Volume VIV Issue I October 2015

The Greatest Show on Earth

On September 15, UN Sec-retary General Ban Ki-moon opened the 70th session of the United Nations General As-sembly with its usual pomp and fanfare.

The two-week event will include a summit on the sus-tainable development goals (SDGs), during which govern-ments would adopt the devel-opment agenda for the next 15 years, followed by the standard meeting of the UN General As-sembly, with open debates fo-cusing on climate change, UN peacekeeping forces, and com-bating ISIS and other extremist groups.

The whirlwind of interna-tional diplomacy was led by a number of world political lead-ers, most notably U.S. President Barack Obama, Chinese Pre-mier Xi Jinping, Russian Pres-ident Vladimir Putin, Iranian

Angelo PiroStaff Writer

Pope Francis Makes Historic Trip to the USMohammed Khader and Kiersten Meyers

Staff Writers

INSIDEFOCUS On

Immigration reform in the

worldPAGE 6&7

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

French Sanctions on Russia over Ukraine; TwoKoreas’ Reunion TalksPage 2

Turkey Spotlight: Clash with Kurds & JournalistsPage 3

Page 11

DIPLOMACY

NEWS

World Leaders Forum; DULCE Forum

Interview with Dean Bartoli on ‘Prayer for Peace’Page 12

Saudi Arabi on Iran Deal; Obama’s Foreign Policy Legacy

Opinion

Page 8

Trump Leads Polls;China in AfricaPage 9

Avonelle Davis; Emily O’Connor

Foreign Correspondents

Page 5

Tajikistan Crackdown on Islam Page 5

Continued on Page 10...

Photos courtesy of Reuters and The Washington PostThe United Nations General Assembly met at the U.N. building in New York City on Sept. 15. Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon gave the opening address.

President Hassan Rouhani, and French President Francois Hol-lande. Each spoke within two hours of each other, eager to stake out their country’s politi-cal space on international devel-opment and climate change.

Arguably the most star-stud-ded day of the opening was Fri-day, September 25, when Pope Francis delivered the opening address at the Sustainable De-velopment Summit. His Ho-liness addressed the issues of climate change and global in-equality, weaving messages on poverty with themes of his much lauded Laudato Si encyc-lical.

The Pope also touched on the issue of war and peace, which is central to the new de-velopment goals. He highlight-ed ongoing conflicts in Ukraine, Syria, Libya, and South Sudan, reminding the assembled heads of state about their true bond.

Page 10

IMO Adopts Polar Code; Burkina Faso President

From September 22 to 27, His Holiness Pope Francis paid his first visit to the Unit-ed States, where he spread his message concerning climate change and social issues with world leaders in three major cities on the East Coast. The Pope spent two days in Wash-ington, D.C., where he de-livered a canonization mass, addressed a joint meeting of Congress, and shared a meal with the local homeless.

After concluding his time in Washington, the Pope traveled to New York where he addressed the 193 world leaders during the opening week of the 70th session of the United Nations Gener-

al Assembly, at the summit on sustainable development goals. After addressing the GA, His Holiness held a multi-religious service at the Ground Zero Me-morial before delivering a mass to an estimated 20,000 people at

Madison Square Garden later that day. The Pope then trav-eled to Philadelphia to deliver his final mass in the U.S. before returning to the Vatican.

The Pope’s visit was trailed by controversy as a result of his

position on Palestine, the Syr-ian refugee crisis, and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

On May 17, Pope Francis canonized two Palestinian Nuns at Saint. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican. Days before, the Pope officially recognized the State of Palestine. Both Palestine and the Vatican hold non-member observer status at the UN. Although many are divided on the situ-ation in Palestine, Pope Fran-cis has called on Palestinian Christians to push for peace and statehood.

The Pope has also made statements on the recent es-calation of the refugee crisis. He has warned that this will only be the “tip of the ice-berg,” citing the state of the current global economic

Continued on Page 2...

Courtesy of The Washington PostPope Francis spoke at the United Nations General Assembly on September 25.

World Watches as UN General Assembly Opens

Zoe Sellers

Page 4

Campus Spotlight

international newsOctober 2015Page 2

France to End Sanctions on Russia Over Ukraine

Felipe BuenoStaff Writer

Gabriela TaverasStaff Writer

Koreas Resume Family Reunion Talks

Courtesy of APTwo Korean men reunite after years of war have separated them.

U.N. GA:Continued from Page 1...

On September 7, French President François Hollande expressed his desire to end sanctions against the Russian Federation, following alleged progress in an unstable cease-fire process in Minsk, the cap-ital of Belarus.

Hollande commended a high-level meeting with his Ger-man, Russian, and Ukrainian counterparts. The meeting was held in September, prior to the inauguration of the United Nations’ General Assembly in New York City.

“I’m not for the policy of at-taining goals by making things worse,” Mr. Hollande expressed in an interview on France’s In-ter Radio. “I think that sanc-tions must stop now.”

While expanding on his con-fidence that the dispute will be resolved, President Hollande stated that there had been progress in the implementation of the aforementioned cease-fire deal, struck in February be-tween the belligerent parties in Ukraine.

In spite of this, Hollande mentioned the need to honor certain provisions that had yet

to be implemented. In this re-gard, he stressed the need for local elections and to decentral-ize power in order to confer the pro-Russian east of Ukraine with more decision-making power. If these requirements are met, Hollande promised that he would request that both European and American sanc-tions be lifted.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko endorsed Pres-ident Hollande’s confident words, claiming that the peace agreement is being respected in the east of Ukraine. “Today is the first week when they have not been firing on the front, the first week when the Minsk agreements have at last begun working,” Poroshenko said, as reported in BBC.

On the other hand, leaders of other European countries and NATO cite evidence of Russia’s support of the Eastern Ukrainian rebels in the form of Russian troops and heavy artillery. The Russian govern-ment insists that any of the aforementioned “soldiers” are nothing more than volunteers sent to appease the situation and help bring stability to the chaos-ridden region.

Earlier this month, the Eu-ropean Union extended eco-

nomic sanctions on the Russian Federation for six months as a way to exert pressure on Mos-cow, with a projected expira-tion date of January 31, 2016.

In response, the Kremlin has warned that it would “act on the principle of reciprocity,” as quoted in Huffington Post by Dmitry Peskov, who serves as the spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin. He assured a retaliatory ban on agricultural imports from the EU would be in place if the sanctions continued or were strengthened.

These sanctions include, but are not limited to: restricting access to certain financial mar-kets and a ban on exchanges in the energy and defense sectors, which, respectively, comprises 60 percent of Russian exports and amassed over US$13.2 bil-lion in 2013 alone.

Belligerence between Ukrainian forces and pro-Rus-sian rebels has claimed the lives of more than 6,400 people. These deaths continue to take place in spite of the Minsk ceasefire, which requires both parties to relinquish the usage of heavy weaponry from the frontlines.

Contact Gabriela atgabriela.taveras@student.shu.edu.

With the end of the Pope’s speech, the world then saw the adoption of the final version of the sustainable develop-ment goals, marking the end of the Sustainable Develop-ment Summit. With the goals of the new development agen-da guiding the way, the real work of the regular GA ses-sion began.

The regular session will feature a broad stretch of is-sues, focusing especially on cross-cutting discussions of climate change in the lead up to the Paris Conference later this year. The session will also focus on strategies to com-bat extremist groups like the self-proclaimed Islamic State, a top priority of the one-week meeting of world leaders.

Some key speakers to watch will be Iran’s Rouhani, fresh off a huge diplomatic win af-ter the Iran nuclear deal; Rus-sia’s Putin, who is making his

first appearance in the GA Hall in a decade amid growing concerns about Russia’s pres-ence in Ukraine and Syria; and Cuban President Raul Castro, who will be addressing the UN for the first time.

Much of the work within the UNGA will be also done on the sidelines. President Rou-hani of Iran will be hosting a side meeting of the six nations party to the Iran agreement to discuss implementation. Presi-dent Obama will have a one-on-one meeting with President Putin, the first parley between the two since tensions began in Ukraine, according to White House officials.

Additionally, President Obama will host a side summit that will see almost 50 coun-tries make pledges of troops and equipment to the UN Peacekeeping Forces, a major win for the President who is seeking to make the use of UN peacekeeping troops a major US foreign policy point.

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

In early September, North and South Korea agreed to have a new round of “family reunions,” a process in which families separated during the Korean War get the chance to reconnect with long-lost rela-tives.

These meetings are difficult to negotiate, and even harder to coordinate. These reunions take place every few years in North Korea’s Diamond Mountain Resort along the border, where visitors are restricted to four South Koreans for each North Korean.

These reunions began in June 2000 under North Korea’s late Supreme Leader Kim Jong-il and former South Korean President Kim Dae-jung. Since then, there have been 18 Ko-rean family reunions, with the next one being the first reunion in five years.

Reuters reports that 83-year-

old brother and sister, Kim Ho-sook and Kim Ho-dae, last met at the 2010 reunion. The aging population makes the success of these reunions more press-ing. CNN reports that two rel-atives arrived via ambulance, with one on an IV drip, refusing to miss the reunion.

While the idea of a family re-union sounds peaceful and dip-lomatic, the process by which they occur is less so. North Ko-rea is less reluctant to compro-mise because they wield greater control on the reunions.

The North hosts a national lottery and choose 100 winners to attend the reunions. These meetings are then held on North Korean soil with heavy interference from the North Korean military—one solider is assigned to each table to mon-itor the conversations of each family.

The New York Times reports that these reunions will take place between October 20 and

26, assuming nothing changes. The Korean Herald reports, however, that the North Kore-an government has warned that this next round of reunions are on “thin ice” and may be can-celed if South Korea continues to oppose the North’s plans of a satellite launch and nuclear tests.

High-level talks between North Korea and South Korea have resulted in a deal to lower tensions on the Korean penin-sula, according to VOA News.

Each side actively lowered its defense stance as per the ac-cord. North Korea expressed “regret” for two South Korean soldiers injured by a landmine on the southern side of the Korean Demilitarized Zone, and Seoul discontinued pro-paganda broadcasts into the North.

Additionally, South Korea retracted the declaration of a “quasi-state of war,” according to South Korea’s presidential

office.The extended talks have pre-

vented immediate conflict. In recent weeks, both sides de-ployed troops and exchanged artillery fire near a loudspeaker at the demilitarized zone. North Korea threatened to attack the loudspeakers when the South began blasting propaganda along the border.

It is reported that even during the talks, North Korea moved a large amount of troops and submarines to the South Kore-an border, as reported in Voice of America News.

The two countries continued to negotiate despite the North’s preemptive display. North Ko-rea has expressed interest in reopening its borders for South

Korean tourists. Specifically, the North will make tours of the Diamond Mountain resort available once more.

All signs indicate that the North does not want war, but would still rather arm itself pre-maturely than trust that talks with South Korea will succeed. It is widely believed that the joint military exercises between the United States and South Korea, which Pyongyang has actively condemned as invasion rehearsal, is the most critical point of contention between the North and South, according to Korea Times.

Contact Felipe at felipe.bueno@student.shu.edu.Madison McHugh contributed

to this article.

international news October 2015Page 3

Violence Escalates Between Turkish Troops and Kurdish Guerrillas

Madison McHughAssociate Editor

Photo courtesy of NationStates.net Soldiers from the Kurdish Workers’ Party (PKK) marching to Büyük, Turkey.

Turkey Cites National Security to Detain Journalists

All over the world, jour-nalists attempting to expose important events, facts, and information face imminent prosecution from govern-ments whose “concern” for national security continues to oppress coverage.

Journalists at large often run the risk of encounters with anti-terror legislation. Recent-ly, the number of incarcerated journalists worldwide has in-creased from 80 in 2000 to 221 last year, according to the New York Times.

Turkey’s anti-terror laws in particular promote the capture and mistreatment of many journalists. Three VICE News employees were arrested on August 27 while filming clash-es between police and youth members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). Two of

the three were released after 11 days in a high-security prison; however, the journalists’ Turk-ish translator Mohammad Ra-sool remained behind.

VICE News journalist Jake Hanrahan said that being in the prison was one of the “most traumatic experiences of [his] life.”

“The biggest burden is that our friend and colleague is still in prison. That is the worst possible thing for us. Any trau-ma will have to wait,” Hanra-han said.

Additionally, Gültekin Avcı, a columnist for the indepen-dent daily Bugün, was arrested in Istanbul on September 23 on charges including “attempt-ing to overthrow the govern-ment,” according to the Com-mittee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).

The charges are based on a series of columns he wrote in 2013 and 2014 condemn-

ing the Turkish National In-telligence Organization for its links to a terrorist group called Tawhid-Salam.

Avcı’s lawyer claims he was not allowed to testify in court and mistreated in custody. He was also denied food.

“Turkish authorities routine-ly use vaguely worded terror-ism and subversion charges to jail journalists who cover sen-sitive subjects. This practice is unacceptable for a country candidate for European Union membership,” said CPJ’s Eu-rope and Central Asia Program Coordinator Nina Ognianova. “The charges against Gültekin Avcı should be dropped, he should be released immediate-ly, and Turkey should funda-mentally reform its penal and anti-terror laws without delay.”

CPJ Deputy Director Robert Mahoney cites countries with autocratic leaders as

Matthew SchallerStaff Writer

Violence in Kurdish-pop-ulated Southeastern Turkey has escalated since the Kurd-ish Workers’ Party (PKK) claimed responsibility for two separate attacks that resulted in the deaths of 14 police of-ficers and 16 soldiers respec-tively.

The Kurdish group, which has been labeled a terrorist organization by the European Union, the United States, and Turkey, has increased their at-tacks on security forces since the peace process created by President Recep Tayyip Erdo-gan in 2012 was terminated in July this year.

Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu vowed to eradicate the rebels from their strong-holds in Turkey and neigh-boring Iraq. “These terrorists must be wiped out from the mountain; whatever happens, they must be wiped out,” Davutoglu said.

In response, national-

ist mobs attacked dozens of buildings belonging to the Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party, including its headquar-ters located in the Turkish cap-ital of Ankara. According to lawmaker Garo Paylan, “There are hundreds in front of the building now, chanting slogans and throwing stones, breaking the windows.” There were also separate attacks in Istanbul and Erzurum province, the latter resulting in 2,000 people over-running a state construction project suspected of sympa-thizing with the PKK.

Meanwhile, across the bor-der in Northern Iraq, Turkish ground and air forces have stepped up their offensive against the rebel group, with the New York Times reporting that as many as two battalions have entered the country. Doz-ens of F-16 and F-4 aircraft targeted PKK bases in Qandil, Basyan Avashin, and Zap.

According to President Er-dogan, “The recent develop-ments are a result of the ensu-ing panic,” adding that “losses inflicted on the organization

by Turkish military operations can be expressed in the thou-sands.”

Human rights groups, in-cluding Amnesty International and the Council of Europe, have become increasingly con-cerned about the enforcement by the Turkish government of a curfew on certain Kurdish villages. In Cizre, harsh treat-ment of the villagers has been exposed, with pro-Kurdish politicians reporting the deaths of 21 civilians.

Reuters reports that orders from the local governor in the area have instructed Special Forces teams to shoot on sight, leaving the dead unburied. Au-thorities also imposed a curfew on the border town of Yukse-kova as a result of increased activities by the militant group. The Turkish interior minister denied the claims of abuse and stated that these operations have been effective in combat-ing the PKK.

The renewed conflict be-tween the Turkish government and the PKK has been a back-drop to increasingly turbulent

political games in Ankara, as well as Turkey’s battle with the self-proclaimed Islamic State along southern border with Syria.

The Peoples’ Democrat-ic Party, which has been the victim of this nationalist fer-vor, passed the 10 percent threshold in Parliament this past summer and unseated the President’s governing Justice and Development Party. This

has resulted in Erdogan call-ing for elections in the coming weeks, in the hope of restor-ing his lost majority.

The Kurdish peshmerga have played a large role in combating the Islamic State, raising concerns in Turkey that the peshmerga might fuel a separatist insurrection with-in the country.

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

Continued on Page 5...

Photo courtesy of TheConversation.comJournalist in a face mask covering a war zone.

Courtesy of BuzzFeedJake Hanrahan (left) and Philip Pendlebury (right) are VICE journalists.

foreign correspondentsOctober 2015Page 4

Avonelle Davis: A Costa Rican ReflectionWhile I enjoyed experiencing

a different language and culture in Costa Rica, I brought back much more than just pictures and souvenirs.

To conclude my foreign cor-respondence, I would like to share a few of the lessons I learned during my semester abroad to inspire others to en-rich their studies by spending time in another country.

The first lesson I learned was to look beyond my textbooks for real-life applications of the concepts that I was taught.

Time spent reading case studies cannot compare to the knowledge received from wit-nessing the issues that books can only tell you about.

My trip to Costa Rica gave me insight into the effects of globalization in the everyday lives of people in smaller states.

I witnessed the manner in which Costa Ricans voted against the gentrification of neighborhoods by American

businesses with their dollars—rather, their colones.

Every day, many intention-ally spent their time and mon-ey on local businesses instead of Walmart, Starbucks, or any other American chain that set up shop over the last two de-cades.

I had the opportunity to speak to elders of the fami-ly who grew up buying bread from the same bakery as their parents had, and are now faced with the reality that, unless lo-cals continue to resist what my host father called “the Ameri-can invasion,” their grandchil-dren may not have the same opportunity.

Making these connections allowed my Diplomacy studies to look less like statistics and theory, and more like people.

Secondly, while time abroad can give insight to the inter-esting differences between the lifestyles of different cultures, I learned that we are all much

more similar than we think. Even though they came from

a very different cultural back-ground, my host family remind-ed me so much of my own.

I easily made friends with my local classmates because, although I am American and they are Costa Rican, we were tackling the same problems that come with carving our places in society.

Finding similarities between yourself and others is key to

being an effective diplomat—so often, the problems that we face on a global scale are the result of us feeling threatened by those different from our-selves.

By studying abroad, you gain a clearer understanding of the fact that racial, gender, and economic inequality are prob-lems that we all face and must work together to solve.

Though these lessons are important to me, they are only

Study abroad is an incredible experience that every student should do if they are able.

You get to peek into anoth-er culture for a few months: try their food, learn a new lan-guage, interact with new peo-ple.

As a student on Semester at Sea, I get to do that with ten different cultures, foods, and groups of people. For my study abroad experience, I decided to become a true pirate and live on a boat for four months.

My name is Emily O’Connor and I am a junior at Seton Hall. I study diplomacy and interna-tional relations, as well as phi-losophy with minors in Spanish and business in legal studies.

As a diplomacy student, I knew that a program that would immerse me in vastly different countries (different political systems, different religions, dif-ferent customs) was one that I needed to do.

While some argue that Se-mester at Sea doesn’t allow you to truly live in a culture, I must respond that learning a little about many countries is equally valuable than experiencing only

one place. Though the application pro-

cess was an extensive one, with essays, forms, and pre-visa ap-proval, my interest in this pro-gram never wavered.

What Semester at Sea allows its students to do is learn the-oretical concepts in the class-room, then go and experience the concepts in real life.

For example, I take a class called business ethics and learn about the duty that a business has to other companies, its cus-tomers, and the environment.

Currently, we are docked in Croatia and we learned about the swindling that business-es sometimes commit against tourists by issuing extra charges and price increases to non-lo-cals.

At dinner with a group of friends one evening, the restau-rant tried to give us incorrect change and I was pushed by their manager. It was a scary lesson but one that makes me a better traveler.

We started our journey in Southampton, England. We

then traveled to Rome and Na-ples, Italy. Our original itinerary featured Istanbul, but due to rising tensions and the refugee crisis, we went to Dubrovnik, Croatia instead.

Our next few ports are Ath-ens, Greece, Valencia and Bar-celona in Spain, and we will then travel to Africa, stopping in Casablanca, Morocco, and Senegal.

The ship will then travel across the ocean and stop in El Salvador, Brazil, Trinidad & Tobago, Costa Rica, and finish

by traveling through the Pana-ma Canal to disembark in Costa Rica.

The next few months will be some of the most exciting I’ve ever had: riding camels in the Sahara Desert, piranha-fish-ing in the Amazon jungle, and working on reforestation in Costa Rica.

Many people have said, “That’s not real school,” and refer to The Suite Life on Deck. It is unconventional, for sure—I have class on Saturdays and Sundays, or any other day we’re on the ship.

If we’re sailing for six days, I’ll have class either five or six days in a row.

It is unlike any other study abroad program, so while I can never get settled into a culture, I’m constantly on my toes to jump into a new world.

It’s difficult to tell whether the journey will get easier as it continues, but I will continue to write for the Envoy throughout the semester, so look out for updates on my future excur-sions!

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

a portion of what I gained from my study abroad experi-ence.

I also gained a new family and lifelong friends. Most im-portantly, I gained a broader view of the world that I live in and one day hope to serve.

This trip may be over, but I hope to go abroad again in the future, and I encourage others to do the same!

Contact Avonelle at avonelle.davis@student.shu.edu.

Emily O’Connor: Semester at Sea

Photo courtesy of Emily O’Connor Emily O’Connor in front of the Pompeii Amphitheater in Naples, Italy.

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

campus spotlight October 2015Page 5

Photo courtesy of UN Media Tajikistani President Emomali Rahmon addressed the U.N. GA on Sept. 29.

This semester I have the opportunity to work and live in Washington, D.C. I moved here with no grasp of the city and no idea where my intern-ship would be. I was honestly terrified and not confident be-cause I had not received any offers yet.

I found out that D.C. op-erates on a different schedule than the rest of the country and was flushed with relief when my offers started com-ing in.

I ultimately decided to ac-cept an internship with the Council on Foreign Relations, and it has been one of the best choices I have made in my aca-demic and professional career.

CFR has three functions: publisher, think tank, and membership organization.

I work in the membership organization aspect with the D.C. Meetings team. From conception to execution, my team plans and organizes all of the meetings for Council members. CFR meetings offer

Zoe Sellers: Washington, D.C.

Crackdown on Islam CausesTrouble in Tajikistan

a unique opportuni-ty to share knowl-edge and blend ideas from various sectors in D.C.

Speakers and pre-siders are the who’s who of D.C. profes-sionals and policy-makers, and mem-bers that attend the meetings come from a variety of govern-ment agencies, think tanks, corporations, and non-profit orga-nizations.

Unlike my sum-mer internship with the office of my state’s senator that required a lot of administrative and stereotypical intern tasks, my intern-ship with CFR has offered me opportunities to do research, as well as con-nect with high-profile Council members.

I am currently doing re-

search on several current events that could potentially become meetings: the future of the euro, security issues in Afghanistan, the UN Sustain-

able Development Goals, and the ef-fect of cyber-secu-rity on global mar-kets.

It has benefited me both academ-ically and profes-sionally to do rele-vant research that will be used to ad-vance discussion on these topics.

While staffing meetings, handing out nametags, pass-ing around micro-phones, etc. can be seen as one of the more menial parts of my job, I really enjoy doing it.

Unlike other staff who have to register for meetings, I am able to attend all of

them because of my work. Something as simple as mak-

ing and passing out name tags gives me a chance to learn names and network.

The research and network-ing opportunities I have al-ready had are only affirming how much I’m going to gain from this semester.

Living in D.C. is a change of pace from the New Jer-sey-New York scene. While it is the same fast-paced profes-sional lifestyle of New York City, there is a very clear time when the work day is over.

Washington, D.C. is truly a melting pot—in my house alone, no two of us are from the same state.

Everyone I have had the op-portunity to connect with in Washington, D.C. is well-edu-cated and ambitious.

Everyone comes here with an agenda, which can be over-whelming, but I think my ex-perience in D.C. is ultimately helping me figure out where I want to go with my career.

In a field of politicians, ac-ademics, and diplomats, I am starting to realize where I fit in.

Contact Zoe at zoe.sellers@student.shu.edu.

Photo courtesy of Zoe Sellers Junior Zoe Sellers is studying in Washington D.C. for the fall 2015 semester.

On September 4, twin at-tacks rocked the central Asian country of Tajikistan. Because both attacks were multifaceted and uncoordinated strikes, the sequence of events remains unclear. The attacks were car-ried out by ex-members of the United Tajik Opposition (UTO), though their motive is unknown.

Tajik authorities claim not to know the origin of the attacks. According to Radio Free Eu-rope, a few weeks before the twin attacks, police officers in Vahdat allegedly beat a college student for having a beard. The United States Embassy claimed it had warned the Ta-jik government that the small clashes had been a precursor to the attacks.

The Diplomat publication poses that the two attacks stem from the government’s violent crackdown on all forms of op-

Felipe BuenoStaff Writer

position and on practitioners of the Islamic faith. President Emomali Rhamon’s stance against Islam is especially con-troversial, due to the country’s proximity to Afghanistan, a dominantly Islamic country.

In August, the government demanded the Islamic Re-naissance Party of Tajikistan (IRPT) to cease its activities. The IRPT is “the only officially registered Islamic party in the former Soviet Union,” reports Radio Free Europe. The IRPT also sided with the United Ta-

jik Opposition during the Tajik civil war.

Tajikistan has a long and complicated history of conflict and unrest since its separation from the Soviet Union in 1991, shortly followed by a civil war in 1997. Aside from the IRPT, President Rahmon also has grievances with former UTO warlords, who resent that Rah-mon has been in power since 1994. In 2013, he won 83.6 per-cent of the vote.

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

common perpetrators. “They are nominally elect-ed but they are behaving in a repressive way, using the cloak of fighting terrorism to fight critical voices,” he said.

Progress is being made to show the world that peaceful reporting and im-partial observation is not a crime against national se-curity, but a right.

In Egypt, two Al Jazeera journalists were released on September 23 after two years of imprisonment, according to CNN.

They were accused of broadcasting footage that portrayed the Egyptian regime falsely and aiding the Muslim Brotherhood, which was outlawed in 2013 due to connections

with the former over-thrown President Mo-hamed Morsy.

The journalists were two of a hundred individuals pardoned by President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi on the eve of Eid al-Hada, a Mus-lim holiday celebrating the Hajj pilgrimage.

US Ambassador to the UN Samantha Power ap-plauded the decision, as reported in CNN.

“Peaceful expression should never be a crime,” Power said in a statement. “Similarly, the freedom of the press to investigate, re-port and comment -- even when its perspective is un-popular or disputed -- is fundamental to any free society and essential to democratic development.”

Contact Madison at madison.mchugh@student.shu.

edu.

Journalists:Continued from Page 3...

focus on October 2015Page 6

United States Daniel D’Amico

Staff Writer

Photo courtesy of USA Today Immigrants waiting to be granted American citizenship.

Beginning with the Puritans in the 17th century, the trend for immigration has gone up and down throughout the de-cades.

During the Great Depres-sion and WWII, it decreased until the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 was passed. This act removed quo-tas based on nationality and al-lowed the petitioning of family members.

Present immigration pol-icies in the U.S. have become more complicated. Citizens are allowed to petition only certain family members.

Those who are coming temporarily or permanently for employment reasons are divided into five categories, which all have quotas.

Refugees are a sizable por-tion of U.S. immigration. They are admitted based on their situation, if they are part of any special interest groups, and whether they have family members already living in the U.S.

Immigrants who are already in the U.S. can apply to stay for a longer period if their country of origin is politically unstable.

A Diversity Visa Program, also known as the Green Card Lottery, was established in 1990.

Despite the reputation of the United States as a nation of immigrants, where Ameri-cans can trace their ancestries to a variety of countries, immi-gration remains a controversial topic in American political so-ciety.

The 2013 American Com-munity Survey reported more than 41.3 million immigrants in the United States, or about 13 percent of the total popu-lation. However, it is estimated that 11.4 million of these im-migrants are unauthorized.

Throughout his presiden-cy, President Barack Obama has advocated for immigra-tion reform. According to the Guardian, during Obama’s presidency, certain govern-ment sectors have opposed and hindered immigration re-form legislation. For instance,

the DREAM Act of 2010 aimed to protect the children of undocumented immigrants from deportation.

In 2012, Obama ordered immigration enforcement agents to defer action to peo-ple who arrived in the U.S. as children. This was estimated to affect about 580,000 immi-grants and provided a path to work permits.

In 2013, the Senate passed legislation that included a 13-year path to citizenship for undocumented workers. It also proposed allocating $40 billion to border security, but failed to pass the House of Represen-tatives.

In a speech in November 2014, President Obama an-nounced drastic changes in the immigration system, saying, “Our immigration system is broken and everybody knows it. It’s been this way for de-cades and for decades we hav-en’t done much about it.”

According to CNN, Obama called to target dangerous un-documented immigrants, while others would be given an extra three years to stay.

Obama also aimed to pro-vide jobs to the parents of U.S. citizens who have lived in the country for over five years, and to remove the age limit of 30 for those in the Deferred Ac-tion for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.

However, on February 17, President Obama’s reform was dealt a setback when a federal court judge ordered the court programs to be halted, the New York Times reports.

The ruling stated that Obama’s reform would pose

burdens on the states and their budgets.

Recently, Pope Francis spoke about immigration in the first Papal address to a joint meeting of Congress.

USA Today reports that he called for Americans to be open to immigrants from around the world, in light of the refugee crisis presently in-undating Europe.

He asked Americans to think of the refugees as peo-ple, and not simply as num-bers.

Despite the Pope’s speech, prospects for substantial im-migration reform seem slim because of dichotomy in the U.S. government, with an even wider variety of positions within the Republican Party.

For instance, some Repub-licans in the 2016 presidential race, such as former Florida Governor Jeb Bush and Sen-ator Marco Rubio, support immigration reform. Others, such as Donald Trump, plan to limit immigration instead of expanding it.

Regardless of which par-ty will win the White House, House Republicans under majority leader Dave Brat will continue to block immigration reform—a setback for any Democratic Party candidate.

However, Secretary of State John Kerry announced on September 20 that the United States will raise the im-migration cap from 70,000 to 80,000 in the next fiscal year, in anticipation of the influx of refugees fleeing conflict zones in the Middle East.

Contact Daniel atdaniel.damico@student.shu.edu

European UnionKeith Barnes

Staff Writer

Photo courtesy of BBCMigrants crowd onto a boat in the Mediterranean Sea looking for opportunities in new countries.

Considering the degree of integration among European states and the Schengen Agree-ment, movement by one EU national to another EU state is not considered immigration. The EU is allowed, however, to offer logistical and monetary supplements to a country to augment or impede migration flows.

Europe’s fractious political framework has contributed to the European Union’s inability to resolve issues from finan-cial crises and the Greek bail-out, to the conflict in Ukraine. And now, the refugee crisis has exposed concerns that may ne-cessitate immediate action.

Legally, Europe does not have a common European im-migration policy. The Treaty of Lisbon, which amended the Maastricht Treaty that estab-lished the European Union, leaves matters of immigration to member states individually. The Lisbon Treaty actually en-shrines the entirety of the 1951 Geneva Convention as law ap-plying to all member states.

According to Article 14 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, “Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution.”

The Geneva Convention takes this a step further and expands on the definition of a refugee as an individual who has “fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or polit-ical opinion, [and] is outside the country of his nationality and

is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country.”

With respect to the current refugee crisis, EU states have taken various routes, some dan-gerously close to violating the rules, in order to address the lack of a common policy on migration.

The European Commission has stated that while there is no fully operational, single, migra-tion policy for the Union, there have been a number of direc-tives—the equivalent of an executive order—made to har-monize factors of the migrant situation.

The Commission holds that 19 states have made a total of 40 violations of such direc-tives. According to German English-language news outlet The Local, the Commission is charging a number of states with violating the European Reception Conditions Direc-tive, which details the quality of conditions in which refugees may live.

On a state-by-state basis, immigration policies vary tre-mendously, from complete open-door policies in Sweden and Germany, to more selec-tive measures in France and Belgium.

Once the refugees have been given asylum status, the inte-gration processes to which they must adhere also vary. In coun-tries such as Spain, Italy, and Germany, refugees are given a modest income from the state while they look for jobs. In oth-er countries, such as Bulgaria, refugees are on the receiving end of racism and xenophobia, for which Amnesty Interna-tional has rebuked the local

immigration October 2015Page 7

China

Leah CerilliStaff Writer

Although China signed both the 1951 United Nations Refu-gee Convention and the 1967 Protocol, the Exit-Entry Law has only slim provisions for asylum-seekers.

Due to the lack of concrete provisions, the Beijing office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has been carrying out refugee status determina-tion on China’s behalf, with a mounting caseload due to cri-ses in the Middle East.

The Chinese government has stood its ground as recent rounds of tighter immigra-tion control legislation have sparked debate.

The Migration Policy Institute (MPI) notes that China provides an environment of economic for-titude, a more than welcoming higher education-al system, and low cost of living that attracts individu-als from around the world, but introduction of these policies has led to stricter confinements of the incoming immigrants.

Although there is wide-spread internal migration in China, the MPI reported “a threefold increase in the num-ber of foreign entries (long- and short-term) into China,” specifically students, tourists, and business travelers.

With this giant influx come the benefits of immigration, from higher tourism revenues to recruitment of foreign labor to diversify China’s market.

However, immigration into China comes with a cost: so-cial quality.

MPI notes that this issue first arose in the 1990s, when anx-ieties began to develop about the prospects of “low-quality” immigrants who do not con-tribute to economic and social modernity.

The 2008 financial crisis fueled this anxiety in Chi-na, as blame was placed on “low-quality” immigrants.

Colin KimberlinStaff Writer

Since then, xenophobia has developed into witch hunts for “illegal foreigners.”

In 2004, the Ministry of Public Security (MPS) began to rework China’s 1985 immi-gration legislation.

The ministry was tasked with addressing the balance between economic modernity, social stability, and security.

MPI highlights “the intro-duction of more comprehen-sive immigration legislation was considered part of gen-eral political reforms towards greater rule of law in a ‘social-ist legal system with Chinese characteristics.’”

This search for more strin-gent policies induced an eight-year process where the Stand-ing Committee of the National

People’s Congress discussed the transferability of Western immigra-tion policies to Chinese contexts, which resulted in the 2012 Exit and Entry Adminis-tration Law.

With this new policy in place, the administration

can now distinguish between desirable and undesirable im-migrants.

MPI notes, once again, that China views this capability as a tool for modernizing its soci-ety and economic market.

The new law also provides China’s first all-inclusive pol-icies for regulating incoming immigrants and handling three main categories of illegal im-migrants: entry, residence, and work.

One of the remarkable side effects of this legislation was the shift from government enforcement of policies to a decentralized method of re-lying on employers, landlords, and the general public to take initiative when it comes to documenting and monitoring immigrants.

It mimics state-level legisla-tion in Arizona that penalizes individuals who shelter, em-ploy, or assist undocumented migrants.

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

“Although there is widespread internal migration in China, the MPI reported “a threefold increase in the number of

foreign entries (long- and short-term) into

China,” specifically students, tourists, and

business travelers.”Human rights groups have strongly condemned Israel for its harsh immigration policy to-wards African asylum-seekers, citing hypocrisy between their immigration bans to non-Jews and the open, streamlined pro-cess of immigration of Euro-pean Jews.

Reuters reports that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Net-anyahu has rejected all propos-als and his opposition’s call to take in Syrian refugees. Accord-ing to Israel’s Population Im-migration and Border Author-ity, more than 60,000 migrants crossed into Israel illegally between 2006 and 2012. Most of these migrants were from Eritrea, seeking asylum from harsh dictatorship. Israel classi-fies them as economic migrants seeking work, not as refugees.

In 2012, Israel built a border fence with Egypt to hinder im-migration, and is in the process of extending its fence along the eastern border of Jordan. Isra-el requests that these migrants leave and are willing to give cash grants to those who return to their homes or depart for an-

other African country.Thousands of migrants are

detained in the Holot Detention Facility along the Egyptian bor-der. An Israeli Supreme Court ruling declared that these detain-ees must be released after a max-imum stay of 12 months, but upon release, African migrants are banned from entering the capital city of Tel Aviv.

On the other hand, immigra-tion to Israel has been freely ex-tended to Jewish people, as well as certain non-Jewish relatives. According to the Jewish Agen-cy for Israel, the Law of Return states that Jews from other coun-tries are entitled to move to Isra-el and request Israeli citizenship at any point, as long as they pose no threat to public health, state security, or the Jewish people as a whole. As of 1970, non-Jewish spouses, children, and grandchil-dren of Jews are also allowed citizenship. This ensures that families are not broken apart, and that there is a safe haven for non-Jews being persecuted be-cause of their Jewish roots.

Israel is experiencing a surge in European immigration, large-ly from Ukraine and France. The Immigration Absorption Min-istry of Israel estimates that by

the end of 2015, the number of immigrants from France alone will reach 9,000, compared to the estimated 7,200 French im-migrants taken in by Israel in 2014.

The influx of French immi-grants is due to the rise of an-ti-Semitic violence in France, such as the massacre at a Par-is kosher market related to the Charlie Hebdo attack that left four hostages dead.

Ukrainian immigrants are coming predominantly from the east, where civil war has been threatened civilian safe-ty. According to the Jerusalem Post, approximately half of the Jewish population in the east-ern Ukrainian city of Donetsk have already fled. For Ukraini-ans, the process of immigration is being expedited. Requesting citizenship can normally take months, but applicants from Eastern Ukraine are now ad-mitted immediately.

Israel’s Immigrant Absorp-tion Minister Sofa Landver urged Jewish people in Den-mark to immigrate after the shooting of a Jewish security guard in Copenhagen.

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

Israel

government.Germany received interna-

tional attention recently when Chancellor Angela Merkel announced that they expect upwards of 800,000 applica-tions for asylum, followed by the suspension of the Dublin Agreement, under which asy-lum-seekers must apply and be relocated in the country in which they first arrived.

These actions were followed by an abrupt declaration of emergency and the reinstitu-tion of border controls along the German-Austrian border, prompting similar actions in Croatia, Hungary, Slovakia, and Austria.

While the EU states com-mit to accepting refugees, their major concern is that a large number of migrants are citizens of Balkan countries; however, they mix with the migrating crowds and declare themselves as Syrian upon reaching the EU.

Individuals who are not flee-

ing war but are simply looking to improve their living stan-dards are known as economic migrants and are not protected by any European law, as their native countries are perfectly safe.

In response to this, EU states have the European Return Di-rective, which allows them to deport an individual who fails qualifications for asylum.

Contact Keith at kieth.barnes@student.shu.edu.

Photo courtesy of the TelegraphIn Europe, circled are the top EU destinations for asylum. In Africa and the Middle East, top countries of origin for migrants crossing the Meditteranean Sea.

opinionOctober 2015Page 8

Mistakes Made, Too Early to TellThomas Ashe

Staff Writer

What’s Behind Saudi Support for the Iran Deal?

Kathryn ChaneyStaff Writer

In July, King Salman of Saudi Arabia officially announced his nation’s support for the Iran nuclear deal. In the past, Sau-di Arabia and Iran have never been the best of friends, but King Salman says that Presi-dent Obama assured him of the deal’s success.

However, perhaps there are other reasons for Saudi Arabia’s support that lie below the sur-face.

Saudi Arabia and Iran each belong to two strongly oppos-ing Islamic denominations: the former is populated by Sunni Muslims, while the latter is a stronghold for Shia Islam.

Religion aside, Saudi Arabia and Iran have been longtime rivals for power in the Middle East. Both nations have large supplies of oil and have es-tablished major alliances with Western powers: Saudi Arabia with the United States, and Iran with Russia. These partnerships in and of themselves suggest the enmity between the states.

So how could Saudi Arabia be so easily persuaded to back the Iran nuclear deal, which al-lows more money and resourc-es to enter the borders of their adversary? Furthermore, what does King Salman’s decision say about Saudi Arabia’s place in the international community?

The answer can be found in Saudi Arabia’s interests in the Middle East and its own na-tional security. First, since his ascension in January 2015, King Salman promoted the forma-tion of an alliance among Sunni Middle Eastern nations.

While most Sunni nations are in the neighborhood of Sau-di Arabia, Iran stands between Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, which would be a valuable ad-dition to King Salman’s alliance due to its nuclear capability.

King Salman reached out to Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in 2014 to create closer ties between their nations. Un-fortunately, Prime Minister Sharif commented that Paki-stan could only accommodate small measures of support at the time, due to domestic issues.

Then again, one of the quick-est ways to transfer resources from Pakistan to Saudi Ara-bia is through the Arabian Sea along the border of the Iranian Coast. This may not have been very appealing to Prime Minis-ter Sharif, given the history be-tween Iran and Saudi Arabia.

However, if Saudi Arabia were to establish a relationship with Iran, other Middle Eastern nations might feel less threat-ened by the tension between the two.

On the other hand, an estab-lished relationship with Iran could have other benefits for Saudi Arabia, apart from the ability to build a Sunni alliance.

In the modern era, nuclear capability has become the cor-nerstone of a nation’s defense policy, and Saudi Arabia lacks exactly that.

Conversely, Iran is notorious for its nuclear program, and while the Iran deal is meant to prevent this power, there are benefits to being allied with a nation that possesses a nuclear arsenal.

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

Photo courtesy of the New York Times King Salman of Saudi Arabia in 2013.

On September 8, Foreign Af-fairs held a debate between aca-demic scholars and practitioners in the international relations field centered on the future of United States foreign policy and President Barack Obama’s legacy. From the Middle East to China, to the Iran nuclear deal and terrorism, President Obama has made decisions that have affected Americans and foreigners alike.

Professor Walter Russell Mead of Bard College argued that America needs to realize that its influence in Israel is not as strong as it may think. He claims that American pres-idents, including President Obama, believe that the United States has more leverage over Israel as opposed to reality. He suggested that the United States should be more realistic about what it can do, and should stop trying to take responsibility for a situation that we cannot con-trol and have not controlled.

Regarding terrorism, Jessica Stern, a former National Secu-rity Council staff member in the Clinton administration, be-lieves Obama’s policies do not represent a change in strategy from the previous administra-tion. She believes his support for increased domestic surveil-lance and drones is derivative of a strategy that was estab-lished years prior.

One mistake Stern point-ed out was President Obama’s campaign undelivered prom-ise to close Guantanamo Bay prison, which he has yet to and probably never will.

Also discussed were China and the Iran nuclear deal, both in a positive light. Regarding China, Thomas Christensen, former Deputy Assistant Sec-retary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs in the Bush administration, was critical of the tension in U.S.-China rela-tions. He suggested that the fi-nancial crisis of 2008 made re-lations with China much more unstable. This crisis gave China reason to “feel cocky abroad”

and triggered its rise in power. Yet he does not fault President Obama for the power struggle with China, and continues to praise the Obama administra-tion for attending the East Asia Summit. He concludes that it is probable that the United States and China will avoid an en-tirely antagonistic relationship, thanks in part to policies imple-mented by the Obama admin-istration.

During the Q & A session at the end of the debate, a stu-dent asked the panel about their feelings towards the Iran nucle-ar deal. Foreign Affairs Editor Gideon Rose felt that it was a great achievement that rep-resents the dynamism of Amer-ican power, but that it may be overblown.

Princeton University’s Thom-as Christensen stated, “The way the world is interdependent to-day, there are not only Ameri-can ideas; you have to have mul-tilateral coalitions to fix (these) problems.”

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

Obama’s Foreign Policy Legacy:

They say not to mix politics and family, and for the love of God, never politics and in-laws.

But while visiting my boy-friend’s parents a few weeks ago, I found this very dif-ficult when his mother (I’ll refer to her as Mama G) ca-sually mentioned she will be supporting Donald Trump in 2016.

It triggered the following question, simple yet stupefy-ing – why?

I was in Europe this August, and numerous times on my journey, upon being revealed as an American, people from all over asked me to explain Trump. Barcelona, Rome, the United Kingdom, even in the Philippines—it appears that the world is watching our election polls (or at least, the Internet) and wondering the same thing I am: if everyone hates Trump so much, why is he “winning?"

As both a woman and an

opinion October 2015Page 9

Trump: A Punchline Leading the Polls

Lucy NjugunaStaff Writer

Isla LamontStaff Writer

Photo courtesy of ReutersProspective GOP presidential candi-date Donald Trump.

Playing Devil’s Advocate for China and Africa

While some remain un-decided on what to think of Chinese-African relations, it is apparent that China is taking a stronghold in the economies of certain African countries. Despite serious political tur-moil in some of these states, China has aggressively estab-lished businesses, even in plac-es where they seemed unlikely to thrive.

The Economist reports that China is currently Africa’s biggest trading partner, with $160 billion worth of goods exchanged annually. This ag-gressive economic tactic has proven a threat to Western na-tions that previously cornered trade with Africa. Yet, the more pressing question is whether Africa’s new trade partnership is beneficial to the continent.

Looking at the perspective of African countries, many states have been very welcoming to-wards Chinese investors. The

Photo courtesy of the Financial TimesChinese President Xi Jingping (left) is welcomed by Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete in Tanzania.

trade trends have changed so dramatically in recent years that research and interest groups are shocked by the sudden shift of trading partners from the West to the East.

Al Jazeera reports that the West’s mission shifted from trade to counter-terrorism, fol-lowing the bombing of U.S em-bassies in Dar es Salaam, Tanza-nia in 1998.

Meanwhile, China’s policy of non-interference in the do-mestic affairs of other states is an appealing prospect, and has also been another boost to the economic growth in Africa, where the West has been ac-cused of too much interference.

However, there is reason for skepticism toward Chinese-Af-rican economic relations. In East Africa, for instance, China seeks to build roads and rail-ways connecting countries in the region. This construction appears to provide the obvious advantage of easier trade and movement for East African countries, but some critics do

not agree with this notion.Peter Eigen, a special editor

for CNN, reports that Chinese economic strategy is self-moti-vated. The Chinese are invest-ing heavily in the transportation industry, motivated by better accessibility to mineral resourc-es. African history is not unfa-miliar with the exploitation of resources.

Improved transportation of-ten becomes less beneficial to foreigners than to locals, who use them more regularly. But when infrastructure and su-perstructure are improving at a faster rate than human capital, is the progress as useful to lo-cals?

Ory Okolloh, a well-known Kenyan tech investor and law-yer, provides a local perspective. In an interview with Quartz, she discusses how economic growth in Africa is taking the wrong dimension. She argues that it is difficult for people facing bad policies, poor gover-nance, and poverty to establish “entrepreneurship.”

Citing Greece as an example, she explains that as the coun-try was going through its bail-out, no one was telling Greek citizens to be entrepreneurs. It seems that there is a fetishism for entrepreneurship in Afri-ca that overlooks fundamental problems.

In this case, Chinese inves-tors are the ones acting as en-trepreneurs. Africans are not progressing, but rather opening more opportunities to Chinese investors who reap the benefits and overlook major societal is-

sues. Eventually, will China be re-

placed as Africa’s leading trade partner? Or can Africa become more self-reliant? To ensure self-reliance, Africa cannot rely on booming Chinese invest-ments and trade indefinitely. Africa needs to organize its domestic and financial econ-omies, in order to maintain a competitive market with Chi-na that will lead to a mutually beneficial trading relationship.

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

immigrant in this country, not to mention an intelligent and ethical human being, I could not begin to fathom why Mama G would support such a womanizing, foul-mouthed, self-righteous, xe-nophobic, pompous waste of a hairpiece.

I asked her how she could support a man who was ac-cused of marital rape by his ex-wife; publicly used the words “slob,” “fat pig,” “dogs,” and “ugly” to proud-ly objectify women; has stat-ed a Fox News anchor was probably on her period; said, “I believe we’re all equal, ex-cept women still have to try harder and they know it;” and, for such a great business man, has declared bankrupt-cy and been bailed out by the government. Twice.

Her response, however, was quite simple: he isn’t afraid to say what we’re all thinking.

As Mama G put it, “We are so tired of these lying candi-dates, always promising what they won’t commit to. He at least tells it to you straight,

even if it ain’t pretty.”The respect one feels for a

person who is undaunted by authority or mass opinion is rather universal.

It is not, however, a trait acceptable for someone in such a delicate and globally watched position as the Pres-ident of the United States.

So to summarize: the American middle class feels under attack. They feel ha-tred for their religion, na-tionality, and their very way of life from growing corners of the world. The media does

not shield them from violent protests at home and global violence, while they cope with the daily grind of hard work as only the rich get richer.

Most of all, they feel that they cannot even rely on their own government.

Then, on the television, comes a beautiful woman, Ivanka Trump, proclaiming how when it comes to her fa-ther, “There is no one you’d rather have in your corner.”

The hotshot himself comes on, larger than life, flashing to the country his supposed-ly self-made billions as if it were a hall pass from Heaven above.

Basically, Donald Trump has a god complex, and America wants a savior.

You see, I’m scared too. And my concerns are not just limited to this country.

It genuinely frightens me to think of what Trump will do and say as the leader of our nation.

The Presidency is a posi-tion that involves the highest

level of tact, diplomacy, and sensibility.

Are we really going to rely on someone so volatile to deal with Iranian nuclear missiles, or maintain foreign relationships?

The man talks himself into a corner at every me-dia opportunity and has no concrete goals for his vague objectives of “getting the economy back on track” or “defeating ISIS.”

The one plan he actually released, as of mid-Septem-ber, is his immigration pro-posal, which encompasses large swathes of negotiable territory and no real sense of direction.

The impetus for global ac-tion rests on 1600 Pennsyl-vania Avenue, the command-er of wars, the Daniel to our lion’s den—are we seriously going to deliberately, will-ingly, and intelligently elect Donald Trump to any posi-tion over us?

Contact Isla at rachel.lamont

@student.shu.edu.

international newsOctober 2015Page 10

IMO Adopts Polar Code For Arctic Ocean

Oumarou KouraogoStaff Writer

Pope:Continued from Page 1...

Burkina Faso Cabinet Detained by Presidential Guard

Mirjana KuzmanovskiStaff Writer

In Burkina Faso, the end of 2014 was marked by protests against constitutional change that would allow President Blaise Compaore to run for another term, extending his 27-year presidency. Pressure from citizens forced Compaore to dissolve the government, de-clare a state of emergency, and flee to the Ivory Coast.

A transitional government was formed, with Michel Kaf-ando as interim president and Lieutenant Colonel Yacouba Isaac Zida as prime minister.

The interim government was applauded for its civism and the conditions for transparent elec-tions that were put in place.

On April 7, members of the interim Congress voted on a new electoral code that dis-qualified constitutional change supporters from the upcoming elections.

In reality, this law makes all

government officials who iden-tify with the party of former President Compaore, Congress for Democracy and Progress (CDP), ineligible to run.

CDP leaders contested this legislation for its discriminato-ry nature. The Supreme Court of Burkina Faso found the new electoral code constitutional, making several candidates inel-igible to run in the elections.

However, the Court invited the concerned political parties to select new candidates to re-place those who were banned.

The Court did not interpret the new electoral code as exclu-sionary toward entire political parties, but only those who ex-plicitly supported the initiative to change the constitution.

BBC reports that on Septem-ber 16, on the orders of Gilbert Diendere, Compaore’s right hand man and head of the elite presidential guard, a great num-ber of soldiers came into the cabinet room and kidnapped the interim president and prime

minister. According to the Guardian,

a televised announcement by Lieutenant Colonel Mamadou Bamba on September 17 stated that the coup comes in protest of “the electoral code, which blocked members of Com-paore’s party from taking part in the October 11 elections.”

The New York Times poses that the coup was motivated by the threat of disbanding the Regiment of Presidential Se-curity in response to negative public opinion.

The coup did not succeed, as the population, along with several civil society and political leaders, opposed it.

United Nations Secre-tary-General Ban Ki-moon and various heads of state condemned the event, saying, “A power seizure by the pres-idential guard is a major step backward for a country that so recently managed to peaceful-ly oust an autocrat,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

The risk of civil war loomed when army chief General Pin-grenoma Zagre directed his troops to the capital, Ouaga-dougou, where the coup was staged.

The army gave the coup lead-er an ultimatum to step down or be removed by force. An agree-ment was reached and Diendere stepped down.

On September 23, Kafando and Zida were reinstated into power under the supervision of

several West African heads of state.

The post-coup agreement still bans CDP members in the upcoming election. Al Jazeera reports that the Regiment of Presidential Security will be dis-mantled, and those responsible for the coup will be put on trial for killing ten people and injur-ing over a hundred others.

Contact Oumarou at oumarou.kouraogo@student.shu.edu.

Photo courtesy of The GuardianTwo protesters outside the parliament in Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso in October 2014.

Ground has been broken on the International Code of Safe-ty for Ships Operating in Polar Waters, also known as the Polar Code. After meeting in London in May 2015, the International Maritime Organization (IMO), an agency under the United Nations that regulates ships, ad-opted several guidelines in the Polar Code that aim to reduce the amount of pollution emit-ted into the environment.

Now, ships entering Arctic waters will be examined to see if they pass these guidelines before receiving the green light to travel through the Arctic Ocean.

The strict environmental guidelines in the Polar Code ban the discharge of oil, oily waters, harmful chemicals, and food waste. Any food waste must be 20 kilometers away from land or ice.

Although such strict guide-lines will be put into effect, the fuel oil used for these ships poses major environmental problems.

Pacific Environment spokes-

man Kevin Harun told CBC News that the fuel oil is “thick, vicious, dirty and persistent, doesn’t evaporate and would be a real disaster if there was a spill.”

University of British Colum-bia professor Michael Byers noted the same guidelines are already enforced in Antarctic waters, adding, “There was real hope the IMO would extend that ban.” He also noted that this oil produces black carbon, one of the leading causes of cli-mate change.

While Harun and Byers be-lieve the Polar Code is a great initiative to curb the escalation of climate change, the guide-lines are not strong enough.

Enforcement of the guidelines will be the responsibility of na-tions within their territorial wa-ters. Elsewhere, enforcement is uncertain.

The International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) expressed support for the ratification of the Polar Code, considering the high sensitivity of ice-wa-ter ecosystems and the need for caution with maritime travel. Yet the ICS continues to high-light the need for a regulatory framework to ensure the guide-lines of the Polar Code are met.

The Polar Code is set to take effect on January 1, 2017.

Contact Mirjana at mirjana.kuzmanovski

@student.shu.edu.

Photo courtesy of APA ship navigating through the Arctic Ocean.

system, which he suggested is “unjust” and is forcing hun-dreds of thousands of people to flee from poverty and war in search of a new beginning elsewhere. While at the UN, Pope Francis attempted to have a discussion with Presi-dent Putin, likely regarding the refugee crisis and instability in the Middle East.

However, the Russian Mis-sion to the UN stated that President Putin will arrive at the UN only two days after the beginning of the summit due to “private meetings,” as re-ported in Times. Francis held meetings with each member of the UN Security Council.As the United States prepared for the six-day Papal visit to New York, Washington, and Phila-delphia, security for the Pope became a rising priority.

Chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Se-curity Michael McCaul (R-TX), told the Washington Post, “The Pope is a very passionate man,” adding that some of the Pope’s methods make him dif-ficult to protect.”

As McCaul puts it, “He likes to get out with the people.”

This poses a major security problem as open areas makes him an easy target for threats. This includes not only the open-air arenas that he pre-fers to speak in, but also the open-roofed Papal vehicles that he uses as transportation, as opposed to the traditional bulletproof, enclosed vehicles that became popular after the assassination attempt on Pope John Paul II.

McCaul has gone on record saying that one plot against the Pope has been “disrupted,” and that the Department of Homeland Security is on high alert for other threats.

As Pope Francis returns to the Americas, more than just his security is in question. The visit brings up the Vatican’s in-volvement in the resumption of U.S.-Cuba relations, and in Venezuela’s human rights vio-lations.Contact Mohammed at mohammed.

khader@student.shu.edu.Contact Kiersten at

kiersten.meyers@student.shu.edu.

school of diplomacy news October 2015Page 11

DULCE: Diplomacy Forum Sweetens School CommunicationAnthony DiFlorio

Staff Writer

Photo courtesy of the School of Diplomacy The author (left) with former Dominican Republic President Leonel Fernandez Reyna.

Diplomacy World Leaders Forum Welcomes Leonel FernándezLuis SosaStaff Writer

Since assuming the position of dean at the School of Di-plomacy and Internationals Relations in July 2013, Dr. An-drea Bartoli has infused its aca-demic and professional culture with an abundance of vibrant ideas and creativity.

As a peace and conflict studies specialist in theory and practice, effective, collab-orative communication is at the core of his vision for the school.

Born from the desire to foster an open, interactive community between students and administration, the Diplo-macy United Leadership and Communication Exchange launched in September 2014.

DULCE—a play on the Spanish word for “sweet”—serves as the ideal forum for students to interact with one another and the Dean, faculty and staff of the School of Di-plomacy.

Comprised of both under-graduate and graduate stu-dents, many representing the numerous student organiza-tions on campus, DULCE meets monthly to discuss a wide range of topics relevant to the Diplomacy community.

The group provides an out-let for all constituencies of the School to work collaboratively and share feedback on school policies, events, student leader-ship, professional development and more. DULCE is open to all Diplomacy students and participation is encouraged.

As Gwen DeBenedetto, Di-rector of Marketing and Com-munications at the School ex-plains, “DULCE is all about coming together to maximize the strengths of our Diploma-cy community at Seton Hall—undergraduate students, gradu-ate students, faculty and staff.”

Gwen knows the value of effective communication, es-pecially in a niche community like the School of Diplomacy. “To meet the needs and inter-ests of current students, I’ve seen the group host speakers on campus, launch new orga-nizations such as the Women of Diplomacy Leadership Pro-gram, and facilitate enhanced collaboration between existing organizations,” she said.

“Thus far, the discussions and actions have been limited

to those who are available to attend meetings in person. This semester however, the group will be playing more with ways to participate virtually.”

Dylan Ashdown, a dou-ble-Master’s candidate in Di-plomacy and International Relations and Business/Cor-porate Communications, has been the point person for all things DULCE-related.

From leading monthly dis-cussions to coordinating emails between students and administration, he has worked tirelessly and seen the group bring strong ideas and a great-er sense of community to the School.

He explained that one of DULCE’s major successes was bridging the gap between undergraduate and graduate

students at the School of Di-plomacy.

“One of the big things that got created in order to solve that was the Facebook page. It’s for anyone that wants anything School of Diplomacy related. Events going on that might not make E-news,” he noted.

“We have over 130 members right now, from undergrad, grad students, and even some alumni.”

DULCE typically meets on the last Friday of each month, unless otherwise specified.

All students who are inter-ested in attending the forum and sharing ways to improve our School can email Dylan at dylan.ashdown@student.shu.edu.

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

On Wednesday, September 23, the School of Diplomacy and International Relations and the Joseph A. Unanue Latino Institute welcomed former President of the Do-minican Republic, Leonel Fer-nandez Reyna, as part of the School of Diplomacy’s World Leaders Forum.

Mr. Fernandez’s visit was marked by the signature of a memorandum of understand-ing between the School and Fundación Global Democracia y Desarrollo (FUNGLODE), over which Fernandez pre-sides.

The partnership looks for collaboration between the or-ganizations through research, internships, exchange pro-grams, and conferences.

Mr. Fernandez delivered a lecture entitled “Current Eco-nomic and Political Trends in Latin America.” The lecture covered the Dominican Re-public’s ethnic diversity, po-litical development, and im-portant regional economic and financial points.

Fernandez stated that in or-der for Latin American coun-

tries to progress, they need to move from exporting raw ma-terials to exporting products and services with added value.

He also pointed out that investments in infrastructure, education, and human capital are key for the region’s growth.

Fernandez also referred to Cuba to illustrate how much the international arena has changed through the years. Pointing to the rise of the Cu-ban flag in Washington, D.C. and the American flag in Ha-vana, Fernandez said, “With the reestablishment of diplo-matic relations between Cuba and the U.S., the Cold War is finally over.”

Mr. Fernandez’s reflections on the Cuban Revolution raised eyebrows. Fernandez stated in reference to Fidel Castro and the Cuban Revolu-tion, “Fidel Castro didn’t want a revolution. He wanted to be a part of the system. But the lack of democratic access to power created conditions for the revolution.”

Coincidentally, Fernandez’s visit to Seton Hall marked the two-year anniversary of the Constitutional Tribunal of the Dominican Republic’s decision to issue ruling TC/163/18,

which gave rise to the DR’s nationality crisis. The ruling affected the legal status of children with undocumented parents, most of whom are of Haitian descent.

When asked about the issue, Fernandez responded with the measures the DR has taken to remedy the situation, which he said the international press has failed to cover.

In a small group conversa-tion regarding the Dominican movement that sought to have 4 percent of the national bud-get devoted to public educa-tion, Fernandez commented that although structure is nec-essary, the real change must happen at a deeper level.

He referred to the way ed-ucation is catered to in Latin America, singling out that ed-ucation systems should pro-mote problem solving and application of knowledge to real-life situations as opposed to relying on memory as the main intellectual tool.

Mr. Fernandez also ex-pressed his views on U.S. pol-itics: “I do not like to make predictions, but I can assure you that Donald Trump is not going to win the elections” because of the Latino vote.

He stressed the importance of the Latino community by acknowledging the growing purchasing power of Latinos in the U.S.

Earlier on the day of the lecture, word reached univer-sity administrators that certain groups had the intention to demonstrate on campus.

As a result, security was strengthened. The protest was geared toward both the Do-minican Republic and Mr. Fer-nandez.

The demonstrators held posters written in Spanish that read, “The Dominican Repub-

lic is committing civil geno-cide.” Demonstrators also called the Dominican state a racist state. Some demonstra-tors held Haitian flags as they shouted.

These demonstrators were countered by a group of Do-minican nationalists, many of whom were supporters of Fernandez. They waved Do-minican flags and sung the national anthem in response to the demonstrators that con-demned the former president and the Dominican Republic.

Contact Luis at luis.sosasantiago@student.shu.edu.

school of diplomacy news October 2015Page 12

School of Diplomacy Co-Sponsors ‘A Prayer for Peace’

Bjorn SchwarzenbachStaff Writer

Photo courtesy of Thomas HillDiplomacy Dean Andrea Bartoli.

‘A Prayer for Peace’ will take place on Saturday, Octo-ber 17 at 8 PM in the Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage at Carnegie Hall. The concert features the Seton Hall Univer-sity Choir and the MidAtlantic Opera Company under the di-rection of Dr. Jason Tramm, assistant professor and direc-tor of choral activities for the College of Communication and the Arts.

One-third of net proceeds will go to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refu-gees to benefit Syrian refugees.

According to Dr. Tramm, “This program features com-posers representing the three Abrahamic faiths, whose works rise above the circum-stances of their creation and

present a universal prayer for peace.” The selected works are by Ahmed Adnan Saygun, Leonard Bernstein, and Ralph Vaughan Williams.

A concert prelude will be held on Saturday, October 3 from 3-5 p.m. in Jubilee Auditorium. This program will feature brief lectures from scholars and members of the peace com-munity, combined with short performances by the Seton Hall University Chamber Choir and guest high school choirs.

The Diplomatic Envoy sat down with Dr. Andrea Bartoli to discuss the upcoming col-laboration between the School of Diplomacy and the newly formed College of Communi-cation and the Arts.

The Diplomatic Envoy: Could you tell us more about the ‘A Prayer for Peace Concert’ this month and the background

behind the idea?Andrea Bartoli: The con-

cert is somewhat of a begin-ning. The collaborative idea stemmed from Professor Jason Tramm. I was very touched by the concept of experienc-ing music that was written by composers who were either under violence, duress, or war, or who had composed music in response to these violent acts. The beauty of the concert program is also enhanced and heightened by the three reli-gious traditions represented in the pieces, the different com-posers coming from the Chris-tian, Jewish, and Muslim tradi-tions. The music compositions are represented through the lens of creation as a response to violence. And this is very important to me because I think violence in many ways is an answer without a question that doesn’t recognize other’s contributions. And music is a beautiful response to those distractions of violence. So this idea for collaboration definitely resonated with me and I decided to contribute as much as possible to the event. I would also add that I really have enjoyed the collaboration for the event between the two newest schools at Seton Hall, the Diplomacy School and the new College for Communi-cation and the Arts. To bring Seton Hall to Carnegie Hall, to bring the arts and diplomacy together, and music and peace together is a wonderful thing.

Envoy: Your background is in peace studies and conflict resolution. What’s the connec-tion in your opinion between music and what we study in diplomacy and international relations?

AB: So there is no music

without intention, music is in many ways a recognition that one note must follow the other in order to be in harmony, to create the meaning that needs to be conveyed. Any musical creation is a recognition that harmony comes from all the parts working together. I think that music as a response to vi-olence or war is very interest-ing because it is a reminder to humans that their first respon-sibility is to one another and to make sense of life. Another re-sponsibility is to offer one an-other the space and experience that is mutually beneficial. So for us to go to Carnegie Hall and experience these pieces that were written as a response to violence is a way to reaffirm the commitments of students, faculty, administration, and alumni that peace is a human construct and at the same time it is something we need to con-stantly serve.

Envoy: Based on your per-sonal experiences in the field as an international conflict res-olution expert, have you ever experienced the arts or other forms of creativity playing a role in any conflict resolution situations or diplomatic activ-ities?

AB: There is always an ar-tistic component to any peace

process. Peace processes can-not be successful but through a creative act and they are by definition creative because these processes are respond-ing to a specific situation that requires a specific solution. There is no doubt in my mind that there is in fact a very tight connection between any peace process and the artistic perfor-mance and creative act. This doesn’t take place necessarily in a formal way that if you can go to a concert, you are suddenly enlightened and then you get peace. Rather, the discipline of the creative act of diplomacy is actually shared with others and this creative act must be at play in order for peace to oc-cur. So in that manner, I think we are at the beginning of an understanding of how peace is itself a creative act. Peace can-not just consist of orders and conformity but rather the ex-pression of something deeper in the human spirit. My hope is that we will see more of these concerts on the theme of ‘A Prayer of Peace.’

Contact Bjorn at bjorn.schwarzenbach@student.shu.edu.

Bartoli: “Peace is itself a creative act”

Anyone interested in attending the October 17 concert may use the pro-mo code PFP22483 for discounted

tickets at www.carnegiehall.org.