Volume VIV Issue IV February 2016

Security Council Approves Mission to Aid Colombia Peace Talks

Leah CerilliStaff Writer

Zika Virus Spreads in AmericasFear Rises in the US

Angelo PiroStaff Writer

INSIDE

FOCUS ON POLITICAL SILENCING pages 6&7

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Obama SOTU; American Student in North KoreaPage 2

Corruption in China; Ethiopian DroughtPage 3

Page 11

diplomacy news

Dulce Update; Pirate Perspectives

Samantha Power at SHU; Open SpacePage 12

Economic Benefits of Refugees in Europe; U.S. Labor Conditions

Opinion

Page 8

Russia in Syria;U.S. Hypocrisy on WhistelblowersPage 9

World Economic Forum; Pope hosts Iranian President; Bolivian Lake DroughtPage 4

Continued on Page 5...

Photos courtesy of Semancha.com The UNSC Resolution 2261 resolves to find a solution to the decades-long conflict in the South American nation. The sign reads ‘Colobia wants peace’ (top). The peace talks started in Havana, Cuba (bottom) in November 2012.

Page 5Iran Nuclear Deal

Continued on Page 5...

The total number of coun-tries and territories affected by the Zika virus has now risen to 23, as the Wall Street Journal confirms cases of the disease in Ecuador and Peru. The vi-rus “is now spreading explo-sively,” reports World Health Organization Director Gener-al Margaret Chan.

The virus, which has in-fected between 3 and 4 mil-lion people over the last 12 months, will likely spread to all countries in the Americas ex-cept Canada and Chile, where the Aedes mosquito cannot be found.

The Zika virus is a new epidemic in the Americas,

with the first cases reported in Brazil in May 2015. While the mosquito-borne disease is nonthreatening to most peo-ple, with most patients show-ing either no symptoms or mild symptoms such as fever, rash, and fatigue, the virus is of grave concern to pregnant women.

Though a link has not been confirmed, babies born to pregnant women infected with Zika have been diagnosed with certain birth defects, such as microcephaly, characterized by an abnormally small head, and Guillain-Barre syndrome, a se-vere neurological condition.

The disease was noticed only after a severe spike in re-ported cases of microcephaly in Brazil.

In addition to cases in Cen-tral and South America, the virus has also been reported in people in the United States, the United Kingdom, and In-dia who had recently travelled to affected countries.

While the outbreak of the disease in the U.S. is rather un-

likely, according to an expert interviewed by CNN, the virus is carried by the same mosqui-toes that carry dengue fever, of which there has recently been an outbreak in Hawaii.

Photos courtesy of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention Countries and area with active Zika virus transmission and reported cases.

The United Nations Securi-ty Council unanimously passed Resolution 2261 authorizing the creation of a political mis-sion to monitor the Colombi-an peace deal. The resolution, following a joint request by the Colombian government and the left-wing Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), sent a strong message that a final peace agreement could be reached by the March 23 deadline, according to BBC News.

The mission will help mon-itor and verify rebel disarma-ment on the condition of a final peace deal being reached, and consist of unarmed ob-servers from Latin American and Caribbean nations. Ac-cording to Reuters, the Coun-cil would “establish a political mission to participate for a pe-riod of 12 months…to moni-

tor and verify the definitive bi-lateral ceasefire and cessation of hostilities, and the laying down of arms.”

As Al Jazeera reports, part of the U.N. resolution asks Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to make more detailed recommendations on the mis-sion’s size and operation.

Fighting between the Co-lombian government and rebel group FARC, the lon-gest-running armed conflict in the Western hemisphere, has resulted in more than 220,000 people killed and millions more displaced.

Even if a final peace agree-ment is reached, there will still be plenty of work to be done. U.S. Ambassador Samantha Power cautioned that there are more issues between the two sides that need to be resolved, such as the removal of land-mines and the re-integration of guerillas into society.

Page 10

foreign correspondents

Colin Kimberlin;Emily Green

international newsFebruary 2016Page 2

Progress Made and a Vision for the FutureObama’s Final SOTU

Leah CerilliStaff Writer

Thomas AsheStaff Writer

American Student Detained in North Korea

Photo courtesy of YouTubePresident Obama did his speech for last State of the Union as President. Seated behind him are Vice President Joe Biden and House Speaker Paul Ryan.

A 21-year-old University of Virginia student was arrested and detained in North Korea for allegedly taking part in “anti-state activity and hostile acts” against the state, accord-ing to the Washington Post.

Otto Frederick Warmbier was detained at Pyongyang’s Sunan International Airport upon conclusion of a New Year’s trip to the hermit king-dom, organized by Young Pio-neer Tours.

The Korean Central News Agency said Warmbier was be-ing questioned for anti-state activity, adding that he “was arrested while perpetrating a hostile act against the DPRK

under the guise of being a tourist for the purpose of bringing down the foundation of its single-minded unity at the tacit connivance of the U.S. government and under its manipulation.”

Warmbier was stopped and taken in for questioning by airport officials, who later re-vealed that he had been hospi-talized, according to the Wash-ington Post. The remainder of the tour group was forced to leave without him and remain silent about his detention until the state-owned KCNA news outlet announced his arrest to the world.

According to Reuters, the incident took place at the Yanggakdo International Ho-tel, where the tour guests were

staying. Since then, North Ko-rea has remained quiet about the situation, offering no fur-ther information on Warmbi-er’s arrest or hospitalization.

The US State Department said that they are aware of the reports of a U.S. citizen in North Korea, but cited privacy concerns regarding giving out further details.

As pointed out by the Huff-ington Post, the vague charges issued by North Korea echo those directed towards oth-er Westerners detained in the past.

Canadian pastor Hyeon Soo Lim was detained during a humanitarian trip to a nursing home, nursery, and orphanage. Accused of using religion to destroy the North Korean sys-

tem, harming the dignity of the supreme leadership, and disseminating negative pro-paganda, he was convicted of “crimes against the state” and is currently serving a lifetime prison sentence with hard la-bor.

U.S. citizen Matthew Miller was accused of destroying his visa while in North Korea as a ploy to investigate the coun-try’s human rights situation, and sentenced to six years of hard labor.

Similarly, American mis-sionary Kenneth Bae was de-tained while leading a tour group and sentenced to 15 years of hard labor for “an-ti-state acts.” Miller and Bae never fully served their sen-tences as the U.S. government

President Barack Obama on January 12 assured Amer-icans during his final State of the Union address that the na-tion remains strong. The Pres-ident struck a different tone, one unlike previous addresses to joint sessions of Congress. He reassured Americans that the United States is resilient and will never be destroyed.

While he recognized that specific policy agendas are im-portant and would be outlined, he stressed that he would not focus his address on what he would like to accomplish in his last year in office.

Rather, he chose to be bold and speak about America’s fu-ture, five and ten years from now. In a different approach, he spoke broadly about the challenges America faces and what changes he would like to implement.

Obama also spoke to the political gridlock facing Washington, posing the ques-tion: “Will we respond to the changes of our time with fear, turning inward as a nation, turning against each other as a people? Or will we face the future with confidence in who we are, in what we stand for,

in the incredible things that we can do together?”

The president called for members of Congress to come together and reach con-sensus on improving the econ-omy, technology, the political system, and security. The pres-ident shot back at Republicans, and notably at candidates in attendance hoping to succeed him, claiming that anyone who is claiming the economy is worse off today than when he entered office is “peddling fiction.”

Another shot at Repub-licans was his reminder that food stamp recipients did not cause the economic collapse Wall Street recklessness did. Acknowledging the need for America to once again regain top status in innovation, the president called for new, bold action to cure cancer, and he charged his number two with getting that job done. Vice President Joseph Biden lost his son to cancer last year.

President Obama spoke clearly to the country’s securi-ty, saying that national security threats and climate change are both significant priorities for his administration. Challeng-ing critics of climate change, he spoke to the profound eco-nomic opportunities the coun-

try can capitalize on, like solar and wind energy.

Regarding threats from fail-ing states and ISIL, the presi-dent was clear, telling members of Congress to take a vote to authorize military force. “We just need to call them what they are -- killers and fanatics who have to be rooted out, hunted down, and destroyed,” the president said.

On politics, the president spoke about the need to work

together, and then interesting-ly, spoke directly to the Amer-ican people and called upon them to do more than just vote, because achieving prog-ress requires a change in the political system. He proposed that less money be involved in the process and people should be able to vote more easily.

One notable official in at-tendance was Kim Davis, the Kentucky clerk who refused to issue same-sex marriage licens-

es despite the Supreme Court ruling.

Ms. Davis attended as the guest of a Republican con-gressman, and likely did not appreciate when President Obama said, “It’s the son who finds the courage to come out as who he is, and the fa-ther whose love for that son overrides everything he’s been taught.”

Contact Thomas at thomas.ashe@student.shu.edu.

negotiated their release in No-vember 2014.

Warmbier’s mysterious arrest has rekindled debates about Westerners traveling to North Korea. In a travel alert, the U.S. State Department has warned about seemingly inof-fensive actions resulting in ar-rest and long-term detention, strongly advising U.S. citizens not to go.

Despite these warnings, thousands of Westerners opt to take the risk and visit the hermit kingdom every year. Young Pioneer Tours alone has provided tours to about 1,000 people a year, of which 40 per-cent are Americans, according to the Chronicle Telegram.

Contact Leah at leah.cerilli@student.shu.edu.

international news February 2016Page 3

Environmental Implications of the Ethiopian Drought

Abby ShamrayEditor-in-Chief

PRC Credibility Takes Hit as Currency Overvaluation Surfaces

Theodore EzikeStaff Writer

Photo courtesy of Al-Jezeera Devastating the Horn of Africa, this is the worst drought in the area in the last 50 years, and threatens as many as 10.2 million Ethiopians.

The anti-corruption com-mission of China’s Commu-nist Party announced on Janu-ary 26 that it was looking into the director of the National Bureau of Statistics for possi-ble “serious violations.”

The investigation of the NBS comes at a time when confidence in China’s self-re-porting of its economy is low among the international com-munity. This recent action is a continuation of President Xi Jinping’s promise to investi-gate any possible corruption in the government, a move that has already toppled several top officials, according to The Diplomat.

Chinese state news agency Xinhua reported in December that several officials had ad-mitted to inflating figures of growth. In 2012, the growth rate for Liaoning province was reported as 9.5 percent but had dropped to 2.7 percent in 2015.

Other regions are showing similar drops. One official ex-plained their actions by saying,

“If the past data had not been inflated, the current growth figures would not show such a precipitous fall.”

According to China’s offi-cial statistics, growth rates have slowed down in recent years, with the economy currently being the slowest it has been since 2009. Nonetheless, offi-cial records still show a steady 7 percent annual growth rate. Some analysts estimate that the pace may be as little as half the official figures, according to the New York Times.

The Conference Board’s Global Economic Outlook for 2015 decided against us-ing official statistics. Instead, the organization used a mod-el by Harry Wu that shows much more volatility than the consistent official figures indi-cate, according to Bloomberg Business. The official estimate for 2015 was 6.9 percent, but the Wu model calculates it to be around 4 percent. Analysts such as Wu take into account the difference between China’s commodity usage, which often does not align with the report-ed growth.

Wu’s model indicates

that China may have already reached the end of its period of rapid growth. According to The New York Times, an in-dustrial slowdown for China poses a large risk for the global economy. A larger concern for investors is not the slowdown itself but rather the govern-ment response to it.

“People see the weakness in China and in the overall eq-uity market and think there’s going to be an impact on cor-porations here in the United States,” Reuters quotes Robert

Pavlik, chief market strategist at Boston Private Wealth in New York.

The doubt that has long ex-isted regarding their economic figures has had a negative im-pact on how the Chinese econ-omy is viewed globally. The market suggests that the ren-minbi, the Chinese currency, is overvalued because of the country’s current debt burden and slow economic growth.

Chinese officials have con-tinued to state that the ren-minbi is not overvalued and

El Niño is the warming of the surface water in the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean, which is linked to an oscillation in the atmospheric pressure across the region. Michael Mann, a professor of atmospheric sci-ence at Penn State University Mann told reporters at NPR that, “It’s changing the be-havior of the oceans in a way that affects weather patterns around the globe.”

The effects of El Niño are far flung and can be felt all across the globe. El Niño 2015/2016 is estimated to be the warmest since 1997/1998.

This coupled with the fact that 2015 was the hottest year on record will mean an alarm-ing increase in Pacific Ocean temperature. Weather scientist believe that climate change will increase the odds of stronger El Niño events in the future, according to the World Meteo-

rological Organization.The effects of the El Niño

event has have absolutely dev-astated the Horn of Africa, particularly Ethiopia.

The country has been ex-periencinged its worst drought in over 50 years. Reuters re-ports that crop productivity has declined by as much as 90 percent in some areas. The crop failure has also negatively affected livestock in the coun-try. The food security of 10.2 million Ethiopians is being se-verely threatened.

According to Save the Chil-dren, of the 10.2 million Ethi-opians impacted, the drought is especially deadly for new-born infants.

Save the Children country director John Graham told Re-uters “Giving birth in a desper-ate situation where there are already serious food shortages, and where livestock have died en masse taking away a vital source of nutrition for breast-feeding mothers, is extremely

dangerous for both newborns and their mothers.” Graham has also called for more sup-port from the international community.

However, the international response has been middling at best. Save The Children has been seeking $100 million for the next 12 to 18 months. Ox-fam and other NGOs are also trying to locate funds to help tackle the drought that Ethio-pia is facing.

The Ethiopian Govern-ment has earmarked $200 million for basic needs. The United Nations is not faring much better. Office for the Coordination of Humanitari-an Affairs estimates that a to-tal of $1.4 billion is needed to combat the food shortage.

The international com-munity has only been able to pledge a quarter of the amount needed. Even then, most of the pledges have not been paid, which makes relief work difficult.

The drought has been a major setback for the Ethiopi-an economy. It is widely con-sidered to be one of the fast-est growing economies in the world and the fastest growing in the African Continent, with GDP growth of 10.6% in 2014 according to CNBCA-frica. Most of the country’s growth has stemmed from the agriculture industry, specifical-ly, small-scale farmers.

The future prospects for

Ethiopia are grim if you are to listen to Amadou Allahoury, United Nations Food and Ag-riculture Organization Repre-sentative for Ethiopia. Experts expect the drought to continue into 2016 and the number of people who are impacted by it to increase from 10.2 million to over 15 million if nothing substantive is done by interna-tional community.

Contact Theodore at theodore.ezike@student.shu.edu.

Photo courtesy of ABC News An investor looks with pessimism at the stock values at a stock exchange in China after the Asian economic giant reported the lowest growth since 2009.

have taken actions in order to ensure that the exchange rate remains favorable.

Despite their assertions, many countries have called for a regulatory response to the questionable official figures. Some members of the United States Congress, specifically Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio), have championed for the Trea-sury Department to declare the renminbi a manipulator and issue sanctions.

Contact Abby at abby.shamray@student.shu.edu.

international newsFebruary 2016Page 4

Emily GreenNews Editor

WEF 2016 Focuses on Gender Equality

Bolivian Lake Dries Up, El Niño to BlameAlexander Stringer

Staff Writer

Photo courtesy of Reuters Pope Francis hosts Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on his first visit to the West. This comes as sanctions against Iran have been lifted after the IAEA confirmed its compliance to the nuclear deal.

Over the course of human history, magicians have daz-zled audiences with increasing-ly grandiose tricks, yet it would seem that nature has found a way to top the best magic-men by making Lake Poopó, Boliv-ia’s second largest lake, disap-pear officially on December 17, with scientists pinning the cause on several differing fac-tors.

While this lake dried up before in 1994, it was quickly able to return to normal. This time the predictions are not as favorable. Due to climate change, the glaciers of the An-des, which feed the lake, have themselves disappeared. The faster fossil fuels are being burned, it is argued, the less likely a rebound is to happen, as water simply cannot stem from enough sources.

There is another phenome-non that has a hand in snatch-ing the lake: El Niño devel-oping in the Pacific. El Niño,

essentially a development of unseasonably warm air off the western coast of the Americas, has led to a severe drought in the nation, putting an even greater strain on an already draining lake.

Additionally, a lack of drainage to feed agricultural and mining operations nearby contributes to the problem. As industries have grown larg-er—consuming more water in the process—the lake needs to be replenished more rap-idly. Moreover, both of these industries have become par-alyzed, unable to work any-where near full capacity with-out the resource, leading to major economic ripples in the region.

Environmental and hu-manitarian tolls have been the effects of this phenomenon. The government “declared the area a ‘disaster zone” in 2014 in an effort to keep the lake from total evaporation, but to no avail. Now, only a few scav-enger birds and insects can be seen surviving on the rotting

carcasses of millions of fish and other aquatic life, accord-ing to some estimates, and some 75 different bird species are now gone from the lake as well.

Another effect is a humani-tarian crisis, as locals have now found their way of life, tradi-tionally dependent on fishing in Lake Poopo, nonexistent. The area becomes more bar-ren as locals search elsewhere for livelihood, selling their live-stock and possessions before leaving.

The Bolivian government has asked for approximately $140 million in aid to be able to take measures to rebuild the Poopo watershed, but most critics are saying that it is far too late to save the lake. The only hope left for those that remain stuck on the former banks is that the La Niña, the cold phase in the El Niño cycle, will bring exceptional amounts of rain to start to re-fill the basin.

Contact Alexander at alexander.stringer@student.shu.edu.

On January 20, more than 2,500 leading politicians, busi-nessmen, academics, and civil society representatives gath-ered in Davos-Klosters, Swit-zerland for the 45th World Economic Forum Annual Meeting (WEF). The four-day forum invited presidents and business executives to contem-plate the 2016 theme, “Master-ing the Fourth Revolution.”

The theme covered a wide range, including Forum Founder and Executive Chair-man Klaus Schwab’s recent al-lusion to an impending “tech-nological revolution” that would “fundamentally alter” the global community, trigger-ing both new innovations and a symptom of “greatest socie-tal concern,” inequality.

Tackling inequality took center stage following the release of the WEF’s Glob-al Gender Gap Report. Us-

ing “economic, educational, health-based, and political in-dicators,” the comprehensive 2015 report ranked 145 coun-tries based on how gender-in-clusive their economies were that year.

Nordic countries dominat-ed the list, with the top four slots. The United States held the 28th slot, falling eight places since 2014 due to “de-creased wage equality and changes in political positions.” Although the report recorded progress in women’s political representation, the document illustrated a persisting gap be-tween women’s education and labor force participation.

Addressing female labor force participation, ten For-tune 500 companies teamed up with UN Women’s HeForShe initiative for the organization’s inaugural 2016 Corporate Par-ity Report. The report, which profiles companies like Bar-clays and Twitter, recognizing industry leaders as ‘Corporate

Champions.’‘Champion’ CEOs under-

take three core commitments: sign a CEO statement of support for women’s empow-erment principles, launch He-ForShe within their company, and champion the campaign at the executive level. Although the report presented indus-try-wide inequalities, the com-panies in collaboration with HeForShe reported earnest progress in combating gender equality.

Despite focused seminars on gender equality, the WEF faced parity issues of its own. Women constituted a mea-ger 17 percent of 2016 par-ticipants, rising just one per-centage point from the year prior. With WEF’s history of high-level leaders, the lack of female representation reflects a reality where men remain at the top, in both the public and private sectors.

Contact Emily at emily.green@student.shu.edu.

Pope Francis Hosts Iranian President’s First Western Visit

Following his diplomat-ic endeavor to help restore U.S.-Cuban relations, Pope Francis has his eyes set on alle-viating the tension in the Mid-dle East.

Following the end of Iran’s international isolation, Pope Francis hosted President Has-san Rouhani in the Vatican.

The historic event marked the first visit of an Iranian president to the Vatican since 1999, when the then-president Mohammad Khatami visited Pope John Paul II, building a relationship that continued un-til the Pope’s death.

The main purpose of Rou-hani’s visit was to spark invest-ment interest in Iran’s econ-omy. The Middle East Eye reported that Rouhani want-ed his country to be seen as an “ideal base for companies seeking a foothold in a region of 300 million people, reassur-ing would-be investors their contracts would be honored.”

When President Rouhani reached Italy, he was greeted with a tour of the Capitoline Museum, where every renais-sance sculpture depicting nu-dity was covered to show “re-spect to the Iranian culture and sensitivity.”

Additionally, following the standard Italian procedure for hosting a Muslim dignitary, a diplomatic dinner was hosted without wine or alcohol, nor-mally a staple of Italian events.

When President Rouhani met with Pope Francis, the two

spent 40 minutes in the Vati-can speaking in private, with the assistance of a female in-terpreter.

At the end of their dis-cussion, reporters were fi-nally allowed to enter, as the Pope told Rouhani “I thank you for your visit and I hope for peace.” President Rouhani responded with one of the Pope’s catchphrases, stating, “I ask you to pray for me” and “it was a pleasure to meet you and I wish you well in your work.”

At the end of their meet-ing, the two exchanged gifts. Rouhani gave the Pope a hand-made carpet from the ancient city of Qom and the Pope presenting the Iranian Presi-dent with a medal depicting St. Martin cutting his cloak to give to a beggar.

Additionally, President Rouhani was given “Laudato Si,” the Pope’s extended essay on the environmental chal-lenges facing the world, in both English and Arabic.

While the specifics of the talks are unclear, the Vatican said that the two discussed “the importance of inter-religious dialogue and the responsibil-ity of religious communities in promoting reconciliation, tolerance, and peace.” CNN speculates the pair probably discussed the war and humani-tarian crisis in Syria.

This would be in the Pope’s best interest, taking into ac-count the number of Chris-tians endangered by Islamic extremists in the area.

Contact Felipe at felipe.bueno@student.shu.edu.

Felipe BuenoStaff Writer

opinion February 2016Page 5

Photo courtesy of Reuters The UN Security Council passed Resolution 2261 authorizing a political mis-sion to monitor the Colombian peace deal.

Zika Virus:

Continued from Page 1...

The spread of the Zika vi-rus has become so severe that the WHO called for an emer-gency committee meeting on Feb. 1 to assess the situation and recommend measures for treatment and prevention.

They will also attempt to gain some clarity about the reality and implications of the disease, and communicate the information to affected coun-tries.

“There is a lot of uncer-tainty about some of the real basics about this disease,” said Dr. Bruce Aylward, a WHO expert.

In response, the U.S. Cen-ters for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently issued a travel warning for all affected countries, especially warning pregnant women.

The outbreak has spurred new developments in fighting the virus and other mosqui-to-borne diseases, however, there is currently no treatment or vaccine for the virus.

A U.K. company, Oxitec, has developed a genetically modified version of the mos-quito species that carries Zika, among other diseases, that proves to reduce the species population by over 90 percent in tested areas in Brazil and Panama.

The threat of the Zika vi-rus has also overshadowed the upcoming Summer Olympic Games, which are to be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in less than 180 days.

NPR reports that the Inter-national Olympic Committee is doing all they can to work with the government of Bra-zil to protect visitors from the virus.

The mayor of Rio is also playing down the threat, claim-ing that the winter months are less likely to be as dangerous. The virus has been another hurdle in Brazil’s preparations, as it already faces a large short-fall in ticket sales that have necessitated a $500 million budget cut, according to the Associated Press.

Contact Angelo at angelo.piro@student.shu.edu.

UN Deal:Continued from Page 1...

Since formal peace talks began in 2012, there have been agreements on broad points such as land reform, drug traf-ficking, and transnational jus-tice. The Colombian people have shown a mixed response to the peace talks and agree-ments. Many are critical of the fact that guerilla leaders are likely to avoid going to jail for their crimes. According to BBC, a deal on transitional jus-tice made in September stipu-lates that those who admit to their crimes will be subject to “alternative forms of punish-ment” rather than ordinary prisons.

Former Colombian Pres-ident Alvaro Uribe argues the rebels are “getting away with murder,” referring to the aforementioned amnesty of-fer for rebels who confess to their crimes. Others point out

the high cost of reintegrating thousands of rebels into the population, as former com-batants will be offered psy-chological help and vocational training. Land reforms and re-placing illegal crops with legal alternatives will also come at great expense.

If the final peace deal is signed, President Juan Man-uel Santos will ask the Unit-ed States to remove FARC from the State Department’s list of terrorist organizations and suspend drug warrants against guerilla commanders, as reported by The Guardian. Santos also added he would like to see the U.S. suspend ar-rest warrants targeting FARC’s leadership.

In 2006, U.S. federal pros-ecutors accused fifty FARC leaders of supplying more than half of the world’s cocaine.

Santos called these claims ex-aggerated, but warned that if FARC leaders continued to dabble in the drug trade, they will be extradited.

Santos also pointed out that Colombia has evolved from an almost-failed state into one of the world’s fastest emerg-ing markets, with falling lev-els of guerilla-linked violence.

If the peace deal is finalized, demands for aid will surge as Colombia will seek to improve traditionally neglected and eco-nomically unproductive areas. Santos is optimistic that future aid will jump again and plans to discuss future funding with U.S. President Barack Obama.

Contact Leah at leah.cerilli@student.shu.edu.

Iran Deal: Too Early For CelebrationTela WittigStaff Writer

While the Western powers rush to congratulate them-selves on their diplomatic success in the Middle East, they disregard the capture of American soldiers, the danger of growing tensions, and the multitude of other unresolved issues that remain in the wake of the Iran nuclear deal.

The deal’s fruition has been 13 years of uphill climbing—now is the time to see wheth-er it will stabilize or pull the world down again. President Obama has publicly praised the progress made on the front of Iranian relations. However, tensions are still far too high to consider the progression of this accord as a success.

In an effort to maintain re-lations with all of the conflict-ing powers in the Middle East, the U.S. stands on both sides of a war in the making, point-ing to the fact that the U.S. has provided military and financial backing to Israel for years. In a September interview with CNN, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said, “I’d say [to Israel] that they

will not see [the end] of these 25 years.”

These aggressive senti-ments set the scene for the fail-ure of the nuclear deal that has been occupying headlines all winter. The nuclear disarma-ment of Iran aligns with U.S. interests in the region, consid-ering the tension between Iran and Israel.

However, the Ayatollah’s statement conveys that the terms of the nuclear deal do not preclude Iran’s future pur-suit of aggressive action, or to conform Iran to the will of the United States. Instead, it would seem that Iran is doing as little as necessary to regain access to crucial economic opportu-nities.

When the sanctions were lifted mid-January, Iran’s econ-omy gained roughly $100 bil-lion in assets. Such a rapid influx of funds is an unpredict-able variable when matched with a nation that has time and time again involved themselves in violence.

Economically speaking, new Iranian relations are a precarious venture, as it will mean that both European and American economies will have

a stake in Iran’s success from here on out. Not only that, but should Iran use this financial influx to fund terrorism, it will be the money of the West that they are using to do so.

According to the deal set by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Iran has fulfilled their end of the bargain and earned the remov-al of economic and trade sanc-tions.

Therein lies the problem: this stage of the deal is com-plete, yet centrifuges remain active within Iran, and there are some which they have no intention of disbanding, ac-

cording to Bloomberg. Over 10,000 kilograms of

uranium were shipped from Iran to Russia. While that was a great deal of their stockpile, it does not disable Iran from continuing to enrich uranium. Iran still maintains 300 kilo-grams and 5,000 active centri-fuges, Bloomberg reports.

The combined effect re-mains to be seen, but as it stands today, it is hard to see a future in which the Iran nu-clear deal becomes a shining example for peace through di-plomacy in the Middle East.

Contact Tela at tela.wittig@student.shu.edu.

Photo courtesy of NRTWhile the Western world and Iran celebrates the compliance of the landmark deal, it does not completely deprived Iran of its nuclear infrastructure, centrifuges, and stockpiles..

focus on political January 2016Page 6

RussiaDaniel D’Amico

Staff Writer

MexicoDaniel Garay

Web Editor

Of the many problems fac-ing Mexico, drug trafficking seems to be the most recog-nizable to the point where it has permeated the culture. From TV shows to music, the drug trade and the cartels are a prominent subject in modern Mexican culture.

Kingpins, like Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman and other cartel leaders travel relatively unmolested, and even respect-ed.

This is because of the inci-dent from September 26, 2014 in the city of Iguala in the southern part of the country, where 43 students disappeared by a collusion of federal sol-diers and cartel members.

However, in Michoacán where the cartels and the fed-eral government, both are

despised, rural communities build their own self-defense forces. They hunt down the cartels and watch out for cor-rupt federal policemen.

These problems have oc-curred as long as the drug war has been waged since 2006, but two incidents in 2015 brought heavy international scrutiny on how the Mexican government operates its forces.

2015 was a year where inci-dent upon incident where the faults of the Mexican military and federal police were pointed out in the nearly decade-long drug war. A common place for these incidents is Michoacán, according to The Guardian.

To start off the year, on Jan. 6, 2015, 16 people were killed in the town of Apa-tzingán, Michoacán. A self-de-fense force, groups of armed civilians that protect the local areas, had set up camp at the

city hall protesting the actions of the Mexican government. Only six people were armed with registered guns. The rest carried long sticks as part of the protest.

According to Human Rights Watch (HRW) and sev-eral local sources, witnesses reported soldiers firing on ci-vilians, those with their hands up, those who were begging, and those who were crouched under cars for safety.

A man wounded in the in-cident told HRW that police planted guns next to two men that were shot while taking cover. TeleSUR, a Spanish-lan-guage news source, confirmed the authenticity of a video taken by a bystander showing a man bleeding to death, ulti-mately left to die. Later, it was shown that the police deliber-ately placed guns by the bodies of those killed and left to die to stage the scene for their in-vestigation.

The federal security com-missioner of Michoacán, Al-fredo Castillo, is alleged to have order the men to fire on the armed group, according to Telesur. After this incident he stepped down from his post pending the conclusion of an internal investigation by the Interior Ministry.

Another incident in Micho-acán took place in Tanhuanto on May, 2015. The result of this clash ended in the deaths of 43 people, including one police officer. The federal police said that there was no extrajudicial killing of the 42 “suspected criminals” because they were under fire.

As with the case in Apa-tzingán, irregularities in the investigation were found and allegations of crime scene alteration were reported, ac-cording to The Guardian. By October 2015, the outrage was widespread to the point where international organizations like

the Inter-American Commis-sion on Human Rights and the United Nations Human Rights Council call upon the govern-ment to investigate these inci-dents thoroughly.

The outrage not only spawned action by internation-al groups, but even the U.S. government. The State De-partment last October recom-mended to Congress to with-hold 15 percent of security aid to Mexico.

The government of Mexi-co is in trouble. Areas of the nation feel safer under the protection of the cartels, or are better off forming their own self-defense forces. They feel that the government has failed them. And, with the government’s handling of the Iguala incident, why would the people of the rural areas want the federal government’s assis-tance?

Contact Daniel atdaniel.garay@student.shu.edu.

Many notable Russian cit-izens have suffered death by assassination, as reported by BBC News. The means vary, but the results are always the same. These murders, some more gruesome than others, have given Russia a certain negative reputation.

Boris Nemtsov, former co-chair of the Republican Party of Russia-People’s Freedom Party, was one of these vic-tims. He was shot and killed on the Great Moskvoretsky Bridge in Moscow on Febru-ary 27, 2015.

President Putin con-demned the murder speaking with BBC News calling it “en-tirely provocative in nature.” Anzor Gubashev and Zaur Dadayev were arrested soon after it happened.

According to BBC News, there are multiple theories as to why the murders happened. Some say he was killed for his opposition to President Putin while others accredit it to his views on Russian involvement in Ukraine and the Charlie Hebdo massacre in Paris.

Well-known opposition leader and friend to Nemtsov,

Alexei Navalny, Nemtsov’s daughter, Zhanna Nemtsova, believe the government to be guilty to some extent. Various Russian media sources pinned the blame on others outside of the country.

TV anchorman Dmitry Kiselev, said that he thought the West had the most to ben-efit from his death. Similarly, the pro-government Izves-tia newspaper claimed that Ukrainian secret service or-ganized the murder through Chechen hit men.

An ex-KGB agent, Alex-ander Litvinenko, was another to be assassinated, though his death involved greater suffer-ing.

According to CBS News, Litvinenko was poisoned after moving to London with what is known as Polonium 210. He died several weeks after in a hospital on November 23, 2006. Around the time of his death, not much was known other than the type of poison and his meeting with people whose identities were at that time unknown.

Recently, however, the in-vestigation has resurfaced accompanied with new infor-mation on who poisoned Lit-vinenko. The Guardian states

that Sir Owen’s reports show the poisoners to be Dmitry Kovtun and Andrei Lugovoi.

Prior to meeting with Lit-vinenko, signs of the poison were found in various places where they had resided. It is also said that they killed him on behalf of others, but who they are remains unknown.

Some speculate that Lit-vinenko’s associations with Boris Berezovsky and for-mer Chechen leader, Akhmed Zakayev along with his work for MI6 may have made him a target. Putin denies allegations of his involvement in the mur-der.

There were others who died although not as much is

known about their deaths. Sky News addresses others such as Boris Berezovsky, leader of the oligarchs before becoming an outspoken critic of Presi-dent Putin.

He died in Berkshire, En-gland as a result of supposed suicide although many ques-tion uncertain the cause, ac-cording to Sky News. Another critic of Putin was journalist Anna Politkovskaya who was shot dead at her Moscow apartment block on October 2006.

A human rights law-yer, Stanislav Markelov was gunned down along with journalist Anastasia Baburova when trying to help him in Jan-

uary 2009. This occurred after a press conference was held to protest the early release of an army colonel who murdered a Chechen girl. Markelov also represented Anna Politkovska-ya in this conference.

The two questions that lack definitive answers in all of these cases are why were they killed and who gave the order. They were all critics of President Putin, but the gov-ernment claims to have had no part in their deaths. In many cases the assassinations have been seen as a warning to those who oppose President Putin and the government.

Contact Daniel at daniel.damico@student.shu.edu.

Photo courtesy of Reuters The Committee to Protect Journalists’ Global Impunity Index ranks countries where at least five journalists have been murdered with impunity, including Mexico, Russia, and the Philippines. While it is not on the Global Impunity Index, Saudi Arabia is ranked by CPJ third of the 10 most censored countries.

Silencing February 2016Page 7

Saudi Arabia

Francesca RegaladoManaging Editor

Photo courtesy of The Media Project Over 30 journalists were killed in Maguindanao, located in southern Phillippines, in November 2009.

PhilippinesAlexander Stringer

Staff Writer

Saudi Arabia has, for some time been the topic of disgust as they continue to abuse and deny the rights of their citi-zens for swaying even remotely away from the theological ab-solute monarchy. Once again the world looked on in horror when on 2 January the oil-rich nation announced an execu-tion of 47 Shia, culminating in the highly protested beheading and subsequent crucifixion of Nimr al-Nimr.

In this the largest mass ex-ecution in Saudi Arabia since 1980, included mostly Shia Muslims and protestors for governmental reform in the repressive nation, having once again sparked interest by the world in the inner workings of these violations, and how the monarchy is allowed to contin-ue with such violations. Let us thus inspect:

Looking into the political persecution within Saudi Ara-bia is a tricky subject, since the nation has been known to use irregular detention sites out-side of its prisons, which the Islamic Human Rights Com-mission estimated “putting the actual number of political pris-oners at over 30,000” in 2011, the number only having grown since then (though more re-cent numbers are difficult to find within any level of accu-racy).

One of the major reasons why this sort of oppression and violence is so systemic is due to the fact that the state is one that applies Sharia Law (i.e. law as circumscribed by the word of the Quran). This, in turn, allows for an inten-tionally vague and often broad legal definition of crimes, leading judges to interpret a number of acts as criminal as they see fit, including “break-ing allegiance with the ruler” or “trying to distort the rep-utation of the kingdom,” as Human Rights Watch outlines in their report on the nation.

This sort of broad juris-prudence has not just allowed

for the imprisonment of adult dissenters, but the law has been manipulated in order to go after the children of mal-contents, with judicial mem-bers arguing that, according to HRW, “children can be tried for capital crimes and sen-tenced as adults if physical signs of puberty exist.”

Moreover, with this level of vagueness, the criminal justice system has been wholly able to impose the death penalty upon those arrested for a variety of crimes, including some that did not involve violence, such as “sorcery,” adultery, and drug offenses.

As mentioned above, al-most all of those effected by this scrutiny are Saudi Shia, the minority group that is at religious odds with the Sunni House of Saud. In a 2009 re-port, HRW found that the op-pression has gone so far as to allow the “authorities [to] have arrested and threatened the owners of Shia private com-munal prayer halls.”

The campaign against the Shia has created such deep-seeded sentiments that it has been observed how the government tolerates inflam-matory and intolerant state-ments by Saudi Sunni clerics directed toward the Shia, while preventing the Shia even from simple acts of religious wor-ship such as praying together.

Now with all of this op-pression and violation of rights, it must be considered how so many nations gloss over these facts, as Saudi Ara-bia has the luxury of being an island floating atop a sea of oil, being the second largest oil-producing nation in the world at some 11.6 million barrels per day. It seems whol-ly apparent at this point that this oppressive monarchy will be allowed to continue on its path of beheading and impris-oning any that have the gall to question this domineering regime as long as it stays one of the largest suppliers of the world’s oil.

Contact Alexander at alexander.stringer@student.shu.edu.

Although it had already been consistently present on the Committee to Protect Journalists’ annual Global Impunity Index, the Philip-pines rose from sixth to third in 2010 following the single deadliest event for journalists in any peacetime democracy: the 2009 Maguindanao massa-cre, where 32 members of the press were killed by a private militia while covering a politi-cal convoy on its way to file for gubernatorial candidacy.

In total, 58 were killed that day, but none of the 200 indi-viduals charged for the massa-cre have been convicted.

The Supreme Court of the Philippines defines extrajudi-cial killings as acts of violence due to the political affiliation of the victims, with the in-volvement of state agents.

The Asia Foundation re-ports that 390 people lost their lives in 305 incidences of ex-trajudicial killings from 2001 to 2010, during the almost de-cade-long presidency of Glo-ria Macapagal-Arroyo.

32 percent of victims were political activists, 15 percent were elected officials, and an-other 15 percent were journal-ists. In 2014, Human Rights Watch reported that victims now include environmental ac-tivists.

The body count is not un-

related to pervasive corrup-tion: 43 percent of slain jour-nalists since 1992 had covered the corruption beat.

Eugene Martin, director of the U.S. Institute for Peace Philippine Facilitation Project, cites “weak social and political institutions” and “ineffective justice system” for the culture of impunity, a legacy of the Marcos dictatorship.

Personal justice is facilitat-ed by national fragmentation along regional and familial lines that stretch even to the government, dominated by elite families who preserve their power by means of elec-tion fraud and disposing of whistleblowers, watchdogs, and investigators.

During Martial Law, acts of violence against civilians com-mitted by soldiers and police-men became commonplace. According to a 2011 USIP re-port, 28 percent of identified suspects belong to the military and police, 57 percent to pri-vate militias, and 12 percent to rebel groups.

For 40 years, the com-munist New People’s Army (NPA) has routinely executed individuals put on trial in its “people’s courts” and found “guilty,” actions that Human Rights Watch claims are in vio-lation of international law.

Such insurgent groups ne-cessitated Executive Order 546, which allowed the forma-tion of the private militia re-sponsible for the Maguindan-

ao massacre on the grounds of defense against Islamist rebels. The executive order issued by President Arroyo has yet to be rescinded by her successor, Benigno C. Aquino III.

The first high-profile assas-sination in modern Philippine history was that of former Senator Benigno S. Aquino, Jr., father of incumbent President Aquino. The widely popular Senator Aquino had been a vocal opponent of the Mar-cos dictatorship, and was shot while disembarking a plane in 1983.

A 2015 editorial by The Philippine Star implied that the son should honor his fa-ther “by bringing down the level of political violence.” As President Aquino’s term nears its end in May 2016, a signifi-cant improvement in the Phil-ippines’ culture of impunity has yet to be seen.

USIP’s Eugene Martin is skeptical of any short-term government action, as suc-cessive presidents continue to appoint former soldiers, in-stead of civilians, to head the Department of National De-fense.

U.N. Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial executions Philip Alston stated in 2007 that the executive level remains “in a state of almost total denial” of the killings attributed to the Armed Forces of the Philip-pines.

Contact Francesca at francescarose.regalado@student.shu.edu.

opinionFebruary 2016Page 8

Kathryn ChaneyStaff Writer

On Journalist Injustice, Putin Should Get the Benefit of the DoubtVincent Marseca

Staff Writer

Photo courtesy of the Telegraph President Putin said that the death of journalist Anna Politkovskaya brought Russia “far greater injuries and damage than her publications.”

Cold War Espionage in Modern Times

“After Putin came to power, there

were several notable cases of legal justice for

journalist victims.”

Since the suspicious death of former KGB officer Alex-ander Litvinenko, Great Brit-ain has reported, according to the New York Post, an increas-ing number of Russian spies within the United Kingdom. Espionage has been an inter-national norm throughout his-tory.

The frequency of its occur-rence in the United Kingdom reflects the backhanded char-acteristics of the Cold War be-tween the US and Russia. The brand of espionage utilized now still makes use of poison, threats, dark alleys, and double agents.

While it may have been tol-

erated during the Cold War, such practices are now being questioned: Is this the way to-day’s world is going to allow Russia to operate?

According to the New York Post, Russia has more spies in Great Britain than it did during the Cold War. Historically, the global community and inter-national law have been toler-ant of some degree of espi-onage--nations have always spied on one another.

It is simply an assumption that became an international norm. The most commonly accepted type of espionage is characterized as a gentlemen’s game – and Russia’s current style is anything but.

The New York Post went on to explain the types of op-

erations Russian spies are con-ducting in the United King-dom, including the surveillance of British military actions, and “checking in” on former Rus-sian citizens residing in the United Kingdom. As we have seen following the death of Litvinenko, these check-ins cannot always be categorized as friendly.

With its operations in the United Kingdom, Russia has showcased the manner in which it intends to conduct itself within the international community. During the Cold War, the world was darker and more experimental forms of espionage were acceptable--or at least, not expressly for-bidden. Yet since the end of the era, such sentiments have

changed. Nations within the international community do not like to be threatened, espe-cially within their own borders.

If a foreigner were to mur-der someone in the United Kingdom, they would face prosecution under British law as well as international law. Why should an action by a whole nation be treated any differently?

Nations have gone to court with other nations as seen in 2007’s Bosnia-Herzegovina vs. Serbia and Montenegro.

While the case was about genocide rather than a single murder, it proves that nations as a whole are not above in-ternational law and can be punished by the international community for their actions.

On December 18, U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump was a guest on MSN-BC’s Morning Joe, where reporter Joe Scarborough posed a question mentioning that Russian President Vlad-imir Putin, whom Trump has praised, is “also a person that kills journalists and political opponents.”

A journalist in Russia is much more likely to be killed than imprisoned, according Committee for the Protection of Journalists. Since the fall of the Soviet Union, journalists still face perils such as intim-idation, kidnapping, and mur-der.

According to the Com-mittee for the Protection of Journalists, Russia has the fourth-highest death toll for journalists. However, when compared to other autocrat-ic countries, China and Egypt have the highest incarceration rate of reporters, and a “hand-ful of countries continue to use systematic imprisonment to silence criticism.”

The National Post reports that Associated Press CEO Gary Pruitt is calling for a new framework to increase the pro-tection of journalists. He spe-cifically addressed reporters based in the Middle East.

Despite the dangerous situ-ation, journalism is partly free in Russia. Let me explain.

Reporters who work for the government-funded news network Russia Today (RT) have been free to express their opinions. Although they tend-ed to favor the Kremlin, there are also those who have voiced opposition to Putin’s actions in the Ukraine with no reported retribution.

According to NBC News, RT anchor Abby Martin crit-icized the annexation of Crimea on air. CBC News re-ports that another RT reporter resigned because she could not “be part of a network funded by the Russian government

that whitewashes the actions of Putin.”

Vice News reports that a third RT correspondent, Brit-ish citizen Sara Firth, left the news outlet over RT’s cov-erage of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, which crashed in Ukraine. Firth returned to England and is now a corre-spondent for the British news

network Arise News.After Putin came to power,

there were several notable cas-es of legal justice for journalist victims.

One prominent case was the murder of Kremlin critic Natalia Politkovskaya in 2006. According to the New York Times, hired killers shot her to death in her apartment. An investigation opened shortly after Politkovskaya’s death and the case closed in 2012 with five arrests.

In June 2014, a Russian court sentenced the five sus-pects, including the master-mind, to life in prison. How-ever, some are still skeptical about the outcome of the in-

vestigation.Lyudmila Alexeyeva,

founding member of a Rus-sian human rights advocacy organization, told the New York Times that she considers the investigation a cover-up for the actual mastermind of the killing. On the other hand, Petros Garibyan, head investi-gator of the case, defended his team, saying that those respon-sible for the murder intimidat-ed journalists “as well as soci-ety and the authorities.”

Following Politkovskaya’s death, President Putin spoke about her at a press confer-ence in Dresden. He said that her death brought Russia “far greater injuries and damage than her publications.”

It is hard to believe that the government of Russian Presi-dent Vladimir Putin persecutes journalists. All the targeted journalists had no prison re-cord, and the government did not officially arrest them for their political views. There is dissention from reporters in the mainstream Russian media.

Finally, in comparison to the pre-Putin administration, at least there are some instanc-es of prosecution and investi-gation of murdered reporters. Perhaps within a generation there will be more trials and justice for the press.

Contact Vincent at vincent.marsceca@student.shu.edu.

Furthermore, international law assumes the norm of the right to life (Filartiga vs. Pena-Irala), which Russia’s espionage oper-ations seem to dismiss.

How far will the interna-tional community allow Russia to go without a word? Citizens of the world are constrained by domestic and international law, and nations should set an example for their citizens. No example is accomplished by covering up state-sponsored murders.

Perhaps it is the responsi-bility of the members of the international community to enforce the standards of inter-national law and ensure their actions reflect it.

Contact Katy at katherine.chaney@student.shu.edu.

opinion February 2016Page 9

Putin Denounces Lenin, But Upholds Stalin Alexander Stringer

Staff Writer

Matthew SchallerStaff Writer

Photo courtesy of Euromaiden PressThe Russian President was reports saying, “Letting your rule be guided by thoughts is right, but only when that idea leads to the right results, not like it did with Lenin.” Putin went on to say that such a mentality led “to the fall of the Soviet Union.”

With These Candidates, The Joke’s On Us

On January 28, the Re-publican debate boasted an estimated 11 million viewers, which seems like a lot for poli-tics, but begs the question: are those viewers watching for the correct reasons?

The 2016 race has be-come one of the biggest and most-reported political events in history. We must look at the effects of several players’ news cycle spotlights, which has warped the image of the U.S. abroad.

It is hard to choose a start-ing place with the absolutely absurd statements that have been brought up in the race, but let’s take a shallow dive over some of the more point-ed pieces.

In 1998, as seen in a video discovered by Buzzfeed, Ben Carson proclaimed that “[his] own personal theory is that Joseph built the pyramids to store grain,” which, despite be-ing wholly incorrect, garnered him votes.

Then we move to Trump, who has done everything in his power to inflame as many people as humanly possible, from creating a Nazi-styled Muslim database, which pop-ular astronomer and blogger Phil Plait points out “is, in fact, what Hitler did;” to proclaim-ing that all Mexican migrants hop the border carrying copi-ous amounts of drugs in their bags.

To round out the list of questionable candidates, we must of course bring up Dem-ocrat Hillary Clinton, who can-not even send an email without nearly exposing national secu-rity secrets, after committing an about-face on nearly every issue since her time as a Sen-ator.

While all of these state-ments make for arguably great television, there are serious repercussions that stem from the media attention siphoned through the sphere of serious public news. The US has be-come a laughing stock across the globe, seen as simply pa-thetic.

On January 18, there was a three-hour debate in the Brit-ish Parliament over whether to ban Donald Trump from entering the country (which would pose a rather large problem in creating partner-ships should he become the next POTUS). Prime Minis-ter David Cameron ended the debate by stating that “I think if he came to our country, he would unite us all against him.”

While the incendiary language and hateful rheto-ric from Westminster reflects the dissatisfaction of our al-lies concerning our choice of (possible) leadership, it does little to show the effects our candidates have on actual ac-tion from other nations.

In order to understand, then, the ways in which na-tions may begin to act with such joke candidates in office, we need only to turn our gaze to the Iranian abduction of U.S. sailors while in the midst of discussion on the Iran Nu-clear Deal. In what can only be described as a risky move, it seems that Iran understands that it can take any actions it desires, as the U.S. will always come back to the table to get the Deal passed.

Politics used to be boring – sleep inducing, even. The modern race, however, has turned into a competition to get the most coverage so as to garner the attention of young voters. While the appeal has gotten more young people into politics, it seems that “poli-ticians” have sacrificed their dignity and credibility upon the altar of social media.

For the race to continue in such a fashion is to wholly destroy the credibility of our nation, making us seem like a state of mouth-breathers for allowing half of these incom-petent candidates to last more than a week. If one were to be elected…our nation would lose all its remaining clout, and we would find ourselves danc-ing the jig on the international stage, where the crowd is al-ways laughing at the pathetic United States of Morons.

Contact Alexander at alexander.stringer@student.shu.edu.

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s recent denouncement of the father of communism, Vladimir Lenin, has been de-scribed by many as his stron-gest to date, according to USA Today. Coincidentally, the statement fell on the 92nd an-niversary of Lenin’s death.

Putin’s appraisal of Lenin’s role in Russia’s turbulent histo-ry came during a meeting with pro-Kremlin supporters in the southern industrial city of Stavropol on January 25.

In response to an audience question, the Kremlin leader stated, “Letting your rule be guided by thoughts is right, but only when that idea leads to the right results, not like it did with Vladimir Ilyich.”

Putin went on to say that such a mentality led “to the fall of the Soviet Union.”

In addition to a handful of other comments pertaining to Lenin, including criticism against the concept of feder-ative states with the right to secede and Russia’s defeat in World War I, Putin’s pattern of criticizing Lenin follows a dis-tinct pattern where all threads eventually lead back to one man: Joseph Stalin.

According to Foreign Pol-icy, Stalin’s cult of personality has become a staple in daily Russian life: there are countless museums erected in his name, and the Russian city of Penza decided to go one step further by creating the “Stalin Center,” with an aim of implementing “the practices that were in use during Stalin times and are still relevant today.”

President Putin realized that public opinion after his fraudulent re-election in 2012 was not in his favor. So he changed face, and the result is typical of a country with a siege mentality: the threat of an American conspiracy or-chestrated by the CIA, the nui-sance of NGOs, and the vilifi-cation of homosexuals.

The threat came close to home at the conclusion of 2014 with the ousting of Ukraine’s pro-Putin president Viktor Yanukovych and sub-sequent unrest. As a result, the President decided to unveil his Stalinist playbook, draw-ing similarities of emotional undercurrents between the “Great Patriotic War” and the present.

So far, it seems to be work-ing, with recent polls stating that about 34 percent of Rus-sians agree that under Stalin’s

leadership, “Russia was vic-torious in World War II.” In addition, Sergei Chapnin, the former editor of the Russian Orthodox Church’s official publication stated that, “Rus-sia won the war under his guid-ance. It’s as though that makes up for his crimes.”

All in all, the strongman has set sail in a clear direction and the Russian people are willing to go along for the ride. With the President’s proclivity for free reign firmly established, the Russian public is ready to stand by their leader in what-ever he decides.

In Stavropol, Putin de-scribed a “time bomb under the structure of our state sys-tem,” which ultimately resulted in the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Obviously placing the blame on Lenin, he urged cau-tion in repeating mistakes of the past and stated, “When you start thinking about this, you judge differently.”

Everyone knows what the respective demises of Lenin and Stalin created, and as we progress into 2016, Russian President Vladimir Putin may find out that it works both ways.

Contact Matthew at matthew.schaller@student.shu.edu.

foreign correspondentsColin Kimberlin:

South Korea

Photo courtesy of Zorion The Basque Country is an autonomous region located in Spain.

Emily Green: Basque Country

“We touched on learning how to

compose a speech, as well as how to

deliver it with tact.”

In January, I had the oppor-tunity to travel to South Korea for ten days, working with the World Federation of the Unit-ed Nations Association (WFU-NA) at Kyung Hee University Graduate Institute for Global Studies in Seoul.

I became involved with WFUNA during the fall se-mester, when they hosted their inaugural New York City Mod-el U.N. conference, WIMUN 2015, at the Grand Hyatt. I served the Deputy Undersec-retary-General of Logistics for the conference, where I had the opportunity to meet the WFU-NA director of the Korea Edu-cation Program based in Seoul. Through this initial meeting, I was offered the opportunity to apply for the WFUNA: Korea Youth Camp as an educational trainer.

Along with a number of other students and individuals in the field of international re-lations, I was recruited to ed-ucate young Koreans, ranging from elementary to high school students, about the United Na-tions’ mission and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), all while developing the stu-dents’ English-speaking skills.

During the day, I worked with five stu-dents specifically assigned to me based on their English-speaking skills, previous knowledge of international in-stitutions, and desire to learn. We touched on learning how to compose a speech, as well as how to deliver it with tact.

These students exceeded my expectations with how much they excelled and learned in such a short time. They began the week with a very basic un-derstanding of what the U.N. does and seeks to achieve, and by the end of the week, my stu-dents had developed a complex knowledge of what the SDGs were and had thought up pos-sible solutions to help achieve each goal.

My students even created a poster educating other students about SDG 11 – making cities inclusive, safe, resilient, and

sustainable – that they showed their parents at the end of the week.

At the end of every day, we met one-on-one with our stu-dents. I had one of my favorite experiences during these ses-sions with one of my students. At the beginning of every ses-sion, I asked students, “How are you doing?” Most of the time, they responded, “I am fine.”

But the very last student I talked to looked at me with an extremely straight face and said, “I am doing terribly,” and then proceeded to smile and laugh. After making sure the student was joking, she told me that she had learned what sarcasm is. As a teacher, I could not have been prouder.

I set a challenge for the student to learn even more complex words to make the response even funnier the next time I asked. So at the end of the next day, I asked her again, “How are you doing?” And she responded “I am doing abso-lutely atrocious.”

Now, I’m not sure as to whether or not the student understood what “atrocious” meant. But she made me so proud with how much dedica-

tion they invested into learning En-glish as a second language, and even more impressed that she was able to pro-nounce those words, considering that she

has only been speaking English for two years.

At night, I was able to take public transit – despite the language barrier, which I over-came with the help of my Ko-rean-speaking colleagues – into the city closest to Kyung Hee University, Uijeongbu. From Uijeongbu, we took the metro into the heart of Seoul. I was able to tour a few local attrac-tions, but most notable was Deoksugung Palace.

With almost blinding lights and a metro that never stopped, I will forever be grateful for the city of Seoul and the people I met along the way.

Contact Colin at colin.kimberlin@tudent.shu.edu.

Nestled between green pas-tures and port towns lies a na-tion over 2 million strong. Not to be confused with the Castil-ians or Catalonians, the people of the Basque Autonomous Community in Spain are un-equivocally Basque. Through the School of Diplomacy’s winter study abroad course, I took a look into the region’s culture and contentious past to discover just what being Basque means.

Leading the course was none other than research di-rector and renowned profes-sor Dr. Borislava Manojlovic. As an expert in conflict res-olution, Dr. Manojlovic took an interest in comparing the uniquely successful Basque case to other conflicts across the world. Drawing from her vast network of Basque pol-iticians, civil society leaders, activists, and artists, the pro-fessor started a collaborative research team in fall of 2014 to investigate the issues further. As one of her capstone proj-ects, Dr. Manojlovic planned the interactive study abroad course “Memory and Conflict: Dealing with the Past Con-structively.”

Throughout the course, my peers and I took a look into the Basques’ contentious past to appreciate the experience of being immersed in the nation’s present success. Although the Basque Country is a relative-ly small territory in Spain, the region possesses a rich history of self-sufficiency in the face of strife. Since the medieval times, the Basque Country has flourished with industry and social systems independent from Spain.

Although the oppressive Francoist regime undermined the Basques’ peace and pros-perity for much of the 20th century, the nation has proac-tively pursued the revival of their culture. The resurrec-tion and current popularity of the Basque language, Eus-kara, stands as a testament of Basque unity and success.

During the trip, we received lectures from both Dr. Mano-jlovic and local scholars. Mov-ing beyond mere theory, we saw the effects of the Basques’ past in person through visits

to historical sites and meetings with local agents of change. We broke bread with a victim of the retaliatory Basque ex-tremist group, ETA, and dis-cussed the importance of rec-onciliation.

We visited the studio of an incredible Basque painter, Jesus Mari Lazkano, to hear of the universality of Basque art. Donning suits and ties, we discussed the politics of peace and equality with high-level government representatives. Amid meetings, we stopped to see the tree that inspired Pab-lo Picasso’s famous Guernica painting and wandered around the iconic, Frank Gehry-de-signed Guggenheim museum.

The study abroad course provided us with a wealth of in-formation, confirmed by local Basque practitioners. Howev-er, it was through more chance encounters that we caught a glimpse of the true meaning of being Basque. Leading the way was our local coordina-tor, Antton, a doctoral student from the French side of the Basque territory who spoke the Basque language, Euskara, fluently. He shared his own ex-periences and introduced us to local students.

Speaking to our Basque counterparts was truly an eye opening experience. From Basque natives to Polish expa-triates, the students shared a genuine desire to acknowledge their nation’s past, engage in present affairs, and plan for a

better future. Many spoke or were learning to speak Euska-ra, an important attribute of Basque unity. Political mes-sages, relayed through posters or graffiti, advocated for the Basque’s shared values and aspirations, such as statehood and protection of political prisoners.

The plight of Basque po-litical prisoners played a cen-tral, unifying role. Throughout the region, separated by vast stretches of green hills, a white flag decrying prisoner mis-treatment was displayed prom-inently on Basque residences in every town. The flags were particularly prevalent in a lit-tle town called Onati, where spray-painted messages spoke out against injustice and advo-cated for Basque sovereignty.

Overall, the Basque study abroad course introduced and immersed us within the re-gion’s contentious past and aspirational future. By meet-ing with local experts, we were able to grasp a deeper understanding of the meaning and motivations behind the nation’s struggle for success. After chance conversations with local students, the course made it clear that being Basque grounded in a passionate and authentic desire to channel shared values and a common language into a vehicle for peace, prosperity, and political freedom.

Contact Emily at emily.green@student.shu.edu.

February 2016Page 10

diplomacy news

DULCE• A. Bartoli: Wants Diplomacy organizations to commu-nicate with each other and UDSA. • UDSA: announced new executive board; called for a meeting of Diplomacy club leadership• A. Bartoli: New Integrated Events Team will serve as support for Diplomacy clubs in planning events and engaging the external world. • C. Ruby: Experiential Learning Award nominations for student internship achievements due on February 29. Nominees must be in good standing and have registered for a Spring 2015, Summer 2015, or Fall 2015 internship. For inquiries, contact catherine.ruby@shu.edu.• N. Sorich: SHUMUN is calling for volunteers to staff its upcoming annual conference. If interested, contact noelle.sorich@student.shu.edu.• B. Goldfrank: Contact benjamin.goldfrank@shu.edu if interested in the Archimedes Project on the clean water crisis.• D. Kristo: Contact daniel.kristo@shu.edu if interested in AIESEC, a global program for students to explore and develop leadership potential.

Spirng 2016 DULCE tentative meetings: 2 p.m. on March 11 and April 22

See the DULCE blog for more: https://blogs.shu.edu/dulce

February 2016Page 11

Pirate Perspectives

The following are some highlights from the Diplomacy United Leadership and Communication

Exchange meeting on February 12:

This month, the Envoy asked Seton Hall students to respond to the following question: Given President Obama’s final State of the Union and Ambassador Power’s address, do you agree that the state of the Union is strong?

“Yes, I believe that our union is strong; however, party pol-itics have cast a di-vide over the nation that is negatively impacting process in the U.S.”

– Mark Turon, Political Science

“I think that the U.S. foreign policy may lead to a third world war.”

– Dimitri, ESL/Marketing

“No, but it’s getting better. [The] econo-my is getting better, ISIS is losing, and Obamacare is work-ing.” –Jacob Kala-rickal

– Jacob Kalarickal

“The state of the Union is definitely stronger than 2008, but not where it can or should be.”

– Kainoa Spenser, Diplomacy

“The state of our Union may be strong but not necessarily because of Obama’s policies.”

– Adrian Orozco, Political Science

diplomacy newsFebruary 2016Page 12

Diplo School Begins Semester With ‘Open Space’Lyndsey Cole

Staff Writer

Photo courtesy of Seton Hall University Dean Bartoli and Associate Dean Smith at the “open space” in January.

Angelo PiroStaff Writer

Power: “Little Will Happen” Without US Leadership

Photo courtesy of The Diplomatic EnvoyDean Andrea Bartoli and Ambassafor Samantha Power speaking before Power’s speech on Jan. 13.

On January 13, United States Ambassador to the Unit-ed Nations Samantha Power delivered an address at Seton Hall University on the foreign policy outlined in President Barack Obama’s final State of the Union. In his welcoming remarks, School of Diplomacy Dean Andrea Bartoli reflect-ed on the importance that the event represented as an oppor-tunity for dialogue.

Ambassador Power took the opportunity to share her perspective on President Obama’s foreign policy plan for his final year in office, as well as reflect on the progress she and the administration have made over the years.

Reiterating statements made by the president, Am-bassador Power reaffirmed her belief that the United States still stands strong and respect-ed on the world stage.

She also emphasized that the objective of President Obama’s foreign policy, from the beginning of his presi-dency to his last days in of-fice, has always been to ensure

American strength and secu-rity, rebuking those who have claimed that the United States has faced a decline in respect and prestige.

“If there’s one formula for every encounter, they’re going to be asking the United States to lead, and believing that lit-tle will happen if the United States does not,” said Power.

She laid out what she viewed as the guiding princi-ples of American leadership abroad, both in the past and going forward: coalition-build-ing and multilateralism, prin-cipled engagement with all parties, and preservation of American values.

On coalition-building, Am-bassador Power made clear that, while the U.S. has the means to solve many of the world’s problems, the U.S. must engage other nations in reaching shared goals in order to defray the costs to the U.S. and strengthen collective ef-forts.

She highlighted the recent climate change agreement signed in Paris as one exam-ple, and spoke on how she and the President are bringing this same engagement to the fight

against ISIS. According to Power, multilateral tools are an extension, not an alternative, to standard U.S. practices.

Specifically, Power stated that diplomacy should be-come a standard of the for-eign policy toolbox, as in her experience, she has found that engagement rather than isola-tion is far better in affecting change.

She highlighted the work of the Obama administration in Iran and Cuba, and spoke at length of U.S. commitment to

better living conditions within Cuba despite the recent rap-prochement, stressing Ameri-ca’s commitment to the high-est moral values. The Syrian refugee crisis, for Ambassador Power, is the greatest challenge to American moral leadership, as many seek to limit a refu-gee’s ability to enter the US. On this topic, the ambassador spoke with the most candor, featuring several refugee fam-ilies and refugee advocates in the audience, and speaking on her experience as the child of

immigrants.Ambassador Power also

took time to answer questions from students and members of the Seton Hall communi-ty. These interactions ranged from questions on the U.S. policy for Central American refugees, anecdotes from her time as U.N. Ambassador, and her take as a journalist turned policymaker on how to engage the public in foreign policy matters.

Contact Angelo at angelo.piro@student.shu.edu.

Dr. Andrea Bartoli, Dean of the School of Diplomacy and International Relations, hosted the school’s first Open Space event on January 29.

The event was a conference where participants chose from a range of discussion topics brought forward by students, professors, administrators, and alumni of the School of Di-plomacy. It offered a platform for all members and stakehold-ers in the school to express their concerns, hopes, and ideas to one another, enabling untethered dialogue between students and faculty.

Open Space focused on “engaging excellence” as the school’s theme for this aca-demic year, asking the ques-tion, “Building on the endur-ing strengths of the School’s nearly 20-year history, how should we envision and focus on engaging excellence over

the next 20 years?”Looking toward the future

of the School of Diplomacy at Seton Hall, participants were asked to lead discussions in what they believed to be an im-portant topic moving forward. The discussions were then di-vided into four sessions that students could pick to join.

Associate Dean for Exter-nal Affairs Elizabeth Halpin led a discussion on the best possible cultural climate that can be created in the school. A mix of graduate and under-graduate students established that once they had found their way into the School of Diplo-macy, it offered a respectful, open, and familial environ-ment.

They found that the prob-lem lies in finding a way to make new students feel part of this environment that at times could seem exclusive from the outside. Students proposed more in-depth School of Di-plomacy orientation programs,

and a buddy system between graduate and undergraduate students.

Other conferences ranged from Senior Associate Dean Courtney Smith’s on finding the School’s niche, to student Vincent Maresca’s discussion on renaming the School for better outside recognition. Dr. Borislava Manojlovic’s confer-ence debated on the idea that while Seton Hall’s School of Diplomacy is “a great school of [international relations], it needs to also be a great school of diplomatic practice.”

Regarding the event, Dean Courtney Smith said he was reminded of the major focal points for the school over the next 20 years: culture, curricu-lum, branding and positioning, support, opportunities, and stakeholders.

Dean Ursula Sanjamino stated that one positive of open space was, “It’s such a mix of people, not like a retreat where the dean says what’s go-

ing to happen and that’s what happens.”

Open Space collected many ideas from members of the community, but the challenge will be determining how to move forward with those ideas.

“It was a great opportunity for staff, students, deans, and board members to come to-gether and all speak on equal footing,” said freshman Taylor Cain.

On the inspiration behind Open Space, Dean Bartoli

said, “The reason to engage one another is to understand the system as a whole.”

The reaction from partic-ipants was overwhelmingly positive, with many stating their excitement and pride at being able to take part in the growth and development of the School of Diplomacy. One stakeholder said, “I didn’t ex-pect the richness of the stu-dents’ observations.”

Contact Lyndsey at lyndsey.cole@student.shu.edu.