Search Results

Whether it be the exploitation of industrial workers, the wars waged by Western powers, or populism masking intense elitism, London’s artists contend with the same ills we study here in Menton. That art can express those issues in a more eloquent and widely-accessible form than any research paper should justify its inclusion in a robust political life. < Back The London Arts Scene: A (Sciences Po) Student’s Guide Niccolo Gentile November 30, 2024 Visiting London for the fall break and desperate for a reprieve from Menton’s cultural black hole, I was inspired to explore the city’s arts scene. During my short week there, I spent a number of hours in the company of London artists and heard their opinions on the city’s current state, which, accompanied by a few visits to local shows, galleries and exhibitions, revealed a city teeming with worthwhile nooks to experience. However, in keeping with the overarching theme of our Sciences Po curriculum, I noticed that the politics of London and the United Kingdom at large threaten this fragile community as the UK endures an extended and worsening economic and, increasingly, political crisis. To ask what’s on offer in London probably entails a longer list than asking what isn’t. A brief survey of London’s most famous artistic endeavors is sure to include museums, such as the National Gallery, British Museum, Victoria & Albert Museum and Tate Britain and Modern. All of these are accessible to anyone for the incredible price of 0 £ and display, in my opinion, some of the best-curated collections in the world today. While the ethics of the British Museum’s collection remains a hotly contested subject in the UK and around the world, the personal highlight of this selection for me is the Tate Modern. The Modern not only contains a wealth of modern and contemporary art galleries but also uses its immense space, a former power station, to stage unique exhibitions on a monumental scale. The temporary display I encountered was “Open Wound,” by South Korean sculptor Mire Lee, though sculptures perhaps undermine the raw visuals of it. Suspended 5 meters above the concrete floor of the central hall, a turbine interwoven, or maybe caught, in chains and silicone strands reminiscent of strips of flesh slowly rotates, dripping a thick fluid onto a rack and the thin, cloth-like figures it supports. Throughout the display’s lifespan, these cloths were gradually dried and hung around the towering central hall. While I won’t wax too poetic about the images created, suffice to say that it certainly set a proper Halloween-esque mood. Outside of museums, smaller galleries and art shops abound in the London streets. An occult bookstore contained one of the most eclectic collections of ephemera and obscure essays I’ve ever seen. The main event for my visit was a major exhibition of Peter Kennard’s works in the Whitechapel Gallery. Titled “Archive of Dissent,” Kennard’s life works outline a politically and socially engaged artist. You might recognize some of his most famous pieces, which lean heavily into anti-war themes by juxtaposing repugnant images of death and destruction (a soaring missile, a barren skull) with those of humanity’s endurance and fragility (a clenched fist, our Blue Marble as seen from space). More specific to the British component of his work, he depicted Margaret Thatcher as a skeleton wearing a human face. It was this image that was chosen as the exhibit’s headline picture, fittingly, given that though he has an impressive tenure in the anti-war movement, raging against the annihilation of human life from Vietnam to Gaza, today he works in a UK art world scarred by years of Thatcherism and its subsequent iterations under both Labour and Conservative Party politicians. Speaking to Zoe Benbow, a long-time London-based painter, she expressed the prevailing discontent with the Conservative’s constant cuts to arts funding, particularly in regards to arts education, where it is becoming increasingly costly and restrictive to enter the art world even for students who continue to flock to the UK’s cutting edge humanities and arts courses. She also complained of the Labour government’s reluctance to counter this insidious cost cutting as they mirror the Conservative’s rhetoric of “tightening the belt” with continued spending decreases. These political pressures are being felt by artists in London, where an absurdly expensive property market is pushing more and more artists further and further from the city's beating heart. This central region contains not just world-class museums but also one of the two great Anglo-sphere theater districts: the West End. Classic shows like the English adaptation of Les Miserables and The Phantom of the Opera sit alongside newer hits, including Wicked and Hadestown. Similarly, Shakespeare’s Globe presents some of the most seminal plays in the English language. However, some of the most unique and innovative showings appear in the National Theatre, where I saw the incredible David Oyelowo’s staging of Shakespeare’s Coriolanus and A Tupperware of Ashes, a loose adaptation of King Lear set against the backdrop of a British-Bengali family navigating the tumult of the 2020s UK and the ails of dementia. The quality of both might only be contested by their ease-of-entry for students, who can show up an hour before they start to get 20£ tickets in prime seating. The most meaningful of these plays, though, was Coriolanus. Intermixing Shakespeare’s medieval interpretation of the Ancient Roman Republic with 20th-century military aesthetics, Lyndsey Turner weaves a narrative that uses the antique tragedy to critique contemporary populism and elitism in equal measure. What emerges is a stark criticism of the brutal politics we face today. This reflects the messages of Lee’s viscera-strewn engine and Kennard’s fierce denunciation of the British state, one painting a picture of a British art world at odds with the conditions of the modern West. Whether it be the exploitation of industrial workers, the wars waged by Western powers, or populism masking intense elitism, London’s artists contend with the same ills we study here in Menton. That art can express those issues in a more eloquent and widely-accessible form than any research paper should justify its inclusion in a robust political life.

Society that carries out capital punishment must think very carefully about the policy’s potential consequences. Taking an innocent person’s life is a grave enough reason to put someone to death, but shouldn’t there be accountability for those who sentence innocent people to the death penalty? < Back Execution in Missouri and the Death Penalty Ema Nevřelová October 31, 2024 My mother grew up in communist Czechoslovakia. She would often tell me the story of her first official act of free will. During the first months of 1990, Amnesty International was collecting signatures to petition for the abolition of the death penalty in the former Czechoslovakia and, at the age of 18, my mother signed it. For my mother, freedom lies in the ability to act and to stand up for what you believe in. In her view, the value of a person’s life is too high to risk the possibility of executing someone innocent—she would feel partially complicit if she did not protest. Three months later, in May 1990, former Czechoslovak President Václav Havel pressured the government and the death penalty was abolished. U.S. citizens have not unilaterally pushed the abolishment of the death penalty; support for capital punishment has historically fluctuated. A recent Gallup poll demonstrated that only 53% of Americans favor the death penalty. In Gallup’s research from 2022, there is an even greater disparity between Democrat and Republican party members: 35% of Democrats and 77% of Republicans were in favor of the death penalty. Unsurprisingly, typically “red” states such as Texas, South Carolina, Alabama, Idaho and many more have the death penalty, although it is not exclusive to states supporting Republicans. Meanwhile, California, a “Blue” state, still has not abolished it. But the current Governor of California, Gavin Newsom has put a hold on executions. There is no federal mandate on the capital punishment, meaning that the employment of the death penalty in the U.S. is determined at the state level. The State Attorney General has the final say, and if a prisoner wants to appeal outside of state, their only option is the U.S. Supreme Court of Justice—which does not review many death penalty cases. The death penalty also is also influenced by the forces at the federal level; it became infamous during Donald Trump’s presidency, during which a total of 13 executions were carried out—the highest number since 1896. However, apart from Trump’s presidency the federal death penalty is rarely carried out. The Gallup research helps to step out of the narrative that the supporters of the death penalty have some inherent characteristics or evil traits. While there is a trend among different political parties, there is no consistent definition of a person favoring the death penalty. However, the indisputable fact of procedural and systematic issues make scrutiny over the death penalty all the more important, especially given the irreversibility in case of wrongful conviction. Recent news about executions of Travis Mullis, Emmanuel Littlejohn, Alan Miller, Freddie Owens and Marcellus “Khalifah” Williams in the span of a week brought such discussions to the forefront of the U.S. social media discourse. Being Czech, I was surprised that 5 executions in one week are in fact not the everyday reality of the U.S., as it last happened in 2003. The execution of Marcellus “Khalifah” Williams was publicly opposed, as some people believed him to be innocent in the murder of Felicia Gayle, for which he was convicted. His case highlights two key issues with the death penalty: the closure myth and systemic racism. The closure myth is a commonly held belief that by executing the murderer, the family of the victim will get a closure. Surely, some families do, however the process of a murderer receiving a death sentence is lengthy and there is a lack of mental health and financial support. Often, it leaves the families of the victims struggling even after the execution, delaying the process of closure. In this case, Governor of Missouri Michael L. Parson, who appealed on certainty, indirectly used the closure myth by stating : “Withdrawing the order allows the process to proceed within the judicial system, and, once the due process of law has been exhausted, everyone will receive certainty.” Given the external factors influencing the family (financial and health issues) it is not surprising that a study by Eaton and Christensen from 2014 concluded that co-victims (family members of the victim) “expressed their views on closure in various ways’’ and those “who did mention closure were evenly divided on whether they felt the execution provided closure or not.’’ This deconstructs the narrative that execution is the only way to provide closure for co-victims and while it can put their minds to rest there are more usually aspects preventing them from doing so. However, the family of Felicia Gayle, the murder victim, approved , together with the court, for Williams to enter an Alford plea , a plea where a defendant can maintain innocence while accepting a plea bargain and allowing Williams to be re-sentenced to life in prison. However, the state attorney general’s office opposed and blocked the decision by appealing to the U.S. Supreme Court. Presumably, when it comes to closure and justice for the family, it is not the family who decides, but rather the system does it for them without even taking the family’s position into account. The second issue arising during Williams’ process of appealing the death penalty was the selection of a jury. In an emergency appeal made to the U.S. Supreme Court before the execution of Williams, his attorney declared : “Of the seven Black venirepersons (out of 131 in total), the trial prosecutor [St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office] used peremptory strikes against six of them. His reasoning for excluding one of those venirepersons, Venireperson 64, was that he “reminded” him of Mr. Williams. He thought the men looked similar and that boy had ‘piercing eyes’ (App. 89a).” Later, the Supreme Court of Missouri found this reasoning to be race-neutral. A parallel can be drawn between the reasoning given by the St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office of “piercing eyes”and of some white people complimenting black women’s hair while touching them without consent. On the surface it may seem innocent and “race-neutral,” but upon the addition of astriking imbalance of power, it becomes awfully clear that there are not many things in life that are race, gender or otherwise neutral . The selection process of jury pools is often based on registered voter lists or on driving licence holders, although other factors may apply. There is, however, no obligation to adapt mechanisms to achieve an equal representation of the community that the jury represents. Looking at the American justice system and racism in general, a 1990 study on Death Penalty Sentencing concluded that a “synthesis of the 28 studies shows a pattern of evidence indicating racial disparities in the charging, sentencing, and imposition of the death penalty […].” Furthermore, this study suggests that if a victim is white, the likelihood of the defendant receiving the death penalty is higher. This is disturbing on several levels including the fact that it implies the lives of Black people have lesser value when it comes to the severity of the penalty. The Innocence database is run by the Death Penalty Information Center, which records cases of people who have been sentenced to death but have been exonerated before the execution. Out of the 200 recorded cases, 108 wrongfully convicted people were Black, 21 were either Native Americans, Alaska Natives, Latinos or Asians. But these people are far away from being just numbers. This becomes evident in the case of Timothy Howard and Gary James, who spent 26 years in prison for bank robbery and murder as they were convicted in 1976 and freed only in 2003. On average, there is at least one person wrongfully convicted every year. It is true that the list of wrongful convictions ends in 2014, but it would be naïve to expect that it is because judges suddenly became infallible from then on. The Innocent database does not include people who have already been executed but could potentially be innocent. The Death Penalty Information Center provides a list of people who were executed and are now believed to be innocent, although according to the Center: “Courts do not generally entertain claims of innocence when the defendant is dead.” These statistics and the real human beings behind them tell heart-wrenching stories of a system failure that is irreparable. Even if we look at the cases of people who have been convicted because they were truly guilty, there are still aspects to the death penalty that make it morally questionable. Firstly, in the U.S., it is illegal to sentence a person with intellectual disabilities to death, yet mental illness is not included even though the American Bar Association states the following: “In short, the ABA finds that individuals with severe mental illnesses or disabilities present at the time of the crime should not be subject to capital punishment.” This is an unsurprising reflection of how U.S. society still views mental health. Mental health issues are weaponized when convenient—in the U.S. context, young school shooters are often portrayed as anomalies to a perfectly functioning system of gun control, without considering or acknowledging the dire situation of mental health struggles among young people. There is also this narrow-minded approach leading some to believe that mental illness is only used as an excuse, where in reality living with mental illness can be challenging to a level that people who have never experienced it can hardly imagine. The second problem is with the execution itself, as the preferred method of execution in the U.S. is death by lethal injection. There are recorded instances where the needle was administered incorrectly or the person executed was struggling to breath for tens of minutes to an hour before dying. Coming from the Czech Republic, a country which abolished capital punishment almost 35 years ago, the faulty procedures seem as vengeance, close to torture. Should society’s goal be to follow Hammurabi’s law “eye for an eye,” or should we let murderers sit with the horrors of their actions while not risking an execution of innocent people? Williams’s case should be a reminder that the death penalty is not a punishment standing on its own, rather there are external factors such as racism, lack of focus on mental health and the potential for false conviction. Society that carries out capital punishment must think very carefully about the policy’s potential consequences. Taking an innocent person’s life is a grave enough reason to put someone to death, but shouldn’t there be accountability for those who sentence innocent people to the death penalty? The answer is not simple and even if the U.S. were to abolish capital punishment, it does not put an end to the debate about it. Circling back to the example of the Czech Republic, although capital punishment has been abolished, we have only recently (in 2023) gotten to a point where the percentage of people opposing capital punishment is higher than that of its supporters. Yet, support for the death penalty is at 42 % and had we not had the constellation in which the capital punishment was abolished, Czech people might have had to face the same moral dilemma the Americans are facing today. And while my mother does live in a society without capital punishment and does not have to battle her conscience, the polarization on the topic has not vanished.

Over 7 million people have fled Ukraine since the beginning of Russia’s war of aggression. The unity and warmth with which Europe has responded to the exodus of Ukrainian refugees is commendable. Yet it has highlighted the prejudice and bigotry that has plagued Europe’s willingness to welcome refugees from other parts of the world. < Back Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine Exposes the Duality of European Hospitality By Hugo Lagergren October 31, 2022 Over 7 million people have fled Ukraine since the beginning of Russia’s war of aggression. The unity and warmth with which Europe has responded to the exodus of Ukrainian refugees is commendable. Yet it has highlighted the prejudice and bigotry that has plagued Europe’s willingness to welcome refugees from other parts of the world. Over the summer, I had the privilege of spending one month working with an NGO called Quick Response Team (QRT). I witnessed first-hand the brilliant work they do in supporting refugees in and around Thessaloniki, both psychologically and physically, both of which are part of their self-proclaimed mission. Naturally, I was nervous before arriving as I had never done something like this before. However, I realize now that there was no need for such feelings. The warmth and kindness that I was met with upon my arrival, not only from the QRT team, but also from the refugees, surprised me. Many of the people who manage to complete the treacherous journey to Greece from Syria, Iran or Afghanistan have suffered innumerable hardships just to get to Europe. Despite this, they always, without fail, took the time to find out how we, the volunteers, were doing. They asked us about our home countries, how we liked Greece and constantly thanked us for anything and everything. To say it was moving would be an understatement. Even now, three months after, I still struggle to find the words to describe the impact this summer had on me. Knowing that these people, who I developed such a strong connection with, are stuck in a prison, while I have gone back to my day-to-day life as a student, saddens me deeply. And knowing that the conditions in which they are living are worsening because of the war in Ukraine makes me very angry. It is for these reasons that I felt compelled to write about the desperate situation that many refugees find themselves in and to relay the message, that it is time to change how Europeans view refugees arriving from the Middle East and North Africa, as the crisis is anything but over. Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, Europe has shown its solidarity with the people of Ukraine through the swiftness of its response to the crisis, through direct aid to Ukrainian forces in the fight against Russia, as well as welcoming the seven and a half million refugees that have been forced to flee their country due to the war, a number that continues to grow as the war drags on. There is no doubt that the impressive speed and efficacy with which Europe has acted with regard to the Ukraine crisis is to be applauded. However, before attitudes become overly self-congratulatory, it is important to think back to Europe’s response to the 2015 refugee crisis and to observe how it continues to respond to the steady influx of refugees from the MENA region since then. Notwithstanding, it is important to mention that I am in no way trying to belittle the plight of the Ukrainian people. What they are undergoing, both as individuals and as a nation, through Putin’s aggression is utterly tragic. Yet, the stark contrast in treatment remains relevant, not only because it highlights a clear divide on a humanitarian level in the treatment of refugees based on culture, religion and skin color, but also because it reveals lurking sentiments within Europe that have contributed to the rise of far-right politics. Within weeks of the war’s commencement, the European Union fast-tracked the repurposing of funds originally intended as a COVID relief package, a decision which would usually take many months of debating. The money was redirected to Ukraine’s neighboring countries, including Moldova, which is currently not a member of the union, to support the mass reception of Ukrainian refugees. Even on a macro level, EU citizens have been filled with humanity and compassion, with many people offering up their houses to refugees. The scenes of kindness and generosity visible in train stations across the continent illustrated Europe’s willingness to integrate these refugees into their society. In Poland, refugees were met with banners that read “you are safe here” in Ukrainian. People rushed to carry their luggage and make sure that they found their way. Local governments on the Polish-Ukrainian border have spent millions of Euros providing refugees with food, water and prepaid phones among other things. A survey conducted at the start of the war revealed that 64% of Polish people were willing to personally assist Ukrainian refugees, with 90% supporting their acceptance into the country. Poland has now accepted over 1.4 million Ukrainian refugees. Germany has followed suit by accepting one million refugees, with Italy and Spain having accepted 170,000 and 145,000, respectively. In the United Kingdom, where immigration policy has become a major point of controversy in the last few years, the government has facilitated the acceptance of Ukrainian refugees through the creation of various sponsorship schemes. Nearly 100,000 Ukrainians have taken advantage of this. Another country whose political discourse has revolved around immigration in recent years is France, yet it has managed to take in over 100,000 Ukrainians with little controversy. Of the seven and half million refugees that have been forced to flee Ukraine in the last seven months, already over 50% have been registered as having “Temporary Protection” under the Temporary Protection Directive of the EU or similar national protection schemes (The Temporary Protection Directive has never been activated previously since its conception in 2001). This grants them the same rights as EU citizens or residency permit-holders for an initial period of one year, thus opening the possibility of housing, work and access to social welfare and medical assistance. Many have jumped at the opportunity to praise the warm reception provided to Ukrainians by the European community. Rightly so. When hearing praise for the swift and effective efforts to aid Ukraine I can’t help but to think back to the conditions experienced by refugees in Diavata camp in Thessaloniki. I remind myself that such hospitality was not often shown when Middle Eastern and North African refugees arrived on the shores of Europe in 2015. Since 2014, two and a half million refugees have arrived in Europe from the MENA region. Civil war and political persecution are some of the reasons that they have been forced to flee their homes. There was no rush to alleviate the suffering of these people. Instead, the response has been marred by discord, lethargy and a lack of willingness to aid those seeking safety and opportunity. Many countries tightened their borders, implemented harsher immigration regulations, and suspended the Schengen Accords, which allows for the free movement of people inside of the EU. Notably along the Serbia-Hungary border, where the Hungarian government infamously built a large barbed-wire fence along the entirety of the border, thus blocking a frequently used route by refugees coming from Turkey seeking passage to Germany. Police were also given the right to detain any who try and force their way through. As of today, Hungary has taken in 30,000 Ukrainian refugees. photo by Mattia Bidoli This apparent reluctance to welcome non-white refugees has resulted in many displaced individuals being stuck in the countries that they initially arrive in, notably Greece and Italy. The resultant burden on these countries has been crushing, as they have largely been forced to deal with the repercussions of this crisis on their own. In Italy, this has contributed to the emergence of the far-right, with the election of a coalition led by Georgia Meloni. Greece has also begun to crack-down on immigration. Recent reports suggest that Greek authorities are attempting to block an additional 40,000 refugees from entering the country. Moreover, new cumbersome regulations concerning NGOs and journalists have also been put in place which may hinder their presence in the country. NGOs working in Greece are now being forced to rely more heavily on private humanitarian donors. This can prevent local NGOs from effectively in the face of larger humanitarian emergencies wherein donors often opt to fund more urgent causes, like that of Ukraine. Upon arrival in receiving countries, Middle Eastern and North African refugees are not met with signs of greeting and acts of civilian kindness, but are instead confronted by armed police, who then round them up into designated camps which have been built for one purpose: to contain and remove the refugees from the general population. The camps, which have been built out of tall concrete blocks with some having barbed wire along the top, can often be found in rural or industrial areas, isolated from central and suburban parts of cities. photo by Hugo Lagergren The managers of these camps can also be authoritarian in the way they govern the camps. For instance, traditional celebrations are blocked from taking place and personal gardening projects are forcefully prohibited. As of today, some of the refugees have been living in camps for upwards of five years as they wait for approval to continue their journey, often towards Germany, a popular destination for refugees due to their better record in the 2015 crisis compared to other European countries. On the Franco-Italian border between Menton and Ventimiglia, where I am currently a student, the gendarmerie routinely searches trains coming from Italy, removing and detaining anyone they deem to be illegal, often as a result of racial profiling. France has in fact suspended the Schengen Accords for the first time since 2015 to control the influx of illegal immigration from Italy – a move which the bishop of Ventimiglia said will have “very negative consequences” by stoking racial tensions. This decision also causes refugees to risk their lives, as they are pushed to take more dangerous paths across the border, specifically, a pathway along the Alpes-Maritimes which has now been dubbed the “Pass of Death” due to the dangers presented by the terrain. A couple of weeks ago, I found myself debating with a friend whether racial tensions were more prominent in the US or in Europe. I was adamant that the two weren’t comparable, both in terms of its scope and its radicalism. Now, I’m not so sure. After researching this article, I realize that Europe has simply been successful in pushing the issue to the periphery of the continent, thus removing the issue from day-to-day life in its society. For you, Zahra, Mina, Donia, Kowsar, Zohre, Iram, Gowsar, I hope it changes and Europe becomes the place you dreamed of.

The pervasive use of historical analogy has not always had quite the same stranglehold over public discourse as it does today. These analogies have not always been used as a central axis in massively polarizing issues e.g., Israel-Palestine and U.S. domestic politics. In light of the growing use and misuse of historical comparisons, when should they be used or avoided? < Back The Use and Misuse of Historical Analogy in Contemporary Discourse Niccolo Gentile You’ve probably heard historical analogies deployed to describe contentious events: the Russo-Ukrainian War compared to World War II or Vietnam; the Jan. 6th, 2021 Capitol Building riots in the United States paralleled the burning of the Reichstag; Vladimir Putin likened to Adolf Hitler or the War in Gaza to the Holocaust. These links have become a typical element of political discourse for millions and a rhetorical tool levied to argue opposing cases in these conflicts. However, the pervasive use of historical analogy has not always had quite the same stranglehold over public discourse as it does today. These analogies have not always been used as a central axis in massively polarizing issues e.g., Israel-Palestine and U.S. domestic politics. In light of the growing use and misuse of historical comparisons, when should they be used or avoided? Linguists have long examined the use of analogy as a whole and how it can enhance the popular understanding of the present. In everyday communication, the use of rhetorical tricks like simile, metaphor and analogy all enhance one’s ability to understand and relate to the experiences of others. It is no surprise then that the comprehension of contemporary political matters, especially those taking place half a world away, often attracts comparisons with well-known past events. It is an innate element of the human condition that we confound the unknown with the knowable. The specific use of analogy in regard to history complicates matters. In relation to the history of these analogies, Professor Denis Charbit, specialist of the history of ideas at Sciences Po, argues that these comparisons emerged from the “crisis of modernity, of time” that occurred around the '60s and ‘70s. Hitherto, under the sway of modernism, humanity’s point of reference was placed firmly in the future, whether that be a proletarian revolution or a homogenous ethnostate. This is not to say that historical analogy emerged, contextless from a virgin birth, in the middle of the 20th century. Doubtlessly, it was employed far before this to relate like event to like event. The inundation of this method, however, in the popular imagination seems to be a phenomenon which can be roughly dated, traced and followed in its swell of use over the past few decades. From the historian’s perspective, analogy is a dangerously sweeping tool only to be used in the most damning of circumstances. As Dr. Augusto Petter, lecturer at Sciences Po Menton and expert in the philosophy of history, explained to me, the use of analogy in academic work is generally frowned upon today. Of course, a core element of the historian’s work is to compare events in the past. But drawing an actual link in the form of an analogy or metaphor necessitates an overwhelming, impossible burden of proof so as to make even rhetorical tricks practically absent from the field. Additionally, these analogies have the ability to imbue arguments with immense ethos, pathos and logos, often through cheap or inaccurate means. To quote Kenneth Minogue on the discourse analysis of Quentin Skinner, ‘historical’ analogies “are historical in the popular sense of referring to the past, but not historical in the sense of being contributions to the academic problem of attempting to understand some passage of events in a properly historical manner.” The historian’s highly restrictive and critical view cannot be expected of the wider public, nor should it be sought. To apply the same rigor to popular discourse would cripple any chance such discussion has of producing productive understanding and inspiring the action needed to keep democratic institutions functioning, which discourse should inculcate. To further illuminate the point of criticism here, take one prime example of this discourse and its accuracy in some of the issues from the past few years. What I’ve chosen to examine is not the most current events but one with relevance, some temporal removal and well-established facts from which to base this analysis. Today, commentators and politicians compare Western policy towards Russia with the policy of appeasement that much of Europe took towards Nazi Germany in the years preceding WWII. At a glance, this would seem like a cogent topic to bring into the discourse. Benoît Bréville takes a different position, stating that harkening back to events like the Munich Conference and the invasion of Poland only serves to aggravate tensions that should be soothed to bring an end to the bloodshed. Moreover, these connections simply do not stand up to deeper inquiry. For example, the war in Ukraine is isolated to one country and has dragged on for years whereas Munich and Poland were but brief glimpses of the global conflict to come—one which modern-day Russia is clearly not able to persecute given its performance in Ukraine. This is not to take away from the often rightful case made by these arguments but to encourage a greater level of discernment when choosing one’s evidence so that it holds up beyond our ephemeral present. A couple of caveats should be mentioned. One key difference that Professor Charbit argued for is the difference between using historical analogy and collective memory. This might take the form of an Israeli comparing something to the Holocaust or a Palestinian drawing a connection to the Nakba. However, heed care even here, for as Ada Yurman formulates , such terminology can be used “by those who do not grasp the dimensions of the catastrophe.” Another is to keep in mind the difference between drawing a sweeping analogy and a specific, evidence-based comparison. Though it is ridiculous to compare contemporary French government coordination with private industry to Italian fascism’s corporatism, particular elements can indeed be likened to one another to argue a broader point. The world is a fraught place where meaning seems increasingly intangible, even as the bonds linking our societies to the past are frayed or twisted. We are watching a large-scale military engagement take place around Kursk and Volgograd (formerly Stalingrad) while far-right parties are sweeping European elections in Germany, Italy and Hungary, and multipolarity is pushing most countries into two great blocs or into a position of non-alignment. It is nigh impossible to refute the importance of recalling the past and comparing its causes and outcomes to the present. Alongside this, though, a more critical examination of how and why we use these terms to describe the present and whether they are unjustly coloring our view of current events is due to better engage with both the past and the present.

The extreme right was never a force to be reckoned with in the history of France and only in the last decade did it become an actual threat to democracy and the well-being of the state. There are resemblances from the past to today’s situation, especially to the interwar period when such tendencies had an important sway. < Back The Extreme Right in France: Comeback or Novelty? Amer El-Ibrahim September 30, 2024 The rise of the extreme right in Europe is a subject that is ubiquitous in today’s conversations. We only think of its present popularity when it comes to our minds, but what about its history and its implication in today’s affairs? The results of the recent elections in France have made it clear that the right is now a force to be reckoned with, but was it always like this? First of all, the notions of the political “left” and “right” stem from the French Revolution, when, in the former National Assembly, people who were loyal to the crown sat on the right, while people who supported the revolution sat on the left. The right came to be recognised as wanting order above progress, supporting traditional institutions such as the family and the church and usually enforcing a strict social hierarchy. Meanwhile, the left was seen as being the exact opposite of the right, wanting change and reforms, from the political to the religious and social spheres. However, the extreme right in France did not appear until much later, tracing its origins back to the period of The Third Republic, when the country suffered terrible financial and territorial losses as a result of the Franco-Prussian War of 1870. In times of despair and crises such as the defeat in front of the Germans, a hurt national sentiment is as likely an outcome as is hunger and alienation. This was observed when the victorious party took Lorraine and Alsace; people became polarized and were pushed to one political spectrum or the other. The Dreyfus Affair of 1894, when a Jewish officer named Alfred Dreyfus was accused of treason on false chargers much motivated by his ethnicity, crystallized the extreme right as a force. Until this event, French nationalism was seen as a part of the left, specifically as liberal nationalism, but during this affair nationalism was integrated into the far-right sphere, evolving into ethnic nationalism and blending with xenophobia and anti-Semitism. An important figure of the right was Charles Maurras, founder of integralism—a concept which stipulated that Catholic thought should be at the core of the state—who joined the small monarchist Action Francaise in 1898 He was the spiritual architect of this party and transformed it into a beacon of the extreme right by postulating his idea of integralism and by embedding in it a nationalism that bordered on xenophobia,anti-Semitism, anti-parliamentarian views and hatred towards the Republic. The Action Francaise was a forerunner of the right in France and the most relevant extreme right party that resulted from the Dreyfus affair. Its popularity reached its height during the interwar period when a number of extreme right parties made their appearance, prompted by the general rise of fascism in neighboring Germany and Italy. One of them was the Jeunesses Patriotes, founded by the multi-millionaire Taittinger. Another one was the Croix-de-Feu, originally an association for veterans decorated with the “fire-cross”, became nationalist and anti-parliamentary leanings during the leadership of Colonel La Rocque. However, both failed as parties mainly because of the lack of revolutionary spirit, being the armed hand of the bourgeois order rather than projecting a new one. The Faisceau was the first movement that was inspired by the Italian fascist party. The party was founded by Maurras’s former right hand, George Valois, who developed a strong leaning towards fascism, along with anti-bourgeois and prone to violent stances. Valois’s inflammatory rhetoric soon isolated the party and threw it into anonymity. The last generation of the right-extremists of the interwar period developed at the end of the thirties and is characterized by Jack Doriot’s Parti Populaire Francais (PPF) and Marcel Deat’s Rassemblement National Populaire. These parties were different from the others of their sort because the national question was not the founding basis of the parties, the social part and the idea of a new corporatist society being their main preoccupations. Additionally, their short-lived success was due to the fact that both leaders were affiliated in the past with left-wing organizations, subsequently rallying the working class into their movement. Nonetheless, the variety of the extreme right during the interwar period does not prove a propensity of people towards this spectrum, rather it showcases the generally anti-democratic values and attitudes of the citizens as anti-parliamentarism was very popular throughout the period. Although the right press and the ideas it diffused were widely popular, the parties’ electoral fortunes dwindled, so they were not able to take power. However, the establishment of the Vichy regime led by Marshal Petain after the May defeat in 1940 was the synthesis of varied branches of the extreme right, from Maurassians to fascists, which did not express themselves in plenitude during the 1930s. The main philosophy of this regime could be summed up by the triad “work, family, country” and it consisted of accentuated nationalism, the refusal of individualism and egalitarianism, as well as the search for national unity, the rejection of cultural freedom and an anti-intellectual sentiment. Nevertheless, this regime was not just a regular puppet state controlled by the Germans, rather it was a long-awaited opportunity to implement a national revolution that would cleanse France of the decay that parliamentarism had brought. In the years following the war, the extreme right had to deal with the legacy the Vichy regime left, which was not favorable to them. The most important extreme right movement of the Fourth Republic was the Jeune Nation, which was the first organization that branded itself as neo-fascist. Its success can be traced to the fact that it purified itself of Petainiste views, but it was limited mostly to students rather than the masses and was dissolved by the authorities in 1958 for agitation for violent actions. The transition to the Fifth Republic and the Gaullist regime stifled the extreme right even more, which would plunge into marginality for the next 20 years. Born from the student revolts of May 1968, the Ordre Nouveau (ON) was the major extreme right organization in the 70s. It emphasized anti-communism and anti-immigration, contesting initially the electoral system, but later creating a legitimate political party that ran for elections called the Front National (FN). The movement exploited the nostalgia for the Vichy Regime embodied by Catholic fundamentalists, integralists and other remnants of interwar extreme-right parties. The spirit of the party was concentrated on anti-communism, nationalism, anti-immigration, a strong state and defense of traditional values. Jean Marie Le Pen, founder of the party and its leader until 2011, opposed the fascist leanings of the ON members of the party and emphasized the need for the party to remain legal. This conflict inside the party resulted in the ON leaving, thus offering space for other closeted right extremists. Other parties resulted from this split, but they remained completely marginal. From the 1970s to the present times, the FN remained the main extreme right force in France. Its first breakthrough happened in 1983 and after this point, its popularity only grew, but the party never exceeded the 20 percent mark in elections until 2012, when the leadership was moved to Le Pen’s daughter, Marie Le Pen. What one can gather from all of this is that the extreme right was never a force to be reckoned with in the history of France and only in the last decade did it become an actual threat to democracy and the well-being of the state. There are resemblances from the past to today’s situation, especially to the interwar period when such tendencies had an important sway. By focusing mainly on what happened in the last century, I wanted to highlight that such movements leaning towards the extreme right are something recurrent and that the danger of them taking power has always existed. The only difference is that this year they almost won. However, similar to the interwar period, their newfound popularity seems to stem from discontent regarding the current government and state of affairs, and not from an actual conviction in what they postulate. But this remains only an impression and should be regarded with doubt.

It was then that the ceremony began with the traditional words, “we are gathered here today... ” but it wasn’t before long that a telenovela unfolded on the steps at Bastion. < Back Weddings: A Menton Tradition By Viola Luraschi September 29, 2021 If you were to walk past Bastion on Tuesday the 7th of September at around 9pm, you would notice a large group of people suddenly go quiet and arrange themselves in two neat rows. At this odd time of the night, the formally dressed rows lined with students and wine bottles appeared eager and impatient. It was not until the arrival of Jessica Cheng and Stavriana Delipetrou that “Dancing Queen” began to play, initiating an upheaval of excitement. Confused, Jessica and Stavriana were led down the aisle and placed in front of Ada Başer, the officiant for the night. It was then that the ceremony began with the traditional words, “we are gathered here today... ” but it wasn’t before long that a telenovela unfolded on the steps at Bastion. Lilinaz Hakimi and Barbara Kuza Tarkowska were the first to interrupt the ceremony. Yelling at the top of their lungs, they declared their love for each other in front of the whole crowd. This was followed by the intervention of Nikola Avramovic and Frida Hellen, who played the roles of parents deeply opposed to the marriage. Luckily for the reader, the story would not end there. The plot later thickened. First, it was revealed that Stavriana and Jessica had a hidden child. This news was met with a great deal of shocky by the crowd, but by no means did it receive the loudest reaction from the crowd. The interruptions continued with an astrologist objecting to the match, and Jessica’s mother revealing her affair with Stavriana. Regardless of all the scandals that unfolded, the night came to an end with a newly-wed couple: Stavriana Delipetrou and Jessica Cheng, along with some empty bottles of wine and a group of drunk students screaming and moving to the rhythm of the music. The night not only marked the wedding as a Mentonnaise tradition, but also the final opportunity for many to say goodbye to an important member of the Menton family: Stavriana, or “the queen of Menton.” Jessica only stayed in Menton for a short amount of time last year, and she was Stavriana’s iDaughter. She was married to Stavriana because of the stark contrast in their Mentonnaise experiences, with Stavriana being one of the longest student-residents of Menton as a 3A, and their completely incompatible star signs. While this wedding was a new tradition for the 1As, those who were in Menton last year will remember the two weddings organized by Ysabella Titi, a current 3A student. After contracting COVID-19 and quarantining with her two roommates, Audrey Kost and Olivia Jenkins, Ysabella decided to bring an American university tradition to Menton with some added Mentonnaise drama in order to celebrate the end of isolation. So nearly a year before this year’s wedding, on the 21st of September 2020, a group of people, unsure of what to expect, gathered together at Bastion and surprised Audrey and Olivia into a marriage. At the wedding, Ysabella explained that although in reality the American tradition isn’t quite as chaotic as that which she set in Menton, since the Menton campus never has a quiet week, it just didn’t seem right to have a standard wedding without any drama. The wedding was therefore nothing short of chaotic, with shouting and arguing between groomsmen and bridesmaids, familial disputes, clothing and spouse choice disapproval. There were even drinks thrown in people’s faces. Because the wedding took place on the 21st night of September, the night couldn’t end in any other way than with Lilinaz, Lena, Moira and Zain singing “September” by Earth, Wind, and Fire. Ysabella organized a second wedding after this one, uniting Nour Aljowaily and Joseph Moussa. Combining cultures in creating the Mentonnaise wedding tradition, this wedding was conducted in the Arab tradition. Due to their brother-like relationship, described by Ysabella as a love/hate relationship, the wedding was “chaotic and amazing.” The way I see it, this Mentonnaise tradition stands as a representation of our community — one big dysfunctional family that, through thick and thin, will always choose itself.

Sur l’air solennel de la Marseillaise et le dépôt traditionnel de gerbes sur la Place de France à la Case Rocher, le 27 février 2024 marque l'installation d’un nouveau préfet à Mayotte, François-Xavier Bieuville. < Back Le droit du sol sur une île en crise: Retours sur l'actualité de Mayotte By Salomé Greffier March 30, 2024 Sur l’air solennel de la Marseillaise et le dépôt traditionnel de gerbes sur la Place de France à la Case Rocher, le 27 février 2024 marque l'installation d’un nouveau préfet à Mayotte, François-Xavier Bieuville. Pour la ministre déléguée chargée des Outre-mer, Marie Guévenoux, cette nomination vise à renouer le dialogue, rompu avec le précédent préfet, entre les autorités publiques et le collectif citoyen “Forces vives”, afin de “garantir l’ordre public et rétablir durablement la paix civile dans le département” . Trouver des solutions durables pour ce territoire traversé par des crises à répétition en termes de sécurité, d’immigration clandestine, d’accès aux biens de premières nécessités, de pauvreté,... devrait être au cœur du programme de l’ancien juriste ayant exercé dans des territoires ultramarins. En effet, alors que le 101 ème département français fait face à des barrages routiers depuis un mois de la part des “Forces vives”, l’enjeu du pouvoir central semble devoir se concentrer sur le rétablissement du dialogue et la prise en considération des revendications mahoriennes. La société civile qui proteste aujourd’hui, accuse l’Etat français d’abandon et condamne le climat d’insécurité palpable sur l’île, ainsi que l’immigration illégale. Concernant l’insécurité, l’INSEE relate en novembre 2021 que 48% des habitants de Mayotte se sentent en insécurité, principalement dans leurs quartiers, soit cinq à six fois plus que les habitants de l’Hexagone. Un sentiment confirmé par une délinquance d’appropriation élevée dans la région, puisqu’environ un ménage sur cinq a été victime d’au moins un cambriolage ou d’un vol sans effraction. Les logements et biens matériels motorisés (voitures, bus) s’avèrent être les principales cibles des délinquants. Des épisodes plus violents entraînant l’usage d’armes blanches (couteaux, machettes) ont également été répertoriés dans les écoles et les transports publics notamment. Ces agressions sont, le plus souvent, l’oeuvre de jeunes mahoriens organisés en bandes rivales mais demeurent associées au problème de l’immigration illégale. En effet, l’île de Mayotte, située au cœur de l’archipel des Comores, compte 55% d’étrangers dans sa population. Cette proportion s’explique par l’arrivée massive de comoriens (95% des étrangers) dans le département. La principale motivation de cette migration reste avant tout économique dans la mesure où Mayotte constitue le territoire le plus riche et doté d’infrastructures de services publics plus accessibles que dans le reste de l’archipel. Ces déplacements de population marquent également le 101 ème département français d’un taux de natalité s’élevant à 4,7 enfants par femme en 2022, soit 10 730 bébés de mères domiciliées sur l’île la même année. Surnommée ‘la maternité’ de la France, Mayotte et ses services publics, avec en première ligne la maternité de Mamoudzou, peinent à faire face à cette explosion démographique. La majorité des nouveau-nés sont issus de parents comoriens souhaitant obtenir pour leurs enfants la nationalité française en invoquant le droit du sol. Une pratique dénoncée par le gouvernement actuel ayant déjà initié l’opération Wuambushu en avril dernier afin d’expulser les migrants illégaux amassés dans des bidonvilles dans l’objectif de faire barrage à la crise migratoire. L’exécutif a choisi de répondre par la force et la destruction à une situation migratoire jugée intolérable et incompatible avec le développement de Mayotte. Or, l’ethnologue Sophie Blanchy rappelle d’une part que les liens entre comoriens et mahorais demeurent étroits en termes de culture, de langue, de religion; la seule distinction les caractérisant se trouvant dans la possession de la nationalité française ou non. D’autre part, la chercheuse avance que, dans cet espace insulaire doté de peu de ressources, la migration a toujours été une nécessité. D'autant plus que le transfert d’argent acquis par le déplacement des individus permet d’alimenter l’économie du département. Ainsi, l’argument nourrit par les discours de la métropole quant au fait que la migration à Mayotte ne serait motivée que par l’obtention de papiers administratifs reste à nuancer. L’article reviendra prochainement sur ce point. Dans l’immédiat, il semble nécessaire de se tourner vers la récente proposition du ministre de l’Intérieur et des Outre-Mer, Gérald Darmanin, pour couper “ littéralement l’attractivité qu’il peut y avoir dans l’archipel mahorais ”. Soutenu par Emmanuel Macron, le ministre souhaite assurément endiguer le phénomène migratoire en annonçant le 11 février dernier vouloir réformer les articles relatifs au droit du sol de la Constitution. Ce droit inscrit dans l’article 21-7 du code civil stipule que les personnes nées en France de deux parents étrangers peuvent obtenir la nationalité à l’âge de 18 ans si elles résident en France depuis une période continue ou discontinue d’au moins cinq ans depuis l’âge de 11 ans. De plus, l’enfant peut dans ce cadre obtenir la nationalité avant sa majorité sur demande de ses parents entre 13 et 16 ans ou sur demande personnelle entre 16 et 18 ans, sous conditions de durée de résidence en France. Ce droit du sol dit “simple” se complète d’un double droit du sol avançant que toute personne née en France ayant au moins un parent français peut obtenir la nationalité dès sa naissance. Dans le cas de Mayotte, c’est le droit du sol simple qui semble être visé par les mesures proposées par Gérald Darmanin. Dès lors, invoquer une mesure d’exception pour Mayotte contournerait le principe d’indivisibilité inscrit dans l’article premier de la norme suprême. En 2018 déjà, Emmanuel Macron s’était trouvé à l’initiative de la Loi Collomb réduisant les possibilités d’obtention de la nationalité française par le droit du sol. En effet, ce texte impose qu’à la date de la naissance d’un enfant né à Mayotte, l’un de ses parents au moins réside en France de manière régulière, sous couvert d’un titre de séjour, et de manière ininterrompue depuis plus de trois mois. Or, les observations montrent qu’en 2022, si seulement 800 mineurs ont obtenu la nationalité contre 2800 en 2018, les problèmes migratoires et tensions internes n’ont pas décru. Par conséquent, la proposition du ministre de l’Intérieur et des Outre-mer apparaît inutile voire dangereuse selon les partis de l’opposition. A droite, alors que le Rassemblement National se réjouit de cette mesure, Marion Maréchal Le Pen craint un “appel d’air” migratoire qui pourrait atteindre l’Hexagone. La chef de fil du parti d’extrême droite Reconquête, critique en outre la fin du visa territorialisé qui permettait de limiter la circulation des personnes étrangères en situation irrégulière au seul département de Mayotte. Sur les bancs de la gauche, Manuel Valls, anciennement affilié au Parti socialiste, défend que “ cette réforme repose sur le fantasme que le droit du sol est responsable du chaos à Mayotte [... ]on ouvre un boîte de Pandore qui me paraît extrêmement dangereuse dans notre débat national ”. En effet, toucher au droit du sol remet en cause des piliers fondamentaux de la République française tels que son caractère indivisible et social. Cette mesure marque davantage encore l’inefficacité de l’Etat français à mettre en œuvre des actions concrètes pour pallier la pauvreté qui divise les îles de la Lune. Alors que l’eau est coupée presque trois jours par semaine, que son prix est assez exorbitant pour que les mahorais en consomment via des systèmes d’approvisionnement vétustes et porteurs de bactéries telles que l’E.coli, le gouvernement s’attache à poser la responsabilité de cette situation sur les étrangers. Certes, la pression démographique implique une prise en charge complexe des services publics sur l’île, mais elle n’est pas la seule coupable d’une crise structurelle plongeant 77% des habitants sous le seuil de pauvreté. Emmanuel Macron se veut rassurant en affirmant que la réforme constitutionnelle annoncée ne fera pas le jeu de l’extrême droite tout en soutenant qu’il reste “ très profondément attaché à ce droit pour la France ”. Par ces paroles, le gouvernement évite finalement une fois encore de résoudre les problèmes par des solutions et place Mayotte en périphérie de ses préoccupations nationales.

Every time someone calls criminal justice a vital institution to democracy, I remember the ghastly sight of someone being pulled aside and getting beaten up by the police in Ventimiglia. It reminds me of the widespread bias, racism, and xenophobia that still corrupt our society; the same discrimination that lies but a few few kilometers away from us. < Back On Being Racially Profiled in Ventimiglia By Ishan Naithani January 30, 2022 Racial profiling has been a long-standing issue, be it at an airport, train station, or police checkpoint. Despite seeping into the national dialogue, this topic remains very controversial. Understanding racial profiling requires the use of a working definition. For the purpose of this article, I define racial profiling as the law enforcement practice of using race, ethnicity, national origin, or religious appearance, among other factors, to determine which people are suspicious enough to warrant police stops, questions, frisks, searches, and other routine police practices. Racial profiling, a violation of fundamental civil liberties, is not only morally objectionable and ineffective, but also undermines the integrity of the criminal justice system and instills distrust in targeted populations. As an Indian person of color (POC), I have experienced some of these morally objectionable elements of biased policing at the Franco-Italian border. I have always had to carry my passport and my student card to leave and reenter France. The feeling of being singled out by the border police and getting interrogated is often quite humiliating. In one instance, my first week in France, I remember going from Menton to Ventimiglia when I had an unnerving experience with the border police. I was the only person standing on Platform B (the side opposing the train station), waiting for the train to arrive. Oddly enough, I saw a group of three French policemen running towards me, screaming from the other side “attends là.” When they came to the platform where I stood, they disrespectfully asked me to show my passport and to tell them where I was heading. They also asked me to open my bag for an inspection. As I opened my bag, one of the officers noticed my Sciences Po hoodie (what a clutch). At that moment, their demeanor changed completely. They not only told me that my passport and bag were not needed anymore, but also wished me “un bon voyage.” Biased inspections keep happening — I am singled out, asked to prove my identity, interrogated about the reasons for my border crossing, and treated without courtesy — despite belonging in a group of people from the same university. While my experience is certainly harrowing, it is also humbling. Unlike me, most other persons of color, who are disproportionately victims of racial profiling, rarely know to use their right to demand a reason for apprehension from a police officer. Unlike me, ethnic minorities may not have a Sciences Po hoodie to save them. Every time someone calls criminal justice a vital institution to democracy, I remember the ghastly sight of someone being pulled aside and getting beaten up by the police in Ventimiglia. It reminds me of the widespread bias, racism, and xenophobia that still corrupt our society; the same discrimination that lies but a few few kilometers away from us. Racial profiling points towards discriminatory attitudes within legal institutions like law enforcement, and it reveals a deeply entrenched norm of systemic racism in today’s societies. It is challenging to eradicate racism inherent to every major institution, which is why we must go beyond understanding individual acts of racism. Non-discriminatory law enforcement is also aided by the recruitment and retention of officers from varied backgrounds, who are more reflective of the community they serve. This enhanced representation can alter organizational culture and staff attitudes, which is predicted to result in less biased decision-making. The real problem posed by racial profiling is that law enforcement authorities often violate domestic and international legal principles, like non-discrimination and the right to equal legal treatment. Furthermore, data indicates that racial profiling is ineffective as a law enforcement technique and should be replaced. Racial profiling is not a new trend, but it definitely can not continue to be the status quo. Whether through discussions with civil society representatives and the media, or by creating large-scale shifts in socio-political attitudes, racial profiling can be reversed in Ventimiglia and beyond. And because it can, it must.

56 seasons. 21 playoff appearances. 6 American League Pennants and 4 World Series Championships: the Athletics’ storied time in Oakland came to an end late this September with a 3-2 win over the Texas Rangers, their final game in the city’s Coliseum. < Back Restless Relocations: The Hard Breaks Between City’s and their Sports Teams Pracheth Sanka October 31, 2024 56 seasons. 21 playoff appearances. 6 American League Pennants and 4 World Series Championships: the Athletics’ storied time in Oakland came to an end late this September with a 3-2 win over the Texas Rangers, their final game in the city’s Coliseum. The team’s departure is part of a larger effort to permanently move the franchise to Las Vegas, with a quick pit-stop in Sacramento before moving into their new $1.5 billion publicly-financed home on the Strip. The A’s owner, John Fisher, remained silent on the team's relocation, though it is no secret that his inability to compromise with Oakland city officials played a major role in his decision. The feud stemmed from the team’s plans to move from the single-function Coliseum to a 55-acre, multi-use commercial area on the Oakland waterfront. The city’s inability to raise public funds pushed Fisher to look elsewhere, despite recent traction in allocating federal infrastructure money and clearing bureaucratic hurdles to initiate the project. Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred, who initially objected to Fisher’s proposals, allowed the A’s to submit a relocation application in early 2023. After securing $380 million from the Government of Nevada and leasing out an area in the heart of Las Vegas, the team began preparing for a full push to move from Oakland. By November 2023, Manfred started warming up to relocation efforts, and the 30-team league voted unanimously in favor of the A’s relocation. Oakland is now left without a professional sports team for the first time in sixty years, following similar relocations by the National Basketball League’s Golden State Warriors and the National Football League’s Raiders earlier this decade. Like the A’s, the Raiders moved from the aging , run-down Oakland Coliseum to the custom-made , fittingly all-black, multi-billion dollar Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. Unlike Fisher, Raiders owner Mark Davis spared no suspense on the motive behind his move: money. Without the billion-dollar cost of constructing a new Oakland stadium, and with the aid of $750 million from the city of Las Vegas, Davis finalized his move to the team-barren Nevada desert, capitalizing on the area’s lack of professional sports teams. Vegas, however, was not Davis’ first choice. In competition with the then-St. Louis Rams, and in collaboration with the then-San Diego Chargers, the Raiders hoped to upgrade from the tenth-biggest sports market in the United States to the second: Los Angeles. While the Chargers and Rams were eventually successful in a bid to move to the city, it was originally the Chargers and Raiders who wished to jointly finance a stadium just south of city limits in Carson, even gaining the support of an N.F.L. relocation commission. Despite the difference in outcome, both the Chargers’ and Rams’ stories paint eerily similar pictures to that of Oakland. In San Diego, ownership attempted to replace the fifty-year-old Qualcomm Stadium with a $1.2 billion downtown arena. This failed to attract lawmaker support, who were reluctant to divert millions of taxpayer dollars towards it. Owner Dean Spanos instead decided to buy into a joint stadium with Rams’ owner Stan Kroenke, who himself harbored his fair share of reasons to leave his St. Louis home. Chief among them was the city’s promises to maintain a modern, N.F.L. caliber stadium, which was one of the main temptations for Kroenke to move the team to Missouri in the first place. As city officials repeatedly failed their contractual obligation to uphold the stadium , Kroenke became increasingly frustrated and detached from the team’s midwest home. Los Angeles, the Rams’ former home, was an open market for any football team, having remained teamless for 21 years. With the prospect of creating a modernized stadium in the largest untapped market in the U.S., Kroenke took an all-out bid on L.A., buying land in Inglewood before the owners even held a vote on the relocation. But were these moves worth it? Sure, the free market ideals of expanding into an untouched consumer pool can be exciting, but these ventures are not inexpensive. Even with government aid, financing the world’s most expensive stadium was much more costly than staying in their respective cities. With the aid of the N.F.L. and sponsorship rights, Spanos would have only needed to cover around $600 million, government aid not included. A move to Los Angeles cost him a relocation fee of $645 million , along with a $200 million loan to build the stadium. What is markedly more absurd though, is that this nearly $1 billion number pales in comparison to the astronomical costs incurred by the Rams. With what was expected to be a just over $2 billion project, Kroenke ended up contributing a monster $5.5 billion to build SoFi Stadium. On top of that, Kroenke was sued for $790 million by the City of St. Louis, a figure that itself rivals the $1.1 billion cost projected for a new stadium in Missouri. What is not accounted for in any balance sheet, however, is the hidden cost of fan alienation. As the new Los Angeles Rams found their way to Super Bowl LII, St. Louis bar patrons were offered free drinks for every Patriots’ score in a show of symbolic hatred towards their old team. Chargers fans rented a billboard near their new stadium to express that the team had “no freaking loyalty.” Raiders fans, while a bit split and muted in their protest, sold many of their season tickets away in the team's last stint in Oakland, uneager to financially support a team that was moving away. And this fan alienation came with no guarantee of fan attraction in their new cities. While the Nevada television market was often zoned for Raiders games, the area saw rival viewership with the Kansas City Chiefs, and Las Vegas is in closer proximity to the Phoenix-based Arizona Cardinals than to Oakland. This was reflected in the team's fan attendance rates, where visiting teams could often be greeted at a stadium almost halfway full with their supporters, though this trend is slowly improving. With the A’s move fast approaching, management should be wary of the fate of their relocated predecessors. The present-day success of the Chargers and Rams came at a high cost and there is no guarantee that the Raiders will be able to establish themselves as a serious anchor in the competitive Las Vegas market. Leaving Oakland can give the A’s a new start, a chance to build a strong legacy in Sin City, but only the future will tell if their big gamble will result in a winning hand.

< Back 102 Deaths and 40 Missing : Lebanon’s economic crisis is pushing people towards absolute desperation By Ghazal Khalife October 29, 2022 Bodies drifting ashore, sirens blaring, and families frantically searching for survivors: this was the scene when a boat carrying 150 people capsized close to the Syrian shore. On Sept. 22, 2022, a boat carrying 150 emigrants — most of whom were Lebanese citizens, but also Palestinian and Syrian refugees — capsized near the coast of Tartous, Syria. More than one hundred bodies have been found, while 40 other victims are still lost. Syrian and Lebanese authorities have cooperated to locate these missing persons and inform their families of their fates. Lebanese officials, meanwhile, succeeded in capturing the smuggler and accomplices involved in the scheme. The scene is nothing short of a tragedy. Testimonies from the few individuals who survived and from victims’ relatives show just how calamitous the incident was. What pushed these people to embark on a journey where the death toll exceeds the survival rate? Mostafa Mesto, one of the fatalities, reportedly sold all his belongings to collect the 12 thousand dollars that the smuggler demanded. It was Mesto’s last chance to escape Lebanon with his family after his four failed attempts at legal immigration. Desperation is the common motive for victims of the illegal immigration industry and they are often inspired by success stories of families who reached Europe. A Palestinian survivor, Jihad Michlawi, explains how friends that migrated to Europe by sea promised that conditions in European migrant camps were more dignified than living in Lebanon, alleging that “even the food is way better.” This highlights the despair that the Lebanese population is feeling, faced with an ever-deteriorating economic crisis and a shamelessly negligent political class. It appears that this disaster will be repeated as more Lebanese citizens struggle to make ends meet and lose faith in a promising future. A Dire Economic Crisis with no Glimmer of Hope Most of the people on the boat came from Lebanon’s Northern region, Akkar and Tripoli, one persistently neglected by the government even before the financial crisis that plagued the country in 2019. According to a report by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in 2022, 708,000 out of the 1.1 million residing in Lebanon live under the poverty line, among them 266,000 Syrian refugees and 88,000 Palestinians. As a result, it comes as no surprise that the demand for the Lebanon-Cyprus illegal immigration industry is increasing. In one year, Lebanon’s migration rate increased by 426%; many are comparing the current immigration wave to that of the 1880s. The financial crisis blew up in 2019 after successive governments borrowed money with few restraints. Prior to this depression, the balance of payments deficit was usually remedied by foreign aid and remittances from the Lebanese diaspora. However, as the budget deficit skyrocketed and the government implemented few reforms, foreign donors refrained from handing out billions of dollars worth of pledged aid. The symptoms of a plummeting economy began to emerge in 2016, but the impending market slump was hastened by the 2019 protests. In short, a combination of poor financial planning, a turbulent political climate, and foreign investors’ loss of faith, further worsened by the pandemic and the Beirut explosion, paralyzed the Lebanese economy. As an import-dependent country, Lebanon’s sharp currency depreciation caused prices to increase drastically almost overnight. The price of bread rose 900%, and unsurprisingly wages could not keep up. In Tripoli’s densely populated Tabbene neighborhood, where most victims originated, the economic situation hit families hard — with disproportionately higher unemployment rates and close to no government intervention compared to the rest of the country. Furthermore, the consequences of the financial crisis have manifested themselves in greater emigration and crime rates. One of the more recent developments has been attacks on banks. Within a few months, there were two cases of desperate depositors attempting to access their money by holding bank employees hostage. The general public even sympathized with these depositors, hailing them as heroes who were “claiming their own rights.” Sally Hafiz, a woman who raided a bank demanding 13,000 dollars from her account to fund her sister’s cancer treatment, said in an interview, “ I had begged the branch manager before for my money, and I told him my sister was dying, didn't have much time left… time was running out and I had nothing to lose.” Hafiz’s case exemplifies the desperation uniting much of the Lebanese public.Fears of an even more dire future have inhibited popular protests. Lebanon is experiencing a vicious cycle of an increasingly dysfunctional political class and an apathetic population looking for ways to escape or reach short term solutions rather than demanding fundamental reforms. This reaction is shared by the masses — many are too occupied with securing their day to day needs rather than engaging in political activism which already proved ineffective in changing the existing political regime. As the perilous political and economic climate persists, Lebanese residents continue risking their lives in search of dignity andfundamental rights. They are looking for a solid government plan to resuscitate the dying economy and collapsing country. As long as no evidence of realistic, firmly implemented economic and politicalreforms appear on the horizonLebanese residents will continueembarking on suicide missions to seek out a stable livelihood. In an interview following the migrant boat’s capsize, 16-year-old Rawane El Maneh, arelative of one of the victims, said, “they went looking for a new life, and there they are in anew life, hopefully, one better than this one.”

< Back Promising: New Covid Treatment Gives Hope By Saoirse Aherne October 31, 2021 New Treatment On September 28, Merck — A German multinational science and technology company — announced that it has created a pill to treat SARS-CoV-2 in partnership with Ridgeback Biotherapeutics. The drug in question is called molnupiravir, and while it was initially created to treat influenza, it has been in development as a broad-spectrum antiviral for about 10 years. Merck CEO Robert Davis stated that the company was “actively working with regulatory agencies around the world to submit applications for emergency use or marketing authorization in the coming months.” Who will be able to access the pill? This pill will be used to treat COVID-19-positive patients as soon as they begin showing symptoms. As is the case with most respiratory viruses, it is best to begin COVID-19 treatment early on. An initial lessening of the viral load reduces the risk of developing severe symptoms and lowers the likelihood of transmission. Merck’s phase three clinical trial enrolled unvaccinated, high risk individuals. Initially, molnupiravir may only be available to this demographic, however it will likely become more widely available over time. Merck intends to have this drug authorized in the US before the end of 2021. This appears to be a feasible objective considering that White House advisor on the health crisis, Anthony Fauci, called the data from the clinical trial “impressive.” Moreover, the U.S. government has preemptively ordered 1.7 million courses of treatment. Merck claims it will be able to produce enough pills for 10 million people by the end of this year. Efficacy and Appeal According to Merck, this drug reduces the risk of hospitalization or death due to COVID-19 by 50 percent. In the third phase of molnupiravir’s trial, a group of volunteers suffering early symptoms of COVID-19 were studied. Half of the volunteers were treated with molnupiravir while the other half received a placebo pill. Of the volunteers that received molnupiravir, only seven percent were hospitalized. In contrast, the group that received placebo pills displayed a hospitalization rate of 14 percent. One limitation of this drug trial was the relatively small sample group that was studied, which included only 775 at-risk patients. Molnupiravir demonstrates lower efficacy than monoclonal antibodies; the intravenous cocktail that is currently used to treat high risk people with COVID-19. These antibodies can reduce hospitalizations and death by up to 85 percent. The appeal of the molnupiravir pill, however, is that it is far easier to administer and can reach a much larger population than the complex intravenous cocktail treatment. More importantly, the infusion treatment requires a hospital visit, thus demanding time and resources from medical professionals, and costs approximately 1,000 euros per injection. Naomi Cailes, a registered nurse at the Peterborough regional health center, agreed that “the fact that [molnupiravir] is an oral pill is a huge advantage over current antivirals or monoclonal antibody infusions'' as these treatments are “invasive and depend on lots of resources.” Cailes, who has firsthand experience dealing with COVID patients, described the emotional toll of being a health care worker during the pandemic, citing the fact that there was “no time to grieve” after a patient died as there was always another patient requiring medical attention. As such, she expressed hope at the prospect of a drug which could reduce hospitalizations. However, as much as Cailes recognized the promise of monlupiravir, she was adamant that “vaccination should continue to be our first-line defense against COVID-19.” Side Effects and Concerns Molnupiravir is a mutagenic drug, thus it reduces viral load by forcing the COVID-19 virus to make mistakes while copying RNA. A Clinical Trials Arena article observed that there are “persistent side-effect concerns with mutagenic molnupiravir.” In fact, Merck required male participants of their phase three trial to abstain from sex or use of contraception, and only included female participants who were not breastfeeding or pregnant, also requiring them to use a highly effective contraceptive or be abstinent during the study. Merck virologist Daria Hazuda ensured that “no evidence of the potential for mutagenicity” has been observed in molnupiravir. According to an article published in Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, molnupiravir showed no serious adverse effects in its first-in-human phase one trial; fewer than half of the test subjects reported any effects, and of those that were reported, 93.3 percent were mild. It must also be noted that Molnupiravir is intended to be administered on a short term basis, which greatly reduces its risk of causing adverse effects. Other Promising Treatments The appeal of a simple, ingestible COVID-19 treatment is widely recognized in the pharmaceutical industry with both American Pfizer and Swiss Roche set to reveal the results of clinical trials for their own pills in the coming months. Conclusion Molnupiravir has the potential to greatly reduce the severity of COVID-19 symptoms, potentially preventing the need for hospitalization in many cases and thus opening up hospital beds for those who need them. From first hand sources, it is clear that high hospitalization rates are emotionally draining for patients and healthcare workers alike. This pill marks an important development in virus control and is likely also useful against influenza and ebola. It seems probable that this pill will soon be widely available, however it should not be treated as a replacement for vaccination, which remains the optimal defense against the spread of COVID-19.

Student associations were especially active in the month of February, hosting a variety of exciting events throughout the month. Click the link in our bio to read more about events hosted by Babel, MEDMUN, LFP, Environnementon, BDA, SSA and more! < Back February Associations Recap By Celeste Abourjeili March 31, 2022 Vegan Barbeque & Veganuary For the month of February, Environnementon was active in promoting a belated Veganuary. Students were encouraged to give up meat and become vegetarian, pescatarian, or vegan for the entire month. Besides recipe recommendations and TikToks on its Instagram, the association hosted a vegan barbeque with a plentiful menu at the Zoo on February 20. Sciences Palestine book club Throughout the month of February, Sciences Palestine held its second book club of the year. Every Sunday, participants discussed the short poetic novel "Touch" by Adania Shibli, combining literary analysis with insight on the Palestinian struggle. The next book club will be about "Salt Houses" by Hala Alyan — it's not too late to join! BDA Valent’art week BDA's Valent'art Week was both online and on campus. While the board members presented each day some of their favorite artworks on love via Instagram, the week was full of events. Monday was kicked off by an Acoustic Romantic Jam Session by our Music Club in Espace Etudiant, as well as the opening of poem submission. On Wednesday was held a workshop on "the art of Healing" in which our participants talked and drew their representation of love. The week finished on Friday with the final poem display in collaboration with SciencesPoésie to read, talk, and share thoughts about love. LFP x MEDMUN simulation On February 10, students came together in the big amphitheater to watch a collaborative simulation between LFP and MEDMUN. A collaboration between La Fabrique Politique and MEDMUN, the event ended with XX. Philosophical Society x UGE event: what kind of leftist are you? Students gathered together in the Soundproof living room on February 12 to find out what kind of leftist they are. With interactive activities, the event led to fruitful discussions about ideology, and more specifically, what constitutes a leftist ideology. Prix Richard Descoing On the 19th of February, students from each of the various campuses gathered in the conveniently-named Richard Descoing amphitheater to witness candidates compete in the prestigious ‘ Prix Richard Descoing ’ competition. The yearly competition celebrates the eloquence and rhetorical skills of Sciences Po students. Menton’s own Raphaël Phanor took home the prize for enthusiasm. MEDMUN drunk crisis MEDMUN’s crisis team gathered students together at Soundproof on February 19 to simulate the Menton administration in a battle against lemon-robbing students. The simulation ended student autonomy, the death of the evil dog of Rue Longue, and immense student wealth — in real life, the event ended with drunk (and happy) participants. BDE x Babel valentine’s day party BDE and Babel collaborated to host a party at Soundproof on February 19, which was moved to Sablettes and Bastion as the night progressed. The party included students from other campuses who were visiting for the Prix Richard Descoings. SSA Relationships Talk On February 22, the Student Support Alliance hosted a spa night and screening of Inside Out. Students channeled the spirit of Valentine's Day into self-love with nail-painting, homemade face masks, and a classic feel-good movie. Babel culture week In the build-up to Babel’s trip to Tunisia, the team organized a week full of cultural events ranging from a cooking session, to a henna station, to a movie night at the Eden cinema. The Tunisian-themed events got students excited for the spring break. Columbia Dual BA Event On March 19, Foxes & Lions did a “hazing” night to officiate 1A dual BAers into the program. It featured trivia questions about Columbia and a push-up contest, among other fun activities. Mafia remembrance protests On March 21, Understanding the Mafia collaborated with several other associations to march to the Franco-Italian border bearing the names of victims of the mafia. They were met at the border by a partner association from Italy.

From Shatila to Menton, artist Maryam Samaan turns puppets and knitting into spaces for healing and dialogue. < Back Beyond Ceasefires: Building Lasting Peace with Art Emilie Pezet November 13, 2025 From Shatila to Menton, artist Maryam Samaan turns puppets and knitting into spaces for healing and dialogue. 128,349— that is the number of combatants and civilians that died in state-based conflicts in 2024. 20 years ago, it was only 19,646. In recent years, rising conflict has made peace a pressing concern. Peace, understood as the absence of war, can take many forms, from ceasefires to negotiated treaties. However, those mechanisms can be insufficient on their own. Building lasting peace necessitates creating an atmosphere of trust and understanding between former enemies. This difficult, essential work means confronting the painful past, learning from it, and rising above it to prevent repetition. Because the hardest part is relational — healing wounds, rebuilding trust, and restarting dialogue — art has a role. Art can offer safe expression, foster cooperation, encourage constructive engagement with conflict, help people cope with trauma, and preserve memory, which are the basic conditions for cooperation. Syrian-Palestinian artist Maryam Samaan’s workshops, One hand Puppet and Tricot d’âmes , offer a concrete example of these dynamics in practice. Art and Peacebuilding Arts-based peace building is implemented through arts and art-therapy programs including drama, puppetry, music, dance and filmmaking. These practices can support “healing and reconciliation, promoting dialogue, preventing conflict, engaging marginalized communities, challenging injustices, and influencing policy,” as scholars Breed, Pells, and Elliott argue in their 2022 article on arts-based peace building. In this sense, art contributes to “positive peace”: not only the absence of violence but also the presence of social justice, as theorized by leading peace scholar Galtung. Translating that concept into practice starts with how art operates. By communicating beyond words, art affects both artists and audiences. In reality, its contributions fall into two strands: supporting internal healing, and facilitating understanding between adversaries, thus promoting reconciliation. Artistic activities foster changes at the individual level. As a means of expression, artistic activity helps people process emotion and feel empowered, foundations for non-violence. In Art as Peacebuilding , Laurie Marshall, an artist and educator focused on arts-based peace work, describes “art transforming individual violence”. She explains how art can function therapeutically, providing a platform for feelings that words cannot carry. This internal work matters for peace building; without healing, cooperation falters because unprocessed pain keeps resurfacing in talks and everyday coexistence. Laurie Marshall builds her theory on one of her student, a survivor of child abuse that used drawing to release trauma. The arts educator writes that “By healing herself, Josie was then able to help heal the world.” This rests on a common idea in arts-based peace building: personal healing usually comes first and makes collective peace work possible. Artistic activities develop confidence and useful skills, such as public speaking, teamwork, creativity, which in turns empower the participants. Furthemore, art can build capacities for more constructive engagement with conflict and ultimately, more cooperative relationships, often through transformative learning. As peace education research April Bang notes, art places people in situations that challenge assumptions and invite self-reflection and critique. For victims and former combatants alike, participation can help shift anger, resentment and fear toward understanding and willingness to cooperate. In Colombia, for example, the ‘Art for Reconstruction’ program brought victims, army veterans, and former members of illegal armed groups together to co-create art; its evaluation found reduced intergroup hostility and increased willingness to cooperate and reconcile among participants. To ground these dynamics, artist Maryam Samaan shared her experience in artistic workshops. Invited to the Menton Campus for World Peace Day (September 21) by MEDMUN, she discussed how her puppetry sessions in Shatila and her knitting initiative, Tricot d’âmes , opened spaces for expression and connection, which are small steps toward peace in participants’ daily lives. Puppetry in Shatila : Maryam Samaan’s Workshop From 2017 to 2019, Maryam lived in Shatila, a camp set up for Palestinian refugees in 1949, in South Beirut. After the Syrian Civil War began in 2011, Shatila welcomed Syrian refugees that fled the country. However, UNRWA’s mandate only serves Palestinians in Shatila, leaving Syrians with little support. Syrians rather benefit from all services provided by UNHCR, but using the UN Refugee Agency’s facilities from Shatila can be challenging. With the Lebanese state’s presence historically limited in the camp and services split among agencies and NGOs, access to schooling and basic services is difficult for Syrians in the camp. Coming to Shatila was, for Maryam, a way to channel her energy into supporting Syrian children who are not enrolled in school. As a Syrian-Palestinian who studied in France, she felt close to their situation and wanted to use her energy and knowledge to support Syrian families exhausted by displacement. Aware of the precarious living conditions, where families shared a single room, often just separated by curtains, she set up art workshops to give children a space to process their experience, express themselves, develop creativity and imagine a better future when institutions failed them. Taking place in a Syrian alternative school, her workshops gathered children aged from eight to 16 years old who had fallen too far behind on school to be placed in classes. Lasting two to three hours at first, sessions then expanded to full days. They involved designing and making puppets operated by the children themselves, preparing performances and giving several public presentations. The workshops were participatory as children co-created every stage of the show. By developing their own scenarios, children were able to directly address issues related to life in the refugee camp, such as unsafe housing and access to safe drinking water and electricity, while building confidence and cooperative habits that lay the groundwork for peace building later on. Marionnettes en mousse et différentes matières, One Hand - Puppet, Camp de Chatila, Liban 2018. At first, Maryam explained that the characters mirrored the children’s daily lives: their families, their displacement and their hardships. As they began building puppets and writing dialogues from scratch, the puppets gave them safe distance to project and rework their experiences. One girl created a half-black, half-white puppet (second from left) as a symbol of her doubts. At the time, she was torn between her family, who pressured her to marry against her wishes, and her feelings for another boy. The two colors captured her mix of optimism and pessimism, and crucially gave her a way to voice it. How does this contribute to peace building? According to Maryam, these workshops helped children voice difficult feelings, build confidence and work with others; skills that support cooperative relationships. Over time, she saw participants become more sociable – some even led workshops themselves. She mentioned a girl who initially stuttered but then gradually gained assurance and later performed on stage “like a real star”. Of the twenty children involved, four went on to pursue artistic paths. Art, in short, helps children make sense of what they feel and practice more peaceful ways of relating; adults can use it, too, to express memories and move toward reconciliation. La rue des Planètes, Scénographie et création des marionnettes, One Hand - Puppet, Camp de Chatila, Liban 2019 Knitting memory : Tricot d’âmes Maryam’s second project, Tricot d’âmes , illustrates art as a tool for sharing memories that foster understanding. Created in 2015, this collective knitting workshop—presented on campus for World Peace Day—aims to create a space where anything can be shared. Born from photographs of tents in Shatila decorated with embroidery and knitted pieces, the project is simple: people bring old clothes, cut and spin them into yarn, and, while knitting, share memories, moments and stories. In other words, the fabric itself already carries traces of a life, and the act of knitting becomes a way to speak safely. From there, the goal is not only artistic but social. Maryam wanted to transform a gendered activity into a shared, human one: anyone can benefit from a moment of peace, exchange, and release. At the same time, she chose to put women’s rights and living conditions at the center of the workshop. She explained that, in multi-day sessions, men would often watch from a distance at first, refusing to knit because they saw it as “women’s work.” With time, some of them would sit and try it. That moment, when they finally touched the yarn, became an opening to talk with them about the women in their lives. This approach is consistent with Maryam’s broader philosophy. She believes art can act as a therapeutic tool, but not in the sense of telling people how to heal. Her workshops are about giving participants a place of liberty, reflection and technique. The idea is not to instruct them on what to feel, but to let them express what they choose to share. Over time, Tricot d’âmes has also become collective in scale, not just in intention. Since 2015, more than 500 people have taken part in the workshop, coming from around 50 different nationalities. For Maryam, this turns the workshop into a bridge between individuals and stories. It invites people to not rush to judge and actually get to know each other’s paths. It has also crossed class and social lines, taking place in refugee centers, cultural centers and universities. The structure itself has grown, too. At the beginning, only five people could knit at the same time around the frame; now, up to 22 can sit and work together. To understand what this looks like in practice, Maryam shared a story from a three-day workshop. On the first two days, most of the participants did not share a common language, so they mostly sat together, sang and worked with their hands. On the third day, with a translator present, some of the women began to open up. One Afghan woman explained the origin of the piece of fabric she was using. She had been forced to leave Afghanistan in a hurry, without spare clothes. A charity gave her a bright shirt she didn’t like, but she wore it for her whole journey until she finally reached France. After she settled, she never wore it again, but she also couldn’t throw it away because of everything it represented. Instead, she cut it, spun it and knitted it into the shared work. For Maryam, moments like this are the point of Tricot d’âmes . By turning a personal object into something collective, the woman wasn’t just recycling fabric. She was sharing a memory in a way that could be witnessed by others and asking for recognition without having to justify herself. This, for Maryam, is already a kind of peace building: you learn someone’s story before deciding who they are. Discovering Maryam’s commitment on World Peace Day, themed “Act Now for a Peaceful World”, sheds light on the role that art can play in peace building. In a moment when conflict is rising, art helps people move beyond traumatic experiences and sustain constructive, cooperative relationships, linking healing with reconciliation. Speaking to the theme, Maryam offered a simple reminder: limit quick judgments and make room for women’s voices, because a society cannot be rebuilt if women are kept in the shadows. The work begins small, thread by thread, but that’s how durable peace is stitched. Photos Used: All with the permission of the owner: Maryam Samaan

Behind this revolutionary U.S.-led endeavor — expected to cost approximately $5 billion according to initial estimates — conflicting interests offer major gains for beneficiaries while putting at stake grand losses for some discontented regional and international powers. < Back IMEC: A Modernized Ancient Route By Jad Toufic Toutinji November 30, 2023 In ancient times, before Ottoman hegemony and the creation of the Suez Canal, the old world was interconnected through the Silk Road and the Red Sea Trade Route. Today, as the Chinese government expands its influence through the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), the heir of the ancient Silk Road, a new revival of the Red Sea Trade Route is also taking place, mainly prompted by the i2u2 – an economic and security cooperation of the US, Israel, India and UAE. In this case, the heir is the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC), which was announced in the G20 summit in New Delhi in September. The IMEC has been praised by many world leaders, including President of the European Commission, Ursula Von Der Leyen, who described it as a “green and digital bridge across continents and civilizations,” and her American counterpart Joe Biden, who dubbed it as a “really big deal.” Behind this revolutionary U.S.-led endeavor — expected to cost approximately $5 billion according to initial estimates — conflicting interests offer major gains for beneficiaries while putting at stake grand losses for some discontented regional and international powers. Nevertheless, since its inception, increasing doubts have been casted amid the Middle East’s instability, especially in relation to the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Who benefits? The U.S., despite not having a direct relation to the whole project, is its main driver. The U.S. proposed the endeavor as a sign of its continuous commitment in the region amid skepticism around the Biden administration’s disinterest. It aims to send a strong message to U.S. allies in the Middle East, in particular Saudi Arabia and Israel, that the U.S. has never stopped providing support in security as well as economic matters. This is especially pertinent following recent concerns from the latter over U.S. commitment in the fight against Iranian influence. Such concerns are reflected in the Saudi, as well as Emirati, approaches with China through joining the BRICS and Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO). Accordingly, for the U.S., this project also serves to restrengthen its waning power over the region as Chinese contestation is growing ever more powerful. As such, it aims to recover U.S. influence over the UAE and KSA while proposing a competing proposal to the Chinese BRI. Israel benefits by playing a central role in such a project through its Haifa port, especially since neither Syrian ports nor the exploded and underdeveloped Beirut port are capable of accommodating expected demands. However, Israeli interests are not only economic but also political. The trade route would require the expansion of the Abraham accords to include Saudi Arabia, the leader of the Arab initiative to defend Palestine. If such an expansion were to take place, especially with the recent talks between KSA and Israel, it would constitute a major win to the state of Israel. Israeli ambitions are expressed through Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who boasted that the project is “the largest cooperation project” in Israel’s history. As to the UAE and KSA, the neighbors’ objectives, even if in constant friendly competition, are aligned in the project. As aforementioned, the U.S. seeks to reimpose its influence on the growing independent authority of both countries, yet it does not seem as such for Riyadh or Abu Dhabi. Even though the project would entail U.S. economic and political influence and support, MBS and Sheikh Zayed only consider it as another opportunity to strengthen their geopolitical and economic independence, benefiting from the bipolarized economic cold war between the U.S. and China. Their ultimate goal is to make their respective countries focal points in world trade as potential substitutes to their economic reliance on oil and other natural resources. In addition, with regards to the Abraham Accords, which the UAE already signed in 2020, the kingdom sees a benefit in a stable, peaceful Middle East. Perceived internationally as the Arab leader of the Palestinian cause, extensive concessions would be expected if any potential accord with Israel were to take place in order to maintain Arab and Saudi approval. Nonetheless, amid the current Gaza conflict, any accords are surely halted. Furthermore, Europe will surely benefit as trade becomes cheaper and more environmentally efficient. With regards to India, the project is seen as a means to try and rebalance economic hegemony over Asia, while ensuring greater Indian influence in the world economy in sight of concerns of its exclusion from the BRI (and the inclusion of its neighbor Pakistan through the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor – CPEC). Who are the losers? Egypt is arguably the principle economic loser in this new proposed equation of world trade, especially because the IMEC would bypass the highly tariffed Egyptian Suez Canal. Moreover, Egypt would be excluded from the new order. In fact, two of the reasons which prompted the IMEC are to avoid any potential crises in the Suez Canal and to reduce the imposed tariffs. Iran, on the other hand, is set to be the main political loser as the trade route dodges all the potential intersection with Iran or Iranian influenced countries like Yemen, Lebanon, Syria and Iraq. Indeed, the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab El-Mandeb Strait, both of which oversee a third and tenth of all the traded oil in the world, are the pivotal locations for Iranian, and Houthi, maneuvers to mitigate imposed sanctions. In other terms, the IMEC can be considered as a U.S., Israeli and Saudi counterreaction to potential threats. The Turks are also going to take a hit not only because of its exclusion, but also because in the Chinese alternative, Türkiye is promised to occupy an essential role, which would likely fade overtime amid more efficient and more rapid opportunities otherwise. This radical opposition is reflected through President Recep Erdogan’s high tone comments on the IMEC, stating that “there can be no corridor without Türkiye” and that Türkiye would “part ways with the EU.” Would China be considered a loser in this agreement? As for the Chinese, despite the BRI, which has reportedly attracted $1 trillion in investments, being largely contested, it does not look like China will be the greatest loser, but they certainly will not benefit. Evidently, certain trade opportunities along the BRI are going to shift towards the more attractive IMEC; however, the BRI is a greater project, covering larger areas over more continents, particularly in Africa. Accordingly, it is unlikely that China will reduce its investments in its intercontinental project. Instead, China might look to alternatives such as extending the IMEC route towards other excluded regions via the BRI. Optimistically, the BRI and IMEC may potentially complete each other, thus revolutionizing global trade. In such a scenario, economic players like India, UAE and KSA (all members and partners of BRICS and SCO) will have a strategic economic role. What are the consequences of the increased aggressions regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict? In the marketing for and the analysis of the IMEC trade route, it is presumed that peace and stability relatively prevalent in the Middle East in the last two years will resume. In fact, it is expected that such a trade route will end the region’s incessant instability by expanding the Abraham Accords to include KSA in exchange for major compromises on behalf of Israel in the benefit of the Palestinians. However, ever since the October 7 violence, it seems unlikely that KSA will be able to achieve these compromises. As to the Abraham Accords, its attainment is inevitable, but the conflict has surely postponed it. Overall, this resurgence of violence sheds light on the predicament the IMEC, as well as the BRI, will constantly face: instability of the Middle East. Without lasting peace, no sustainable trade route can be accomplished. Finally, India’s Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has expressed firmly, and quite optimistically, that “IMEC is for the long term” when asked about the current violence’s reality.

As the conflict in Ukraine persists, the analysis of historical environmental warfare tactics is all the more relevant. Even though the  front lines remain relatively unchanged, it is no secret that the ecological destruction and death toll have had irreversible repercussions. < Back Manifestations of the Environmental Consequences of Warfare By Alexandra Iliopoulou and Christopher López Rodríguez for Environnementon October 31, 2023 Many of us attended the Ecological Literacy course last semester, which detailed the basic tenets of the ecological question based on Sciences Po Paris professor Pierre Charbonnier’s book Culture Écologique . However, one aspect of environmental disturbance, the environmental implications of warfare, was largely excluded from the course’s curriculum. Considering the Menton campus’ focus on Mediterranean and Middle Eastern politics, there is a vast range of historical examples to draw from regarding environmental warfare, such as the Islamic State’s weaponization of water and seizure of oil fields or deforestation as a result of Turkish efforts to control rural territories amidst the rise in Kurdish insurgency activity; highlighting the pertinence for the Menton campus. As the conflict in Ukraine persists, the analysis of historical environmental warfare tactics is all the more relevant. Even though the front lines remain relatively unchanged, it is no secret that the ecological destruction and death toll have had irreversible repercussions. This past June, the destruction of the Kakhovka dam unleashed pollutants and agricultural chemicals into the local ecosystem, contaminated water supply, destroyed farmland, and eradicated villages, resulting in over 100 deaths. These effects – stated environmental activist Greta Thunberg– are ecocide, characterized by severe long term environmental impact as a result of human activity, and may end up warranting prosecution in the International Criminal Court (ICC). Using destructive force to purposefully harm and destroy ecological habitats for strategic gain is not new to military campaigns. In his paper The Environmental Effects of War , Philip Swintek describes how “throughout history, armies have burned enemy crops and fields, rivers have been dammed, and water supplies have been poisoned, all in the name of war.” Yet, it was not until the introduction of modern technological methods in warfare that this phenomenon manifested in a newer, more dangerous light. From the use of chemical weapons to intensify the risk of fatality to the use of flamethrowers and napalm to expel camouflaged combatants from forests lit ablaze, many modern war strategies have been crafted with the specific purpose of destroying the environment to neutralize opposing forces. When paired with the notion that wealthier countries have significant advantages in military investment capabilities and generally larger budgets to mitigate or control such environmental damage, the inequity in the creation and alleviation of this environmental damage also becomes clear. Russia’s purported role in the dam’s destruction serves as an example of a tactical justification of environmental damage, as outlined in Anna Feuer’s framework that details the various incentives that mold the practice of environmental warfare. In these cases, actors cause environmental damage to directly support military operations against strategic targets. The other five justifications that Feuer details include political, ideological, cultural, technological, and strategic motivations. Cultural incentives include narratives that perpetuate colonial ideas that “uncivilized” countries cannot provide proper stewardship of their land. These arguments are often weaponized to justify environmental destruction where the local populations might have a tactical advantage. The use of cultural motifs present in the environment should also not be remiss; the Israel Defense Forces disregarded the cultural value of the olive tree, a longstanding symbol of national identity to the Palestinians, when they uprooted olive groves during the First Intifada to build infrastructure and increase visibility in conflict zones. Among the most common justifications are strategic incentives that militaries exhibit, such as deforestation to increase the visibility of militant targets. The ongoing Kurdish-Turkish conflict serves to illustrate the strategic incentive behind ecological destruction. With the origins of the insurgency beginning in the 1970s, the conflict has been fought in mostly rural areas. Through an environmental lens, Dr. Mehmet Gurses has analyzed the response of the Turkish government , asserting that the practice of deforestation in a rural landscape is “ a direct result of the [Turkish] state’s deliberate policies to undermine rebels’ ability to operate.” Environmental damage materialized in various ways, but mainly through the direct targeting of flora, with the aim of rendering targeted vegetation fruitless. This, in turn, destroyed the agriculturally reliant economies of the southeastern regions of Turkey. Furthermore, Gurses claims that the decimation of natural habitats as deliberate targets, especially considering the devastation in economies that rely on agricultural production, has hindered the preservation of peace following the war. Overall, the evolution of warfare has surfaced unique worries and new capabilities for ecological destruction. Knowledge of frameworks such as those created by Feuer is instrumental in analyzing modern conflicts such as the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the Kurdish-Turkish conflict, as well as for recognizing a need to create legal guidelines to prosecute these crimes. A proposal has been brought forth to the ICC to include ecocide as a fifth crime, eligible for prosecution by the ICC, but it has yet to be adopted into the Rome Statute, the text that established the ICC. Such an amendment would require the proposal to amass a two-thirds vote of the signatories. Even then, experts express that there are various constraints and limitations to the efficacy of international law and its clash with state sovereignty. Nonetheless, the statute would have the potential to deter corporations and state actors from committing ecocide and create a legal classification for explicit crimes of ecocide to be prosecuted.

When we speculate about the takeover of artificial intelligence, we envision robots and robots with human-like abilities toppling the human race. However, as humans continue to deplete their own environment without regard to the rights of others, it becomes more and more clear that the revolution of artificial intelligence is already underway. At this rate, it is not the machines that will destroy us, but rather ourselves. < Back Hey Chat! How sustainable are you? Isabella Suels for Amnesty Sciences Po Menton March 31, 2025 “What can I help with?” “Ask anything.” Suddenly, the possibilities become endless. ChatGPT has gained a cult following over the past few years. A gateway into the ever-expanding world of the internet, ChatGPT can answer anything in a matter of seconds. Yet, despite the number of opportunities opened up through artificial intelligence, there is an ugly truth in the shadows of this revolutionary tool. The corner of artificial intelligence (AI) lies in the rate at which artificial intelligence pumps out responses. Other platforms, such as Google or Bing, which merely provide search results rather than concentrated answers, cannot compare to the supersonic speed at which ChatGPT operates. Because of this, ChatGPT has brought impressive results to workplace productivity through its ability to cut down hours of work for employees. However, while it is impressive that AI can make people's lives at work easier, there is a serious danger to relying heavily on Chat GPT, and it rarely affects those who use it. The main issue at hand is that ChatGPT does not live in our little computers but rather in its home-based data centers. These data centers are responsible for quenching the insatiable appetite of power-hungry servers required by artificial intelligence models. The mother base that makes these artificial intelligence servers come to life consumes a considerable amount of energy while generating a substantial ecological footprint. For instance, a recent study conducted by researchers from the University of California, Riverside, uncovered the secret water footprint of Artificial Intelligence models. According to the study, during the production of the ChatGPT-3 and 4 models, Microsoft used approximately 700,000 litres of freshwater during GPT-3’s training in its data centres—that’s equivalent to the amount of water needed to produce 370 BMW cars or 320 Tesla vehicles. The reality of the situation is that as data centers increase, water will decrease as servers are kept in check through “ cooling towers ” which use water to cool down the hardware needed to generate responses. Water is our scarcest natural resource, with 1.1 billion people worldwide lacking access and 2.7 billion people in short supply of water for at least one month out of the year. We cannot afford to misuse water when the countries that pay the price are those that rely the least on artificial intelligence. Currently, out of the 17 countries experiencing the most water shortages, only a handful are among the leaders of artificial intelligence consumption. Unfortunately, there is a common trend where countries in the Global South are left to fit the bill of countries in the Global North. While countries such as the United States, United Kingdom, France and Germany are using artificial intelligence technology to continue expanding their academia, countries experiencing water shortages pay the ultimate price. However, countries such as India and the United Arab Emirates—two countries with immense water shortage problems—still rank in the top ten when it comes to global artificial intelligence vibrancy. Just a year ago, an article was published by the World Economic Forum detailing the role of India in the Intelligence Age. In this new age, India is rebranding itself from a “ global hub for low-cost manufacturing to a leader in high-quality production and innovation.” Stifled with fierce competition from the U.S. and China, India has to capitalize on its leapfrog potential and increase investments in the technological frontier. India has already been making strides over the last decade through strong efforts by the government to promote broad-based development in tandem with eliminating multidimensional poverty. Nonetheless, India must also ensure that it expands its technological sector without jeopardizing its people or resources. Currently, 35 million people lack access to safe drinking water despite the aforementioned government efforts. An increased usage of AI will not help this shortage. AI also strains critical minerals and rare elements, which are often mined unsustainably to power AI algorithms, therefore cutting down on India’s already limited supply . Shifting gears to the Gulf, another great giant in the Intelligence Age emerges—Saudi Arabia. Vision 2023, Saudi Arabia’s ambitious plan to transform the kingdom into a knowledge-based economy, is the country's golden ticket to widespread change. Embedded into Vision 2030 and emphasized in Saudi Arabia’s roadmap to revolution, the kingdom has been concentrating on several critical technological sectors for future growth, including AI. While AI serves as a great tool to aid the development of sustainable cities, utilizing AI is an unsustainable method of bringing these cities to life. Albeit that Saudi Arabia is looking towards a more sustainable future, using AI—which is an environmental hazard—is an unsustainable means of development; not to mention that it is contradictory to the goals the kingdom is allegedly setting out to achieve. Due to exponential population growth, booming new industries and agricultural strains, the demand for water is too much to bear. The overexploitation of water in Saudi Arabia has led to an alarming scale of depletion. Therefore, the kingdom must perform a balancing act where it can execute sustainable projects such as Vision 2030 with tools that will not strain its natural resources. This aforementioned phenomenon sheds light on the realities of artificial intelligence. On one hand, artificial intelligence is revolutionizing our world in the academic and professional spheres while simultaneously destroying our planet. According to ESCP Business School, which published a study highlighting the role of AI in workplace productivity, artificial intelligence boosts skilled workers. On one hand, workers who are well-versed in artificial intelligence models can focus on tackling strategic tasks while AI handles “preliminary research or content creation.” Data analysis tasks have also been thrown on the plate of “AI software, as advanced AI systems analyze vast datasets, uncovering insights that would be impossible to detect manually.” Although this study paints a picture of all the positive effects of implementing A.I. in the workplace, this study hones on the benefits for skilled workers, failing to mention the effects artificial intelligence can have in boosting unskilled workers. Nonetheless, people are unlikely to reduce their use of artificial intelligence, especially because the negative side effects go unnoticed by those who heavily rely on it. What emerging economies must understand is that revolution can occur in tandem with sustainability, while also discovering new avenues to sustainable development. Countries that are gunning to become emerging superpowers have a great tool in their hands, but further analysis needs to be conducted on the trade-off of AI because the consequences are beginning to manifest themselves. For instance, several cities , such as those in California, Arizona, the Netherlands, and even India, are beginning to face a greater shortage of water, which experts from the World Magazine have linked to their data centers. Unfortunately, as demand for these cutting-edge artificial intelligence platforms keeps increasing, so has the number of data centers sprouting throughout the world. Every chat comes at a troubling cost. These effects are tangible, staggering, and borderline apocalyptic. There needs to be a greater sense of accountability when using artificial intelligence tools. For academics, students, and professionals, what is a tool that helps increase our productivity and pump out emails at alarming rates is one less glass of water for a family elsewhere. As demand for these centers increases, so do the social, political and ecological risks. While artificial intelligence appears to be here to stay, there needs to be a greater push for transparency, and the companies that generate these technologies must make the development of these softwares more sustainable. With this rapid progression, providing resources to bolster academic thought overshadows the need to provide basic human resources such as water. It is hypocritical in nature that artificial intelligence is paraded as a tool to help revolutionize and improve our world when this tool has proven to be so destructive to our earth and its resources. When we speculate about the takeover of artificial intelligence, we envision robots and robots with human-like abilities toppling the human race. However, as humans continue to deplete their own environment without regard to the rights of others, it becomes more and more clear that the revolution of artificial intelligence is already underway. At this rate, it is not the machines that will destroy us, but rather ourselves. Photo source: Ecole polytechnique on Flickr

A warm welcome to the Menton Times 2022-2023! < Back A Warm Welcome From the Editor-in-Chief By Lara-Nour Walton July 26, 2022 Dear incoming Ummah, As I write this, we are scattered like confetti about the globe just anticipating our convergence. Sciences Po beckons us, and we draw nearer to her cautiously, maybe zealously, or perhaps not at all – denying, denying, denying, grasping onto summer’s last lights with a desperate grip. But alas, we must begin to heed her now, the time has come. To the rising 1A’s, it is with great pleasure that I welcome you to our idyllic town. My name is Lara-Nour Walton, and I am the editor-in-chief of The Menton Times, the campus newspaper. I joined as a timid first year, knowing that my love for journalism ran deep, but distrusting my ability to generate meaningful work. I had only briefly been a staff member of any conventional journalistic publication before. Everything was so new, and everything proved to be so wondrous. I owe my instant infatuation with this paper to the dynamic, welcoming, and worldly Menton Times community. Our team is composed of creators who cannot be described merely as staff. They are journalists who are famished for knowledge, craving to trace the political, economic, and social contours of the world around us, eager to serve their student body. We all share the unifying conviction that information should be accessible to everyone, and we put in great effort to meet this end. The paper covers campus and global news, arts and culture analysis, sports, and opinion. Moreover, the publication aims to celebrate the campus’ West Asian, North African, and Mediterranean specialization by emphasizing the region in our reporting. Our ultimate aim is to feature and disseminate the ideas of our brilliant Sciences Po Menton. Applications for the Menton Times open on August 1st, 2022 . We welcome all – the philosophers, football players, artists, computer scientists, and rookie writers among us. There is something that each one of you has to say, and we cannot wait to know what it is. In the interim, we encourage you to follow our Instagram, @thementontimes , for regular updates about the exciting plans we have in store for our newest generation of Sciences Pistes. And please peruse our all-new website for a taste of what we have to offer. Here’s to a great year ahead to all our readers and contributors - new and old. With great impatience for our imminent convergence, Lara-Nour Walton Editor-in-Chief The Menton Times 2022-2023 Chère Ummah entrante, Au moment où j'écris ces mots, nous sommes éparpillés comme des confettis autour du globe anticipant notre convergence. Sciences Po nous fait signe, et nous nous rapprochons d'elle avec précaution, peut-être avec zèle, ou peut-être pas du tout - niant de toutes nos forces, saisissant les dernières lueurs de l'été d'une poigne désespérée. Mais hélas, nous devons commencer à faire attention à elle maintenant, le moment est arrivé. Aux 1A montantes, c'est avec grand plaisir que je vous accueille dans notre ville idyllique. Je m'appelle Lara-Nour Walton et je suis la rédactrice en chef du Menton Times, le journal du campus. J'ai rejoint le Times en tant que timide étudiante en première année, sachant que mon amour pour le journalisme était profond, mais ne faisant pas confiance en ma capacité à générer un travail significatif. Je n'avais été que brièvement membre du personnel d’une publication journalistique conventionnelle auparavant. Tout était si nouveau, et tout s'est avéré si merveilleux. Je dois mon engouement immédiat pour ce journal à la communauté dynamique, accueillante et mondaine du Menton Times. Notre équipe est composée de créateurs qui ne peuvent pas être décrits uniquement comme constituant le personnel. Ce sont des journalistes affamés de savoir, avides de tracer les contours politiques, économiques et sociaux du monde qui nous entourent, désireux de servir leur corps étudiant. Nous partageons tous la conviction unificatrice que l'information doit être accessible à tous et nous nous efforçons d'atteindre cet objectif. Nous couvrons l'actualité du campus et du monde, les commentaires sur les arts et la culture, les reportages sportifs et les opinions. En outre, le journal vise à célébrer la spécialisation du campus en tout ce qui concerne l’Asie de l'Ouest, Afrique du Nord et Méditerranée en mettant l'accent sur cette région du monde dans nos reportages. Les candidatures pour le Menton Times ouvrent le 1er août 2022. Nous accueillons tout le monde - philosophes, footballeurs, artistes, informaticiens et écrivains débutants parmi nous. Chacun de vous a quelque chose à dire, et nous avons hâte de l’entendre. En attendant, nous vous encourageons à suivre notre Instagram, @thementontimes , pour des mises à jour régulières sur les projets passionnants que nous avons en réserve pour notre nouvelle génération de Sciences Pistes. Et nous vous prions de parcourir notre tout nouveau site Web pour un avant-goût de ce que nous avons à offrir. Je vous souhaite une superbe année à tous nos lecteurs et contributeurs - nouveaux et anciens. Avec grande impatience pour notre convergence imminente, Lara-Nour Walton Rédacteur en chef The Menton Times 2022-2023

< Back The Russian Riviera Amer El-Ibrahim The love story between the Russians and the French Riviera is not a novelty of contemporaneity. It is instead a communion that dates back 150 years, when the time of Tzars was at its peak. It all began in 1856, when Alexandra Feodorovna, widow of the Tzar Nicholas I, settled in Nice. From this point on, many members of the Russian aristocracy of the period spent their winters in this sunny paradise, building sumptuous villas that can still be admired today. Their numbers grew so quickly that, in 1859, out of 104 foreign families registered in Nice, 30 were Russian while only 24 were French (Nice became part of France only a year later). It is worth mentioning that most of the Russian aristocracy knew French and were fascinated by France in general, so moving to such a region did not require efforts at accommodating. Interestingly, the Belgian journal L'Indépendant wrote: "The English have taken a dislike to Nice. They claim that the Russians have imported there [...] their natural agitation, their inner tumult." This flooding can be explained on one hand through the adulation the Russians showed their Tzars and their families, aristocrats and bourgeoisie alike being more than keen to live in their proximity, and on the other hand through the rough winters that befell Russia yearly. Thanks to this exodus, the Russian Orthodox Cathedral in Nice is the largest one outside of Russia—its construction heavily financed by the imperial family. The Russian Revolution brought the ending of this trend in 1917, when the Bolsheviks were victorious, thus forcing a great number of White forces, intelligentsia and aristocrats to flee the country. Nevertheless, some of them did choose the French Riviera because of the already-established Russian community that flourished here. Fast forward seventy years of stagnation in Russian immigration in this region, the ‘90s brought about the fall of the USSR and together with it immense freedom for the subjects of the socialist regime. In this new climate, the French Riviera became once again a hotspot for many Russians, from oligarchs to a plethora of persons from the criminal underworld, all of which brought serious money to this region. The most important impact they had was regarding real estate. Luxury apartments and villas were bought by some oligarchs to move their dirty money out of Russia and to launder it. This trend was so significant that the prices of the whole real estate of the Riviera were—and to this day still are—drastically inflated. This over-inflation of the market left out the possibility for most locals to ever buy such properties. From the mid-90s to the financial crisis of 2008, prices skyrocketed all over the Riviera. For example, in Cap d’Antibes, a square meter of luxury property was 20,000 euros in 2000-2001, reaching a staggering 53,000 in 2005-2006. However, the war in Ukraine has brought drastic changes to this phenomenon. The authorities from France and Monaco have seized a considerable number of villas and other assets along the Riviera that belonged to associates of President Putin. Since the conflict, the number of Russian buyers of property in this region plummeted, according to the director of an important real estate agency . Regardless of this facade, the Russian elite lives and party—as if sanctions do not exist. As one French finance ministry official put it, “We’re entering an era of industrialisation of sanctions—and the EU has not been built for that purpose, it’s not in our DNA.” Indeed, EU-imposed sanctions are too lenient and have hardly been effective, allowing, for example, a seized mansion to be used by the owner without restrictions. The only thing that is not possible is to sell it. Recently, two Russian billionaires with heavy ties to the regime challenged the sanctions imposed on them by the EU and won, making this a step toward reclaiming their luxurious villas on the Riviera and setting a model for other sanction-stricken billionaires. Additionally, 60 percent of real estate agents on the Riviera are not checking whether their clients’ names appear on a sanctions list. So life has hardly changed for the oligarchs that inhabit this area. Nonetheless, what speaks in favor of the authorities is that the Russians have developed a system so complicated that sanctions are hard to implement. In order to avoid any type of suspicion or sanction, they use a number of shell companies, trusts and foundations, making it nearly impossible to trace the owner accurately. The Russian reputation has been severely tainted by the newcomers of the ‘90s, who have slowly transformed the French Riviera into a money laundering scheme.rices are now too high for most of the population here. But the Russian community belongs to the Riviera, as it has for the last 150 years. While sanctions have thus far been unsuccessful, with the implementation of harsher laws, the Riviera just might become what it once was: a place where cultural exchange plays a key role in the development of the region and not just a toxic tourist spot. Previous Next

La COP 28 de Dubaï, censée tirer un premier bilan mondial de l’action climatique, n’en sera que plus décevante et alarmante tant l'absence de ces mêmes actions est frappante. < Back COP 27 ou Déception n°27 By Environnementon Guest Writer December 31, 2022 « Les COP sont un peu des machines à décevoir » déclarait François Gemenne scientifique, chercheur, membre du GIEC et professeur dans notre cher institut, à l’issue de la vingt-septième Conference Of Parties le 20 novembre. Une fois de plus, les 197 parties signataires de la CCNUCC se sont réunies dans l‘objectif de renforcer leurs engagements afin de lutter contre le réchauffement climatique.Ils se sont contentées, une fois de plus, du minimum demandé. Certes, un accord « historique » a été signé. Gemenne le souligne lui-même. Certes, la mise en place d’un fond pour compenser les « pertes et préjudices » , soit les dégâts irréversibles causés par les pays du Nord, est une victoire indéniable pour les pays les plus vulnérables. Certes, les pays industrialisés, les pollueurs historiques, reconnaissent enfin leur responsabilité et leur devoir d’indemnisation des dégâts. Certes. Des années de revendications de la part des pays les moins industrialisé s sont ainsi actées sur papier et, bien que seul le contenant en soit établi, cet accord est historique : une justice climatique ressort de Sharm El-Sheikh. Pour rappel, les zones les plus exposées au changement climatique sont également les moins responsables de ce même changement, à l’image du continent africain, responsable de moins de 4% des émissions mondiales de GES et continent le plus à risque selon le GIEC. Mais, et il est nécessaire de le préciser, cet accord n’est qu'un contenant. Laurent Fabius, président du Conseil constitutionnel et président de la COP 21, nuance ainsi la réussite de Sharm El-Sheikh : « Si on est honnêtes, on doit remarquer qu’on ne connaît ni le montant, ni les bénéficiaires, ni ceux qui vont payer » . Le texte de l’accord n’apporte donc pas de précisions sur ces sujets, qui devront attendre d’être déterminés par un comité spécial d’ici à la COP 28. Cela constitue tout du moins une avancée. L’échec qui ressort de Sharm El-Sheikh ne vient pas de là. Notre déception découle de l’ incapacité à produire une avancée véritable sur la question de la réduction de gaz à effet de serre, principal danger auquel l’humanité doit faire face et supposé objectif de ces conférences. Depuis 2015 et l’accord de Paris, avec son aspiration à parvenir à un monde climatiquement neutre d'ici le milieu du siècle, aucune avancée concrète ne s’opère. Le refus de reprendre la discussion sur la sortie des énergies fossiles, apparue à Glasgow en 2021, témoigne une nouvelle fois du poids des lobbies des entreprises fossiles. Le présent que ces derniers défendent est, de fait, plus attractif que les efforts colossaux qu’il faudra déployer en vue de garantir un futur stable. L’objectif de 1,5°C de Paris, quasiment impossible à l’heure actuelle pour Gemenne, s’éloigne davantage à chaque COP, présentée chaque année comme celle de la dernière chance. L'absence de référence à la COP 15 biodiversité tenue à la mi-décembre, quelques semaines après Sharm El-Sheikh, constitue un autre signal désastreux. La question de la biodiversité, pourtant étroitement liée à celle du climat, a été, une nouvelle fois, malencontreusement « oubliée » . Les déceptions sont ainsi nombreuses à l’issue de cette COP, notamment de la part des hauts dirigeants. Contrairement au président de la conférence, Sameh Choukri, qui déclare « nous avons finalement rempli notre mission » , déclaration déroutante au vu du manque de progrès, l’UE, le secrétaire général de l’ONU, Antonio Guterres, ou encore la France se disent déçus de cette COP et de son manque d’ambition. L’accord final qui en ressort n’appelle ainsi qu’à une réduction « rapide » des émissions, sans grande précision sur cette rapidité et sans nouvelles mesures pour aller en ce sens. La COP 28 de Dubaï, censée tirer un premier bilan mondial de l’action climatique, n’en sera que plus décevante et alarmante tant l'absence de ces mêmes actions est frappante.

< Back Azerbaijan Corridor Dispute Leads to Fears of Invasion By Yasmin Abbasoy November 30, 2023 Although Azerbaijan has achieved everything it could have hoped for in the long-disputed enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh, there are concerns that it may consider expanding westward into Armenian territory. With the international community in turmoil, Azerbaijan's rhetoric is becoming increasingly extreme. Key figures have warned of a possible ground invasion that could benefit Azerbaijan and its allies, especially Russia, and isolate Armenia from its only friendly neighbor. The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict dates back to 1923, when the Nagorno-Karabakh autonomous region (oblast) was separated from socialist Azerbaijan. Despite the fact that the region has always had a majority Armenian population, attempts at reunification with Soviet Armenia during the long collapse of the USSR were met with indifference by Azerbaijani and the Soviet central institutions led to widespread violence against Armenians, as illustrated by the pogroms that took place in Azerbaijani cities such as Baku and Sumqayit. In 1991, following Azerbaijan's declaration of sovereignty and efforts to strip Nagorno-Karabakh of its autonomy, an independence referendum was held in which 99 percent of the Armenian population voted to become an independent entity, the Republic of Artsakh. The referendum was boycotted by the region's Azerbaijanis, who made up 20 percent of the total population. The declaration of independence of the Republic of Artsakh led to the two-year-long First Nagorno-Karabakh War, which resulted in the Republic of Artsakh gaining de facto independence and control of the seven surrounding "buffer" districts in Azerbaijan. A diplomatic deadlock persisted for a quarter-century until 2020, when Azerbaijan, aided by Turkey and armed with Israeli drones, seized control, upsetting the geopolitical equilibrium and causing human tragedy on a massive scale. This new status-quo upset the delicate geopolitical balance in the Caucasus, providing an opportunity for Russia to further integrate itself with the fate of the region. The general perception among observers was that the war was happening solely on Russian terms. An uncharacteristic reticence to intervene diplomatically or otherwise on behalf of Armenia was seen as a reprimand to a nation which had seen increasing rapprochement with the West under the leadership of democratically elected Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. Azerbaijan was permitted to take advantage of the situation, but only up to a certain point. Indeed, it was Russia that brokered both the ceasefire and preliminary peace deal, sidelining the OSCE Minsk Group's remaining members, the United States and France, initially tasked with finding a negotiated resolution to the conflict. Sources close to the situation reported that Azerbaijan had been presented with an ultimatum by Putin after having captured key strategic positions. Left with a choice between partial victory and Russian intervention, President Ilham Aliyev chose to stand down. Tensions persisted, however: Azerbaijan was not pleased with Artsakh Armenians retaining control over some key areas. The presence of Russian peacekeepers caused further tension, serving as a Russian foothold in the region. The following years saw escalating rhetoric and ceasefire violations, primarily by Azerbaijan. This fueled a two-day war in September which saw Azerbaijani forces gain control of strategic locations deep within Armenia, leading to the displacement of over 7,000 civilians. On the heels of this offensive, Azerbaijan orchestrated a shutdown of the Lachin corridor, the only link connecting mainland Armenia to Artsakh and thus playing the role of a lifeline for the population of Artsakh. The corridor was blocked first by state-backed environmentalist groups under the guise of protesting against potential ecocide. Later, members of state-supported Non-governmental Organizations, disguised servicemen, and civil servants would also join the blockade. The Azerbaijani authorities also tampered with civilian infrastructure in order to restrict the access of civilians in Artsakh to water and electricity. The blockade quickly precipitated a humanitarian disaster, being referred to as a ‘siege’ by media sources. All traffic was restricted, including the normal flow of products, aid convoys and vehicles of international organizations such as the Red Cross. September 2023, the ninth month of the blockade, saw Azerbaijan launch an offensive framed as an anti-terror operation, seizing additional territory. A swift ceasefire mediated by Russian peacekeeping forces was followed by a negotiated peace deal, which saw the capitulation of the vanquished Artsakh armed forces and the dissolution of the Republic of Artsakh, to be effective on Jan. 1, 2024. This new status-quo led to the flight of the region’s 120,000 Armenian civilians, thus succeeding in a total ethnic cleansing of the enclave. Although the status of Nagorno-Karabakh appeared to have been resolved on Azerbaijan’s terms, one territorial issue lingered, and it had the potential to be the most crucial of all. Aliyev had, since the 2020 war, proposed a transport corridor that would cut through a strip of Armenian land, known as the province of Syunik, which separated Azerbaijan from its autonomous republic, Nakhchivan, which shares a border with Turkey. The proposal theoretically aimed to provide unimpeded transportation from Azerbaijan to Turkey, with the added benefit of pan-Turkic innuendo, suggesting that a land connection between the two Turkic countries would be established. The corridor would end a mutual blockade imposed by Armenia and Azerbaijan in 1989. While the opening of all Soviet-era transport links, including a railway that took the same path as the proposed corridor, was indeed a part of the peace agreement, Aliyev’s corridor was deemed by Armenia to be something completely different, and not within the scope of the agreement which foresaw no transfer of land whatsoever. However, President Aliyev's continued insistence on implementing the Zangezur Corridor, coupled with an escalating rhetoric of irredentist claims on the Republic of Armenia through the notion of “Western Azerbaijan,” which referred to all of Armenia proper, amplified concerns. Ongoing construction in newly occupied areas linked to the corridor, along with a new cycle of joint exercises with the Turkish military in commemoration of the hundredth year of the Turkish Republic, added another layer of complexity to the already tense geopolitical situation. In the aftermath of the Azerbaijani offensive, Armenia had responded by ratifying the Rome Treaty and joining the International Criminal Court, where Putin is wanted for war crimes. Although Armenia officially stated that these measures were undertaken for additional guarantees in response to the recent bout of aggression, they were popularly interpreted as a reaction to Russia's sluggish response to the offensive. The lack of a robust reaction by Russian peacekeeping forces and a noticeable strain in relations with Russia further pushed Armenia into strategic realignment. Armenia has exhibited signs of drifting further Westwards, marked by a reconfiguration of relations with Russia and Iran and a more significant military alignment with the EU (evidenced by a new weapons deal with France). Russia, seeking to maintain regional influence, would support the Zangezur Corridor it could potentially control. The corridor would hold strategic importance as Russia would most probably play the role of a guarantor, a situation allowing the deployment of Russian troops in a crucial location close to Iran. This move would further solidify Russia's influence in non-NATO territory, permanently cementing its geopolitical footprint in the Caucasus. Meanwhile, Tehran has vehemently opposed the Zangezur Corridor concept, warning against any alterations to regional borders or the establishment of what it perceives as a "pan-Turkic" or "NATO" corridor along its northern frontier. The U.S. position, however, is more ambiguous. Politico reported that Secretary of State Antony Blinken had privately warned policymakers of an impending invasion of Armenia, though these claims were quickly denied in a statement by the Department of State, which also affirmed U.S. support for Armenia’s territorial integrity. Was this delicate maneuver an attempt to conceal a sincere estimation of a potential threat with a denial, aiming for a more subdued policy? Or was it rather a reflection of the ambiguous policy relating to the Caucasus at a time when the international community was preoccupied with other crises? As tensions persist with no established plan forward, the prospects of the Zangezur corridor remain uncertain. While the intricate power struggles that dominate the Caucasus could see Aliyev swing either way as he balances the costs and benefits of an invasion, there is no doubt that this corridor amounts to more than just a physical route. As Azerbaijan persistently pushes its irredentist agenda and constructs a narrative around the corridor, it has become a flashpoint that could radically alter the regional balance of power and cause violent geopolitical alterations in the region. The Zangezur Corridor and the inevitable invasion required to establish it remain as important factors shaping the immediate future of the South Caucasus and the powers that are intertwined within it.