Volume VIII Issue IV February 2015

Obama and Merkel Diverge on Ukraine Plan

Photos courtesy of the White HouseGerman Chancellor Angela Merkel and U.S. President Barack Obama in the Oval Office on February 10.

On February 10, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and United States President Barack Obama displayed their dis-agreement over Ukraine at a White House press conference. Chancellor Merkel, whose visit to Washington was only a quick stop while shuttling between Kiev and Moscow, emphasized that the European Union will continue focusing on diplo-matic means to diffuse tensions between Russia and Ukraine. However, as CNN reports, President Obama explained that although a decision has not been made there is a chance of U.S. military entry into Ukraine.

The situation in Ukraine seems to come straight out of a history book. As time passes, parallels to the past continue to become apparent. The fall of the Russian Economy, the ad-vance of the Russian military to Ukraine, and the coalition of Western states pledging sup-port of Ukraine’s sovereignty are reminiscent of the Cold War.

In 2005, the European Com-mission, the European Union’s legislative body, pledged their support to Ukraine not only through short-term means, but also through long-term methods. The goal of MEMO/14/346 by the Euro-pean Commission was to de-tail a plan of action ensuring Ukraine’s unity and economic stability.

During the past year, the Commission has been building

a series of concrete measures to aid Ukraine’s economy, while also insisting on the unification of the state in order to benefit all Ukrainians. The most recent proposal on January 8 of this year focused on stimulating the Ukrainian economy. Ac-cording to an EU press release, the Commission also formed a Support Group working spe-cifically on Ukraine’s situation even before then.

Currently, the European Union’s relations with Ukraine are governed by the Associa-tion Agreement, which includes Comprehensive Free Trade Areas. This became official on March 21, 2014, stating to the international community that Ukraine was intent on pursuing

political and economic associa-tion with the European Union. Since the crisis, the European Union has invested its finances in Ukraine through humanitar-ian aid, macro-financial assis-tance, grants for state-building, energy security and reform, an-ti-corruption mechanisms, and mobility from the region to the rest of the European Union.

As the situation becomes more uncertain, the talk of mil-itary involvement has moved to the forefront of discussion.

As the United States begins to threaten Russian President Vladimir Putin with military force, Reuters reports that Chancellor Merkel warned the European Union, “If we don’t manage to find not just a com-

promise but a lasting peace agreement, we know perfectly well what the scenario will be. It has a name: it’s called war.”

Until now, the United States has aided Ukraine only by sup-plying first aid kits, body armor, and night vision goggles. New-ly confirmed U.S. Defense Sec-retary Ashton Carter was asked recently about whether the United States should send arms to Ukraine.

“I very much incline in that direction,” Mr. Carter respond-ed, according to Al Jazeera. “I incline in the direction of pro-viding them with arms, includ-ing what I’m sure your question is, lethal arms.”

Contact Cynthia Sularz at cynthia.sularz@student.shu.edu.

Cynthia SularzStaff Writer

Cherif and Said Koua-chi’s actions shook France to its core on January 7, when they forced their way into the office of French weekly

satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo, armed with assault rifles, and massacred eleven people, additionally injuring eleven, in hatred of the mag-azine’s constant lampooning of Islam.

After escaping, the Koua-chis were tracked in a man-hunt for two days ending in two sieges and a police oper-ation in which they hijacked two cars, robbed a service station, holed up in a build-

ing while surrounded by hundreds of policemen, and came out shooting with the intention of dying a “mar-tyr’s death.”

Charlie Hebdo Refuses to Back DownMohammed Syed

Staff Writer

Continued on Page 10...

INSIDE

FOCUS On THE

MIDDLE EASTPAGE 6&7

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Argentinian President Case; ECB Causes DividePage 2

AUMF on ISIS; US-Cuba Relations; SOTU AnalysisPage 3

Page 4

school of diplomacy

NEWS

ECOSOC Youth Forum

Women in Diplomacy Panel Discussion; Embassy of Italy on E-DiplomacyPage 5

CIA Torture Report, Editorial

opinions

Page 8

Hypocritical Saudi Rela-tions, Ferguson Affects Foreign Policy Page 9

Page 10

Charlie Hebdo, Why Not Nigeria?

Lee Nave, Daniel Garay

alumni spotlight

Page 11

Words from Abroad

Avonelle Davis, Thomas CullenPage 12

INTERNATIONAL NEWSFebruary 2015Page 2

Argentina’s Kirchner Implicated in Murder

On January 14, Argentinian President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner and her Foreign Min-ister Héctor Timerman were accused of covering up Iran’s alleged role in a 1994 terrorist attack.

They were accused by Al-berto Nisman who had been working on the case for more than ten years. Nisman was pre-pared to present his case against Fernández de Kirchner but was found dead on January 18, only hours before Congress entered session. Protests began after the news of his death surfaced.

BBC News reports that the case Nisman investigated was the bombing of a Jewish com-munity center in Buenos Aires in 1994 that is viewed as Argen-tina’s worst terrorist attack in history.

In the public center of the capital city, the perpetrator deto-nated a van with over 600 pounds of explosives. The attack killed 85 and injured more than 300. Although it is rumored to have been sponsored by Iran, there is

also speculation of a connection between the 1994 bombing and another at the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires in 1992, accord-ing to The Guardian. Although an investigation was carried out against more than a dozen sus-pects, a perpetrator has yet to be charged.

The case was officially closed in 2004, but Nisman continued to research the case until his death last month.

Nisman was found on the ground of his home with a bullet in his head. Discrepancy about the nature of his death is a large issue in the investigation.

Many suspect foul play al-though the apartment was locked. The two possibilities are a suicide or forced suicide.

The ambiguity of evidence will prove difficult for the in-vestigation of Nisman’s murder case and the bomb scandal.

According to the New York Times, Nisman found that the government of Argentina was in cohorts with Iran. The two nations supposedly made a deal to exchange oil for grain and meats. His documents also show

that there was involvement of Iran through Hezbollah mili-tants.

The posthumous search of Nisman’s apartment revealed a crumpled up arrest warrant for President Kirchner, Mr. Tim-erman, and other political lead-ers. However, Nisman’s chosen judge, Ariel Lijo, has deferred the case because of technicali-ties.

Despite the breach in the court proceedings, several movements have begun in Ar-gentina in light of Nisman’s death. Inspired by the Je Suis Charlie campaign, Argentina’s Spanish equivalent, Yo Soy Nis-man, has become a popular slo-gan.

Nisman’s death sparked a movement for citizens to en-courage the Argentinian Pres-ident to speak out about the allegations of trading with a ter-rorist group, according to CNN.

The aftermath has also re-sulted in the dissolution of the entire intelligence branch of the government.

Contact Brittany Ziobron at brittany.ziobron@student.shu.edu.

Courtesy of FlickrArgentinian President Cristina Kirchner.

Brittany ZiobronStaff Writer

On January 22, Mario Dra-ghi announced that the Euro-pean Central Bank (ECB) will begin a program of quantitative easing (QE) in order to curb fears of deflation within the Eurozone.

Speaking at the ECB’s head-quarter in Frankfurt, Draghi outlined a program that will buy €60 billion of Eurozone bonds from central governments, agencies, and institutions each month until September 2016.

This should help infuse new money into the European econ-omy and hopefully spark eco-nomic growth.

The Eurozone has seen slow economic growth since the 2008 recession. According to the IMF, unemployment in France, Italy, and the rest of the Eurozone is still in double digits.

Meanwhile, inflation has been declining further away

from the ECB’s goal of just below 2%. However, there are deeper problems within the Eu-rozone.

The announcement marks a clear shift away from a path that Germany had laid out of austerity and reform, albeit one that Draghi had been hinting at doing for a while.

There are worries about di-vision within the Eurozone and it’s shaping up to be a political squabble between Germany and the ECB.

The German push for aus-terity may very well have led the Eurozone into slower growth. Economist Paul Krug-man notes the differences in approaches that the Eurozone and the U.S. took following the recession in a New York Times article.

The U.S. had a bailout pack-age and began three phases of quantitative easing by buying up mortgaged-backed securities and treasury bonds. European bankers did the opposite in pur-

suing austerity rather than stim-ulus which “reflected a willful misdiagnosis of the situation” according to Krugman.

In late 2011, Draghi was named the president of the ECB and pushed for more aggressive action. Draghi im-plemented Outright Monetary Transactions (OMT), a policy that would buy sovereign debt from Eurozone countries, pro-vided certain conditions were met.

This is different from the current policy of QE because OMT required states to enact policies to counter any growth in the money supply, known as sterilization.

The program was contested by the two German represen-tatives on the ECB’s Board of Governors, but it passed re-gardless.

Overall, the Germans feel that they have done enough for the Eurozone, according to The Wall Street Journal. They do not want to help countries

that are not being responsible for the mess they got them-selves into by running up huge debts. By 2013, Greece, Portu-gal, Italy, Spain, and France all had government debts running above 90% of their GDP, per IMF data.

To Germany, none of these countries are doing enough to save their economies and con-trol their debts.

Meanwhile, the German Minister of Finance, Wolfgang Schäuble, downplayed any risk of deflation saying in an inter-view with Reuters, “There is no deflation danger in Europe…And there are no signs of this.”

A few days before the ECB announced its new QE policy, Angela Merkel spoke in Frank-furt about any ECB action.

“It must be avoided that any action taken by the ECB in any respect whatsoever,” said the German chancellor in a Reuters article, “could result in the im-pression that what needs to be done in the fiscal and compet-

itive spheres could be pushed into the background.”

She wants to make it abso-lutely clear that the QE pro-gram does not excuse countries from economic reforms.

The division between the ECB and Germany is just one of the cracks in the Eurozone.

With the recent elections in Greece, it is clear that a show-down is imminent between Greece and their debtors within the Eurozone. Greece has debt due back by the end of Febru-ary and could face default be-tween March and May.

Yet with these disputes, many countries still want to join the Eurozone, with Lithuania recently joining at the start of 2015. Stocks rallied after the announcement throughout Eu-rope.

All might end up well eco-nomically, but there are some clear political wounds with the danger of more clashes ahead.

Contact John Carey at john.carey@student.shu.edu.

John CareyStaff Writer

European Central Bank Causes New Divide

INTERNATIONAL NEWS February 2015Page 3

The United States ended a fifty-year stalemate in No-vember 2014 when President Obama announced an effort to reestablish diplomatic ties with Cuba.

Negotiations between U.S. and Cuban government offi-cials took place during the last weeks of January 2015, leaving more questions than answers to key issues. However, goals for a peaceful settlement were voiced by major political leaders.

The renewal of ties between the U.S. and Cuba grew from shared humanitarian concerns, for which Pope Francis has been given much credit.

According to US News, the Vatican claims that Pope Fran-cis wrote letters to both Cuban President Raul Castro and U.S. President Barack Obama, en-couraging them to resolve hu-

manitarian issues, including the release of certain prisoners.

In his announcement, Pres-ident Obama highlighted the U.S. and Cuba’s complicated history, especially the Bay of Pigs Fiasco and Cuban Missile Crisis, which led to the embar-go.

During the January talks, however, Cuba accused the U.S. of encouraging the illegal im-migration and human traffick-ing of Cubans, reports Reuters.

The Cuban government also demanded to have their coun-try removed from the list of state-sponsored terrorism, and the return of the Guantanamo Bay naval base.

According to the Associat-ed Press, Cuba’s first demand will likely be approved in a few months, though the second one was rejected.

The U.S. Congress has yet to decide on whether trade re-strictions against Cuba should be lifted. According to Reu-ters, one lawmaker showing resistance is Cuban-American Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL). Despite the opposition of Re-publicans, who control the majority of Congress, Obama continues to pursue diplomatic relations with Cuba.

Former Cuban Pres-ident Fidel Castro also voiced his support for the discussions.

According to The Huffing-ton Post, Mr. Castro said, “I don’t trust the policy of the United States nor have I had an exchange with them, but this does not mean a rejection of a peaceful solution to conflicts or the dangers of war.”

Contact Lucy Njuguna at lucy.njuguna@student.shu.edu.

US-Cuba Relations Beginning to Thaw

Lucy NjugunaStaff Writer

Executions Spur US to Consider Force Against ISIS

Kayla Mueller and Moath al-Kasasbeh are the two latest victims in the Islamic State’s campaign for international at-tention.

A Jordanian pilot conduct-ing airstrikes over ISIS terri-tory, al-Kasasbeh’s video-doc-umented execution, the most brutal and heinous execution to be broadcasted to date, spread worldwide on February 3. News of American humanitar-ian aid worker Kayla Mueller’s death broke on February 11. ISIS claims that Ms. Mueller was killed by a Jordanian air-strike.

By publicizing the execu-tions of several captives, ISIS has earned the ire of countries such as Japan, Jordan, and the United States.

The videos have also been used as a means of recruiting sympathizers around the world.

Only one Westerner remains

in the Islamic State’s captivity: British journalist John Cantile was captured while reporting in Syria in November 2012. Tak-ing advantage of Cantile’s re-porting skills, they have forced him to appear in several ISIS propaganda videos.

Now that they have execut-ed nearly all of their valuable captives, the terrorist organiza-tion’s motives are being ques-tioned by analysts, particularly in a recent New York Times article by Rod Nordland.

When ISIS shot down al-Kasasbeh on December 24, the attempt to use him as leverage against the Jordanian government, who were then considering a military response, was futile after ISIS failed to send proof of life to officials.

Further, the propaganda failed to incite a popular re-volt in Jordan against the use of force. Instead, support for airstrikes has increased since al-Kasasbeh’s death.

Unlike Jordan, the United

States will have a hard time selling the use of force to a war-weary public, especially when it comes to the Middle East.

On February 12, President Barack Obama formally pre-sented the Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) to Congress. It will allow Pres-ident Obama and his staff a more flexible response to the militant group. The authoriza-tion, if passed, will be effective for three years.

However, President Obama was quick to qualm any concern by Americans who thought this would lead to the U.S. sending in ground forces.

“I am convinced that the U.S. should not get back into another ground war in the Mid-dle East -- it’s not in our nation-al security interest and not nec-essary for us to defeat ISIL,” he announced during a press conference, according to CNN.

Contact Ryan Sullivan at ryan.sullivan5@student.shu.edu.

Ryan SullivanEditor-in-Chief, Online

The State of the Union: Four Foreign Policy

TakeawaysAngelo PiroStaff Writer

Photo courtesy of President Barack Obama’s Facebook U.S. President Barack Obama at the State of the Union Address on January 20, 2015.

On January 20, United States President Barack Obama took the podium for his sixth State of the Union address to brief the nation and, more importantly, the new Congress on his vision for the direction of his administration for the year. While most of the leaked talking points seemed to favor do-mestic issues such as the economy, taxes, and immigration, recent international events pressed Mr. Obama to discuss as-pects of his foreign policy. With policy shifts regarding Iran, Cuba, and Ukraine, and security crises in Paris and Yemen, what did the President choose to focus on and how will he set the foreign policy agenda in his last two years in office? Here are four major takeaways from President Obama’s address:

Victory Lap: “Tonight, for the first time since 9/11, our combat mission in Afghanistan is over. Six years ago, nearly 180,000 American troops served in Iraq and Afghanistan. To-day, fewer than 15,000 remain.”

New Age of Rapprochement: “When what you’re doing doesn’t work for fifty years, it’s time to try something new. Our shift in Cuba policy has the potential to end a legacy of mis-trust in our hemisphere; removes a phony excuse for restric-tions in Cuba; stands up for democratic values; and extends the hand of friendship to the Cuban people.”

Preventing a Nuclear Iran: “New sanctions passed by this Congress, at this moment in time, will all but guaran-tee that diplomacy fails -- alienating America from its allies; and ensuring that Iran starts up its nuclear program again. It doesn’t make sense. That is why I will veto any new sanctions bill that threatens to undo this progress.”

Countering Russia and China: “We’re upholding the principle that bigger nations can’t bully the small -- by oppos-ing Russian aggression, supporting Ukraine’s democracy, and reassuring our NATO allies. Last year, as we were doing the hard work of imposing sanctions along with our allies, some suggested that Mr. Putin’s aggression was a masterful display of strategy and strength. Well, today, it is America that stands strong and united with our allies, while Russia is isolated, with its economy in tatters. That’s how America leads -- not with bluster, but with persistent, steady resolve.”

For Angelo Piro’s analysis of SOTU 2015, visit TheDiplomaticEnvoy.com.

school of diplomacy newsFebruary 2015Page 4

Photo Courtesy of Elaina EstrinSeton Hall Observer to the U.N. Elaina Estrin with ECOSOC President Martin Sajdik.

School of Diplomacy Delegates Attend ECOSOC Youth Forum

Seton Hall University was well-represented at the 2015 ECOSOC Youth Forum on February 2 and 3.

The two-day event at the United Nations Headquarters convened youth, as well as their mentors and other pro-fessionals, to gather their input during the process of adapting millennium development goals (MDGs) to the post 2015 agen-da known as the sustainable de-velopment goals (SDGs).

Although delayed by in-clement weather, participants were welcomed to the session by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, ECOSOC President Martin Sajdik, and the Secre-tary-General’s Envoy on Youth, Ahmad Alhendawi.

In his opening address, the Secretary-General emphasized the U.N.’s goal to continuously involve and train youth in ad-dressing the issues they will in-herit, and whose consequences they will bear.

The first session separated delegates into focus groups on process, accountability, mea-surability, and partnerships and implementation, during which participants engaged in active discussion and offer sugges-tions in a more informal setting.

The World Programme of Action for Youth (WPAY) was next on the agenda.

The 1995 doctrine outlines 15 priority areas in youth devel-opment, particularly unemploy-ment as well as job training, for national governments to use as

a template in forming domestic policy.

However, policy alone is not enough, as noted by Albanian Minister of Youth and Social Welfare Erion Veliaj.

The U.N.’s current goal is encouraging governments to put money towards their com-mitment.

Recalling Super Bowl 2015, Mr. Veliaj likened youth en-gagement to football, “Working with you is like a contact sport, but like American football, it is also expensive.”

On the second day, the third panel on Youth Participation in Africa stirred the audience when Ibrahim Ceesay of the African Youth Alliance on the Post-2015 Agenda echoed Mr. Veliaj, though in less diplomatic terms.

Later, Mr. Ceesay said, “The African Youth Charter is the only African Union document without accountability mea-sures.” The topic of the third panel leaned towards gender equality, or more specifically the growing disenfranchisement of young boys.

Yale University’s Associ-ate Director for Africa Rachel Nyaradzo Adams warned that inclusionary policies eventually become exclusionary, and that “we are at risk of excluding an entire generation of boys. Where gender empowerment is done well, we are struggling to find equally competitive boy talent.”

The session on Gender Equality and Youth set itself apart from the others. Mod-

erated by Al-Jazeera journal-ist Femi Oke, who requested that the audience applaud only when a speaker’s words truly deserved it, the panelists relat-ed the topic to their personal lives, which served the discus-sion.

Moremi Africa’s Vivian Onano declined the audience’s applause when she stated that she was the first girl in her community to receive an edu-cation. According to Ms. Ona-no, such a fact should not be applauded in the twnty first century, as education is a basic human right.

Daksitha Wickremarathne of the Global Civil Society Advisory Group reminded the audience that gender equality is not only an issue between male and female, but also includes the reality of other genders.

The final session focused on financing youth policy. The World Bank was represented by World Bank Group Youth Summit Chairman Nicholas Bian, whose presence indicated that institutions with consider-able influence aside from the U.N. are actively encouraging youth participation.

Swiss law student Steeve Guillod, a veteran of the ECOSOC Youth Forum since its inception, gave his insights on this year’s installment.

“I’m a little bit skeptical about the framework of the forum,” he said, adding that he was disappointed that U.N. representatives discussed only their achievements instead of informing the delegates about

existing obstacles that the youth can help solve.

The impact of the Youth Forum on policymaking was also addressed by U.S. Youth Observer to the U.N. Jackson Dougan in an interview with The Global Current, the tran-script of which can be found on Page 11.

The university’s delegation was organized by Professor Martin Edwards. Seniors Bjorn Schwarzenbach and Aliza Riz-vi, along with Daniel Garay of The Global Current, tweeted updates from New York for the Seton Hall community in South Orange.

Seton Hall U.N. Youth Rep-

resentative Elaina Estrin, fresh-man Mohammed Syed, and ju-nior Matthew Peters were also present.

Eight development goals were identified as MDGs in 2000 at the Millennium Sum-mit, targeting extreme poverty, education, and disease preven-tion.

The 17 SDGs will be the main talking point in Septem-ber at the United Nations Sum-mit on the Post-2015 Develop-ment Agenda in New York.Bjorn Schwarzenbach and Daniel Garay contributed to this article.Contact Francesca Regalado at

francescarose.regalado@student.shu.edu.

Francesca RegaladoManaging Editor

Photo courtesy of the United NationsSecretary-General’s Special Envoy on Youth Ahmad Alhendawi.

Photo courtesy of the United NationsU.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon welcomes youth delegates to the forum.

school of diplomacy news February 2015Page 5

The Women of Diploma-cy Leadership Program held a panel on February 12 featuring five administration and faculty members of the School of Di-plomacy to share their success stories as well as their struggles.

The panel starred Associ-ate Dean Elizabeth Halpin, Dr. Naaborle Sackeyfio, Dr. Fredline M’Cormack-Hale, Dr. Borislava Manojlovic, and Dr. Margarita Balmaceda.

Every seat in the Diploma-cy Room of McQuaid Hall was filled by women and a few men interested in hearing each pro-fessor discuss how they were able to break into their current field of study and become ac-complished leaders.

An open forum at the end of the panelists’ speeches re-vealed much about the situation of women professionals.

Dr. Balmaceda brought up a recent article in the New York Times on the continued sub-ordination of women in the workplace, noting that such treatment is not absent even in academia.

Dr. M’Cormack-Hale fur-

thered the topic by recalling an instance in which a student would refer to her as “Mrs. M’Cormack” but to her male colleague by his title.

Sophomores Katherine Wolchko and Emily Green, who spearhead the Women of Diplomacy Leadership Pro-gram, said there would be more programs like this panel in the future.

“We want to get more sto-ries and real first-hand experi-ences from what our contem-poraries have been doing,” Ms. Wolchko said.

Elizabeth Halpin is the As-sociate Dean of External Af-fairs. Additionally, she is the advisor of the Women of Di-plomacy Leadership Program.

Of her career, she said, “The theme of my career path is searching for opportunities rather than waiting for them to come to me. Don’t be dedicated to one career objective, let your-self explore other options.”

Dr. Naaborle Sackeyfio is an Assistant Professor as well as a member of the advisory board for Advancing Investments in Trade in Africa (AITA), a non-profit that works in devel-oping sustainable investment

practices in Africa. “My mission is

to be part of fo-rums and enlighten people interested in making a shift in the notion that Africa is a place of chaos,” she said.

Inspired by her Nigerian roots, her work entails much o n - t h e - g r o u n d teaching.

Associate Pro-fessor Dr. Fredline M’Cormack-Hale’s research focuses on governance in Sierra Leone, where she was born, and advocacy for wom-en’s organizations.

Concerning her foray into academia, she said, “I wanted to do something to make a differ-ence, but I didn’t think I wanted to teach with a Ph.D. My mas-ter’s [degree] mentor convinced me I could teach and make a difference at the same time.”

Although she initially thought her career path would include communications or documentaries, she found a passion in teaching when she came to Seton Hall.

“As a teacher, I really feel

committed not just to knowl-edge but to application as well,” she said.

Dr. Borislava Manojlovic is the Director of Research Proj-ects and Adjunct Professor of Conflict Analysis and Resolu-tion.

In the 1990s, the involve-ment of her native Croatia in the decade-long Yugoslav Wars inspired her to complete a mas-ter’s degree in English Lan-guage and Literature.

She worked closely with the United Nations, first as a trans-lator, then a project manager, then a field officer.

“I was part of these huge or-ganizations and saw that things

are not always done as they are supposed to be done. I wasn’t happy being there and not do-ing things that we promised to do,” she said of her experience.

Her study of Eastern Eu-ropean languages led to Seton Hall, and passion for her area of expertise made her stay.

She expressed that being a professor is much more than teaching, and she wouldn’t want it any other way:

“It’s not possible to have ev-erything, at least not at the same time. Anything you do, if you want to do it well, will take a lot of your effort.”

Contact Madison McHugh at madison.mchugh@student.shu.edu.

Women of Diplomacy Launches With Faculty SpeakersMadison McHugh

Associate Editor

Anthony DiFlorioStaff Writer

On January 29, the Em-bassy of Italy in Washington, D.C., hosted a panel of digitally connected journalists, activists, and United Nations and Unit-ed States Department of State personnel entitled “Diplomacy in the Participatory Age.”

As an ongoing installment of its Digital Diplomacy Series, the discussion highlighted the emerging role that the internet, social media, and greater inter-connectivity between peoples has on domestic statecraft and international diplomacy.

Italian Ambassador to the United States Claudio Bisognie-ro, opened the conversation to an audience of keen students, academics, and government of-ficials who were all invited to

tweet, post, upload, share, tag, hashtag, and blog about the se-ries.

“We are very proud of what we do in digital diplomacy and related issues and the things that the Embassy does on the web and with social media,” Mr. Bisogniero explained, “and our digital diplomacy series has tru-ly become an open forum on opportunities, on best practic-es, on challenges. A platform to discuss the definition of engagement and the role of in-novation and technology in our work.”

Following opening remarks, the discussion was guided by senior reporter at Foreign Pol-icy magazine John Hudson who took the opportunity to prompt panelists on their individual work in digital diplomacy, en-gagement, and organizing, al-

lowing an organic conversation of ideas and experiences to emerge.

Moira Whelan, Deputy As-sistant Secretary for Digital Strategy at the U.S. Depart-ment of State discussed the role that the agency has recent-ly assumed in online counter-terrorism towards the Islam-ic State and “cyber jihadists” through strategic social media campaigns.

Launched by State in De-cember 2013, the Think Again Turn Away Twitter account has received both praise and criti-cism for its ambition to engage moderate Muslims who are on the fence regarding jihad. “You can’t win the war of ideas if you aren’t participating,” Ms. Whel-an said.

Digital Director of the ONE Campaign Garth Moore

explored the massive social media platform that the ONE Campaign has on the African continent and the ways it pro-motes citizen-level engagement with activism, especially in areas which do not have readily avail-able internet access.

“The smartphone is grow-ing in Africa, so what we did is go to SMS for signing peti-tions and adding comments,” Mr. Moore said, referring to a large-scale agriculture campaign

petitions. “[We used] new social chan-

nels, new media partners work-ing within different realms. You really have to diversify channels in order to try to reach a lot of different peoples that you’re not always going to get through a hashtag or through Facebook.”

The event in its entirety may be viewed on the Italian Em-bassy’s YouTube page.

Contact Anthony DiFlorio at anthony.diflorio@student.shu.edu.

Italian Embassy Hosts Panel on Digital Diplomacy

Photo courtesy of Anthony DiFlorioChange.org’s Jake Brewer, Moira Whelan of the State Department, Brian Fung of The Washington Post, Aaron Sherinian of the UN Foundation, and the ONE Campaign’s Garth Moore.

Photo courtesy of Madison McHugh Dean Halpin, Dr. Sackeyfio, Dr. M’Cormack-Hale, Dr. Manojlovic, and Dr. Balmaceda with Emily Green and Katherine Wolchko.

focus on the February 2015Page 6

ISIS

As a plan to counter at-tack and eliminate the terror-ist group the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), President Barack Obama has unveiled a $4 trillion budget proposal for next year.

The budget provides $561 billion in base discretionary funding for the U.S. National Defense, $38 billion above se-questration levels, and $58 bil-lion for overseas contingency operations.

In a remark made by Presi-dent Obama for the 2016 Fis-cal Year in Bloomberg News, he stated that “just last week, top military officials told Con-gress that if Congress does nothing to stop sequestration, there could be serious conse-quences for our national secu-rity, at a time when our military is stretched on a whole range of issues. That’s why I want to work with Congress to replace

mindless austerity with smart investments that strengthen America. And we can do so in a way that is fiscally responsible.”

With the United States mil-itary dispersed in West Africa, dealing with the deadly Ebola virus, and Ukraine’s need of as-sistance in fending off pro-Rus-sian rebels, maintaining a high level of homeland security and fending off ISIS, exceeds the current budget. Attempting to deal with the current global events and provide protection to the U.S., Obama proposed an end to sequestration.

Although the proposal em-phasizes a need for a broader military budget, republicans criticize White House foreign policy on every front – from as-sisting Ukraine, to confronting the Islamic State militants.

Republican U.S. Senator John McCain challenged Barack Obama’s head of the Defense Department nominee, Ashton Carter, in an attempt to unveil the administration’s strategy

against ISIS, according to Po-litico.

Carter stated that the ad-ministration’s goal is to dimin-ish and defeat the Islamic State troops in a manner that “once they are beaten, they stay beat-en.” For the U.S., it does not only mean airstrikes, but the deployment of ground troops as well.

Fouad Hussein, chief of staff to Kurdish President Mas-soud Barzani, stated in ABC News that “to finish ISIS... you need to finish it on the ground. And on the ground, we are most of the time alone. So we need partners.” However, mo-bilizing ground troops to fight against the Islamic State mili-tants has proven a difficult task.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi stated in an interview that on the ground, there is a sense of Iraqis being on their own. Al-Abadi has emphasized that Iraq will not accept foreign troops on Iraqi soil, according to Associated Press.

As a response to al-Abadi’s conflicting decision, Ashton Carter proposed a program de-signed to train Syrian soldiers opposing the Islamic State mil-itants. However, this has raised more questions than answers.

In response to Carter’s plan, Republican South Carolina Sen-ator, Lindsey Graham, indicates that ISIS is not the only prob-lem.

We have to take into consid-eration the Assad air threat as well. According to ABC News, Graham states that “How in the world could you train some-body to go fight IS and then one day, they turn on Assad and not expect him to kill them before they get the capacity to come after him one day? How does this work without dealing with Assad?”

With Americans opposing the deployment of more troops to Iraq, according to CNN, Obama’s proposal of an in-creased military budget seems to be beneficial, because not

only does it provide assistance in West Africa and Ukraine, but also aids in the development of drones and missiles. This indicates a decrease in mili-tary troops deployed as well as providing assistance in the war against ISIS and Assad.

On February 2, the U.S. Central Command reported 27 airstrikes in the past 24 hours, including nine near Kobani, Syria, and 17 across Iraq, ac-cording to The Guardian.

Obama’s administration seems to parallel that of Nix-on’s. With the Obama admin-istration withdrawing troops from Iraq and Syria, similar measures as those taken during the Vietnam War have taken place.

We may be looking at a pro-longed war against the Islamic State militants, leading to a se-ries of casualties on both sides as the war in the Middle East continues.

Contact Omar Acosta at omar.acosta@student.shu.edu.

Omar AcostaStaff Writer

With a resurgent and recal-citrant Russia, the unrelenting campaign of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and economic and security con-cerns dominating the European Union, the international com-munity and United States face surmounting instability. The recent coup and subsequent power vacuum in Yemen will only augment the nature of the present crisis.

While the Islamic State has successfully dominated media and security concerns, its pre-decessor Al Qaeda, and more specifically Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, has not fad-ed into obscurity. The Parisian attacks on French cartoonists, allegedly committed by AQAP reflect the necessity of main-taining a sustained interest and Yemen.

On January 22, President Hadi and senior cabinet of-ficials deprived Yemen of a functioning government and the United States of a premier ally in its counter terrorism campaign. Yemen recently in-voked by Obama as a hallmark

of successfully orchestrated counterterrorism operations, has concerned security analysts long before it concerned jour-nalists. Following September 11, former President Ali Abdul-lah Saleh flew to Washington to meet President Bush and pro-claim his allegiance to the Unit-ed States in its War on Terror, according to journalist Jeremy Scahill of The Nation. Saleh permitted American Special Forces and drones within Ye-men, in return for military and economic aid.

The Houthi’s rise to pow-er elucidate the imperative for altering the prerogatives of the American campaign. The Houthis, who represent only 35 percent of Yemen’s population according to the Washington Post, once held considerable power before being removed in the 1960’s. They have since suffered marginalization and persecution at the hands of the regime. American involvement only served to exacerbate their decrees about an ineffective government.

The Bureau of Investigative Journalism maintains that 108 drone strikes have been con-

ducted in Yemen since 2002, resulting in the deaths of over 96 civilians. In conjunction, Ye-meni security forces frequently conduct raids which further isolate the population. Saleh, who was deposed in 2012 has been accused of directing and orchestrating Houthi attacks. American policymakers should be hesitant to deride anti-Amer-ican rhetoric permeated by Houthi rebels and cautious not to misappropriate ostensive loy-alties.

Despite vociferous protest against American efforts, the Houthi’s a Shia group equal-ly despise Al-Qaeda and have routinely assaulted and struck at their positions, according to Reuters. The previous year witnessed heavy clashes in the countries southern ports, with Houthi rebels engaging and killing multiple militants and depriving them of territory according to Al-Jazeera. Ad-ditionally, U.S. Drone strikes continue as January 26 and 31 witnessed the death of senior AQAP commanders according to the New York Times.

American policy mak-ers have been in contact with

Houthi commanders, but thus far have proved unsuccessful. The ability to cultivate a rela-tionship with a newly estab-lished power is crucial to ongo-ing war efforts. This will require a dynamic and reinvigorated military approach coupled with policies designed to reverse years of government neglect.

The military solution will in-volve a far more complex and nuanced approach than simply targeted drone strikes. Yeme-ni security forces must partner with local tribal leaders, who command significant author-ity in the country to reduce AQAP’s influence.

This plan is reiterated by Charles Schmitz, President of the American Institute for Ye-men, who confirmed that “local committees” and government forces drove Al-Qaeda from territory they controlled. In or-der to obtain their support, ef-forts must be made to improve the relationship with between the government and Yemeni civilians. Schmitz confirms “If people feel the government is on their side, they will work with intelligence and the police to help root out illegal activity.”

Yemen remains among the Arab world’s poorest nations despite its oil wealth. According to economist Ahmed Sham-makh, two percent of the pop-ulation controls eighty percent of its wealth. The country suf-fers from chronic poverty, with 50 percent of the people living severe poverty. Yemen isn’t just impoverished, it’s experienc-ing devastating droughts. Time recently reported that Yemen could be the first country to completely run out of water, due to unsound domestic pol-icies. Corruption, which has plagued the government for years is often the source of ani-mosity. While the regulation of water wells may seem trivial in relation to combatting terror-ists, it’s ultimately the most ef-ficacious tactic.

As Christopher Stevens, an international relations expert at the University of Pennsylvania told the New York Times “This is the time we move to provide them the aid to do more on the ground and let them do it. This Whack-a-Mole approach is not going to work anyway.”

Contact Joshua Siegel at joshua.siegel1@student.shu.edu.

Yemen Joshua Siegel

Staff Writer

middle east February 2015Page 7

As President Obama’s sixth year in office comes to a close, the personal vow to end the war in Afghanistan conflicts with the explicit timeta-ble set forth by the White House.

The 2015 Agenda promises that U.S. troops will slowly transition to a training of Afghani sol-diers even as the Middle East has seen an increas-ing amount of Islamist extremism in places such as Iraq and Syria.

In addition, recent events and events that will soon transpire are most certainly going to affect Obama’s mantra going into the new year.

Troops’ withdrawals may have public and po-litical support, but not the conflicts transpiring abroad. All in all, in order to understand this con-flict in its entirety, one must analyze from grass-roots all the way to the international level.

Ever since President Obama’s announcement last May on the role of U.S. troops and NATO forces through 2016, two key factors have sig-naled a change of pace in Afghanistan.

On the one hand, the growing instability in Iraq has triggered a major increase in American advisors to prevent anymore future retreats of Iraqi forces, according to The Washington Post.

On the other hand, many in Washington are quickly reassessing the Taliban violence in Af-ghanistan and neighboring Pakistan as an issue that may escalate into another Iraqi conflict.

This was further solidified by the December 16 school massacre in Peshawar where 148 peo-ple were slaughtered.

According to Stars and Stripes, a stabilizer for these issues in a timely fashion are the newly elected Afghan leaders who have shown a strong

willingness to work with their American coun-terparts.

In addition, power and legitimacy of the gov-ernment would be consolidated if the power sharing agreement between President Ghani and Prime Minister Abdullah proves successful.

Nevertheless, this could all fall due to differ-ing ethnic power bases.

According to the USA Today, Ghani is from southern Afghanistan’s Pashtun community while Abdullah’s political base is situated mainly in the northern Tajik community.

These numerous factors at play have the ad-ministration perceiving “a higher level of risk in Afghanistan, but greater latitude as well for US action to counter it, said former top U.S. general David Barno.

In order to prevent another crisis on the scale of Iraq, the Pentagon has taking the initiative in recent months by utilizing an order signed by the President, according to Stars and Stripes.

The order authorizes the termination of any insurgents that may be gunning for the Afghan government.

However, according to Lisa Curtis, a senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation, the congressional takeover by the Republicans will only increase discussion on Capitol Hill regard-ing a modification of the drawdown plans.

Nevertheless, recent actions from both sides of the political divide can find common ground in the fact that Afghan security forces cannot stand on their own in the immediate future.

Contact Mathew Schaller at matthew.schaller@student.shu.edu.

Palestine

Matthew SchallerStaff Writer

AfghanistanPhoto courtesy of A.B.C. Maps & Guide Books

A map of the Middle East. Palestine is not labeled but is located to the left of Jordan.

The Palestinian Authori-ty has been strenuously trying to garner world support from diplomats and officials for sov-ereign statehood after its latest U.N. resolution was rejected on December 30, 2014, including a move to join the International Criminal Court, which would enable the Palestinian leader-ship to pursue Israel for grue-some war crimes.

U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon announced his ac-ceptance of the Palestinian Au-thority’s request to join the ICC in a statement published on the U.N.’s treaty website, claiming that the Palestinian Authority would be an official member of the ICC starting April 1, 2015.

In immediate retaliation to President Abbas signing of the Rome Statue and 19 oth-er international agreements to enroll in the ICC, Israel froze millions of tax revenue for Pal-estinians, Al Jazeera reports.

Additionally, threats to sus-pend U.S. aid to the Palestin-ian Authority emerged from Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, a Florida Republican and the head of the House’s Middle East and North Africa Subcommittee, according to political news website Mondoweiss.

Further, Israeli Prime Min-ister Benjamin Netanyahu warned that the Palestinians are the ones who should be worried not Israel, writes The Guardian. Netanyahu declared, “It is the Palestinian Authority–which is in a unity government with Hamas, an avowed terror-ist organization that, like ISIS, perpetrates war crimes–that needs to be concerned about the international criminal court in The Hague.”

Netanyahu’s remarks come at a time when Israel is under great scrutiny after the July 2014 assault on Gaza, labeled Operation Protective Edge, which resulted in the death of over 2,200 Palestinians, many

of whom were civilians, and the death of 70 Israelis, most of them soldiers. Amnesty In-ternational conducted an inves-tigation after the 50-day assault and concluded that Israel com-mitted war crimes towards the end of Operation Protective Edge.

European countries have demonstrated more support for Palestinian statehood with Sweden becoming the first Western E.U. country to recog-nize Palestine in October. Fol-lowing Sweden’s recognition of Palestine, French and Irish parliaments called on their gov-ernments to acknowledge an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel within its 1967 borders, reflecting changing public opinion across Europe.

Palestinian Authority Pres-ident Mahmoud Abbas filed to join the ICC a day after the rejection of Jordanian-backed U.N. resolution, which request-ed the end of the Israeli oc-cupation within a 3-year time frame and called for an end to increasing Israeli Jewish settle-ments on occupied territory. The resolution required nine “yes” votes to be implemented; it only received eight, and five abstentions. Australia and the U.S., which maintains that an independent Palestinian state should emerge only through negotiations, voted “no.”

Nigeria, which was expect-ed to vote “yes,” abstained from voting, after the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Ne-tanyahu and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry lobbied the Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan by calling him hours before he was due to vote, de-manding that he reject the res-olution, The Guardian reports.

Palestine was granted non-member observer State status at the United Nations on November 12, 2012.

Contact Halimah Elmariah at halimah.elmariah@student.shu.edu.

Halimah ElmariahStaff Writer

opinionsFebruary 2015Page 8

LOOKING FOR NEW PERSPECTIVES

Want to share your opinion?Write a letter to the editor and send it to thediplomaticenvoy@gmail.com.

Madeleine OldstoneStaff Writer

In early December of 2014, a 525 page report detailing the CIA’s use of torture and enhanced interrogation tech-niques was published and made available to the public. This re-port found that the U.S. gov-ernment used various forms of torture on detainees between 2001 and 2006 of which the public was not aware. During the Bush administration, polit-ically appointed lawyers at the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel “essentially wrote a permission slip” allow-ing CIA agents to use torture techniques during interroga-tion, according to US News.

As soon as President Obama entered office, he shut down secret detention sites and ordered the withdrawal of these legal opinions. Un-fortunately, he did not ensure accountability and bring those involved to justice.

There has been great debate between political parties and the public as to whether or not those involved should be tried. Regardless of one’s political party, it is important for us as a nation to bring those account-able to justice and stand by our American values.

The United States has been a leader in promoting human rights globally, and if we do not penalize offenders for the same violations in our own country, we are blatantly wallowing in our own hypocrisy.

As a world leader we are un-dermining our values, and risk further damage to our global image. We must be held at the same standards as the rest of the world, especially when it comes to international law.

Those who defend that these individuals should not be tried believe that the U.S. should move on from these accusations and also claim that these torture techniques were justified. The only way we should “move on” from this situation is by trying those who are accountable.

According to the Senate Intelligence Committee Re-port secured by CNN, some of the “extensive interrogation techniques” included water boarding, rectal feeding and hydration, sleep deprivation, hypothermia, death threats, and other techniques that led to extreme psychological and behavioral issues.

These techniques were “justified” under claims that they were necessary to protect national security from future terrorist attacks. However ac-cording the Senate Intelligence Committee report, “The use of the CIA’s enhanced interro-gation techniques was not an effective means of obtaining accurate information.”

In addition, many of the detainees fabricated informa-tion which “led the CIA to pur-sue dead leads that did not help in the fight against al-Qaeda” according to the report. There is also evidence that torture techniques did not assist in the capture of Bin Laden. In fact, the most accurate information leading to his capture came from a detainee through tradi-tional interrogation, before he was tortured.

Demanding justice for those with direct involvement in the torture techniques would be a step forward in revising the U.S. Criminal Justice Sys-tem, which has been shown to be deeply flawed and a blatant violator of human rights.

If we continue to let those who stray from our country’s values and international laws remain unprosecuted, we risk further corrupting our own justice system which may lead us down a very dangerous path.

We cannot preach the pro-motion of international human rights and laws if we ourselves refuse to follow it. Surely, there are other alternatives to gaining national security intelligence that would be more effective and more aligned with our American values. It’s time we seek alternative means.

Contact Madeleine Oldstone at madeleine.oldstone@student.shu.

CIA Torture Report: Demand Accountability Does this seem different?

That’s because it is.Welcome to The Diplo-

matic Envoy 2015 – new year, new editorial board, new plat-form. Finally entering the 21st century and making the Envoy accessible online for a wider audience necessitated a reshuf-fling of our staff and editors to fields of specialization.

The print publication will continue to be distributed monthly – however, the launch of TheDiplomaticEnvoy.com will allow writers to publish news as it happens. This is our way of giving back to the writ-ers who have been the back-bone of the Envoy through the years.

The new Envoy is commit-ted to quick coverage in greater quantities with quality writing. Starting this semester, the ed-itors will be working closely with writers to develop stories, especially those geared towards opinion and analysis. Writing for the Envoy will be a way to exercise the critical thinking and foreign policy analysis skills

learned in the classroom and from professional experienc-es, as well as an opportunity to learn effective writing and build a portfolio focused on your re-gion of specialization.

We have also expanded the School of Diplomacy News section to accommodate the many Diplomacy-related events occurring in Seton Hall and in nearby New York City.

These events are an oppor-tunity for our writers to engage in active journalism, on-the-ground reporting for the cam-pus community through social media, and interviews with per-sons of influence.

Recruitment will be contin-uous throughout the semester. We welcome eager and ambi-tious writers who are willing to learn and collaborate, not only with the editors but also with their fellow staffers.

Aside from in-house collab-orations, we are also exploring projects with other student-run organizations within the School of Diplomacy, such as The Global Current and SHUNA.

We are grateful to faculty members who have been im-mensely supportive of our en-deavors, specifically by volun-teering their time and expertise to write for the new Faculty Contributors section. Features on our distinguished profes-sors’ exciting research work have been slated for coming is-sues of the Envoy.

Finally, the new Envoy is the foreign affairs news organ of not only the School of Di-plomacy, but also the Seton Hall community at large. The Letters to the Editor section is open to everyone within and outside the School of Diplo-macy, as well as to everyone within and outside Seton Hall, to whom our content will be accessible online.

For interested parties look-ing to join our team or con-tribute Letters to the Editor, please direct your inquiries and submissions to thediplomaticenvoy@gmail.com, and don’t forget to visit TheDiplomaticEnvoy.com on February 23.

SCHOOL OF DIPLOMACY &

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONSFrancesca Regalado

Managing EditorAreej Elahi

Editor-in-Chief, PrintRyan Sullivan

Editor-in-Chief, Online

Madison McHughAssociate Editor

Abby ShamrayNews Editor

Stephanie PowersOpinion Editor

Emily BalanLayout & Copy Editor

Dean Courtney SmithFaculty Advisor

Kathryn Chaney

Matthew Schaller

John Carey

Halimah Elmariah

Joshua Siegel

Angelo Piro

Cynthia Sularz Mohammed Syed

Lucy Njuguna

Omar Acosta

Avonelle Davis

Katherine Wolchko

Anthony DiFlorio

Thomas Cullen

Anna Bondi

Brittany ZiobronMadeleine Oldstone

Staff Writers and Contributers

This publication is made possible through the generosity of the Constance J. Millstein, Esq. endoweded fund.

The views expressed in The Diplomatic Envoy are those of the writers and are not intended to represent the views of The school of Diplomacy, Seton Hall University, or the CJM Fund.

opinion February 2015Page 9

Saudi-US Relationship Riddled With Hypocrisy

Katherine WolchkoStaff Writer

Why Cases Like Ferguson Are Bad for Foreign Policy

Photo courtesy of the US State Department President Obama and the First Lady, with Saudi King Salman, greet members of the Saudi royal family during the Obama’s visit in January 2015.

In May of 2014, Raif Bada-wi, a Saudi Arabian citizen, was arrested by the government for “insulting Islam” and violating a technology law, according to BBC. As his punishment, he will receive 1000 lashes, 10 years in prison, a 10-year travel ban, and a lifetime ban from us-ing social media.

In other words, Badawi’s life is now in danger because he wanted to make a difference in the world by making sure his, as well as other citizen’s voices were heard.

As Americans, we tend to take our freedoms for granted, when we should be using our resources to help save people such as Badawi.

While Badawi is just anoth-er casualty in the ever growing struggle of humanity against repressive forces in Saudi Ara-bia, as citizens of a government which has allied with Saudi Ara-bia, it is our job to speak up.

Badawi is a well-known blog-

ger and critic of the Saudi gov-ernment. He has written about the treatment of non-Muslims in Saudi Arabia and the need for a secular state.

According to the Guardian, he wrote in one of his pieces: “Secularism respects everyone and does not offend anyone ... Secularism ... is the practical solution to lift countries (in-cluding ours) out of the third world and into the first world.”

Although these remarks seem innocent and simple, they resulted in Badawi’s arrest for “insulting Islam through elec-tronic channels” and “going be-yond the realm of obedience.”

According to BBC, a judge even suggested that he be sen-tenced to death because he re-fused to apologize to God.

The Saudi government still issues warrants for people who disagree with Islamic ideals and makes sure they cannot express their opinions to the public nor have any choice of dissent.

The United States, howev-er, differs from Saudi Arabia in

many ways. Most importantly, it was cre-

ated as a place where people can be free from tyranny and be able to make their own choic-es and formulate their own thoughts.

The values of the U.S. are based on justice for humanity. How hypocritical would it be if we were to step away from those in need and let the inno-cent feel unnecessary agony?

As citizens of America, it is our responsibility to urge our government to hold Saudi Arabia to the same standards to which we hold other countries.

It is time we made it clear that they are not exempt due to our allied status.

Therefore, it would be in the United States’ interest to pro-mote basic human rights as well as democracy around the world.

So far there have been many organizations who have spoken out against Badawi’s punish-ment.

His wife told BBC News-hour, “I would like the West-ern governments to do more. I would like them to ask the Saudi government directly for his release, not just issue state-ments of condemnation.”

Several states have also spo-ken out about the subject but have made no immediate move to change what is being done.

Prince Charles and King Sal-man, even recently, had a talk

privately about plight of the jailed in Riyadh, The Guardian noted.

However, if actions aren’t taken soon, prisoners like Bad-awi will have to accept the pos-sibility that they will not be able to return to their families ever again.

As Americans, we should make the decision to raise awareness for those who risk their lives every day, simply by stating their opinions, and we should start doing so by forcing our government to take a more solid stance in cases such as Raif Badawi.

Contact Anna Bondi at anna.bondi@student.shu.edu.

Anna BondiStaff Writer

In the wake of seemingly endless instances of police bru-tality involving African-Ameri-can citizens, the national media has put a spotlight on the true injustice of these cases as not only examples of improper law enforcement conduct, but of blatant human rights violations as well.

Yet despite the domestic nature of these incidences, the international communitie has reacted in outrage as to the manner in which the United States is responding—or more appropriately, not respond-ing—to these cases.

Many from the internation-al community have cried out “hypocrisy!” as the U.S. contin-uously condemns such acts of institutional violence in other regions of the world while pas-sively ignoring the gross occur-rences within its own country.

Even Iranian Ayatollah Ali Khamenei entered in the debate through social media, tweet-ing about his disapproval of the U.S.’ take on Ferguson and jumping aboard the hashtag train with #BlackLivesMatter, according to CNN.

The fact of the matter is, the international community is in the right for criticizing the U.S. in this case, and should continue to do so.

One can easily understand how these domestic crises can generate and catalyze foreign criticism; the concept of a great power’s inability to solve its own problems at home, while continuing to act as the world’s police force, is one very, very difficult to grasp and accept at face value.

Moreover, the Obama Ad-ministration has not properly handled these repeated instanc-es of racial tension and police brutality, only worsening its ef-fects and this shared sentiment of general incompetence.

It’s easy to truly empathize

with international media on how the United States has only demeaned itself to a figure of duplicity when it comes to com-batting human rights violations.

Yet this is only marking half of the target. It is not only our hypocrisy in regards to these practices that is so appalling, but also our inability to effi-ciently solve, or to even address our own domestic issues is what ices the top of this topsy-turvy cake. We have essentially taken no action to promote progress and understanding within our divided society.

Obama’s reaction to Fer-guson is a prime example. He is facing a great deal of back-lash, notably from the African American community, on his response to the dilemma and the consequent protests held in the name of combatting racial profiling by the police.

His response was very quiet, very timid, and sadly, very pas-sive.

In a short statement, he argued that more extensive

involvement would only ig-nite these already-burning ten-sions and would thereby make matters in the community far worse, according to the Wash-ington Post.

In a failed attempt to come across as pro-active rather than inactive, he instead called for a substantial chunk of federal funding—$263 million— to go to more efficient police training and other areas of reform.

Granted, $75 million portion of this funding for body cam-eras on active police officers is an appropriate initiative, and one that can be of some use in clarifying the circumstances of these cases, but the voice and the figure of leadership is quite lacking.

In hindsight, the damage that has been done to U.S. for-eign policy is not only because we are unwaveringly hypocrit-ical in our responses to inter-national violations of human rights, but also because we are unwaveringly consistent in our ability to do nothing more than

that. The implications of our

continued reputation as a two-faced state who is too incom-petent and too short-sighted to successfully solve its own crises of human rights does not, and will not bode well for coopera-tion amongst foreign leaders in the short or long run.

It is unfortunate that this reputation could have been somewhat salvaged by more extensive involvement on the part of the Obama Adminis-tration, yet it is much too late to save face now. At this point, our only hope is that the U.S. is able to perceive—and report—on substantial improvements in our own handlings of police enforcement.

Perhaps then we can con-vince world powers that we are more than adequately ad-dressing and preventing human rights violations, both at home and abroad, and possess the ca-pacity to do so in the future.

Contact Katherine Wolcho at katherine.wolchko@student.shu.edu.

opinionsFebruary 2015Page 10

Kathryn ChaneyStaff Writer

A terrorist attack in Paris on January 7 left 12 French cit-izens dead. The global commu-nity responded by condemning the action of terrorism and immediately offering aid to the French government.

Around the same time, during the week of January 9, Boko Haram carried out a series of attacks killing 2,000 civilians in northern Nigeria. However, the global commu-nity’s response to the attack in Nigeria compared to the attack in France was miniscule.

This response raises the question as to why there would be a greater global concern to a terrorist attack in France rather than Nigeria.

The answer is a simple fact that no one wants to admit; France is a stronger and more important nation than Nigeria to the international community.

According to CNN, Euro-pean Union members and the United States responded to the attack in Paris by expressing concern for both French na-tional security and national se-curity of other members of the global community.

Even Russian President Vladimir Putin made a state-ment offering Russia’s condo-lences and condemning the act of terrorism. However, none of the above parties responded with any great concern to the attack on Baga in Nigeria.

Why would the major play-ers of the international com-munity be more concerned with the death of twelve French citizens than the death of 2,000 Nigerians?

The fact of the matter is, France is a major power player in the international community and has been for a long time.

Since the Middle Ages, France has been turning the heads of their fellow nations.

The power of the French monarchy was instrumental in the diplomatic and political strategies of the rulers of great powers like British and Spanish empires.

France provided the means for the Americans to win the

war against England. Then the nation turned around and went through their own revolution, establishing a constitutional monarch rivaling that of En-gland’s.

Today, France arguably is the only government to suc-cessfully combine aspects of capitalism and socialism both politically and economically in the modern era.

Africa on the other hand has never reached the status of having a major impact on the world politically.

On the contrary, the current great powers have had more of an impact on forming Africa into its modern existence.

Many African nations, in-cluding Nigeria, were once col-onies of the Western world.

After they gained indepen-dence, these colonies never quite caught up to the develop-ment of the West.

Furthermore, these new na-tions often fell into the hands of corrupt regimes, leaving them vulnerable to the power and ideologies of organizations like Boko Haram.

While it seems that a terror-ist attack in a country such as Nigeria is not completely out of the ordinary, an attack in France undoubtedly is.

A terrorist attack in Africa does not directly threaten the security of the global commu-nity, but for the current major states of the world, a terrorist attack in France does.

In the eyes of the global community, if terrorists can reach Paris, what is stopping them from targeting London, Berlin, Moscow, or Washington D.C. next?

Furthermore, with an at-tack on Paris, the citizens of the global community see their lives and the lives of their fam-ily and friends at risk.

Unfortunately, 2,000 deaths in Africa means more of the same conflict that has been going on for over a decade. Twelve deaths in France creates a fear of the unknown.

Contact Kathryn Chaney at kathryn.chaney@student.shu.edu.

Why France and Not Nigeria?

Out of the ashes of the tragedy rose the slogan, “Je suis Charlie,” french for ‘I am Charlie’ adopted by sup-porters of free speech and press around the world. The slogan quickly went viral on Twitter, and became the symbol of resilience in the face of terrorism and the suppression of freedom of speech.

On Jan. 12, Charlie Heb-do carried on with their publishing unabated, and re-vealed their magazine cover for the week of January 14. It featured a cover illustra-tion depicting the Prophet Muhammad shedding a tear while holding a sign with the “Je suis Charlie” slogan on it, standing below the words “Tout est pardonné,” french for “All is forgiven.”

The cover was designed by Renald Luzier, who works under the pen-name of Luz. In an interview with Libera-tion, Luz stated, “With this cover, we wanted to show that at any given moment, we have the right to do any-thing, to redo anything, and to use our characters the way we want to.

Mohammed has become a character, in spite of himself, a character in the news, be-cause there are people who speak on his behalf. This is a cover aimed at intelligent people, who are much more numerous than you think, whether they’re atheists, Catholics, or Muslims.”

The cover was released following the day after an estimated 1.5 million people marched in Paris in order to show solidarity with Charlie Hebdo.

Washington Post report-ed that “on the streets of Paris, Christians, atheists, Jews and Muslims stood side by side, sending up shouts of ‘Charlie, Charlie, freedom of speech!’”

Joachim Roncin, a staffer at fashion magazine Stylist, created the slogan “Je suis Charlie,” which has been shared by people and media outlets around the world. He had barely 400 followers at the time, but his hashtags #JeSuisCharlie and #IAm-CharlieHebdo were shared in over 5 million tweets.

“This is what Je Suis Charlie actually means: I am free, I am not afraid,” said Roncin in an interview with BBC News.

While Charlie Hebdo typ-ically has a publication of about 60,000 subscribers, the “Je Suis Charlie” edition ran beyond five million, selling internationally.

Some radical Muslims did not react to the cover posi-tively, with sectarian riots in Niger resulting in 10 deaths, with more than 170 injured and 45 churches burnt. Alge-ria, Somalia, Sudan, Afghan-istan, India, Pakistan, Mali, Senegal, and Mauritania also saw protests.

Many European Muslims also took to constructively criticizing Charlie Hebdo’s practices. “They’re mak-ing Charlie Hebdo into the symbol of France and of freedom of speech,” said M’hammed Henniche, Sec-retary General of the Union of Muslim Associations of Seine-Saint-Denis, in an in-terview with The Atlantic. “A newspaper can’t insult a seg-ment of the population and be the symbol of France.”

However, most Mus-lims around the world con-demned these protests and tensions, arguing for peace and impartiality on the sub-ject.

Contact Mohammed Syed at mohammed.syed@student.shu.

Continued from Page 1...

Charlie Hebdo Refuses to Back Down

Photos courtesy of FlickrProtestor at the March For Unity days after the January 7 Charlie Hebdo attack.

looking aheadFebruary 2015Page 11

Insights from U.S. Youth Observer to the U.N. Jackson DouganInterview by Daniel Garay

Associate Producer, The Global Current

Days after the 2015 ECOSOC Youth Forum, The Global Current’s Daniel Ga-ray spoke with Jackson Dou-gan, U.S. Youth Observer to the United Nations via phone interview. Last semester, Mr. Dougan visited Seton Hall to interact with members of the university’s United Nations As-sociation of the United States of America (UNA-USA) chap-ter. The conversation continued at the United Nations Head-quarters, where Mr. Dougan greeted the Seton Hall delega-tion during the forum.

Mr. Dougan is a scientist by profession, having graduated from Oregon State University in 2013 with a degree in Biol-ogy. He was chosen to serve a year-long tenure as the United States’ youth representative in August 2014.

The Global Current (GC): What does it mean to be the U.S. Youth Observer?

Jackson Dougan (JD): The position was created to really el-evate youth voice to the level of global policy dialogue and I’m at the United Nations trying my best to represent the many voices of American youth.

GC: You were one of the many observers and delegates over at the ECOSOC Youth Forum and the main topic of discussion was the sustainable development goals (SDGs). What is your opinion on the SDGs?

JD: What I think, as an indi-vidual citizen, with the sustain-able development goals is that they have to be big and they have to be broad because one, we’re dealing with the Unit-ed Nations, we’re dealing with the global citizenry so we’re not dealing with one country, one locale. And two, we’re not looking at 1.5 seconds. We’re looking at 15 years, so if we’re looking at one specific thing that can be achieved in five years, that’s not necessarily go-ing to concur with the rest of the goals that we need to live long-term, like eliminating ex-treme poverty by 2030. They

should be broad, they should be long-term, and they should be measurable. We should have metrics we’ll be able to employ to measure whether or not we’ve actually succeeded in these overarching goals.

GC: In the sustainable de-velopment goals, there are sev-enteen of them that are on the table for discussion. As Youth Observer, which goals do you [most] want to see implement-ed?

JD: Instead of answering specific goals, I would choose contextual goals. I think those metrics that need to be em-ployed to eliminate poverty have to be treated. Second, those goals surrounding the dire climate change crisis need to be instituted and to be dis-cussed. And third, I think those goals surrounding equal access to education and gender em-powerment – because the two go hand in hand – must also be discussed and must also be em-ployed.

GC: What did you think of the forum in general?

JD: I thought the forum was a useful platform to bring

together youth and policymak-ers to further discuss ideas sur-rounding the sustainable devel-opment goals, and I think that the forum served [as] a ben-eficial platform once again to discuss ideas relating to other key U.N. bodies, like the U.N. Commission on the Status of Women.

There was a short session held on gender equality and I think a lot of things came up in that session that can be brought to the attention of policymak-ers in other spheres of the U.N. and specifically with regard to that session, the policymakers in the Commission on the Sta-tus of Women, which will be holding such a forum later in March this year.

GC: Regarding youth policy, what would you have to say to someone who lives in a place of economic downturn or a place devastated by extremism along the lines of something they can do locally to shape the world we live in?

JD: Challenge your commu-nity leaders. Don’t be afraid to challenge. As individuals, we have that inherent right to chal-

lenge the system. Try to get those political leaders and busi-ness leaders to realize that they have the responsibility to create a space for youth and for the 1.8 billion voices that may not be heard worldwide.

GC: Do you think the re-sults of the ECOSOC Youth Forum will have any weight in the finalization of the SDGs?

JD: As far as creating a new sustainable development goal of universal youth access to policymakers and positions of power for youth, I’m a lit-tle skeptical, but I’m hopeful. I think that hope was what brought all of the young dele-gates to the forum and I think that hope is what we should work within the next decades of working towards a more eq-uitable and sustainable world.

Daniel Garay is an associate pro-ducer of The Global Current. He is a Diplomacy and International Re-lations major, studying Russian and Arabic.

His interview with Mr. Dou-gan aired as part of The Global Current’s special coverage of the ECOSOC Youth Forum on Febru-ary 8, 2015.

Though I have always lived with the aim of helping others, the first time I really took action was with Student Voice.

In May 2012, I was in be-tween Undergrad and Grad School. I was sitting in my re-cently rented East Orange, NJ basement, wondering what my next move was.

Randomly on Twitter one Monday night, I was invited to join a Twitter chat. A Twitter chat is a conversation revolving around a hashtag. In some cases these conversations are set by organizations.

I joined this hashtag con-versation that night. Using the hashtag #StuVoice, we dis-

cussed topics ranging from cy-berbullying, students on educa-tion boards, the lack of student engagement, and the always controversial issue of standard-ized testing.

These discussions allowed me to reflect on my time in school when I felt powerless or it did not seem like I could real-ly open up to my teachers about what would help me learn best.

What we soon learned was that an open conversation with students, teachers, and other key figures in education, is a factor that has been ignored for too long.

With our generation, one deemed unfairly as complacent and lazy (thanks, Times mag-azine), we must work to open this door of communication

like never before.In months, a group of 20

students, all part of the Student Voice movement, began work-ing with corporate sponsors to take the Twitter discussion to real life.

Alongside students from around the country, we launched an event that was seen in almost every state and over 20 different countries. This landmark was the launch of Student Voice Live!

After Student Voice Live! our group of 20 began to dwindle as creative differences surfaced. Not everyone agreed with everyone else’s vision of where Student Voice should go, yet we all agreed there was still a need for a Student Voice.

From our original organi-

zation, many amazing activist have stepped up.

After the summer of 2013, I took over as second-in-com-mand of the Student Voice non-profit. With prior knowledge of 501(c)(3)’s, I wrote our original business plans and budgets, filed our 501(c)(3) forms to the IRS, and in June 2014, we be-came a recognized student-run nonprofit organization.

We now have a staff of only six department heads, a half dozen interns, and five board members who all help to orga-nize our live conferences.

When we first started Stu-dent Voice, there was little ev-idence that we would one day become an organization known by millions of people world-wide.

We soon found out how-ever that teachers, corpora-tions, foundations, and other concerned parties were willing to join and actively campaign alongside students.

Soon we will take our Stu-dent Voice Live! model around the country to places like Las Vegas, Boston, San Francisco, and San Diego just to name a few.

We will also be pitching a Student Bill of Rights idea that we hope will give power to students worldwide who want their voices heard.

If you want to join the #StuVoice movement, use our hashtag on Mondays at 8:30 p.m.

Contact Lee Nave at lee@stuvoice.org.

Lee NaveContributor

Are you or do you know an alumnus interested in writing? Contact Areej Elahi at areej.elahisiddiqui@student.shu.edu.

Graduate Student Finds Calling on Social Media

words from abroad February 2015Page 12

Avonelle Davis: Heredia, Costa Rica

Photo courtesy of Avonelle Davis Avonelle Davis (in shades and head wrap) with fellow students holding up the flag of Costa Rica..

¡Hola! My name is Avonelle Davis and I am a sophomore diplomacy major at Seton Hall, originally from Mt. Pocono, PA. I am spending Spring 2015 in Heredia, Costa Rica, taking classes in Advanced Spanish and a few courses on Latin American History, Literature, and Art at La Universidad Lati-na. As an introduction to my column in the Envoy, I’m going to share tips that I’ve picked up while preparing for my trip.

Tip 1: “Pre-Immerse” Yourself: I knew it would be very difficult to keep myself practicing Spanish over winter break. In order to avoid losing any progress in Spanish I have made, I tried to do simple things to keep myself up to speed.

Often, we learn the word for items like kitchen appliances or bathroom items early in our language journey, but as gram-mar becomes the focus of our study, simple vocab words for items you will use abroad every day tend to be forgotten.

The first thing I did was to label commonly used items in my house with their Spanish names.

Another method of pre-travel immersion is to keep up to date with the events in the region you’ll be visiting.

A good way to do to this is to skim a well-regarded local news site at least every few days to brief yourself on local poli-tics and culture.

While no one actually ex-pects you to be a walking alma-nac when you arrive, you may find it helpful to have an under-standing of current events in your town.

Tip 2: Make a List: One of my most important rules for traveling is that no packing list is too detailed. It’s really im-portant to give yourself a week to prepare a proper packing list. I say this because you need time to take note of the things that you use on a regular basis, but maybe not every day. Being able to check these items off of a physical list makes it easier to remember important things.

But remember, a detailed packing list is different from a large one. Over-packing is a very easy crime to commit. That one face mask that you only use every month or so should stay

home along with 12 of your 15 pairs of sunglasses and your perfume collection. Even if you do find yourself with enough room in your suitcase on the way there, you won’t have much room for anything you could buy to bring home.

Tip 3: Stay Organized: This should go without say-ing, but if you are anything like me, organization just isn’t your thing. And that’s okay. My ad-vice for staying on top of things is to try your hardest to keep important documents in one place.

Find a safe place away from all of your clutter to store items like your passport, flight sched-

ule, and other study abroad forms. This way, when it’s time to leave, you won’t find yourself in a panic trying to find every-thing you need. Trust me when I say that you don’t want to be the person who scrambles for their passport the night before they leave.

Tip 4: Give Yourself a Break: Leaving everything that is familiar to you is stressful for so many reasons. It is complete-ly normal for you to be freak-ing out. Allow yourself time to worry about getting through Customs, whether your host family will like you, how long it will take for you to learn a new language, or if you’ll be plagued

with eternal homesickness. Chances are, none of these

things will happen and you will have an amazing time, but since worry is inevitable, just let it happen. Once you step off the plane in your new (temporary) home, the excitement will take over and most of your stress will be all but forgotten.

Hopefully, these tips help relieve some apprehension any-one may have about preparing for a trip of any length. I will continue to document my trip on the Envoy website, so look out for updates!

¡Hasta luego!Contact Avonelle Davis at

avonelle.davis@student.shu.edu.

I spent the Fall 2014 se-mester in Moscow, Russia, at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations, or MGIMO University. The busi-ness and international relations program was run by CIEE and it was their first year operating in Moscow. MGIMO is in the Top 5 Russian universities.

In many ways, it was a very interesting time to study in MGIMO as well as to be inside Russia because of the current political and economic events. My courses were all in English, but they were taught by Rus-sian professors, and included US-Russian Relations, Russian Foreign Policy, Contemporary Politics in Russia, and a credit-ed internship with Russia in the WTO.

The atmosphere that I en-countered in Moscow was an acceptance of foreigners such as myself. I did not feel that I was targeted at all for not look-ing or sounding like a native

Russian, although I tried my hardest to assimilate.

I felt that since Moscow is such an international city, there was really no reason to expect people to be xenophobic. De-spite this, I felt that there was widespread distain for NATO, and especially the United States, in terms of foreign policy dif-ferences.

This opinion was strongest in my US-Russian relations class, where the opinion of the professor was that the West was acting hypocritically when the issue of Crimea and Ukraine came up. My Russian profes-sors stuck to the narrative that Russia and NATO are not of-ficially involved in supplying ei-ther side in the conflict in East-ern Ukraine.

Despite this, they spoke as if both sides were involved. They felt that NATO has no reason to exist anymore because the ma-jor power that it was designed to counter, the Warsaw Pact, is

defunct, and that NATO is in no position to talk about the illegality of Russia’s supposed backing of the pro-Russian reb-els in Eastern Ukraine because of NATO’s instigation of con-flicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the bombing of both Libya and Yugoslavia.

Regarding Vladimir Putin, public opinion of his actions as President are much more posi-tive compared to public opinion of Barak Obama in the United States.

The main reason for this is that people think Putin is on a mission to stand up to NATO expansion and develop positive relations with China. It’s not an issue of the fairness or the mo-rality of Putin, but an issue of David standing up to the Goli-ath of NATO.

The one foil to Putin’s ad-ministration was the massive collapse of oil prices, leading to the crash of the ruble. The exchange rate was 1 dollar to 48

rubles when I arrived in Mos-cow at the end of August, and it plummeted to 71 rubles per U.S. dollar when I left in De-cember.

This was a big deal because people realized how vulnerable the Russian economy still is, but at the same time, people were not terribly concerned because they have been through worse during the post-collapse infla-tion in the 90s.

The reluctance of the West to help a struggling Russian Federation in its early days is still an area of bitterness among the professors, who feel that Russia was intentionally left to fend for itself because a strong Russia is always a threat to the power of the United States.

Politics aside, the places that I traveled to in Russia were absolutely beautiful. I visited Saint Petersburg earlier in the fall. There, I realized that the Hermitage Palace and Peterhof residence may just be the most

beautiful places I have ever seen.

I visited the historic Vlad-imir on the outskirts of Mos-cow. This was the capital of one of the principalities that ruled part of medieval Russia.

Speaking of medieval Rus-sia, I also visited a city approx-imately 15 hours southeast of Moscow called Kazan. It was a region of Russia that has a mixed history under the Mus-lim Mongol Tatars as well as the Eastern Orthodox Russians.

Finally, I visited Volgograd in the south of Russia. This city used to be called Stalingrad, and it witnessed the first Soviet victory on the eastern front of World War II. It was amazing to have the honor of visiting the place and paying my respects to the fallen warriors who defend-ed the city, which was so strate-gically important to the survival of the Soviet Union.

Contact Thomas Cullen at thomas.cullen@student.shu.edu.

Thomas Cullen: Moscow, Russia