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Truth be told, when life (or the mayor in this case) gives you a fair, you make magic out of it. < Back Bastion Fair Brings Magic to Menton By Angeliki Vytogianni March 30, 2022 Just around a month ago, most Sciences Po students in Menton started coming back from their Christmas holidays only to find a noticeable change — a surprise in Bastion. Bright, loud, and food-scented, it offered fluffy teddy bears, wild rides, and any other fair games one could imagine in this crazy small town. If you are currently a Sciences Po student in Menton, chances are you did not miss the fair that took place throughout the month of January, even spilling into the beginning of February. Disclaimer: this is not an investigative article to uncover the truth hiding behind fairy lights and annoying fair music. I did not get the scam behind the teddy bear games. Nor did I manage to figure out how to win an iMac, a PS5, or whatever it is they offer. I also don’t know how they make some of the best crepes I’ve had in Menton, or how the burgers, fries, sandwiches, churros, and other fair foods tasted so good. But while writing this during the last few days of the fair, I have realized one thing: it’s the magic that does the trick — the ambiance of celebrations, parties, and liveliness that we all so desperately needed. As the campus suffered a brutal Omicron attack, classes for the spring semester officially started, and the post-holiday blues hit, the fair was there to help keep the Mentonese ummah’s spirit high. So, I am simply transmitting the magic of the Menton fair in some personal and not-so-personal highlights of the past weeks. This way we can relate not only to the ups and downs we experienced in this fair, but also observe how crazy this town is. Let’s start with the first visit: it’s around 5 p.m., already getting dark and chilly (January weather). The fair, however, is at its peak; the crepes are coming out one after the other, hot chocolate is being made in bulk, and the lights are shining bright and colorful. Now, it is your first night in Menton, so you naturally gravitate towards the flashiest diversion in town to see your friends and spend time with them, as they all get back after the Christmas break. Scene 2: It’s a nice, sunny morning on the Riviera, and, following your New Year’s resolution, you put your trainers on and decide to go on a run. The only difference is that the Bastion area is now occupied by the flashing, noisy fair. So, on your trail by the beach, you have to shuffle through cantinas of food, multiple different stands of games, shooting challenges, and rides. Scene 3: The January 2022 COVID cluster has been tearing the campus apart and sending a good majority of students into isolation. As you have been getting restless inside your apartment, you decide to put on your KN95 mask and go on a short walk to get some fresh air. Of course, you avoid the fair so as not to transmit the virus to all the locals or visitors that are having fun there. What you realize as you are walking far away from any other people, is that the fair, with the lights and the setup, still beautifully decorates this part of the Cote d’Azur. Scene 4: The season has started and house parties are being thrown every weekend, so naturally, you get ready, you pre-game, and before you go to the party, you take a stroll around the fair area. Maybe a churro stand is still open, maybe the rides are more fun after a couple of tequila shots. Maybe the lights are just more mesmerizing, creating the club atmosphere that we need since COVID measures are still in effect. The scene continues later as well, before going home and calling it a night, a walk through the – dead at this time – fair of Menton is almost mandatory to get the feels of a summertime festival town. Scene 5: It’s a regular Wednesday evening, you have finished your fifth or sixth hour of class, but instead of going straight home and under your covers, you and your friends decide to go to the fair, have a crepe, a burger, a beer, some churros, or a slice of pizza, chatting away with your friends. This leaves you feeling like you suddenly escaped your university student reality to go to simpler times. The next few scenes, however, include some not-so-positive reactions and experiences in the fair. First of all, the scam of the challenges! I interviewed many students, and no one could say that they won a brand-new PlayStation, Macbook, or iPhone. I am fairly certain that the only “wins” we can count are some small furry animals. We should also mention the noise and annoying playlist of four pop songs ON REPEAT for the entirety of the month. Naturally, students that live close to the area were not amused to be waking up to the noise of the fair, hearing people scream through microphones, and getting the same songs stuck in their heads. Lastly, the pirate boat ride going back and forth high into the sky was responsible for some sparse injuries here and there. I know someone that decided to do the ride and ended up flying for most of it, while also falling on their knees and bumping their arms around. But we should look at the glass as half-full: when life gives you lemons, you make lemonade. The magic of the fair, at least for the Sciences Po students of this town, was that you could visit at any time of the day or night, guaranteed to have a fun time, with some bizarre moments sprinkled in there. Even though it operated in “Menton time,” opening around noon and shutting down around 8 p.m., it was still an experience to walk through at 3 or 8 a.m. It also signaled a second part of the festivities in Menton, beginning just after the Christmas market and right before the Lemon Festival, adding a very warm atmosphere to this town. If you ask most students of this campus whether or not they miss the festival, you are guaranteed to get a positive answer. Because truth be told, when life (or the mayor in this case) gives you a fair, you make magic out of it.

Art has become the playground of impostors and also a means to escape taxes. Everything must be immediate and, most importantly, one arm away reachable. The greater threat was not totalitarianism, as Orwell thought, but the irremediable attraction of the immediate and the always reachable, as Huxley proposed in his dystopia, Brave New World. We are definitely not that far from that. < Back The mediocratization of the world Amer El-Ibrahim March 31, 2025 This article will be dedicated to an idea that has been remarkably captured in Mario Vargas Llosa’s book-” The Civilization of the Spectacle”, a literary masterpiece that deserves far more recognition than it had received. Dealing with a critical issue of contemporaneity, that of the decline of culture in its pure sense, this is a manifesto against the status quo of our times. The book's main point is that the word “culture” lost its previously high standards interlinked with engaging in literature, philosophy and the arts , and has become something much more semantically ambiguous. The word “culture” is now interlinked with a number of topics unrelated to its original sense, such as Cancel Culture, to name one of them. Subsequently, the previous definition of culture could be called in today’s terms high culture. This cleavage shows the transformation this word had through the decades and thus the greater implications outside semantics this implies. Progress and empowerment always come at a cost, and only through analyzing this cost can one decide whether it is better to reform or to maintain what still exists. For example, when planes were invented and massively produced, that was considered a major leap for humanity since transport became faster than ever before. But this innovation utterly tainted the inviolable and quasi-mystical flight of the dove; if humans manage to fly too, then all “magic” related to such a bird is lost forever. The same could be said about the number of published books. Each year, more and more books are published, thus making it harder for a good book to prevail in a sea of market-oriented books that tackle immediate subjects. That could be an explanation for the fact that almost all the classics we learn about in school are long-dead. This was also the case for the huge empowerment the middle class saw after WWII, especially in Europe. As part of its aftermath, the whole continent saw a drastic change in the quality of life of the average man, with the introduction of modern housing with electricity and sewage systems, more jobs on the market, higher literacy rates, and stronger welfare states. The elitism, both cultural and material, of the ancienne regimes was now eliminated, and workers finally had a voice. But at what price was this accomplished? With this empowerment of the middle class, however historically needed and sought after it might have been, came about the end of the so-called “high culture.” This democratization of society, as in a microrevolution from below against the traditional hierarchies that existed, even in authoritarian regimes such as those in Eastern Europe, was not limited only to the political sphere. Culture was naturally affected as well. The gradual rise of access to television and to newspapers lowered the quality of the produced content to mere entertainment. The worker, after all, wants to relax after his long working hours, and what was an easier way to do so other than through some good old-fashioned, cheap and immediate entertainment? Intellectual depth of any kind is now absent on any major news channel. Journalism, currently, is very much plagued by scandals and gossip, and not on a small scale. There are always people, see Murdoch, who capitalise on these very human needs for entertainment and immediate gratification. Contemporary literature is, similarly, plagued by the law of supply and demand, as I have mentioned above. . Art has become the playground of impostors and also a means to escape taxes. Everything must be immediate and, most importantly, one arm away reachable. The greater threat was not totalitarianism, as Orwell thought, but the irremediable attraction of the immediate and the always reachable, as Huxley proposed in his dystopia, Brave New World . We are definitely not that far from that. On an ending note, the easiest way to actually get a grip on this decline is by analysing how journalism, specifically, evolved. Specifically, because newspapers catch almost perfectly the Zeitgeist of an era. Thus, one could open any mainstream news outlet, such as The Guardian or The New York Times and read any article there and compare it with those of any newspaper from the 20s, 30s, or 40s. A very quick analysis would highlight that les anciennes did not just report on x events—they were not just simple accountants of facts, stern and emotionless. They were active participants in the society they were a part of, fighters for their own ideas and principles, and never afraid to show their opinions on the current events of their world. This tumultuous and never-ending passion, this combativeness that does not settle, this have we forever lost. Photo source: Wikimedia commons

“Sweet Caroline, Good times never felt so good” are the words that personify the pub, but as reality hits, how much longer will the croons of Neil Diamond sound true? < Back Pouring One Out for the Pub Rebecca Canton February 28, 2025 Over the Christmas break, I went to Germany and during my stay there I went to a self-proclaimed ‘Irish’ pub. Being honest, growing up in England, I had high expectations. Despite our differences, Germany is one of the few countries that has just as big of an established beer culture. Further, one thing the Germans do better is the time the pubs close. In England? Midnight strikes and you're out the door. In Germany? You have at least two more hours before bedtime. Unfortunately, that is where my praises end. I was with friends and they suggested we order the monstrosity that is a pitcher of Guinness. Guinness, the holy grail of the British Isles, is a notoriously difficult drink to pour. It is not a normal drink, neither a lager nor an ale. It is a stout: beer brewed with roasted malt. Favored by men of the same description, what sets Guinness apart from other drinks is the use of gas. It uses a nitrogen carbon dioxide, mix composed of 75% nitrogen to a 25% carbon dioxide ratio. What is also important is the use of the correct glass, a “tulip glass” and must have “Guinness” inscribed. Alongside this, there’s a sort of ritual associated with drinking Guinness. Known as “splitting the G”, the aim is to sip the beer until the level of the drink stops in the middle of the G of Guinness. How can you split a G when you’re drinking from a watering can? To make matters worse, it’s not like anyone drinks from the jug, it’s poured into another glass. What a waste of beer for such a disgrace. It thus becomes evident that you negate the delicate art of Guinness pouring, by chucking it into a glass jug. It is a crime. It is blasphemy. Yet, regardless of my rather loud complaining to my German companions who simply laughed at me, one thing struck me. In between my half-hearted groans, somewhere nestled in my disgust, I realized something—I felt warm. Not just from the alcohol mind you, but from the company I was with. I felt content basking in the dim dingy pub lights. Satisfied against the backdrop of the conversations of strangers. What becomes obvious is that, regardless of tradition, or attempts to humiliate Ireland, irrespective of language and culture, one thing remains the same: The pub is universal as a place for togetherness. A birthday party celebrating the friend you’ve known since you were 10 years old, cheers of joy and promises to never grow apart. Drinks after work with your coworkers, complaining about your boss, or that one customer determined to get you fired. A beer with a stranger who supports the same football team as you, who, by the end of the game, 3-0 up, you dedicate the role of best man to. One common theme becomes clear, the pub is more than just a building. It’s a place for awkward first dates, rekindling lost friendships, or a roast with your grandparents. A place for darts, pub quizzes and being taken home by your neighbour. Perhaps most importantly though, it is a place for socialization. My best friend lives back in the United Kingdom, over 1,000km away. Whenever I come back home, we always meet at the pub. Why? Where else can you sit as long as you like, with a beer and sausages for the grand total of £12? The relaxed atmosphere of our local Wetherspoons serves as an informal atmosphere for conversation to flourish. The best thing? No one has to host, no cleaning up or wondering when the night will end. It’s not just with close friends that pubs are useful, many places are local gathering spots. As an example, my local Farmers Union often meets at a pub. Such an institution, often overlooked as just a drinking house, becomes more. It creates a sense of belonging coupled with the opportunity to catch up with friends and local events. Yet this opportunity is steadily vanishing. In the United Kingdom, more than one pub a day closed its doors in 2024. Pub closures rose by 6.7% as opposed to 2023. At this alarming rate, this meeting point for generations will be irreparably damaged. It’s not just pints and chips being sacrificed, but history too. On 2nd February 2025, it was announced that the historic “Ye Olde Swiss Cottage” in London was set to close. It had been in business for nearly two centuries and the nearby tube station “Swiss Cottage” was named after it. Pubs or the “Public House” have been a part of English culture for centuries, with its history being traced back to taverns in Roman Britain and alehouses in Anglo-Saxon times. Although it was with the turn of the 19th century that pubs began to resemble their modern counterparts, in his diary written in the 17th century, Samuel Pepys claimed the pub was “the heart of England.” In lieu of sounding too patriotic, Pepys’ words hold truth. The British values of democracy, rule of law, respect, tolerance and individual liberty, are exemplified in the pub. You do not need to be a lord to drink, a musician to enjoy “ Mr Brightside”, or a Michelin star chef to enjoy a pub lunch. Such closure of public spaces damages culture that has been prominent for centuries. The major question, really, is why pubs are facing closure. Half of the closures of English pubs since 1980 have occurred since 2006. According to a report from the Institute of Economic Affairs, there are several reasons for this consistent demise. Contrary to popular belief, the United Kingdom does not hold the coveted title for the highest consumption of alcohol worldwide. We are not the shirtless beer-bellied football hooligans like how the rest of the world sees us. Countries like Romania, Austria, even the Seychelles all have higher recorded annual consumption of alcohol, with the United Kingdom sitting at a rather measly 22nd place. In fact, alcohol consumption is actually decreasing. The average literage consumed per person in 2016 was 11.4 compared to 10.8 in 2019. Such a number is only further declining, something that has severe consequences for the future of the pub. Perhaps more importantly, the drink falling out of favor is beer, also the most popular drink served at pubs. It’s relatively simple—people don’t drink beer, pubs die. Alongside this, there is the dreaded “cozzy livs” or the cost of living crisis. A UKHospitality survey found that businesses, including institutions like the pub, should expect an 82% rise in energy bills. Further, due to this prolonged cost of living crisis, fewer people can afford to go out to the pub on a regular basis, condemning an already struggling business towards financial ruin. The sad reality is that nothing changes if nothing changes. Many of these institutions of joy, companionship and laughter will soon be derelict. The United Kingdom’s long-standing culture of pub-going will be reduced to mere memories of times long gone. Yet it doesn’t have to be that way. To keep it English, sometimes all we need to get by is a little help from our friends. What most of these pubs need is more support to keep afloat, so that they can continue to be the stage for well-needed social interaction in an increasingly disconnected society. So, next time you’re out, raise a glass to the roof over your head. Pour one out for the pub, for if not, your last sip may come sooner than you think. Photo credits: Kamal H. on Flickr

I was stunned. The situation seemed absurd. How did we, the American people, let our government do something that seemed so childish, so unserious? Why did we allow someone who so brazenly mocks his detractors—an apparent prankster—into the top circles of American leadership? This sequence of events was a prelude to the first few months and potentially the next four years of an administration defined by unprofessionalism. < Back Trump’s Institutionalized Incompetence Pracheth Sanka April 29, 2025 I sat with a sense of disgust as I digested the announcement that a new government agency, the Department of Government Efficiency, was to be created and headed by tech billionaire Elon Musk. At first, my discontent stemmed from its possible unconstitutionality and the fact that an unelected, inexperienced civilian was to lead it, perhaps signaling an oligarchic turn in my country’s trajectory. But then I reread the name. Department of Government Efficiency. DOGE for short. My once-disgust had turned into grim amusement as I realized that an agency of the deeply revered and highly formalized U.S. government was named after a meme. The seemingly chronically online Musk had taken inspiration from the famous and highly circulated image of a Shiba Inu and its su bsequent cryptocurrency, dogecoin , which is heavily backed by Musk as well. I was stunned. The situation seemed absurd. How did we, the American people, let our government do something that seemed so childish, so unserious? Why did we allow someone who so brazenly mocks his detractors—an apparent prankster—into the top circles of American leadership? This sequence of events was a prelude to the first few months and potentially the next four years of an administration defined by unprofessionalism. Headed by President Donald Trump and a cadre of incompetent confidants, hi s second term in office is already marked by unprecedented missteps and professional mistakes that will undoubtedly change the face of American politics. His faults will forever scar the office of the presidency and the role of the United States on the global stage, marking the downfall of a once globally respected institution. President Trump is no stranger to this. His initial presidency was marked by its own high magnitude of ineptitude, from frequent gaffes to the mishandling of classified documents. Perhaps those missteps could be chalked up to his political inexperience and first-term jitters. Now, while he is still prone to false statements—like erroneously claiming that Spain was a BRICS nation—his new brand of unprofessionalism feels different. It appears more dangerous, and potentially more damaging to America and her political culture, than any presidential action of the past. Richard Nixon’s Watergate created deep distrust from the American public in the political system, but Nixon understood that his political career was over after betraying the duties of the presidency, and resigned. Similarly, Bill Clinton’s extramarital affair and abuse of power in the Lewinsky scandal marred the political zeitgeist, yet Clinton has since apologized and understood his wrongdoing. Trump, on the other hand, refuses to admit when he errs. Even in the face of public backlash, he is rarely able to admit fault. He is steadfast in continuing his path of dismantling the current administrative and political regimes in the United States, the so-called “deep state” he so reviles. And on his second try, he smartly removed any immediate obstacles towards this goal. The secret group of Trump-hesitant, in-house resistors is long gone. There is no longer a John Bolton, a career diplomat, to push back against Trump’s erratic foreign policy. No more Mark Esper, a high-ranking secretary capable of preventing Trump from launching unauthorized military operations across borders. And most importantly, and perhaps most unfortunately, there is no Mike Pence, a man who arguably saved American democracy through his defiant actions on Jan. 6, 2021. Now, there is just a fraternity of sycophants who hold the highest positions in the American government—often whose only qualification is that they won’t tell the president “no.” This has brought some of the most inexperienced and unfit individuals into Trump’s cabinet and council. Take, for instance, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, whose only relevant credential was that he served in the U.S. military. While this is obviously an honorable vocation, it hardly means he is fit to lead the Pentagon. He was most certainly chosen because of his hyper-conservative political commentary and pro-Trump stance during his time as a Fox News commentator. This inexperience has made itself clear with the recent events of the “ Signalgate ” controversy, when a civilian journalist was made privy to detailed strategic plans to carry out military bombings in Yemen. Trump has since diminished the severity of the situation, attempting to make the literal leakage of information— classified information reserved only for the highest military officials—into a non-story. Unprofessionalism is again evident in Elon Musk, who, for all intents and purposes, has become Trump’s right-hand man. His agency, DOGE, has been fraught with unreliable receipts, frequent accounting errors, alongside misrepresenting and missing important government payment information. DOGE is also infamous for employing a select group of teen and early twenties tech-savvy software specialists—nicknamed the “ DOGE Boys ”—many of whom have dubious pasts. These range from racist tweets and links to cybercriminal groups to being fired from a firm due to leaking company secrets. Disturbingly, some of these individuals, as a quick reminder, have access to sensitive Treasury Department information. Some have even uploaded , potentially unknowingly, DOGE-related work on a public coding website. Soon, one may accidentally post sensitive information about U.S. citizens, jeopardizing the trust and privacy of the American population. Trump has yet to speak publicly on the issues surrounding DOGE, instead touting Musk and his agency’s efforts at reducing government spending, a major promise of Trump’s political agenda. He is willingly ignoring, or perhaps is oblivious to, the gravity of the security risks with DOGE, so long as the agency furthers his ambition to dismantle the federal government. Trump’s tolerance of this level of incompetence without any outright condemnation shows that he is unfit for office. Regardless of his other downfalls as president—like his corrupt selling of Mar-a-Lago golf appointments to global leaders or his skirting of due process—his choice to surround himself with inexperienced and unqualified yes-men proves to be his worst fault. This choice actively risks the national security of the United States and its people. Trump, if he continues to ignore the ineptitude of himself and those around him, will forever damage the interests and standing of the United States. Photo source: Jon Tyson on Unsplash

It’s what Varoufakis calls a 'digital fiefdom': a post-capitalist economic order where smaller businesses pay dividends to massive corporations which control essential platforms — just like how poor serfs paid landowners in order to farm the land. < Back The Fight against Big Tech and the New Order Feidias Psaras November 30, 2024 As a law school student at Yale, Lina Khan was highly critical of how Amazon was doing business. In a break-out 92-page academic hit published in her university’s law journal, she explained how the company’s business model, which prioritized aggressive expansion within and across business lines even at the expense of profits, was poisonous to the free-market economy. Amazon’s Prime membership service, for example, allowed users to offer exclusive privileges such as same-day—for some, even same-hour—delivery and free shipping. Such features are immensely costly and lead to substantial deficits. But only multi-billion dollar companies like Amazon, with sets of faithful stakeholders and immense amounts of capital acquired from a wide variety of businesses, can fuel these ventures. These investments ultimately increase consumer spending and—much more importantly—loyalty. Lina’s efforts have extended to other tech behemoths that have pervaded their respective markets. After achieving her post as chair of the FTC, she quickly revived a lawsuit to break up Meta, and led attempts to prevent Microsoft’s $69 billion deal to acquire Activision in an attempt to consolidate ground in the gaming market. Khan called for a radical change in how the Federal Trade Commission, the state body in charge of maintaining anti-monopoly laws, dealt with companies such as Amazon. She contended that whether a company is engaging in anti-free-market practices should not be determined solely by its short-term impacts on consumer welfare and low prices, for example. It’s also the long-term impacts: how these low prices allow the company to gain a stranglehold over the market and paralyze competitors. It sets it up for a sort of dominance that would allow it, in the future, to raise prices as it wished. But there's something even more worrying about companies such as Amazon and their increasing establishment as the singular e-commerce retailer. While contemporary antitrust analysis would assume that rational firms aim to drive competitors out of business, Amazon’s ubiquitousness and role have made it necessary for competing smaller businesses. Thus, it has created an arena over which it gets to set the rules at the expense of dependent rivals. In a dispute with Hachette in 2014, for example, the company delisted the publisher’s books from its website during business negotiations. In ‘Project Gazelle,’ executives talked about approaching smaller book publishers as a ‘predator might approach a wounded gazelle.’ It’s what Varoufakis calls a digital fiefdom: a post-capitalist economic order where smaller businesses pay dividends to massive corporations which control essential platforms — just like how poor serfs paid landowners in order to farm the land. An emerging neoreactionary movement Varoufakis’ interpretation is an expressly Marxist one, and he believes in increased regulation to try and mitigate it. But there are others who welcome such change. Curtis Yarvin, one of the key thinkers of an emerging neoreactionary movement, believes that the best form of government would come about by a nationalization and subsequent privatization of everything. Nick Land, a frequently cited colleague, is known for coining the term accelerationism; that rather than fighting to regulate capitalist forces, we should just let them be and drive the system to its limits. In his essay, Meltdown, he writes: The story goes like this: Earth is captured by a technocapital singularity as renaissance rationalitization and oceanic navigation lock into commoditization take-off. Logistically accelerating techno-economic interactivity crumbles social order in auto-sophisticating machine runaway. As markets learn to manufacture intelligence, politics modernizes, upgrades paranoia, and tries to get a grip. These thinkers are founding members of what has been dubbed the ‘Dark Enlightenment,’ a movement that criticizes aspects of the liberal democratic model prominent in the ‘Western sphere.’ Its proponents support that democracy is fundamentally flawed; that giving power to the majority ultimately leads to mediocre governance by the most popular rather than the most competent. The democratic institutional complex does not promote genuine plurality of opinion but rather just enforces another form of cultural hegemony through the imposition of societal norms. Yarvin’s concept of the ‘Cathedral’ denotes how the liberal universities that predominate the US zealously promote a foundational belief in egalitarianism that stifles freedom of thought and innovation. Land, in the same essay mentioned above, finishes: Learning surrenders control to the future, threatening established power. It is vigorously suppressed by all political structures, which replace it with a docilizing and conformist education, reproducing privilege as wisdom. Schools are social devices whose specific function is to incapacitate learning, and universities are employed to legitimate schooling through perpetual reconstitution of global social memory. Although this movement’s intellectual achievements were generated in online blogs by informal scholars, it doesn’t only extend to niche circles of disillusioned internet hermits. Peter Thiel, a multi-billionaire tech—investor listed 212th on Forbes’s list of richest people, recommends Yarvin’s blog unqualified reservations while stating that he ‘no longer believe[s] that freedom and democracy are compatible’. He is counted among the many ‘broligarchs’ that find the government’s monopoly on money-production irksome and seek to circumvent it. As well as heavy investment in seasteading projects aimed to create tax-free safe havens for the rich, he’s known to have co-opted government programmes intended to extend retirement savings for middle-class Americans to amass 5 billion in venture capital income, uncut. But it’s not just clever accounting tricks for tax avoidance. A Republican, Thiel has ramped up political involvement in the past decade. After being seriously considered for a position in the Trump cabinet in 2016 and abstaining from support in 2020, he’s been tentatively drawn back to Trump’s side given his choice of a former employee and protégé —JD Vance—for vice president. The election results and the future Although ultra-rich donors backing both US 2024 presidential candidates have expressed discontent for the aggressive approach to antitrust of the head of the FTC, Trump’s election has all but sealed Lina Kahn’s fate. Elon Musk, known for cutting Twitter’s staff by half a week after acquisition and now the co-head of the newly-created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), has stated that she “will be fired soon”. The change would most definitely mark a decrease in state checks on private power in the interest of the consumer. This administration marks a decisive step at the crossroads between state and private power. Trump’s cabinet picks have already indicated his readiness to enact significant reform on the government apparatus. It’s not just the role of the FTC that’s about to experience seismic change, but the nature and freedom of big tech and business as a whole—very likely at the cost of that of the consumer.

We wandered aimlessly about this tragic city. We found an altar for aborted babies, a flower market under fluorescent lights, and a clothing store selling t-shirts plastered with the pope’s face. < Back Bratislava: Devoid of Pastries and Joy By Lara-Nour Walton January 30, 2022 After a day of peeling buildings, ornery weather, bald men, and stale pastries, Sami Omaish, English track 1A with distant Slovak roots, finally ceded: “I can see why my ancestors left.” On our November break, our travel group decided to take a day trip from Vienna and explore its cipher of a neighbor: Bratislava. When Omaish enthusiastically pitched this Slovak pitstop, I was indifferent. Perhaps I would sample some pierogis, ogle at a blue church, strut down another cobbled European alley. But I grew skeptical after sharing my vacation plans with seasoned travelers. “I’m going to Bratislava for break!” I proudly announced to 1A Emilio Egger Prieto, to which he responded with a simple but damning “Why?” When I briefed my grandfather about my Bratislavan prospects, he chuckled and informed me that he had gone there on business. “My colleagues and I called it Boring-slava,” he quipped. When I shared my newfound misgivings, Omaish emerged as an unusually staunch defender of the Slovak capital — he insisted that we must go. When travel companion, 1A Gayle Krest, remarked from the train that the city’s outskirts looked industrial, Omaish angrily accused her of “judging Bratislava before seeing the old town.” And after observing Omaish’s suspiciously eager behavior in a subpar souvenir shop, I began to wonder whether he might secretly be employed by the Slovak government to propagandize to Sciences Po students and drum up local tourism. I suspected him of such collusion because I simply failed to see what he saw in this contradictory metropolis. I have been to cities that do not make sense — Gainesville, Florida for instance — but never have I been as baffled as I was in Bratislava. The capital boasts an unnerving blend of East and West. Soviet-era highrises, panelaks , clumsily mix with buildings that look to be the architectural manifestations of wedding cakes. The language resides in a liminal space between Czech and Polish. The men wear full Adidas tracksuits. And yet, the women expertly don the dark and cutting-edge Berliner fashion. First on our agenda was a hot lunch. We settled on an empty restaurant that promised traditional Slovak meals. A picture of a sneering moose inexplicably graced the eatery’s façade and menus. The food was filling — latkes and Slovak cheese dumplings, pierogies — but our travel group of five was forced to split due to a puzzling Bratislavan Covid-19 guideline. Two of us were made to sit at one table, while the remainder were seated elsewhere. We were separated by an awkward distance that impeded conversation but facilitated an expressive exchange of confused glances. When we got to our second destination, the Primate’s Palace, there was no one there. The museum employees, fearful that the day’s only visitors would leave on account of the meager ticket fee, offered us free admission. The tapestries inside were spectacular but discolored by the copious amounts of sun streaming through the windows. I pitied the city. Bratislava is faded, abandoned, frequented by few, forgotten by most. We wandered aimlessly about this tragic city. We found an altar for aborted babies, a flower market under fluorescent lights, and a clothing store selling t-shirts plastered with the pope’s face. But with the lowering sun, Bratislava cooled and our limbs weakened. We moved languidly, in a seemingly impossible quest to find a steaming cup of joe and a quick bite. As de facto French people habituated to croissants in every other establishment, we were dismayed at the difficulty of this task. But, this initial dismay only deepened when we finally did stumble upon a cafe an hour and a half later. 1A Julien Zeman got a coffee — nothing to write home about. Omaish got a crescent-shaped fig newton — bizarre, but not inedible. Krest, however, bought a slice of what she thought was chocolate cake. Much to her confusion, the pastry’s brown color could not be accounted for by the flavors present on her palate. “It was the texture of dried-out cottage cheese and tasted like that as well. I took a bite and there was a (full) lemon seed in it, so I threw that ish away,” said Krest. After the cafe ordeal, 1A Ellie Carter purchased a bagel. It was surprisingly delicious. And that is the part about Bratislava that makes me inexplicably sad. It can be pleasant at times, espousing a rare delight — one that can only be found in places where you would least expect it. Perhaps if I had shared Omaish’s open-mindedness I might have appreciated the city more. But, alas, my skepticism hindered me from enjoying what little charm Bratislava had to offer.

British imperialism sharpens into battles of tic-tac-toe; Durkheim’s grasps at sociological greatness darken into pages stained with doodles. The ocean beside me leaves white trails of foam and my folly, churning boredom and desperation so violently I might drown. You guessed it - I’ve been in the petit amphithéâtre for about six hours too long.  < Back Foam and Folly: A Need to Restructure the Class Schedule at Sciences Po Menton By Marly Fisher November 30, 2023 British imperialism sharpens into battles of tic-tac-toe; Durkheim’s grasps at sociological greatness darken into pages stained with doodles. The ocean beside me leaves white trails of foam and my folly, churning boredom and desperation so violently I might drown. You guessed it - I’ve been in the petit amphithéâtre for about six hours too long. I often leave Sciences Po lectures unsure of the time and anything I’ve just been taught. For weeks, I’ve been worried that the fault is my own, but can we really be expected to be attentive for upwards of three hours at a time? Is Sciences Po’s course schedule structured effectively? In pursuit of an answer, I began by asking other university students around the United States about their course-load. What I found was disappointing but not surprising. Their class hours amounted to an average of fifteen per week, with most first years having twelve credits - or four classes each semester. Instead of midterms, finals, and presentations, they have regular assignments and essays on top of summative assessments. All were appalled that my class hours were in the twenties — “How do you have time to study?” they asked. “Do you have a life?” The standard course load for a first-year at a U.S. university is between 12 and 15 hours, with a maximum of 18 credit hours allowed. At many universities in the UK, contact time is even less; for an English BA at King's College London, there are only four hours of seminars and four hours of lectures each week. At Cambridge, lectures typically last only around 50 minutes. Comparatively, the standard class load at Sciences Po hovers around 22 hours per week (many have even more if they are taking multiple language courses,) and the shortest class time is two hours long. I examined more scholarly sources next, only to reaffirm my sneaking suspicion that more class time is not always more effective. In 1996, in a journal called the National Teaching & Learning Forum, two professors from Indiana University, Joan Middendorf and Alan Kalish ,found that long lectures can result in detrimental effects on human attention and retention. They cited a 1976 study that detailed the ebbs and flows of students’ focus during a typical class period. They found that, first, students need a three-to-five minute period of settling down (which, I suppose, is naturally provided to us students that operate on Menton time.) This time was followed by just 10 to 18 minutes of optimal focus. Then, no matter how thrilling the lecture or how powerful the rhetoric, their attention lapsed. The students would “lose it.” While attention would eventually return, it would be in ever-briefer three to four minute spurts. Furthermore, Middendorf and Kalish cited a 1985 study that tested students on their fact recall from a 20-minute presentation. In fact, students remembered far more of what they’d heard at the very beginning of the lecture - by the 15-minute mark, they’d mostly zoned out. A few swift clicks on the calculator reveals that there are 16 fifteen-minute increments inside a four hour lecture. Most lecturers here offer us just one to two breaks within that time. If students are unable to remember facts from more than fifteen minutes ago, how can we be expected to retain complex ideas from hours ago? Most, if not all, students concur. “No fraction of this education system is effective,” lamented a Sciences Po Menton student on the way out of her last class of the day. “As fascinating as I can find the subjects presented in the lectures, it is undeniable that in every case, my attention span dwindles almost immediately an hour into it,” said another. Many agree that information retention is even more difficult with a lack of accountability in the form of more frequent assessments. For a group of students yearning to achieve political greatness, it seems that most are only achieving new records of the fastest Mini Crossword solving time. If we aim to revolutionize the world, we must revolutionize our way of learning first. Maybe it’s in the form of shorter, more frequent classes. Perhaps we should abandon the lecture style altogether. But one thing is for certain: someone in the class of 2026 will go on to be a marvelous NYT game creator.

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

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

June 10, 2026 The Reinvention of Coachella Since the beginning of the year, 2026 has been dubbed “the new 2016” across various social media platforms. Young people online seem to be yearning for a resurgence of how life was ten years ago. The rose-tinted social media filter has been revived and 2016 pop music is having its moment, with Zara Larsson’s hit “Lush Life” reentering the Billboard’s Top 100 for the first time in years. Read More June 3, 2026 Comment Hollywood a façonné la figure de l’Arabe Le 25 novembre 1992, aux États-Unis, environ 1,5 million de personnes quittent leurs domiciles un jour de week-end pour se rendre au cinéma le plus proche. Et pour cause : c’est la première diffusion du film Aladdin, production tant attendue du groupe Disney. Une histoire d’amour entre un voleur pauvre surnommé « Diamant brut » pour son cœur en or, et une princesse prisonnière de son statut, qui rêve de se rebeller contre les traditions… Quoi de mieux pour faire rêver les amateurs d’amour impossible ? Read More March 15, 2026 Cinéma et masculinisme : comment les films cultes nourrissent la manosphère En 1999, David Fincher livrait Fight Club, portrait d'une génération d'hommes désœuvrés, englués dans le consumérisme et en quête désespérée de sens. Vingt-cinq ans plus tard, le film n'a pas seulement acquis un statut culte, il est également devenu une sorte de texte sacré pour les communautés masculinistes en ligne. Dans les forums incels, Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt) est érigé en modèle de virilité à retrouver, et ses répliques sont scandées comme des mantras sur les réseaux sociaux. Read More February 23, 2026 Le True crime: quand l’horreur devient divertissement Imaginez regarder les aventures de meurtres comme ceux de Jeffrey Dahmer ou l’affaire des frères Menendez. C’est ce que propose la série Netflix Monsters qui, malgré les polémiques, a tout de même enregistré 12,3 millions de vues lors des quatre premiers jours du lancement de la deuxième saison. Read More November 13, 2025 The Mediterranean Charm: Why Writers and Painters Keep Coming Back to This Sea On a tranquil Mentonnais weekend, two weeks before the midterms rush, I boarded a train bound for Antibes. As I wandered through its cobbled streets, the Mediterranean shimmered next to me, breathing light into every corner of the city; a scene not so different from that of my hometown in Alexandria, Egypt. Apparently, this feeling of familiarity with this vast blue sea is nothing new—a feeling shared by many people no matter on which shore one is standing. Read More November 10, 2025 “When They Tell You to Sing, You Just Sing.”: The Khmer Rouge’s Musical Manipulation of Cambodian Society “If you want to eliminate values from past societies, you have to eliminate the artists.”, reflects Prince Norodom Sirivudh of Cambodia, in the 2014 documentary “Don’t Think I’ve Forgotten: Cambodia’s Lost Rock and Roll”, recounting the systematic erasure of music from Cambodian society under the brutal regime of the Khmer Rouge in the 1970s. Read More October 23, 2025 Is being a Virgin as Cool as Being a BRAT? : A Review of Lorde’s Latest Studio Album BRAT was summer. BRAT was coming to terms with your suppressed desires, the hate you bore and the complicated friendships you were a part of. The fun, the ugly and the embarrassing. It was about the euphoria of partying into the light of early summer mornings and the walks of shame back home. Drug abuse, sex, and all other kinds of highs of life was what BRAT encompassed. It encouraged difficult conversations about fertility and friendship, revealing that fame doesn’t equate feelings getting spared or receiving grace. Read More October 5, 2025 Is Romance Dead?: How Reality TV Shows Reflect Modern Dating How does watching strangers fall in love on national television reflect the most complicated parts of our emotional lives – dating? The transition from heartful romcoms to dating shows such as Love Island, Love is Blind or Too Hot to Handle perhaps indicate romance has died. Read More September 30, 2025 Politicizing the Heartland: The Conservative Instrumentalization of Country Music Given country music’s association with the American South and its conservative majority, it is difficult to ignore the correlation of country music's revival with the rise of the far-right in the US. However, can one link these phenomena? Is country music inseparable from conservatism? Read More September 28, 2025 Americans on the Riviera At the start of the 1920s, although hard to imagine today, the Riviera was practically deserted during the summer months. Hotels and restaurants catering to the European elite would close shop after spring, as their wealthy patrons would leave for colder climates. The Murphys were the first to convince hotels in Antibes to stay open during the summer months, as a way to host their American friends. Thus beginning the transformation of the Riviera into the summer destination it is today. Read More September 28, 2025 Threads of Memory: The Story of Palestinian Tatreez In Palestine, threads carry stories. Each stitch of tatreez — the traditional Palestinian embroidery — embodies memory, identity, and resilience. On a quiet afternoon, an elderly woman sits with fabric in her lap, weaving patterns passed down through generations. Read More September 27, 2025 The Pen, the Camera, and the Microphone: The Egyptian Kit of Soft Power The truth is this: Egypt has never ruled merely by sword or throne. Its empire was always one of imagination, where a pen could be sharper than steel, a song louder than artillery, and a camera brighter than any spotlight. The world may forget armies, but it remembers stories. And Egypt has always known how to tell them. Read More April 30, 2025 “Clean Girl” or “White Girl”? Exploring Racial Double Standards in the Fashion Industry It’s time to embrace these styles as more than just ‘trends’, but as a long-lived facet of Black culture. Recognizing the enormous influence that Black communities have had on fashion and aesthetics will allow for the long-overdue dismantling of structural hegemonies, which not only ignore Black culture but also build an alarming double standard between races in the fashion industry. Read More April 30, 2025 Thrifting and the Price of Exclusion: Gentrifying Secondhand Stores in Toronto The question of immorality does not pertain to the act of thrifting itself, but how the thrift environment has been redesigned to serve corporate interests at the expense of those it was initially designed to support. Read More March 31, 2025 Who is “Saving” Europe? In the digital age, the responsibility of verifying and trusting information falls on us, the users. While content under the branding of Save Europe might not be falsified, it is deliberately presented with emotional imagery, evocative music and slogans—blurring the line between political activism and propaganda. Read More March 31, 2025 Fasting, not a dividing element after all Fasting in different religions does not divide us. It just makes us realize how similar we are, how we have the same needs, temptations and desires. And that’s precisely what I realized when I came to Menton, a campus full of diversity—ethnically, culturally and religiously. At the core, we are all the same… Read More March 31, 2025 Love is in the Air? Une Lutte Contre le Vent If the campus is about 70% female and 30% male, and of the women, 75% are available and heterosexual, and of the men, about half are gay and maybe 25% are in a relationship, how many available, straight men does that leave for the single women, keen and looking? No need to do the math. We are not all EcoSoc majors. To put it simply, the answer is not a lot. Read More March 31, 2025 Le racisme aussi peut être pluraliste Sans qu’on puisse mettre un trait d’égalité entre le RN et la Nouvelle droite, il faut saisir l’apport essentiel de cette mouvance à l’extrême-droite tant sur le plan idéologique que sur la formation intellectuelle de ses cadres. La Nouvelle droite est une entreprise de blanchiment car derrière le ‘pluralisme’ dont elle se targue, se cache directement le nazisme et le néo-fascisme terroriste. La grande blanchisserie aujourd’hui est le Rassemblement national. Read More March 31, 2025 With Prada and Ten Protagonists on to a new self-destruction feminism Feminism does not always require being vocal, an activist, or engaging in mass mobilization. Sometimes resisting is retreating—in the choice to withdraw from cultural pressures knowingly. Dissociative feminism expands the scope of what feminist action can entail. Read More March 31, 2025 A Review of the Oscars The Oscars, once regarded as the highest award form of artistic recognition, have increasingly been subject to scrutiny over their selection process, inclusivity and cultural relevance. While the ceremony continues to attract global attention for viewers tuning in from all over the globe, one cannot help but ask: is the Academy truly honoring the best in cinema, or is it simply reinforcing the industry’s biases and political inclinations? Read More

How did the modern Christmas tree, the beacon of the holiday season, emerge? And what does it represent in our contemporary world? < Back From Pagan Tradition To Seasonal Landmark Of Consumer-Capitalism: The Origins Of The Christmas Tree By Lara Harmankaya January 31, 2024 While walking along some residential streets in Istanbul in December, it’s not unusual to spot Christmas trees shining from the living rooms of apartment buildings. Even in this supposedly secularized country, where the religious connotations of the Christmas holiday have no meaning to the Muslim-majority population, the tradition of putting up an evergreen tree with an expiration date of approximately two months has persisted over the years. Globally, the evergreen tree adorned with colorful ornaments, tinsels and lights is ubiquitous every December. One, therefore, wonders: at what point did accessorizing trees, as if embellishing a cake with sprinkles, become a universal tradition? Nowadays, the Christmas tree is detached from its religious symbolism parallel to the growth of mass-consumerism. In the twenty-first century, market forces have shrouded the ancient roots of the evergreen and replaced them with the politics of wanting and materialism. After all, to complete the image of the modern Christmas tree, one needs the boxes of gifts underneath it. So, the question is: how exactly did the meaning of the Christmas tree evolve over the years? How did the modern Christmas tree, the beacon of the holiday season, emerge? And what does it represent in our contemporary world? The roots of decorating the home with the evergreen during wintertime originate long before the advent of Christianity. In the pagan world, plants that survived the harsh, long winters were placed as boughs before doors and windows to keep Satan, evil spirits and diseases at bay. These symbols of the winter solstice reminded the residents of the imminent return of spring and the resilience of life over death and decay. The solstice marks the point of “rebirth of the sun,” at which the shortening of days ends, and each passing day progressively encounters more sunlight and warmth— a cause of celebration since Greco-Roman times. For the Romans, the festival of Saturnalia was the occasion in which temples were decorated with tree branches and homes with wreaths around the time of the winter solstice. Many historians now trace other Christmas traditions, such as gift-giving, feasting and merrymaking back to this pagan festival dedicated to Saturn, the Roman god of agriculture and time. For Druids and Vikings alike, the evergreen also meant light and life, and the essence of this was integrated into Christian belief. Despite the difficulty in tracing the true origins of this tradition and the contrasting claims made by some northern European countries to be its birthplace, many historians concur that Germans around the 16th century can be accredited with the birthing of modern Christmas traditions in the Christian context. Many now believe that Martin Luther was the first to domesticate and illuminate the Christmas tree; as the story goes, while walking in the forest, he was inspired by the twinkling of the stars he saw through the tree branches and decided to recreate the scene for his family by covering an evergreen he brought home with candles. These would come to signify the birth and resurrection of Christ and the light he is said to bring to the world. German influence in engendering the Christmas tree cannot be overlooked. It was the German tradition of decorating wooden Christmas pyramids with ornaments and treats that merged with the concept of the Paradise tree — decorating fir trees with apples to mimic the tree of life in the Garden of Eden that developed into the modern Christmas tree we know today. Its popularization outside of Germany was also notably German-led; it was German-born Queen Charlotte who introduced the Christmas tree to the upper classes of the United Kingdom in 1800, and it was the originally Bavarian Prince Albert and Queen Victoria’s illustrated family portrait around the Christmas tree that popularized it among the masses of English society. In the United States, the first records of Christmas trees include the wooden pyramids of the Moravian Germans in 1747 Pennsylvania. Initially rejected by Puritans for their pagan heritage during the colonial period, the customs of Christmas became popular only after mass immigration from Germany and their prevalence in Europe in the 19th century. The Christmas tree is thereby a product of the intertwining history of religions, including Paganism and Christianity, as well as nationalities. It might be one of the best examples we have of a successful transplant of a custom across borders. As such, it is the continuation of a joint human heritage that nurtures unity. As we have seen for centuries, the essence of the Christmas tree and the many other festivities associated with it have remained the same – the importance of light in times of spiritual and seasonal darkness. Yet, with industrialization in the 19th century and consumer-capitalism's rise, this meaning has slowly been sapped away. The commodified character of the Christmas tree can best be encapsulated by its plastification; the artificial Christmas tree sold in most supermarkets from November onwards each year is manufactured with a large carbon footprint, thus rendering it not eco-friendly nor durable in most cases. Like most gifts awarded at Christmas-time by distant family relatives, they are discarded as soon as the holiday period is over. What is left behind is piles of waste, driving the climate crisis that is slowly but surely dismantling the future of upcoming generations. According to Lisa Joyner, writing for the home decor blog HouseBeautiful, “an artificial Christmas tree will need to be used for at least 10 years before its carbon footprint comes close to the total carbon footprint of buying than burning a real tree every year for a decade.” Thus, it is undeniable that capitalism’s embracement of Christmas traditions has had a detrimental impact on the planet. For many devout Christians, capitalism has also desecrated the Christmas tree, eradicating its moral core. They lament that the modern celebration of Christmas, which encourages and espouses the exchange of gifts in a consumerist frenzy, completely contradicts the humble, ascetic and anti-materialist way of life embraced by Jesus Christ. As is now seen in the December days building up to Christmas Eve, the spiritual element of Christmas has been taken over by the frantic search for gifts in jam-packed shopping malls and streets. With this, it is easy to forget why people practice such traditions or decorate their trees in the first place. The celebration of Christmas, as represented by its special evergreen tree, is the culmination of humanity's multicultural and multi-religious history. From the ancient Egyptians and the Romans to the Luthers, the evergreen tree has always held optimistic hopes for togetherness. It has been a promise to cast away the darkness of our daily world. Yet, it is now the poster child for the most pervasive religion of the twenty-first century: capitalism. It evokes the expectation of gifts even more so than the unison of family and friends for a merry celebration of the return of spring. The fault here lies in the spirit of consumerism that permeates social life. The prevalence and secularization of Christmas trees in the twenty-first century that came along with these developments are not inherently bad. The spread of light, hope and merriment to all those who need it in their lives can become universal, especially in our contemporary world of ever-deepening darkness and anomie. However, it is still our job to ensure that the commercialization of tradition does not erase the collective memory of the past and promote wasteful consumption. The sight of a Christmas tree illuminating a dark living room should continue to conjure up thoughts of peace, comfort and family, not expectations of extravagant gifts. As our Christmas trees become artificial, let us not turn artificial in our celebrations as well.

As a Muslim living in France, it has been difficult facing the day to day reality of an extremely charged and hostile political discourse that targets my community. This election has chosen our community as the scapegoat, and while the elites run free from their corruption scandals and the cost of living crisis slaps the most underprivileged communities hardest in the face. Here we are debating my mother’s right to wear a scarf over her head. < Back It’s a Good Day to Fight the System: Students Protest Zemmour By Ismaeel Yaqoob March 30, 2022 ‘’It’s a good day / To fight the system,’’ the famous lyrics by Shungudzo blared out as we stood together, on the Franco-Italian border, in solidarity with the everyday mistreatment of refugees in this exact place. We stood in solidarity with the women, the Muslims, the Jewish people, the disabled, and every minority that Zemmour has targeted in his bigoted campaign for presidency. Sciences Po Menton students did not disappoint, responding avidly to our call out, by in two days, mobilizing a coalition of students, local residents, trade unionists and activists from Italy through Nice. The crowd was a diverse tapestry of people from all around the world, all political colors, races, and languages coming out to reject the visit of Zemmour in Menton. There was something powerful about the moment where hundreds shouted towards the border police that formed a wall between us and Zemmour who was interviewing officers at the frontier post, “Solidarité avec les réfugiés.” We demonstrated that we were not turning a blind eye to the humanitarian crisis at this border and view justice as the right of passage for refugees. Our chants echoed through the town of Menton that day, from “Riviera Antifa,” to “On est tous contre le racisme,” to “solidarité avec les sans-papiers.” Music blared from campus anthems like “C’est la vie” to the Zemmour remix of “Ne reviens pas” to Stormzy’s “Shut Up” to “Boushret Keir.” We brought an energy that older activists told me they had never seen in Menton. They thanked us for giving them hope that the university was producing conscious students with initiative, energy, and drive. As a Muslim living in France, it has been difficult facing the day to day reality of an extremely charged and hostile political discourse that targets my community. This election has chosen our community as the scapegoat, and while the elites run free from their corruption scandals and the cost of living crisis slaps the most underprivileged communities hardest in the face. Here we are debating my mother’s right to wear a scarf over her head. The reality of Eric Zemmour’s discourse is not polemic or controversialWith his plans to force Muslims in France to change their names to something more “french-sounding,” his essentialist view on gender roles, and criticisms of so-called LGBT propaganda, it is outright fascism. Let’s not forget that he has also been convicted twice now on charges of provocation of racial hatred for his numerous discriminatory comments against Muslims. He has also sought to rewrite history, talking up part of France’s collaboration with the Nazis under Petain. This rhetoric is setting France back generations on the progress it has made at the political and legal level when it comes to discrimination and minority rights. A day before the protest we hosted a sign making session, in which students demonstrated their solidarity and disgust at the candidate’s visit with phrases such as “Zemmour rentre chez toi;” “On est tous les enfant d'immigrés;” “Solidarité avec les femmes du monde entier;” “les jeunes contre fascisme;” “LGBTQI fièrement contre Zemmour” “Plus d’amour, pas Zemmour.” The colors, creativity, and designing skills were all a perfect demonstration of the artistic flair and talent within our student body, that was truly activated in this beautiful show of solidarity with all marginalized groups. The truth is that Menton is a beautiful place, where some very ugly things happen. Menton is a town where the streets are perfect and the sun is always shining, but just a few kilometers away, a humanitarian crisis is taking place with daily police violence at the border. It is often easy to turn a blind eye to these things —that is the nature of these operations. They exist, so we do not see anything. This time our small town where the far-right typically flourishes sent a clear message that there is no place for fascists here. Eric Zemmour spends his days running a campaign that targets any and every minority that exists. We marched in solidarity with refugees, Muslims, women, Jews, the LGBT community, immigrants, people of color, and all other minorities to say that we will not let his presence be normalized. We will fight against his politics of hate. We shouted for solidarity with refugees, we shouted to condemn racism and misogyny, we shouted for our community from all around the world. We have taken up space, been loud and unapologetic in our sleepy university town, uniting locals and the international student body alike in a beautiful display of hope, peace and love that we can be very proud of.

"If you don't believe at your age that you're not going to change the world, who will?” < Back How to Begin a Career in Change-Making? A Guide for the Idealists & an Interview with Lucile Marbeau By Lara Harmankaya For ambitious Sciences Po students, the search for a career is already on the agenda. LinkedIn accounts have been made, and attempts to network with professors after class are common. There is, after all, the frightening prospect of unemployment that is constantly reminded to us by our friends studying STEM. Yet, I have come to notice that this attachment to internship-hunts and forming the right network is not one that completely stems from the pursuit of self-interest and prestige. In fact, I suspect that a large part of this future-oriented thinking is derived from the students’ motivation to change some of the problematic characteristics of our world — as idealistic as that sounds. Admitting that such thoughts circulate in my head quite regularly, I decided to inquire into the life of a practitioner who works in the humanitarian field. Lucile Marbeau, a Sciences Po graduate and the Deputy Communications Manager of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), kindly agreed to my proposal to interview her. She offered insights into the structure of the ICRC, described the progression of her career from freelance journalism to communications, and shared some advice on how young people can enter into this field. The interview took off with an overview of Marbeau’s career, beginning with her time in journalism, through which she became acquainted with the functions and operations of the ICRC. She told me that she worked in Kosovo, Israel and the West Bank, where she came to know about the International Community of the Red Cross and also the Palestinian Red Crescent. She made sure to carefully differentiate between the national and international components of the Red Cross, which often get confused. She stated that ‘national societies,’ such as the French Red Cross and the Egyptian Red Crescent are not the same as the International Committee of the Red Cross, which has its headquarters in Geneva. The ICRC is not affiliated with any government, as are the national Red Cross societies. What also distinguishes the ICRC is the fact that its mandate is “specifically on armed conflicts to assist and protect the victims of armed conflicts, and also to continue on developing and promoting international humanitarian law.” In her words, its “basic aim is to make war less horrible.” One way is through the organization’s work on finding missing persons, which Marbeau’s journalistic research on the Kosovo conflict directed her to learn more about. She appreciated how the ICRC is able to keep the files of missing persons alive, even when the political incentives to do so begin to disappear. It becomes one of the very few sources of answers to families who are desperate for even the smallest trace of information about their loved ones. Acknowledging the importance of such efforts, she seized the opportunity to be a part of this organization when it appeared. For her, the transition from journalism to working as a spokesperson for the ICRC entailed “a different frame of mind.” “The international community of the Red Cross, because it's a neutral organization, is going to act differently and discuss things in confidence bilaterally with the parties and not so much in the public,” quite unlike the work of a journalist who must “address political issues” directly and dauntlessly. Leaving behind a political voice to not “diminish our access to the victims of the conflict” appears to be a worthy sacrifice. In fact, not even a sacrifice at all, but a practice of diplomacy: “what I appreciated arriving in the international community of the Red Cross is this position of neutrality, of not saying, who is right, who is wrong. And it's not for the ICRC or a philosophical point of view at all. It's much more a principle, a guiding principle, in order to be talking to all sides.” Also, it is necessary to protect the institution’s ability to “act in favor of those who are missing, those who are detained, for the wounded, for the civilians, and the most vulnerable categories of people in war.” When asked to elaborate more on her experience working as a journalist, she replied by saying that one of its main merits was the way it prompted her to “really dig into specific contexts.” Through her visits to Israel and the West Bank, she believed she was “able to understand more and more with finesse the conflict itself and the polarization between communities.” She revealed that she learned how to not look at issues with “judgements that often come with ignorance of the historical dynamics, and of those who aren’t hurt directly by the conflict.” Instead, she pointed out the importance of going to the area of conflict physically, or communicating with others “whether they be politicians, academics, activists, people who are trying to change things, and to be able to give that back to people who will never have that opportunity.” For Marbeau, at the heart of journalism is “to enable the reader to understand why this is a conflict, and what are the different views which are being expressed.” She continues: “As a journalist, you have the privilege of being able to have that access to people. But then it's also a huge responsibility, because when you write, you have power. You have power over those who don't necessarily have the same knowledge as you do. So you have a power to influence, and this is where for me, it remains extremely important to be honest intellectually, and to really convey as many possible facts and conflicting views.” Navigating the battles of clashing interests is one of the most significant and challenging duties of ICRC delegates. Yet, sometimes people outside the field of international humanitarian law fail to understand what this job is composed of. In quoting ICRC delegate Marcel Junod’s Le troisième combattant , Ms Marbeau emphasized precisely what the principal objective is: “the role of the humanitarians is to go in between the opposite sides and create a space, a humanitarian space. And this is what's precious about the work that my colleagues do everywhere in the world.” They aim to “preserve as much possible humanitarian space within the fighting.” International humanitarian law is one of the few leverages utilized for this purpose. The difficulty arises from the fact that “the time of the fighting, the time of the suffering, the time of the media, isn't the same. And it requires often from colleagues a lot of patience before getting some results and constant, constant dialogue with the different parties.” Thus, as we can see, the application of law which is embedded in the Geneva Conventions, principally emerges from “a lot of patience, diplomacy, and time.” A career in this field could be the right choice for you if you find yourself able to overcome such complications. Marbeau’s extensive knowledge of the ICRC’s functions and institutional structure was also very informative. When I asked her about how she and her colleagues deal with obstinate politicians, uncooperative officials and other political obstacles that hinder their objectives, she underlined the place of “collective responsibility” when respecting and implementing humanitarian law. At the ICRC, it is the cooperation of many branches that ensures compliance with “the law of the weakest.” “We're going to be speaking with the legal services of the ministry, for instance, of defense. It's then going to be the Head of Delegation who's going to be talking to ministers. It's going to be our colleague who is himself a former military who's going to be discussing and doing training in international humanitarian law directly [with] the military. So you're going to have at different levels, by different specialized colleagues, who work on different parts of the party to really bring a culture of respect for the law.” Even in the case of documenting ongoing grave violations, the interconnected network that constitutes the human rights field allows the ICRC to urge other actors to play their part. “When we've already gone through all the chain of commands, spoken to the highest level of the authorities—when nothing is moving—then what you do is mobilize other countries… And so this is what we remind them at some point, saying, ‘we know you're financing them. You're sending them weapons. You have a responsibility in making sure that they don't commit violations.’” Accountability is key in this field as it is in others. Without it, the successes of the ICRC in preventing violations would never materialize. The rest of the interview was dedicated to her advice to young people. When I inquired about whether she finds her job fulfilling, and her recommendations to start a career in humanitarian work, her first response was, “Yes, but the first thing I'd say is act now. There's already things that you can do in your environments, working, volunteering for, for instance, at the French Red Cross, or the Red Cross of Monaco, other groups, there's already some social work that can be done where you are, and you don't need to wait…to work to help the most vulnerable and defend them.” As we begin preparing for our month of Parcours Civique volunteering, perhaps this can remind us of the salience of gaining experience and exposure to realities early on. Her second piece of advice was to pinpoint the “identity” of the kind of organization one may want to work for. She suggested that, “if you want to do advocacy work, it's not going to be with the International Committee of the Red Cross, at least not publicly. There, you have to turn to organizations like Amnesty, Human Rights Watch, then have others who are going to be more specific on certain issues. But if the role is to speak out, if you want to speak out to the world about violations ongoing and for people everybody to know about it, it's not going to be in the International Community of the Red Cross because we work in a much more discreet manner…we need to be able to assure that we stay in the field and be able to help people on both sides of the front line to discuss with all the parties.” The first step in beginning a career in either of these pathways is through trying them out, and utilizing our Parcours Civique could be a beneficial way to do so. One of the main takeaways from this interview, for me, was the importance of overcoming passivity. Marbeau’s commitment to diplomacy and dialogue–as the spokesperson for the ICRC–was evident, yet she was also cognizant of how “collective action is needed in order to keep those minimal rights.” Just like the collaboration that takes place between the many institutional branches of the ICRC, international actors and different stakeholders must work together to achieve solid, tangible results. This is all the more pertinent now, where “the use of force is strongly coming back on the international scene as a way of solving conflicts.” When I asked her to share her expectations from future generations and what she wishes to see more of in the future, she urged us, the future generations, to “not get beat down, by whether it be national politics or world politics, thinking that your voices don't matter, that things are messed up, that things won't change. Because, I mean, when you look at it through history, you can righteously be despaired. But you must also see the positive evolutions of rights, which have been fought for and which have been achieved.” Feeling small and impotent on a larger scale is a natural occurrence for all of us. Marbeau’s message is one that encourages us to direct these feelings into action, on whichever scale that may be. “Some people tend to also kind of retreat in their personal sphere because they feel powerless. And I think one of the messages to say is, well, even if you feel powerless, you're still going to get impacted by what's going on in your environment, whether it be national or international. So you have to believe again in the fact that you can do something about it. Or else you're only a victim. You're only receiving the blows. You're only passive.” I wish to conclude this article with Lucile Marbeau’s final words of motivation, which I believe need to be emphasized one more time. “I'd say, really start engaging yourselves now. And it's the best way to see also to see what interests you the most, what issues you hold more dearly also. Because, depending on your age, there's different strengths and weaknesses. And for now, you need to believe. If you don't believe at your age that you're not going to change the world, who will?” “So it's also about believing again in the fact that values, reason, law, can triumph over force and antagonisms. And it's almost a bit idealistic, what I'm saying.” This may be true, but if we are not idealists, then who can we entrust with the goal of imagining a more ideal world?

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

While some argue that innovation is a fundamental component of art, others contend that tradition and repetition have their place in the creative realm. < Back The Artistic Enigma: What Does Innovation Mean in the Context of Art? By Rozy Betrosian November 30, 2023 Art is thought of as inherently innovative, original; and personal. While this statement may hold truth, art often includes recycling, emulating, echoing, and homage. However, a pessimistic viewpoint asserts that there is no true innovation in art, everything is always connected to a predecessor — is art merely repetition? One may ask, if this negates its artistic nature? In the realm of fashion, two creators, the brand of Louis Vuitton and Iris Van Herpen, embody this dichotomy. The former, a global luxury brand, relies on the repletion of old ideas, while the latter, a boundary-pushing designer, is a paradigm of true originality in a contemporary context. This article explores the relationship between repetition, commercialization, and artistic innovation, questioning whether homage and echoing can be considered art forms themselves. Repetition As An Artistic Philosophy Louis Vuitton – an iconic name in the fashion industry — has mastered the art of repletion. The brand's design philosophy often involves revisiting its archives, drawing inspiration from past collections, and reinventing classic designs. The conflation of tradition and modernity is evident in each iteration, creating a sense of continuity that resonates with consumers. On the other hand, Louis Vuitton creative directors’ aim is creating couture that has appeal and respects the legacy of the brand. This can be construed as a limitation on artistic expression, rendering the product, a mere product, A potent argument asserts that this approach leans towards commercialization. The question arises: can repetition be an art form in itself? Homage or Commercialization? Louis Vuitton's repetition of old ideas raises the question of whether it is a form of homage to Vuitton himself, preserving his heritage, or merely a commercial strategy. Some argue that paying tribute to past designs is a way of acknowledging the brand's heritage and creating a sense of nostalgia, which can be considered an art form. Others, however, view it as a calculated move to capitalize on established aesthetics, potentially diluting the essence of true artistic expression. The blurred line between homage and commercialization challenges our understanding of what constitutes art in the context of the fashion industry, and incites the overarching question of what we view as art in a broader sense. The Quest For True Innovation In stark contrast to the repetitive nature of Louis Vuitton, Iris Van Herpen stands out as a designer who embodies true originality. Van Herpen stands at the forefront of fashion innovation, weaving a narrative that transcends the conventional boundaries of the industry. Her avant-garde approach is a symphony of technology, unconventional materials, and hands-on experimentation. Integrating technologies such as 3D printing and laser cutting, Van Herpen pushes the limits of what fashion can achieve. Her use of unconventional materials, from liquid resin to transparent acrylics, redefines the very fabric of clothing. The collaboration with scientists and artists enriches her creations, drawing inspiration from diverse sources. Nature serves as her muse, with designs mirroring and transcending organic beauty. Van Herpen's avant-garde aesthetic challenges traditional notions of beauty, sparking conversations about the limitless possibilities of fashion as an art form. In her hands, couture becomes more than garments; it transforms into sculptures that tell unique stories, urging a reconsideration of the essence of fashion itself. Her work not only sets her apart as a designer but also sets a transformative precedent for the future of fashion innovation. Is Art Inherently Innovative? The exploration of Louis Vuitton and Iris Van Herpen's approaches begs the question: is art inherently innovative or can repetition and homage also be considered valid forms of artistic expression? While some argue that innovation is a fundamental component of art, others contend that tradition and repetition have their place in the creative realm. Although historical accounts frequently highlight revolutionary developments and original works of art, as seen in the case of Van Herpen, a critical analysis indicates that artistic expression occasionally seems bound up with established artists from the past. The idea of unrestrained invention appears to be challenged by the very nature of creativity becoming entwined with cyclicality, where established forms and ideas resurface. Repetition and innovation in the fashion world, as exemplified by Louis Vuitton and Iris Van Herpen, reflect the broader dialogue within the realm of art; how does one define art and what is considered artistic? Whether repetition is seen as homage or commercialization, and whether true art must always be innovative, these questions provoke thought and challenge our understanding of creativity. As we navigate artistic expression, the tension between tradition and innovation continues to shape the ever-evolving world of fashion and art.

Living deliciously is different to every person, yet, as Given explains, it starts with women refusing to belittle themselves to meet expectations of taking up almost no space. < Back Should We Criticize Feminism: A Review of ‘Women Living Deliciously’ Ema Nevřelová November 30, 2024 Have you ever desired to free yourself from patriarchal and capitalist ideas about how you should live? Florence Given has an answer for you: joy. Indeed, Women Living Deliciously , the third book by British author and illustrator Florence Given, provides a 300-page step-by-step guide for achieving a ‘delicious life.’ It may appear as an oversimplified cliche, yet before cringing at the phrase and dismissing the book completely, it provides and incentive to contemplate its meaning. Living deliciously is different to every person, yet, as Given explains, it starts with women refusing to belittle themselves to meet expectations of taking up almost no space. The main themes of the book are body image, self-esteem and finding joy. Another prominent topic in Women Living Deliciously is feminism. Given intertwines feminist ideas with criticism of the essentialization and misrepresentation of feminists as being angry, hyper-independent and resentful of men. Those familiar with Roxane Gay’s essay “Bad Feminist” will find Given’s criticism similar. The main appeal of the book is its cover, an allusion to pink, slightly crazy paradise with abundance of flowers, sakuras and mountains. During the process of writing, Given had visited Japan, Tokyo, and so the sakuras and mountains (inspired by Mount Fuji) are not accidental. Perhaps even more eye-catching are the illustrations of half-naked women enjoying life which challenges a certain discomfort around naked female bodies. It is truly refreshing to get realistic and non-sexualized or fetishized drawings of ‘women living deliciously.’ They are sat on chaises-longues surrounded by pink furniture in the comfort of their homes, often having pink hair tied with ribbons resembling the author. It is apparent how much of herself Given has put into the book, as her magnetic pink personality fitting all and no labels radiates from the pages. Why pink personality? About a year ago, I managed to get out of the Instagram loophole of vegan recipes and I stumbled across a reel of a pink-haired woman carrying flowers and wandering through the streets of Prague. She was describing the little joys of life, throwing in occasional “f**ks,” yet her words flew so beautifully and had a liberating power. Floss, as she refers to herself on her Instagram, is the unapologetically authentic woman that many of us strive to be. Everything, from her hair and dresses to the smallest home decoration, is covered in pink, floral or leopard prints. She encourages playfulness and confronts the patriarchal view that women have to take themselves seriously to be able to assert themselves in society. Her creative spirit radiates through the screens and a testament to that is that at the age of 25, she is the author of 3 books ( Women Don’t Owe You Pretty , Girl Crush and Women Living Deliciously ) and has hosted a successful podcast called Exactly . She is also known for launching a petition to cancel the Netflix series Insatiable because of fat shaming. The latter gained over 100,000 signatures, along with testimonies of celebrities and parents of children who struggled with eating disorders. Body image and the beauty standards imposed by patriarchy are not just the main themes of “Women Living Deliciously,” but were also previously discussed in her first book “Women Don’t Owe You Pretty.” In the subsection “Beauty Hurts” of the first chapter “Excavating: What’s stealing your joy?” Given says: “ It is so hard for us to exist FULLY inside our own bodies when we are taught to constantly observe them. ” I cannot but make reference here to Simone de Beauvoir’s Woman as Other , where she famously stated: “She [woman] is defined and differentiated with reference to man and not he with reference to her; she is the incidental, the inessential as opposed to the essential. He is the Subject, he is the Absolute – she is the Other.” What could be a beautiful homage to de Beauvoir is then turned into a book full of compilations of feminist ideas. The issue is that while Given does put a lot of herself, sprinkling the book with personal recommendations, examples and anecdotes, she cannot cover the unpleasant tension of feminism and sometimes unrelated ideas from other self-help books. In this case, the self-help book commercialization of feminist liberation just does not seem to work. Rather, it creates a dichotomy between a feminist essay on female liberation and a $15 paperback claiming to change your life in one day, from an airport shop. Even though the book is made to empower women, Given does not shy away from addressing topics like female animosity. She argues that because we no longer can insult each other about our bodies we are now labeled as ‘problematic.’ In another section, she criticizes the lack of sisterhood within feminism and talks about women holding each other back by criticizing and gossiping about one another. This is particularly powerful because it emphasizes that not every woman is a feminist, and even within feminism, the “sisterhood” has its flaws. What is perhaps omitted is the fact that it was historically the white feminists who often chose not to make space for black feminists or women of color in general. Given also talks about her personal experience of feeling judged by ‘the movement’ although it is not clear what exactly she means by “the movement.” In the podcast Happy Place, Given expanded on this by saying : “ I wanted to talk even about the way feminism has evolved into something I don’t like anymore; I don’t like that it has become this moral Purity Olympics, where everyone just cares about being the most woke and saying the most woke thing […].” She balances between denouncing the so-called ‘political correctness’ and addressing the issue of policing women for their opinions. While everyone is entitled to their opinion there is definitely a pressure on celebrities and public figures to take a stance on certain topics. It seems rather unpopular as it can lead to backlash, loss of brand deals or followers. As was already mentioned above, Given is vocal about body image and feminism but she has for example chosen not to speak out about the mass murdering of Palestinians or any other war, genocide, etc. At times it seems Given does not want to address anything “politically charged”---arguably also a somewhat political stance. Moreover, throughout the pages, she is defending herself for not “being the perfect feminist” yet “the movement” does not require perfection from feminists. On the contrary, it is often those who do not have a clear image of feminism that tend to criticize women for not behaving per feminism or, more so, the image they have been fed of it (by the media, patriarchy, etc.). There are, of course, radical feminists within the movement nevertheless there is a place for ‘moderate feminists’ and arguably, it is more the radical feminist that can often feel alienated. This has been, for example, described by Bell Hooks in her works as she addresses the lack of space for black feminists within the white and often upper-class-issues-dominated movement. On top of that, it should not be forgotten that white privileged women can afford to step back from radical feminism or activism. This is not the case for other marginalized groups, especially those with intersectional identities because they are often fighting for their fundamental rights. In that sense, a person’s solidarity towards any cause is almost, if not fully, a commodity that can be incredibly powerful. From some of the remarks made by Given, it seems she seeks the solidarity from other women without having the desire to grant it herself. This latent hypocrisy is giving the book a bittersweet taste covered in pink aesthetic. To move on to the book's second half, which emphasizes self-help, I want to talk about ‘joy’. I understand that self-help books tend to be dismissed and subject to mockery, yet I believe that “Women Living Deliciously” could really have a radical impact on women's lives. I believe women can benefit from the combination of feminist ideas with joy and femininity, especially in regards to dismantling the patriarchal ideas about what it means to be a woman. Given urges women to go beyond, to dig deeply into themselves and redefine their view of womanhood by using the concept of joy. “The joy is a state of being. It is the delicious feeling of connection, curiosity and wonder present in all human beings which lies behind that running commentary of the mind. […] This joy almost refuses to be defined ,” the author says. I believe most of us have, at some point in our lives, experienced this state of mind; but what is revolutionary about the joy in Given’s interpretation is one–agency and two–action. I found it surprising how much the thought of me, a woman, having agency over the joy in my life never crossed my mind. The author struggled with depression and burnout, so reading about her experience and the steps that led to her recovery provides an additional insight. Her vulnerability and the strength of her expression are particularly captivating to witness in her Instagram account. Given did not just write a book about joy; she is the living and breathing embodiment of joy. Moreover, she does her best to romanticize life, as romance in her interpretation lies in “intention and creativity.” To illustrate that, she describes her mornings because the first step to creating joy is finding the things that bring it to us. She is extra careful to point out that contrary to capitalist ideas of joy as coming from material things, it is usually found in the things that are priceless. Given does not have a perfect morning routine that she would post on TikTok or Instagram; rather she wakes up early to soak up in the delicious moments of solitude and people-watching from her window, pouring a cup of tea in her pink tea set. In her Instagram, she usually has a coffee and a bouquet of flowers. In the book, she reveals that for a long time, she only ever received flowers as a form of apology during her abusive relationship. To change this, she started buying flowers herself. In the words of Miley Cyrus “I can buy myself flowers” —a phrase symbolizing that women can reclaim agency over their lives. In her social media, Given often addresses manifestation and affirmations; her book is no different. Before reading it, I understood manifesting as a TikTok trend that made everyone envision their desires obsessively and repeatedly. What I did not know is that manifesting is supposed to be accompanied by action—it is taking the little steps towards the life we want or the woman we want to be that make us ‘manifest it.’ My cynical self was at first doubtful of this whole process, but Given provides affirmations for cynics, essentially convincing anyone that it is a powerful tool. While the book is a little fragile on the part of feminism and reveals Given’s somewhat complicated relationship with it, it is nonetheless an important book on the way to female liberation that provides, at times obvious but crucial, ideas helping women realize the constraints stemming from either systems of oppression or limits created by themselves. A testament to that can be that while I was writing this article, I sat by an open window and listened to a street artist play Perfect by Ed Sheeran. It was the first time in a long time that I embraced the gratitude, smiled broadly and sang out loud—I stopped policing myself and just fully enjoyed the “delicious f*cking moment,” as Given would say.

From this quick study of a small sample of words imbued with cultural insights, one can see how preserving Judeo-Arabic, ensuring its longevity in scholarly study and lived experience, keeps alive a distinct Jewish experience and yet an additional, deeper understanding of its relation and similarities to surrounding cultures and peoples. < Back Judeo-Arabic: A Dying Dialect, A Culture that Must Not Be Forgotten By Maia Zasler March 30, 2024 א אבאנא אלדי פי אלסמואת, יתׄקדס אסמך, תׄאתׄי מלכותׄך This is not Hebrew. Although each letter, read from right to left, surely resembles those of the Hebrew alphabet, this particular excerpt from the Lord’s Prayer is an example of Judeo-Arabic. Judeo-Arabic is an ethnnolect, which has been defined as “a linguistic entity with its own history and used by a distinct language community.” Jews from Morocco, Yemen, Iraq, Syria, and Iran have spoken and shared its sonorous sentences, sayings, benedictions and curse words for thousands of years. In each regional case, Arabic serves as the substrate, or base, language and Hebrew and Aramaic maintain significant influence on all of Judeo-Arabic’s components, such as cultural-specific vocabulary, morphology, syntax, and phonology. As of 2024, less than 240,000 native speakers of Judeo-Arabic remain. The memory of the language, its intrinsic value, has seemingly faded into a linguistic background, an archive accessed only by a handful of scholars who take an interest. This phenomena has been driven by the simultaneous fading of the once vibrant Jewish communities in the Arab World. Jews in the mid-20th century who were forced to leave their lives behind under threat of persecution, and who went to the nascent State of Israel, then faced a different, unexpected sort of discrimination from the incumbent Eastern European Jewish population. Viewed as second class citizens, the Mizrahi Jewish immigrants were actively encouraged to drop their mother-tongue and to speak Hebrew. These Mizrahi refugees faced hardships in temporary displacement camps, far from their homes in Iraq, or Syria, or other Arab countries from where they had fled. They were quickly immersed in Ulpan programs, learning Hebrew upon arrival and adopting it for functional, daily use. In many cases, the Jews who settled in the United States, Great Britain, or France, etc. were quick to assimilate, also letting go of their ties to Judeo-Arabic. Judeo-Arabic is a colorful language, a means of connection between familiar faces, between friends and family. Its playful phrases, aggrandized negative references, associated ceremonies and customs must not be forgotten, lest a whole history be forgotten along with it. Foods Foods are at the center of most Jewish festivals. Each diasporic community has adapted to the range of ingredients available in a given region while still consistently integrating long-held religious customs. In the case of the Baghdadi Rosh Hashanah tradition—a celebration of the Jewish New Year where Iraqi Jews would pray in Hebrew for strength and G-d’s benevolence—foods eaten during the holiday are symbolic. They correspond with words from the Hebrew prayers that retain phonetic resemblance to the Arabic names for certain foods. For example, in looking towards a New Year, Jews pray to take heart against dark forces, whether an individual’s internal struggles or an external enemy. In Hebrew, the word for heart is lev . Sounding close to the Arabic word loubia (meaning long beans), loubia are always placed at the dinner table. The Hebrew for the verb “to end” ( yitamu ), as in “to end our enemies’ hateful conquests” is similar to the Arabic word for “dates” ( temmer ). Additionally, the Hebrew for “cut off” ( yikartu ), as in to “cut off our enemies”—whether they be external or internal, self-destructive tendencies—has a phonetic correspondence to the Arabic k’rath (“parsley”). The foods eaten by other Arab Jewish communities only differ slightly based on dialect. Ceremony B’frahak; “May you be the next to get married” This wish of goodwill to unmarried young ladies would be said at wedding festivities. B’milah Yet another wish whispered or shouted at wedding ceremonies… but, in this case, it is said directly to the bride, encouraging her to have a baby. Milah is drawn from Hebrew, or, more specifically, the Jewish ceremony of brit milah , a bris, which occurs eight days after a baby boy is born. The expression demonstrates the Jewish cultural emphasis on l’dor v’dor , from generation to generation. A wish to pass down tradition and love to one’s children offered at such an important life cycle event illustrates the strength of the Arab Jewish community and the importance of familial ties. Ash Deedak “Bless your hands,” or compliments to the chef - said in appreciation of a warm meal or a particularly delicious dish. Mash’Allah “May he/she walk with G-d” - said to protect against any evil when someone is complimented or when they are singled out for doing something well. Curse Words Judeo-Arabic is filled with clever (and occasionally not so clever, but ever cutting) curses. From this category of vernacular in any language, one may paradoxically catch a glimpse into what that culture values. If something or someone is important enough to be the subject of scorn, it must carry weight in a community. Sometimes, single words get a message across: zmal (meaning “donkey”) or booma (an “owl,” sarcastically referencing, anything but wise). Other times, a conglomeration of words must be employed. Den alabook laboo a book laboo jabbek ; “A shoe on your father, your father’s father, and your father’s mother” Family ties held a special place of honor in Arab Jewish communities. In the Arab world, it is traditionally considered a high insult to flash or hit another with the bottom of one’s shoe. Incorporating the value of family and the culturally-laden affront of the shoe, this sentence offers a comprehensive reference that delivers a profound sting. The words we use give us insight into the values of our community, of our cultures. To lose just one word from a language or dialect does a disservice to current and future generations. From this quick study of a small sample of words imbued with cultural insights, one can see how preserving Judeo-Arabic, ensuring its longevity in scholarly study and lived experience, keeps alive a distinct Jewish experience and yet an additional, deeper understanding of its relation and similarities to surrounding cultures and peoples. These elements are crucial to understanding the entire Middle East, for they are embedded in the region’s history and are key to comprehending its progression.

Will our hands remember how to take up a pen to write without the assistance of a keyboard and Grammarly? Will our eyes be able to adjust to words on paper rather than illuminated on a computer? Will we ever create an outline again without the assistance of ChatGPT? The words of my cousin’s “gyatt” echo into eternity, a siren call of the society we’ve become. < Back The End of Culture as We Know It Maia Zasler November 30, 2024 I will never forget the day my 10-year-old cousin shouted “gyatt” over FaceTime. Her text message rendition manifested in “gyattoose.” When I sit on the train, stand in extended airport security lines, or futilely try to pay attention during lectures, I can see those around me engage in the never-ending consumption of internet content: manufactured, tailored, pixelated images and videos that please the synapses in our brains (re: something more scientifically accurate). I too have fallen victim. My vocabulary seems feeble, easily influenceable. I am ashamed to say I am entertained by some of the most ludicrous content produced in the name of “pop culture,” a means of garnering views. Why did I watch that video of Nara Smith in what can only be described as a ball gown making gum from scratch for her husband? I, along with countless others, consider what is mainstream to be normalized; beyond the beauty standards and gender gap implications that have been heavily critiqued and theorized, respectively, I have to wonder, is the culmination of human intellectual and artistic achievement really the streaming of Keeping up with the Kardashians ? Is it staring at TikTok or Instagram reels for hours on end? In the social media realm, or performative virtual world, we are all audience members and performers. Can we, the masses, be trusted to spearhead culture creation? I would posit, after observing the consequences of the last decade, that the answer is an unequivocal no. A quick Google search will provide a rudimentary definition of “culture”: the ideas, customs, and social behavior of a particular people or society. So, what has gone deeply wrong in the broader, global society in terms of the deterioration of our ideas, customs and social behavior? I fear that the first catalyst has been a descent into digital absurdity. I have no defense for the two hours I spent (wasted?) watching Amadeus on TikTok. The laughter of young Mozart will forever haunt me. Or perhaps, more embarrassingly, I can refer to the videos displayed side-by-side, staying online to view clips of shows I’ve never even watched as in the parallel window somebody randomly unboxes miniatures or makes slime. I share this because I know mine are not singular experiences. The internet lingo that has encroached on our daily lives pervades beyond our phone screens, a product of oppressive collectivity. And that is part of the issue; we are eroding individualism. We are becoming our greatest obstacles in the production of quality content. We repost and remake existing trends, regurgitating that which we’ve heard too much of and seen too much of (arguably taking away from the voices of individuals who are pioneering culture development and sharing stories worth listening to). The linguistic evolution (or rather, devolution) of the “new generation” is yet another element of concern, a battlefront in this war to safeguard culture. The domination of nothing-words such as “skibidi” or “fanum tax,” or even worse, when combined to form nothing-phrases such as “skibidi Ohio rizz,” render centuries worth of linguistic maturation mute. We are inching closer and closer to a reality in which communication occurs solely through emoticons and TikTok dances. As Sciences Po students, we must ask ourselves: what if the future of diplomacy hinges on the mastery of the “Renegade”? You may think it extreme (it is), but at such an elevated rate of change and international exchange, it is a possibility. We engage more with content creators than Nobel prize winners; Mr. Beast videos supersede poetry and eloquent prose. We constantly have audio playing in the background—“Get Ready with Me” videos roll while we pick out outfits for the day. Our lives are played back to us on Instagram and Snapchat stories. Perhaps we may not all want to go viral, but we are making a conscious decision to give our attention (a valuable thing!!) to actors and general content that is not worthy. Maybe we should consider exploring the idea of a “Cultural Detox Camp;” we’ll read Dostoyevsky and listen to symphonies until we’re cleansed and inspired. Or are we too far gone? Can we reform that which has already been unleashed? Will our hands remember how to take up a pen to write without the assistance of a keyboard and Grammarly? Will our eyes be able to adjust to words on paper rather than illuminated on a computer? Will we ever create an outline again without the assistance of ChatGPT? The words of my cousin’s “gyatt” echo into eternity, a siren call of the society we’ve become.

Qui sont ces étudiants, et comment leurs actes du 17 novembre 1973 ont-ils acquis une portée profondément démocratique et déterminante pour l’avenir du pays? En quoi ces réponses nous illuminent-elles quant au rapport contemporain de la société et de l’univers politique grecs vis-à-vis des valeurs démocratiques et des mouvements étudiants? < Back « Pain, Éducation, Liberté! » Un Regard Sur Le Soulèvement De Novembre 1973 En Grèce Margarita Kopsia January 31, 2025 Qu’est-ce que, vraiment, résister ? Et quelle signification ce mot acquiert-il en fonction du contexte socio-politique d’où on se place? Si les réponses qu’il est possible d’apporter à cette question sont nombreuses, la position de la Grèce en la matière mérite d’être étudiée. Sujet d’abord sanglant et délicat, le soulèvement de l’université polytechnique d’Athènes du 14 au 17 novembre 1973 est progressivement devenu une commémoration nationale, célébrée chaque 17 novembre. Moment violent, il fut aussi—et demeure—un événement profondément symbolique et porteur d'espoirs; à présent honoré, il est impossible d’en parler sans l’associer à la fin de la dictature militaire qui était au pouvoir depuis le coup d’État du 21 avril 1967. Mais plus qu’emblème de résistance face à cette parenthèse dure et autoritaire pour le pays, agissant en tant que catalyseur du démantèlement de la dictature des colonels, le soulèvement du 17 novembre est aussi celui d’un profond renouveau . Car luttant pour « le pain, » « l’éducation » et « la liberté, » le combat acharné des étudiants a aussi signé l’entrée dans une nouvelle ère démocratique, marquée par une meilleure ouverture politique, ainsi que par un développement plus conforme au respect des droits et libertés de la population grecque. Qui sont ces étudiants, et comment leurs actes du 17 novembre 1973 ont-ils acquis une portée profondément démocratique et déterminante pour l’avenir du pays? En quoi ces réponses nous illuminent-elles quant au rapport contemporain de la société et de l’univers politique grecs vis-à-vis des valeurs démocratiques et des mouvements étudiants? La démocratie, confisquée et asphyxiée En plein cœur de la guerre froide, le contexte politique de la Grèce est extrêmement agité; suite à la victoire des forces royalistes lors de la guerre civile grecque de 1946 à 1949, opposant les dirigeants soutenus par le Royaume-Uni et les États-Unis aux grecs communistes, plusieurs gouvernements instables se succèdent. Les « élections législatives anticipées » qui étaient censées avoir lieu en 1967 sont la conséquence directe de la dissolution parlementaire qui était entraînée par le manque de soutien à M. Canellopoulos, nommé par le roi suite à l’échec des accords législatifs et gouvernementaux passés entre celui-ci et les autres partis majoritaires. L’avenir politique du pays se voit particulièrement menacé par le putsch du 21 avril 1967. Réalisé par trois militaires—les colonels Georges Papadopoulos , Nicolaos Makarezos et le général Stylianos Pattakos—l’épisode est intimement lié à l’appartenance de la Grèce au « bloc de l’Ouest » dans le contexte des alignements géopolitiques de l’époque. Le coup d’État est ainsi réalisé sous prétexte de protéger le pays de la « menace communiste » et afin de préserver l’alliance du pays avec les États-Unis, sachant que la Grèce avait rejoint l’OTAN en 1951. Il faut noter cependant, que la présence de cette « menace » est largement injustifiée, ce que n’ont manqué de préciser de nombreux médias de l’époque, y compris a l’international. Ainsi, Le Monde déclare dans ses publications datant de l’année 1967 que « l’intervention [...] allait au-delà du but invoqué au début, » cherchant notamment à assurer la victoire de la droite malgré l’ascension de l’Union du centre. Pour le journal L’Humanité , il s’agit même d’une « dictature absurde et criminelle qui s’est imposée par peur des élections. » Car sur la période 1967-1973, la vie sociale et politique du pays est « paralysée . » « Rythmée » par l’« enfermement » et la « torture » dont les opposants politiques sont systématiquement victimes, la dimension autoritaire du régime écarte la perspective d’un espace de dialogue ouvert, pluriel et engagé. Parallèlement, l’emploi généralisé de la censure constitue une autre sombre réalité, entravant les libertés d’expression et d’opinion des citoyens. Avec l’arrivée au pouvoir des colonels, « les garanties constitutionnelles des droits de l'Homme sont suspendues, » obstruant toute tentative de critique du régime et interdisant même les « grèves . » Mais si la majorité de la population grecque est poussée à la « passivité » par le régime des colonels, les voix des opposants exilés continuent de retentir et alimentent fortement les animosités populaires envers la junte, ainsi que l’opposition de divers gouvernements de l’étranger. Pour certains exilés, il est même question de « militer contre la junte sur le territoire français » à travers leur implication dans des « réseaux de la résistance, » à l’instar de Melina Mercouri —ancienne ministre de la Culture grecque—et Mikis Théodorakis, célèbre compositeur et futur ministre d’État grec de 1990 à 1992. Étudiants: voix ou moteurs légitimes de la construction démocratique ? Pendant la junte, les étudiants souffrent tout particulièrement. Leur sévère manque de représentation se matérialise tout d’abord à travers « l’ impossibilité » pour les étudiants « d'élire des représentants au sein des institutions universitaires. » Sont mis également en place des « tribunaux de discipline, pouvant expulser tout étudiant ayant des activités jugées non convenables, » tandis que la loi 1347 oblige « au service militaire immédiat » tous ceux qui s’organisent et s’engagent au sein de syndicats. La forte présence syndicale dans l’enseignement supérieur grec fait par ailleurs que, selon un point de vue sociologique, les universités grecques deviennent des « institution[s] sociale[s] » à « caractéristiques politiques. » Bénéficiant d’un « statut symbolique comme espaces de défense des valeurs démocratiques, » cela explique en grande partie par les dynamiques de rassemblement et de politisation des étudiants qui se sont progressivement construites et exacerbées depuis 1973. La vague de manifestations s’opposant à la junte militaire est entamée par les étudiants de la Faculté de Droit d’Athènes le 21 février 1973 , date à laquelle ceux-ci se barricadent à l’intérieur de leur établissement pour appeler à la fin de la dictature. L’insurrection des étudiants de l’école Polytechnique qui survient quelques mois plus tard s’étend jusqu’à d’autres universités telles que celles de Patras ou de Thessalonique, entraînant également de nombreux autres civils désireux de décrier les modalités d’exercice du pouvoir du régime en place. La création d’une station de radio étudiante, adressant « un appel [...] à la population » participe également à la propagation de leur message, tout en cultivant un profond sentiment de solidarité parmi tous ces manifestants. L’occupation de l’université polytechnique elle-même fut aussitôt sévèrement réprimée par l’armée, dont l’intervention consista notamment en l’envoi de chars militaires. Le bilan est celui d’au moins 27 morts et de dizaines de blessés, faisant de cet épisode une véritable « plaie » de l’histoire contemporaine grecque. Son sillage, celui de la ‘ Metapolítefsi ’—soit la transition démocratique grecque qui s’en suivit—rappelle néanmoins les mérites du fervent maintien et de la défense des idéaux démocratiques, notamment au vu des difficultés que ces derniers ont eu à s’imposer et à véritablement former part de la réalité politique et constitutionnelle grecque. Cela ferait-il des étudiants les « garants » de la démocratie en Grèce à l’époque contemporaine, régime ayant su s’extraire de sa trajectoire fragile, tumultueuse et menacée? Les étudiants sont-ils capables de changer le cours de l’histoire? Jour partiellement férié, durant lequel les établissements scolaires restent fermés, le 17 novembre constitue aujourd’hui un moment de « fierté nationale. » Les étudiants ayant participé aux soulèvements de novembre 1973 s’étaient auto-proclamés ‘ Eleftheroi Poliorkimenoi, ’ soit une référence directe à la lutte pour l’indépendance grecque et à l’œuvre de Dionysios Solomos—poète dont émane l’hymne national grec. Sous la plume de nombre de poètes et d’écrivains tels que Pour Yánnis Rítsos—poète et militant du Parti communiste grec, emprisonné pendant la dictature des colonels—les étudiants du 17 novembre deviennent des figures héroïques et inspirantes, portant en elles les fruits et les symboles de la bravoure et de la détermination. À eux seuls, les soulèvements du 17 novembre n’auraient pas entièrement rétabli le sort démocratique du pays, mais il demeure que les efforts des étudiants y ayant pris part aient été des mécanismes déclencheurs de la ‘ Metapolítefsi. ’ Portant avec ardeur et conviction l’ espoir et la promesse démocratiques, le pouvoir qu’a eu la jeunesse à influencer le cours de l’histoire en 1973 reste incontestable.

By aiming toward a future where we can harmonize environmental policies, Cyprus can pioneer a path toward a sustainable and resilient future that serves to benefit all its citizens, preserves the island’s biodiversity and ensures controlled development with minimal environmental risks. < Back Beyond Borders: The Environmental Imperative in Cyprus By Maria Eirini Liodi December 28, 2023 With an increased push for environmental sustainability and climate crisis awareness, the European Union calls upon its member states to work hard on reducing their emissions to meet the Fit for ’55 goals. According to EU Climate Law, EU emissions must be reduced by at least 55 percent by 2030 with the prospects of climate neutrality in 2050, meaning environmental action must take a front seat for member states. So, as the Republic of Cyprus attempts to stride into this greener future laid out by EU and U.N. goals, it is vital to consider the unique physical and environmental landscape the state grapples with, as an additional factor of utmost importance for why negotiation talks for the ‘Cyprus Problem’ need to be resumed. First, let’s start with some context. Following the creation of the U.N. buffer zone in Cyprus in the 1960s and what we can call its formal division following the 1974 war, the island is partitioned in two – as is its capital, Nicosia. We have the Republic of Cyprus, an EU member state, which makes up about 59 percent of the island’s area (henceforth south), and then we have the self-declared ‘Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus’ (henceforth north), which makes up about 36 percent of the island’s area. Notably, the ‘TRNC’ is not an internationally recognized state; it is only recognized by Turkey. The two sides have separate administrations and little to no shared actions, posing a problem regarding Cyprus' work toward true environmental sustainability. The only way to work toward sustainable goals is through consistent actions and accountability, be it on the national or international level. However, only the south of the island, the Republic of Cyprus, is held accountable under internationally binding agreements, while the north of the island lacks international accountability since it is not part of the EU. Therefore, it is not bound by EU environmental regulations and is not subject to potential sanctions meant to deter negative environmental impact. This leaves the heavy load of work to NGOs, implying minimal positive change, and unaccounted damage. Bringing the focus to the capital, Nicosia, the city’s layout post-divide is at best, suboptimal, given it is literally split in two. Having to construct new transportation links on the fabric of pre-existing infrastructure and transport networks meant to serve the purpose of a country-wide, non-divided map, is challenging and necessitates a skewed logic of urban planning. Therefore, the addition of pavements, even some cycling paths in certain locations, have only been few in number, disallowing many that want to opt for more sustainable travel options – e.g. cycling, from making it their primary mode of transport in the city, as it is neither properly accessible nor fully safe. This leaves the south with an underdeveloped public transportation system and a very high vehicle per capita ratio compared to other EU countries, especially considering the size of the country. Adding to these issues, there is a severe lack of priority given to the creation of green corridors in urban spaces to mitigate the urban heat island effect and promote decreased car usage in the city. In the north, similar problems prevail, with an all the more unregulated spurt of urban development with little environmental regard, and a public transportation system that is even more underdeveloped and leaves people mostly reliant on private vehicle use. In a utopic future of some form of collaborative administration, talks on sustainable urban development, preservation of green spaces, and creation of more efficient modes of public transport could be on the table, but as of now, that is not the case. With the added layer of the island’s bustling tourism sector and foreign investments, urban development cannot be discussed outside the context of sustainability and regulation. Rapidly sprouting and multiplying, the skyscrapers built on both sides of the island are emblematic of that. As highlighted in the recent International Consortium of Investigative Journalists investigation and the 2020 Al Jazeera Cyprus Papers, we should be skeptical of the urban development we see, as the unregulated nature of certain investments can easily pertain to the marginalization of environmental concerns and the economic gain of only a select few. Moreover, Cyprus consumes generously, wastes extensively and disposes inadequately. This is why aside from reduction, sustainable waste disposal methods are critical in minimising negative environmental impact. In the south, some municipalities have taken impressive strides with the implementation of ‘pay as you throw’ schemes, compulsory recycling and even providing families with free composting bins. However, these actions should not be limited to merely one or two municipalities and should be more widely implemented to promote accountability in the way all citizens manage their waste. Some villages do not even have access to recycling bins. In the north, efforts were made to introduce an organized waste management system according to EU standards in 2012, at the Gungor Dumpsite. Unfortunately, these endeavors quickly ceased after this dumpsite was privatized. In recent years, the dumpsite has begun posing risks to soil, air quality and human health due to incorrect operating methods and a lack of inspections to maintain accountability. With all kinds of waste being handled, including construction and hazardous byproducts, fires have repeatedly begun, posing alarming health risks to all citizens in the area. The air we breathe is not divided, and the environmental degradation of our island will not be either. With such issues in mind, the people of Cyprus need to be able to demand change, and not have the environment treated as a trivial afterthought. Right now, more than 100 countries have a constitutional right to a free environment, also safeguarded by the U.N. Human Rights Council. Cyprus is not one of those countries. Hence Cypriots on both sides of the divide do not have an explicit right to live in a healthy environment. These are just some of the problems the island faces environmentally, and they should not serve as a divisive excuse of ‘us’ versus ‘them,’ but instead, contribute to peace negotiations and discussions of shared responsibility. By aiming toward a future where we can harmonize environmental policies, Cyprus can pioneer a path toward a sustainable and resilient future that serves to benefit all its citizens, preserves the island’s biodiversity and ensures controlled development with minimal environmental risks. The journey transcends borders, echoing the principles of accountability, sustainability and partnership. Negotiation talks are critical if there is to be any progress on the island of Cyprus on any front.