam, Daoism, and Catholicism. Crux reports that as part of a recent drive by the government to sinicize religion, government agents have torn down crosses and demolished Catholic churches and pilgrimage sites.

The government has also threatened churchgoers by withholding welfare benefits and expelling children from schools. In what Hong Kong Cardinal Joseph Zen labels as “an incredible betrayal,” the deal neither addresses the government’s persecution of Catholics, nor addresses the fates of over a dozen Catholic bishops and

priests in detainment, according to the Epoch Times.

It is unclear how this agreement will affect the Vatican’s relationship with Taiwan. According to the Epoch Times, Matthew Lee, Taiwan’s ambassador to the Vatican, claimed that the deal was a part of China’s effort to “[make] the Taiwan people irrelevant.” Although the Vatican has assured that the deal would not affect its diplomatic relationship with Taiwan, the Epoch Times reported that many diplomats see the deal as a sign of replacing Taipei with Beijing.

Denny Tamaki Wins Okinawa Election Jackson Gillette Denny Tamaki defeated Atsushi Samika in Okinawa’s gubernatorial election on September 30. Samika lost despite being backed by the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), Japan’s ruling party, and its leader, Prime Minister Shinzō Abe, according to the Mainichi Shimbun. Tamaki, on the other hand, was supported by the opposition camp in the National Diet.

Tamaki is a former member of the House of Representatives who, according to the New York Times, was the first Amerasian representative in the National Diet. Tamaki’s father was a former U.S. Marine and his mother a native of Okinawa, Reuters recounts.

One of Tamaki’s notable campaign initiatives was to oppose the longtime stationing of U.S. military bases in Okinawa, according to the Mainichi Shimbun. The issue of the American

military presence in Okinawa is deeprooted, dating back to post-World War II occupation. Per Asahi Shimbun, Okinawa’s previous governor Takeshi Onaga, whose passing in August prompted the election, ardently opposed any U.S. military presence on the island. As a result, Onaga’s family supported Tamaki’s candidacy.

However, the central government remains at odds with the Okinawan government, advocating for a U.S. presence on the island in the wake of Chinese expansionism in the South China Sea. Per the New York Times, the American and Japanese governments signed an agreement relocating the current air base in the southern city of Ginowan to a rural section of the city of Nago in the northern part of the prefecture. Thus, Tamaki’s victory could represent a considerable barrier to the central government’s agreement to relocate the air field.

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Vietnam Convicts Anti-SEZ Protesters Indian Supreme Court A district-level court in Vietnam’s southeastern Binh Thuan province sentenced fifteen protesters to prison terms ranging from two to four-anda-half years on September 26 for “causing public disorder,” according to Viet Nam News.

According to VnExpress, police officers arrested the demonstrators for participating in one of several nationwide protests on June 10 and June 11. Thousands gathered to demonstrate against a draft law regarding the creation of three new special economic zones (SEZs).

Although the national constitution permits freedom of assembly, such public demonstrations are rare due to the government’s increasingly hardline attitude toward dissenters, Asian Correspondent said.

South China Morning Post reported that the controversial bill contains a clause allowing foreign firms to rent land for up to 99 years. While Vietnam already has eighteen SEZs, this specific provision stoked concerns that China would come to control the majority of investments.

As Asian Correspondent noted, opponents criticized the bill as a “sweetheart” deal courting Chinese

investors by lowering tariffs and increasing incentives. For instance, the proposed 99-year land leases surpass the current maximum legal duration of 70 years, according to Asia Times.

Quang Ninh, one of the provinces that will potentially house an SEZ, also shares a border with China.

Dozens of demonstrators have been detained across the country.

According to Channel NewsAsia, the recent South China Sea dispute has heightened tensions between China and Vietnam. Along with memories of the two countries’ bloody border war in 1979, it kindled many people’s fear that enacting the draft law would undermine national security and threaten Vietnam’s sovereignty.

The ruling Communist Party of Vietnam government expected the parliament, which is dominated by its members, to pass the bill in early June, Vn Express reported. On June 11, however, lawmakers voted to postpone debate until the National Assembly’s next session in October

after “listening to enthusiastic and responsible contributions of members of parliament, scientists, economists, experts, voters, and the people.”

South China Morning Post said that Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc also responded to the public controversy by pledging to revise the land leases’ 99-year length. Nguyen Chi Tuyen, a well-known human rights activist in Hanoi, explained protesters’ continued opposition to the draft law, saying, “It’s not how long, but this is one kind of selling our land to foreigners under the so-called SEZs.” According to Radio Free Asia, some of the June protests also focused on a newly approved cybersecurity law. As Asia Times described, the law requires companies like Google and Facebook to regulate online content, remove “offensive” material, and store user data on local Vietnamese servers.

Critics argued that the law further suppresses citizens’ freedom of speech.

Radio Free Asia reported that in Binh Thuan, police officers used tear gas and water cannons against protesters, some of whom turned violent—burning cars, destroying property, and throwing sticks, bricks, and Molotov cocktails at police.

In total, dozens of demonstrators have been detained across the country.

Major News Site Suspended in China Rael Baird China suspended some channels of a major news outlet on September 26, citing violations of internet rules, according to South China Morning Post. The outlet, Ifeng, is owned by Phoenix New Media, a major media conglomerate in China.

According to the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC), the agency responsible for regulating Chinese internet access, Ifeng had “disseminated illegal and harmful information, distorted news headlines, and shared news information in violation of rules.”

The CAC ordered a “thorough and in-depth rectification,” which Phoenix New Media has agreed to. Through its Investor Relations page, Phoenix New Media has shared plans to “strengthen its content review teams and establish more comprehensive guidelines for its internal content review process.”

According to China Daily, Ifeng’s mobile news application, mobile website, and news and finance channels are suspended for two weeks.

The technology channel on Ifeng.com is suspended for 30 days.

The suspension comes just over a week after the CAC’s new director,

Zhuang Rongwen, wrote in the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) flagship bi-monthly political theory journal, Seeking Truth, stressing the need to promote “positive energy,” while suppressing “negative elements,” such as “wrong ideological trends,” the South China Morning Post reports.

There may be no major reaction by the Chinese population.

Zhuang’s stricter control of Chinese internet access should come as no surprise. Chinese President Xi Jinping has long advocated tighter control over the internet through what is commonly called the Great Firewall. Under Xi’s administration, the Chinese government has cracked down on a staggering number of websites. According to the South China Morning Post, the CAC and its affiliates shut down 1,888 websites and 720,000 accounts for rule violations in the second quarter of 2018 alone.

The increased censorship of the Internet can be attributed to the calls

for unity against Western, anti-Chinese forces. The Chinese government often leans on this narrative as a scapegoat when addressing negative local news coverage like the imprisonment of the Uyghur minority in the western Xinjiang province.

Despite such a popular website being shut down, the CAC’s tightening grip on internet access implies that there may be no major reaction by the Chinese population.

When it first emerged, Western experts saw the internet as a potentially destabilizing force for the CCP, according to the South China Morning Post. They thought free exchange of ideas, the exposure to other ways of thinking, and access to the news all would contribute to opposition against the authoritarian regime.

However, the South China Morning Post suggests that China’s tight control of the internet has been largely successful in silencing political opposition, spreading state-supported social values, and limiting access to news contradicting the CCP’s view of events. This recent suspension of Ifeng is but the latest example of the Chinese government’s efforts to stymie the tide of politically and socially objectionable online content.

Imposes Limits on National Biometric Identity Program Benjamin Richmond

India’s Supreme Court upheld the legality of Aadhaar, the country’s biometric ID program. The court ruled four-to-one in favor but also limited its usage to government services and barred it from being used by private entities over privacy concerns, according to the Washington Post.

Justice Arjan Kumar Sikiri ruled that “Aadhaar empowers the marginalized section of the society and gives them an identity,” arguing that the program is legal and in the public interest. The verdict also states that “there needs to be balancing of two competing fundamental rights, right to privacy on one hand, and right to food, shelter, and employment on the other hand.”

The ruling restricts usage of Aadhaar exclusively to government services. The panel ruled that the program provides the government benefits in efficiently allocating welfare payments to citizens, but private companies can no longer require Aadhaar identity as a way of verifying customer identity. The court also permitted children to opt out of the program once they are legally adults if they no longer require welfare benefits from the government.

A lawyer for those suing the government told the Washington Post that this ruling “effectively makes Aadhaar voluntary, not mandatory.”

CNN reports that Sambit Patra, a spokesman for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Indian People’s Party, views the ruling as a victory because the court upheld the program’s legality.

WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Cristina Lopez

According to the Washington Post, the Aadhaar program, the name of which means foundation in Hindi, gives each of India’s more than a billion citizens a 12-digit number on a card tied to their fingerprints and retinal scan. This program began in 2009 under a government lead by the Indian Congress Party and has been expanded by Modi. About 90 percent of Indians have enrolled in it, according to CNN. Participation is voluntary but is, in practice, essential to access many government services.

Originally conceived as a method to identify people fraudulently claiming government benefits, the program has been transformed into something of a necessity for Indian citizens; they have to show their cards for government and private services including establishing bank accounts, reserving flights, and enrolling in schools. The program has made it easier for Indians to open bank accounts, but skepticism remains.

The Washington Post reports that the first lawsuit against this program was filed in 2012 by a retired judge who argued that Aadhaar “had no statutory basis and violated the right to privacy.” According to reports by multiple Indian news outlets, concerns over sales of data have emerged as well as issues of hacking and personal data being compromised. Criticism over state access to personal data remains.

CNN reports that Nikhil Pahwa, the co-founder of India’s Internet Freedom Foundation, criticized the program as a “means of surveillance on citizens” and called it “a major national security risk because of the leaks that have happened.”

A man being admitted to India’s National Biometric Identity Program.

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MIDDLE EAST & CENTRAL ASIA

U.S.-Palestinian Relations Continue to Degrade Palestinian Protesters Unite Against Israel This year, the Trump administration announced the end of U.S. funding for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), shut-down the Palestinian Liberation Organization’s Washington, D.C. office, and officially moved the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. These recent actions correspond with a growing trend of American bias in favor of Israel, leaving Arab and European countries alike questioning the future and legitimacy of American involvement in the conflict.

Created in 1948 following the ArabIsraeli War, the UNRWA provides housing, healthcare, education, and social services to nearly five million Palestinian refugees living in Gaza, the West Bank, Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon.

According to the UNRWA website, in 2017, the organization operated with a budget of over $623 million dollars, $157.5 million of which came from the United States. It is the largest single donor country by far, but, according to BBC, the United States contends that it does not receive respect proportionate to its contributions, calling the agency “irredeemably flawed” and incompatible with plans

to create lasting peace in the region.

According to Al Jazeera, United States ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley has alleged that the UNRWA has overestimated the number of Palestinian refugees it serves. The current administration has revealed plans to cap the number of officially recognized refugees at 500,000.

This cessation of funding comes months after the move of the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, which sparked worldwide controversy.

Since the move, Palestinian officials ceased communications with Washington and filed a complaint with the International Court of Justice, alleging that the decision violates the terms of the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, which requires that an embassy to a state be placed in the territory of that state.

According to Al-Monitor, Lebanese Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil said that the Trump administration’s proIsrael policies are creating a crisis for the whole region, as Lebanon, Jordan, and the surrounding countries are forced to deal with the consequences by themselves. In response to United States aid cuts, BBC reports that Nabil Abu Rudeina, spokesperson

Election Foreshadows, cont’d from p.1 Arun Advait While the PUK’s candidate for the Iraqi presidency ultimately triumphed, the KDP has grown increasingly vitriolic toward the PUK in its bid for control of the KRG, reported Al Jazeera.

This election cycle was also marred by allegations from multiple opposition parties of voter fraud and armed intimidation. [All before this on front page.] According to Al Jazeera, these opposition parties, which include Gorran, the Kurdistan Islamic Group, and New Generation, claimed that the KDP and PUK were engaged in widespread voter fraud through the use of their armed forces, the Peshmerga, and an extensive political patronage system.

“Electoral fraud is not only what is happening on election day but rather before the election day as the KDP and PUK force the KDP and PUK militia forces, anti-terror forces, the security forces, and the police forces to vote for them, threatening people with cutting their salaries if they do not vote for

them, distributing cash, and using clans and governmental and state institutions to their benefit,” Kamal Chomani, a fellow of the Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy, reported to Al-Monitor.

The leadership of both the PUK and KDP have rejected these allegations.

Al-Monitor reported that, prior to elections, the KRG announced that six foreign countries would be monitoring the elections through their consulates, intending to assuage concerns of voter fraud. Still, according to Al-Monitor, multiple instances of legitimate voter fraud occurred.

The vote filled 111 seats, 11 of which were reserved for Christian and Turkmen ethnic minorities. According to Rudaw Media Network, a KDPbacked news agency, 58 percent of eligible Kurds voted. Rudaw projects that the KDP will remain in power with 45 seats, followed by the PUK with 21 seats, and Gorran with 12 seats. The KDP is 11 seats short of a majority, but Rudaw reports that the party has close ties with most of the 11 representatives reserved for ethnic minorities.

for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, said, “such a punishment will not succeed to change the fact that the United States no longer has a role in the region and that it is not a part of the solution.” According to Reuters, many other nearby Arab countries also expressed doubts over America’s ability to secure the “ultimate deal” for both Israel and Palestine.

Within this context, antiAmerican sentiment is on the rise in the region, with demonstrators in Gaza increasingly calling for military action and, according to Middle East Eye, declaring that “Trump is trying to starve [them].” According to Al-

WIKIMEDIA COMMONS: BERNOIT SOUBERYAN

Amanda Feldman

US Embassy in Jerusalem

Monitor, among Palestinian officials, the prevailing sentiment is that American foreign policy is trying to “liquidate the Palestinian cause,” and officials have openly expressed their desire for the United States to no longer take part in peace negotiations with Israel.

The recent American actions in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict have, therefore, sparked widespread debate, and it remains to be seen if the Trump administration’s proposed peace program will appropriately address all parties, thereby securing the future of American engagement in the region.

Jack Resnick

Palestinians from the West Bank, Gaza, Israel, and East Jerusalem united to protest Israel’s Nation-State Law on October 1. All civil activities halted as streets, business, schools, and shopping malls closed in solidarity with the movement.

Leaders of Arab and Palestinian political factions cited the event as a joint strike under the umbrella organization of the High FollowUp Committee for Arab Citizens of Israel, the official representative body of Palestinian citizens in Israel.

Mohammed Barakeh, the leader of the committee, noted to Reuters that “the strike is a message to the world that the cause of apartheid and racism is something that should not only be dealt with internally, but it should be talked about globally.”

According to the Palestinian News Agency, at least 93 Palestinians were injured and 37 shot with live bullets and tear gas canisters in a confrontation on the coast of the northern Gaza Strip.

The protesters also denounced the Israeli court’s September 5 ruling to allow the demolition of the West Bank Bedouin village of Khan al-Ahmar. The decision has been met with pushback from the international community: the British consulate in Israel tweeted that, “in accordance with our long-standing policy, we condemn such a move, which would strike a major blow to prospects for a two-state solution with Jerusalem as a shared capital.”

Member of the Israeli Knesset Yousef Jabareen of the Arab Joint List party, told Haaretz “that the strike was carried out against the backdrop of discrimination and racism against Arab society and that Arab citizens are not ready to be second-class citizens.”

The solidarity strike also marks the eighteenth anniversary of the October 2000 Second Intifada and remembers the 13 Israeli Arabs that were killed in armed confrontations with Israeli police.

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UN to Expand War Crimes Investigation in Yemen Noah Clarke

FLICKR

The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) recently decided in a 21-8 decision to extend its war crimes investigation into the war in Yemen, according to U.S. News & World Report. This decision has angered Saudi Arabia and several other Arab states, reports Al Jazeera. Yemen has been at the center of a war crimes investigation for roughly the past year, with three parties drawing intense scrutiny: the Saudi Arabian government for its indiscriminate bombing of civilian areas, the Yemeni government for its human rights abuses, and the

opposition Houthi rebels, who were also accused of human rights violations.

Mohamad Bazzi of the Atlantic states that the Yemeni Civil War brokeout in September 2014 when Houthi rebels overran the capital of Sana’a and forced President Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi and most of his government to flee to Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia feared having a Shia-governed country to its south and claimed that the rebels were being bankrolled by Iran, the regional Shia rival of Sunni Saudi Arabia. In 2015, Saudi Arabia and several other Arab states intervened militarily and launched a massive bombing campaign

Protesters in London denounce 1000 days of Saudi bombings in Yemen

against the Houthis.

Bazzi reported that the Armed Conflict Location and Event Project estimated that 50,000 people have been killed between January 2016 and July 2018. Casualties may be higher, as the United Nations stopped counting after deaths reached 10,000 over two years ago. Much of the world’s focus has been on the indiscriminate bombing from Saudi warplanes, which has killed innocent men, women, and children.

The Saudis launched an airstrike on a school bus on August 9 that killed 51 children. The Saudi government announced an investigation after receiving swift international condemnation, and even a government probe called the attack “unjustified,” according to Al Jazeera. The UNHRC investigation extension was called for after a damning August 28 report accused all sides of committing possible war crimes. Saudi Arabia in particular was blamed for most of these deaths, either due to its bombing campaign or its air and naval blockade of Yemen.

As a result of the UN war crimes report and the extension of the investigation, Saudi Arabia and Yemen forcefully defended themselves.

Arab News reported that Yemen discontinued the mandate for UN experts to investigate war crimes

EDITOR’S NOTE: after the report’s release, saying that the UN had not been impartial in its investigation and had been “turning a blind eye” to violations committed by the Houthis. According to Gulf News, Saudi Arabia and the its main ally in the air campaign, the United Arab Emirates, said that any decision on continuing the investigation should have been made by Yemen, while also discounting the report for not reflecting the role that Iran had been playing.

50,000 people have been killed between January 2016 and July 2018 Currently, there have been no signs that the conflict in Yemen will abate or that a peace agreement will be reached between the warring parties.

It has yet to be seen if the report and investigation extension will bring any sense of closure and justice to those affected by the tragic war, and there is no clear indication that these dual blows to the military intervention will change Saudi Arabia’s methods.

Forum Highlights Central Asia’s Energy Future Steven Shin

WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

The Third Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation Program (CAREC) Energy Investment Forum (EIF) was hosted on September 11 to highlight Central Asian energy investment opportunities for the private sector, according to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL). The two-day event took place in Batumi, Georgia and was attended by officials from the 11 CAREC member countries along with representatives from various energy-related industries.

To secure a stable energy supply,

Central Asian countries need $94 billion of public investment and $38 billion from the private sector in the next five years, according to a 2016 Asian Development Bank (ADB) report.

During the sessions, project developers showcased recently completed high technology projects, and a panel of experts assessed the readiness of the CAREC region to implement a similar project while potential investors watched from the audience.

The forum emphasized four green industries in particular: solar

Nurek Dam on the Vakhsh River in Tajikistan

power, battery-based storage, energy efficiency, and electric vehicles. These were highlighted because of their potential as revolutionary energy technologies.

Another focal point in the EIF was the trade of natural gas under the Caspian Sea Agreement, according to the 2016 ADB report. Experts from Turkmen Gas were broughtin to present the implications of this agreement, which divided ownership of resources found in the Caspian. The five bordering countries, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Iran, Kazakhstan, and Russia signed the agreement on August 12 in Kazakhstan, after over 20 years of negotiations.

The Caspian Sea contains significant energy resources, including over 50 billion barrels of oil and nine trillion cubic meters of natural gas. The debate revolves around the Caspian’s designation as a sea or lake because each has different laws on territorial ownership under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, reports Stratfor.

Central Asian economies depend heavily on energy. Kazakhstan, for instance, relies on oil for 50 percent of its GDP. These countries suffered

significantly from the 2014 oil crash and have subsequently accelerated their development of renewable energy. According to the Diplomat, Kazakhstan aims to source 50 percent of its energy from renewable sources by 2050.

However, the move toward renewable energy is not without significant controversy. The Diplomat notes that Tajikistan relies primarily on hydroelectric dams, and the proposed construction of the Rogun dam has been a sore point in TajikUzbek relations. Uzbekistan claims the dam will choke waterflow into the landlocked country. The Rogun dam cuts across the Vakhsh river, which drains into Uzbekistan.

Kazakhstan provides heavy subsidies on electricity to its domestic market, and the switch from its abundant oil resources to renewable sources may threaten these subsidies, which would be unpopular. According to the Financial Times, recent attempts to reduce them have marred the stable reign of dictator Nursultan Nazarbayev.

Michael Abi-Habib

F

ive months after its first parliamentary elections in nine years, the Lebanese government still has not formed a cabinet.

The current political dysfunction facing Lebanon comes at a crucial moment. Lebanon is experiencing crises with Syrian refugees, its economy, and the possibility of new Palestinian refugee flows.

The Lebanese parliamentary system is very complex because it factors religious sect into political representation. Within each religious community, members compete for the allotted parliamentary seats, and then, during the cabinet formation process, they compete with each other for seats. The disagreements within each religious community are compounded by the conflicts between different religious groups, which makes the cabinet-formation process very difficult and more prone to deadlock. According to Reuters, the main obstacle facing cabinetformation is the conflict between the Free Patriotic Movement and the Lebanese Forces party. The two Maronite Christian parties disagree over the number of cabinet seats that should be distributed between themselves.

The current cabinet-formation deadlock is harming the economy day by day. Lebanon, which has the third highest debt-to-GDP ratio of any country, is currently operating with a fiscal deficit. Deadlock will not only add to this debt, but it will also put Lebanon on course for another financial crisis. The Lebanese economy is already struggling: the World Bank predicts GDP growth of just one percent for the coming year and a rise in domestic interest rates.

Without a cabinet to lead the country, Lebanon is unable to address the brewing economic crisis. According to Bloomberg News, donors from the international community have offered about $11 billion in loans and grants, but these offers are being held until the Lebanese government forms a cabinet. Lebanon, a country with a history of political inefficacy and corruption, is continuing to neglect the needs of its people in an increasingly important moment in its history.

The Trump administration’s decision to cut funding for the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), which coordinates development in Palestine, only worsens the situation in Lebanon.

According to Al-Monitor, with a majority of its Palestinian refugees living off of UNRWA funding, Lebanon faces a growing Palestinian refugee humanitarian crisis. Faced with potential crises, the Lebanese government needs to form a cabinet and begin acting in the interests of its people.

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NORTH & SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA Bethania Michael

A

shipwreck claimed the lives of at least 34 migrants in the western Mediterranean Sea on October 2. According to Al Jazeera, the International Organization for Migration’s Joe Millman stated that “the boat was adrift since [September 30] with 60 people on board.” Millman reported that 26 people survived the shipwreck.

According to Reuters, all of the migrants were from sub-Saharan Africa. Helena Maleno, an activist with the Spanish NGO Walking Borders, commented that the deaths were caused by the inaction of the authorities. Maleno stated that the migrants “were asking for help because their inflatable boat was damaged,” arguing that the Moroccan and Spanish response to trafficking networks and migrant issues is inadequate, Reuters reports.

By September 10, almost 35,000 people had migrated through Morocco to Spain, which has become the most popular pathway to Europe. This pathway to Europe has grown more traveled, and the European Union has responded by “outsourcing” its border security to Morocco, according to African Arguments.

Khadija Ainani, vice president of the Moroccan Association for Human Rights, has argued that “the EU is trying by all means to outsource migration management to the countries of the South and, for that, it turns a blind eye to all violations of the rights of subSaharan migrants in Morocco.”

The Washington Post reports that, even before the shipwreck, 240 people died at sea crossing to Spain, marking a 400 percent increase in deaths from 2017.

The International Organization for Migration’s Anna Fonseca argues that this increase is due to the fact that asylum-seekers “are seeing that Libya is dangerous.”

Migratory outflows from subSaharan Africa will continue to increase; governments must alter their refugee response strategies in light of this fact.

Zimbabwe Fights Cholera with Vaccination Drive Abigail Adams-Spiers The government of Zimbabwe launched an oral cholera vaccination drive on October 3 in partnership with the World Health Organisation (WHO).

The vaccine is the latest in a string of measures designed to combat the disease, which has killed an estimated 48 people since the latest outbreak began on September 6, according to a study by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. The government had already called a state of emergency and banned street vendors from selling fresh fruit and vegetables, but Al Jazeera reports that these measures alone were not enough to curb the spread of the disease.

Over 1.4 million vaccines will be made available to immunize those in the suburbs of the capital city, Harare, and nearby Chitungwiza. The demographic density of these zones renders them high-risk areas for the outbreak of contagious diseases, and the latest epidemic reflects this trend—according to data from the same UN study, Harare has been the epicenter of the outbreak, with 98 percent of recorded cases.

This is not the first time the

deadly disease has rocked Zimbabwe.

BBC reported that in 2008, thenPresident Robert Mugabe’s government struggled to raise funds to address an outbreak that affected more than 100,000 people. Similar concerns over finances persist in 2018. The finance minister has attempted to fund the government’s response through an online crowdfunding scheme. This plan was widely criticised by Zimbabweans, some of whom took to Twitter to protest the leadership’s corrupt priorities and mismanagement of public funds.

Cholera has become a recurring burden for many states on the continent.

At the same time as Zimbabwe’s outbreak, Niger experienced an epidemic that killed 68 people, and heavy floods in Nigeria provided ideal conditions for an outbreak, which, according to Al Jazeera, has killed 100 people in just two weeks. Overall, Kenya’s Daily Nation reports that eight African countries are currently battling cholera.

The continued prevalence of the waterborne disease can partly be explained by severe rainy seasons this year, during which floods of stagnant water and overflowing sewers have increased the spread of infection.

City Renamed Makhanda, cont’d from p.1 Ashanee Kottage After the Grahamstown meeting, Mohlala confirmed that SAGNC members were reviewing all documents, including oppositional documents, to ensure that a fair decision would be reached. Ultimately, Mohala stated that “[the SAGNC] came to the conclusion that the name must change.” Mohlala acknowledged the strong feelings South Africans have about place names. “The town’s rich history is one that will remain there in places available to students of history and researchers—museums and libraries,” he said. Mthethwa embraced the opposition, saying “It is heartening to know that South Africans understand that ours is a participatory democracy where they can raise objections and their voices can be heard.”

Despite the success in Makhanda,

some question whether merely renaming cities is enough. “We can’t talk about transformation without talking about real transformation of the lives of our people,” said Democratic Alliance Chief Whip David van Vuuren in an article for IOL. “Slapping a new name on a town, a suburb, or street does little to address the real areas of society in need of tangible and sustainable redress.”

Former colonial powers are also attempting to atone for their past. In 2018 alone, Berlin’s African quarter changed its street names to honor resistance fighters instead of colonial leaders, while France acknowledged the systematic torture carried out

by French soldiers during the 195462 conflict in Algeria, as reported by the Guardian. Many are hopeful that African and European leaders will continue working together to reshape the continent’s legacy of colonialism.

However, rapid urbanization and poor sanitation are also to blame.

Cholera has historically affected many regions of the world, but 20th century scientific breakthroughs on its nature— crucially, the understanding that it spreads by water and human feces— have largely eliminated its impact across the Western world. As UNICEF cholera specialist Dr. Julien Graveleau confirmed to the Telegraph, “cholera is both an emergency and a development issue, and on the development side not enough has been done.” Even in especially wet African regions, better public sewage and water treatment in

WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

EDITOR’S NOTE:

overcrowded areas could do much to mitigate the public health risk.

This is an especially pertinent lesson for the current outbreak in Zimbabwe.

Although Harare Mayor Herbert Gombe has declared the current outbreak “under control,” more effort is needed to prevent the problem from returning. The minister of health has acknowledged the extent of the problem, stressing that the current vaccination programme is only a stopgap while the government works to implement more permanent infrastructural solutions aimed at ensuring access to “clean water and sanitation processes” for all.

A community worker teaches women how to avoid cholera in Harare, Zimbabwe.

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Police Attack Unarmed Protesters in eSwatini Unpopular Connor Worley

Riot police on September 18 deployed stun grenades, rubber bullets, and batons on unarmed strikers in Manzini, eSwatini, injuring several protesters.

Workers in eSwatini, which was formerly known as Swaziland, have been protesting since April over low wages, mismanagement of the state pension fund, and a lack of free elections. According to Reuters, the flash-point for the original protests was the removal of $70,000 from the national pension fund for King Mswati III’s extravagant birthday celebrations. eSwatini is the last absolute monarchy on the continent. Though the country has a parliament and nominal elections, political parties are banned, all candidates must be loyal to the king, and final authority related to all governmental matters resides with King Mswati.

“The election is a farce, of course,” said Bheki Makhubu, the editor of the Nation, who the authorities jailed in 2014 for exposing government corruption.

Times of Swaziland conducted a survey of voters in 2018, in which 34 percent of all Swazis reported that the country was not a democracy, while 17 percent said that democracy existed

in their country but was fraught with problems. According to the East African, voters were recorded saying, “the parliament can talk all they want, but at the end of the day there is only one boss.”

“Nothing [is] as permanent as change.

You can slow it down, but it always keeps coming.”

In addition to possessing absolute political authority, King Mswati is known for living a lavish lifestyle, buying expensive cars, flying in private planes, and hosting exorbitant parties for his 14 wives and 25 children.

Despite these luxuries, eSwatini remains among the poorest nations in the world, with an estimated 63 percent of the population living in poverty.

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 26 percent of the country’s adult population is HIV positive, the highest prevalence in the world.

Before the protests, the Trade Union Congress of Swaziland accused the king and his government of removing millions of dollars from

the national pension fund. eSwatini’s parliament ordered a probe into the alleged corruption, but the probe was quickly disbanded.

The protests took place in Manzini, eSwatini’s economic center.

The organizers also promised that demonstrations would occur in other major cities such as Lobamba and the capital, Mbabane, but these protests have not yet materialized.

A video taken at the scene and published by News24 shows that protesters were met by riot police who dispersed the unarmed crowd by firing rubber bullets, throwing stun grenades, and beating the remaining strikers with batons.

The Southern African Litigation Centre requested an immediate investigation into the riot police’s actions, citing eSwatini’s Public Order Act of 2017, which affirms the rights of citizens to assemble peacefully and states that “police may only intervene in a gathering when there is an immediate danger, and any action taken by the police must be necessary and proportionate.”

Though, according to Al Jazeera, the protests are unlikely to bring an immediate change, activist Jan Sithole has hope for the future, noting that “there is nothing as permanent as change. You can slow it down, but it always keeps coming.”

Peace Talks Proceed in South Sudan Macy Uustal The South Sudanese government, at the directive of President Salva Kiir, released 20 prisoners of war and political detainees following the signing of a peace accord by rebel groups, opposition groups, and the government on September 12.

According to Africa Confidential, a Revitalized Transitional Government of National Unity will be established in May 2019 after an eight-month “pre-transitional period.” Democratic elections are set to be held in 2021 as required under a revised, permanent constitution. The head of public relations at the Internal Security Bureau announced that the discharge of the prisoners demonstrates the government’s dedication to the peace process.

South Sudan holds the title of the world’s youngest country after gaining its independence from Sudan in 2011. Civil war broke-out along ethnic lines two years later, after a political disagreement between Kiir, a Dinka, and former-Vice President Riek Machar, a Nuer, escalated into violence. Reuters Africa published the

findings of a State Department-funded study that estimates that 190,000 people have been killed in the fighting, while an additional 193,000 people have died due to displacement, famine, and lapses in basic medical care. Many are still on the brink of starvation.

Peace has been elusive, however, as the 2015 deal deteriorated after just one year.

Responding to the ongoing atrocities in South Sudan and peace talks at an apparent standstill, the United Nations Security Council voted to impose an arms embargo on South Sudan in July that will last through May 2019. Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley, a proponent of these measures, asserted in the New York Times that “South Sudan’s people have endured unimaginable suffering and unspeakable atrocities. Their leaders have failed them,” later adding, “We need to stop the flow of weapons to armed groups, that they are using to

fight each other and to terrorize the people.” This proposal was aimed at curbing violence, improving the wellbeing of civilians, and promoting peace throughout South Sudan.

Peace has been elusive, however, as the 2015 deal deteriorated after just one year. This legacy of animosity has heavily informed the distrust of opposing groups, and their subsequent reticence to commit to a new deal in the peace negotiations held throughout the summer.

Talks in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia failed in May, according to Reuters Africa. Both the government and the opposition groups have been accused of violating the cessation of hostilities agreement signed in June. The talks in July in Khartoum, Sudan ended in a deadlock, according to the Anadolu Agency. Finally, in August, after months of attempted reconciliation meant to revitalize the 2015 peace talks, Kiir pardoned Machar and signed a deal to share power, reported the Sudan Tribune. The finalization of peace talks and Kiir’s decision to release political prisoners may signify a new era of peace in South Sudan.

Cameroonian President Likely to be Reelected Kate Fin

Paul Biya, president of Cameroon since 1982, is expected to win what will be his seventh consecutive presidential bid, a phenomenon made possible by a 2008 constitutional amendment abolishing executive term limits. Though Cameroonian presidential elections are not scheduled to take place until October 9, the widespread international and domestic consensus is that the race has already been decided.

According to Young Africa, Biya is one of nine candidates for the presidency, of whom six are first-time contenders, and none are women.

Biya’s party, the People’s Democratic Movement (RDPC), currently controls the vast majority of seats in the Cameroonian National Assembly.

Other candidates include opposition leader Joshua Osih of the Social Democratic Front and Akere Muna of the Popular Development Front. Muna, staunchly anticorruption and pro-Anglophone, is Biya’s biggest foe.

Pundits still believe Biya to be the front runner, according to the Journal of Cameroon. The 85-yearold leader’s three decades of rule have been marked by relative stability. His campaign manifesto emphasizes his dedication toward preserving unity and security for the central African state. These goals might be undermined by conflict in the country’s western, Anglophone region, however, where Reuters reports that insurgents are seeking to establish an independent state called Ambazonia.

Al Jazeera accuses Biya’s administration of human rights violations in his campaign to rootout the Anglophone insurgency.

The government has used tactics such as imprisoning journalists in overcrowded jails, violently beating and killing peaceful protesters, and cutting-off the region’s internet access for three months.

Biya’s army has employed similar, non-discriminatory tactics

in fighting the terrorist group Boko Haram, present in the country since 2014. Multiple videos have emerged of Cameroonian soldiers sent to fight Boko Haram executing civilian women and children. The Ministry of Communications has derided the videos as “fake news.”

A fiasco in June might signal Biya’s willingness to take drastic measures to retain power.

In the wake of these and other accusations, Biya’s approval ratings have dipped below 30 percent, according to Pan African Visions.

VOA Africa reports that he has spent a total of four-and-a-half years abroad and more than $182 million on private trips; his frequent absence from the country has stirred resentment among Cameroonians and given opposition candidates room to maneuver.

Despite this, polls cited in the Journal of Cameroon still project Biya will win. Many Cameroonians do not believe that any single opposition candidate could garner the votes to defeat him, and others are abstaining from voting out of protest.

That is not to say that Biya feels confident in his victory, however.

A fiasco involving U.S. ambassador Peter Barlerin in June might signal Biya’s willingness to take drastic measures to retain power. The New York Times reports that Barlerin was accused of secretly funneling $5 million to the political campaigns of Biya’s opponents. Evidence has not been released to support these allegations; opposition members claim that they were invented by Biya’s supporters to invoke outrage at foreign election meddling and bolster support for the incumbent. Such campaigns, as well as the absence of EU observers on election day, could help ensure Biya’s seventh victory.

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TRAVEL

BRYCE COUCH (SFS ‘19)

Two Buddhist temples on Tiantai Mountain in Zhejiang Province, China.

View of old town Dubrovnik, Croatia from the city wall.

SARAH MATHYS (COL ‘19)

BRYCE COUCH (SFS ‘19)

XUYANG ZHANG (COL ‘21)

Check out the photos below to follow fellow Hoyas on their adventures!

Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex, waves after marrying Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex.

A baby elephant explores the grasslands around Murchison Falls in western Uganda.