Search Results

About twenty minutes into the concert, frontman Mahamadou Souleymane stopped the music. In solemn and simple words, he stated “Africa suffers. We are suffering.” This interlude was a stark reminder that what we, the crowd, had gathered to listen to was not simply music, but a political demonstration. < Back Renowned Tuareg Rock Group Mdou Moctar: Where Politics and Music Collide By Saoirse Aherne April 29, 2022 If you had walked down Avenue de Saint-Ouen this past Saturday, you might have heard a distant cacophony of noise. You would have caught the audible wail of a classic electric guitar, but layered on a rhythm that was not quite rock, not quite funk, not quite blues. The genre bending noise that flooded Paris’ 18th Arrondissement this weekend was all thanks to Mdou Moctar – a four-piece Tuareg musical act that took the stage of “Le Hasard Ludique” by storm, clad in daraa and tagelmusts, armed with electric guitars, and biting political lyrics in Tamasheq. About twenty minutes into the concert, frontman Mahamadou Souleymane stopped the music. In solemn and simple words, he stated “Africa suffers. We are suffering.” He continued, demanding an explanation for the deployment of French and American troops in numerous African nations, stating “it is not the 15th century.” Yet, according to Souleymane, colonial practices prevail. Souleymane described the extraction of resources from his home country of Niger at the hands of French mining companies, underlining how his people had seen no profit from their own nation's riches. Souelymane called on the audience to inform themselves on what the French government was doing in nations across the continent of Africa, and to condemn their leaders for the practice of imperialism. Leaving his words to settle in the humid air of the cramped concert hall, Souleymane stepped back, raised his guitar, and launched into a whining guitar lick. As the rest of the band joined, the song took the form of a typical Mdou Moctar ballad – rife with rhythm and spirit, a soul-catching groove layered with melodic vocals and lively drums. This interlude was a stark reminder that what we, the crowd, had gathered to listen to was not simply music, but a political demonstration. Such has always been the case of desert blues – a genre born in Libyan military training camps in the 1970s, an intricate fusion of rock, blues, and traditional Tuareg sounds. The Tuareg, a historically nomadic sub-group of the Amazigh residing in the Sahara-Sahel region, have long faced subjugation in the nations across which their people reside. There is a strong separatist movement within the Tuareg community, which has acted as a significant source of conflict since the Saharan-Sahel nations gained independence. In the 1980s, Gaddafi opened the Libyan borders to Tuareg refugees fleeing persecution and began recruiting them into his army. Libyan military camps flooded with young Tuareg men, fueling a number of insurrections and rebellions across the Sahara in the 1990s. However, another unexpected outcome emerged from these training camps, a different manifestation of the Tuareg desire for emancipation and autonomy: Desert Blues. It was a band by the name of Tinariwen that pioneered this genre. Front man Ibrahim Ag Alhabib met his bandmates in a guerrilla training camp in Libya. The young men began to write songs about their struggles, the horrors that had forced them to flee their homes, and the subjugation of Tuareg people. They formed a musical group, playing at weddings and parties, speaking to the longing and suffering of their fellow Tuareg exiles. Soon they came to be known as “Kel Tinariwen,” which translates to “The Desert Boys” in Tamasheq. And so began Tinariwen, the first Desert Blues group, which expertly combined traditional Tuareg sounds with bluesy guitar riffs and unfalteringly political lyrics. In 1985, Tinariwen set up a makeshift studio where they wrote and recorded songs. They offered these recordings for free to all who could provide a blank cassette tape. These tapes were exchanged and dispersed across the Sahara by rebel groups fighting for Tuareg independence throughout the 1990s. Tinariwen were the first of many bands from the Sahara-Sahel region to use music as a tool both in support of their own people’s spirit and to draw the eyes of the world to their suffering. Mdou Moctar in many ways is inspired by Tinariwen’s model. Especially with regards to their most recent album, “Afrique Victime,” Mdou Moctar’s lyrics are harshly anti-imperialist. Although distinctly Tuareg in musical style, “Afrique Victime” speaks for the continent of Africa as a whole, using music to condemn its exploitation and violation by Western powers. Mahamadou Souleymane is Tuareg, born in a small village in the mid-80s in Niger. Due to resistance from his parents, Souleymane took up guitar, first by fashioning bike wires to a piece of wood and teaching himself to play in secret on this makeshift instrument. Inspired by music emerging from the neighboring country of Nigeria, Solelymane fused traditional Tuareg sounds with drum machine tracks and autotune. His creations began to circulate, and somehow made their way to American music blogger Chris Kirkley. Awestruck by the musical innovations Souleymane was creating, Kirkley departed to Niger to attempt to find the mysterious musician behind these haunting tracks. After successfully locating Souleymane, Kirkley’s label, Sahel sounds, helped to produce a number of albums for Souleymane’s band– Mdou Moctar– which have garnered increasing international recognition. But music for Souleymane is merely an accessory to his central mission of bettering the lives of those within his community. Each time Mdou Moctar releases an album, he builds a well, a vital resource in Niger where access to water is a continual issue. Souleymane lives and works for the most part in Tahoua, as do the rest of the band. He knows the community, plays at local weddings, and rents out his car for a small fee – that is, when he’s not touring the world. In recent years, the fame achieved by Mdou Moctar has provided Souleymane with a platform to propagate his message to Western audiences. In an interview with Dazed magazine in 2021, Souleymane stated “[French] companies have extracted all the uranium and gold in Niger but help none of our problems. I’ve seen it since I was a small child. It’s modern slavery, racism, and colonialism combined.” He continued in this interview, proclaiming “I am calling the whole world to stand up and revolt against the conditions we face. We don’t have the technology here in Niger to manufacture weapons, so how are they entering the country? Why are other nations storing tools of war on our land? France, the US, NATO — they’re all complicit. Why are they here? Why?” Souleymane offered a damning final sentiment: “They’re playing with my people.” Mdou Moctar utilizes its music to dissolve the simplistic portrait of the marginalized as weak and miserable. It draws attention to the evils of imperialism through a medium which showcases the beauty of Tuareg culture. Souleymane is shockingly talented, a compelling speaker, and an internationally recognized artist, all the while remaining an integral part of his community. He advocates for his people from within. The music of Mdou Moctar is not only a stunning auditory experience, but also deeply powerful and moving. Such is the nature of political music, for it is from conflict and marginalization that the most compelling art arises. Desert blues have provided the Tuareg with a means to document their unique struggle, to draw the eyes of the world to their needs. And Mdou Moctar, in its embrace of this genre, has extended its political demands to represent all those that suffer beneath the burden of imperialism.

April 12, 2026 Eulogy to Joy In March 2025, the Atlantic’s editor-in-chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, revealed to the world that American national-security officers discussed highly classified information in a group chat in which he was accidentally included. While American media focused on whether the leak risked American lives, European leaders got the chance to see how America’s most powerful talked about Europe behind closed doors. Read More December 10, 2025 Iraq at the Ballots On Nov. 11 Iraqis went to the parliamentary election ballots to determine who gets the 329 seats on Iraq’s Council of Representatives. Read More October 31, 2025 What Happened to Freedom of Speech? Kirk’s murder came as a shock to many across the United States, sparking a wide range of reactions. Fellow right-wing activists and conservative politicians publicly grieved the loss of their friend and colleague, while left-wing politicians openly condemned the act of political violence, reiterating the need for gun reform in America. Online, however, the general reaction was much less mournful. People flocked online to criticize politicians for “martyring” Kirk, who spouted many racist, sexist and discriminatory views throughout his career. Many questioned whether this was a man who deserved to be honored. Read More October 23, 2025 General Debate in the UN Assembly Annalena Baerbock of Germany, the former Minister of Foreign Affairs until 2025, served as the President of the General Assembly and declared the theme of this year's debate as “Better together: 80 years and more for peace, development and human rights.” Baerbock began her remarks by highlighting the plight of children in Gaza, the war in Ukraine, and gang violence in Haiti. Moving on, she stated that cynics of the United Nations needed to realize that the “the [United Nations] Charter, our Charter, is only as strong as Member States’ willingness to uphold it,” encouraging the rest of the delegates to “act when action is needed.” Read More October 21, 2025 Le néolibéralisme à la française «La France est un enfer fiscal.» Cette expression fréquemment reprise dans certains médias appuie la critique d’un État où les charges et impôts étoufferaient l’initiative privée. Derrière cette formule se devine le cœur du discours néolibéral : réduire les fonctions sociales de l'État pour laisser libre cours au fonctionnement ‘naturel’ du marché. Read More October 21, 2025 ‘Will this recognition bring back my family?’ The recognition of the State of Palestine by France is not a sudden decision, influenced by other nations; rather, it is one that the state has been working towards since July. Read More September 30, 2025 3 Ans Après le Meurtre de Mahsa Amini, un Bilan sur la Situation des Femmes en Iran Le 16 septembre 2025 marque le troisième anniversaire du décès de Mahsa Amini aux mains du régime iranien. La politique répressive envers les femmes perdure. Cependant, l’Iran a connu d'importants bouleversements à la suite de cet outrage, notamment portés par le mouvement international Femme, vie, liberté. Ces mobilisations ont-elles réellement amélioré la condition des femmes ? Trois ans après, faisons le point sur la société iranienne depuis le soulèvement Femme, vie, liberté. Read More September 30, 2025 L'OCS ou la Peur a L'Occident Le 1er septembre 2025, lors du sommet annuel de l’Organisation de Coopération de Shanghai (OCS), Xi Jinping dénonçait une « mentalité de guerre froide » et des « actes d’intimidation » visant implicitement l’administration américaine. Ces propos, repris dans de nombreux médias occidentaux, renforcent une certaine inquiétude quant à la montée en puissance de la Chine. Read More April 30, 2025 Protests in Türkiye: The Fight for “Hak, Hukuk, Adalet!” The question emerged: if a regime could erase a diploma, why wouldn't it also erase an election? After İmamoğlu was detained, hundreds of protesters took to the streets. The first act came from Istanbul University, where students gathered in front of the main gates with banners that read “Diplomamı değil, geleceğimi çaldınız!” (“You didn’t just steal my diploma, you stole my future!”). Read More April 30, 2025 Change in the Republic of Moldova Whether the new governance delivered all they had promised is of secondary importance; what matters most is that in the last four years, the country has been more open to the West than ever before.; Let us hope it will continue like this and one day, they will be a part of the greater European family. Read More March 31, 2025 Recentering the Fight Against Climate Change from Innovation to Tradition Developed across millennia and passed down through generations, Indigenous knowledge carries “ancient and intergenerational wisdom that is flexible, fluid, and adaptive.” Read More March 31, 2025 The 51st State? Trump, Absorbing Canada, Sovereignty and American Foreign Policy Trump carried strict economic goals into his second term, imposing trade tariffs on Canada, China and Mexico to help stunt immigration into the U.S. While his economic nationalism persists, Trump’s threats of annexation peel back a new layer of his foreign policy plan. Read More February 28, 2025 Tug-of-War: Chinese and American Shared Interest in Greenland Greenland has become a focal point of strategic competition between the U.S. and China, with a mutual struggle risking triggering a new arena for great power rivalry. As China grapples with economic challenges and the U.S. seeks to reinforce its Arctic presence, it has become clear that Greenland could play a crucial role in shaping the future of international dynamics. Read More February 28, 2025 “Mom I arrived”: Two Years Since the Tragedy of Tempi I cannot help but be haunted by the thought that this could have been us—the idea that my family, my friends and even myself could have been the ones inside this train. Ever since then, every train that leaves the station bears with it a weight of terror, darkness, and silence… Read More February 28, 2025 The Implications of the Piraeus Port As Part Of The Belt and Road Initiative Although we cannot predict the outcomes of the significant Chinese ownership of Piraeus, the fact that Greece’s biggest port is owned by a foreign power will have an important impact on its future policies, as well as its relations with other countries. Whether Greece will be able to successfully balance in between, without completely becoming dependent on either power, is to be determined. Read More February 28, 2025 Introduction to the Cyprus Problem: History and Attempts at Solution President Christodoulides of the Republic of Cyprus and President Tatar of the TRNC agreed to meet in May of this year under the aegis of the UN to kickstart another round of talks for the reunification of the island. What has created what the leaders in both communities, despite their sizeable ideological gaps, see as an opportunity for reconciliation? Read More January 31, 2025 Can We Cope with COP? The first COP was held in Berlin, Germany in 1995; under a framework of international cooperation, with various required reduction targets for “developed country Parties,” COP stands as the singular format for climate negotiations in the global space. But it’s not enough anymore—if it ever was in the first place. Read More January 31, 2025 Is South Korean Democracy Threatened? Polarization of society and the rise of far-right rhetoric can very well be found in many other democracies, but South Korea is an example of two things in particular: an extreme attempt at suppressing the opposition and functioning democratic institutions. Read More January 31, 2025 The Syrian Question We all heard that the Assad regime toppled after 50 years of dictatorship. However, recent history taught us that such overthrows and their subsequent reforms are illusory in the end, seductive at first and inevitably and ultimately evanescent. Will this be the case for Syria? Will it repeat the history of its neighbors? And if not, will it become an Islamic republic, as the actual leaders seem to desire? Read More January 31, 2025 Embedding Sustainability Constitutionally What is a government saying to its people by enshrining the right to a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment? It marks this right as one that it will prioritize, as “the protection of the natural environment is an obligation of the state.” The difference this amendment brings, alongside pioneering cases in Europe, is that citizens can hold their governments accountable with regard to their actions or inaction. Read More

The war on drugs will, ultimately, be a war against civilians if Noboa's approach concentrates itself only in the streets of Guayaquil, instead of looking at where the militia has long stabilized itself — Ecuador's dearest political institutions.  < Back American White Lines: The History of Militia Violence in Ecuador By Pedro Meerbaum February 29, 2024 The afternoon of Jan. 9 was a common day in Guayaquil, Ecuador. Workers and students returned to their normal routine with the end of the holidays and the beginning of 2024. As the second Tuesday of the year came to an end, the people of Guayaquil tuned in for the afternoon news. The program on the national television channel TC was typical: an introduction from the presenters, daily news, a couple of interviews, and a section on international affairs. It would have been an ordinary day, but instead, the audience watched, for 15 minutes, as masked gunmen invaded the broadcast network, forced staff to the floor, and shot their guns as the hostages cried for help. In that afternoon, there was no news besides terror. The invasion of the broadcast followed the escape of notorious drug lord José Villamar, known as Fito, who had been detained since 2011 in the city of Guayaquil. His disappearance was reported on Jan. 7, and on Jan. 8 a wave of riots in six different Ecuadorian prisons took place , leading President Daniel Noboa to announce a state of internal armed conflict. The televised violence that befell right after was a response to Noboa's statement, easily seen as a confrontation between drug lords to the new Ecuadorian president — a stark reminder of the limits of his autonomy as a leader. As Noboa intensifies its military response to the militia groups, and as the coast of Ecuador transforms its landscape into a quasi-war zone, questions are raised about the nature of gang violence in the country. The militia group works, mostly, with cocaine, and yet Ecuador is famously not a producer of narcotics. Instead, it is a channel in which cocaine produced by its neighbors, Peru and Colombia, is transported into North America. The cocaine that reaches Ecuador in its borders is then transported to port cities, like Guayaquil or Esmeralda, and is then shipped through the Pacific Ocean. To avoid dealing with anti-narcotics policing forces from Colombia or the U.S., the boats pass through the Galapagos islands, where they refill before reaching their destination in Mexico, Costa Rica, or Guatemala . The illegal goods are then smuggled into their final destination, the United States. The easy access to ports or lack of inspection throughout the process of smuggling the cocaine is a result of a marking characteristic of the Pacific Ocean: it is a sea of corruption. Ecuador has been a transit country since the 1980s, but it was only in the last twenty years that it became one of the global cocaine traders. In the early 2000s, while the Colombian government tackled the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) cocaine fields, Ecuador suffered a strong economic crisis. On Jan. 9, 2000, exactly 24 years before the televised dispersion of terror, the central bank announced the dollarization of the Ecuadorian economy, replacing the Sucre with the American Dollar as the national legal tender. Ecuador, then, became an international target for money laundering. As writer James Bargent puts it , Ecuador is a "country bordering the world's biggest cocaine producer that uses the currency of the world's largest cocaine market." Its potential to become a major exporter of cocaine and a hotspot for narcotrafficking in South America was boosted with the 2006 election of Rafael Correa. The former president of Ecuador led the country for 10 years, from 2007 to 2017, implementing internal policies that cultivated the strengthening of militia in the country: Correa decided to remove a U.S. naval base in the city of Manta, which later revealed in a scandal to be a campaign promise to the FARC in exchange for funding. The former president also politicized the judiciary and shifted his internal security focus to reducing the power of his political adversaries rather than properly tackling organized crime. In the years of administration by Correa, a blindspot is left in Ecuadorian land. Militia groups now have proper access to ports and the country's sky, transforming it into a huge global transport for cocaine. It is within this pretext that, in 2023, Noboa gains popular support. A young and charismatic leader, the businessman builds his campaign around the extermination of gangs. And for the past month, Noboa has been successful in establishing a war on drugs. Military forces roam around Guayaquil with weapons, forcefully pulling people out of their cars and searching for any type of indication of gang involvement. While his military-based approach has received overwhelming popularity within Ecuador, similarities are raised with other cases of war on drugs throughout Latin America that have, in the long term, been unsuccessful. The use of extensive military force to combat gang violence left its traces in Colombia, in its combat against FARC caused mass incarceration, extrajudicial executions of civilians , and an increase in violence. Likewise, in Brazil, raids against drug lord s in favelas have been historically linked to the high-level loss of innocent civilian lives. Noboa's tackle-down approach does not bring hope. It is paving the way for a stronger proliferation of violence, incarceration, and calamity. The military, like in Colombia, is not properly trained to deal with gang violence without, in return, acting in violence towards civilians. The temporary relief and support being given to the military action is not sustainable, it is bound to develop into a cycle of violence and a massive reduction of well-being in what was once the safest country in South America. For Noboa, however, this approach gives him the legitimacy as a leader he sought, one that had been jeopardized by militia involvement since the beginning of the millennium. He has also received increasing support from the US, strengthening the diplomatic bonds between the two countries — without any direct intervention, internally nor externally, from the U.S. despite being the biggest receptor of Ecuadorian coke. The war on drugs will, ultimately, be a war against civilians if Noboa's approach concentrates itself only in the streets of Guayaquil, instead of looking at where the militia has long stabilized itself — Ecuador's dearest political institutions.