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< Back The FSO Safer is a Ticking Time Bomb in the Red Sea By Emilia Kohlmeyer January 31, 2022 Eight kilometers off the shore of Yemen lies a looming environmental and humanitarian catastrophe: the FSO Safer. The floating oil storage and offloading vessel is in imminent danger of sinking or exploding, which would lead to a disruption of the food supply, disrupt global trade, and cause a massive environmental disaster. The vessel is currently under control of the Houthi movement, which lacks the resources to mitigate the damage and prevent international actors’ access to the site-citing distrust due to previous agreements that were not complied with. The United Nations have warned that a spill could reach quadruple the size of the catastrophic Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska, which is the second largest spill in US waters, affecting thousands of kilometers of coastline. A spill from the FSO Safer could take months to clear and would have disastrous effects on its surrounding area. Currently, 80 percent of Yemen’s population is food-insecure. The nearby ports of Al Hudaya and As Salif — which receive about two thirds of Yemen’s food supply —would be blocked for up to six months. Furthermore, it would contaminate water utilized for desalination processes not only in Yemen but also in Saudi Arabia, upon which both depend. In addition, it would deplete the fishing industry which at least 1.7 million people in the surrounding region rely on. Lastly, it would impact access to the Suez Canal strait through which 10 percent of the global trade passes, having a grave impact on global supply chains. The vessel was built in 1976 and has been anchored North of the Yemeni city Al Hudaya since 1988. It has since been utilized as a transit point for oil exports by the Yemeni government and presently harbours 1.14 million barrels of oil at a value of over 80 million US Dollars. During the Yemeni Civil War, the vessel fell into the hands of the Houthi Movement and has since faced structural disintegration. According to numerous research papers the FSO Safer has been classified at imminent risk of sinking or explosion as of October 2021. At 50 years old, the FSO tanker has surpassed the average scrapping age of oil tankers by 19 years. Furthermore, the 50 head crew has shrunk to only seven members, a team too small to oversee the numerous essential repairs that the ship necessitates. Since losing power in 2017, it has been declared a dead ship with only two diesel generators providing limited electricity to smaller devices. This is particularly dangerous given that it has halted essential mechanisms such as “inerting,” a process in which inert gases are pumped into the crude oil storage to counter the emission of highly flammable hydrocarbons. Therefore, the ship is susceptible to explosion by as little as a cigarette butt. It is assumed that the surrounding seabed contains Houthi mines. However, the officer responsible for laying them has been killed and therefore their location remains unknown. United Nations-led inspections have been hindered by the Houthis, who refuse to provide safety assurances. Yemen has been in a Civil War since 2014. The predominantly Sunni country was ravaged by the armed conflict between the government led by Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi and the Shiite Houthi Movement. The single-candidate election of Hadi in 2012 led to strong Houthi opposition, who viewed the election as a continuance of Ali Abdullah Saleh who was removed during the Arab Spring uprising in 2011. This was exacerbated by disagreements over the new constitution, proposals of a federal state structure, and foreign influence. In 2015 A Saudi-led coalition intervened to counter the Houthi advance. However, with further escalation, the conflict had been considered a proxy war between Saudi Arabian and Iranian influence.

The words we use matter. As students on a multilingual campus, I am sure we can agree on that fact; simple turns of phrase or article choices evoke different meanings and change the essence of a sentence, a paragraph, or even an entire narrative. In everyday conversation, we may retain critical elements by inferring or safely assuming intention in communication, but when it comes to political discourse, the stakes are much higher.  < Back Know Your Vocab: Words We Get Wrong When Talking about Israel and Palestine By Maia Zasler November 30, 2023 The words we use matter. As students on a multilingual campus, I am sure we can agree on that fact; simple turns of phrase or article choices evoke different meanings and change the essence of a sentence, a paragraph, or even an entire narrative. In everyday conversation, we may retain critical elements by inferring or safely assuming intention in communication, but when it comes to political discourse, the stakes are much higher. The issue of word choice is particularly significant in the context of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Word association and labels may exacerbate existing divides, cultivating a hostile environment where discussion often quickly escalates or shuts down. How can a path forward emerge if most dialogue automatically sparks intractable positions and potential violence? To brush off semantics, to say that language use is the least of our worries when it comes to geopolitical or humanitarian crises, risks conflating provocative and misappropriated terminology with an already tragic reality. Particularly with facts that are weighty and volatile, the misuse or misapplication of language creates a divide that does everyone a disservice. This article will define and contextualize the use of the term “genocide” as only one example as it relates to the breakdown of discourse surrounding Israel and Palestine. This analysis is by no means intended to justify or excuse actions of one “side” or another; rather, it is aimed at fostering a future that includes productive discussion, allows for the recognition of history, of multi-faceted narratives, and provokes meaningful reflection as to how we approach activism. Genocide : Methodical destruction of a human group. “genos” (“race”/”tribe”) + “cide” (killing”) Genocide is a legal term. It was originally coined in 1944 by Polish-Jewish lawyer Raphael Lemkin to describe the atrocities facilitated by Nazi Germany. The intention in legal jargon—and in reference to both foreign policy and humanitarian concerns—was to “ denote a crime so terrible that it could not be confused with any other. ” Yet, in the 21st century, there seems to be little care taken with its use; the term is acutely pronounced in the conversations relating to Israel and Palestine. The United Nations’ 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide document offers the precise, “operating” definition of genocide in Article II: In the present Convention, genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such: (a) Killing members of the group; (b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; (c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; (d) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group; (e) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group. Israel has enacted clauses (a) and (b) (as any other large scale act of war would entail). However, they have not—and have no stated intent of—committing clauses (c), (d), and (e). Furthermore, as it concerns clause (c), there are allegations that certain factions of the Israeli population and/or the Israeli government warrant the particular charge. One can point to Israeli policies that deny Palestinians access to natural resources—a deprivation of water sources, for example—as a means of generating “conditions of life calculated to bring about its [the group's] physical destruction in whole or in part”]. Yet, it remains difficult to defend the application of this clause. The use of the word “deliberately” implies a subjective threshold. To reference the case of water policy, one must look to the lasting impacts of the Oslo Accords (1993)—which allowed Israel “ overwhelming control of the occupied West Bank's aquifers ”—and to the greater context in the following decades: a climate crisis that has put further stresses on already limited resources combined with a growing Palestinian population in need of more of those same resources. Therefore, this ostensible rendering of poor living conditions speaks more to discriminatory policy exacerbated by rising political extremism rather than an actual doctrine of genocide against Palestinians influencing Israeli action. The suffering of Palestinians in Gaza due to Israeli missile strikes is appalling and heartbreaking, in every case. Several legitimate arguments may be put forth challenging the Israeli government’s position that they make every effort to minimize senseless loss of civilian life. In relation to the ongoing war spurred by Hamas’ attacks of October 7, one might question the Israeli government’s true intent in shutting off electricity and water in Gaza and its effectiveness as a bargaining chip to pressure Hamas into returning the over 200 Israeli and other foreign citizen hostages. Regardless, these points do not mean that Israel is committing genocide. The October 7 horrors signified terrible terrorist attacks by Hamas against Israeli citizens. The attacks were accompanied by videos of the atrocities committed, notes left on murdered persons saying “Death to Jews,” and public declarations by a Hamas leader stating they would do October 7 over again. These actions alone do not necessitate the employment of the term “genocide.” But, they were arguably committed with genocidal intent. Hamas as a political and militant entity has a history of concrete, written reference to demonstrated genocidal goals: first, with their 1988 charter—a document made easily accessible to the public through robust translation and publication—calling for the destruction of Jewish people ( ' The Day of Judgment will not come about until Moslems fight Jews and kill them. Then, the Jews will hide behind rocks and trees, and the rocks and trees will cry out: 'O Moslem, there is a Jew hiding behind me, come and kill him. ' [Article 7] ), and then with their rebranding in 2017, more specifically referencing the liberation of Palestinians from the “colonial Zionist project” of Israel (‘ Hamas affirms that its conflict is with the Zionist project not with the Jews because of their religion .’). By nature of documentation, it is admittedly easier to point to genocidal intent. Paired with ongoing rhetoric by Hamas officials, there is little room for interpretation of the organization’s long term plan: attempting to trigger a disproportionate Israeli military response as to derail normalization with surrounding Arab nations and to “overthrow” the status quo (with a willingness to inflict further suffering and burden on the Palestinian people as a means to an end). The existence of Hamas should not, by any means, condemn the Palestinians in Gaza to collective punishment, nor should it justify sometimes fatal violence committed by Israel settlers in the West Bank. It should not give reason for dehumanizing language, even in reference to designated terrorists. What it should indicate—specifically for the international community—is a conflict muddied by multiple elements and motivations. It should stimulate awareness and critical thinking. Using the term “genocide” in any of the ways described above accomplishes little (or nothing ) in building a more stable future. However, it is extremely successful in fueling further political divides within the global community and inciting rage and violence, painting one side as “good” and the other “evil.” It isolates Israelis while simultaneously fueling a seemingly global antisemitism, emboldening the existing far-right extremists and settlers in the occupied West Bank. Additionally, it fragments rule of law and harms minorities who are targets of true genocide.

Situated in a quaint bay amongst sun-kissed houses, Sciences Po Menton is truly a peculiar place to spend two of the most impactful years of our lives. Many of us come here, leaving behind the safety of a familiar environment, to confront both the pleasure and pain of newfound liberty. < Back Reflections on Mentonese Life With Former Student, Professor Ismail Hamoumi By Emilia Kohlmeyer April 29, 2022 Another year at Sciences Po Menton is ending. 2As are passing onto their next journey and 1As are taking on the responsibility of preserving the Mentonese student culture. The legacy of Soundproof, the campus party house, is being transferred to a new enthusiastic quadruplet, and many events, such as the collective chant-writing session, represent a modicum of traditions which are transmitted over generations of Sciences Pistes. Reflecting upon the months since I moved to Menton, I grasped the profound impact our small French Riviera town had on me. I would have never pictured the extent to which this student community would be able to shape us when I first arrived. Situated in a quaint bay amongst sun-kissed houses, Sciences Po Menton is truly a peculiar place to spend two of the most impactful years of our lives. Many of us come here, leaving behind the safety of a familiar environment, to confront both the pleasure and pain of newfound liberty. I was fortunate enough to discuss this strange Mentonese journey into adulthood with one of our very own alumni. Former-student-turned-1A-sociology-professor, Ismail Hamoumi has completed the full circle of the Menton experience and was kind enough to sit down with me to offer his reflections on the student life of his day. The Menton experience could be described as both incredibly intense and influential — a microcosm of around 300 students from all over the world, sharing the same buildings, streets, and social spaces. This has an enormous impact on social relations. Privacy is much more limited, as perfectly exemplified by a 2A warning me not to gossip on Rue Longue in my first week here. Indeed, not much of anything remains private in Menton, as it is routine to run into a minimum of three other students each time you leave your home. Hamoumi emphasized the profound effect this leaves on our process of identity construction. Leaving home as inquisitive and malleable adolescents provides us with the liberty to experiment with new identities – ones that could potentially deviate from our familiar culture. Everything new we experience challenges our perception of self. This is compounded by our numerous daily social interactions with a highly international community. Students leave Menton with a more stable sense of self, remarked Hamoumi. Our identities are only reinforced by the diversity of people and thoughts that can be found on our Menton campus. But not everything has remained consistent. Menton has also witnessed some changes in the six years since Professor Hamoumi graduated. The student body has increased by a third. Many more associations now contribute to the blooming social scene and, to my suprise , even the vivacious nightlife, a pillar of the Menton culture, is a fairly new phenomenon previously limited to Le Retro. In Professor Hamoumi’s era, social life was mostly confined to the outdoors, a few larger apartments, or nights in Monaco on which a memorable part of the night invariably included 3 a.m. bus rides along serpentine roads, causing some alcohol and dizziness induced “incidents.” Conversely, many of the festivities of the last year took place in apartments. An iconic party spot in contemporary Menton is Soundproof — the student residence where wild nights sometimes start, but always end. Professor Hamoumi cited a similar apartment from his time in Menton. But it is yet to be confirmed whether it was in the same building as Soundproof, or if they were just on the same street. However, there remain a few notable constants besides the integral role of the ummah and a lingering separation between the English and French track. It seems that the Mercedes Benz of the owner of the New Asian Store is a product of the sponsorship of generations of Sciences Pistes’ late-night alcohol purchases. The culinary scene of Menton has also not been subject to much change, including the traditional takeout pizza from Volcano or dinners at Marrakech and Al Vecchio Forno. An honorable mention should also be awarded to our very own Michael Jackson, whose effervescent presence is an integral part of Mentonese life and spirit. It is clear that much in Menton seems to remain and accompany hundreds of Sciences Pistes well after their departure. As a rising 2A, it is clearer to me now how much responsibility weighs on us to preserve the community we have created and the traditions that mark our student life. Every generation of students has contributed a little piece of the ummah and once we leave a piece of our life will remain, kept alive by new eager students experiencing their own growth into adulthood and profoundly shaping their own identity.

La politique regorge de mystères. L’un d’eux, parmi les plus importants, est l’explication d’un phénomène à l'œuvre depuis quelques décennies dans les démocraties occidentales. < Back Extrême-droite : les raisons d’une percée électorale transnationale By Jonathan Smidtas Schalita “La peur mène à la colère, la colère mène à la haine, la haine… mène à la souffrance” Maître Yoda La politique regorge de mystères. L’un d’eux, parmi les plus importants, est l’explication d’un phénomène à l'œuvre depuis quelques décennies dans les démocraties occidentales. Ce phénomène est l’entrée des partis qualifiés par leurs adversaires d’extrême-droite au centre du jeu politique. Qualifiés d'extrême-droite, mais jamais revendiqués comme tels. L’explication classique est simple : depuis la fin de la Seconde Guerre mondiale et les horreurs du régime nazi, le qualificatif d’extrême-droite est devenu plus que péjoratif. Refuser l’étiquette infâme ne serait alors qu’une stratégie afin de ne pas effrayer un électorat modéré. Poussé à son paroxysme, cela culminerait dans une politique de dédiabolisation consistant non seulement à refuser la qualification d’extrême-droite, mais même à adopter des positions modérées tout en gardant, au fond, un même fil directeur raciste. Mais peut-être ne sont-ce là que des idées fausses, fruit d’une vision déformée de la situation politique contemporaine. Réaliser un lien direct entre les extrêmes-droites d’hier et d’aujourd’hui serait alors une erreur. Certes, hier comme aujourd’hui, ces partis se fondent sur l’acharnement contre une population minoritaire, bouc-émissaire explicatif de tous les maux dont le plus important se trouverait être le délitement du pays. Toutefois, le degré de radicalité serait tellement différent qu’il entraînerait un changement de nature. Affirmer cela serait faire preuve d’une naïveté confondante. Ce serait oublier que l'extrême-droite ne se réduit pas au projet génocidaire hitlérien, mais constitue une famille politique plus large dont les hérauts contemporains ne font que reprendre les thèses traditionnelles. Rejet de l’étranger, projet autoritaire, opposition à la démocratie représentative, complotisme… Les racines sont les mêmes et le danger toujours présent. La majorité des électeurs français l’a compris et vote contre les représentants de l’extrême-droite. Mais ils furent toujours moins nombreux : Jacques Chirac recueillait 82% des suffrages en 2002, Emmanuel Macron 66% en 2017 et seulement 58% en 2022. La baisse représente quand même un quart des suffrages exprimés. Presque partout en Occident, un même phénomène s’observe : les digues ne s’effondrent pas toujours, mais ne cessent de s’affaiblir. Dans un contexte de marasme économique et de questionnement identitaire dans un monde plus que jamais changeant, pourquoi sommes-nous en train de reproduire les erreurs du passé ? Différentes explications ont été apportées. L’une, parmi les plus classiques et que l’auteur partageait il y a peu, est la peur — peur de l’immigration ou du déclassement économique. Pour le politologue et professeur à Sciences Po Martial Foucault, dont l’interview joue un rôle central dans la rédaction de cet article, ce n’est pas la peur mais la colère qui explique ce vote. Un ouvrage, Les origines du populisme, appuie notamment cette thèse. Dans différents pays occidentaux, les enquêtes sont formelles : le principal déterminant du vote pour les partis extrémistes est la colère. Simplement, la colère se marie avec une confiance élevée pour les électeurs d’extrême-gauche alors que cette colère s’allie avec une forte méfiance pour les électeurs d’extrême-droite. La question du déclencheur du vote pour l’extrême-droite n’est pourtant pas résolue. Si la colère est corrélée, est-elle pour autant la cause du vote ? N’y a-t-il pas une variable cachée échappant aux enquêtes statistiques ? Et si effectivement c’est la colère qui entraîne le vote, la question est de savoir ce qui déclenche cette colère. Lorsque l’on ne dispose pas de preuves empiriques de ce que l’on affirme, l’appel au bon-sens est souvent utile. Ce dernier permet de trancher la question : oui c’est évidemment la colère qui cause le vote pour l’extrême-droite car cette dernière propose un programme, justement, colérique. En colère contre la mondialisation, contre l’immigration, contre l’Europe, contre les “élites”... Mais de quoi naît cette colère ? Pour répondre, revenons à la citation du vénérable Maître Yoda “La peur mène à la colère”. Effectivement, il est raisonnable de considérer que la peur contient les germes de la colère. Si les étrangers ou la mondialisation sont la source de tant de colère, c’est avant tout car ils provoquent de la peur. Les “étrangers”, la “mondialisation”, c’est au fond très flou, très impersonnel, très inconnu. Et l’inconnu effraie. On nous objectera que nous ne faisons que déplacer la focale analytique sans répondre clairement à la question. D’accord, l’ignorance d’une chose mène à sa crainte, et la crainte constitue le lit de la colère. Mais on ne peut pas affirmer que c’est l'ignorance qui explique le vote pour l’extrême-droite. À moins d’affirmer que les sociétés occidentales sont frappées par une nouvelle épidémie d’ignorance, l’idée ne fait sens. Finalement, l’essence du vote pour l’extrême-droite, si elle existe, demeure insaisissable. Mais son fruit reste connu, car la colère mène à la haine qui, elle-même, mène à la souffrance. Nous remercions notre professeur de sciences politiques, Martial Foucault pour ses précieuses analyses sur la question du vote pour l’extrême-droite qui ont permis de nourrir cet article et à l’auteur d’affiner son opinion.

< Back Minors are Pushed Back at the Franco-Italian Border By Saoirse Aherne September 27, 2023 Since February, Sciences Po Refugee Help (SPRH) has been conducting weekly permanences at the Franco-Italian border to document the pushback of people on the move. At the permanences, SPRH volunteers wait outside the Italian border police station to receive migrants turned away from France. In total, the student association is stationed at the border for 11.5 hours each Sunday. Volunteers bring tea and coffee, notify individuals that no buses run on Sundays and guide them toward Ventimiglia. The aim is to create a sense of accountability among authorities, as the presence of volunteers reminds police that their actions are under observation. SPRH ensures that the Red Cross is called when young children are released, and volunteers can contact other regional solidarity actors to connect people on the move with local services. SPRH members offer what limited information they can, explaining in simple terms why a person has been rejected and where to go in Ventimiglia for food, legal support or a place to charge their phone. Ultimately, the extent of the support that can be provided is limited, and volunteers frequently encounter victims of unclear legal processes for whom no solution can be offered. In many cases, all volunteers can do is provide conversation, recognition and kindness. In 105 hours of observation, SPRH has encountered over 600 men, women and children at the Franco-Italian frontier. This suggests that about seven people are forced back from the border per hour. Of those pushed back, close to a fifth have been women, while close to 11 percent were accompanied minors, many of whom were under 12. About two percent were identified as unaccompanied minors. January 22 2023 Volunteers encounter a group of 16 year olds upon their rejection from France The first boy holds up his rejection paper, his age has been falsified: “My birthdate is the 23 of April 2007. They put the 23 of April 2004….With all this suffering, I ask myself why the French behave in this way, why are they cruel to us? We are minors.” After beginning this project, volunteers quickly noticed a perpetual violation of international law at the border via the pushback of unaccompanied minors. This observation has been corroborated by a number of humanitarian groups working along the Franco-Italian border. The right to asylum for minors is established by the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which states in Article 22, “State Parties shall take all appropriate measures to ensure that a child who is seeking refugee status… Receive appropriate protection and humanitarian assistance.” Equally, French law recognizes the right of minors to claim asylum as, in 2018, the Nice Administrative Court ruled that it is illegal to send minors who enter French territory back to Italy. The European Council on Refugees and Exiles maintains that asylum-seeking children must be considered as children before they are considered asylum seekers. This means they ought to be awarded all the rights guaranteed to children in the United Nations Charter of the Rights of the Child. The Nice court, however, found the French authorities guilty of “a serious violation of the higher interests of the minors.” Despite the numerous denunciations of the pushback of minors from both local and international humanitarian organizations, French police have continued the practice. SPRH has gathered dozens of accounts of police forging signatures and incorrectly documenting dates of birth to justify the expulsion of children from French territory. Albeit true that many minors are first incorrectly registered as major when they arrive in Italy and thus appear as such in the system on the Italian side of the border, French police remain accountable for the forgery of signatures and dates of birth. Moreover, in cases where individuals can present documents that prove their status as minors, it should not be at the discretion of border police to determine whether these documents are sufficient proof of minor status. Ultimately, French police have no actual legal authority to determine who is a minor; however, gaps in the vague border protocol have resulted in police exercising this authority. March 26 2023: Testimony from an SPRH volunteer “We encountered a group of minors with documents proving their age. What’s more, they claim to have been registered as minors in Italy. They say they escaped from a camp for minors in Lampedusa as the conditions were unbearable. Given this, we approach the Italian police and ask why the boys are being rejected. They tell us the machine to check the registry for the boys' age is broken and that they should come back the next day. It is shocking that a faulty machine is sufficient justification for the arbitrary expulsion of unaccompanied minors.” The Border Report The perpetuation of this illegal practice has sparked the interest of the SPRH research pole, who have decided to investigate this border in more depth. Students have engaged in broader research on the violations of international law by authorities in this region. This includes the suspension of human rights in the informal detention center at the Franco-Italian border in Menton, as well as the lack of sufficient basic health services, the consequences of the militarisation of the border and the practice of racialized controls. The research, which has been conducted over the course of the last 6 months and on par with the border permanences, is being compiled in a report which will be published on June 1st, 2023. The project is called “Stories in Motion” and a website, which we invite you to visit at https://storiesinmotion.glitch.me is already up and running. Follow @st0riesinm0ti0n on instagram for more testimony from the people working in, living on and crossing the Franco-Italian border.

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

Just months ago, famed campus dweller, Ollie, was your average street dog in Greece. No longer. Ollie is better traveled than most of his human counterparts. From Greece, he made his way to the sunny Côte d’Azur. He spends his days lazing about the illustrious Sciences Po Menton campus — a university that, with a less than 20% acceptance rate, many of us struggled to get into. But Sciences Po is just a temporary stop on Ollie’s journey to New York City, where he will ultimately reside. < Back From the Streets of Greece to the Côte d’Azur: A Canine Success Story By Celeste Abourjeili and Ata Tezel April 30, 2022 Just months ago, famed campus dweller, Ollie, was your average street dog in Greece. No longer. Ollie is better traveled than most of his human counterparts. From Greece, he made his way to the sunny Côte d’Azur. He spends his days lazing about the illustrious Sciences Po Menton campus — a university that, with a less than 20% acceptance rate, many of us struggled to get into. But Sciences Po is just a temporary stop on Ollie’s journey to New York City, where he will ultimately reside. Ollie is many things: he is a chronic gnawer, a frequent park-goer, a champion hide-and-seeker, and a people person — though he’s still shy around other dogs. But these skills are not just any canine hobbies, according to his owner, professor Daniel Traficonte. These tendencies stem from the survival skills Ollie developed living on the streets and were essential to his escape. “He used his cuteness to survive in the streets and get fed by locals,” said Traficonte. One part of the strategy is that Ollie never barks and is tame around people. Anyone kind enough to pet him may even bear witness to his go-to two-legged dance move. Though Ollie refused to comment on this, Traficonte asserts that a main cause of Ollie’s success had to do with his breed and size. “He’s small enough to fit easily on a plane but also looks big enough to give a big dog vibe,” said Traficonte, describing the compromise he had to make with his wife to meet their differing desires in a dog. In fact, the couple had to do an intensive internet search to find a dog fitting this vision. The Kokoni, a native Greek breed, was the solution they found on an obscure Facebook group. They journeyed to Greece. The rest is history. “I want to breed these in New York,” said Traficonte, arguing that if Americans knew about these perfect house dogs, everyone would own one. Though Traficonte’s career as a future dog breeder is up in the air with his wife opposing the career choice, one thing is certain: Ollie is going to love New York, and New York is going to love him back. “We haven’t told [Ollie] yet,” Traficonte said regarding the family’s eventual move to the Big Apple. There, Traficonte will commute upstate to work as a tenured professor at Syracuse University one season per year.. Nevertheless, we asked Ollie whether he was excited for New York. He answered with an inquisitive stare, eyes wide open and tail rapidly wagging — a fitting response for the Odysseus of dogs. With a brand new chapter on the horizon for Ollie, the Mentonese are bittersweet about his upcoming departure. “It’s tough to see him leaving just as we became so close,” said one emotional Sciences Piste. “Nonetheless, it will be incredible to watch him live the American Dream!” Only time will tell what Ollie will achieve in New York, but for now, he wishes for nothing but friends and trips.

En ayant tout ce passé pour nous prévenir, comment n'avons nous pas vu Musk venir? Certains disaient encore en 2022 que son rachat de Twitter n'était ni grave ni dangereux! Comment laissons-nous faire ses rachats progressifs et la transformation de de chaînes d'information en usines d’opinions essentiellement d'extrême droite? Est-ce que les magnats des médias d’aujourd’hui sont destinés à choisir—ou du moins influencer—les dirigeants de demain? < Back Les Milliardaires, La Politique et Les Médias Anonymous January 31, 2025 En suivant l’actualité, beaucoup d’entre nous observons la montée en puissance d’Elon Musk avec effroi, entrevoyant déjà un monde où sa plateforme X et son pouvoir du haut de ses centaines de milliards de dollars influencent les élections—non seulement aux Etats Unis, avec son soutien affiché à Donald Trump, mais à travers le monde. En effet, en Allemagne il clame haut et fort son appui à l'AfD; aux Royaume Uni il soutient le parti d'extrême droite Reform UK; à travers l'Europe il affiche une sympathie claire pour les partis populistes. Dans ce contexte, il semble donc important de nous remémorer la réalité historique des magnats des médias sous la forme notamment de deux exemples très différents: Randolph Hearst et Alfred Hugenberg. Dans un deuxième temps, il est aussi important de constater les risques que représentent des monopoles médiatiques privés ici en France, spécifiquement ceux qui tournent le dos à la liberté de la presse dès qu’il s'agit de respecter sa pluralité. Je ne vous apprendrais rien en vous parlant de Musk ou de Murdoch, car leurs noms sont omniprésents, mais connaissez-vous William Randolph Hearst? Ce Millionnaire qui a inspiré le personnage de Citizen Kane est en effet l’un des premiers magnats de la presse, ayant assis son emprise sur la fin du 19e et le début du 20e siècle américain. Cet homme a fini par posséder une trentaine de journaux à travers les Etats Unis dont certains des plus importants de l'époque, notamment The Examiner en Californie et The Journal à New York. Il a largement utilisé ces journaux pour promouvoir des idées xénophobes, et est tenu en partie responsable de l'intervention américaine à Cuba par ses efforts en ce sens dans ses publications. Je voudrais ici faire un parallèle avec l’implication d’Elon Musk dans la guerre en Ukraine que ce soit par le rôle critique que joue Starlink , tel qu’on a pu le constater quand il a retiré son soutien à une opération ukrainienne en 2022, ou par sa communication avec les dirigeants Russe et Ukrainien. Hearst a aussi grandement soutenu la candidature de Roosevelt et s’est lui-même investi en politique en tant que représentant puis en tant que candidat à l'investiture démocrate. On remarque ici de clairs parallèles avec les pires prévisions des risques du pouvoir des géants des médias aujourd’hui. En effet, Hearst est reconnu comme l’un des pionniers de la presse à scandale, et surtout du fake news, qu’il a manipulé au long de sa vie pour promouvoir un point de vu xénophobe et interventionniste. Les risques que comportent de telles techniques aujourd’hui sont décuplés à travers des réseaux comme X et ceux de Meta qui peuvent atteindre le monde entier. C'est pourquoi la fin du fact checking de Meta est si grave dans un contexte où nombreux sont les pays « très vulnérables à la désinformation, qui engendre de l’instabilité politique, des ingérences dans les élections, de la violence de masse et même des génocides » selon l’International Fact-Checking Network . Développons donc cette idée de l’impact du soutien médiatique à des candidats extrêmes. Ce qui est peut être le plus effrayant pour bon nombre d’entre nous au sujet de Musk, c’est son ambition de pousser des idées et des candidats d'extrême droite et, au risque de vous sembler pessimiste, il semble important de souligner un parallèle historique qui résonne avec ces peurs. Alfred Hugenberg, grand homme d'affaires Allemand propriétaire de journaux et chef du Parti populaire national allemand a pour un temps prêté main forte à Hitler, au point d'être dans son premier cabinet. Bien que n'étant en rien le seul responsable de la réussite du parti NSDAP, le soutien de l’empire économique et médiatique de Hugenberg a certainement joué un rôle. Il était non seulement un grand propriétaire de média, mais il avait aussi un studio de cinéma et une agence de presse. Son soutien à Hitler n'était pas désintéressé, ayant espéré jusqu'au dernier moment pouvoir se servir d’Hitler. Mais en fin de compte, ce que l’histoire doit retenir de lui c’est qu’il a mis sa fortune et sa notoriété au service d’un politicien d'extrême droite qui est devenu l’un des pires dictateurs. Nous pouvons malheureusement aujourd’hui tracer un fort parallèle avec les 260 millions de dollars et la puissance médiatique que Musk a mis au profit de la campagne de Donald Trump, mais aussi à son ambition politique en tant qu'allié de Trump et membre de son nouveau gouvernement. Ces magnats ne sont pas que des stars internationales de la propagande politique. E n effet, nous avons nos magnats home grown . Les médias français sont largement détenus par quelques milliardaires , notamment Rodolphe Saadé, Bernard Arnault, Xavier Niel et Vincent Bolloré. Ce dernier va nous intéresser tout particulièrement, car son empire médiatique, qui comprend notamment Canal+, CNews, Europe 1 et le JDD a une tendance très notoire à imposer une ligne éditoriale très à droite. Les critiques de son empire médiatique sont multiples. Il s'agit d’une part d’une fragilisation de l'indépendance des médias dans lesquels il investit, faisant ce que certains appellent un ‘nettoyage’ au moment du rachat pour ne garder que ceux qui soutiennent sa vision. En effet, dans le plus récent de ces rachats, celui du JDD en 2023, un agenda politique transparaît à travers le choix de Geoffroy Lejeune en tant que nouveau rédacteur en chef, juste après que le magazine très à droite Valeurs Actuelles le licencie car trop extrême. D’autre part, Bolloré est reconnu comme le plus redoutable magnat français car il s’attaque aussi aux individus et aux organisations qui s’opposent à lui, les traînant en justice et les menaçant selon un reportage mené par RSF System B , qui explore largement les méfaits de l’empire Bolloré. En 2019, ses tentatives pour empêcher la sortie du livre « Vincent tout-puissant » lui ont même valu une condamnatio n pour « procédure abusive ». Il apparaît donc raisonnable de s'alarmer de la situation en France quand nous voyons tous ces fâcheux parallèles plus ou moins lointains. Je voudrais donc finir sur une note non pas conclusive mais plutôt interrogative. En ayant tout ce passé pour nous prévenir, comment n'avons nous pas vu Musk venir? Certains disaient encore en 2022 que son rachat de Twitter n'était ni grave ni dangereux! Comment laissons-nous faire ses rachats progressifs et la transformation de de chaînes d'information en usines d’opinions essentiellement d'extrême droite? Est-ce que les magnats des médias d’aujourd’hui sont destinés à choisir—ou du moins influencer—les dirigeants de demain? Photo credits: DonkeyHotey on Flickr

< Back Can We Cope with COP? Maia Zasler January 31, 2025 My aunt handed me a rectangle wrapped in dreidel-adorned paper. I opened my Hanukkah gift: a teal notebook from the 29th Conference of the Parties (COP) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) hosted in Baku, Azerbaijan. She let out a laugh as I processed the gift in front of me. “Even the swag wasn’t sustainable!” Climate change is arguably the most substantial issue of our time. Transcending borders, unbothered by race and religion, the often catastrophic impacts of detrimental anthropogenic activities affect us all. We need no more reminders after this first month of 2025, from the destructive Palisades fires, tearing through 23,700 acres in California during the state’s historically wettest month to the news of Hong Kong breaking 35 temperature records—recording its hottest year since 1884. 2024 marked the “decade of deathly heat;” “once-in-a-generation” storms occur once a year, blizzards reach the southern points of the U.S., and other climate-related disasters destroy food supply chains. A global issue necessitates global solutions. Theoretically, COP provides a forum for some of the brightest diplomats, world leaders, climate negotiators, and activist groups to come together and formulate a way forward, making concessions to mitigate a devolving climate crisis and plan for future problems. The first COP was held in Berlin, Germany in 1995; under a framework of international cooperation, with various required reduction targets for “developed country Parties,” COP stands as the singular format for climate negotiations in the global space. But it’s not enough anymore—if it ever was in the first place. From 11 to 24 November, COP29-goers engaged in a series of lackluster strategy drafts, missing necessary benchmarks for CO2 reductions and commitments to climate finance. A London School of Economics study estimated that 6.5 trillion USD would be needed on average per year by 2030 to meet climate targets in advanced economies, China, and emerging markets and developing countries (EMDCs) other than China. The G77 bloc—developing countries plus China— demanded 1.3 trillion USD by 2035 from historic emitters such as the United States and European Union countries. Another clear and worrying misstep was a missing follow-up to COP28’s declaration of a determined “ transition away ” from fossil fuels. No concrete decisions were made in Baku, largely in part of Saudi Arabia’s refusal to “accept any text that targets any specific sectors, including fossil fuel.” Was COP29 doomed from the start? Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev told the UN climate conference that oil and gas are a “gift of God.” His father (and the former President of the Republic of Azerbaijan), Heydar Aliyev, phrased the country’s vision for its natural resources years ago: “Oil is the greatest wealth of Azerbaijan and belongs to the people, and not just to the current generation, but also the generations to come.” Azerbaijan was created in the wake of political and economic disarray, following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991; Azeris needed a long-term, national development plan to turn their resources into a means of profit. For Azerbaijan, these resources are oil and natural gas, and Azeri leadership continues to expand these sectors. The fact that the COP presidency was secured by a country confident in expanding its fossil fuel market speaks to just part of the problem. Of course, no Azeri official would admit to a potential conflict of interest. As reported by the BBC, President Aliyev said Azerbaijan had been subject to "slander and blackmail" ahead of COP29. According to Aliyev, a “Western fake news media” campaign had been waged in advance of conference proceedings. But the Baku leadership was tenuous at best. The chairman of the conference, Samir Nuriyev , was also the Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources and a former oil executive for Azerbaijan’s state-owned oil and gas company, Socar. On the first day of the conference, Baku’s leadership did push forward and closed an issue that had previously been at a stalemate: operationalizing carbon markets. Parties could make the (hasty) choice of either accepting or rejecting a framework for country-to-country carbon trading and crediting mechanism—the opening of a carbon market , finalizing the last remaining component of the Paris Agreement, which was drafted a decade ago. Baku’s leadership was not as heavy-handed with mobilizing recovery funds for climate-related disasters. The UN Adaptation Fund, “a two-decade cornerstone of resilience-building against extreme weather and rising seas,” secured just 61 million USD against its 300 million USD annual target. And, as previously stated, the provisions of curbing future fossil fuel production went unaddressed. However, it would be foolish to divert all blame for conference shortcomings to one Party, even if that Party was the esteemed host. Azerbaijan contributes only 0.15% of total global greenhouse gas emissions. Meanwhile, the U.S., which has added the most CO2 into the atmosphere since the inception of the Industrial Revolution, and is often perceived (and portrays itself as) the “ world’s police ,” is likely to abandon future climate talks (follow-ups to the decisions pushed off at COP29) with the next Trump administration—one of Trump’s first actions this term was to pull out of the Paris Climate Agreement. China, whose production operations and general fossil fuel-centric activities account for 35% of the world’s carbon emissions, was expected to step-up at this last conference. Another global superpower, attention has shifted to China as the “natural successor” to spearheading climate adaptation and mitigation. Yet China was “ largely silent ” over the course of the two-week conference. There is much to do at COP30, to be held in Belém, Brazil in November this year. Aggressive climate action is required to turn back the already surpassed 1.5-degree Celsius warming limit. Each of the past 10 years (2015–2024) was one of the 10 warmest years on record, and 2024 was the first year to go beyond 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels. Dancing around the issue, pivoting focus to climate financing and “ambitious” goals for a green energy transition—although both important—cannot erase the fact that the continued burning and reliance on fossil fuels will bring about an infernal end. We can keep coping for now, putting off somewhat painful choices and making difficult concessions. We could wait to see how long nations—that should have learned from environmentally costly development—will avoid leading by a better example, using their resources to aid so-called “developing” countries reach their goals in a greener way. But I’ve never liked when things are done at the last minute. You never know when you just might run out of time to get a job done. Maybe I’ll jot that down in my new notebook. Photo credits: Wikimedia

< Back Loi “immigration” en France : entre crises politiques et institutionnelle By Salomé Greffier January 31, 2024 Le 19 décembre 2023, les députés et sénateurs français réunis dans une commission mixte paritaire adoptent le texte controversé de la Loi “immigration” proposée par le gouvernement macroniste dès février de la même année. Cette loi ne constitue que le prolongement d’une politique menée au cours des cinquante dernières années par les gouvernements français successifs. Ainsi, depuis 1974, sous la présidence de Valéry Giscard d’Estaing, la mise en place de mesures pour encadrer et limiter les flux migratoires, sous couvert de sécurité nationale, marque le paysage politique français de clivages profonds. Dès 2006, le gouvernement évoque la notion d’immigration choisie supposant des mesures d’aide au retour dans les pays d’origine des réfugiés, un durcissement des conditions du regroupement familial ou encore l’instauration d’une carte “compétence et talents” pour sélectionner la main-d'œuvre étrangère. Au centre de ces mesures gravitent les idées de mérite, d’assimilation et d’identité nationale. Sur ce terreau historique, la dernière Loi “immigration” défendue par l’actuel ministre de l’intérieur, Gérald Darmanin, était présentée comme un compromis entre contrôle accru de l’immigration et une meilleure intégration. Le texte proposait en filigrane une pression prononcée sur l’obtention des droits de séjour pour les étudiants, familles et travailleurs, ainsi qu’une limitation toujours plus importante du nombre d’entrées sur le territoire et un encadrement de l’obtention de la nationalité en invoquant le droit du sol. La version proposée par le gouvernement a d’abord été votée par le Sénat puis remaniée par la commission des lois de l’Assemblée nationale. L’adoption d’une motion de rejet de la part des députés a rendu caduque cette version du texte, nécessitant l’intervention d’une commission mixte paritaire. Les conclusions de cette dernière convainc alors 214 sénateurs principalement centristes et affiliés à la droite, à l’exception d’une abstention dans le rang des Républicains, face à 114 voix associées à la Nupes, au Parti Socialiste, aux communistes et aux écologistes. Les élus de Renaissance, le parti du président, se sont quant à eux montrés clivés avec 15 voix en faveur de la Loi contre 4 en défaveur et une abstention. De même, à l’Assemblée nationale, le texte rassemble 349 députés et souligne des divisions au sein du parti de d’Emmanuel Macron: 20 députés s’étant prononcés contre la Loi et 17 choisissant l’abstention. L'évocation d’une démission de la part de six ministres appuie davantage encore la situation de crise engendrée par la ratification de cette Loi. En conséquence, l’adoption de la Loi “immigration” constitue une victoire pour la majorité sénatoriale de droite et signe, selon les partis de gauche, l’officialisation de son intégration à la majorité gouvernementale. Plus largement, cette mesure marque selon le journal quotidien espagnol El País une remise en question de “l’essence du macronisme, qui se proclame ni de gauche, ni de droite” faisant par ailleurs de cette caractéristique son principal instrument électoral. Désormais, le parti est associé à ce “compromis humiliant avec les partis de droite” affirme le journal suisse Le Temps , un signe supplémentaire du glissement de ce gouvernement vers la droite, faisant écho au mouvement politique actuel dans une grande partie de l’Europe. Au-delà de cette crise politique, résultant de l’obédience politique du gouvernement actuel, la Loi “immigration” interroge sur le respect des valeurs républicaines. Si pour certains sénateurs tels que Philippe Bonnecarrère (Union centriste) ce texte “exprime une autorité régalienne forte dans le respect de l’Etat de droit” faisant état du bon fonctionnement des institutions, d’autres affirment que ce texte s’éloigne des valeurs républicaines d’égalité et de fraternité. Ainsi, les partis de gauche accusent le Sénat et le Parlement d’alimenter des idées extrémistes telles que la préférence nationale et le populisme. Alors que Gérald Darmanin avance que “Des mesures sont manifestement contraires à la Constitution”, rendant certaines mesures de la Loi inapplicables, il faut sans doute considérer les raisons pour lesquelles de telles mesures ont pu être votées au sein d’institutions républicaines. La Loi “immigration” ne sera donc probablement pas appliquée dans les faits, mais il n’en demeure pas moins que sa rédaction alarme quant au maintien des valeurs fondamentales de notre République.

< Back The Syrian Question Anonymous January 31, 2025 We all heard that the Assad regime toppled after 50 years of dictatorship. However, recent history taught us that such overthrows and their subsequent reforms are illusory in the end, seductive at first and inevitably and ultimately evanescent. Will this be the case for Syria? Will it repeat the history of its neighbors? And if not, will it become an Islamic republic, as the actual leaders seem to desire? How Bashar Assad’s rule has been toppled with such ease has already been extensively covered. However, what I think has been partly neglected in the wake of pure joy that emerged from the removal of Bashar is the unseemingly Islamist orientation of the wave of rulers, with al-Golani as the president and Mohammed al-Bashir as the prime minister of the interim government. Of the two, the de facto leader of Syria is the first one mentioned, he being the star of all interviews and foreign diplomats. Indeed, anything is better than what the ex-regime has subjected its citizens to, a rule which can best be described through pictures (as shown in Caesar’s photos and Saidnaya) rather than words; words have a way of sterilizing emotions. That is why photos speak for themselves, without a need for a description. Exactly for this reason, specifically, the bar being so low, the new regime must be supervised continuously so as not to fall into the dark night of totalitarianism, as Syria's neighbors have done after the Arab Spring of 2011. Although the leader of the regime, Shar`a or, more known through his nom de guerre, Al-Golani, has made drastic attempts to improve his image (as an ex-Al-Qaeda fighter), his recent actions and gestures cast a shadow on his willingness for concessions and reforms. His attire changed from a military uniform of the rebel fighter to a sharp, European suit. His discourse was altogether inclusive, with repeated mentions and support for religious tolerance and civil rights (though much less so on women’s rights). His post-coup attitude was cool-headed, pacifistic and reconciliatory, not seeking retribution from the torturers of Bashar’s regime. However, he refused to shake hands with Baerbock , Germany's Minister for Foreign Affairs, all the while offering his hand to her French counterpart. Additionally, it has been revealed that the newly appointed Minister of Justice has been seen overseeing the execution of two women in the rebel-controlled region of Idlib, accused of prostitution and adultery. Both these signs ought not to be omitted because they show hints of what the new regime truly leans toward, namely, a moderate-not-so-moderate Islamic state, with little regard to women's rights and the establishment of Islam as the state religion (hinted from the proposed curriculum that desecularizes education ). However, given the conservatism of Syrian society, such an approach could be more viable in the long term than a government that would unequivocally embrace Western values. An outburst of modernity and progressivism applied to a population with precarious education and sky-high rates of poverty, would not stick to the core being of the “common” man. As was seen in the Iranian Revolution and the emergence of the Muslim Brotherhood in the ‘70s in Egypt, the upheaval came from down below, from people left out spiritually by the regimes. Forms must be intertwined with the substance for a regime to endure. The process of Italian unification also provides evidence towards this direction, because in the end it was not the radicals such as Mazzini and Garibaldi who won the historical contest, but the moderate and all-encompassing Cavour—a precursor of Bismarck in the application of Realpolitik. Having said all of this, I feel compelled to add that Al-Golani is playing a tremendously unifying role in the reconstruction of Syria. He is forced to play a Bismarckian role, satisfying, although partially, both his Islamist comrades and the appeals of European powers. However practical this approach may be, he appears as a shallow man, hiding his beliefs for the sake of his own country. A tad Machiavellian one may say, but the most successful path one could take, as history has countless times shown us. But the question remains: after managing to stabilize and revitalize the country, removing thus the reliance on external forces, will he turn to his current associates, or will he adhere to a more progressive mindset? That is yet to be seen. Photo credits: Military Intelligence Directorate, 1996, Wikimedia Commons .

How can believers trust an institution that continuously lies? How can they trust an institution that fails to live by the teachings of the word it claims to follow? How can one believe in the good, in the charity of an institution that causes so much pain? I am not suggesting the Church is inherently flawed, after all I still am a Christian and I still believe in the Church, but there is no denying the wrongdoings of its executive. The question is whether the Church will confront the sin lying in its foundation—for an institution like the Church cannot stand if it hides the rot within. < Back Broken Faith: Confronting Abuse within the Catholic Church Rebecca Canton For centuries, people around the globe have regarded the Catholic Church as an institution offering sanctuary, a place of rest and protection, evident in passages like Proverbs 18:10, ‘the name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous man runs into it and is safe.’ Christian children are taught religion is dependable as a source of guidance and truth, myself included. Yet, such promises do not tend to reflect current realities. The revelations of widespread abuse in the Church create a shadow over these ideals. The Church and its confessional, once considered a place for repentance and reflection, have become symbolic of secrecy and cover-up. I am a Christian, I believe in God, I believe in the Bible. Do I believe in the systemic abuse of children and vulnerable adults by priests and clergy members? Rather obviously not. I’m a Christian, not devilish. So then, why has this happened? Why have, since 1950, around 216,000 children in France been sexually abused by clergy members? 216,000 childhoods were destroyed in France alone, by people they were taught to trust. I’ve read the Bible and nowhere does it state ‘Thou shalt not refrain from assault,’ not one passage, phrase, nor implication suggests this is the Christian doctrine, that this is acceptable. Yet, until recently, they have gotten away with it. Protected by religion, protected by hierarchy, protected by institutions, such cycles of physical, sexual and mental abuse have been perpetuated throughout the Church for decades. The first time I heard of anything remotely related to abuse within the Church was in 2013. In my home country, the United Kingdom, Cardinal Keith O’Brien, who was the Archbishop of Saint Andrews and Edinburgh, resigned after revelations that he had engaged in predatory sexual relations with priests and seminarians in an abuse of power. I was eight and had just started religious studies. I remember my mother, who is a Protestant and my father, who is a Catholic, discussing this ‘scandal,’ but I did not think much of it. At the same time, I learned a phrase that rang particularly true, ‘a tree with a rotten core cannot stand.’ This metaphor resonates with the Church, with allegations of decades of abuse threatening the foundation of its institutions. It was in the 1980s that revelations of Catholic Church abuse first came to light, with allegations of decades of abuse. And that is just the modern Church. As early as the 11th century, abuse has been reported within the Church, notably when Peter Damian, an Italian Benedictine monk wrote ‘ Liber Gomorrhianus,’ which condemns priests having sexual relations with young boys. Now, since the 1980s, the Church has been hit with ‘scandal’ after ‘scandal.’ It only takes a quick search for ‘Catholic Church abuse’, for thousands of articles to emerge, from a multitude of countries. August 2005, Bell River, Ontario, Canada. Father Charles Henry Sylvestre pleads guilty to 47 counts of sexual abuse between 1952 and 1989. His victims? Girls aged nine to fourteen. August 2020, Germany. 1,412 people accuse at least 654 monks, nuns and other clergy members of abuse. 2017, Australia. The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse finds that out of the 201 Catholic Churchs, 46% had allegations of sexual abuse towards minors. What becomes evident is that this is not one event. Not one ‘scandal’ like my parents told me. This abuse transcends borders, age and gender. It is systematic, ingrained within the very structures of the Church. Perhaps it is unfair to claim this is institutional. After all, not all Catholic priests are sex offenders. Institutions have taken steps, however small, to hold abusers accountable. There have been inquiries into sexual abuse in the Church with a court recently approving a $323 million settlement for abuse victims. Many priests have been forced to resign and in 2005, the ‘Ferns Report,’ an inquiry into allegations of clerical sexual abuse in Ireland, led to an apology from the Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowan and a promise to reform the Irish social service system. Such news fills me with hope. Whilst the historical abuse of children and vulnerable adults must not be ignored or neglected, the Bible teaches us to forgive. That hope is crushed when I see another article of another priest abusing another child in another country. That hope is destroyed even further when I read of how the Church has covered up another scandal. The Bible teaches us to forgive, but certain actions are unforgivable. The Church has apologized, but apologies mean nothing without incremental change. Further, are they really sorry, or are they just sorry they got caught? The most harrowing aspect to these cycles of abuse is that the Church was not unaware—they knew it was happening. So many of the Churches that housed these abusers knew. They knew and they did not care. In many prominent cases from all over the world, it has come to light that information surrounding abuse was intentionally suppressed. Take the 2010 Karadima case in Chile, for example, wherein Fernando Karadima, a Chilean Catholic priest, was accused of sexually abusing boys as early as 1984. Yet when it was found that these accusations were true, the Archbishop of Santiago, Karadima’s superior, took no action. In 2011, the Vatican found Karadima guilty of sexual and psychological abuse and he was forced into retirement and denied practice as a priest under the punishment of a ‘life of prayer and penance.’ Realistically, this was a slap on the wrist, as Karadima had no legal action against him due to the statute of limitations. Another example is from the United States, where on 29 December 2019, it was exposed that multiple bishops had withheld hundreds of names from the accused clergy list. Further, on 6 March 2020, an investigation by the Houston Chronicle and ProPublica revealed that the Catholic Church moved more than 50 accused clergy to other countries to avoid consequences for sex abuse. The story varies from country to country, but the patterns that emerge are the same: abuse has effectively been condoned, creating a system where clergy members think they can act without consequences and where victims are discouraged from coming forward. The hierarchical nature of the Church—characterized by a chain of command, has often led to an environment that leans towards mishandling and concealment of cases regarding sexual abuse. As in such a structure, the clergy and senior officials, the abusers, are protected by layers of secrecy. This system has long protected the reputation of the Church and loyalty over transparency and accountability, as many clergy members have been shunned from Church social circles, not for abuse, but for standing up for the abused. Likewise, it has meant that instead of being imprisoned perpetrators are simply reassigned. With a history of payouts, victims are compelled not to tell their stories. Further, in most religious communities, going against God is seen as blasphemous. Priests and Clergy members are meant to be his representatives, thus there is shame associated with questioning Church executives. Dissent or accusations towards Church members, especially high-ranking ones, can feel like a betrayal, promoting fear of condemnation or even eternal punishment. It is similar to why people tend not to testify against family members— there is a sense of loyalty. Loyalty not only to the Church, but to God and unless the victim wholly rejects religion, it can be hard for them to escape cycles of abuse. Likewise, it is not uncommon for priests and clergy members to have genuine relationships with their victims, acting as father figures to vulnerable children. For some, the Church becomes their family. “Seeing him in shackles and an orange jumpsuit, people asked me, ‘Why don’t you hate him? Why don’t you want to hurt him?’ Well, I do. But at the same time, I have some really strong conflicting feelings. It’s not hard to love the man that he was before he did what he did.” ~ Jim VanSickle The Vatican wishes for a “path of redemption,” which is how the narrative shifts. The very ones inflicting shame on the children they hurt, the ones seen as ‘holy’, now asking, begging, for forgiveness with statements of ‘pain’, of ‘regret’, of ‘institutional failings.’ But it is too late. You can not take back the suffering and erase the harm caused by the hands that touched perniciously. “Then, the next thing you know, he's reaching over there, touching you. You're asleep, wake up and somebody is touching you. I just remember freezing, frozen, kind of out of body.” ~ Mark Belenchia The Catholic Church has committed a heinous crime, the crime of failing generations, from Australia to Ireland, Rome to New York . In a way, the Church has failed not just the abused but its followers as a whole. When I think of God and Christianity, I feel loved, but when I think of the Catholic Church and the abuse of children, that emotion is replaced by disgust. These scandals, especially the failure to do anything about it, taints my religion and no amount of holy water can wash away the sins now ingrained in its very foundations. “I always listened as they said ‘lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil' but they were bestowing evil upon us at the same time” ~ Alicia Sample How can believers trust an institution that continuously lies? How can they trust an institution that fails to live by the teachings of the word it claims to follow? How can one believe in the good, in the charity of an institution that causes so much pain? I am not suggesting the Church is inherently flawed, after all I still am a Christian and I still believe in the Church, but there is no denying the wrongdoings of its executive. The question is whether the Church will confront the sin lying in its foundation—for an institution like the Church cannot stand if it hides the rot within.

< 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.

Malgré la répression du gouvernement, la voix des Iraniens et Iraniennes ne faiblit pas et se fait entendre à travers le monde dans les diasporas américaine, allemande, canadienne ou encore française. < Back La voix des artistes : un soutien essentiel aux soulèvements en Iran By Salomé Greffier October 31, 2023 À l’occasion de la commémoration d’un an de la mort de Mahsa Amini ayant succombé à ses blessures en garde à vue suite à son arrestation par la police des mœurs, les Iraniens et Iraniennes poursuivent leurs combats contre le régime des mollahs arguant fièrement le slogan « Femme, Vie, Liberté ». La mort de cette jeune femme kurde accusée d’avoir mal ajusté son voile le 16 septembre 2022, a déclenché des mouvements de foule sans précédents dans un État où le terreau de la mobilisation civile demeurait déjà riche. Plus précisément, depuis la révolution de 1979, le régime se heurte à sa population qui l’accuse de la diriger d’une main de fer, dissimulant ses exactions derrière d’innombrables mensonges. La dénégation des autorités quant à leur implication dans le décès de Mahsa Amini a poussé l’exaspération des Iraniens à son comble, trouvant dans la rue le seul moyen d’expression de leur colère. Malgré la répression du gouvernement, la voix des Iraniens et Iraniennes ne faiblit pas et se fait entendre à travers le monde dans les diasporas américaine, allemande, canadienne ou encore française. « Khodeshoun kardan ! » [Ils (le régime) l’ont fait eux-mêmes!] résonne comme un cri d’espoir et de solidarité poussé contre l’absurdité des violences commises. Une des voix qui se dresse contre la république théocratique d’Ali Khamenei, demeure celle des artistes. Ce comportement n’est pas anodin. En effet, l’histoire nationale iranienne est parsemée d’engagements d’artistes ayant influencé des choix politiques et sociaux. Leur célébrité leur confère un pouvoir de persuasion auprès de la population et leur travail éclaire une vérité cachée par les autorités. Ils font sortir des images de l’Iran pour confectionner leurs œuvres, ce qui relève de l’impossible dans un pays fermé à double clé, censuré. Malgré le danger, le travail des photographes Sajede Sharifi et Jeanne Grouet dans Le Laser Vert mêlent désobéissance civile, résistance publique et privée à l’autorité, à la censure et à la répression du gouvernement de la République islamique. Les deux femmes exposent des images d’intimité côtoyant des photographies de manifestation. Par l’image, les artistes capturent des instants de vérité et se présentent comme témoins des exactions commises par le régime. Provoquant les institutions, nombre d’artistes ont dû fuir pour éviter la répression ou ont été détenus arbitrairement dans les geôles de la prison d'Evin notamment. Nous pouvons relever les noms de Jafar Panahi réalisateur du film Taxi Téhéran (2015), de Saeed Roustaee réalisateur de Leïla et ses frères (2022) récompensé au Festival de Cannes ou encore de Mina Keshavarz réalisatrice également. Ces trois figures majeures du monde du cinéma iranien ont été emprisonnées sans que des accusations concrètes soient invoquées. La détention de Mina Keshavarz et d’une de ses homologues, Firouzeh Khosravani, ont déclenché une mobilisation spéciale avec pour slogan le hashtag #FreeWomenDirectors . Ces cas particuliers ne sont malheureusement pas isolés mais reflètent le traitement systématique de la répression des artistes en Iran sur l’année écoulée. Dans l’objectif de dénoncer cet acharnement, Nasim Vahabi, écrivaine franco-iranienne lauréate du prix littéraire de Sciences Po 2024 pour son livre intitulé Je ne suis pas un roman (2023), réalise une liste non exhaustive recensant tous les noms d’auteurs, de poètes, journalistes assassinés ou actuellement incarcérés en Iran. Parmi les 16 000 personnes interpellées lors des premières semaines de soulèvement (Rapport 2022/2023 Amnesty International), nombreux étaient artistes. Un des derniers à avoir subi les frais de la police des mœurs est le chanteur et activiste Mehdi Yarrahi. Son titre Roosarito « ton voile » se positionne contre l’obligation du port du voile et est dédié aux « courageuses femmes iraniennes ». Il écope sa peine depuis août sans doute pour « inimitié à l’égard de Dieu ». L’investissement des artistes en Iran est fondamental et s’accompagne d’un soutien de la communauté depuis l’étranger. Marjane Satrapi, dessinatrice de la fameuse bande dessinée Persepolis, a publié en septembre dernier un travail comptant près de 200 planches dessinées en soutien à la révolte. Intitulé Femme, Vie, Liberté témoigne de la volonté de la diaspora de soutenir la révolte. De même, dans le monde de la musique, des dizaines d’artistes tels que le pianiste Arshid Azarine ont donné des concerts en l’honneur des Iraniens et Iraniennes se battant pour leurs droits. Le 22 mai dernier, à la Cité de la Musique, quatre artistes ont présenté le projet Mèches de feu en référence à la mobilisation des artistes françaises ayant coupé symboliquement une mèche de leurs cheveux en soutien aux femmes iraniennes. Cet évènement mené par l’actrice Julie Gayet, mêle musique classique et poésie d’auteurs comme Garous Abdelmakian et Rambob Daghigh. Trois musiciennes Shani Diluka, pianiste ; Sonia Wieder-Atherton, violoncelliste; Anousha Nazari mezzo-soprane Iranienne participent à cette aventure artistique. L’objectif ici était de recourir à la musique comme langage universel afin de permettre aux messages de solidarité et de paix d’être diffusés aux quatre coins du monde avec la viralité qu’ils méritent. En outre, il ne faut pas négliger que la mobilisation en Iran demeure moins virulente après un an d’affrontements. Selon le Tehran Times, c’est avant tout la détermination de l’Occident, et in extenso de la diaspora Iranienne, qui maintient les braises de l’agitation et qui a exploité le premier anniversaire de la mort de Mahsa Amini pour la relancer. Les rassemblements à Londres, Berlin, Bruxelles ou encore Melbourne en témoignent. Alors qu’une adolescente de 16 ans, Armina Garavand, se trouve dans le coma depuis le 4 octobre 2023 suite à l’intervention de la police des moeurs, demeure une certitude : l’hymne Barayé entonné depuis le début des évènements dans les Etats où se trouvent des ressortissants Iraniens ne faiblira pas tant que le régime des mollahs persistera. Les mots, les images et la musique se dresseront toujours face à l’injustice intolérable et la violence arbitraire.

< 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 Beijing: Unanticipated Beneficiary of Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine? By Magdalena Offenbeck April 30, 2022 The sanctions imposed by the West following the invasion of Ukraine in February have significantly damaged the Russian economy. Nevertheless, the idea of a stronger Sino-Russian alliance to evade sanctions and counter their effects hangs over the head of the West like the Sword of Damocles. How realistic is this? Will Western states’ intervention tip the scale in favor of Ukraine or does China offer a viable economic alternative? Now, two months into the invasion, the United States, the European Union, and their allies seem to have reached their sanction-imposing limit. Yet, the battles have not halted. In light of recent human rights violations in Bucha and beyond, we ask ourselves why, despite all the actions taken to counteract the Russian invasion, so little progress has been made. Now, after the recent meeting in Beijing between Russian and Chinese foreign ministers, a new fear has emerged: the alarming possibility that Russia could evade sanctions by strengthening economic and political ties with the People’s Republic of China. In the meeting, the two powers discussed closer economic ties and joint strategic security interests. China was Russia’s top trading partner in 2011, with a trading volume that is approximately 2.5 times that with Germany, Russia’s second most important trading partner. Of the five largest trading partners with Russia, Germany, the Netherlands, and the United States are imposing sanctions; China and Belarus are not. It is no secret that these sanctions have had a grave impact on Russia’s economy. However, with the West’s dependence on Russian oil and gas exports, the trade volume will likely not shrink close to zero in the near future. This is not to say that Russia does not need the West for its relative economic prosperity, but if Russian history has shown one common trait, it is that its leaders, from the Tzars and the Bolsheviks to current President Vladimir Putin, do not tend to prioritize the interest of the people. Putin’s war will hurt the Russian citizens, who are now facing inflation, shortages and the effects of a sudden isolation after 30 years of relative openness. They will not hurt the president and the surrounding elite who control the wealth in the country, unless one considers the loss of a chalet in Switzerland to be equally grave as a lack of basic necessities. In consequence, Putin and his political elite will not only be much less affected but they can also use repression and misinformation to silence dissatisfied citizens. Russian propaganda may present an alliance between Russia and China as an economically equally viable alternative to trade with the West, but its success is doubtful, especially considering the financial instability Western sanctions have caused. China has been playing a careful balancing act. Abstaining from the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) vote on a resolution regarding Ukraine (unsurprisingly vetoed by Russia), it has since been avoiding any strong positioning. However, abstention is a position in itself. By continuing trade relations with Russia and further following objectives to increase trade in the course of the decade, China has de facto sided with Russia. In a recent speech before the UNSC, the Chinese delegate Dai Bing mastered the art of diplomatic vagueness. He encouraged negotiation and urged for equal protection of refugees, general statements that do not assign blame. He did “deplore” the Russian attack on a Ukrainian train station (denied by Russia), however, Dai Bing only called for an investigation of the cause rather than condemning the apparent perpetrator. Arguably the most enlightening part of Dai Bing’s speech was his declaration that sanctioning and providing weapons “will not bring about peace.” Rather, they have brought about “a food crisis for which the whole world pays the price.” It is true that Western intervention has triggered a food crisis and put the global economy to the test. However, China is well aware that, to the participating nations, this is about more than the global economy. It is about Russia’s bid to challenge the world order and a post-war status quo that has benefited Europe and the United States more than anyone else. They are willing to go to great lengths to protect their positions. Yet, China has also seen its rise in that order. The West has both been an important trading partner and a strategic rival, a dynamic that has allowed the People’s Republic to experience unprecedentedly rapid growth, development, and increased geopolitical power. China and Russia are often treated as one entity because both are arguably the most important “non-Western” political actors and maintain similar political stances. But, Russia is also both a trading partner and a strategic rival to China, even if both share a common resentment towards the West. China has increased trade with Russia and benefited from Moscow’s isolation by gaining strategic importance. However, both Russia succeeding in its annexation and becoming too powerful or the West gaining from increased unity and self-sufficiency are not ideal for Beijing. China has no interest in seeing the political framework that it has been navigating successfully uprooted as it proceeds to silently expand its sphere of influence globally. The status quo of the past years has allowed Beijing to become a key actor in Africa, Central Asia, and beyond. If any side emerges stronger from the conflict, their next focus could be countering Chinese geopolitical influence in their backyard, an undesired outcome for the rising power. This leaves us with the typical “only time can tell” conclusion. Beijing will likely navigate the conflict opportunely, gaining from an increased trade with Russia. However, it will avoid becoming the target of equally harsh economic sanctions or getting involved directly in the conflict. In other words, China is happy to remain more of a side actor. The political landscape will be transformed through this invasion, but it is unclear how exactly, and China might not be quite certain how to feel about it. Ultimately, the People’s Republic has been defending its own interests in the geopolitical game for a while and there is reason to believe that it will manage to use the current status quo to continue its endeavors.

In the face of Brazil’s largest corruption scandal to date, Brazilians directed their rage at the once beloved former president, Lula, whose entanglement in the scheme paved an easy path to victory for the fringe right-wing candidate, Jair Bolsonaro. < Back Has Brazil’s Largest Corruption Scandal Irreparably Damaged Democracy? By Lara-Nour Walton April 29, 2022 Something sinister was afoot in 2012 Brasilia. Money was moving unnaturally — streaming in and out of a local gas station in abnormally large quantities. Officials believed that they had flagged a routine case of laundering in the nation’s capital and zeroed in on the usual suspect: small-time doleiros (black market dealers). What their investigation uncovered was even bigger and far more unsettling. What they found imprisoned presidents, bankrupted billionaires, and paved the way for Jair Bolsonaro’s election. In 2014, Operation Lava Jato (Car Wash) was formally launched when police discovered a suspicious email correspondence in doleiro Alberto Youssef’s inbox. Youssef had been involved and apprehended on laundering counts in the past, but had proven to be quite the recidivist. The email in question discussed a Range Rover that the doleiro had recently bought. But, this was no above-board car purchase. Youssef had bought a Range Rover for none other than the high profile Petrobras petroleum company executive, Paulo Roberto Costa. Under questioning, a somber Youssef informed police, “If I speak, the Republic is going to fall.” And fall it did. Operation Car Wash is Brazil’s largest corruption scandal to date. The operation earned its name from being hatched at the Brasilia gas station and car wash. The scheme began as a way for the construction conglomerate, Odebrecht, to secure constant and overly-lucrative business at the national petroleum company, Petrobras. To accomplish this, Odebrecht, the ringleader of the scandal, developed a cartel of engineering companies which set inflated contract prices for petrochemical complex building projects. In custody, Costa revealed how this intricate scheme functioned: first, Petrobras directors intentionally overpaid cartel contractors for construction, drilling, exploration vessels, and refinery. Then, 1% to 5% of the profit from those shady contracts was funneled into clandestine slush funds. Elected politicians (who incidentally appointed Petrobras officials) were the beneficiaries of the funds and used them to finance personal agendas and election campaigns. Bribes were the currency of Brazil’s elite. Everyone involved in the scandal was paid off in cash, luxury automobiles, art, Rolex watches, yachts… Money cascaded into Swiss accounts, a bevy of oversea properties were purchased, elderly mules, strapped with bricks of cash, flew from city to city, inconspicuously distributing bank notes. By the time Operation Car Wash was on law enforcement’s radar, Petrobras and Odebrecht had paid off over 16 companies, 1,000 politicians, 50 congressmen, and four former presidents (including Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, better known as Lula) with a whopping sum of $5.3 billion. The victims of this kafkaesque scheme? Average Brazilians. Not only was the potency of their vote diluted by this operation, but their own tax dollars were funding it. No strangers to institutional corruption, Brazilians directed the entirety of their rage at the once beloved former president, Lula, his successor, president Dilma Roussef, and other members of the Workers’ Party. The party was not the only culpable entity implicated in the scandal, but received the most popular backlash — and perhaps justifiably. The political group ascended to power to fight Brazil’s seemingly untreatable case of corruption. Yet, the disease only seemed to have metastasized in the Lula administration. Elected in 2002, Lula suffered from having a minority Workers’ Party in congress. Although he denies any knowledge of involvement in the scheme, Operation Car Wash would have allowed for the president to buy the support of small parties, thus permitting him to pass legislation through congress. The Lula administration improved the condition of working class Brazilians through policies that reduced poverty and increased social safety nets and environmental controls. He left office with an unprecedented approval rating of 80%. Lula attributes his success to securing a symbolic majority in congress through political allegiances. Instead, the immense progress he made was found to have a morally and legally unsound infrastructure. These findings eventually culminated in his 2018 arrest. Brazilians have a complex relationship with Lula — they continue to reap the benefits of his presidency while lamenting his hypocrisy. The true test of national sentiment will be reflected in the result of the upcoming October presidential elections, which the now-released Lula has announced his candidacy for. The imprisonment of Lula created an easy path to victory for the fringe right-wing candidate, Jair Bolsonaro. Due to the elimination of his main opponent and his anti-establishment, anti-corruption platform, Bolsonaro, sometimes referred to as the “Trump of the Tropics,” waltzed into office in spite of his notoriously racist, homophobic, and misogynistic public persona. However, the comparison to Trump is misleading. Despite sharing some qualities with the former United States president, Bolsonaro is more akin to the Philippines’ Rodrigo Duterte. And this makes him all the more dangerous. Unlike Trump, Bolsonaro and Duterte actually followed through with their alarming campaign trail claims. Similarly to Duterte, Bolsonaro has an affinity for militarizing state police, cracking down on crime, and green-lighting extrajudicial killings. He waxes nostalgic for Brazil’s military dictatorship and has been openly threatening Brazil’s increasingly tenuous checks and balances. According to United Nations human rights activist, Clément Nyaletsossi Voule, the Bolsonaro administration encourages violence towards women, favela community leaders, journalists, quilombolas (Afro-Brazilians), and indigenous peoples. Bolsonaro shamelessly intimidates the Supreme Court, which has active investigations into his conduct, threatens his critics' freedom of speech, and makes baseless claims about fraud in the Brazilian electoral system. To Voule, it is clear: the world’s fourth largest democracy hangs by a thread. On September 7, 2021, Brazilian Independence Day, Bolsonaro proclaimed, before tens of thousands of supporters, “Only God will remove me from power.” This ominous statement follows months of disinformation, propagated by Bolsonaro himself, about Brazil’s supposedly “fraudulent” electronic voting system. It has been speculated that such allegations intend to lay the groundwork for canceling the upcoming October 2022 elections or to contest a potential presidential loss. With the president trailing behind his perennial foe Lula in the polls, fears that Bolsonaro will refuse to accept defeat have increased. As such, Brazil’s top election authority, Tribunal Superior Eleitoral (TSE), has invited the European Union and other international bodies to monitor the validity of the October elections. The EU plans to send a mission to Brazil this May to assess whether it can fulfill the duties of official observer. From the outside, Operation Car Wash is a juicy scandal indeed. But at its core, it is a tragic case of government inefficiency. Lula was charged with serious crimes, to be sure, but the consequences of his alleged actions should not spell another Bolsonaro victory. Brazil might not survive it. Democracy becomes more fragile every day that Bolsonaro presides. His record-level deforestation is leaving the Amazon more vulnerable than ever. Climate expert, Marcio Astrini, has determined that the forest will not be able to withstand another four years of a Bolsonaro presidency. Brazilians are at a critical crossroads. On October 2, 2022 they may sow the seeds of their own destruction or secure their survival. But if Brazil has learned anything from its past, it is that the power should and must, lie in the rightful hands. The people must be the final deciders — not between Lula or Bolsonaro — but rather life or death.

If you still want to buy your groceries at Carrefour, go ahead. But, keep in mind that with one shopping trip after the other, your credit card is being further exhausted, the numbers in your account are declining, and your leisure opportunities are diminishing. < Back Eats With Angela: A Comparative Analysis of Menton Grocery Stores By Angela Saab Saade September 30, 2022 Sciences Po Menton is a diverse campus. Its students are unique. We all have distinguished characters and varied interests. We all carry our own historical package and view the world differently. However, if there is one certain commonality among all students, it is our need to buy groceries. Whether one opts for pre-planned deliberate and habitual grocery shopping or resorts to the New Asian store for midnight ramen with a side of crisps and candy, the heavy burden of walking to the store, picking up items, waiting in line, paying and returning home certainly resonates with all of us. Throughout my time in Menton, I have had quite an adventurous relationship with grocery shopping. I have tried shopping at Ventimiglia’s infamous Lidl, the several branches of U-Express and Carrefour City respectively, Aldi, Picard (big mistake), the multiple Casino stores around Menton, the local Italian shops, the farmers markets and the New Asian Store. I can safely say that almost every time I purchase an item from any of these establishments, I (sometimes, regrettably) run into at least one Sciences Piste. Despite these numerous grocery store run-ins, it appears to me that students on campus are not well-informed about the purchasing choices they make. How well do you really know your grocery stores? Aside from the obvious advantage of going to Carrefour at night, as it is the only store in Menton that stays open after 7:30 p.m., there are perks that I bet you have never heard of that will inevitably revolutionize your shopping experience. Research has shown that financial stress has contributed to the failure of students at university. I do not want you to fail. For that reason, I took the time to visit the following stores in Menton: Aldi, U-Express and Carrefour. Based on my data collection and thorough comparative analysis, I hope to provide you with information that will save you from financial distress and pave the way for your success at Sciences Po. Tip #1 : Eat, plan, then shop. If you felt personally targeted when I mentioned buying ramen, crisps and candy for dinner, this tip is especially for you. To first, save up on cash and, second, spare yourself continuous trips to the store, plan a grocery list. Make sure you eat and are full prior to writing your list and shopping, or else you may find yourself hungrily shoving items into your cart that you would soon enough regret purchasing. It could also help to set a budget for yourself before going to the store. Then, in the market, prioritize your purchases by paying for the more essential items first and letting go of anything unnecessary once you have reached your budget. Indeed, do not deprive yourself of the food you need and/or want to buy! I am not encouraging any form of restrictive behavior. However, set a realistic budget and ask yourself the necessary questions before shopping for groceries. If you properly economize, you will save enough for your next trip, be it to nearby Italy or faraway Jordan. Tip #2 : Always opt for store-branded items. In Carrefour, look for the Carrefour logo; in U-Express, look for the letter U; either way, purchasing items branded by their respective stores rather than branded goods is a wiser choice. Not only are they much cheaper, but they also usually do not differ in quality. Tip #3 : Only go to Carrefour for corn and jam If on a regular afternoon, I spot you in Carrefour instead of U-Express, I will be very disappointed. Fruits, vegetables, yogurt, cheese, dairy-alternatives, raw goods, and any other product you can conceivably ingest is cheaper and of comparative quality at U-Express. However, one specific deal always found at Carrefour, but never at U-Express, is their package of three 285 grams cans of corn. If you are like me and pass through days of corn obsession wherein you decide to have corn for lunch, dinner, savory snack and dessert, then this information would undoubtedly be useful to you. Even if you purchase and consume corn within the realm of normal human consumption, then this could be of benefit to you as well. Another advantage of Carrefour is its fair selection of jam. Figuratively, you can pay between 1.12 and 1.75 euros for a jar of jam from either Carrefour or U-Express. However, the latter’s jar has 335 grams of jam, while the former has 370 grams. While that may seem like a minor difference, it is worth noting that Carrefour has much more ‘exotic’ jam flavors and a greater variety in comparison to U-Express. So, if you happen to want a jar of jam and you are already purchasing all your items at U-Express, then go ahead and buy one. But, if you are intentionally walking to the store for jam-stocking, then definitely enjoy a broader and cheaper selection from Carrefour. The last advantage of Carrefour is that it sometimes has unique deals, such as a bag of potatoes, a punnet of cherry tomatoes or 250 grams of mushrooms for one euro. However, aside from those specific deals, corn and jam, Carrefour is not the most financially-friendly grocery store. Tip #4 : Always U-Express U-Express is also more vegan-friendly! It has its own branded milks which include oat milk, almond milk, soy milk, among others, all of which are far cheaper than those offered in Carrefour since Carrefour only has ‘bio brands’ that are unnecessarily more expensive. Also, while both arguably have great deals for a large selection of canned goods, U-Express offers an even greater variety of canned food (for example, ‘Paëlla Royale’ and ‘Chili con carne’). The latter store equally has better deals for glass-canned goods. But, U-Express is not just better for canned food. Egg-lovers benefit too! U-Express has an exceptional deal that my roommates avail themselves of on a biweekly basis — a crate of 30 eggs for only 3.99 euros. Tip #5 : Shop on Thursday with the U-Express loyalty card U-Express and Carrefour have loyalty cards you can acquire at the cashier for free in a few minutes. However, the advantages of the U-Express card outweigh that of Carrefour’s. Other than the usual function of store loyalty cards, which allow customers to collect points, the U-Express membership grants you access to some offers and discounts that other customers are denied. Those are especially visible on Thursdays. In case you have not noticed yet, every Thursday, U-Express is abuzz with customers filling up their carts before their fellow card-holding counterparts purchase all the great deals. So, next time you want to go grocery shopping on a Wednesday afternoon, give it a few more hours and go to U-Express the day after. Tip #6 : Just walk to Aldi, man. Now that we have established that U-Express is objectively better than Carrefour in almost all ways, allow me to introduce you to the world of Aldi, Menton. Herbes de provence for 0,44 euros (unreal deal), an avocado for 0,99 euros, three frozen margarita pizzas for under three euros, one kilogram of bananas for 0,99 euros (1.65 euros everywhere else), two kilograms of pears for 2.99 euros, one kilogram of tomatoes for 1.69 euros, 500 grams of quick oats for 0.95 (exceptional deal), two 200 gram slabs of tofu for 2.59 euros … is this grocery store paradise? Indeed, it is. Aldi has far cheaper and better produce than the other stores. The price-quality ratio of fruits and vegetables in Aldi exceeds those of local markets, Carrefour, and U-Express. So, while Aldi (two branches in Menton, located in 80 Avenue des Alliés and 563 Avenue de Saint Romain, respectively) may be further away from some of you, it is certainly worth the extra walk, especially if you want to stock up on fruits, vegetables, spices, sauces, animal-based products, as well as vegan alternatives (which are, unfortunately, quite rare in other supermarkets in France). Make sure to check their catalogs online first for their weekly deals! If you still want to buy your groceries at Carrefour, go ahead. I personally love that store, especially for late-night snacks. But, keep in mind that with one shopping trip after the other, your credit card is being further exhausted, the numbers in your account are declining, and your leisure opportunities are diminishing. At the end of the day, however, your choices depend on your circumstances. For some of us, time is a more valuable resource than money. In that case, surely spend more money at your nearest store instead of taking the trek to Aldi. For others, life is an adventure; thus, taking the train to Ventimiglia to shop in Lidl seems like a great way to plan a simultaneous trip to Fujiyama for 15-euro open-sushi. Grocery shopping, just as cooking, is a subjective experience. It requires an open mind and an open heart. Thus, try different stores and look for what suits you best. For example, I have realized through exploring the local store directly next to Carrefour that I can quickly purchase 100 grams of almonds for 0.50 euros from a compassionate small family business. There’s a different sentiment that one gets from every purchase they make and from every provider they choose to patronize. Nonetheless, if you were looking for simple and effective ways to reduce your financial spending, I hope this article has supplied you with the resources to help you reach your goal!

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

< Back Tension Between Israel and Palestine Compounds as Ramadan and Passover Coincide By Hugo Lagergren April 30, 2022 A surge of violence in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories during the past month has stoked tensions between the two states. It has caused many to fear a repeat of the 11-day conflict that occurred last May, which resulted in the death of over 250 Palestinians and 13 Israelis. Two weeks ago, Israeli forces stormed Al-Aqsa Mosque during morning prayer, marking the most serious escalation at the holy site in over a year. Medics reported that over 158 Palestinians were injured during the raid, while hundreds more were detained. Clashes at the holy site have continued between Palestinian Muslims and Israeli security forces, who claim to have just been dispersing a violent crowd that lingered after morning prayer on April 15. However, eye-witnesses told Al-Jazeera that Israeli forces entered the Mosque unprovoked and proceeded to “brutally” empty the compound, attacking staff, elders, and young people in the process. Videos circulated online showing police using tear gas and stun grenades against worshippers, who hurled rocks back at the police. Other videos show people barricading themselves desperately within the Mosque to escape the violence. The Israeli forces also fired rubber bullets into the crowds, wounding many, including a 21-year-old Palestinian man named Walid al-Sharif. Al-Sharif recently fell into a coma after sustaining internal bleeding as a result of being struck in the head by one of the rubber bullets. The Palestinian Authority and Jordan, which has custodianship over Islam’s third holiest site, issued a joint statement condemning Israel and stating that it was responsible for a “dangerous and condemnable escalation that threatens to explode the situation.” Palestinian militant group Hamas also responded by launching a series of missile strikes against Israel, which were intercepted by its defense system. Israel responded to this by launching a series of its own strikes, destroying a military facility within the Gaza strip that was allegedly used to build missile engines. The violence comes after a series of terrorist attacks were carried out by Palestinian gunmen in Israeli cities, killing 14 Israeli citizens. These deadly attacks prompted Israel to reevaluate its defense strategy by broadening the scope of its operations against Palestine. Indeed, a few days ago, Israel’s coordinator for Palestinian affairs, Ghassan Alyan, announced that Israel would close the Erez Crossing, the only existing crossing connecting Gaza and Israel, which is essential for workers in Israel who live in Gaza. Over 12,000 Gazans currently hold work permits that allow them to cross over to Israel and make a living. The removal of such access will undoubtedly have a huge financial impact on Gaza, with many residents relying on the income of these workers. An Israeli radio station estimated that Palestinian losses will be around 1.5 million USD daily. Tension between the two groups had been expected this year, as the Muslim holy month of Ramadan coincided with the Jewish celebration of Passover. These celebrations usually see an increased number of visitors coming to Jerusalem to visit the Muslim and Jewish holy sites. This uptick in visitors angered many Palestinians as they believed it violated the long-held convention that Jews could visit the Al-Aqsa Mosque, but not pray there. This raised tensions between the two communities and is a likely explanation for the terrorist attacks carried out earlier this month. Israel has denied all accusations that it is looking to overturn this “status quo” by reaffirming its commitment to the preservation of the freedom of worship. However, its actions might suggest otherwise. The death toll of the recent violence has reached 38 and tensions between Israel and Palestine remain extremely high as clashes continue in and around Al-Aqsa Mosque. Many Palestinians are fearful of a repeat of the deadly conflict that took place in May of last year. Top United States diplomats have been sent to Israel to end “the cycle of violence.” However, Palestine has accused the US of wielding “limp diplomacy” and of double-standards compared to how the US has addressed the war in Ukraine. With no resolution in sight, one is left to wonder whether this long-term regional conflict will ever be solved, or whether the tensions are doomed to erupt into a wider conflict that would hugely impact an already struggling Palestine.