Maria Ressa and Dmitry Muratov, 2021 Nobel Peace Prize recipients, are the leaders we need to celebrate to understand the fundamental place of free speech in any and all human societies. < Back Ressa and Muratov: The Nobel Peace Prize Laureates of Whom the World is in Dire Need. By Georgia McKerracher October 30, 2021 We have all heard of the Nobel Peace Prize, whether through an influential historical actor whose name and achievements have popped up in a class, or as a term thrown around to poke fun at a friend. However, while we all know the Peace Prize itself has a long history, this year’s recipients are especially remarkable. We are in an era where freedom of expression is experiencing continuous global challenges, with a divergence between nations where individuals are thought to have too much access to free speech to preach hatred unaccountably, and others in which authoritarian leaders are incrementally increasing their overarching power to repress civil society. Maria Ressa and Dmitry Muratov are the leaders we need to celebrate to understand the fundamental place of free speech in any and all human societies. First awarded in 1901 and 137 times since, the Nobel Peace Prize is one of five pieces established by Swedish entrepreneur Alfred Nobel, bestowed upon individuals who have committed the most to “fraternity between nations… [and] the holding and promotion of peace congresses.” Nobel himself never left provision in his will for the specific peace prize, but as a chemical engineer, the prize areas of physics and chemistry were understandable choices. A committee of five members designated by the Norwegian parliament annually selects the recipient (or in this case, recipient s ), though it remains decidedly unclear why he designated a Norwegian committee to bestow the award in his name. There have been to date 28 organizations and 975 Nobel Prize laureates who have been awarded a prize, the youngest of whom was Mala Yousafzai in 2014 at the age of 17. Only two laureates have declined the prize, including Jean-Paul Sartre in allegiance with his history of revoking all honors, and Le Duc Tho for his role in negotiating the Vietnam Peace Accord with Kissinger. However, only 58 recipients have been awarded to females. In 2021, the prize was jointly awarded to Ressa and Muratov for “efforts to safeguard freedom of expression… a precondition for democracy and lasting peace.” Ressa is a Filipino-American journalist who co-founded the online political journalism company Rappler in 2012 alongside three other female journalists. She had spent almost 20 preceding years as a lead Southeast-Asia investigative correspondent for CNN. Born in 1963, Ressa was raised by a single mother due to her father’s passing when she was only one. Her mother subsequently emigrated to the United States, leaving the juvenile Ressa under the care of her father’s family. Ressa then moved to the US herself at the age of 10, to New Jersey. She attended Princeton and graduated with a degree in molecular biology, topped off with a Bachelor of Arts in theatre and dance. She is also the first ever Nobel Prize recipient from the Philippines. Ressa was announced as Time’s ‘Person of the Year’ in 2018; one of multiple journalists featured for her work combating misinformation and fake news globally. Ressa’s career, however, has not been without hardships. After being arrested in February 2019 by Filipino authorities, Ressa was found guilty in June 2020 for cyberlibel in People of the Philippines v Santos, Ressa and Rappler under contentious Anti-Cybercrime legislation criticized incessantly by human rights defense groups as undermining freedom of the press, a “shameless act of persecution by a bully government.” The judicial decision was both domestically and internationally criticized as a biased and political one due to Ressa’s incessant denouncement of Philippine President Duterte. Former US Secretary of State openly denounced the conviction as something to be “condemned by all democratic nations.” Muratov has by no means taken an easier path within his career. For decades, he has worked ceaselessly to defend freedom of speech within an increasingly restrained Russia. Born in 1961, Muratov studied Philology at Samara State University for several years, to which he attributes his love of journalism. Since as far back as 1993, Muratov has acted as a director of the independent socio-political newspaper Novaya Gazeta, acting as editor-in-chief for an incredible 24 years. Interestingly, the establishment of the organization was aided through the Nobel Prize money received by Mikhail Gorbachev in 1990. The Moscow-published tri-weekly newspaper is known in Russia for its critical investigative coverage of politics. Since 2000, seven journalists have been murdered in connection with human rights and political investigations on behalf of the newspaper. Undoubtedly, the Nobel Peace Prize committee’s statement that Ressa and Muratov have battled a “courageous fight for freedom of expression in the Philippines and Russia” is by no means an understatement. The Committee further stated that the two icons represent on a wider scale “all journalists who stand up” for democratic ideals, under global conditions in which “democracy and freedom of the press face increasingly adverse conditions.” Congratulations have poured in for the recipients, including from UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, urging a continuation of the international struggle to defend the freedom of the press and of expression and recognizing the “fundamental role” of the media in preserving democratic interests. During this global pandemic, numerous self-interested leaders have been offered an opportunity on a silver-platter to implement controls to further their own access to executive powers. Since 2016, the United Nations has published warnings of the serious threats media freedom has been facing, but there has since been a further notable increase in attacks on journalistic integrity, and even personal safety, during the pandemic. According to Freedom House, 2019 marked the 15th year of consecutive decline in global freedom. Military or police in 18 nations have physically abused outspoken journalists. At least 83 governments globally have used the pandemic as direct justification for the violation of the right to free speech, some of which have detained, attacked, prosecuted, or even killed opponents. Hence, it is clear that in the current climate, the decisions of the Nobel Committee have been more relevant than ever. Despite early criticisms of politically-motivated choices, the decision to honor Muratov and Ressa with the award has appropriately come at a time when the world requires journalistic leadership against oppressive governance more than ever.

< Back Students Blockade Campus in Protest of Free Speech Limitations By Lara Harmankaya December 31, 2023 On Thursday, Nov. 16, Sciences Po students united behind the cause of protecting free speech and blockaded the Menton campus. From 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., they barricaded the entry with determination in protest of “Sciences Po's policy of censorship against any student support for Palestine,” as voiced in the email sent out by Solidaires the day of the blockade. Their persistence was forced to come to a conclusion with the arrival of police forces who physically dragged students away from the gates. This momentous day, for many, was the culmination of tensions in a growingly-hostile campus atmosphere following the events of Oct. 7. Now, more than a month later, it is important to look back on this event and evaluate whether real change has been effectuated since. Have students’ and the administration’s attitudes improved? What do Science Po students think about the event in hindsight? To understand the extent to which things have changed since, we must identify the causes that induced the blockade in the first place. For the students I have spoken to (whose identities will not be disclosed throughout the rest of this article to ensure their safety) the primary impetus for participation was a feeling of concern that there was an active curtailment of expression by the administration. One student described this as a prevention of “any opinion, or any input related to Palestine especially, but also about the situation in general.” There were undeniable clashes of opinion that prevailed among the polarized student body, but what elevated such contentions was the apparent bias of the school’s administration when determining which acts of expression constitute as acceptable. This was evinced by the fact that the activities of the student club, Palestine: Understanding the Struggle (Sciences UTS), were largely restricted. Similarly, the administration’s interference in some students’ private social media accounts was interpreted by many as an act of censorship. For one student, the problem was the “threatening” way in which this was done, not the actual act itself. This, compounded by “the total lack of support by the administration “in response to threats” received by some students online, contributed to the very “atmosphere of denunciation” that prompted the blockade. The invitation to participate that was sent out at 7:15 a.m. through email that morning, therefore, was the final push for a row of dominoes that were already shaking by tremors deep underneath. The Palestinian cause is embraced by many students on our campus. Therefore, creating the impression that holding this opinion is not supported by the campus intensified the impression of censorship. One student, who had not read the email before arriving on campus that morning, describes this sentiment when explaining why she participated in the blockade: “seeing the Palestinian flag hanging from the railing and a sign saying ‘ceasefire now’ was really all that I needed to sit down with the others.” The course of events that took place during and immediately after the blockade presented the students sitting in front of the campus gates with many frustrations and hopes. From the refusal to broadcast the meetings that were taking place by student representatives and the administration, to the arrival of the police, a general feeling of disappointment with the responses of the administration was felt by many students. Students conceded that it is understandable that the administration wished to reopen the campus without having to cancel all of the planned lectures for the day. However, they could have searched for an alternative means to reach a resolution. One described the presence of the police as “unnecessary”; “We were just a bunch of students sitting and calling for our right of free speech – it was almost laughable when we saw the police arrive in full riot gear with shields and batons.” Many, therefore, were of the opinion that there should have been a “formal apology from the administration regarding their attitudes and actions,” especially for the treatment of the students by the police because there was “a bit of violence there.” There is a consensus among the students I spoke to that the blockade was effective. In the most obvious terms, the disruption it caused succeeded in turning the spotlight on the pressing issue. With French news outlets and Mentonese locals now also conscious of the students’ protest and demands, they could no longer be ignored. “It made the administration realize, not just what were we asking for, but the general sentiment – which was a very a frustrated one.” Given the isolation and the small size of the Menton campus, one student argued, other means of protest, such as a campus walk-out, simply would not have been as “publicly seen.” Since then, students I have spoken to argue that things have changed for the better, at least to some extent. They pointed out that there is now greater “sensitivity” from the administration regarding the issue and an “awareness that we want to talk about it and have it discussed on campus.” The recent holding of two conferences centered around Palestine and the Israel-Hamas war, for many students, was therefore a manifestation of a promising beginning of a more constructive academic environment. The relations between the administration and students seem to have also improved, particularly “regarding student safety” according to one student. This should continue to remain as a priority to avoid politically-charged conflicts within the Sciences Po community. Moreover, efforts by students to arrive at a point of mediation have been enacted since; more students are now acknowledging the importance of not posting or saying disrespectful statements that can easily be construed as inappropriate or offensive. Like the students themselves, the administration is also showing signs of a greater willingness to become involved in constructive discussions. This “shift in tone” is more in line with the expectations of students who came to this institution with the hope of engaging with diverging variants of political thought and opinion. Although declaring that the tensions that were prevalent in the pre-blockade environment have dissipated would be going too far, it can be stated that the very need for recognition and reconciliation that brought about the blockade is now finally being responded to. Whether real policy changes will be implemented is more ambiguous, and the work to attain true freedom of speech has not yet been finalized, but at least it has left the ground. We have the blockaders to thank for that. The key takeaway from this consequential moment in the history of the Menton campus is that Science Po students, after all, are resolute in their commitments to free speech. This is precisely why they are the students of this institution.

Depuis quelques années, l’Arabie Saoudite se développe de manière exponentielle sous les applaudissements et les critiques. Leur projet phare du moment ? The Line. < Back Le projet controversé de l’Arabie Saoudite: The Line By Calista Cellerier October 31, 2023 Depuis quelques années, l’Arabie Saoudite se développe de manière exponentielle sous les applaudissements et les critiques. Leur projet phare du moment ? The Line. The Line s’intègre dans le cadre d’un projet de plus grande ampleur nommé NEOM. Annoncé en octobre 2017 par le prince héritier Mohammed Ben Salamane (MBS), NEOM est un projet de zone économique indépendante prévue dans le nord-ouest de l'Arabie saoudite, dont la première partie devrait être inaugurée en 2030. Les secteurs économiques ciblés englobent un large éventail d'entreprises de technologie de pointe, de recherche et de valeurs telles que l'environnement, la santé, les sports, l'alimentation, la mobilité, le tourisme, le divertissement, la culture et la mode. Pour faire court, NEOM c’est 30 fois la taille de New York City, avec un budget de 500 milliards de dollars, qui a pour but d’offrir une qualité de vie exceptionnelle en plein désert Saoudien. The Line, c’est une partie du méga projet NEOM Annoncée en janvier 2021 par MBS, The Line suscite une attention internationale toute particulière, autant pour ses promesses d'être une ville verte que pour son allure pour le moins spéciale. Comme son nom l’indique, elle serait une ville construite entièrement sur la longueur et la hauteur. De plus de 100 kilomètres de long, 500 mètres de haut et 200 mètres de largeur, The Line est un projet d’une envergure vertigineuse. Plongeons dans le projet un peu plus en profondeur MBS projette de construire une ville verte, avec des transports en commun pouvant amener les citoyens d’un bout à l'autre en moins de 20 minutes (pas besoin donc de voitures). La ville serait neutre en carbone grâce aux ressources entièrement recyclées, avec des jardins suspendus et une électricité entièrement renouvelable. Pas de rues, mais des blocs de résidences avec des restaurants, hôpitaux, écoles et une multitude d’autres services à moins de 5 minutes à pied. Le système de sécurité promet aussi des miracles: une ville sûre grâce à une présence constante de caméras de sécurité et d'intelligence artificielle. Une smart city . MBS espère attirer jusqu'à 9 millions d'habitants dans The Line, pour faire de son pays un hub mondial d’exports et d'imports, une économie en puissance: “ C’est le but principal de NEOM, [...] d’augmenter la capacité de l’Arabie Saoudite, attirer plus de citoyens et plus de gens en Arabie Saoudite. Et puisque que nous faisons cela à partir de rien, pourquoi devrions-nous imiter les villes habituelles? ” déclare MBS (The Guardian). Pour faire court, The Line c’est un projet de ville verte et sécurisée, permettant à l’Arabie Saoudite de devenir indépendante des énergies fossiles comme le pétrole, ainsi que de booster ses actifs internationaux. Sur papier, le projet semble certes ambitieux, mais aussi très prometteur en termes de respect de l'environnement et de qualité de vie. Pourtant, de nombreuses critiques fusent sur les réseaux sociaux et dans les journaux du monde entier. Pour commencer, The Line est un projet d’une centaine de kilomètres de long dans le désert. Ce simple fait suscite de nombreuses interrogations : qu’en est-il des populations locales? Il se trouve que l’endroit est occupé par une tribu bédouine, les Howeitat, vivant depuis des centaines d'années dans cette partie du désert. De nombreuses accusations sont dirigées contre le gouvernement Saoudien, incluant la déportation forcée de milliers de bédouins hors de leurs habitations. Plus inquiétant encore, selon de nombreuses sources de part et d’autre du monde, trois hommes, Shadli, Ibrahim et Ataullah al-Howeiti auraient été condamnés à mort en 2022 par le parquet antiterroriste Saoudien pour avoir refusé l'éviction. De plus, le frère de l’un des trois hommes était un militant tué en 2020 par les forces saoudiennes pour avoir posté sur Internet une vidéo s’opposant ouvertement au projet et dénonçant les actes des autorités contre la population locale. Ces événements ouvrent donc sur la question éthique du projet : construire une cité ultra moderne oui, mais à quel prix? Une autre question se pose sur le projet, quant à la vie sociale dans la ville et les lois. Le système judiciaire de l’Arabie Saoudite est basé sur la Sharia qui est un ensemble de normes et règles régissant la vie religieuse, politique, sociale et privée, parfois appelée la loi islamique. Elle est appliquée plus ou moins sévèrement dans les pays musulmans. En revanche, NEOM et par conséquent The Line, seraient gouvernées par leur propre système légal et judiciaire, différent de celui du reste du pays. On peut donc penser que les lois seront plus souples. L’attention internationale que The Line suscite pourrait permettre à MBS d'alléger certaines lois, comme l’interdiction de l’alcool ou le code vestimentaire strictes, pour attirer les étrangers à investir et s’installer. Pourtant, The Line serait pourvue de caméras de surveillance et de reconnaissance faciale permettant une surveillance étroite dans les espaces publics. Alors, à quel point la cité serait-elle un endroit libre? Ce n’est pas un secret que nombre s’interrogent sur la surveillance de masse déjà utilisée dans beaucoup de pays où les libertés individuelles sont restreintes, comme la Chine. Alors si The Line en est pourvue, il se pourrait bien que la vie ne soit pas aussi libre que MBS voudrait faire croire. Enfin, c’est la faisabilité même du projet qui est souvent remise en question. The Line est un projet gigantesque et pourtant est prévu habitable pour 2030. Alors, comment ? Sur le plan technique, tout porte à croire que ce délai pourrait être réaliste. En effet, The Line serait constituée de modules autonomes, chacun contenant tout ce dont nous avons besoin dans la vie quotidienne et assemblés les uns derrière les autres, comme des Lego, selon l'intensité de la demande. D’ailleurs, des images de drones ont confirmé que le projet était déjà en construction. Mais regardons du côté de la faisabilité écologique. Le projet de construction de The Line pourrait ne pas être aussi eco-friendly que The Line elle-même. En effet, l’Arabie Saoudite doit trouver des ressources pour la construction et alimenter le chantier en énergie. Comment acheminer des matériaux, machines, ouvriers et outils jusqu’au milieu du désert dans un royaume qui dépend presque entièrement des énergies fossiles, en respectant la neutralité carbone ? Dur à imaginer. Si MBS affirme que la faune et la flore seront préservées à 95%, il est difficile de croire qu’une ligne faite de deux écrans de verre infranchissables pourra épargner l'environnement autour. Enfin, une fois construite, faire fonctionner la ville n’est pas une maigre tâche. Eau et électricité renouvelable à travers des éoliennes, panneaux solaires et désalinisation, des déchets à recycler, tout cela pour une population de 9 millions d’habitants, et dans le désert à partir de rien. Tout porte à croire que le projet est d’une envergure peut-être un peu trop grande. Alors, The Line est un projet de ville futuriste coûtant des milliards de dollars en plein milieu du désert, qui présente de nombreux avantages. Une cité eco-friendly, une qualité de vie jamais vue avant, un niveau de sécurité impressionnant, The Line fait de nombreuses promesses au monde entier. Pourtant, la réalité n’est sûrement pas aussi étincelante que sur papier, ou sur le site officiel de NEOM. De multiples problèmes peuvent s’accumuler lors de la construction, incluant un chantier pas si écolo et des conflits entre autorités saoudiennes et populations locales. Pourtant, la ville pourrait bien être habitable dans une dizaine d’années, bloc par bloc. Si The Line s’avère être un succès, le futur de la civilisation humaine pourrait prendre un autre tournant, dans des villes ressemblant aux films de science-fiction.

The life of Liam Payne, similar to the lives of other young stars, lays bare the terrifying exposures of rising to fame at such a young age, as well as the unseen pressures that often come with success in the music industry. His death, which was reportedly influenced by substance use by the Argentinian authority, can be related to a broader pattern seen in the lives of other famous young artists who have struggled with mental health and addiction. < Back The Hidden Cost of Fame: Child Exploitation and Drug Abuse within the Music Industry Nil Çelik November 30, 2024 Liam Payne, former member of the boyband One Direction, was often seen as an idol for teens growing up in the 2010s. His life was projected as that of a successful young artist who had risen to fame and taken over the world—and the music industry—with his fellow bandmates. He was known for his bubbly and playful personality and was named “ Daddy Direction ” by fans. Yet, although he was the caretaker of the group, the music industry failed to take care of him. Liam Payne , former member of One Direction, died on October 16, 2024, after falling from a third-floor balcony at the CasaSur Palermo Hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina. An autopsy revealed that he suffered multiple traumas and internal and external bleeding. It was stated that a high amount of drugs were found in his bloodstream when he died. The dark side of the music industry has come under scrutiny, bringing urgent attention to crucial issues of child exploitation, substance abuse and insufficient support structures for young artists. The life of Liam Payne, similar to the lives of other young stars, lays bare the terrifying exposures of rising to fame at such a young age, as well as the unseen pressures that often come with success in the music industry. His death, which was reportedly influenced by substance use by the Argentinian authority, can be related to a broader pattern seen in the lives of other famous young artists who have struggled with mental health and addiction. As cases such as this one come under public eye, the urgent need for reforms in the music industry become apparent, with growing demands for the accountability of the industry and fundamental support systems to protect young and vulnerable artists. The search for young talent in the music industry has led to long-lasting exposure of children to immense pressures and workloads, frequently in the absence of legal protection. Children in the music industry can be exposed to harsh schedules, high expectations, and increasing criticism from the public. 16-year-old Liam Payne joined One Direction through the reality show The X Factor , catapulting him to fame across the globe. The fatal story of Liam Payne, similar to other child stars like Britney Spears , Micheal Jackson , and Demi Lovato , demonstrates how young artists can be forced into adulthood and the responsibilities of it with no regard for their mental and physical well-being. Studies have highlighted that young artists in the music and entertainment industries often face similar challenges to those of adult employees, such as exploitation, but lack effective support systems and maturity to address them in a healthy manner. According to a 2019 study by Swedish digital distribution platform Record Union, an overwhelming 73% of independent musicians have dealt with stress, anxiety, and depression. In many of these cases, young stars are incapable of diverging their professional lives from personal development, resulting in identity crises and long-lasting mental health issues. The case of Britney Spears' highly publicized conservatorship battle highlighted the extent to which even internationally recognized artists can lose control over their own lives;for years, as projected in the media, Spears fought for the right to reclaim her personal and financial independence from a legal structure supposedly meant to “protect” her. Such examples have prompted various debates on whether the music industry has sufficient regulations that protect minors or, instead, enable their exploitation for profit. There is a correlation between gaining fame early on and following the route of substance abuse, with the majority of young artists looking to drugs and alcohol as a coping mechanism for overwhelming demand and stress. Liam Payne’s ongoing struggle with addiction was revealed during interviews leading up to his death. Throughout his time in One Direction, Payne was vocal about his battle with substance abuse and how the pressing demands of fame harmed his mental health. In a 2017 interview with The Mirror , Payne stated that continuous touring and lack of breaks led him to develop unhealthy coping mechanisms such as consuming alcohol and use of substances. Additionally, Payne indicated that throughout his time in the band, he was frequently under major pressure to preserve a “perfect” public image, which added to his hardships. In another interview in 2021 on the “Diary of a CEO” podcast, Payne disclosed the severity of his drinking and substance abuse problem, describing his ongoing struggles as “really, really severe.” According to the reports, Argentinian authorities stated that Payne had cocaine in his bloodstream when his fatal fall from Buenos Aires hotel balcony occurred, another notifier of the ongoing pressures he had faced within his career. Demi Lovato , another teenager who gained fame early on through Disney Channel then as a musical artist, similarly openly voiced her unhealthy coping mechanisms of using drugs and alcohol against anxiety and depression heightened by the demands of fame. Her publicized overdose in 2018 and following recovery journey further showed the destructive influence of the lack of mental health resources and shortcomings of the industry in supplying sufficient support systems for young stars. Tragic cases like Amy Winehouse indicate the fatal results of the neglect of the music industry. Winehouse struggled with alcoholism and substance abuse and received minimal professional support against her battle of addiction. In the meantime, she was exploited by her record label, management agency as well as her parents for profit. Her tragic death at 27 due to alcohol poisoning shows the story of what happens when the music industry fails to supply necessary resources for mental health and addiction. The music industry has frequently shown that the priority is to generate profit rather than ensuring the well-being of the young artists. This approach of the industry is frequently supported through contracts that bind artists into busy schedules and restrictive agreements, giving them minimal control over their careers. For example, the legal battle that Taylor Swift faced with her former record label over the right to ownership of her recordings showcased the lack of freedom artists have in the music industry, especially younger artists who may not be able to fully comprehend the substance of the contracts that they sign. The role of parents is also noteworthy when the subjects in these cases are minors and depend on their legal guardians. In such situations, parents or legal guardians often play a pivotal role in advising and making decisions on behalf of their children. However, their involvement can cause a dilemma because while some parents act in their child’s best interest, others may lack the expertise or even prioritize financial gains over long-term artistic freedom and rights. This adds another layer of complexity to the already challenging dynamics of artist management and contractual negotiations in the music industry. This case indicates how the procedure of contracts by the industry exploits the artists property rights, alongside labels who benefit excessively from their work. In 2008, Spears was subjected to conservatorship which went on for over a decade and limited her personal, financial, and professional freedoms. This situation could be seen to understand how the music industry, in times supported by legal systems, can possess control over the career and life decisions of the artist, often against their will. Although there are in fact various realities that many young artists face, the music industry lacks the will to implement meaningful reforms. Institutions like Music Support in the United Kingdom and MusiCares in the United States, supply mental health and addiction support resources, but such initiatives are frequently not well-funded and cannot provide a comprehensive process to address the broader extent of the issue. Mental health experts and advocates are calling for carrying out more efficient support systems throughout the industry, including mandatory psychological evaluations, restrictions on working hours, and the increase in accessible mental and physical health services. Additionally, artists and advocacy organizations are pushing for legal reforms to enhance protection for young artists. An example is the Coogan Law in California which was established to guarantee that a part of a child actor's earnings were to be placed aside in a trust fund. However, this law does not apply to all states and the broader scope of the music industry. Broadening laws to include young artists and implementing work-hour limitations could provide protection for minors in the industry. Reforms are crucial to prevent the exploitation of artists. The tragic death of Liam Payne highlights the dire consequences of insufficient support systems in the music industry. The current provisions for mental health and addiction are inadequate to address the immense pressures young musicians face. Many global stars have advocated for the integration of comprehensive mental health systems within the industry, aiming to make them more accessible and destigmatized. Although organizations like MusiCares offer some assistance, Payne's untimely passing underscores the urgent need for broader, systemic initiatives across all record labels and management agencies to ensure that artists receive the consistent support they desperately need.

Hold the complaints– It's actually cheap and easy to do. < Back It Might Be Time to Start Carbon Offsetting By Saoirse Aherne January 30, 2022 Carbon offsetting refers to a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, or an increase in carbon storage, used to compensate for emissions that occur in another part of the world. It is an internationally recognized way to mitigate the harmful effects of carbon emissions. Offset can be measured using a “currency” known as carbon credits. These credits are certified by governments or independent bodies and each represents an emission reduction of one metric ton of CO2. A carbon credit can be purchased by investing in a carbon emission reduction or storage project. Theoretically, this allows an individual or corporation to finance the removal of carbon from the atmosphere equal in mass to the carbon they are responsible for emitting. The practice of carbon offsetting has become popularized to the point that the United Nations has created a carbon offset platform as part of their “Climate Neutral Now” project. Through this platform, one can invest in United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)-certified projects that “reduce, avoid or remove greenhouse gas emissions from the atmosphere.” While some consumers use carbon offset to reduce the harmful impact of taking a flight, others offset the yearly carbon footprint of their household or transportation. Overall, this mitigating practice offers citizens the opportunity to combat the harmful effects of certain necessary or desired activities that make up 21st-century life. Carbon offsetting is also an incredibly pertinent topic to students on our campus, as so many of us come from abroad. Having just returned from the holiday season, I struggle to name one person who didn’t board a plane at some point this winter break. Travel is an inherent part of studying for a huge portion of our campus. Thus we must begin a dialogue around how we will take responsibility for the carbon cost of studying far from home. Such a conversation begins with carbon offsetting. How you can offset The first step to offsetting is to calculate your emissions via an emissions calculator. Next, one chooses an offset project in which to invest. Many organizations offer a platform through which carbon calculations and investment can be performed. Some of the most recognized carbon offset providers include Atmosfair, myclimate, and TerraPass. If you feel uncertain about donating money on a platform you have never heard of, the United Nations Carbon Offset platform is a great option, though it is more suited to offsetting one's comprehensive, yearly carbon footprint. Not only is it simple to use, it has also seen two million Certified Emission Reduction credits since its launch in 2015. If you wish to use the UN’s platform to offset a flight, an alternative carbon calculator can be used to determine how many tons of carbon you need to offset, and then the appropriate number of tons can be offset using the UN platform. If you’re still worried about the impact carbon offset might have on your wallet, fear not — The average offset price is between three and six USD per ton of carbon emitted, according to Second Nature. Different projects have different associated costs, thus carbon credits vary in price. For example, to offset one ton of carbon through the Gangwon Wind Park project, it costs five USD, while it costs 3.50 USD to offset the same amount of carbon via the MW Rice Husk Biomass energy plant. These are both examples of projects on the UN carbon Offset platform, where offset prices range from about three to 15 USD per carbon credit. Still seems like it might be a pricy endeavor? A round trip from Nice to Toronto, stopping in Dublin, has a personal carbon impact of 2.3 tons. This means such a trip could be offset for as low as around eight USD, depending on the project one invests in. Critiques of offsetting Despite the benefits of offsetting, there are certainly limitations to this practice. Some critics argue that carbon offset legitimizes environmentally detrimental practices, especially for large corporations. Additionally, it is quite difficult to track the true impact of a carbon offset project. Though the industry is becoming increasingly transparent, it is always difficult to ascertain how well one's money is being used when making a donation. Finally, there isn’t a single global carbon offset standard. It is difficult to understand how different organizations calculate the cost of carbon credits associated with different projects, and different carbon calculators will often produce different results. Is it worth it? Ultimately, offsetting should be paired with a strategy to reduce one’s carbon footprint if it is to have a meaningful impact. If offsetting is used to justify incredibly harmful environmental practices, it risks creating less consumer awareness and responsibility. You shouldn’t see carbon offset as a ticket to do whatever you want and not feel bad; offsetting does not make weekly flights harmless. But the reality is that some people and businesses can’t avoid having a large carbon footprint; in fact, this is the reality for many of us. If paired with a conscious intent to minimize one's carbon footprint whenever possible, carbon offset provides consumers with a tool to combat environmental destruction. And, critiques of carbon offsetting aside, it quite simply encourages more people to invest in environmental development projects. Unarguably, more funds going to such projects has a positive impact.

On Oct. 5, following a meeting in its Vienna headquarters, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) announced that its member countries would be cutting oil production by 2%, or 2 million barrels a day, taking effect in November. What are the implications of this move? < Back A Day Before Winter, OPEC Cuts Oil Production by Two Million Barrels By Leo Gerza November 30, 2022 On Oct. 5t, following a meeting in its Vienna headquarters, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) announced that its member countries would be cutting oil production by two percent, or two million barrels a day, taking effect in November. The announcement was made against the backdrop of rising energy costs and a looming global recession. Indeed, it is global economic uncertainty that the organization claims underpins its decision to cut oil production, citing its desire to balance supply in the face of decreasing demand as its core motivation. Founded in 1960, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries sought to counter the United States’ hegemony over oil production and now controls 40% of production and 80% of the world’s reserves, vesting the cartel with immense pricing power. The organization has not shied away from exercising its dominance. Older generations are haunted by the devastating effects the cartel’s oil embargo had on the price of oil and the U.S. economy in the 1970s. Its recent actions have again highlighted its pricing power, as oil prices surged from $76.71 per barrel to $92.64 in response to its announcement that it would cut production. At first glance, the decision seems motivated by the desire to steer prices back toward the highs they experienced earlier this year. The price of oil hit a peak of $122 in June; however, since then, it has steadily fallen to below $90. The announcement was designed, in part, to counter falling prices and benefit the revenues received from oil exports. Other factors are contributing to the volatility of global oil prices. Supply shocks lingering from the COVID-19 pandemic — which saw oil prices briefly slip into the negatives — mean that global supply cannot keep up with demand rapidly returning to pre-pandemic levels due to the robust expansionary fiscal policy wielded by western leaders as an answer to the pandemic. Equally, many countries, especially those in Europe, that have chosen to halt buying oil from Russia in response to Putin’s invasion of Ukraine are facing unprecedented supply challenges as they seek alternatives to their long-lasting reliance on Russian gas imports. According to National Public Radio, some pressure from Russia may have invigorated the decision-making process, as “they effectively came and asked OPEC to cut production by a million barrels a day.” Such observations further suggest the protagonist role that the war in Ukraine is playing in the emerging resource crisis. This, especially, has influenced calls from some governments for Volodymyr Zelensky to enter negotiations with Putin to de-escalate the conflict. Beyond the immediate price increase of oil, the impacts of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries’ decision will perpetuate a common trend in the past year. Energy firms drilling for and selling oil will see profits rise even higher as they continue to reap record profits. British Petroleum (BP) announced $8.2 billion in profit at the end of October, its second highest on record. At the same time, households face even higher costs just as winter begins setting in, with the prospect of energy rationing not out of the question in many European countries.

In this article, I will demonstrate how I used my P'tit Bio basket, but more importantly, we will explore — in tandem with Environnementon’s “Veganuary” initiative — the environmental impact of different diets < Back Ethical Eating Made Simple with Environnementon’s P’tit Bio Basket By Angela Saab Saade February 28, 2023 Butternut squash, carrots, tomatoes, potatoes, leeks, lettuce, endives, onions, avocado, kiwi, apples, pears, oranges and bananas — you may be thinking, “what a bland set of crops,” or, “what a phenomenal combination of delicious ingredients.” Once I read what I had written, I thought, “this could be a children’s song.” Unlike what the picture below may insinuate, the presented list is not just a bunch of fruits and vegetables in a basket. Each of these items may be transformed into a delicious meal rich in flavors, colors, vitamins and biotics, either combined with the right ingredients or prepared individually to yield positively surprising outcomes. This article will demonstrate how I used my P’tit Bio basket. More importantly, we will explore — in tandem with Environnementon’s “Veganuary” initiative — the environmental impact of different diets. The P’tit Bio Basket is Environnementon’s way of providing you with the necessary resources to facilitate your preparation of more ethical and eco-friendly plant-based meals. Sold at eight euros, while the original purchase is priced two euros more from P'tit Bio in Menton , the basket is extremely cost-efficient. The co-president of Environnementon, Esther Boulekouane, affirms the aim of this discount is “to offer the student body a cheap option to have this sound and plant-based alimentation.” Fifteen baskets are sold every two weeks. I certainly encourage you to try it out; my two roommates and I have bought it twice this semester and would have purchased it more often had we had the chance! Kindly note this is not an ad; I am not even part of the association, but I am fond of great deals, yummy food and noble mission. Perhaps the easiest and most convenient meal during this cold weather is vegetable soup. My roommates and I collectively chopped some onions, carrots, potatoes and leeks. It took us no more than ten minutes to chop them all up and place them in hot water with two vegetable broth cubes, olive oil and spices to taste. We also dropped in lentils as a protein source. Alternatively, you may choose to add tofu, chickpeas or beans. About thirty minutes later, we ate the soup alongside a baguette, which was the perfect way to end the long and tiring cold day. With the lettuce and endives, I made a delicious side salad for my baked potatoes, topped with balsamic dressing, olive oil and salt. I also ate the lettuce and avocado on toast with zaatar, a delicious Levantine dried-herb mix. As for the half butternut squash, I tried it for the first time this year. However, when I devoured what my roommates had cut up in cubes, baked in the oven with some olive oil and salt and tossed into our communal salad of baked vegetables and tofu, I instantly noticed my culinary world expanding. I can attest that I have disregarded a superb vegetable for the first nineteen years of my life — I hope you have not been missing out too. Lastly, the fruits of the basket were eaten as snacks, alone or with peanut butter (which, by the way, appears to be sold at a great deal at Menton's Asian Store!) There are countless ways you could choose to eat the fruits and vegetables from your P’tit Bio Basket. Regardless, they emit far fewer carbon emissions than animal-based products, especially meat. As a reference, the Carbon Food Calculator estimates that one kilogram of meat produced in the region of the European Union emits 24.13 kilograms of CO2 emissions. On the other hand, one kilogram of squash emits 4.1 kilograms of CO2, one kilogram of tomatoes emits 3.36 kilograms of CO2, and all other vegetables and fruits included in the P’tit Bio Basket emit under 1.3 kilograms of CO2 emissions per kilogram. Figures for the impact of daily versus weekly meat consumption and other protein sources have been presented in the images below as a general overview. To better understand the impact of your consumption, you may refer to the Harvard Foodprint Calculator , the BBC Calculator or others . Furthermore, on its Instagram page, Environnementon has shared various recipes that may ease your transition to a more sustainable lifestyle. Some other resources that may be of relevance are itsvegansis , veganiina , dr.vegan , _sunchef , fitgreenmind and thecheftomy . Pick and choose! While this article sheds light on the impact of each consumption on the ecosystem that we so vitally need to survive as a human species and as a planet, it is by no means claiming that these individual steps will solve the worldwide dilemma of the unethical, environmentally degrading animal-based industry. The need for greater initiatives is undeniable, but it does not mean we must remove all responsibility from ourselves. Indeed, as the saying goes, ignorance is bliss. Still, in this day and age, ignorance is no longer an excuse, especially being educated citizens of the world. We must all take the initiative if we have the means, individually, within our communities and global institutions. It is not a chronological process, where one starts small and ends big, but rather a combination of changes in individual lifestyle habits and entrenched communal norms. There is no point in beating yourself up if you enjoy eating meat or other animal-based products; we have been accustomed to such habits from a very young age. Rather than unrealistically attempting to cut off all animal-based food, you may try to reduce consumption instead. As Boulekouane expressed well, “It is really simple to tell someone to go vegan/vegetarian (and make them conscious of their environmental footprints), but it is way better to provide tools for the transition and to show people that being vegan is not dull, nor annoying.” I hope this article has done precisely that.

If restored to its original role as a subaltern tool of social action, the threads of the hatta will once again weave together the working classes on both banks of the Jordan River in their struggle for liberation. The national meanings now attached to the hatta’s colors are constructs designed to essentialize and divide—a red herring distracting from the real story of our grandparents’ hattas. < Back Weaving Both Banks of the River Together: The Keffiyeh and the Construction of National Identity in Jordan and Palestine Anonymous February 28, 2025 Last summer, not far from Menton, in the neighboring city of Cannes, American-born Palestinian-Dutch model Bella Hadid attended the Cannes Film Festival . She wore a dress adorned with an infamous red-and-white checkered pattern, designed as a recreation of the Palestinian keffiyeh by Michael Sears and Hushidar Mortezai , the designers behind the 2000s label Michael & Hushi. Her buzz-worthy attire was promptly met with the usual outrage that Palestinian cultural expression faces in the West. Yet, unbeknownst to many, the backlash was twofold—not only from Western outlets but also from Arab-Jordanian ones, albeit for entirely different reasons. On Jordanian social media, the dress became the punchline for playful yet pointed jokes: " Bella Hadid wears El-Shemagh Al-Urduni Al-Mohadab " (Bella Hadid wears the refined Jordanian shemagh). Though made in jest, these remarks stemmed from a deeper cultural tension—the widespread perception that the red-and-white shemagh (the Jordanian term for keffiyeh) is distinctly Jordanian, while the black-and-white one is Palestinian. To the untrained eye or the non-Arab reader, these differences may seem trivial, even silly. Yet, within the Jordanian context, they have shaped the very fabric of national identity construction. In many ways, Palestinians—who, according to national statistics, make up two-thirds of Jordan's population—became the "other" to the Jordanian national identity. This "othering" occurred because, as Edward Said notes , "the development and maintenance of every culture... involves the construction of opposites and 'others,' whose actuality is always subject to the continuous interpretation and reinterpretation of their differences from 'us.'" The Palestinians, in a sense, were low-hanging fruit—an identity to be reinterpreted in ways that emphasized the differences that define what it means to be Jordanian. Interestingly, during the Jordanian annexation of the West Bank in the 1950s, Palestinians were granted Jordanian citizenship. This policy can be interpreted as an attempt at diluting Palestinian identity by merging it with the Jordanian one. However, simultaneously, as previously mentioned, there were also attempts to depict Palestinian identity as distinct as to highlight the crevices defining Jordanian identity, especially in the 1970s following the events of Black September —an inherently contradictory approach. And yet, anyone who has ever attended the Jordanian derby between the Amman-based club Al-Faisaly FC and the Al Wehdat FC, a Palestinian refugee camp in Amman, knows that this approach—no matter how fraught with contradictions—yields outstanding results. It yielded results of othering that are echoed in the chauvinistic chants of fans , seeking to declare and assert to the opposing crowd who is in fact Jordanian. Results so astonishing that a subtle difference in headdress seems to have mustered a rhetoric of prejudice almost as natural as the passage of time itself, not unlike the animosity borne out of the conflict between age-old sworn enemies. For my generation, these classifications are all we have ever known. Yet, like all national identity construction processes, they are not age-old; they are recent, and, one must emphasize again, imagined . The untold truth is that these distinctions are only as old as the colonial Westphalian order—that is, not old at all. You see, the keffiyeh or shemagh is simply a patterned variant of what is known as the hatta —a plain white headdress worn by the peasantry ( fallah ) or proletariat in the southern Levant long before the Sykes-Picot borders existed. It was, in many ways, a class symbol. While the bourgeois elite wore the Ottoman fez or tarboush , the lower-class fallah wore the hatta. Following a series of peasant -led Arab revolts against British and Zionist colonialism in Mandatory Palestine during the 1920s and 1930s, the fallah ’s hatta was popularized as a tool for grassroots anti-colonial, anti-bourgeois resistance. However, this bottom-up aspect of the movement ended shortly after the hatta was institutionalized by the PLO—not as a tool for fallah -led social action, but rather as a national cultural emblem in the decades that followed. The irony of its anti-bourgeois origins—whether against the Nashashibis in the 1920s and 1930s, the PLO itself in the 1960s and 1970s, or even Bella Hadid today—was largely forgotten in this effort to collectivize indigenous memory. The colored variants of the checkered pattern, however, emerged when Glubb Pasha , the British commander of the Jordanian Army in the 1950s, sought to distinguish his East Bank (Jordanian) soldiers from West Bank (Palestinian) soldiers by assigning them red-and-white and black-and-white checkered keffiyehs, respectively. Glubb’s colonial strategy—an archetype of racialized subjectivity —stripped his colonial subjects of their humanity, reducing them to a color-coded system of control. While the Jordanian nation-building process used the shemagh to assert postcolonial national identity by—ironically—reinforcing a colonial policy at the expense of both the Levantine fallah and Palestinians, the Palestinian national identity project sought to cultivate a memory for an anti-colonial struggle—yet it did so by erasing the fallah ’s agency in that very struggle, cutting it at the knees. Lost in the chauvinistic Jordanian football chants is the memory of our peasant grandparents, whose cultivation of the Levant’s land once transcended Sykes-Picot borders, who led the fight for a homeland untainted by colonial divisions. Lost is the memory of Kayed Mfleh Obaidat —the first martyr for the Palestinian cause—a Transjordanian peasant from the Jordanian town of Irbid who led the Tal al-Thaaleb revolt , the first armed confrontation with settlers on Palestinian land in 1920. Palestinians and their struggle should not be cast as the “other” to Jordanian “stability.” After all, the very symbol we now associate with stability—our mighty red shemagh—was once a banner of class conflict, just as the Palestinian keffiyeh was. Both came from a marker of a lower status that later spearheaded the most successful anti-colonial resistance in the region to date. They were then co-opted by elites, stripping the working class of its agency and reducing its role to a hollow cultural one. Worse still, this co-option was cemented by a colonial officer who weaponized the distinction between the two headdresses to sever working-class Jordanians from a cause once inseparable from their own—a struggle once fought in unison with the Palestinian working class in joint defense of the very same land that fed them both. My grandmother, from the northern Jordanian village of Beit Ras—a village in the Houran Valley stretching from southern Syria to northern Jordan—did not wear a designer Michael & Hushi dress. She wore a red-and-white patterned shemagh her entire life. Her very own sister wore a black-and-white one. My grandfather, older than both, wore a simple white fallahi hatta . I find it difficult to see what truly differentiates them from a fallah in Tiberias—artificial borders and hatta color palettes be damned. But I can easily see who benefits from the internalization of this division. Make no mistake, I did not endeavor to write this article to deny the existence of inter-Levantine cultural differences. Rather, I aimed to show that these differences, in their original sense, did not conform to Sykes-Picot lines, Glubb’s orders or elite co-option. They followed no imposed boundaries but rather the organic ways of the people themselves in their struggle for self-determination. Any attempt to manipulate these distinctions into reinforcing Westphalian borders and upholding the socioeconomic stratification that preserves the colonial political order should not—and will not—prevail in the face of the Southern Levant’s fight for a dignified existence in its homeland. If restored to its original role as a subaltern tool of social action, the threads of the hatta will once again weave together the working classes on both banks of the Jordan River in their struggle for liberation. The national meanings now attached to the hatta ’s colors are constructs designed to essentialize and divide—a red herring distracting from the real story of our grandparents’ hattas . That is the story of a simple piece of cloth they donned atop their heads, which—in all its colors, patterns, and glory, once carried the means to invert class power and strike fear into the hearts of colonialists and their collaborators. It is this legacy of cross-Palestinian-Jordanian working class anti-colonial upheaval—not that of imposed national divisions and hollow cultural signifiers—that must be celebrated, reclaimed and re-enacted, whether in football stadiums or film festivals. Photo credits: Bethany Ann Khan on Flickr

< Back L’Europe sous Trump: qu’adviendra t-il de l’Ukraine? Anna Halpern December 31, 2024 « Vous devez comprendre que si l’Europe est attaquée, nous ne viendrons jamais vous aider et vous soutenir » : voici les mots de Donald Trump à Ursula von der Leyen en 2020, selon Thierry Breton. Nombre d’entre nous en Europe se sont réveillés le 6 novembre en nous demandant ce que nous réserve le futur, et comment faire face à un nouveau mandat de Trump, dont la perspective se dessinait de plus en plus clairement. Cela faisait déjà des mois que l’Europe se préparait à cette possibilité sans pour autant avoir une solution unanime. La question phare: qu'adviendra-t-il de l'Ukraine si Trump redevient président, et comment la communauté européenne peut-elle se dissocier des Etats-Unis sur le plan sécuritaire? Quelle est donc cette nouvelle position États-Unienne sur la guerre en Ukraine qui fait trembler l’Europe? Donald Trump a fait de la fin de la guerre en Ukraine, et surtout de son financement en grande partie par Washington, l’un des points clés de son programme électoral. Il s’est fait le porte drapeau d’un non-interventionnisme , d’une réduction de l'armée et d’un ‘chacun pour soi’ ou il envisage la défense des alliés des Etats-Unis—notamment l’Europe et Taiwan —comme un service rendu qu’ils devraient payer. Sous ses promesses de pousser pour un cessez le feu immédiat et de « mettre fin à la guerre en Ukraine en vingt-quatre heures , » les observateurs sont nombreux à craindre une menace de retrait de l’aide américaine pour tordre le bras de Zelensky et le pousser à négocier une fin potentiellement désavantageuse à la guerre. En préparation d’une politique américaine bien moins avantageuse, les vingt-sept essaient de se recentrer sur des solutions européennes. En effet, pas plus tard que ce jeudi douze décembre, le Président français et le Premier ministre polonais ont discuté de l’option poussée par Emmanuel Macron d’envoyer des troupes en Ukraine. Cette option serait indépendante de l’OTAN et de l’UE, mais impliquerait une base « bilatérale. » Ce n’est pas la première fois que le Président français envisage l’envoie de troupes au sol. En effet, cela avait été abordé en février, ou il avait parlé d’une « ambiguïté stratégique » en n'écartant aucune option militaire. Néanmoins, cette idée ne fait pas consensus, que se soit l’Allemagne en février ou la Pologne plus récemment, nombreux sont les pays qui ne seraient pas « considérés comme disposés à envoyer éventuellement des troupes. » Ce manque de consensus se reflète aussi au niveau de l’ambition de restructuration de la politique et des capacités défensives de l'Europe. L’Union européenne n’a pas d'armée commune, mais possède une politique de sécurité et de défense commune ou PSDC et un Fond Européen de défense ou FED . Bien qu’une ‘boussole stratégique’ commune ait été établie pour clarifier les objectifs sécuritaires européens, les divergences sur le degré d'intégration militaire auquel l’UE devrait aspirer sont largement visibles. D’une part, le nouvel air Trump ainsi que la guerre en Ukraine indiquent un besoin d'autonomisation de l’Europe en matière sécuritaire. D’autre part, la mise en place de cette autonomisation et du soutien à l’Ukraine fait division. En premier plan, les divergences intra-européennes sur le sujet de l’emprunt commun et de l’achat de munitions plutôt que des dépenses à des fins civiles, soulignent un manque de coordination et d’alignement stratégique au sein de l’Union. Une question qui ressort souvent dans ces divisions, est la problématique d’une armée européenne. Cette idée historiquement soutenue par l’Allemagne et la France et largement opposée au sein des pays de l’Europe de l’est a été remise sur le plateau depuis le début de la guerre en Ukraine. En effet, les pays européens qui pour beaucoup sont au sein de l’OTAN et ne remplissent pas leur quota de 2% du budget pour l'armée, se sont retrouvés en besoin d’un grand changement et d’une remilitarisation face à un retour inattendu de la guerre sur leur continent. Bien que ce ne soit pas la première fois que cette notion d’ « Europe de la défense » apparaisse, est-ce que cette fois les européens réussiront à faire front commun? Les suggestions sur les dépenses communes, pour donner plus de cohérence à leurs armées, la notion de promouvoir des achats d’armement d’industriels européens et l'établissement d’objectifs communs semblent des signes prometteurs. Mais on est encore bien loin de la notion d’une armée commune car les divisions de culture militaire entre les pays sont encore trop fortes, et les objectifs politiques trop divergents. Ces divisions intra-européenne s'imposent donc comme une grave difficulté en essayant d'imaginer l'Europe sous Trump. En effet, il est clair qu’aucun consensus n’existe encore pour y répondre. Entre les pays les plus fortement défenseurs de l’Ukraine qui envisagent l’envoie de troupes sur le terrain, et ceux qui commencent à se demander si tous les efforts européens pour l'Ukraine sont bien raisonnables face à des troubles économiques et politiques grandissants, il est dors et déjà possible de dire que les rêves de fédération de certains pro-européens est loin d'être une réalité à ce jour. Néanmoins, il est tout de même important de souligner que l’Europe a réussi à se coordonner. Elle a envoyé une aide non négligeable, et à vu une augmentation de l’investissement militaire à travers un grand nombre de ses membres. Cette adaptation révèle sa capacité à faire face qui pourrait lui permettre de se placer dans le top des puissances militaires dans le futur.

If the South is so deeply religious—it quite literally has been termed the ‘Bible Belt’ during cultural and political descriptions—why is it so drawn to horror? The answer lies in the paradox that envelops faith itself. To believe in heaven is to acknowledge that hell also exists. The belief in salvation is not complete without the recognition of sin. The South, with its religion and belief in divine punishment, has always and will always be a place where horror feels natural. < Back The Southern Preacher’s Goth Daughter Rebecca Canton March 31, 2025 The deep South: a cultural and geographical subregion of plains and bayous amidst a backdrop of Confederate history. A land of alligators, gumbo and sweet tea. Against this backdrop of ‘ma’ams’ and ‘sirs,’ there’s a deeply ingrained culture of American tradition, yet despite—or perhaps even because of this—the South has always harbored something darker. A place for rednecks, yes. But also, apparently, goths. Such an idea might seem absurd; the deep South is not exactly known for its accommodation towards the nonconformers. Nor do goths, with their rejection of mainstream culture, fit the ‘Southern Belle’ stereotype. Despite this, the gothic, in its truest form, has always belonged there. What exactly is gothic? It originates from something older than one might think. Although not classified as gothic, the plays of William Shakespeare, notably tragedies such as Hamlet, Macbeth, and Richard III, which all feature plots revolving around the supernatural, revenge and ghosts, were all a large influence upon early gothic literature. However, gothic fiction as a genre in itself first appeared with Horace Walpole’s The Castle of Otranto, published in 1764, depicting the story of the character Manfred and his family. The story starts with his son being crushed to death by a large helmet—gruesome, yet typical of the genre. In 1818, there was Frankenstein, which marked a shift in gothic horror, as the villain was not a supernatural creature, but an ordinary man—yes, Victor Frankenstein. In Europe, the Gothic thrived on the sublime of vast, mysterious landscapes and ruined castles. It was a rejection of industrialization—a celebration of the old. If we take Frankenstein, Victor was cursed for disrupting human nature, for experimenting where he shouldn’t have. Yet, when the Gothic established itself in the United States, it often took root in the South. Authors didn’t need fourteenth-century castles, or a region by the name of Transylvania—they had plantations. After the Civil War, it was these mansions of decay that became the location for gothic literature of sins and the equivocally evil history of the South. Whilst traditional gothic fiction relies on external horrors—vampires, ghosts, monsters—the Southern Gothic tends to reject this in favor of looking inwards. The terror is no longer supernatural, as seen in Frankenstein or Macbeth, but psychological. When talking about Southern Gothic, it's impossible not to mention Flannery O’Connor. Unlike the work of British or other European authors, O’Connor did not rely on traditional elements of horror. Her works are void of ghosts or demons. Instead, her stories feature deeply flawed characters, from criminals to religious fanatics. She depicts a myriad of lost souls wandering the dirt roads of the South. Her short story A Good Man Is Hard to Find , published in 1953, is one of her most famous works, perfectly exemplifying the ‘grotesque.’ The word has no true meaning, it is neither truly ugly or truly beautiful, but an unnerving synthesis between the two. From a literary perspective, characters that symbolize the ‘grotesque’ tend to invoke both empathy and disgust. If a character is simply disgusting, it is reduced to just a monster. Yet, the grotesque makes it more. Looking at O’Connor’s work, the story begins as an ordinary family road trip, yet quickly descends into horror when the family meets the ‘Misfit,’ an escaped convict. He is not a conventional monster, being polite, articulate and even philosophical. However, at the end of it all, he is a killer, and kills the whole family one by one. The grandmother is the last one alive, and begs the Misfit for redemption, discussing Christianity and the Misfit’s own thoughts on God. The Misfit seems engaged in conversation, all until the grandmother touches the Misfit, who promptly shoots her three times in the chest. From a Catholic perspective, what happens to the grandmother is called a ‘moment of grace,’ in which God fills her with supernatural love, enabling her to see the Misfit as a fellow suffering human. The Misfit recoils at her touch, which causes him to shoot her, yet she has already had her redemption and dies with a smile on her face. Despite this common analysis, there are no clear answers provided by O’Connor—there is no moment of triumph, no decisive victor between good and evil. Instead of killer clowns and evil dolls, the horror lies in the tragic realization that beauty and brutality exist side by side. This is where the grotesque and the Southern Gothic detach themselves from mainstream horror. It is not simply death and gore, but an entanglement between beauty and terror. It forces the reader to confront human nature. It unsettles and scares, but does not offer relief or a conclusion. Away from literature, it invokes the question of: why the South? If the South is so deeply religious—it quite literally has been termed the ‘Bible Belt’ during cultural and political descriptions—why is it so drawn to horror? The answer lies in the paradox that envelops faith itself. To believe in heaven is to acknowledge that hell also exists. The belief in salvation is not complete without the recognition of sin. The South, with its religion and belief in divine punishment, has always and will always be a place where horror feels natural. This becomes evident even in modern media, with Southern horror films, which take the themes of the Southern Gothic and then amplify them. For example, this can be seen in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974). The film fits multiple criteria for the Southern Gothic: it takes place in rural Texas, with the Sawyer house filled with bones and rotting furniture. The family, especially Leatherface, embodies the grotesque perfectly. Even more recently, with The Devil All the Time (2020), the film surrounds faith and violence, the two things essential for the Southern Gothic. And then, of course, there is true crime. The region has produced some of the most infamous serial killers, from Henry Lee Lucas to Donald Henry ‘Pee Wee’ Gaskins. True crime documentaries have become modern gothic tales, with The Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal becoming the number one Netflix show the day after it premiered. Further, despite an increasingly secular world, the Southern Gothic, especially in the form of religious mysticism, is making a resurgence. Take Ethel Cain’s Preacher’s Daughter , a concept album that tells the story of a Southern girl, raised in a deeply religious small town, who becomes consumed—both literally and figuratively—by faith, trauma, and ultimately, horrific violence. The final song on the album, Strangers , whilst initially seemingly a song of love, transcends into something entirely sinister. As Cain repeats, ‘Am I making you feel sick?’ in a haunting melody with the revolting revelation behind the protagonist asking such is because she is quite literally being eaten. The beauty of the melody, as is with the Southern Gothic, completely juxtaposes the horror of its meaning. It is a modern example of how the Southern Gothic is evolving, blending music and storytelling into something uniquely unsettling. Why is it that when a car crashes, those behind it slow down to look? Common sense would indicate a desire to look away, to be shielded from horror. Yet, humans, like moths to a flame, are drawn in by flashing police lights and the wailing cries of ambulance sirens. It is down to human nature. It is not out of morbid pleasure, but due to a deep, primal fascination with disaster. The Southern Gothic thus endures because of this instinct. We are drawn to horror not because we enjoy suffering, but because it forces us to confront truths and reassures us we are alive. The grotesque unsettles, yes, but it also fascinates us. This fascination is like the very topic, paradoxical. We want to look away, but something intangible will always bring us back. Photo source: Stock Image

Seeing the different branches of the Balkan tree blossom leads to the conundrum of what fruits they may bear at the end of spring. The last couple of months have shown that young people are now fed up with government negligence, illiberal practices and economic uncertainty. The ever-present young spirit of the protests, coinciding with the literal progress of the season of change and blossom, Spring, allows us to talk of a Balkan Spring. Mass injustices or tragedies act as catalysts for social unrest. < Back Pumping and Jumping Through the Balkan Spring Stanimir Stoyanov April 29, 2025 You are waiting at a train station, and all of a sudden, your life flashes before your eyes. You see the canopy of the recently renovated station suddenly collapse. Chaos erupts and people start panicking. Fourteen people lose their lives at the scene. This is the final straw. You stop going to university, you devote your entirety to bringing justice to your country. Others join you, hundreds, thousands, hundreds of thousands. Your country is in an unprecedented crisis. But you are not alone, neighboring countries are seeing a similar fate. A fate that might lead to the phenomenon of the Balkan Spring. Pumping Begins In November 2024, Serbia saw a wave of student-led protests around the country. Appalled by the tragic event, they blamed government negligence and corruption as its fundamental causes. University students around the country announced a boycott of their studies, demanding accountability and transparency. The slogan “Pumpaj,” literally meaning “to pump,” became a symbol of the protests. Originating as a pop-cultural reference from a famous song, the word has now gained a deep social meaning of putting pressure on the state and calling for progress. Five months later, popular unrest persists . Despite the government’s resignation, the movement continues to gather strength. In the months after the collapse, two other people passed away from sustained injuries. March 15 saw an estimated 300,000 people gather in Belgrade for the largest demonstration since the beginning of the unrest. Reports started circulating of the Serbian police using a Long Range Acoustic Device (LRAD), colloquially called “sound cannon,” to disperse the crowd. The Serbian government initially denied possessing such a system, but in the days following, they admitted to owning it, but stated it was kept far from the protests. Images circulated , alleging that such a device was parked near the National Assembly in Belgrade at the time of the protests. Serbian authorities denied its use, with President Aleskander Vučić stating that he will resign if it is proven that sound cannons were used. Balkan Spring in Blossom Countries in the Balkan region have a lot of cultural and political similarities, which makes it a fertile ground for the spread of social movements, due to related languages, media influence and common grievances. The Balkans have faced enduring political tensions and repeated crises in recent years. On March 16, 2025, a tragedy occurred at a nightclub in the North Macedonian town of Kočani, where the roof collapsed, killing 61 people and leaving 153 injured. The nightclub did not have a license and was operating outside the law, which sparked public outrage, with protests all over the country starting as both a form of remembrance and in opposition to rampant corrupt practices and lawlessness. In Bulgaria, ever since March 12, weekly protests against corruption and injustice have filled the streets of Sofia. Crowds, made up predominantly of young people, have been gathering in front of government offices every week, voicing their dissatisfaction against the current coalition, which has been covered in scandals surrounding its ties with alleged corruption. On March 31, a 12-year-old girl passed away in a traffic accident on a road in a dangerous physical state. Reports about the dangerous road had been made to the agency for road infrastructure, but no action had been taken prior to the accident. As of April 13, mass protests have been happening throughout the country, asking for the resignation of the director of the road agency and for a country-wide wake-up call in regards to government neglect. In Croatia, a nationwide boycott against rising food prices has been going on since Jan. 24. In response to heightening inflation, Croatians began organizing boycotts of food retailers, which have now spread to banks and other market sectors. The government has introduced anti-inflation measures such as price caps in order to tackle public dissatisfaction. Following the boycott, reports have suggested a fall of almost 50 percent in the number of issued sales invoices. Drawing inspiration from Croatia, other Balkan countries followed in organizing calls for national boycotts. March 2025 also saw demonstrations being a common occurrence in Greece, with tensions now at a height, due to a 24-hour national strike that happened on April 9, 2025. The strike was organized due to wage dissatisfaction and cost-of-living increases. Coinciding with the strike, protests erupted on the streets of Athens, with young people also filling the crowds. North of the Danube, tensions have been high in Romania, surrounding the recent election drama. The candidacy barring of Călin Georgescu led to widespread protests across the country, with citizens expressing support for the right-wing candidate and showing concerns over electoral integrity and democratic processes. Turkey, although contentedly classified as “Balkan”, has also become a witness to large anti-government demonstrations, beginning on March 19, 2025, following the detention and arrest of Istanbul mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu. The protests, happening in the context of an economic downturn and wider concerns of democratic backsliding in the country, are characterised by brutal clashes between demonstrators and police. More on this topic can be found in the article on the protests in this issue of The Menton Times. Why are we jumping? Protests are an integral part of any democratic state, so what exactly makes these recent demonstrations in the Balkans unique? Their underlying characteristic is their youth identity. We are bearing witness to the birth of a new form of protest culture. Street demonstrations are vibrant and rhythmic, driven by a youthful, unifying call for freedom and justice that transcends politics. Social media culture has played a crucial role in the process, with protests being shaped primarily through social media channels, with endless public outreach. An unusual characteristic of the protests, seen throughout the different case studies, is the phenomenon of jumping. The jumping is accompanied by slogans that say something in the lines of “who is not jumping is with them.” The slogan has long been used in political demonstrations in Slavic crowds, originating from sports chanting in the Czech Republic. The phrase “Kdo neskáče, není Čech,” translated as “who isn't jumping isn’t Czech," spread to other Slavic countries and later was appropriated for political protests. It’s a way to energize crowds and create a visible and physical act of solidarity. Recently, it has been used at protests in Serbia , Bulgaria , and even Turkey . The prevalence of the phenomenon is not unusual throughout various Balkan countries, seeing how the slogan sounds very similar in different Slavic languages. Its use in Turkey breaks the language barrier, showcasing the birth of a new universal language of protest surrounding the Balkans. Other innovative symbols of protest are also present, exemplifying the unique youthful character of the Balkan spring. In Turkey, for example, a character from Pokémon became a sign of protest after a protester wearing a hat with it got arrested. The mostly young crowds, filled with university students, have created their own protest subculture by making it hip to protest, especially through the use of various symbols. What fruits will Spring bear? Seeing the different branches of the Balkan tree blossom leads to the conundrum of what fruits they may bear at the end of spring. The last couple of months have shown that young people are now fed up with government negligence, illiberal practices and economic uncertainty. The ever-present young spirit of the protests, coinciding with the literal progress of the season of change and blossom, Spring, allows us to talk of a Balkan Spring. Mass injustices or tragedies act as catalysts for social unrest. I personally had the fortune to visit Serbia in March and bear witness to the unique atmosphere there. My visit was the week before the enormous demonstration of March 15, and during my time in Belgrade, there weren’t any mass events organised. What I saw was an atmosphere that was filled with youthful exuberance. Young people were walking on the streets, as if during a vacation period. The streets were filled with a sense of freedom, but at the same time, there was a pressing sense of tension in the air. Seeing and talking with people who have decided to interrupt their education for five consecutive months has now made me reflect on the strength of the human spirit. They are willing to jeopardize their future for the cause of standing up for their beliefs. Whether the wave of protests will bear any long-term political consequences remains in the air, quite like cherry blossoms blown by the wind. Governments have responded through various means, including appeasement, ignorance and even alleged violence. Yet, unrest continues to grip many of the aforementioned countries. With the fast-approaching end of spring, it remains to be seen if the Balkan Spring will go down in the history books as a small seasonal wave of unrest or as something to be studied in university courses for decades to come. Photo source: Dejan Krsmanovic on Flickr

Sanctions failed to make Saddam Hussein withdraw from Kuwait, unseat Fidel Castro, convince Haiti’s junta to honor democratic election results, or prevent India and Pakistan from testing nuclear weapons. Despite mounting sanctions against Iran, the violent suppression of protests has not abated — Iranian courts have begun to issue death sentences for those with links to the protests. < Back Are Iran Sanctions an Ethical Alternative to War? By Peyton Dashiell December 31, 2022 Since the rise of recent Iran protests after the killing of Mahsa Amini and subsequent violent crackdowns at the hands of Iranian officials, the international community has employed a range of responses. The United States stalled highly-anticipated nuclear negotiations, the United Nations Human Rights Council held a special session on the situation in Iran and new economic sanctions, travel bans, and asset freezes were applied to many individuals and companies with ties to the Iranian government. These actions are not new developments — since the 1979 Iranian Revolution, the international community has applied various economic, trade and military sanctions against Iran with efforts spearheaded mainly by the United States. Reasons cited for sanctions include Iran’s nuclear program, the backing of the Houthis in the Yemeni Civil War and support for designated terrorist groups like Hamas, Hezbollah and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. As a result of sanctions, Iran has experienced a drastic reduction in oil revenue, billions of dollars of frozen foreign assets and almost complete exclusion from the global financial system due to sanctions on banks. Economic sanctions against Iran from the United States can be divided into two categories: primary sanctions, which prevent U.S. citizens and entities from engaging in economic activity with Iran, and secondary sanctions, which bar non-American entities from engaging in business with Iran if they want a presence in the United States. Due to secondary sanctions, multinational corporations do not operate in Iran due to the risk of being banned from the American market. The European Union and International Atomic Energy Agency have imposed their own sanctions on the Iranian regime due to unauthorized nuclear activity. In 2007, the European Union froze all assets of individuals with ties to Iran’s nuclear program, and in 2010, they joined the U.S. policy of banning all transactions with Iranian financial institutions. However, the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action lifted some sanctions against Iran in exchange for limits on its nuclear program. Initially a party to the deal, the United States withdrew in 2018, citing national security concerns. These sanctions have resulted in broad economic and humanitarian consequences. Since 2018, the Iranian currency has lost 50 percent of its value against the U.S. dollar, prompting inflation and higher living costs for citizens. And while American sanctions theoretically exempt humanitarian imports, many medical companies over-comply with these sanctions out of fear of retaliation and penalties from the U.S. government, resulting in severe shortages of medications and raw materials for medical production. According to Idriss Jazairy, United Nations Special Rapporteur on Effects of Sanctions on Human Rights, under economic sanctions, “people die but from lack of food and medicine, rather than from explosive devices.” Unfortunately, this has been true in practice. After the United Nations Security Council imposed economic sanctions and a complete trade embargo on Iraq in 1990 due to Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait, an estimated 1.2 million Iraqis were killed due to malnutrition and disease — 500,000 of whom were children. Jazairy also argued that sanctions deserve the same recognition and concern in the international community as any act of war. These negative humanitarian effects are not an unprecedented consequence. After new U.S. sanctions were imposed in 2019, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo admitted that “things are much worse for the Iranian people, and we are convinced that will lead the Iranian people to rise up and change the behavior of the regime.” This lends credence to the idea that economic sanctions are a form of collective punishment — punishments imposed on a group for the actions of individuals. This practice is regarded as a violation of international human rights law and illegal under the Fourth Geneva Convention. Secondary sanctions imposed by the United States have been exceptionally controversial in international law due to their extraterritorial jurisdiction, and other major global powers have tried to mitigate their economic effects. After the 2018 JCPOA withdrawal, the European Commission issued a Blocking Statute, declaring U.S. Iran sanctions illegal. Businesses based in Europe became explicitly prohibited from complying with the U.S. sanctions and could recover damages from U.S. restrictions on legitimate business with Iran. Finally, sanctions as a foreign policy tool evoke broader questions regarding the morality of international intervention. Since the end of World War II and the advent of a new, post-Westphalian world order, the international community has taken on the responsibility of monitoring and upholding human rights through military intervention, sanctions and prosecution in international courts. But to what degree should this responsibility be applied — and are sanctions that worsen civilian conditions in the name of human rights hypocritical? Despite their prominent role in modern foreign policy, there are few examples of sanctions eliciting their desired political response. Sanctions failed to make Saddam Hussein withdraw from Kuwait, unseat Fidel Castro, convince Haiti’s junta to honor democratic election results or prevent India and Pakistan from testing nuclear weapons. Despite mounting sanctions against Iran, the violent suppression of protests has not abated — Iranian courts have begun to issue death sentences for those with links to the protests. As history has demonstrated, economic sanctions are an ineffective political measure that comes at an extreme civilian cost. While carefully calculated sanctions against specific industries or government officials may be a useful foreign policy tool, utilizing sanctions in the fashion of the United States — as an economic blockade spanning decades and forcing civilians to bear the effects — is an undeniable human rights infringement. Sanctions are not a flippant, inconsequential measure to respond to issues seen as not important enough to justify military operations — in some cases, they are more impactful than any act of war.

Zohran Kwame Mamdani is now the mayor-elect of the wealthiest city in one of the richest countries on Earth. His victory represents a political trajectory that is both atypical and deeply revealing of contemporary America. Born in an Ugandan-Indian family, raised between continents and immersed in environments rich in academic and artistic capital due to his parents’ careers: he occupies a complex place in the American social landscape. This matters, not as a critique but as context. His political language is formed by a democratic political economy and urban class analysis as much as by lived experience. You could hear it during the several live debates he participated in, in his cadence, see it in his references and definitely feel it in his policy design: it’s disciplined, detailed and unapologetically people-centered. < Back M-A-M-D-A-N-I Ibtissem Remdane “People thought that Mamdani did not have a chance because for a while…no one knew who he even was,” – Joveria Hasnat, a student in New York. Zohran Kwame Mamdani is now the mayor-elect of the wealthiest city in one of the richest countries on Earth. His victory represents a political trajectory that is both atypical and deeply revealing of contemporary America. Born in an Ugandan-Indian family, raised between continents and immersed in environments rich in academic and artistic capital due to his parents’ careers: he occupies a complex place in the American social landscape. This matters, not as a critique but as context. His political language is formed by a democratic political economy and urban class analysis as much as by lived experience. You could hear it during the several live debates he participated in, in his cadence, see it in his references and definitely feel it in his policy design: it’s disciplined, detailed and unapologetically people-centered. Unlike most politicians, Mamdani does not tiptoe around ideology. He calls himself a democratic socialist without stuttering, blinking or hiding behind the usual euphemisms such as “progressive but pragmatic” or “left-leaning centrist.” No, he just says it. It’s alarming to some. It’s refreshing for many. I had the chance to talk to a young woman, Joveria Hasnat, who calls New York City (NYC) home. She told me about her vision for the city and her hopes for its future: “It’s been a while since people believed a politician could actually transform city policies instead of making empty promises.” As Joveria expresses, Mamdani’s key word is affordability, a concern that deeply resonated with NYC residents: “Politics have never been kind to my family or me. In America, the rich always win.” She isn’t exaggerating and housing is too often treated as a luxury rather than a right. In August 2025, about 350,000 people in New York City were homeless, including roughly 103,000 staying in shelters. Workers are expected to give up weekends and vacations just to make ends meet, compounded by mismanaged public resources that drive up the cost of basic necessities, NYC becomes a difficult place to live comfortably. According to some media sources, Mamdani is a so-called “jihadist communist radical”. Nice word salad, right? I guess trying to work on social issues makes him a radical and a threat to national security in Donald Trump’s America. In reality, this soon-to-be new NYC government seems to simply want to be doing what it should have been doing all along: aiming to be clear about policies, purposeful in their actions and accepting accountability. Most of what Mamdani is calling for, such as stronger social safety nets or affordable rent, is not as groundbreaking in other countries. But in the US, where hyper-capitalism and individualism dominate, even these measures are treated as enough to be polarizing. And yes, he is also the scary “M-word”–Muslim. His faith didn’t define his campaign, yet the hostility surrounding it certainly shaped the path he had to navigate. Cuomo and Sliwa, two other mayoral candidates, heavily leaned into a rhetoric that critics called out as Islamophobic, as they warned New Yorkers of “security concerns” and tossed around words like “jihad” and “anti-semitism.” Surely nothing says “in touch with urban policy” like implying a socialist candidate is secretly plotting to implement Shariah law between community board meetings. Opponents tried to weaponize his immigrant background, his openness about religion and his optimistic vision for a better New York City. But those same traits were exactly what made him magnetic to supporters. His rise from a relatively unknown candidate, polling at 1% to New York City mayor did not happen by accident. “If he did not gain his social media presence, it’s safe to say that Andrew Cuomo could have been back in office by now.” As Joveria noted, the campaign wasn’t just political; it became a cultural phenomenon and a shift in spirit that forced people to pay attention. His candidacy felt like a breath of fresh air in American politics, a leftist rupture in a city long dominated by incrementalism and cautious compromise. He made inclusion a priority, reaching communities seemingly not out of strategy but out of conviction. His videos explaining his vision in Spanish and Arabic might seem like minor details, but it is these gestures that defined his campaign. It makes people feel seen, affirming that he is advocating for all New Yorkers, not just the ones politics usually cater to. People feel represented by him on all sorts of fronts. Whether strictly on the political aspect or like Joveria, on more than that: “There is a major diaspora of South Asians and Muslims in New York, and the last time we saw representation in U.S. politics was never. It’s one of the most significant symbols for us that Mamdani was elected mayor. People like my family and people of similar backgrounds feel a little more empowered, a bit more safe in these foreign lands.” His focus on the working class, the people that actually keep the city going, further grounded his message in lived reality. They staff the transit system, schools, construction sites and hospitals that make daily life in NYC possible. Mamdani noticed it. He knew his audience, met them where they were and used the same transportation they did, which made his campaign “that much more authentic.” That very sense of proximity showed up in his participation in the ordinary rituals of city life, the small, shared experiences that quietly define who a city is actually for. And among those, food becomes central in understanding Mamdani’s New York. He’ll recommend an egg and cheese on a roll with jalapeños from a corner bodega on your way to the subway. He hypes the places that keep the city fed: the Yemeni-run delis, the Dominican lunch counters, the Pakistani spots, the Mexican taquerias where a $4 taco can change your whole life. Food isn’t just food, it’s community. It’s the fact that you can walk three blocks and get the best ramen outside of Japan and then turn the corner for a shawarma wrap that tastes like it came straight out of Beirut. And the way he champions them, the way he centers small food businesses instead of corporate chains, tells you everything about his politics. Again, community is the heart of his campaign and in New York, community tastes like something. "Trillionaires for Trump"/"Billionaires Against Mamdani" at the No Kings protest Joe Mabel, Wikimedia Commons He positions himself in open opposition to the oligarchic tendencies that have come to define both national and city politics. Governance is shaped less by public need and more by donor interests and insider networks. So when connections substitute for competence, and when calling $2,000 a month “poor-person rent” somehow passes as normal political discourse, his message sticks and rings. Moreover, Mamdani’s willingness to confront the president only amplified his appeal. Threats from Trump to withhold federal services or cut funding didn’t intimidate him but clarified his resolve. Even the classic critique of “inexperience” fell flat. As Mamdani himself put it , “What I don’t have in experience I make up for in integrity. And what Andrew Cuomo lacks in integrity, he could never make up for in experience.” This sentence alone is probably one of the things that most rallied people behind him, from New York to around the world. I asked Joveria what the city actually felt like during the campaign. I wondered if the excitement I kept seeing on my feed was real, or just another case of social-media-inflated enthusiasm? She didn’t hesitate: “People actually felt hopeful. There were volunteers passionately speaking in neighborhoods, which brought about the community-feel again. The vibe felt progressive and people were actively fighting to make Mamdani more seen for the city’s population. It was for everyone’s good.” Joveria commutes every day since she lives in Nassau County on Long Island, the next closest county. Since she is not technically a New York City resident, she couldn’t cast a ballot. Yet she describes being deeply involved in spreading the campaign anyway: “There was constant conversation regarding the mayor of NYC even on social media platforms. His outreach worked and us New Yorkers helped”. Yes, his victory was in many ways a collective one: claimed not just by under-represented groups, but by an entire political ecosystem that had long been told to lower its expectations. His rise is often framed as a personal triumph. It is, of course. But it is also the clearest proof that America’s political machinery can still be disrupted from below. Zohran K. Mamdani’s campaign logo Aneesh Bhoopathy for Forge, Wikimedia Commons A huge part of Mamdani’s political identity is visual. The iconic posters, the bold color palettes, the slightly unruly graphics that felt more like protest art than campaign branding: you can trace that DNA mainly to Aneesh Bhoopathy, an artist who got inspired by the city itself. It might sound anecdotal, but it matters. When your political opponents are calling you an extremist, having your campaign look like a community art project rather than a corporate brochure is not just a stylistic choice; it’s a statement about who you think deserves to be seen. And it worked, people felt seen. He won on a night when Democrats nationwide were stacking significant victories. But the morning after the celebration, the actual work of preparation must commence. New York is not an easy city to govern. Joveria beautifully described it: “I love New York’s art and expression culture, but most of all, its diversity. New York is not known for its classical art nor the super elegant music culture but it’s not meant to be. If you walk through the streets [...] the first thing you’ll notice is all the noise. But if you keep a keen ear out as you stroll through, you’ll start to notice that you hear English less than other languages from all over the world. [....] New York’s much more than Times Square.” Precisely, this place is a mosaic of overlapping identities, interests and languages, a place where diversity is woven in everything the city does. Managing that city requires skill: representing it requires something closer to moral coherence. Mamdani arrived with the latter. The rest is now his homework. Hence the following question: is he who New Yorkers need him to be? Probably. That’s the honest answer. He feels like an espresso shot to political fatigue, which is one of the main reason he gained so much traction. Joveria put it best: “Regardless of if he actually achieves freezing rent, creating city-governed grocery stores, or eliminating bus fares, his policies are incredibly progressive. I haven’t felt genuine relief in the political field ever since Trump’s first presidential term ended. The only way is up for NYC with Mamdani as mayor.” It’s hard not to feel something when you see a Muslim democratic socialist with an all-women transition team stepping into the leadership of one of the most influential cities in the world. Representation alone doesn’t fix housing or transit, but it certainly redefines what the political imagination considers possible. And the weeks after his election only confirm it. His administration has already begun the unglamorous but essential work of reorganizing departments, reopening budget discussions and setting priorities that reflect his campaign promises. His transition team — yes, entirely made up of women — with impressively qualified people such as Lina Khan, a chair of the Federal Trade Commission, or Grace Bonilla, a leading urban policy expert, makes it easier for people to try and entrust Mamdani’s office with what is next. His administration is also opening thousands of new public-sector jobs, positions built with a “by the people, for the people” logic in mind. More than 70,000 applicants have already rushed in, about 400 people hired to 17 transition committees and 33 amongst them are now members of a transition committee on transportation, climate and infrastructure. Is he everything his supporters dream of? According to Joveria, very close. A politician who knows what it wants, can explain why and doesn’t panic when challenged. He now needs to be held accountable and continue to prove he is the politician New Yorkers voted for. And this is, in itself, a form of trust: not starry-eyed, but strategic. Not naive, but necessary. When asking her if she thinks what he proposes is actually feasible, Joveria responded: “Some of his policies are a little ambitious, even a bit risky. Realistically, eliminating bus fares would take hundreds of million dollars.” I agree, but maybe unrealistic is what people need and therefore should strive for. It takes courage to try, and the greatest gift this new mayor provided might just be hope. So let’s hope. Let’s set standards that seem unachievable, let’s politicize everything because everything is, and let’s continue to expect rather than accept. The name is Mamdani, and I think people might want to remember that. So turn the volume up. At the risk of sounding too confident, this one may be worth listening to. Photo Source: Joe Mabel, Wikimedia Commons

Considering the war between Israel and Hamas, we have often heard about antisemitism and anti-Zionism. Their definitions, and extent to which they overlap, are often subject to debate and ambiguity. < Back Antisemitism and Anti-Zionism: The Crucial Nuances We Are Losing Considering the war between Israel and Hamas, we have often heard about antisemitism and anti-Zionism. Their definitions, and extent to which they overlap, are often subject to debate and ambiguity. However, blurry distinctions and the inability to see the difference between the two only makes communication more difficult and divisive. In order to examine these differences, we can use the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism: “Anti-Semitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of Anti-Semitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.” The definition of anti-Zionism is much less agreed upon, but it is largely seen as an opposition to the Zionist movement to create a Jewish state in the Middle East, roughly corresponding to the historical land of Israel, and this support for this modern state. The first clear point that comes out of these definitions is that within the definition of antisemitism, nothing indicates anti-Zionism as one of its forms. This is crucial because, in my view, this indicates that you can criticize the existence of the state of Israel without being antisemitic. However, the nuance needed here is the basis for this criticism. Indeed, if the reasoning for why Israel is not legitimate uses the argument of religion, it can become antisemitism. Moreover, a factor that is largely understated is the fact that word choice matters and certain phrases have become symbolic of surface Anti-Zionism turning into antisemitism. This notably includes referring to Israel and Israelis as “the Jews'' and “the Zionists.” This is an important point to make as it is not necessarily intuitive in regards to the term “Zionist.” The reason for this is not that the term is in and of itself problematic but rather that it has often been used interchangeably with the term “Jew,” which has lost much of its original meaning. A further distinction to be made is that not all Jewish people support Israel blindly, and not all Jewish people are even Zionists. Support for the existence of Israel does not inherently mean that people support the current government or actions of Israel. Holding all Jewish people responsible for the actions of Israel is antisemitic because it essentializes Jewish people rather than acknowledging individual experiences and perspectives. This is important as a rise of antisemitism has been a clear result of the war in Israel, with over 1,059 antisemitic acts having been reported since October 7 in France alone. Importantly, there are also Jewish people who identify as anti-Zionist. In this regard, we can note that organizations such as Jewish Voice for Peace have been denouncing Israel for years. Depth should also be applied in regards to the Israeli population which does not have a singular vision. In fact, a majority of the population currently wants Netanyahu to resign, clearly indicating that the manner in which the war is being conducted is not universally accepted amongst Israelis themselves. Moreover, peace movements such as Women Wage Peace have been audible critiques of Israeli policies, bringing together Israeli and Palestinian women around a common critique of the cyclically violent nature of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict. In the context we are living in, it is important that many realize that though somebody may not be antisemitic, they may relay messages with underlying antisemitic messages. The fact that Pro-Palestinian protests have been often linked to the idea of antisemitism is not a fatality. Each of us can make an effort to promote sensitive messages in order to make peace protests, which should be a universal cause, a welcoming environment for all. Making peace protests unwelcoming is just another way of creating an unnecessary division and an ‘us’ against ‘them’ environment which pushes each side to extreme narratives and lack of communication. The angle of protesting is therefore extremely important to the cause of peace. It also leads to the wider question of the importance of word choice and paying attention to the messages we spread. Though this is not targeted to the Sciences Po student body, the message is still valuable to our community, especially on this campus, where many deeply care about the matter, and just a bit more tact and nuance can allow for far more productive conversations.

< Back Frontex : The EU Agency That Has Been Accused of Covering up Illegal Migrant Pushbacks By Viola Luraschi December 31, 2022 What is Frontex? The European Border and Coast Guard Agency, also known as Frontex, was established in 2004 under the European Union to help members and Schengen-associated countries manage their external frontiers. European borders have witnessed an unprecedented rise in asylum-seeking migrants and refugees in recent years. Thus, Warsaw-based Frontex, tasked with coordinating maritime operations and external land borders, has served as a prominent presence at several international union-country airports. The accusations against Frontex On April 29, 2022, the resignation of Fabrice Leggeri, former Director General of Frontex, was approved. The resignation followed an in-depth investigation by OLAF, the European Anti-Fraud Office, whose European Union-designated role is to combat illegal activities. The inquiry found the agency guilty of “harassment” and “misconduct.” Frontex was accused of playing a role in violating the fundamental rights of refugees in Greece by forcing the return of migrants. The Frontex reporting system has concealed numerous pushbacks in the Aegean sea, and in the words of Giorgios Christides, “between March 2020 and September 2021 (the agency) was involved in 222 incidents in the Aegean, resulting in the summary expulsion of at least 957 and potentially 8,355 asylum seekers.” The OLAF reports include 20 witnesses and over 120 pages of research conducted over 16 months. A pushback case that underlines the illegal actions of Frontex dates back to August 2020. On the morning of Aug. 5, the Greek Coast Guard dragged an inflatable raft with around 30 migrants back toward Turkey instead of taking them to Greek shores where they were headed. In one of many similar cases, an aircraft operated by Frontex was streaming the pushback live. A handwritten note on Nov. 16, 2020, by Frontex employees states that they had “withdrawn [their] FSA (Frontex Surveillance Aircraft) some time ago so as not to witness” the human rights violations. This statement clearly shows that the European Union agency was aware of the violations but instead decided to ignore the situation that it was established to prevent. Furthermore, the report included evidence that taxpayer money was used to fund the pushbacks. The Aug. 5 incident was led by the vessel “CPB 137,” which was co-owned by the agency. Leggeri was also accused of obstructing previous investigations regarding his agency’s illegal activity. Furthermore, his private messages revealed his conservative beliefs about the refugee crisis. Samuel Abraham: a personal account On Apr. 10, 2021, Samuel Abraham and 62 other people left the Libyan shore in a small rubber boat. Out of the 63 people who set off on the journey, only 51 were alive by the end. Abraham recounted, “the plane circled over our heads again and again, but no one helped us.” This plane was operated by Frontex, who witnessed the perilous situation below but refused to act. Moreover, he said that during their five days at sea, a cargo ship appeared; however, no help was offered, and the three people who jumped from the boat in attempts to reach the vessel failed and drowned. The secrecy behind the content of OLAF’s report Regulation 1049 of 2001 outlines the fundamental right of both residents and citizens of the European Union to access documents of and held by its institutions. While this regulation aims at promoting transparency and ensuring accessibility to all citizens, Article 4 (of Regulation 1049) identifies exceptions that can deny total or partial access to documents. It is under this article that Frontex continues to keep the OLAF report classified. However, some investigative journalists (Der Spiegel and Lighthouse Reports) have been able to leak parts of its contents. Resentment in response to the agency’s secrecy is widespread, especially considering the report’s allegations of misuse of union funds and international law breaches. The inaccessibility of the documents has meant that the agency’s victims have been unable to exercise their right to an effective remedy. Therefore, their right to a fair trial has been obstructed. However, it must also be noted that hindering investigations is not inherently illegal and, depending on circumstances, may even be deemed appropriate. Yet, when considering the far-reaching implications of the report, it is only normal to question the inconsistency between the findings of the report and the actions that will be taken against Frontex. The aftermath of the OLAF report Only one resignation has occurred as a consequence of the OLAF report: that of Fabrice Leggeri. The European Parliament has continuously refused the approval of the agency’s budget. In September, Frontex announced “recent changes within the agency,” among which the suspension of operations in the Aegean sea was unmentioned. Article 46 of the Frontex Regulation states that the Executive Director should “suspend or terminate activity by the agency, in whole or in part, if he or she considers that there are violations of fundamental rights or international protection obligations related to the activity concerned that are of a serious nature or are likely to persist.” However, there is still a lack of Serious Incident Reporting on the island of Samos in Greece, where it was flagged that authorities were using intimidation tactics that discouraged incident reporting. The European Commission has continued to be reluctant to take a stance on the matter.

A town that I have learned to love and maybe sometimes to hate, but one that I will certainly miss when I have to leave eventually. This petite town of citrons has seen many generations of the Ummah pass through it. I think it holds a special place in our hearts. I hope you will feel the same way! < Back Tips To Survive Sciences Po Menton Eleni Dimitropoulou April 29, 2025 The end of the second semester is approaching, marking, for me, the end of a whole year in the magical Menton—the “pearl” of the French Riviera—as a first-year student. A year ago today, I learned that I had been accepted to this university, situated in a foreign country whose language I did not speak, miles away from my home. I believe that thousands of other students are in the same situation right now. That is why, in this article, I will act as a big sister who will answer in advance to all the possible concerns you, 1As probably have about the Menton campus. I will offer you some advice. Here is everything you need to know: from how to find a house to where you can eat, at which beach you will tan the fastest and at which bar you will find the best drinks. Let's start with the simplest. Menton, my favorite city and the one I now call home, is located on the French Riviera, 40 minutes away from Nice, fifteen from Monaco and ten from Italy. Yes, it sounds crazy that you can cross the border on foot—but a word of advice, don't try it alone or during the night. The landscapes will enchant you, along with the indisputably blue waters, unparalleled sunsets, colorful buildings and smells from different restaurants. This description sounds like it comes from a tourist guide, but Menton is not only that. The Ummah , from the Arabic word “ أُمَّة” meaning identity, nation and community, is the spirit of the student community, which is what differentiates us from other campuses. From the first moment of integration week, you will notice it immediately. The people you will know here will mark you, even if you are bored of seeing them every day, in whatever alley you are in. Being Greek and having a special relationship with food, I would like to continue with my favorite restaurants. Although quite unhappy that I can't enjoy a souvlaki , I can say that I am stunned by the sushi that you can find in Ventimiglia at Sushi Iyo with unlimited top-ups for fifteen euros. It is the first thing I show to any friend visiting, as if it is a sight. Of course, I could not forget the beloved pizza Vesuvio that we usually take and eat on the rocks overlooking the sea and the flying seagulls. Also, there is Pad Thai Express , which satisfies two people and is quite economical. Of course, Monaco, as the center of luxury and well-being, is quite expensive. However, I have to say, some restaurants there balance price and quality, such as Sushi Planet next to the beach with a view of the yachts, or the beautiful Maya Pasta near the city center. In Menton, if you are ever looking for a pastry or an early brunch option, Lagom and L’Atelier Boulangerie never disappoint. When it comes to nightlife, do not expect much from our small town—the exception being the bar Le Retro , where every Thursday is a student night. Unfortunately, it lasts only until midnight, before the elderly residents get angry and start throwing water or pots from the windows because of the noise. The service provided by Anto is one of a kind, the drinks at ridiculously low prices and enjoyable with the Ummah around you. There are, of course, other bars at Sablettes , the beach below our university, which we use mostly for events organized by the association of the campus, like the Bureau Du Sport (BDS), the Bureau Des Élèves (BDE) and Sciences Alcoolemiques . But if you are going there by yourself or in a group, I would not recommend it: the age groups frequently found there tend to be on the older side and the music is average. Nice, however, offers a wide range of nightlife, both bars and clubs, which are worth visiting, such as the Opera , the High Club —which has ladies’ nights with free entry before 01:00 at night—and the Waka Bar , with great music and many surprises reminiscent of a Greek festival with people dancing on the bar and the tables. However, be mindful of the train schedules, especially on weekdays and Sundays, where the last train leaves at 10:30 or even earlier. On Saturdays, fortunately, it is 01:25, so it is easier to reach the centers of nightlife. Otherwise, if you miss it, you will have to wait for the next train at 05:00 in the morning or take a taxi, which costs about 40 euros. In Monte Carlo, like in Jimmy’s , things are a little more complicated since some taxis will not cross the border, so there is a possibility that you will need to walk for 15 minutes to the famous bridge border crossing. Of course, some of our fellow students have cars, but they are few and in demand, so if you need them, you should inform them in advance. However, for the entire year, I would suggest that you buy your ZOU card online , which costs 90 euros from September to August and you can travel with it, without additional charge, on routes from Ventimiglia to Marseille. Now, regarding supermarkets in Menton, the most popular ones are Carrefour-City and U-Express . Carrefour-City is open every day until 22:00 except on Sundays when it opens until 21:00, so after several classes that finish at 7:45, you can go there. While U-Express is a bit further away from the city center, it is bigger and thus less expensive, having a larger selection available. In Picard , there is a wide variety of frozen foods suitable for students who are just learning to cook or don't have that much time to prepare food. The university cafeteria is only open for one hour from 12:15 until 13:15, which might be too early for students who come from Mediterranean countries, with limited choices and relatively expensive prices of 5 euros regardless of what you buy. The vending machines have mainly sweet treats, as do the bake sales organized by associations. However, coffee can only be found in the cafeteria for a low price of 50 cents if the machine is working. Regarding finding a house, I know the process is quite stressful, especially when your first language is not French and you are abroad, as you cannot see the house in person. So, I suggest you search on the Sciences Po housing website or contact a real estate agency. Personally, I think the best option is to send a message or join the groups that exist on Facebook. In this way, you could also come into contact with second-year students who are leaving their homes, giving you a guarantee. The price of the rent can range between 300 and 1,200 euros, depending on your requirements, location and whether you will be staying with a roommate. Just be aware that Garavan is 15 minutes from the university but far from the city center—25 to 30 minutes—but the prices are much more affordable. Dorms are also available in Villa Jasmin for the girls and Menton Plus for the guys. However, spots are limited to around 30, and priority is given to exchange students. Just so you know, they do not have the vibe of American dorms or sororities—you are not allowed to bring your friends in, you need to pay 10 euros for the laundry and the rooms can be empty and cold. However, if you want to be part of a close-knit community and make new friends straight away, it is not a bad option for the first year or couple of months. Some of you might be eager to continue their gym rat era or just feel healthier. In our small town, despite its size, we have quite a few options available. First and foremost, we have the Stephy’OM gym two minutes away from the university, although you have to pass through the stairs of hell (you will understand the name once you have to walk over them during Aparathon - a night were you, the freshcomers go around the famous collocations of Menton playing games including alcohol). It is 45 euros per month, there is an open salle from 08:00 until 21:00 on weekdays, but also group classes such as T-Rex, Cardio, Zumba, Yoga, etc. However, you need to book beforehand through the app, which is without any extra cost. Another gym many Sciences Pistes prefer is Narev’s club, which is a bit further away. It is more of a hardcore gym with weights and a wide variety of equipment and machines. If you want to stay in form, you can also join one of Sciences Po’s sports teams, ranging from volleyball to cheerleading and from rugby to boxing; you are welcome in any team. But I won't go further on that as I don't want to steal the BDS’ job. Concerning the hot question of whether you need to speak French, the answer is simply no. Almost everyone on campus speaks English and there are many tourists all year round, so shop owners are familiar with that language as well. But do not think for a second that you can escape it. Sciences Po has everyone take French classes, ranging from two to four hours per week, unless you have at least a B2 level, the same being true for English. If you have met the above requirements, you can take up to two other foreign languages such as Spanish, Italian, Arabic, Persian, Hebrew and Turkish. I left the worst for the end. Menton can be really rainy, especially in the winter, so do not forget to pack your umbrella and warm clothes. I think these are the main points I would have liked to know before coming to Menton. Keep in mind that the BDE uploads a lot of useful information before your arrival and also has an open poll with questions and answers on their Instagram page. This is Menton through my eyes. A town that I have learned to love and maybe sometimes to hate, but one that I will certainly miss when I have to leave eventually. This petite town of citrons has seen many generations of the Ummah pass through it. I think it holds a special place in our hearts. I hope you will feel the same way! Photo source: Mia Battaglia on Flickr

With personal testimonies, voice recordings, interviews, personal letters, and diaries, oral history detaches historical events from purely governmental accounts. < Back The Concept of Oral History is Changing the Way We Study the Past and Shaping the Future of Humanities By Angeliki Vytogianni January 30, 2022 I have always been very interested in history. As soon as I realized how easily history could be used as a means of propaganda, I recognized the importance of oral history. This movement requires historians to alter the way they study the past. The value of oral history lies in personal testimonies from people that have witnessed or been involved in historical events. Studying these events in this grassroots way and paying more attention to the individual instead of government records ensures that history is shaped by the people, not by political, economic, military ideologies, or by the interests of those with power. This allows for a more humane way of looking at history, to get an accurate reflection on some of humanity’s greatest question marks and historiographical debates. One example of this could be the post-World War I power struggle in the Ottoman Empire territories. Turks, Greeks, Armenians, and ethnic minorities all tried to claim their heritage in Asia Minor, in, more or less, hostile ways, after centuries of peaceful co-existence of this mix of nationalities up until the beginning of the 20th century. Moreover, in the Balkans, the Serbs, Bulgarians, Macedonians, Greeks, and Turks also tried to claim grounds. Historians that have studied this part of European-Middle Eastern history have mostly relied on reports, numbers and statistics provided by the governments and national organizations in the region. Novels written by Penelope Delta and other distinguished authors, intellectuals, and politicians of the time proved to be strong sources of information. However, one can easily understand that due to the complexity of this geopolitical issue, a variety of conflicting interests arose, with drastically different historiographical approaches. Thus, none of these sources can be guaranteed to accurately reflect the essence of the struggles of the time, which is when oral history comes in. With personal testimonies, voice recordings, interviews, personal letters, and diaries, oral history detaches historical events from purely governmental accounts. According to the Oral History Association, the term oral history refers to "a method of recording and preserving oral testimony" which results in a verbal document that is “made available in different forms to other users, researchers, and the public.” This organization also stresses the complexities of oral history in regard to legal concerns. Testimonies, interviews, and personal stories need delicate policies to protect privacy and copyrights, all analyzed in A Guide to Oral History and the Law . The author examines the most relevant court cases and cites examples of policies and procedures that oral history programs have used to avoid legal difficulties. But oral history is not limited to researchers in history associations. Here in Menton, we have so many interesting stories and personal testimonies from important events in history to share. I was really intrigued by the prospect of being able to learn from this diverse student body, but I encourage Sciences Po to include more testimonies, and oral history into the curriculum itself. This would add to our social sciences and anthropological studies, by giving a first-hand picture of historical events and situations. Studying social and political sciences in such a prestigious university, we use history a lot, thus oral history could very well fit in our curriculum. It would be an improved way of looking at things, considering different points of view, getting different experiences, which is actually crucial to the work of a thorough historian. Instead of basing the bulk of research on governmental state archives, we can study and create different archives by interviewing people from different backgrounds to get their experiences of a particular historical period. Oral history is a very powerful tool that can make all diverse voices heard loud and clear. It gives power and space to historically oppressed and marginalized groups, and we get the option to understand the same event in greater depth, and under different lenses, depending on each person’s experiences. Indigenous populations, for example, are often not included in reports by authorities, however, by using oral history and interviewing them, we get a better sense of their reality. In the refugee crisis, for example, listening provides more context than numbers, and head counts in the camps of Lesvos, we need to listen. Let the people talk and we listen. Lilinaz Hakimi, 2A at Sciences Po, volunteered in one of the camps in Lesvos this past summer. She stressed the importance of this human-to-human connection in building empathy that cannot be replaced by statistics. In her own words, having heard the stories from the people themselves, “it is really important to hear someone’s story and connect, visualize, to understand what they are going through, understand how any historical event has so many different layers underneath.” In the end, what it really comes down to is making history more a part of humanities like it was always intended to be. Let us not get carried away by the tendencies of our times to measure and file everything, which can be demeaning to the actual events. Let us keep being humans, keep connecting to other people and listening to them. Experiences are more valuable than any other means of sourcing, and we have so much of that.

The 2024 Nosferatu turns the themes of anxiety, of fear, present in the German version, inward. Someone on Reddit said that neither Nosferatu was “terrifying”—that’s relative. In any instance, he definitely came. < Back “He is Coming”: A Nosferatu Film Commentary Maia Zasler February 28, 2025 WARNING: This article contains many spoilers for the film, Nosferatu. Read at your own risk. Also, descriptions of sexual assault. I hate horror movies. Truly, I avoid them like the “ plague .” So, when my friend—who is aware of my aversion to this genre of film—proposed going to watch Nosferatu in theaters, I did not fully register what I would be getting myself into. To be frank, I am still acquiring film cultural capital. The name of the 1922 Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror , the unofficial adaptation of Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel, Dracula , rang absolutely zero bells. I made the error of assuming that this Nosferatu , packed with an A-list cast and supported by a $100 million USD budget, was actually the (relatively) new Aaron Taylor Johnson (ATJ) film, Kraven the Hunter . Call me shallow if you must, but I agreed to my friend’s invitation without looking into the movie—and without hesitation—because of the prospect of seeing ATJ on the big screen. By the time it became evident that my assumption was, in fact, just an assumption, it was too late. My friend had already purchased the tickets. There were plans in place to watch the original film, and then to drive to the theater to see the recreation of almost 100 years later. I put on my shoes, tried to muster up some courage, and headed out of my house. The original movie was, I must admit, very good… as horror-filled as a horror movie from the beginning of the 20th century could be. I learned that Nosferatu , a German production, was born out of the myriad horrors of World War I. Many film buffs and critics have analyzed the story’s messaging. In both versions, the vampire, Count Orlok (a “copyright-friendly” Dracula), is infatuated with and preys on Ellen, the fiancée of an estate agent, Thomas Hutter. Hutter is dispatched to Transylvania to deal with a peculiar client (Count Orlok), who insists on signing papers acquiring property in person. In their first encounter, it is clear that Count Orlok is something beyond human. What is not initially clear is that this paperwork actually signs Ellen over to him. Through the poisoned consecration of Ellen and Count Orlok’s “bond,” he makes his way over to her village, bringing terror and the plague along with him—to paraphrase, he is coming . In this world, geography doesn’t matter… The vampire, Count Orlok, arrives via ocean from Transylvania (Romania) to Germany—unfortunately, such an ocean in this instance is actually Poland, which is not an ocean at all. This (minor) plot hole was part of the German production’s effort to avoid a lawsuit from the Dracula franchise, as that book is set in England. In 1922, German actor Max Schreck played Count Orlok as an animal-like figure. It was a silent film, so obviously no technical opportunity to play up the plethora of our modern tropes of vampires (e.g., “ bleh bleh bleh ” or “I vant to suck yer blood”). The title, Nosferatu , adds a layer of eeriness. A masculine Romanian name meaning “troublesome” or “unbearable,” the call of Nosferatu brings with it a chill and sourness unmatched by “Dracula.” The 2024 remake leaves little to the imagination. Bill Skarsgard , at this point an expert in playing larger-than-life villains, uses his real voice as Count Orlok, making the monster all that more menacing. And it was, well, epic, when he referred to himself as “an appetite, nothing more.” The Count’s breath became an integral element in the movie. Anytime I heard the heavy wheezing, a call of impending coldness and darkness, I knew to hide in my sweatshirt hood. There were some humorous moments, I will admit. When Count Orlok’s henchman, Knock, played by Simon McBurney , bites off the head of a pigeon in a psych ward, the psychiatrist-doctor-man, Dr. Wilhelm Sievers ( Ralph Ineson ), asks: “Now why did you do that?” Sporadic snorts of laughter speckled the theater room. Being deeply disturbed as a group does promote cohesion, in a way. I will say that the viciousness in which Count Orlok devours the blood of his victims and the immense grief of ATJ (in this film, Friedrich Harding, the friend of the Hutters ( Nicholas Hoult and Lily-Rose Depp )) at his wife ( Emma Corrin ) and daughters’ demise, inflicted collective dismay and disgust among audience members. Depp’s performance as Ellen was truly stellar. I will say that her intense stare and cries, violent shakes and gasps, really called on all of the performances of tortured damsels that have come before her. I felt that the new version of the film made the sexual undertones of Nosferatu ’s storyline, the concept of possession, of assault (of Count Orlok on Ellen), undeniable. This was part of Director Robert Egger’s efforts to give Ellen more of a backstory. The tale is reframed from her perspective. In doing so, the allegory for assault, clearly present in the case of Ellen, is also echoed by the ultimate death of Anna Harding, who is consumed by rodents. The rodents serve as the furry, flea-ridden entourage of Count Orlok who sets them on the Harding family when Ellen refuses his advances. As the IMDb “Parents guide” phrases it: “ Lengthy & explicit female breast nudity with graphic bloody sucking by a male beast. Female breast nudity of a woman being ravished by rodents.” I felt that this exposure was almost gratuitous in its attempt at accomplishing a not-so-subtle allusion to an act of rape. That being said, I can understand how this originally “adjusted” Dracula story emerged, rendering the life-altering (and, for millions, life- ending ) events of World War I. I don’t think that either film ended up being derivative, and despite my initial aversion—and maybe my better judgments—I would recommend a watch. I find it interesting what we humans deem “horror.” Why would we want to be scared… together? Why create a mirror of certainly grotesque real-life occurrences? Well, “art imitates life,” as they say. Perhaps it is easier to grasp, to accept the impossibility of making sense of awfulness when it is played back to us. It may be less painful to experience these horrors, the warped histories and folktales that have kept humans entertained for centuries, when together, and when a wall is up between us and the narrative. The 2024 Nosferatu turns the themes of anxiety, of fear, present in the German version, inward. The bottled-up darkness and apprehension for further social change or upheaval are packaged in a more fleshed-out Ellen character. She asks : “Does evil come from within us, or from beyond?” The shame or fear, the sin , that Count Orlok embodies is found within Ellen, pushing the boundaries of remakes and the horror we may experience ourselves. Someone on Reddit said that neither Nosferatu was “terrifying”—that’s relative. In any instance, he definitely came . Photo credits: J.-H. Janßen, 2019

In this digital age, violence against women is not limited to the physical world. It is spreading at alarming rates online through the creation of deepfake sexual content that can only be considered as a violence to the existence and integrity of women and girls. < Back Digital Sexual Exploitation: the Deepfake Epidemic in South Korea Lydia Ntourountou November 30, 2024 “If a deep fake video version of me is more attractive, how can I bridge the gap between that and the real me? " Finalists of the 2024 Miss Korea beauty pageant were expected to answer this question. Despite the controversies surrounding pageants—whose sole purpose is for women competing to showcase their physical beauty—comparing a deep fake version of a woman to the way she actually looks had previously been completely unheard of. Amidst a period in which women and girls in South Korea have fallen victim to the technology using AI in order to create fake videos depicting mostly sexual content and acts, this has caused outcries and severe criticism. Deep fakes , or “images or recordings that have been convincingly altered and manipulated to misrepresent someone as doing or saying something that was not actually done or said” made using Artificial Intelligence, have been around since 2017. They were used mostly to insert celebrities' faces in pornographic videos. However, the recent surge in AI popularity has made it extremely accessible for anyone to insert a photo of a person to a bot, with the purpose of changing their face or body and creating a fake version of the person who could be nude or performing a sexual act. Sexualization of women is not a recent phenomenon; it dates back to centuries of gender inequality and the stereotypes associated with them. Women are molded to fit into specific categories and their physical beauty is constantly scrutinized, especially on social media where objectifying a person becomes simple, hiding behind the protection of anonymity: nowadays, one only needs to scroll through the comment section of a woman’s post to find degrading comments regarding her appearance. Unfortunately, hyper-sexualization does not stop there. It has managed to become even more complex and disturbing with the creation of deep fakes. The main problem with deep fakes is not necessarily the fact that they depict explicit content, but rather that the people shown in these videos or images are mostly women and young girls who have not consented for their photos to be used for such purposes. This explicit non-consensual deep fake content (“ non consensual intimate image abuse”) is becoming increasingly concerning, especially given how accessible it is. One can simply find an online bot—there are more than 50 bots whose purpose is to create deepfake content after all—and provide the image of their preference, whether that be a friend, a celebrity or a child, asking it to create this type of illicit content. And what better platform to host these types of bots than Telegram? It could be argued that this application constitutes the ideal platform for these videos and images to circulate, because of the minimal restrictions that it imposes on its users, allowing them to connect and share illegal sexual and pornographic content developed by the bots. The purpose of these bots is not cryptic, but rather hidden in plain sight: “I can do anything you want about the face or clothes of the photo you give me” is what a creator of one bot wrote. While the “deepfake crisis” is worldwide and impacts thousands of women, women and girls in South Korea have been some of its main targets. Research conducted by the newspaper Hankyoreh has uncovered horrific results about the reality that Korean women and children experience due to the use of their images for deepfakes; they are stripped of their fundamental rights and experience a traumatic shock that could stigmatize them for the rest of their life. Women are rendered objects, classified according to the university they are attending and their major, tainted by images of themselves distributed in Telegram chat rooms called “friends of friends.” These are later divided into sub-groups where their members chat about these women—usually their classmates—and share their images to produce pornographic deepfakes. These chat rooms are not limited to university students, but go all the way to high school, exploiting minors and young girls—who are already sexualized in the media—but this time actually using their photos to create such “content.” It is needless to mention the horror that women and children victims of such acts might experience. They are not only forced to deal with deepfake videos of themselves, but also rarely find justice. The protection of South Korean women by the legal system has heavily been criticized, due to the lack of efficient legislation concerning crimes such as illegal filming and digital crimes. The current crisis called for a ban of creation, distribution and consumption of deepfakes, which seems to be an important step towards change, but its concrete enforcement is rather unrealistic. The convenience of using Telegram is not limited to the lack of restrictions concerning the production of such content, but extends to the challenge for authorities to investigate and prosecute criminals using the application for illegal purposes. The application is infamous for its lack of communication and cooperation with authorities, making it difficult to identify suspects and render justice to the victims. Its founder, Pavel Durov, was even arrested in September on charges relating to a lack of content moderation on Telegram, as well as his refusal to cooperate with police investigations. So, where does this leave women in South Korea? In between fighting against the proliferation of illegal spy cams in public restrooms, the Burning Sun case —in which several celebrities and police officials were responsible for sexually assaulting women in a famous Gangnam nightclub—and the rise of deepfakes, women are forced to to remain in a constant defense position to protect their fundamental rights and freedoms. In this digital age, violence against women is not limited to the physical world. It is spreading at alarming rates online through the creation of deepfake sexual content that can only be considered as a violence to the existence and integrity of women and girls. In order to combat this disturbing situation, feminists in South Korea have taken on the heavy responsibility of defending women’s rights by adding pressure on the government to pass more strict legislation, aiming to create a more secure environment. However, the creation and circulation of deepfakes is not a matter that should only concern women, but rather society as a whole. And it might be easy, or even convenient, to let the blame fall on AI, instead of letting ourselves acknowledge that human beings are responsible for the creation of such dangerous and apaling “content”, or worse that they are rarely held accountable for the severe damage and trauma they have caused to victims.

Aicha Ech Chenna, aussi appelée Mère Courage, est une emblème du féminisme au Maroc. Elle s’est malheureusement éteinte en ce 25 septembre, sans faillir à laisser à sa cause un héritage de progrès et d’avancées sans précédent. < Back Mère Teresa du Maroc, Mère Courage, Aicha Ech Chenna l'emblème du féminisme au Maroc, est morte By Layla Hammouda October 31, 2022 Aujourd’hui maman est morte. Sauf qu’aujourd’hui nous sommes le 25 septembre 2022, et ce n’est pas la mère de Meursault* qui est morte, mais celle qui est surnommée la Mère Teresa du Maroc. Aicha Ech Chenna, aussi appelée Mère Courage, est une emblème du féminisme au Maroc. Elle s’est malheureusement éteinte en ce 25 septembre, sans faillir à laisser à sa cause un héritage de progrès et d’avancées sans précédent. Aïcha a toujours eu un rapport très maternel à la cause de la femme. À ses 12 ans déjà, elle a pu entrevoir la primauté du combat feministe au Maroc à travers le courage de sa mère, qui l’a éloigné de son beau père voulant lui faire porter le voile et quitter l'école pour la couture. À 16 ans, à la suite de soucis familiaux, les rôles s'inversent et c’est à son tour de prendre en charge sa mère lorsqu’elle obtient son diplôme d’infirmière. À l'hôpital, une scène marquera Aïcha au fer rouge. Une scène provoquant le combat maternel de Aïcha, une scène qui sera la pièce angulaire de sa bataille. Une mère donnait le sein à son enfant alors qu’elle s’apprêtait à l’abandonner. L’assistante sociale lui demanda de poser son empreinte sur l’acte d’abandon; ce que la mère fit en retirant à son nourrisson son sein d’un geste coléreux et brusque. Le bébé s’écria, le lait gicla sur son visage. Aicha Ech Chenna n’en dormit pas, encore moins lorsqu’elle découvre les endroits où logeaient ces enfants abandonnés, nés hors mariage, nés dans l’illégalité malgré eux. « Leurs cris résonnent encore dans ma tête. Depuis ce jour-là, je me suis jurée de faire quelque chose » avait-elle dit dans un entretien. S’est alors dessiné un combat à double front pour la Mere Courage: (i) d’un côté la cause des mères célibataires - souvent mère malgrè elles, étant notamment victimes de viol, l’avortement étant illégal au Maroc-et (ii) de l’autre côté, la cause des enfants abandonnés- par ces mêmes mères contre leur grè. Elle commence alors par fonder l’Association Solidarité Féminine en 1985, où elle accueille des mères célibataires, leur offre des cours d’alphabétisation, les forme à divers métiers et les soutient psychologiquement. En d’autre termes, elle leur permet de mieux s'intégrer dans une société qui les marginalise de part leur situation. Aicha les aide même à formuler leur mal être, en publiant « À Hautes voix », un livre recueillant les témoignages de femmes de cette Association ainsi que ceux de leurs enfants, devenus grands. Pour son engagement infaillible et son combat honorable au service de cette noble cause, la Mère Teresa du Maroc fut decorée par le Roi Mohammed VI en 2000, puis recompensée par la Légion d’honneur française en 2013. Malgré ces distinctions, Aicha Ech Chenna s’est vu rattrapée par les résistances des mentalités au changement, telle qu’exprimées à travers la fatwa** émise contre elle suite à un passage sur la chaîne Al Jazeera où elle abordait des sujets jugés “tabous”, tels que l’inceste et les mères célibataires. Le combat de la Mère Courage est alors un combat où les espoirs furent souvent bridés, et où la persévérance fut cruciale pour voir le progrès espéré in fine se dessiner. Alors, quand le Roi Mohammed VI demande à ce que le Maroc autorise l’avortement dans les cas de viol, d’inceste, et de graves malformations du fœtus, Aicha est reconnaissante et repond « C’est une première étape! ». Aicha Ech Chenna a dédié sa vie à ce combat et telle sa mère lui a inculqué l’importance de cette bataille, Aicha, dans un élan maternel, a contribué à l’inculquer aux femmes marocaines et à leur donner les outils pour la perpétuer. Car si cette bataille est la bataille d’une vie, elle ne se gagne pas en l’espace d’une même vie. Donc lorsque j’entend Myriam Bessa, collaboratrice d’Aicha, s'inquiéter et déplorer que « Malheureusement, nous vivons sur les acquis de nos grands-mères, la jeune génération fait du militantisme sur les réseaux sociaux. Qui est la future Aïcha Ech-Chenna ? Qui osera sacrifier sa vie pour porter la voix des femmes au Maroc ? », je me tourne vers les émouvantes manifestations de début septembre suite au décès d’une jeune fille de 15 ans lors d’un avortement clandestin, et je reprend confiance: les militantes appellent à reprendre le flambeau de Mère Courage. *Meursault est le personnage principal de l' Etranger d'Albert Camus, roman qui commence par la célèbre phrase employée au début de cet article ** Arabe : consultation juridique sur un point de religion, donnant parfois lieu à condamnation