< Back Why I Drag a Suitcase to Italy for Groceries Shirley Marie Victorio Everyone loves the convenience of a quick grocery store run. I, too, once lived that life of luxury. Living a mere two-minute walk from Carrefour, I thought I had made it. I could roll out of bed, grab a pain au chocolat and be back before my coffee cooled. Then, I saw my receipt. After discovering the stark price differentials between my local French aisles and the Lidl in Ventimiglia, I officially converted. I am now a loyal Italian commuter, and I’ve made peace with the fact that buying oat milk now consumes two hours of my life. The Math (Why I Choose Suffering) My conversion to Lidl wasn’t spiritual; rather, it was mathematical. In Menton, buying oat milk is an act of financial recklessness, with prices hovering north of €2. In Ventimiglia? That liquid gold is a cool €1.59. Then, there is the protein situation. A salmon fillet at Carrefour will set you back €6 to €7, leaving you weeping into your wallet. In Italy, that same fillet is yours for just €4.99. The real victory is in what you actually bring back. You cannot find Guanciale at the local Carrefour—it simply doesn’t exist. In Italy? It is €2.19. Throw in 99-cent Mortadella and suddenly, dragging a suitcase across international borders feels less like a chore and more like a high-yield investment strategy. Where’d All the Time Go? When I say that this journey takes hours, my friends back in Singapore assume I am stuck on a regional train for half the day. I’m not. The train ride itself is a breezy 14 minutes. But it’s all the small steps added together that make this take hours. Once you step off of the train in Ventimiglia, it is a 19-minute trek to get to Lidl. Walking through the streets of Italy, you are fueled only by the promise of cheap pasta and the knowledge that every step is saving you 50 cents. After the return trip comes the final battle: dragging the haul up the hill to my apartment in Menton. The trek is a time investment, but the receipt speaks for itself. The 25kg Beast I don’t use a backpack. I don’t use a tote bag. Instead, I use a full-sized, hard-shell 100-liter suitcase. You may look silly rolling a massive suitcase onto the train for a pack of pasta, but when you are hauling a month’s worth of groceries, you will feel incredibly smug while everyone is struggling with ripping plastic bags. My friends may laugh, but they are the ones losing circulation in their fingers while carrying plastic bags. The suitcase is the only vessel capable of handling the volume of my operation. However, the real price I pay for these savings is the sheer, unadulterated noise. The plastic wheels rumble over the uneven pavement with the subtlety of a tank battalion, creating a tectonic shudder that announces my arrival from three streets away. But the greatest test of character comes at the end of the journey, when I have to drag that fully loaded, 25kg box of lead up the hill to my apartment. It builds character. Or trauma. I haven’t decided which one yet. The List is Law The most dangerous part of the trip isn't the travel — it's the store itself. Lidl is designed to destroy your focus and waste your time. So, you have to make a list. This is a non-negotiable. If you walk into that Lidl without a strict plan, you will be shopping for an hour. You will enter a fugue state. You will stand in the pasta aisle, debating the merits of five different types of pesto until your vision blurs. You will be seduced by the bakery section, which smells like butter and bad decisions and convince yourself that you need three different types of focaccia for the journey home. You don’t need all that focaccia. Write down what you need, get in, execute the plan and get out before you lose your focus and, more importantly, miss your train home. The Verdict Let’s be honest: commuting to another country just to buy groceries is objectively absurd. Normal people don't need a passport and a suitcase to buy milk. But normal people are also paying €7 for salmon, so I’ll take the trade-off. It’s a trek, a workout and occasionally a public embarrassment, but for that €2.19 guanciale? I’d walk twice as far. Photo Source: Shirley Marie Victorio Previous Next

< Back Tuition Faces Historic Rise Amidst Menton Administrative Chaos By Peyton Dashiell February 28, 2023 In Nov. 2022, word broke through French news outlets and social media that Sciences Po Paris tuition fees will increase by 7.5 percent for the 2023-2024 academic year. The initial increase, which passed unanimously among the Sciences Po Paris board minus two abstentions, was planned at 9.5 percent. However, it was slightly reduced after representatives from the Union Nationale des Étudiants de France (UNEF) and NOVA met with administration on Nov. 23, 2022. Citing inflation and the European energy crisis as factors influencing the hike, tuition at Sciences Po for undergraduate non-scholarship holders will rise to 14,437 euros, while graduate students can expect to pay over 20,000 euros. As recently as 2020-2021, tuition stood at 10,760 euros — this measure represents more than a 30 percent increase in just three years. Furthermore, this tuition increase will have particularly severe consequences for scholarship holders. Neither CROUS nor supplementary scholarships from Sciences Po will rise according to this new calculation. CROUS scholarships will increase by a mere four percent, while Sciences Po scholarships like Emile Boutmy will increase by seven percent. These plans directly contradict remarks made by Sciences Po President Mathias Vicherat, a former UNEF representative himself, as recently as March 2022, when he pledged that “les frais d’inscription n’augmenteront pas” (enrollment fees will not rise) during his presidential term. But despite this promise, the tuition hike is not unprecedented. Measures taken following Vicherat’s ascendance to director of Sciences Po have been characterized by financial prudence. To bankroll the costly Paris campus move in January 2022, he announced that he planned to prioritize economic consolidation and profitable “continuing education” initiatives. Additionally, the Sciences Po administration has remained silent in the face of the increase. While major French media outlets like Le Monde rushed to publicize the “vertigineuse” (steep) increase, Sciences Po administration has failed to release a single statement or email to the undergraduate student body, forcing student unions like UNEF and NOVA to liaise between administration and students and share information about the tuition rise via Instagram and Facebook. In a series of Instagram posts, UNEF president Anissa Chehbib labeled the increase as “une hausse colossale, qui nous révolte,” (a colossal increase that revolts us). Furthermore, UNEF noted that ongoing increases in inflation and cost of living have exacerbated the financial situations of low-income Sciences Pistes and their families. NOVA’s social media advocacy echoed these complaints — in addition to negotiating down to the 7.5 percent increase rate, they pledged to ensure that Sciences Po administration will improve social assistance measures and eliminate “useless expenditure.” Additionally, Solidaire joined UNEF and NOVA in condemning the increase, telling President Vicherat, a former Danone executive, that “a university should not be run like Danone” and denouncing the “unacceptable process of liberalization and privatization of education and research.” They also noted their exclusion from the meeting between President Vicherat and representatives from UNEF and NOVA. This announcement also comes at a time of particular administrative upheaval on the Menton campus — with the majority of the already weary administrative staff out on leave, the myriad of registration issues that naturally accompany the beginning of a new semester have largely gone unfixed as mid-February approaches. Many students still miss language and atelier classes, and repeated emails and visits to the office rarely grant resolution. While a student-led letter prompted a visit from the Paris administration and several measures to help administrative staff regroup and resolve issues, significant problems have persisted, making this steep rise in tuition even harder to fathom. When students cannot take required courses, promises of campus facilities go undelivered and administration is unresponsive through it all, does rising tuition truly reflect the student experience?

< Back The Rising Threat: High Water Levels and Their Impact on the Rise of Extremism Viktorie Voriskova October 31, 2024 From Sept. 9 to 15, 2024, sirens were going off across Eastern Europe. Evacuations, threatening news, panic spreading through countries like wildfire. What was happening? The biggest floods in the last 120 years spread across the Czech Republic, Poland and Austria. In the Czech Republic itself, the damage is estimated to be up to 17 billion Czech crowns (around 673 million euros). Metro stations flooded. A football stadium was completely underwater. Fifty-one thousand households were evacuated. Five people died. The Czech Republic went through the worst flooding in its history. And a week after that, the state faced another challenge—regional and senate elections which had only 33% public participation. A populist party that had led the government three years ago won in almost every region, in some by almost 20%. Is it possible that these results were impacted by the extreme floods that had taken place? All political parties tried to catch voters’ attention by reacting to this crisis, either criticizing the government or organizing aid. The party that had posted the most about this crisis is “ANO”, a center populist political party that led the governing coalition three years ago, now in the opposition. Most of their content and program, on and off social media, is centered around criticizing the government’s “failures” and trying to convince voters that they were better off with ANO as the leading coalition, not the current government. They made several X and Instagram posts, as well as multiple TV proclamations, concerning this issue, among them ones posted by the leader of ANO, Andrej Babiš, stating that: “ Mr Prime Minister Fiala (ODS) cannot stop lying. He lied about the aid from Brussels that we were supposed to get help with the floods. Last week, before the regional elections, he claimed that we would get 50 billion crowns (1,975 billion euros) from the Cohesiveness Fund. That is a lie; we will not get anything like this, and there will be no more money. We can use the money that we already have, but it will be missing somewhere else. Thank you, Prime Minister, for not doing anything for the Czech Republic yet again.” The party leader then followed up this point by re-posting his tweet , stating that he “wishes the best of luck to all of those affected by the flooding”. He went on to say that he has lived through the previous floods that have affected the Czech Republic, showing solidarity with people who were suffering and ending by stating that he and his party (ANO) are ready to go out and help everyone who is affected by this crisis. In other posts on his social media, he criticized the government further, claiming over and over that it is incompetent and that it has done very little to support the people during these two weeks. There is seldom any concrete evidence for what he is criticizing the Prime Minister for, never drawing from any statistics and making false claims. Another Czech political party that used the floods across the Czech Republic to spread its political ideas were the SPD—the “Liberty and Direct Democracy” party that is on the authoritarian right side of the spectrum—made multiple posts on Instagram X and several TV declarations, commenting on this crisis and blaming the current government. In one of the most liked ones, the leader of SPD, Tomio Okamura, called out the government for: “decreasing pensions, increasing the age limit for retirement and increasing the commission fees of the ČT [Czech Television—national TV channel] while SPD [his political party] is supporting aid against floods . ” As the leader of ANO, Tomio Okamura also does not provide any evidence for his claim, making blatant statements without supporting them without any real statistics. SPD’s social media was considerably less focused on the floods than ANO was. However, there were still several posts made throughout the crisis that mentioned the floods, mostly concerning the failures of the government in their handling of them. The third opposition party that has been active on social media during this crisis was the “ KSČM” – Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia. They made several posts, both on Instagram and X, as well as numerous TV proclamations, most of them based on their new slogan: “Stačilo!” (Enough!) — claiming that the republic has seen “enough” of the government’s incompetence, not only in dealing with the floods. They go on to reinforce the idea that the government is failing the people and that they are not doing enough, circling their arguments back to how the KSČ would make sure that people in the Czech Republic would be treated better than under the current leadership. How did this all affect the result of the elections? ANO won 35.4%, increasing their influence by almost 14% compared to the previous elections, which were held in 2020. Second, by a considerable margin, came ODS, the Citizens’ Democratic Party, which received 5.9%, dropping by almost a percentage compared to the last elections. SPD received 3.3%, getting 18 mandates in total. Lastly, the coalition of KSČ was voted by 1.4% of the Czech population. ANO, which won the elections by a very large margin, is a populist party. However, it cannot be defined as an “extremist party”, countering the argument that the floods had led to the triumph of extremism in the Czech Republic. On the other hand, both KSČ and SPD can be seen as such, therefore, an analysis of how the extreme situation in the form of floods affected the support these two parties received during the elections. Comparing the number of votes each party was predicted to receive even before the floods started to the number of votes they received after the floods provides reliable evidence as to how significantly this extreme event influenced. In February 2024, according to “ STEM analytics” , ANO was predicted to receive 29.3% of votes, 8.5% would have voted for ODS , for SPD it was 6.4% and KSČ would have been supported by 3.5% of voters. 22.3% of people who were asked chose to answe r, “I don’t know”, 7.8% said “a different answer,” and 0.6% stated that they would vote for “a different party . ” Now, we can compare this to the predictor polls that were taken in mid-September during the floods. 32% of voters would then have chosen ANO and 20% the coalition SPOLU, consisting of the parties ODS, TOP-09 and KDU-ČSL . SPD would have received 7% and KSČ 5%. In conclusion, if we compare these statistics with the real results of the elections, we can see that there has not been a significant rise in the popularity of extremist parties caused by the floods. The party that had won the elections was an opposition party. However, it was not an extremist party, therefore not being entirely relevant to the premise of this article. Both extremist parties analysed in this article ended up with a relatively small number of votes, both receiving less than what was predicted they would receive. Furthermore, it is also important to recognize the fact that only 32% of the population voted in the elections in the end, not only making the election one of the lowest ever in regards to participation rate, but also skewing the relevance of the vote itself. To summarize, despite the results not being relevant to the real increase of extremism within society due to the very small percentage of people who turned up at the voting poll, there has not been a significant rise in extremism. Even though the opposition party largely bases itself off on criticism, the leading coalition did get more votes than predicted, showing a certain degree of frustration with the current government of the Czech Republic and a desire for change, although not a direct turn to extremism.

< Back Meet the Class of 2026 By Colette Yamashita Holcomb December 31, 2023 As the semester comes to an end, the Menton Times brings you our annual class profile. The class of 2026 answered our anonymous survey on their backgrounds, ambitions, and lifestyles. We have drawn comparisons to our profile on the Class of 2025, but do not have official data on the makeup of either class. Due to rounding, statistics may not total 100 percent. Demographics Unsurprisingly, Menton has maintained its gender ratio; 71.6% of students identify as female and only 23.9% are male. However, the number of students of West Asian or North African descent has decreased from the previous year, making up only 22.4% of students. For the first time, we surveyed sexuality and found 31.3% of survey respondents identify as a member of the LBGTQ+ community. Socioeconomic backgrounds have diversified slightly, but Sciences Po remains predominantly middle class, with 60.7% identifying as such, 20.9% defining themselves with high socioeconomic status, and 13.4% with low. With a campus as international as ours, it is also no surprise that the overwhelming majority (71.6%) hold more than one nationality and span across six different continents. Religion & Politics Survey results show that the class is much more religious than their preceding counterparts; 64.2% said religion plays a role in their life, with 37.3% saying religion plays somewhat of a role, 19.4% as a moderate role, and 7.5% said it plays a very large role. By comparison, only 48.7% of the Class of 2025 said that religion played a role in their lives. Within this demographic, however, this year’s class had much larger amounts of moderate and somewhat religious students and fewer students who consider themselves “very” religious. Politically, students tend to lean left — 55.5% declared their political persuasion as left, a slightly lower percentage than last year’s class. Many more students consider themselves as center, with 28.4% reporting such compared to 17.9% last year. The extreme left had 6% of respondents, and none reported for the extreme right, a decrease in both categories since the previous survey. When it comes to drinking, 77.3% said they drink alcohol, while 21.2% said they did not. Last year, only 68.1% of students chose to drink, while 29.2% chose to remain sober. The Path to Sciences Po Approximately 16.4% of students are in one of the seven offered dual degree programs, programs where students attend Sciences Po and a partner university and graduate with two Bachelor’s degrees. Columbia University remains the most popular dual degree, with 60% of dual degree students attending after their first two years. Students are also in the University of California Berkeley, University of British Columbia, University College London, and the University of Sydney dual degree programs. For 83.6% of respondents, Sciences Po was their first choice university. This is a significant decrease from last year’s 94.7%. Fewer students also intend to do their masters at Sciences Po; only 64.2% said yes, an 11% decrease. There are fewer legacy students, albeit only by a 1.3% difference. Beyond Menton Regarding careers, most students chose government, which comprised 35.8% of students, while 20.9% plan on working in an NGO, followed by law and academia, with 11.9% and 10.4% of students, respectively. Roughly 4% plan on pursuing journalism, while both business and arts had 3% each. The remainder of the students are still undecided.

< Back The Pakistan Nuclear Threat Victoria Krumova October 31, 2024 On July 16, 1945—the Manhattan project—a collaboration between the USA and the UK—proved to be a success. The trinity test fireball exploded merely 16 milliseconds after ignition. This revolutionary experiment reset the course of warfare and put the stakes of having peace even higher as the threat of mass destruction became rather simple to envision. The realization of the dangers of this invention came to 20th century politicians more than 20 years after it did to the ordinary man. Following the massive shock from the catastrophic consequences of America’s two atomic bombs on Nagasaki and Japan, antinuclear movements were formed in the 1950s in the USA, with a dialectic advocating for the end of use of nuclear weapons. And though those movements lost momentum after people shifted their focus to the exploration of the potential benefits of nuclear energy, on July 1 1968, the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons was signed in New York City. Despite sporadic hints and threats that have been made by governments of countries such as North Korea, the probability of them actually using their weapons remains slim. This is especially true, when they are fully aware that an engagement of arms on their side will trigger the same counteraction from other countries. Governments and governors, no matter how totalitarian, authoritarian, democratic, capitalist or communist, know the devastating consequences of such actions. They care about their people surviving and, if not about that, at least about their nations. The question is: do terrorists? The answer is most probably no. So, the following question arises: If they are not phased by the deterrence mechanism of the risk of their own country being reduced to rubble, what stops them from using nuclear weapons against their enemies if they get access to them? Pakistan is a country with a vast cultural and historical background. It is rich in its practices, it is known for the hospitality of its people, for its palatable range of languages and for its historical sites. But it is also known for its possession of nuclear weapons. In fact, it was the first Muslim country to be given the rights to own one. What it is also not known for is stability: neither territorial, nor political. To understand what prompted today’s reality into existence, we need to understand what factors gave way to the infiltration of terrorists in the country in the first place. To do that, we have to go back to the 20th century. Following the Afghan Mujahideen’s efforts to drive out the Soviets from Afghan territory, Pakistan's security services established groups by the same model to regain full control over Kashmir—an area of territorial dispute between India and Pakistan. The religious population was subjected to the tactics of Islamist groups that tried to radicalize it by citing the hadith—sayings of the Prophet Muhammad conveying values deemed proper for a Muslim to have. Given the significance of this for many Muslims, the Islamist groups expected that their rhetoric would act as a catalyst for turning the population against India and believed it would embolden Pakistan’s allies in Afghanistan. This idea, theoretically, should have worked because of sentiments of resentment against India after the violent outbursts between the two, regarding the displacements, following the partition of British India. On a second level of consideration, it should have worked because of the establishment of Pakistan as a separate state to India, with a principal difference between the two being religion. However, not only did this approach fail to achieve its goal of unifying the two populations under a common ideology, it also led to further divisions due to the distinct interpretations of the proposed radical ideologies. What this meant was that different fractions of Pakistan’s population found themselves on different parts of the spectrum with the following extremes: strong support for the Jihad groups and participation in the USA’s “War on terror. ” Pakistan’s geographical location also means it finds itself close to constantly evolving conflicts that fuel instability throughout the whole region. Besides the longstanding conflict with India that has been destabilizing Islamabad’s position on the international scene for decades now, the proximity to neighboring Afghanistan has meant further undermining of Pakistan’s political position. The Taliban at first gave false hope of alliance to the Pakistani government, as it thought it had found an ally in fighting against the liberal Afghan groups aligned with India, and then took that hope away by starting to act against Pakistan. In January 2023, a branch of the Taliban— Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan— operating on the premises of Pakistan’s territory claimed responsibility for a suicide mission killing 59 people in a mosque in the city of Peshawar. This same organization’s motives for acting against Pakistan lay in its disagreement to the country’s mutual effort with the US in the “war on terror.” Because the reasons for the installment of terrorism on Pakistan’s territory lay in ever-relevant factors—religion and geopolitics—new groups are bound to continue being established. The pluralism in religious aspirations in both spiritual and practical (territorial) aspects lead to the desire of different radical believers and opportunists to try and impose their interpretation of “what should be” on the state. Thus, organizations, such as the Islamic State Khorasan Province , that were formed as late as 2015, can be found operating simultaneously in Pakistan and Afghanistan. The latter, being a branch of Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, aims to establish a caliphate in the Khorasan. To achieve that, it is now recruiting some of its leaders from Pakistan and simultaneously committing atrocities on the way —shooting pregnant women and nurses in hospitals and targeting girls’ schools. The question is: for organizations such as ISKP to have the power to inflict the horror they do, do they have the power to infiltrate Pakistan’s nuclear weapons system if they choose to do so? One also needs to be aware of the fact that radicals do have the incentive to use those nuclear weapons. It is a question of “how”, not “if”. As they interpret the hadiths of the Prophet Muhammad to entail a Holy War, they in all likelihood will aim to rush to it. This becomes clear from their efforts to use said sayings to accelerate people’s wish for war with India out of hatred and therefore give rise to the promised Holy War. In the past, Pakistan has launched initiatives to battle with terrorism. In response to an attack on a military school in Peshawar in December of 2014, it initiated Operation “Zarb-e-Azb” , focusing on the North Waziristan region, known to be used as a stronghold by groups such as al-Qaeda, the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, the Chechen Islamic Jihad Union, the East Turkestan Islamic Movement and other branches of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan. For this operation, Pakistan faced heavy criticism because of the mass displacement of civilians it caused . Figures like Rahmatullah Nabil, former head of Afghanistan’s national directorate of security, expressed concerns about Pakistan’s ability to control terrorist groups , thus challenging the idea that the country is capable of ensuring that no unauthorized use of its nuclear arsenal will occur. After the heated interactions between India and Pakistan, following the 2019 initial attack on Indian troops in Kashmir, and Delhi’s response in launching strikes against Pakistani militants, the world waited in anticipation for the next move of the international community. However, no organization or country holds the ultimate authority to take away Pakistan’s nuclear weapons, and an act of disarmament can only be committed through mutual agreement upon having diplomatic discussions. This leads us to today, when Pakistan still has access to its nuclear arsenal. Looking at the lack of control it has over the terrorist groups acting on its territory, those groups might, sooner or later, gain access to the weapons too. That is if the government doesn't enact tangible policies to stop the continuous threat that the radicals impose with each and every next atrocity they commit. With all eyes on Gaza and Lebanon, does the next threat for an even greater number of casualties develop quietly away from the media's focus in Pakistan?

< Back Être élève à SciencesPo quand son pays est en guerre Noémie Tropee-Arbos 65% des étudiants du campus de Menton de SciencesPo sont des étudiants internationaux, dont une partie est originaire de pays du Moyen Orient touchés par des conflits ou des crises profondes. Si certains conservent l'espoir d'un retour, d'autres font état d'une « relation difficile avec le pays pour lequel il porte de l’amour mais qu’il a à la fois toujours voulu quitter », ne souhaitant plus y vivre. Ce paradoxe entre attachement et répulsion marque le quotidien de ces étudiants, partagés entre leur cursus en France et les instabilités qui touchent leur pays d'origine. D’abord, le maintien d'un contact avec la famille restée au pays est une nécessité quotidienne pour une grande partie de ces étudiants internationaux. Cette communication régulière est dictée par la crainte pour la sécurité de ses proches face au danger. Les obstacles aux retrouvailles physiques sont nombreux : certains élèves ne peuvent rentrer chez eux qu'une fois par an, tandis que d'autres en sont totalement incapables en raison de l'annulation des vols ou de l'instabilité politique. Cette situation crée une disparité au sein du campus : alors que certains étudiants ont de la famille en France, d'autres se retrouvent isolés sans repères familiaux à proximité. Ce décalage est particulièrement visible lors des vacances de Noël, où ceux qui restent bloqués en France éprouvent une sorte de ‘jalousie’ envers les élèves ayant la chance de pouvoir rentrer chez eux et de pouvoir passer du temps avec leurs proches. Durant les appels téléphoniques, qui sont pratiquement quotidiens, la majorité de ces étudiants s'assurent de la santé de leurs proches malgré le contexte difficile et parfois les bombardements. Ils tentent de ne pas se focaliser dans leurs discussions uniquement sur le conflit et adoptent souvent un rôle protecteur. Certains élèves témoignent qu’ils doivent fréquemment « rassurer » leurs parents au téléphone malgré leur propre inquiétude. Le suivi de l’actualité occupe un temps important de la journée de certains étudiants, ce qui nuit à leur concentration et à la préparation des examens. Ce flux d'informations impacte également la santé physique, notamment par des difficultés à s’endormir : un élève libanais témoigne ainsi avoir raté une épreuve à cause d’une insomnie qu’il avait faite la veille. Durant cette insomnie, il ne cessait de penser aux bombardements qui venaient de frapper sa région. Sur le plan psychologique, des étudiants masculins font parfois face à une injonction de résilience, liée au stéréotype de l'homme qui ne doit pas manifester ses craintes. Un élève déclare qu’il « n’avait pas le droit de montrer sa peur » selon lui. De plus, en tant que jeunes adultes formés aux sciences politiques, ils sont souvent sollicités par leur entourage pour analyser la situation avec calme, une posture qui semble difficile à tenir alors que la violence dans leur pays d'origine tend à provoquer un sentiment d'étouffement et un mal-être croissant. Parallèlement, une forme de colère s'exprime vis-à-vis des réseaux sociaux ; en effet, une part des étudiants déplorent une « solidarité artificielle » de la part d'utilisateurs qui méconnaissent les réalités du terrain. Certains étudiants considèrent que, sur les réseaux sociaux ou encore dans la sphère politique, une partie des personnes qui prétendent être engagées en faveur des pays du Moyen Orient en guerre ne « savent pas de quoi ils parlent » et font cela pour « prouver une certaine forme d’empathie » ce qu’ils considèrent « malhonnête ». Ils jugent également la vision sur les réseaux sociaux réductrice, citant par exemple, sur Instagram, le partage de publications qui dévoilent des statistiques de victimes après des bombardements sans pour autant expliquer réellement le contexte géopolitique. Cette omniprésence du numérique, loin de favoriser l'échange, génère une anxiété supplémentaire. En réaction, certains choisissent de rester silencieux et évitent d'aborder ces sujets avec leurs amis ou sur leurs propres réseaux. Ils tentent de « minimiser le temps passé à penser au conflit » comme l’affirme un étudiant libanais. Malgré une certaine pudeur qui limite l'exposition de leur vie personnelle, les étudiants soulignent l'existence d'un soutien au sein du campus. Ils constatent une bienveillance mutuelle entre les élèves ainsi qu'une écoute de la part de l'administration. Pour compenser la charge mentale liée à la situation de leur pays, certains privilégient les moments avec leur amis comme moyen de distraction. Un élève libanais affirme qu’il « pense à la joie » et « fait la fête » sans pour autant délaisser ce qui se passe dans son pays d’origine. L'expérience à Sciences Po est également perçue comme un levier d'action. Pour certains, dont c'est la première installation en France, cette institution représente une opportunité d'acquérir des outils pour influencer politiquement les événements futurs. Les enseignements de la mineure Moyen-Orient et Afrique du Nord sont accueillis positivement car les élèves considèrent qu’ils mettent en lumière leur propre histoire et leur offrent un espace pour s'exprimer. Enfin, la perspective de la troisième année à l'international peut être vue par certains comme une étape nécessaire pour s'éloigner du contexte de crise, avec une volonté explicite de rechercher de l'apaisement. Un élève libanais actuellement en deuxième année considère que sa troisième année en Argentine va lui permettre d’être « plus calme ». Au-delà de la crise, ces étudiants peuvent voir dans leur cursus l'opportunité de transformer leur vécu en expertise, faisant du savoir une arme pour, un jour, peser sur le destin de leur pays. Photo source : byronv2, Flickr Previous Next

< Back Police Shoot Undocumented Individual in Nice: The Killing of Omar Elkhouli By Saoirse Aherne September 30, 2022 On the night of June 14, 2022, Italian police flagged a refrigerated van carrying five undocumented individuals near Ventimiglia . The French police were notified and attempted to stop the vehicle at a checkpoint near Sospel. The vehicle, driven by two smugglers, did not stop, causing French border police (PAF) to pick up the chase. The van passed another police checkpoint and again refused to obey orders to stop. At this time, four bullets were fired at the moving vehicle. The van made it to Nice, where it was abandoned by the drivers, leaving the five passengers locked in the refrigerated compartment. When police arrived and opened the van, one of the men, Omar Elkhouli, was discovered shot in the back of the head. According to another passenger, “Police officers were kicking (Elkhouli) to see if he reacted… It took them 15 minutes to take care of him.” Elkhouli was eventually taken to hospital, where he died due to injuries on June 15, 2022. In response to this, Nice procureur Xavier Bonhomme announced on Twitter that two inquiries had been launched: the first to track down the alleged smugglers for not complying with police and facilitating the entry and circulation of aliens in irregular situations into France, and the second into the officer who fired his weapon at the van. The inquiry into homicide was referred to l’Inspection Générale de la Police National (IGPN), as is customary in cases involving the use of arms by a police officer. Following the death of Elkhouli, the Mayor of Nice, Christian Estrosi, released a statement on Twitter in which he proclaimed, “Of course, I deplore the injuries caused… but they are the result of a criminal act that had to be stopped for the safety of our police and gendarmes and to avoid other tragedies.” The entirety of this statement can be found on Twitter @cestrosi. Who was Omar Elkhouli? Omar Elkhouli was 35-years-old and originally from Egypt. Contrary to early reporting on this case, he was not a migrant attempting to enter France from Italy. A comprehensive MediaPart investigation into Elkhouli established that he had been living without papers in Paris for 13 years. Elkhouli was highly involved in his community and regularly visited two elderly neighbors. Ibrahim, a friend of Elkhouli, described to MediaPart how “[Elkhouli] even had the keys to the apartment of one of them and her kids would call him for news of their mother.” Based on accounts from his friends acquired through the Mediapart investigation, Elkhouli felt he had no chance of obtaining a residence permit in France . One of Elkhouli’s friends has been trying and failing to get an appointment with a French prefecture to renew a residence permit for three years, despite having more than 40 payslips from years of registered work. Elkhouli worked construction without a contract and thus had no way to prove he had been living and working in France for over a decade. His only chance of obtaining a residence permit was by acquiring fake documents from Italy and appealing to the Italian prefecture. Elkhouli is not the only undocumented French resident who had to resort to obtaining bogus papers. Many migrants, unable to legally prove their eligibility for residence permits, seek out fake documents to support their residency requests. These false supporting documents are often acquired in Italy. Elkhouli was pursuing a residence permit to visit Egypt. Having spent thirteen years working and living in France, he wanted to see his friends and family again. Elkhouli went to Italy some days prior to June 14, 2022. He acquired false documents and an appointment with the Italian prefecture. At the time of his departure from Italy, Elkhouli’s request for a residence permit was being processed. He had planned to leave Italy on June 14, 2022, as he had to return to work. However, on the 14th, he discovered that there were no train routes that would be able to get him to Paris from Ventimiglia. MediaPart reported that Elkhouli was approached by a smuggler who offered to help him cross into France in the back of a refrigerated van. Elkhouli was informed that he would need to pay 50 euros to the man who approached him with this offer and 200 euros more to the men driving the van across the border. The Night of the Incident At 00:05, Elkhouli and four other undocumented persons departed from Ventimiglia in the back of a refrigerated truck. After 15 minutes, Italian police began to pursue the vehicle, and the drivers accelerated to evade law enforcement, despite protestation from the passengers. French border police were notified of its presence as the van crossed into French territory. Yet, the van refused to stop at two police checkpoints, the first in Sospel and the second in Cantaron. According to police accounts, the vehicle accelerated in their direction at this second checkpoint, prompting one officer to fire his weapon four times. One bullet pierced the front of the van at the level of the headlights, while a second bullet hit above the rear tire and entered the refrigerator compartment. Elkhouli was shot in the back of the head by this bullet. One of the other passengers stated in an interview with MediaPart, “we banged on the dividing wall screaming that one of us had a head injury, but [the smugglers] kept accelerating.” The vehicle arrived in Nice at about 2 a.m., at which point the smugglers left the vehicle and fled the scene. Elkhouli and another passenger were brought to the hospital while the police took the other men to the police station. The second man brought to the hospital had his clothes taken and, upon being discharged, was brought to the police station in only his boxers; no new clothes were provided for him. MediaPart reported that the police interrogated these men, some of whom were in shock, for hours without giving them water or food. After the interrogation, the men were placed in a detention center and ordered to leave French territory. The other passengers were allowed to leave the detention center on June 20, 2022, with the help of Zia Oloumi, a Nice lawyer. He fought to have them released due to their particular vulnerability and physiological state after witnessing the death of Elkhouli. After being released, two of the men launched a complaint against the police officer who fired his weapon at the refrigerated vehicle. When MediaPart reported on this case in July, both official inquiries into this situation were open. The Menton Times contacted numerous journalists and a local activist group to ask for updates on this case, but currently, no new information is available. An uptake in Police Violence The shooting of Omar Elkhouli is just one of a string of recent cases of police violence in France. On Sept. 7, another fatal shooting occurred in Nice. The victim was a 24-year-old Tunisian man, who police allege was driving a stolen vehicle and refusing to obey an order to stop. A video circulating on social media shows an officer firing his gun towards the car’s windshield as it backs away from him. On the same day, a 22-year-old woman was fatally shot by Police in Rennes during an anti-drug operation. A report from the IGPN published in 2021 found that the frequency of officers “firing at vehicles in motion” has increased from an average of 119.2 instances annually from 2012-2016 to an average of 165.8 from 2017-2021. This is a statistically significant increase of approximately 39% from 2012 to 2016. According to Christian Mouhanna, a researcher from France’s National Center for Scientific Research and an expert on police issues, legal changes made in 2017 are to blame for the recent increase in police violence. After a series of terror attacks between 2015 and 2016, French laws concerning when police officers can shoot their weapons changed from strictly in cases of self-defense to “in cases of absolute necessity and in a strictly proportionate manner.” Mouhanna asserts that many police have interpreted this statute to mean a vehicle can be shot at if refusing to comply with orders.

< Back Setting Precedents – Greece’s LGBTQ+ Rights Triumph and France’s Landmark for Abortion Rights By Maria Eirini Liodi March 31, 2024 Cause for celebration comes in the past months, as Greece became the first Orthodox Christian-majority country to legalize same-sex marriage and France enshrined the right to abortion within its constitution. Amid tense discussions on upcoming U.S. elections, multiple ongoing conflicts, and protests of all sorts recently setting central Europe ablaze, perhaps a moment of appreciation for these two recent ‘wins’ could be uplifting. On February 15, 2024, following months of deliberation, Greece emerged as a triumphant example of LGBTQ+ representation within the Southern European region. Despite opposition from the Orthodox Church and members of the political right, the measure was passed by the parliament with 176 voting in favor and 76 against, legalizing same-sex marriage and granting same-sex couples’ adoption rights as well. Granting the right to marriage translates into recognizing LGBTQ+ couples and children's rights on an equal footing within their familial structure. For those who remained unconvinced as to why equal marriage rights are important, various studies conducted over the years support the reality. One such example published in the National Library of Medicine, indicates that same-sex marriage constitutes an issue of public health, delineating clearly that: “ Being in a legally recognized same-sex relationship, marriage in particular, appeared to diminish mental health differentials between heterosexuals and lesbian, gay, and bisexual persons (in the study). ” Greece has been one of the relatively liberal countries on LGBTQ+ rights in Southern Europe, considering homosexuality had long been decriminalized in 1951, and same-sex civil unions were legalized in 2015. However, given the persisting tragedies of hate crimes against members of the LGBTQ+ community, it is important to keep striving for equal rights and protection for all the country’s citizens. As notably stated by the country’s Prime Minister on X, this moment is “a milestone for human rights” in Greece. As the 16th European Union country to legalize same-sex unions, following Estonia earlier in January of this year, Greece can serve as a precedent for other countries in the region that beyond civil unions, remain more conservative on the matter. Across the continent, France marked its own historic milestone on March 4, 2024, shifting the global narrative toward progressive social change. France has become the first country to enshrine the right to abortion within their constitutional framework. Why is this significant, given that abortion has been legalized since 1975 in France? Ensuing the U.S. Supreme Court’s disruptive downturn in deciding to overturn Roe v. Wade, activists both within the U.S. and elsewhere around the world have responded in an uproar. As of January of this year, twenty-one states prohibit abortion or restrict the procedure to earlier in the pregnancy than the standards set by Roe v. Wade. Women with pregnancy complications or subjects of rape still have to illegally or unsafely deal with this issue. Abortion is a human rights issue, and France has made it clear that “guaranteed freedom” to abortion is vital. In celebration, the Eiffel Tower was lit up with the words “ mon corps mon choix”, my body my choice, clearly delineating the stance the country has taken and continues to take for women. There have been debates on why Macron’s government decided to enshrine this right within the constitution, considering the pre-existing laws safeguarding abortion in France. Is this merely a political stunt? An effort to win popular support? Whatever the case on this front, one thing remains steadfast – laws can change. Putting this right within its constitution, France is providing a long-term safeguard for its women today, tomorrow and for future generations. This step serves as a statement; one which can be an important example for other nations, especially during an era where certain countries are facing regressive shifts in reproductive policies. By codifying this essential freedom, France is challenging deeply ingrained patriarchal structures – after all, what does a state say to its female citizens today if it does not permit them bodily autonomy and protection? Amid grim news feeds, Greece and France shed light on a progressive path toward more equitable societies. Let’s hope these victories resonate globally, prompting policy change toward acceptance and autonomy.

< Back The New Tunisian Prime Minister: A Harbinger of Progress or a Veil for Democratic Deterioration? By Luca Utterwulghe November 30, 2021 Tunisian President Kais Saied, amidst his political venture involving parliamentary suspension and constitutional confusion (see our September Edition), appointed the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region’s first woman Prime Minister, Najla Bouden Romdhane. Prime Minister Romdhane, once a geology professor, previously served as the director-general of the Ministry of Education. Doubts have been raised concerning the constitutionality of President Saied’s temporary consolidation of power and decision to initiate a process for amending the 2014 Constitution, particularly as the Tunisian government has yet to establish its Constitutional Court. Article 120 of the 2014 Constitution stipulates that the Constitutional Court “is the sole body competent to oversee the constitutionality” of legislation severely. This severely limits the potential for any objective evaluation of Saied’s future legislative agenda upon the resumption of parliamentary procedure. Moreover, analysts have indicated that Saied is looking to expand executive power by “readapting the 1959 Constitution.” Concerns about the unconstitutionality of Saied’s actions, and a shift to a strongman form of government, have only grown as analysts question why Saied appointed Prime Minister Romdhane, an official with minimal government experience. A major question has surfaced in light of Saeid’s decree of temporary presidential authority over the Constitution and legislation: What is the extent of Prime Minister Romdhane’s actual power, and thus Saied’s true intentions in appointing Romdhane? NPR notes that Romdhane’s “appointment appears to be aimed at placating critics of Saied,” while others applaud Romdhane’s selection as a victory for Tunisian women. As these developments are quite new, it is difficult to gauge Tunisian public opinion on the question of Saied’s intentions, or on the appointment of Prime Minister Romdhane. I spoke with a Tunisian student on the Sciences Po Menton campus to better understand the youth sentiment regarding Romdhane’s recent appointment. Amira Zargouni, a first year French Track student, said she was “instantly relieved” when Kais Saied selected a new head of government, “before even thinking about who it would be.” Zargouni’s relief that Saied “did what he said he would do” signifies the fragility of the Tunisian political system at the moment, for it seems that the future of the nation lies in Saied’s hands. Furthermore, Zargouni indicated that she “knew Kais Saied wouldn’t choose [a PM] from Ennahdha [a moderate Islamist political party] nor from the PDL [Partie Destourien Libre].” Saied and his supporters staunchly oppose Ennahdha, and this tension will continue to play out as Saied finalizes his plans for a “new” government structure. The PDL, headed by Abir Moussi, is based on the principles of Dictator Ben Ali’s Rassemblement Constitutionnel Démocratique (RCD) party. Zargouni believes that Saied’s choice of a Prime Minister from either Ennahdha or the PDL would signal a “‘go back’ move” that she could not withstand. Thus, while Saied’s intentions are not exactly clear, he followed through on his initial promise of appointing a head of government, thereby settling some of the brewing insecurity among Tunisians who fear a threat to the country’s democratic institutions. Zargouni further explained how she “felt proud because of what [Prime Minister Romdhane] represents in terms of gender equality improvement;” however, Zargouni also expressed that “we [Tunisians] don’t know her, and we didn’t know Kais Saied when he was elected.” Both figures are quite mysterious, which, as Zargouni said, “can’t be good [as] democracy comes with transparency.” Notwithstanding this limitation, Zargouni remarked that “it’s reassuring to know that she’s [Romdhane] a ‘technocrate’ because… the country needs to be lead by an élite at first in order to get Tunisia back on her feet.” The way in which we digest and perceive Rhomadane’s appointment and Saied’s decisions seem to depend on the robustness of our optimism for Tunisia’s future. While some may view Romdhane’s appointment as a political strategy used by Saeid to assuage the fears of critics, others see it as victory for gender parity and a chance to recalibrate Tunisia’s political trajectory toward a well-functioning government.

< Back L’affaire Depardieu: un énième reflet du harcèlement sexuel dans les médias français By Calista Cellerier February 29, 2024 Photo/Siebbi Depuis quelques semaines, la France fait face à un énième scandale parmi les plus hauts placés, reflétant la dure réalité que les violences sexistes et sexuelles (VSS) ne font pas encore partie du passé. Le sexisme en France ne cesse d’augmenter. Selon les chiffres du Baromètre Sexisme 2023, 80% des femmes déclarent avoir été victime de sexisme et un tiers des Françaises ont vécu une situation de non-consentement. 23% des hommes considèrent qu’il faut de la violence pour se faire respecter. Aujourd’hui, on peut voir les conséquences de tels chiffres : une affaire de plus d’agression et de harcèlement sexuel qui indigne les foules, ou l’affaire Depardieu. En 2020, le célèbre acteur français Gérard Depardieu était mis en examen après que la comédienne Charlotte Arnould l’accuse de viol. 3 ans après, l’affaire n’est pas résolue. Depardieu était donc déjà connu des services de police pour un comportement grave envers ses collègues quand 13 femmes l’accusent à leur tour de VSS. Dans une enquête de Mediapart , trois femmes se confient sur leur expérience avec l’auteur mais affirment ne pas avoir porté plainte, de peur de ne pas être prisent au sérieux. Au fur et à mesure, de plus en plus de femmes dénoncent les mêmes comportements: des gestes, des commentaires et des actes à caractères sexuels, non consentis et souvent par surprise. Le même mode opératoire se discerne, ce sont des maquilleuses, actrices ou figurantes qui sont visées par l’acteur. Sophie Marceau, actrice star du film La Boum, déclaré dans les colonnes de Paris Match : “ Il ne s’en prenait pas aux grandes comédiennes, plutôt aux petites assistantes… La vulgarité et la provocation ont toujours été son fonds de commerce ”. De plus, lors d’un reportage de l'émission Complément d'enquête , il apparaît faisant des commentaires choquants et vulgaires sur des femmes et petites filles. Or, Gérard Depardieu dément formellement ces accusations. Pourtant, il ne s’agit pas de la première fois qu’un tel scandale éclate au sein des médias et du cinéma français. Gérard Depardieu est accusé de nombreuses fois de viol et d’agressions sexuelles au cours de sa carrière, notamment par la figurante Hélène Darras ou la journaliste espagnole Ruth Baza. Et il n’est pas le seul : il y a quelques années, la grande star de télévision Patrick Poivre d’Arvor (PPDA) est accusé par la journaliste Florence Porcel de viol, une affaire classée sans suite. Plus tard s’ajoutent avec son témoignage une vingtaine d’autre femmes, portant plainte pour viol, tentative de viol et agressions sexuelles. L'association MetooMédias se forme par la suite: c’est une lutte contre le pouvoir des stars françaises de la télévision. Et encore une fois, l’affaire est classée sans suite pour “insuffisance de preuves”. De nombreuses autres affaires peuvent être citées, comme Nicolas Hulot ou Roman Polanski, qui a reçu un oscar malgré ces accusations. Car oui, la plupart de ces affaires aboutissent à peu ou même aucune conséquences judiciaires. En effet, les accusations de Charlotte Arnould sont classées sans suite pour manque de preuves. Hélène Darras, qui accusa Depardieu en 2023 de viol et agressions sexuelles lorsqu’elle était figurante dans le film Disco en 2007, voit aussi son dossier classé pour prescription des faits. C’est le cas pour de nombreuses autres accusations contre l’acteur, qui actuellement reste en mise en examen pour viol dans le cadre de l’enquête de Mediapart . Il est libre d’aller et venir à sa guise, sans réelles conséquences pour l’instant. D’ailleurs, il est aperçu à Dubaï, à Lisbonne, en Belgique… selon de nombreux médias français, comme le Journal des Femmes . Il est en réalité assez courant que les hommes célèbres accusés de VSS s’en sortent sans grande difficulté. Usant de ripostes telles que la présomption d'innocence, la diffamation ou la conquête médiatique de l’opinion, ils se défendent en étalant “leur propre vérité et version des faits”. C’est la stratégie de base dans ces situations: aussi utilisée par Nicolas Hulot ou PPDA, qui eux non plus de semblent pas inquiétés par la justice mise à part des pertes de contrats et une image publique controversée. C’est d’autant plus le cas quand ces hommes bénéficient d’un capital social et financier considérable, obtenant le soutien d’autres célébrités. Ce soutien devient crucial pour ces célébrités, car il est leur dernier moyen de conserver leur position dans la société. Si l’on bénéficie du support des figures les plus hautes de la hiérarchie sociale, il devient alors facile d’ignorer de telles accusations et de continuer à vivre sans conséquences sociales, surtout s’il n’y a pas de répercussions judiciaires non plus. C’est ce qui s’est passé pour Depardieu des suites de C omplément d'enquête et de Mediapart . Dans une tribune publiée par Le Figaro le 25 décembre 2023, une cinquantaine de célébrités, dont des réalisateurs, acteurs et actrices, chanteurs et autres personnalités dénoncent un “lynchage” de l’acteur et un mépris de la présomption d’innocence. Et ce, bien après la publication des nombreuses vidéos affichant Depardieu faisant des commentaires vulgaires à caractère sexuels sur des femmes et petites filles dans C omplément d'enquête . Cependant, cette vague de soutien ne s'arrête pas là, car le président Emmanuel Macron déclare sur France 5 le mercredi 20 décembre que Depardieu est une “ fierté pour la France ” et affirme être un “ grand admirateur ” de l’acteur. Macron dénonce une “ chasse à l'homme” et remet en question l'authenticité des images présentées par Mediapart . En revanche, tout le monde ne continue pas de soutenir Depardieu. L’ancien président français François Hollande déclare dans sur France Inter: “ Nous, nous ne sommes pas fiers de Gérard Depardieu ”. Il critique ouvertement Emmanuel Macron: “ [Macron] a parlé de Gérard Depardieu, de son talent, et de la présomption d’innocence. Moi, je vais vous parler des quatorze femmes agressées, des femmes humiliées, des femmes bouleversées par les images qu’elles ont vues, de toutes ces femmes qui voient à travers Gérard Depardieu ce que peut être la violence, la domination, le mépris. ” Depardieu a été radié de l’Ordre National du Québec et a perdu son titre de citoyen d’honneur en Belgique. Sa statue a aussi été retirée du Musée Grévin à Paris. De nombreuses associations se sont saisies de l’affaire, comme MetooMédias . En effet, une lettre ouverte publiée peu après les faits dénonce les propos de Macron ainsi que l’absence de soutien aux victimes: “ Monsieur le président, vos paroles dénient à toutes les femmes victimes de violence le droit à être entendues et crues.” Cette association faisait déjà beaucoup de bruit lors du scandale de PPDA, et ne semble pas vouloir se démonter aujourd’hui non plus. Le cas de Gérard Depardieu n’est donc ni une affaire isolée, ni une affaire résolue. Que ce soit le gouvernement, la justice ou la communauté de célébrités en France, personne ne semble prendre au sérieux les accusations des victimes de l’acteur. Si nombre d’associations et figures publiques travaillent dur pour faire entendre la voix de ces femmes dans ce genre de situation, les efforts n’aboutissent pas souvent à de vraies poursuites judiciaires et de conséquences concrètes. Ainsi, ne laissons pas ces efforts tomber dans l’oubli, et continuons d’en parler, de se mobiliser et surtout de se soutenir, à travers des associations, des journaux, des actions.

< Back Menton Grants Land for Policing Migrants By Colette Yamashita Holcomb October 31, 2023 The city of Menton announced authorization of a municipal plot next to the Italian border next to the police station on September 18, 2023, to cope with the announced influx of illegal migrants. The space is intended to be provisional, primarily serving as an extension of the existing police station premises. Unlike the former Red Cross Center, which served as a source of housing, water, and security for migrants, the space will be used to increase the police premises for migrants who are arrested before they are transferred to the Italian authorities. Those refused entry to France may be accommodated in temporary buildings (often referred to as “algécos” in French — referencing the main constructor of such buildings) or tents. The space is expected to receive a maximum of 200 people per day. There were many concerns that this authorization would mean building a migrant camp — mainly rumors that it would be installed in the Rondelli Stadium. Menton’s mayor, Yves Juhel, stated in a press release that there will be no installation of migrant camps, especially in the stadium, considering it "has no sanitation, is in a flood zone and is subject to strong sea waves.” Additionally, Juhel emphasized his commitment to ensuring Menton’s economy — particularly the hospitality and tourism industries — is unaffected by the new space. This solution, authorities hope, will make it easier to administratively manage adult migrants who enter France without a residence permit or visa. During their time at this center, they will be under the strict supervision of the Compagnies Républicaines de Sécurité (CRS) and will not be allowed to leave the premises. If their request for entrance into France is determined to be invalid, they will be escorted to the Italian border by authorities. Mayor Juhel estimated there are approximately 1,500 arrests weekly, making the current accommodations — the small police station — inadequate to process this number of people. This overwhelm of the system sparked the request to install three algécos at the lower border at the Saint-Ludovic border post. In an interview with France 3 Côte d’Azur, Mayor Juhel affirmed that the algécos would not be situated along the lower border, as previously thought, but instead, at the upper one of Saint-Louis, whose proximity to the pre-existing offices allows for easier installation of the interim accommodation. Construction began the last week of September. Equally, there have been concerns about the processing of minors in this process. According to authorities, the number of unaccompanied minors coming from Italy has doubled since the start of the year in the Alpes-Maritimes department. From January 1 to August 25 this year, nearly 4,000 minors were placed into shelters, primarily from Africa — particularly Guinea, the Ivory Coast, Tunisia, and Sudan. Over the same period in 2022, there were 1,925. In particular, the current practice where minors are required to stay for one to three days at the border police station before being taken into the care of the departmental services has been condemned by migrant aid associations. Nevertheless, Mayor Juhel stated that there are no definitive solutions yet, but the administration is searching for two sites, one in and another outside of Menton. The mayor reiterated that this would not be a hotel, quelling local rumors that worried Mentonnaises in the tourist and hospitality industries. Despite this, reports from France 3 and the Nice-Matin suggest that a center for unaccompanied minors should be opened by the end of October. They also reported that this building — previously a vacation center for employees of the Comité d'Entreprise for electricity (EDF) and gas industries Caisse Centrale d'Activités Sociales (CCAS) — has been unoccupied for several years. The building was evaluated by the Alpes-Maritimes Department to see if it would be fit to help expand the accommodation system for the sudden influx of unaccompanied minors. However, the department has refused to comment on any official plans, saying it is only evaluating the conditions of the site currently. Yet, there is an agreement with the EDF that details the work needed to bring the site up to standards and ready to accommodate minors in the process of being finalized, which is inferred to confirm the requisition of the site. It estimates that fifty people could be accommodated. Responses quickly emerged from Menton’s residents to both projects — many negative. An online petition against the installation of a center for minors collected over 225 signatures over one weekend — currently at 642 of the desired 1,000 signatures — while a Facebook group, “Collectif contre un camp de migrants à Menton,” currently has nearly 500 members. Graffiti was also written on the potential future reception center for unaccompanied minors. The words, written in French, translate to “no to migrants, insecurity, and rape.” A peaceful protest at the potential center occurred on October 17 with 150 participants. Approximately 23,215 migrants were arrested at the border between January and August this year, according to the prefecture. While these developments could mean improved conditions for adult and minor migrants, it does not guarantee efficiency; increasing the capacity for processing is an important step to mitigate the influx of migrants, but unless there are more workers also hired to accommodate these new spaces, the system may still be overloaded. Humanitarian concerns also remain a crucial issue, as there have been no announcements of racial bias or de-escalation training, which several organizations have called for. Furthermore, the negative reactions from Menton residents indicate a larger issue of tension at the border that remains unresolved.

< Back Myanmar: Public Unrest Erupts in the Face of Coup d’État and Aung San Suu Kyi Deposition By Viola Luraschi December 31, 2021 On February 1, 2021, a military coup d’état led to the fall of democracy in Myanmar and the implementation of a military regime. Since 2015, the National League for Democracy (Myanmar’s liberal democratic party led by Aung San Suu Kyi) has been ruling the country. Its ascendance to power marked the end of 50 years of military rule. Although not detected by independent election observers, the military claimed massive voter fraud. The military justified their coup by asserting that their takeover would guarantee a “true and disciplined democracy”. However, it cannot be argued that the current state of Myanmar fits the description of a democratic state. Leading the Tatmadaw, Myanmar’s military, is the coup’s Commander-in-Chief Min Aung Hlaing. He has been subject to condemnation and sanctions from international entities as a consequence of his alleged role in the military-led attacks on ethnic minorities in Myanmar. The country is currently under a state of emergency, which was first declared when the military came to power in February and which was subsequently extended for a further two years. However, the military has promised a “free and fair” election following the state of emergency. Suu Kyi was under military detention from 1989 to 2010 due to her “commitment to establishing democracy in Myanmar.” In 1991, when Suu Kyi was still under military detention, she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her commitment to establishing democracy within Myanmar through non-violent means. She would have become president in 2015 when her party won by landslide victory, had it not been for a rule that prohibits people with foreign national children from taking office. However, she was regarded by many as the legitimate ruler, and Win Myint was merely the face of Myanmar. Her public image received a negative impact following the events of the Rohingya crisis of 2017, during which Myanmar saw the largest wave of Rohingya fleeing the country due to what has been considered by many a genocide. In fact, in 2019 Suu Kyi was called to appear before the United Nations International Court of Justice and stand in defense of her country, which faced accusations of genocide. The new leader, Min Aung Hlaing, has now assumed all state power in his capacity as commander-in-chief. With this role he has prioritized an investigation into fraud claims of the new elections, which had supposedly been won by the National League for Democracy. As a result of the investigations regarding the recent elections, Suu Kyi is now facing a prison sentence after being found guilty of violating coronavirus restrictions as well as incitement. The case regarding her sentencing was based around statements that had been posted on the Facebook page of the National League for Democracy; this, however, was posted by other party members only after she and other leaders of the party were already being detained by the military. The charges of incitement and violation of coronavirus regulations are only two of eleven charges which the former prime minister is currently facing. Suu Kyi has denied all of these charges and, as a result, her sentence has been reduced from what was previously four years to two.The reduction of the sentence was approved by Junta Chief Min Aung Hlaing. The details are, however, still unclear regarding where, when and if Suu Kyi will be placed in prison, and her current location is undisclosed. Former President Win Myint is a co-defendant in Suu Kyi’s trial, as he has also been placed on trial, and his sentence is the same as Suu Kyi’s although this could be subject to change. Salai Maung Taing San, a spokesperson for the National Unity Governmentand professionally known as Dr Sasa, said that the “military generals are preparing for 104 years of sentences for [Suu Kyi] in prison.” International voices have spoken out against the trial and the military coup. In fact, Amnesty International has used the word “bogus” to describe the charges for Suu Kyi and Myint, accusing them of serving as the “latest example[s] of the military’s determination to eliminate all opposition and suffocate freedoms in Myanmar.” Michelle Bachelet, UN Human Rights chief, has claimed that the “sham trial” will only “deepen rejection of the coup” on both international and domestic fronts. Furthermore, the foreign secretary of the United Kingdom, Liz Truss, has said that “the arbitrary detention of elected politicians only risks further unrest” and that it can be identified as “another appalling attempt by Myanmar’s military regime to stifle opposition and suppress freedom and democracy.” Due to its high-profile nature and the controversy that surrounds the trial, the proceedings have taken place in a closed court and no access has been given to observers, no information regarding the legal cases have been disclosed to the public. Furthermore, Suu Kyi’s lawyers have been forced to sign a gag order. The military justified their coup by asserting that their takeover would guarantee a "true and disciplined democracy”. However, since February, Myanmar has seen more than 10,600 people arrested and a minimum of 1,303 deaths by the junta during demonstrations. Thus, it cannot be argued that the current state of Myanmar fits the description of a democratic state.

< Back Eulogy to Joy Kerem Demir Karahan April 12, 2026 In March 2025, the Atlantic’s editor-in-chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, revealed to the world that American national-security officers discussed highly classified information in a group chat in which he was accidentally included. While American media focused on whether the leak risked American lives, European leaders got the chance to see how America’s most powerful talked about Europe behind closed doors. Vice-president JD Vance, texted on the group chat “I just hate bailing Europe out again.” when discussing the potential strike on Houthi forces. Pete Hegseth, the secretary of defense, for his part called “European free-loading” “PATHETIC”. Across the Atlantic, it was not news that Trump held Europe in low regard. It was however news how gleefully the Administration talked about the continent behind closed doors. In an interview with Politico in September 2025, Trump called the European countries a “decaying” group of nations with “weak” leaders. He bluntly declared that Europe is clueless in the face of global turmoil, saying that “Europe doesn’t know what to do.” The White House’s new National Security Strategy (NSS), published in November 2025, went further, saying that Europe is in a “civilizational erasure” because of uncontrolled migration, limits on free speech and its regulations undermining creativity. Luuk van Middelaar, writing for Le Monde, said that America has started “ideological assault” against Europe with the NSS. For their part, European leaders refuted this characterization of a dormant Europe. Emmanuel Macron wrapped himself in Gaullism, championing French independence from American influence. On March 2nd the French président jupitérien declared at Ile Longue, home of the French naval nuclear arsenal, that he wants “Europeans to regain control of their own destiny,” acknowledging the fact that Europe has grown too dependent on the United States. Earlier in 2025, Macron had said that Trump was the “electroshock” Europe needed to awake from its 30-year-long self-induced sleep of “strategic dependence.” While Macron took Trump’s comments as a wake-up call, other leaders across Europe went on to deny Trump’s claims. Kaja Kallas, the European High Representative for Foreign Affairs, said that “ ‘Woke Europe’ [is] not facing civilisational erasure”; Ursula von der Leyen and Friedrich Merz joined her in highlighting Europe’s importance for the United States. Donald Trump’s view on Europe is not completely wrong. Europe perhaps is not facing “civilizational decline” or is “PATHETIC,” but its role in the global order is fading and its economies are facing an incredible test in the coming years. Europe, accustomed to its long dinners paired with specialty wine, is too focused on the plate to see what lies ahead. The European economic system for too long relied on three simple postulates: cheap exports to China, cheap energy from Russia and cheap security from the United States. First, China became competitive both internally and internationally with European companies. German automakers, the engine that turned Germany into Europe’s largest economy, benefitted from exports to countries such as China, Japan and Russia. However, China’s rapid rise in the automobile industry starting from the early 2010s put German automakers who could not compete with the low prices in a hard position. Companies like BMW, symbols of German economic success, began to scale back local production, contributing to higher rates of unemployment in the country. Germany’s trade surplus began to erode and the German automobile industry began to rely on high tariffs on Chinese imports to stay competitive within the European market. Across Europe, the fate of the German automobile is too common; the European trade deficit with China, between 2015 and 2024, quadrupled in volume. Second, the Russian pipelines that carried the cheap energy fueling European growth closed with the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Angela Merkel, the German chancellor between 2005 and 2021, spent the better part of her career ensuring the flow of cheap Russian gas into Germany and Europe. She championed the building of the Nord Stream pipeline even during the invasion of Crimea while critics warned that she would make Germany, and Europe, dependent on Russian gas. In the end, Merkel was successful, she schafft das and cheap Russian gas resulted in more than ten years of consecutive growth for Europe’s largest economy. However, since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, her decision to pursue closer ties with Russia has proven that Europe indeed grew too reliant on Russian gas. Now that the cheap gas that supplied Europe’s manufacturing sector is gone, Europe finds it even harder to develop and harder still to compete. The final blow to the European model came from Donald Trump, who, in his second term, decided to hold Europe more accountable for its own security. After his repeated demands for European NATO members to meet the alliance target of 2 percent GDP spent on defense, not only did European countries finally meet it, they also increased the alliance target to 5 percent by 2035. Previously European countries enjoyed spending less on defense to fund their extensive social nets, but now their social welfare systems are under more pressure than ever. However, America’s decoupling with Europe does not end with economic ramifications. Arguments over Greenland, Trump’s dealing with Putin without consulting the EU and support for Eurosceptics across the continent all signal that the relationship Europe enjoyed with the United States is coming to an end. JD Vance declared at the Munich Security Conference in 2025, as far as America is concerned: Europe’s largest threat is the “threat from within.” The European dependency on these three pillars is the most visible symptom of a far deeper problem with the continent’s model of growth: There never was a Plan B. The AI boom made this apparent. China and the United States innovated as Europe grew complacent. Companies like America’s Anthropic and China’s DeepSeek promise to transform work and increase worker productivity to levels previously thought impossible. European leaders, too, recognize the strength of the AI boom in inspiring economic growth. Macron, in the Paris AI Summit, declared that now is the “time for innovation” to avoid getting left behind. However, despite speeches and promises of innovation, Europe still is woefully behind not only the United States, but also China in the AI race. American start-ups and Chinese tech giants are racing to innovate, whereas the European economy is still carried largely by legacy brands such as LVMH and Novo Nordisk. Isabel Schnabel, who is on the executive board of the European Central Bank (ECB), noted that the problem is not that Europe is incapable of innovation, but that there simply are too many regulatory measures limiting productivity growth within the bloc. Mario Draghi, in his well-known Draghi Report, highlighted this exact problem. There is a patchwork of regulatory systems, sometimes contradictory , within the EU, limiting the ability of businesses to compete with American or Chinese companies. As the EU hesitated to act on the Draghi Report, ECB President Christine Lagarde went on to state that Europe is in an “existential crisis” where “internal barriers are stifling innovation, productivity, and investment across the bloc”. Europe’s lack of advancement in productivity put it on a path of economic stagnation at levels hardly seen in any other part of the developed world. Between 2008 and 2023, notes the Wall Street Journal, Europeans saw their real wages drop or stagnate, whereas Americans saw theirs increase. A common European refutation, one to which Paul Krugman too subscribes , is that Europeans simply live better lives than their counterparts across the Atlantic. Indeed, Europeans live for longer and are happier on average than Americans. Furthermore, they have more free time and social security. In this view, American higher wages and GDP mean little, because they hardly translate to economic welfare for American citizens. Krugman is not wrong. The European system did not have a fatal flaw. It simply was for a different world with a different economic order. The collapse of the European system is further accelerated by demographic crisis. Europe's social welfare and early retirement rest on the existence of many young people who can pay taxes and participate in economic life. Concurrently, the European Union’s old-age dependency ratio hit 37 percent in 2024, a record high, meaning that there are fewer than three working-age adults for each retired person. Meanwhile, the EU's low birth-rates mean that it has to rely on immigration in order to keep its economies working. However, increased immigration has led the far-right to take hold in various European states, limiting immigration when the continent is in dire need of a working population. The OECD’s Tax Policy Reforms 2025 report found that some countries in Europe are instead resorting to increasing taxes on young professionals. Increased tax burden, combined with Europe’s already complicated regulatory scheme, is driving young entrepreneurs away from Europe to places like the United States where business-friendly economic policies encourage innovation. The Trump Administration’s rhetoric on Europe may be crude, and the European way of life may be more sophisticated. Still, the fact remains that the old European economic system which helped the continent create its welfare states is no longer there. To those of us who enjoy real bread and good wine: We need to ask whether those are valuable enough to sacrifice the security of Europe. Photo Source: Onno P., Flickr

< Back Vague Policy on Concrete Issues Pracheth Sanka September 30, 2024 “We have to get a deal done.” Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee, repeated this statement multiple times during a brief answer in her live CNN interview in late August. In her first real moment to explain her policies to the American people, she gave non-answers and vague responses, especially on the question of the War in Gaza, leaving viewers disappointed . Harris provided a mixed message, both stating her unequivocal support for defending the state of Israel and for the innocent Palestinian civilians impacted by the conflict, echoing her statements from the previous week’s Democratic National Convention. In addition, she—very—quickly expressed her backing for a potential two-state solution, one of the few outwardly indicated policies concerning a post-war Palestine. Chiefly, Harris aims to continue the Biden Administration policy in pursuit of a ceasefire. She showed visible frustration that negotiations between Hamas and Israeli leadership seemed to be stalling in Doha. Still, she remained adamant that a deal must be agreed upon, both to free American hostages and end the conflict. President Joe Biden and V.P. Harris have stated their belief in a ceasefire as a means to rebuild the region. However, apart from the aforementioned whispers of a two-state system, they have given little insight into what this would look like. In May of 2024, U.S. officials proposed nominating a civilian advisor in the region, tasked with peacekeeping and helping lift Gaza out of ruin. The same officials floated ideas of economic restructuring and city building, or even creating a peacekeeping alliance out of neighboring Arab states. It is unclear whether V.P. Harris plans to implement these ideas, but they are a look into the pre-existing Biden Administration plans for the “day after” scenario. Like Harris, former President, and current Republican presidential nominee, Donald Trump has stayed mainly vague on the issue, sharing a similar sentiment to V.P. Harris in his unwavering support for Israel and its defense. He has also indicated support for a two-state solution, as outlined in his 2020 policy proposal, “Peace to Prosperity”, more colloquially known as the Trump peace plan. However, Trump’s support for this ideal seems to be slipping among the shifting attitudes within the Israeli government and Palestinian people. In May of 2024, Trump was recorded saying he believed a two-state solution had lost popularity and his support for the plan’s viability had waned. What is clear, though, is Trump’s steadfast promotion of Israel’s ideals to eradicate Hamas. Both Trump and Republican Vice Presidential Nominee JD Vance have espoused providing more aid to Israel, in hopes that this will allow the country to end the war as quickly as possible. Despite these seemingly unsure policies on the ongoing war in the region, many Sciences Pistes are sure of who they support in the upcoming election. For American 1A Loowit Morrison, the choice is clear. “I think that her foreign policy definitely outweighs that of Trump’s.” Morrison explained that while she disagreed with the Vice President’s actions as part of the Biden Administration, Harris’ recent shifts to serious calls for a ceasefire and outward recognition of the Palestinian lives lost makes her a stronger candidate. Morrison still holds that Harris’ foreign policy is weak at best, but Trump’s all-out refusal of a ceasefire is significantly weaker. A Lebanese 1A, who wished to remain anonymous, is likewise hoping for a Harris win in November. He believes that Trump’s wish for a complete Israeli victory is an overly simplistic outlook in a much more complex situation. For him, Israel’s success means a loss for its neighboring Arab countries, potentially destabilizing the region and leading to a prolonged conflict that could encompass the broader Middle East. “I really think Kamala Harris’ approach, advocating for both an Israeli and Palestinian state, is the most viable solution.” He also agrees with Harris’ strong position against Hamas and her support of the Palestinian people. “Kamala is not backing Hamas; she is supporting the Palestinians. People often conflate the two but they aren’t the same.” Other Sciences Pistes agree with the two-state ideal that Harris espouses. 1A Theo Hisherik, a British-Israeli, thinks that Harris’ call for a ceasefire and two-state solution is the correct position, as he states that “without a doubt, Harris is the best candidate for that.” He also believes that Harris effectively walks the line between support for Israel and Palestine. “She argues still for a defense of Israel to ensure that it can defend itself in the future, but she understands the need and the plight of the Palestinians,” he explains, solidifying his backing of Harris as a candidate. Despite outward support for Israel and its defense, Hisherik does not buy into Trump’s policies. “I think Trump’s pro-Israel sentiment is firstly a farce, I don’t think he actually really cares about Israel,” believing that Trump only says this to appeal to his Christian conservative or right-wing domestic voter base. Some Sciences Pistes don’t feel as strongly towards either of the candidates. “What we have seen is that the ‘lesser evil’ is the complete annihilation of Gaza” says an anonymous 1A from Jordan. She criticized the overwhelming view among Americans that Democrats are the so-called “lesser of two evils” when it comes to foreign policy. When speaking of the media she saw from the Gaza Strip, she said “they sent it back to the stone ages” and spoke of Israeli bombardments of refugee camps using American weaponry. “This is supposedly the lesser of two evils, so how much more evil can it get from here?” Providing 69% of Israeli weapon imports since 2019 and almost $4 billion annually, she has just one ask of the American people: “Stop providing Israel with the weaponry to kill civilians.” Her further frustration with the American political system could be summarized with a quote she had seen earlier: “You should dream bigger than seeing a black woman commit genocide.” For her, the identity politics in play of Harris’ rise to Democrat stardom means nothing if she holds little sympathy for what is happening in Gaza. “Kamala Harris supposedly being part of a minority, that she should be more considerate of what happens in the Middle East, I don’t think that has that stance that [Middle Easterners] agree with.” As the War in Gaza continues on, it will undoubtedly have an impact on the outcome of this year’s election. With nearly 80% of Arab Americans holding unfavorable opinions of Biden, coupled with protest votes , it could look bleak for the Democrats’ hopes of retaining office in November. Despite many Sciences Pistes’ belief that Harris would prove better than Trump regarding foreign policy in the Middle East, American voters seem to be more split on the candidates, especially among the candidates' seemingly hazy policy.

< Back Is Big Pharma Killing Babies? Consumer Unease Rises in the Face of Johnson and Johnson’s Baby Powder Lawsuit By Jessica Cheng December 31, 2021 Reaching the status of becoming a household name is a goal that many brands attempt to achieve, even though only a select few succeed. Once this staple status is fulfilled, many brands will become well-established within the consumerist public and have a specific product that is unequivocally linked to the brand. For example, although there are many brands of instant macaroni and cheese in the United States, the most ubiquitous is Kraft’s. Likewise, for Johnson & Johnson (J&J), the talc-based baby powder sold in an iconic white bottle became the product that established and solidified the company’s wholesome image nearly over a century ago. Companies strive to become a household name because the status comes with a multitude of perks, such as automatic consumer trust. But what happens when a breach of trust occurs between the public and the brand? Formed over a century ago in 1886, the brand and pharmaceutical giant J&J has recently come under scrutiny for not only going through a lawsuit over the existence of asbestos in its talc-based baby powder, but also attempting to split its baby powder from the rest of its company via the establishment of a separate subsidiary. Although this split does not seem like a big deal at first glance, the numbers behind it would tell otherwise. The J&J Baby Powder offshoot, known as LTL Management, is valued at $2 billion — an amount that pales in comparison to the $440 billion that the entire pharmaceutical company is worth. Accounting for just $2 billion of its parent company’s value, the split guarantees that lawsuit plaintiffs will win smaller sums of money from LTL management than they would have with the J&J parent company. Although J&J denies that the creation of the subsidiary is related to the baby powder suits, the company is facing nearly 40,000 lawsuits alleging that its baby powders and other talc-based products contain asbestos, a carcinogenic substance. Evidence against J&J is growing, and thousands of individuals, predominantly women who have developed ovarian cancer, have announced that J&J did not warn them of the potential risks of asbestos contaminating the baby powder. Additionally, the March 2020 move to discontinue sales of their famous talc-based baby powder from the North American market paints a negative picture of the company. To counter this, J&J is denying that their baby powder contains carcinogens and continues to claim that the split has nothing to do with the suits. A 2018 investigation by Reuters, however, uncovered that the company was aware of asbestos in its talc-based products for several years but chose to keep the information undisclosed. This evidence, which includes internal documents between company leaders and other forms of verification of J&J’s knowledge, has aided in furnishing favorable lawsuit verdicts for the plaintiffs. The push to establish LTL Management, which would inherit most of J&J’s baby powder lawsuits, can be seen as a strategic move to retain funds for the parent company. Almost immediately after LTL Management’s inception, the subsidiary company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, a costly and long process in which the debtor is able to negotiate with creditors for the terms of the loan without having to liquidate their assets. Even though J&J is headquartered in New Brunswick, New Jersey, the corporation chose to split into two companies in Texas. The state has a controversial law called the “Texas Two-Step” that at its core is a restructuring method that companies can use to safeguard themselves in cases of mass tort litigation. While splitting into two companies in Texas, LTL Management chose to convert into a North Carolina Limited Liability Corporation (LLC), a business structure that safeguards its owners from personal responsibility for the company’s liabilities or debts, in order to file for bankruptcy. While many other states such as New Jersey do not have such archaic law which would most likely make the lawsuit much harder on the company, the Chapter 11 protection law in North Carolina momentarily pauses litigation against the bankrupt entity. Not only is the well-known pharmaceutical company undergoing lawsuits and creating a separate subsidiary for its baby powder, Johnson & Johnson is also separately splitting into two different companies: one focusing on consumer health products and over-the-counter drugs, and the other focusing on pharmaceuticals, medical instruments, and vaccines. While the company denies that the influx of lawsuits are the reasons for the company-wide split, which include the United State’s nationwide opioid crisis and the sunscreen suit involving Costco Wholesale, many legal scholars suspect that one of the motivations behind such a decision was because of the social and legal reckoning the company is currently facing. For context, J&J is one of the three leading drug distributors that are getting sued for their role in the United State’s nationwide opioid crisis. Over half a million people died from this crisis between 1999 and 2019, while 2020 ended with 69,000 deaths due to opioid overdose, a number likely aggravated by the pandemic. While most believe that there are a multitude of players to blame for the uptick in deaths as a result of the opioid crisis, blame continues to be shifted from manufacturers to distributors, from doctors prescribing the drugs to pharmacists filling prescriptions, etc. While progressing, these lawsuits do not seem to be reaching an end anytime soon. For most, Johnson & Johnson is a trusted brand whose products can be easily found in any local store. The many lawsuits the company is facing, however, raises questions about consumer safety and whether regulations of consumer products of private companies are too lax. While the public has confidence in the products of established labels, the multitude of lawsuits filed against J&J’s products are causing consumers to question the sanctity of such brands.

< Back Choose Your Fighter: Dual Degree Edition Pracheth Sanka “Are you in a dual?” are words any Sciences Piste is sure to encounter, filling the air during Integration Week activities or while at any inter-campus interaction. They are, of course, referring to one of the staples of Sciences Po’s undergraduate course: the dual degree programs. Partnered with nine of the most prestigious universities in the world, both secondary school applicants and second-year students can try their hand at admission into these rigorous courses of study. The dual degrees entail spending two years at a Sciences Po campus and continuing for two more at a partner university, concluding undergraduate studies with the conferring of two Bachelor’s degrees. Often, that question, especially at the English-speaking campuses, is followed by “Which one? Columbia or Berkeley?” as if they are the only two options. But it seems in many ways that they are. Columbia is by far the biggest dual degree cohort represented at Sciences Po, in large part due to being the oldest of the nine. Berkeley has large name recognition among students and has a strong presence at Reims, Menton, and Le Havre. Both are powerhouses at Sciences Po and for good reason. Columbia’s Ivy League status makes it a coveted place for students to break into politics and finance, and its strong Core Curriculum is both a complement and supplement to Sciences Po’s interdisciplinary focus on the humanities. Likewise, Berkeley is the flagship of the University of California system, and its prestigious undergraduate program is a prime location for those looking to work in the American West, where it sends more aspiring workers to Silicon Valley than any other school in the nation. If you can bear the cost (not speaking to you, in-state Californians), both duals offer an amazing educational experience that top students around the world long f or. Though they are both great, one has to be better, right? Is being a Lion superior to being a Golden Bear? Are the views of the Bay more attractive than the sights of the Big Apple? Let’s start with the important stuff: the lifestyle. Berkeley, with a thousand-acre campus situated in sunny Northern California, can satisfy those who wish to get the best out of the typical American university experience. With over 30,000 enrolled in one of the nation’s top public universities, the calm life of the college town still has much to offer, with Pac-12 athletics and strong student traditions that are sure to excite anyone. If you get bored of the college-town life, San Franciso is less than an hour away by train, making it a popular weekend destination for students. While Columbia is not necessarily known for its school spirit, the 10,000- strong undergraduate population lives in New York, having the world’s most important city as its extended campus. When finding any break during their busy studies, students can explore each and every corner of Manhattan by way of the Metro or perhaps by cutting through Central Park. But be careful! While the streets of Menton may have prepared you, you don’t want to end up as one of the crime alerts that crowd LionMail! It’s not like Berkeley is much better—with crime considerations of its own—but either way, you should be fine, as no criminal could compare to the gun-wielding guys of Rue Longue. Academics—while undoubtedly always a secondary factor in searching for higher education—can still be somewhat important when it comes to your choice of dual. Though in some lists, Berkeley edges out Columbia in terms of institutional ranking, both schools stay firmly in the upper echelon of global academics. Columbia has had a strong top-ten presence in U.S. academic rankings for years, and Berkeley’s position has been growing fast compared to its elite private school competition. Relatively, Berkeley has strength in STEM-based subjects, while Columbia holds the upper hand in most humanities and social sciences. Both schools hold top-ten programs in economics and political science, two of the majors of choice for many dual degrees. In any case, you won’t go wrong, and academic fit rather than ranking will be more important. Do you favor Berkeley’s large campus size and typically larger class sizes? Or would you rather fit into Columbia’s liberal arts framework, with a strong focus on the humanities and where three-fourths of your classes may be smaller than 25 students? For some Science Pistes, their choices were easy decisions, and for others, weighing the two options of application took much deliberation. Pedro Meerbaum, a second-year student who applied through the third-year process, was captivated by the program during his first year at Sciences Po. “I had many people in my close circle who were in the dual so I inevitably looked into it, and the details and structure of the course aligned with my personal and professional goals,” he says. These goals, as he further explained, were not as present in just a Bachelor’s at Sciences Po, prompting him to apply when he got the chance. Meerbaum also appreciates Columbia’s smaller feel and support systems, saying “Columbia might be better prepared to take on students, us being at GS means that we have a whole administrative body that is dedicated to accommodating us properly.” GS refers to the School of General Studies, the undergraduate college that dual degrees are a part of during their time at Columbia. It hosts a range of students, from professional dancers and actors to military veterans, and even those who took gap years or deviated from the traditional four-year pathway; this diversity was another draw for Meerbaum. While he does appreciate Berkeley as an institution, he says, “The dual people are thrown into a huge student body, and I doubt there is the same support system as in Columbia or even the same amount of dual degree people in the same situation.” His plans to major in Comparative Literature on a pathway to the Graduate School of Journalism further attracted him, both of which Columbia excels at due to their strong humanities focus. For 1A Mia Rivas, applying to the dual program with Berkeley was a difficult choice, but she ultimately believed it would expand her horizons while also granting her an American degree. She also reaps the benefits of being an in-state California student, meaning she pays much less tuition than had she been an international or out-of-state applicant. Berkeley, as part of the University of California system, is a public school, meaning that it is operated and partly funded by the state. Since her family already pays the state taxes, the school subsidizes tuition for her and other California residents. Out-of-state students are typically not entitled to these benefits and pay much higher tuition fees, akin to Columbia’s steep private school tuition. While Rivas admits Columbia’s prestige was tempting, she believes that Berkeley was an overall better fit. “There’s obviously a certain vibe associated with Berkeley, and I do like it, but I was more drawn to the opportunity of finding groups with my vibe, one [group] I like ‘cause how could you not at such a big school?” For Rivas, the vast number of people draws her in, but so does the vast choice of majors. With Sciences Po’s clear lack of science-based courses, Berkeley’s program in cognitive science was a deciding factor for her. While I, as an American citizen, regret not applying to the Berkeley program in addition to Columbia, I firmly believe that the latter is a stronger choice, especially for international students, and I feel I made the right decision. While it is no Harvard, Columbia definitely has more European recognition, and its established support system and vast dual-degree alumni network make it more appealing. For internationals, these benefits seem to outweigh the cost, especially if you are paying the same price for Berkeley for less added value. But part of me feels like I am missing out on the typical American experience that Columbia so clearly lacks, and Berkeley’s stronger science program allows for more academic freedom during your two years there. Though I am inclined to Columbia, Berkeley still stands as a strong option, especially if you feel it is a better personal fit. In whichever path you choose, you will join the elite few who have had the opportunity to meaningfully study at two well-renowned universities for your undergraduate studies, and no choice can be the wrong one. Photo source: Menton Times designed Previous Next

Le film, réalisé par Eric Hannezo et Matthieu Vollaire, est une magnifique plongée dans l’aventure d’une saison, au sein du vestiaire du Stade Toulousain. < Back Critique du Film “Le Stade” By Solenn Ravenel April 29, 2022 Mercredi 13 mars, j’ai eu la chance d’aller voir Le Stade au cinéma. Le film, réalisé par Eric Hannezo et Matthieu Vollaire, est une magnifique plongée dans l’aventure d’une saison, au sein du vestiaire du Stade Toulousain. J’ai entendu parler de la sortie de ce film, une première dans le rugby français, depuis plusieurs mois. Supporters toulousains impatients, interviews des joueurs dans les médias, cela fait maintenant une semaine que ce film fait sortir le rugby du microcosme du monde de l’ovalie. Bon spoiler, ce film ne révolutionnera pas le milieu du cinéma, ni celui du sport. Mais pourquoi est-il néanmoins intéressant ? D’abord, le film semble passionner les supporters toulousains. Dans la salle de Cagnes sur mer ce mercredi, plusieurs spectateurs arboraient fierement leurs maillots rouge et noir. Cela n’est pas étonnant. Le Stade est peut être avant tout pour ses supporters, toujours présents. Malgré le covid, malgré les stades vides, ces derniers se sont massés au départ du bus pour encourager leur équipe. Des supporters toujours présents, même lorsque le silence des stades soulignait leur cruel manque. Des supporters qui ont poussé leur équipe à la victoire, ou plutôt aux victoires. Celles de la coupe d’Europe et du top 14, mais aussi celles qui écrivent l’histoire, chaque week-end. Ce film est également une plongée dans le vestiaire de leurs joueurs préférés: lieu sacralisé, secret, normalement impénétrable pour les mortels que nous sommes. Il permet donc de briser ce qui pourrait être appelé le quatrième mur. Le film peut aussi intéresser les fans de rugby, sans que ceux-ci supportent forcément le stade toulousain. Pour Ugo Mola, coach de l’équipe: “Ceux qui nous aiment un peu vont nous aimer un peu plus et ceux qui nous détestent risquent nous détester un peu plus.” (RMC sport). Et malgré l’importance d’Ugo Mola dans ce film, permettez-moi d’être en désaccord avec cette affirmation. Chaque supporter peut se retrouver dans ce que souligne ce film. Les discours d’Ugo Mola qui rythment le film sont autant de leitmotivs qui rappellent que le rugby est un sport de “valeurs”. Il est vrai que celles-ci souvent mises en avant peuvent paraître prétentieuses, soulignant une prétendue supériorité du rugby sur les autres sports. Il est bien sûr possible de le voir comme cela. Cependant, je vois dans ces valeurs : l’humilité, le sens de l’équipe, le travail, la camaraderie, l’amitié, la famille, et le club, un socle commun qui permet à tous de se retrouver. Chaque supporter peut ainsi s’identifier, quelque soit le club qu’il aime, la famille ou les amis qui l’entourent. Le Stade, monté sans voix-off ni interview face cam, illustre ce que les supporters aiment le plus dans le rugby : les émotions. Pourquoi ce film peut-il aussi intéresser les débutants en rugby? Toi, qui n’as regardé qu’un match mais qui a zappé parce que tu n’as rien compris ! Ou encore toi, qui as seulement suivi la finale du grand chelem lors du tournoi des VI Nations ! Parce que ce film ne parle ni de jeu, ni de tactiques, pas besoin de comprendre le plan de jeu d’Ugo Mola : “ bleu, bleu, munster ” pour le comprendre. Avec Le Stade, vous découvrirez le rugby sous son angle le plus beau. Il peut être une belle porte d’entrée dans ce “ sport d’initiés ” (Ugo Mola). Peut être que vous serez parfois perdus pour comprendre l’organisation des compétitions, ou encore la place particulière du stade toulousain dans le rugby français et européen. Cependant, vous ne pourrez louper les larmes, les rires, les sourires. Vous ne pourrez louper ce pourquoi les supporters continuent semaine après semaine de se passionner pour ce sport si particulier. L’aventure humaine, racontée à travers une esthétique cinématographique : images, noir et blanc, musique… ne pourra que vous émouvoir. Et quelque soit votre histoire, vous pourrez vous identifier à ces moments de vie qui, malgré leur caractère sportif, sont souvent universels. Si après avoir vu Le Stade, vous voulez continuer à regarder des films sur le rugby, n’hésitez pas à regarder les épisodes de la série Destins mêlés sur la chaîne YouTube de France Rugby, qui revient sur les matchs de l’équipe de France. La première saison relate la tournée d’automne 2021 du XV de France, qui s’est achevée avec une victoire des Bleus face aux All Blacks. La seconde saison, elle, illustre le magnifique Grand Chelem lors du tournoi des VI Nations en 2022. La série est donc une magnifique image du XV de France d’aujourd’hui, les images des victoires et les témoignages des acteurs sont magnifiques. La série souligne le travail du staff : kinés, coachs, analystes vidéos… mais également l’importance de l’extra sportif : soirées, chansons, jeux… Pour aller encore plus loin, si vous souhaitez en apprendre plus sur le rugby international, découvrez Chasing the sun : le sacre des springboks sur Canal+. La série raconte le chemin de l’équipe sud-africaine vers la victoire de la coupe du monde en 2019. Plus sous forme de docu-série avec davantage de moment d’interviews, la série est un vrai reportage en immersion dans la préparation et la compétition des Springboks. Finalement, quelque soit votre niveau de connaissance du rugby, quelque soit votre club de cœur, le film Le Stade pourra vous séduire pour une seule raison : parce qu’il raconte, avec passion, une passion.

< Back Boeing Grapples With The 737-MAX By Yasmin Abbasoy February 29, 2024 In its newly-published 2023 end-of-year results, Boeing has for the first time foregone its traditional section on “financial and operational objectives” in order to emphasize its newfound commitment to safety. The leading aerospace company has been witness to more scrutiny than it could have ever conceived, primarily due to its flagship 737 MAX 9 carrier which has recently resulted in various catastrophes. These recent events have brought to light the company’s various errors regarding its work culture and practices. When a door plug, a mechanism that replaces an extra built-in emergency door in the middle of the MAX-9, detached from the Alaska Airlines flight 1282 merely 6 minutes into the flight, it would come to be seen as nothing more than the natural consequence of decisions taken at the company. The plane, scheduled for a domestic flight on Jan. 5, was in the world of commercial flight, brand new. It had been in service for approximately 2 months, having under its wing close to 500 flight hours. A malfunction stemming from age was unlikely on such an aircraft, and the plane had had no problems during routine maintenance.Thankfully, there was no loss of life–oxygen masks descended as the vacant space left by the plug uncontrollably depressurized the airplane. By a stroke of luck, the seat next to the plug was empty. The spontaneous suction did, however, pull a shirt off a teenage boy and scatter personal belongings across the flight path–including an Iphone which was found functioning and still in flight mode two days later. The MAX-9 fleet which comprised 65 planes was immediately subjected to an Emergency Airworthiness Directive by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The regulatory body issued this directive to confirm the recognition of improper conditions that required immediate action on the part of the manufacturer. An ongoing investigation was launched as Boeing developed a new inspection process to be approved by the FAA, after which the planes were cleared for flight at the end of January. The Alaska Airlines debacle is not the first worrying complication seen in a Boeing-manufactured aircraft. It was not even the first complication for its own series–the MAX-8, predecessor to the MAX-9, had in March of 2019 been grounded for 20 months after two deadly crashes which killed 349 people in total. There had been some adjustments to the positioning of the engine on this model, one which would cause divergences in the behavior of the plane that had to be accounted for. Boeing installed a new software, which was found in the ensuing investigation to be inaccurate and difficult to use or override. Industry insiders found the two accidents “eerily similar,” and worried about a brand-new plane failing twice in the space of a year. The grounding of the MAX-8 was a dramatic measure–the firm is vitally important to the U.S. economy, being a leading exporter with a global network of over 20.000 suppliers. Boeing is estimated to have lost at least $20 billion in direct costs as a result. A mishandling of the aftermath saw CEO Dennis Muilenburg sacked for his over-optimistic forecasts of the process of getting the grounded planes back in the air and his blundering of congressional hearings. Congressional investigators found that the company culture was to blame, with employees encouraged to push the airplane out into the market ahead of rival, Airbus, at the expense of quality control. Messages exchanged among employees provided for the investigation revealed a startling lack of confidence in the product–the development process of the MAX-8 was commented on with wry detachment, with the core development team being referred to as “clowns.” The culture problem at Boeing is, as of 2020, congressionally acknowledged, and Boeing’s latest news update on its website shows a clear plan for increased scrutiny and reprioritized safety, with the expected corporate public relations tint. The problem itself, however, may have been decades in the making. Industry experts tie the shift in culture to a 1997 merger between Boeing and the defense contractor McDonnell Douglas. Well-known for their military planes, the company was acquired for about $14 billion. While it was the Boeing name that stayed on, a dramatic shift was gradually occurring internally. Journalist Peter Robison posits that a pre-merger Boeing was a company of engineers, focused solely on quality production and client satisfaction. McDonnell Douglas, on the other hand, put more value on delivering products and pleasing shareholders, as efficiently as possible. Illustratively, after the merger, Boeing headquarters was moved from Seattle, the heart of production for the firm, to Chicago. The emphasis on quantity over quality has led to a reliance on subcontracting: the 737-MAX supply chain has over 600 suppliers, which too have felt the pressure. Ed Pierson, a former manager at one of Boeing’s 737 factories, describes a “pressure to push planes out of the door” and a culture of retaliation against employees who call attention to the lack of quality standards. Upon investigation precipitated by the Alaska Airline incident, Delta and United Airlines found that the bolts designed to secure the door plug on their MAX-9 aircraft were not properly tightened. This ring of the production chain is handled by Spirit Aerosystem, a subcontractor, in their Malaysia factory. The preliminary report released from the investigative committee found that the four bolts on Alaska Airlines flight 1282 were completely missing. That is, the plane had flown 500 hours without them. The increased attention on its manufacturing process has not boded well for Boeing. Though CEO Dave Calhoun, brought in after Muilenburg, has acknowledged a “quality escape,” and the media is all too willing to pounce on any instance of a faulty Boeing product. One such instance was when U.S. Secretary of State, Antony Blinken’s 737 plane had to be switched on the way back from the World Economic Forum in Davos due to a “critical failure.” An employee has also recently shared images with the media of a Boeing facility in which hangs the sign–and presumably, the company motto–”Just Ship It.” Understandably, the newest topic in the news cycle has been the continued discovery of misdrilled holes in the fuselage of Boeing 737 planes. As the systemic nature of the Boeing Problem is pushed further and further into the spotlight, it is Boeing that must adjust and recalibrate, or come crashing down.

Although the human rights violations in Qatar and its threat to the environment are alarming, it is of the utmost importance that one approaches the situation holistically. Forced labor, environmental threats and the kafala system gained attention due to World Cup boycott conversations. While the tournament has already occurred, it is paramount to not discard these issues in future discourse. < Back Analyzing the Morality of the World Cup: Boycotts, Forced Labor and Human Rights By Catarina Vita December 31, 2022 Every four years, not only do football fans from all around the globe gather to watch the sport but so does most of the world’s population. FIFA, the International Federation of Football Association, is responsible for the World Cup and decided to host the 2022 games in Qatar. Appalled by the workers’ rights violations and the imminent climate crisis in Qatar, a portion of the World Cup audience considered boycotting the tournament. However, counterarguments arose: the consideration of a boycott only popularized when the World Cup was located in the Middle East, and Qatar’s longstanding history of poor labor rights makes the timing of the boycott hypocritical. With increased international knowledge of Qatar’s recently abolished kafala system, alongside continued worker maltreatment in the country, potential World Cup spectators considered not watching the tournament at all. The kafala system, by definition, is a labor system connecting foreign workers to a local employer with no relation to labor ministries. As a result, workers have no rights, and many complain about a lack of breaks and overwhelmingly long working hours. Despite the Qatari government’s 2016 termination of the system, Amnesty International reports that the reform was “inadequate” and still allowed foreign workers to be exploited by their bosses. Furthermore, it is also argued that Qatar did not have the proper infrastructure for the World Cup. The high mortality rate among immigrants was due to the fast-paced manual labor of building stadiums. The climate crisis in Qatar also made the choice of country subject to criticism. Due to the ever-rising temperature in the country, even during the fall season in November and December, the government installed air conditioners inside seven of eight football stadiums. The total Qatar World Cup carbon emissions predicted were upwards of 3.6 million tons, while the tournament in Brazil and Russia had an estimated two million tons emitted. Some perceive the boycott to be either ineffective or contradictory. Although FIFA was involved in an extensive corruption scandal throughout the 2010s, the other World Cups were still watched and appreciated. Moreover, human rights violations in other World Cup host countries, such as massive corruption and torture in Brazil and anti-LGBTQIA+ stances in Russia, did not incur such international resistance. Qatar was the first Middle Eastern nation to host a World Cup, and the fact that only then did boycott ideas surface raises questions about the general perceptions of Middle Eastern countries. Although the human rights violations in Qatar and threats to the environment are alarming, it is of the utmost importance that one approaches the situation holistically. Forced labor and the kafala system gained attention due to boycott conversations. While the World Cup has already occurred, it is paramount not to discard these issues in future discourse. The worsening climate crisis and human rights violations are not limited to one country in the Global South; as these conversations arose because of the World Cup, it is vital to research and raise awareness about them on a global scale.

< Back Menton Abroad! Where Our 2As Are Going Next Year and Why Pedro Meerbaum Two years in France, one year abroad—so goes the structure of Sciences Po's Bachelor of Arts. The standardization of this academic path throughout all seven campuses, save the students enrolled in Dual Bachelors, is non-traditional to its core. The halls of our campus have grown accustomed to the transient nature of the students, staying for no longer than 2 years, quickly scattering through the globe. With 480 partnerships, Sciences Po offers more than 80 different choices of countries for exchange. The possibility for a mixed year, combining one semester of studying and one of work experience, widens the array of opportunities that Sciences Pistes have when shaping their personal and professional trajectories. For Sciences Po, the element of the exchange year aligns with its goal of being an international university and preparing (ideally) globally-minded leaders. With each delocalized campus (that is to say, non-Parisian), there is an assigned regional specialization. In a normative scenario, a student specializing in (e.g.) Latin America would go on exchange to a country in the region, allowing them to further their studies of the area and spend a year improving their language skills and expertise in the field. In reality, the exchange program is not limited to the campus specialization, and the wide variety of options (with often limited spots) naturally pushes for an international dispersion of students. Nonetheless, students studying a particular region and its language usually feel more inclined to carry out their exchange in a country of their geographical minor. The campus of Menton has 129 second-year students going on exchange, 17 of which are going to the main region of studies of the campus: the Middle East and North Africa. That makes for 13.18% of these 129, a relatively lower number than other years. The class of 2025, currently on exchange, has 24 students in the city of Cairo alone. I conducted a survey and examined the demographics of this year's exchange to understand more about the decision-making process of our current second-year students—where they are going, why and what were the key factors that made the Middle East such a low-scorer in the third-year destinations, despite it being our region of study. Almost half of the Sciences Pistes in Menton have decided to continue their studies on the European continent, amounting to 61 students. The Schengen and Euro benefits were not a primary driving factor—22 out of the 61 are going to continue their studies in the United Kingdom, 12 of whom are going to London. Notably, Italy and Spain are also locations that were widely chosen by 2As, with 10 and 8 students, respectively in each. Both allow students to validate their minor in the Mediterranean, albeit the big concentration of students in not-so-Mediterranean cities like Milan and Madrid. Per the form, students attending Italy, Spain and the UK had cultural interests and career prospects as their primary reasons for choosing their destination. Other European destinations were pivoted towards personal connections and academic opportunities. North America, the second most chosen destination, is more evenly distributed. Seventeen students have decided to carry out their exchange in the United States and twelve in Canada. The city of Montreal, in the francophone province of Quebec, was the most sought-after North American destination, with five students going to McGill and four to Université de Montréal. Meanwhile, in the US, Washington D.C. unsurprisingly ranked first, being sought for its politics-related opportunities. Career and academic prospects are unanimously indicated as a primary reason for crossing the Atlantic. Students going to the US reported concerns regarding visa application processes, political turmoil amidst the new presidential administration and a fear of feeling isolated within large student communities. The transition from the small Menton campus to exponentially more populated universities and cities is a shared concern for all regions. Seven Mentonais have chosen to continue their education in Latin America, five of whom are going to Argentina and the remaining to Chile and Colombia. Students going to the region have expressed interest in learning Spanish and want to shift their focus from the MENA to a new area. Five students also decided to explore the Southern Hemisphere, but across the Pacific. Four students are going to Australia, and one to New Zealand. All students going to Oceania have chosen universities in different cities, from Adelaide to Brisbane. All students going to the continent that answered the survey were French, half of whom described an interest in improving their English skills while simultaneously taking advantage of a friendly and cross-cultural environment. The ten students going to non-Middle Eastern Asia are almost equally distributed in the region, each receiving one Mentonais for the next year (China, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam). Hong Kong and Japan were the region's highlights, receiving two and three students, respectively. Unfortunately, most students going to Asia decided not to participate in the survey. The few who answered shared excitement about exploring the continent and the various cultures but were concerned regarding housing. In the Middle East and North Africa, the seventeen students have dispersed themselves in four different countries across the region. Two students have chosen to study in Morocco, studying in the prestigious private Mohammed VI Polytechnic University (UM6P) and continuing their education in French. Two students have gone to Jordan, an option available only for Political Humanities students that offers an intensive Arabic course. Four students have been allocated to the American University of Cairo (AUC) in Egypt, and the remaining nine are going to Turkey. In the latter, three will be going to Bogazici University, and six will be going to Galatasaray University, making it the choice with the most Mentonais this year. I reached out to some of the students going to the Middle East who were interested in hearing what they had to say about their choice for the third year. One of the students, who is going to Istanbul next year, told me she wanted to continue her education in the Middle East to deepen her knowledge of the region. However, as a young woman embarking on this experience alone, she felt Turkey was the safest choice. The same interviewee said she didn't know a single Turkish word, but she was so enamored with Istanbul's landscape that she couldn't shy away from challenging herself. In a different interview, a student going to Aman, Jordan, reported his interest in the intensive program. The programs in Jordan remain one of the few left in partnership with SciencesPo, where students can engage in intensive language learning. The other option, in Cairo, did not attract such students—he said the transition from small Menton to the megalopolis of Cairo did not appeal to him. He found a perfect balance of his interests in Jordan. The final interviewee, going to AUC, traces the origin of her choice to a trip to Cairo organized by the Bureau des Eleves last October. While visiting the city she went from being excited to explore as a tourist to deciding to extend her stay as an exchange student. Besides her new-found love for the city, she looks forward to immersing herself in Egyptian culture and refining her Arabic skills. When asked if she had any concerns, she shared with me that navigating a different, more conservative and religious environment might be a challenge but that it will nonetheless be gratifying. All in all, the reasons behind the reduction of students going to the Middle East remain unclear. The regional war in the Levant raises undeniable insecurities, and the pause in exchange to immediate countries involved also limits the choices within the region. In September, I attended a counseling session on 3A in the Middle East, where the counselors revealed less allocation of spots for big sought-after universities, such as AUC, asking for students to place it as their first or second option in their rankings if they intended in attending these universities. The newfound competitiveness of these universities was not mentioned, however, by a single student who responded to the survey. The difference in demographics won't have a clear explanation or a defining narrative. Part of it comes from the individual interests of students or the current zeitgeist . Regardless, students from all year groups share the excitement of following their peers' path, whether in the busy streets of Cairo or on the beaches of Australia. Menton's student community is an international fabric composed of pieces from all over the globe, and it's only fair that this same group will remain unceasingly international in their choices. It is invariably an exciting task to talk to our 2As, hear about their personal academic paths, and get to know a bit more about where the transient figures of our campus will go next. Photo credits: adampadam, 2007 Previous Next