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The Menton Times is the independent student newspaper of the Paris Institute of Political Studies, Menton campus. The Invisible Wars: Yemen, Sudan, and the Selective Outrage of the World War is war. No matter when it starts, where it is or who ends up carrying its weight. I’m usually the first to argue that suffering should never be compared, but in the cases of Sudan and Yemen, comparison becomes almost unavoidable. Not to decide who suffers more nor to rank tragedies, but to confront the world’s selective outrage and the chilling apathetic silence that allows some wars to disappear from collective memory. This Week @ The Menton Times What Women Learn to Endure: How Early Socialization Shapes the Structural Roots of Intimate Partner Violence Les périls de la culture compétitive dans l’éducation The Invisible Wars: Yemen, Sudan, and the Selective Outrage of the World التعليم في تونس: بين المساواة المنشودة والواقع الجندري في الصفوف الدراسية Menton's Senior Citizens Won't Bite: Go Talk to Them! Renewal of the Italy-Libya Memorandum of Understanding Liquid Gold: The Story of Palestinian Olive Oil M-A-M-D-A-N-I M-A-M-D-A-N-I Zohran Kwame Mamdani is now the mayor-elect of the wealthiest city in one of the richest countries on Earth. His victory represents a political trajectory that is both atypical and deeply revealing of contemporary America. Born in an Ugandan-Indian family, raised between continents and immersed in environments rich in academic and artistic capital due to his parents’ careers: he occupies a complex place in the American social landscape. This matters, not as a critique but as context. His political language is formed by a democratic political economy and urban class analysis as much as by lived experience. You could hear it during the several live debates he participated in, in his cadence, see it in his references and definitely feel it in his policy design: it’s disciplined, detailed and unapologetically people-centered. التعليم في تونس: بين المساواة المنشودة والواقع الجندري في الصفوف الدراسية De l’autre côté du mur : voix arabes face à la mission civilisatrice Dans son discours d’investiture du 20 janvier 2025, Trump, acteur autoproclamé du renouveau civilisationnel, appelle les Américains à agir « avec le courage, la vigueur et la vitalité de la plus grande civilisation de l’histoire. » Et, comme tout bon pays prétendument civilisé, il faudrait évidemment montrer l’exemple à ceux qui seraient restés dans la barbarie, ceux qui n’auraient pas encore « évolué. » 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. What Women Learn to Endure: How Early Socialization Shapes the Structural Roots of Intimate Partner Violence Feature: Feminist Union On average, 24% of women within the EU face Intimate Partner Violence (IPV). In Finland this figure rises to 30% with Denmark being even higher at 32%. In the context of the Nordics, 28% and 27% of Swedish and Norwegian women experienced IPV respectively. These relatively high statistics are described as the Nordic paradox, which explores why countries that are often described as models of egalitarianism face the highest rates of IPV. Menton’s Senior Citizens Won’t Bite: Go Talk to Them! Renewal of the Italy-Libya Memorandum of Understanding Feature: Amnesty International Menton The International Organization on Migration (IOM) defines the Central Mediterranean route, which passes through Libyan waters, as the “world’s deadliest migratory sea crossing” due to its dangerous waters and the scarce number of search and rescue operations. In 2022 alone, 1,417 people departing from Libya died along the route, while an additional 56,515 people were intercepted and returned to Libya. Is Being a Virgin as Cool as Being a BRAT? : A Review of Lorde's Latest Studio Album Syria's Invisible Wounds : When Justice Must Rebuild What Violence Destroyed Feature: Amnesty 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. During Human Rights Week, I had the opportunity to hear from Noura Ghazi, a Syrian human rights lawyer and founder of Nophotozone. Her reflections centered on the wounds that linger beneath the surface — wounds inflicted by years of arbitrary arrests, torture, and enforced disappearances. At the conference “Syria in 2025 : Justice, Memory, and the Road Ahead,” Ghazi addressed one of the most painful chapters in Syria’s recent history. She spoke about the chaotic and sudden opening of prisons controlled by the regime and the dark consequences that followed. Liquid Gold: The Story of Palestinian Olive Oil In Palestine, olive oil is more than a product—it’s a story pressed from the soil, the sun, and the hands of generations. Across the hills of the West Bank, the ancient olive tree stands as a symbol of endurance, hope, and belonging. Every October and November, as the air turns cool and golden, families return to their ancestral lands to harvest olives, turning the harvest into a time of labor, joy, and collective memory. “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. Points sur l’Actualité du Moyen-Orient « Le Moyen-Orient. Moyen par rapport à quoi ? Orient de quoi ? Le nom de la région est fondé sur une vision eurocentrée du monde, et cette région a été façonnée par un regard européen ». Tels sont les premiers mots figurant dans le manifeste de la géostratégie publié par Tim Marshall, spécialiste britannique des relations internationales. Prisonnier de la géographie, comme le suggère le titre de son œuvre, le Moyen-Orient l’est aussi de ses frontières tracées au gré des intérêts européens, qui l’ont enfermé dans une spirale de haines et de tensions sans fin. Les périls de la culture compétitive dans l’éducation Theres No Place Like Home I have always felt that way because “home”, to me, has always been a patchwork. There’s the place you were born, the one you grew up in, the countries tied to your heritage, and now a campus far away from everything you ever knew. Each one of them feels like “home,” but then again none of them quite do. They overlap and argue with each other—they coexist like siblings fighting over the bigger room. Vlogging Live From Kabul: The Insights and Absurdities of YouTube Conflict Tourism In the past few years, an increasing number of intrepid content creators are documenting their journeys to places of conflict. They acquire rare visas, hire local tour guides, and point iPhone cameras through the streets as they seek to capture the ‘real’ version of these countries—places whose very essence is often reduced to fearful headlines and apocalyptic imagery. This phenomenon, known as conflict tourism, ranges from visiting historically troubled areas to entering zones of active conflict, and has taken on an entirely new significance in the age of vlogging. Cocteau’s Azur: Exploring Queerness in Menton At first glance, Menton appears to be a quaint and peaceful town on the French Riviera—a place of leisure, history, and, of course, lemons. But is Menton truly as fruity as it seems? Singing through Grief – Collective Memory through Music Music has a strange sort of power; it can outlive the moments it was originally made for. You’ll Never Walk Alone has transcended Liverpool. Celtic fans sing it in Scotland, as well as Dortmund fans in Germany. It’s been sung in times of crisis—after terrorist attacks, during the pandemic and other acts of remembrance. But it will forever belong to Hillsborough first. It is sacred in the way a national anthem can become sacred, or a funeral hymn. You’ll Never Walk Alone began as a ballad of hope and then a cry for justice.

M-A-M-D-A-N-I Zohran Kwame Mamdani is now the mayor-elect of the wealthiest city in one of the richest countries on Earth. His victory represents a political trajectory that is both atypical and deeply revealing of contemporary America. Born in an Ugandan-Indian family, raised between continents and immersed in environments rich in academic and artistic capital due to his parents’ careers: he occupies a complex place in the American social landscape. This matters, not as a critique but as context. His political language is formed by a democratic political economy and urban class analysis as much as by lived experience. You could hear it during the several live debates he participated in, in his cadence, see it in his references and definitely feel it in his policy design: it’s disciplined, detailed and unapologetically people-centered. Read More The Invisible Wars: Yemen, Sudan, and the Selective Outrage of the World War is war. No matter when it starts, where it is or who ends up carrying its weight. I’m usually the first to argue that suffering should never be compared, but in the cases of Sudan and Yemen, comparison becomes almost unavoidable. Not to decide who suffers more nor to rank tragedies, but to confront the world’s selective outrage and the chilling apathetic silence that allows some wars to disappear from collective memory. Read More December 19, 2025 Les périls de la culture compétitive dans l’éducation L’algorithme de Parcoursup, en faisant varier la valeur des élèves selon leurs résultats scolaires mais aussi en faisant respecter de critères spécifiques pour certaines filières, incarne parfaitement le paradigme compétitif qui structure le système éducatif français. Ce système éducatif repose sur une survalorisation de la compétition entre les élèves : les évaluations et classements sont constants, l’apprentissage coopératif absent. Read More De l’autre côté du mur : voix arabes face à la mission civilisatrice Dans son discours d’investiture du 20 janvier 2025, Trump, acteur autoproclamé du renouveau civilisationnel, appelle les Américains à agir « avec le courage, la vigueur et la vitalité de la plus grande civilisation de l’histoire. » Et, comme tout bon pays prétendument civilisé, il faudrait évidemment montrer l’exemple à ceux qui seraient restés dans la barbarie, ceux qui n’auraient pas encore « évolué. » Read More November 13, 2025 Nostalgie historique et la génération Z: liaisons dangereuses ? Des salles de bals étincelantes de Bridgerton à l'aesthetic Regency Core sur les réseaux sociaux, la génération Z semble obnubilée par une période qu’elle n’a jamais vécu. Comment peut-on expliquer cette fascination pour un monde vieux de deux siècles ? Read More #GenZ 212 When Luffy’s Jolly Roger was hoisted from Nepal’s Singha Durbar palace, it instantly became a symbol of something larger. Over the past few months, a wind of protests has swept across the globe. From Nepal to Madagascar, Kenya to Peru, Indonesia, the Philippines and Morocco: the youth, unwilling to inherit a broken system, have taken to the streets to prove that their future is daring and won’t be silenced. Read More التعليم في تونس: بين المساواة المنشودة والواقع الجندري في الصفوف الدراسية Read More November 2, 2025 Vlogging Live From Kabul: The Insights and Absurdities of YouTube Conflict Tourism In the past few years, an increasing number of intrepid content creators are documenting their journeys to places of conflict. They acquire rare visas, hire local tour guides, and point iPhone cameras through the streets as they seek to capture the ‘real’ version of these countries—places whose very essence is often reduced to fearful headlines and apocalyptic imagery. This phenomenon, known as conflict tourism, ranges from visiting historically troubled areas to entering zones of active conflict, and has taken on an entirely new significance in the age of vlogging. Read More Pourquoi Trouver une Information Fiable est Devenu si Compliqué Aujourd’hui omniprésente dans nos vies, l’information s’est profondément transformée. Ses canaux aussi. Dès lors, contrôler sa qualité devient un enjeu crucial pour éclairer notre opinion. Read More September 26, 2025 Le silence de la foule : comprendre l'effet spectateur Une rue commerçante bondée, un cri de détresse surgit. Pourtant, personne ne réagit. Cette situation hypothétique avec des comportements à première vue impensables est une réalité bien plus répandue que l'on ne le croit. Read More September 25, 2025 Calais: Between Migration and Solidarity When I first announced to my family that I would be doing my parcours civique with Care4Calais, a British organization that provides non-food items to refugees, most of my relatives acted as if I was about to become a war photographer in Sudan. Despite them, I managed to not have any image of Calais in mind before actually arriving. So what was Calais really like? Read More April 30, 2025 Vivre la Guerre à Travers un Écran: la Bataille des Récits Les algorithmes amplifient les contenus qui suscitent le choc et l'émotion, même si ceux-ci ne reflètent qu'une partie de la réalité. Ainsi, les zones de conflits moins spectaculaires ou celles qui ne répondent pas aux critères de viralité demeurent dans l’ombre. Read More April 30, 2025 A Hundred Years of Gatsby Although more than a hundred years have passed since its publication, the recycling of this tale, the tale of “The American Dream” but also the tale of a life without love—the tale of a life full of yearning—continues to this day, even after the pages of Fitzgerald’s novel have been turned to their very end. Read More April 30, 2025 Le « Surtourisme » En Grèce : Un Mal Nécessaire ? « Mal nécessaire, » il s’avère que la Grèce entretient un rapport étroit au tourisme, d’autant plus au surtourisme. Pays autant dépendant que victime de ses effets, il s’inscrit pourtant dans des logiques qui tentent de dépasser ces limitations initiales, pour tirer pleinement parti de sa situation. Le tourisme, en tant que phénomène, subit des transformations, des mutations, qui—nous l’espérons—vont dans le sens d’une meilleure adaptation aux priorités contemporaines. Read More April 29, 2025 FOMO (Face Yoga, Overwhelming, Maintenance and Overconsumption) Whether it’s a $300 white noise machine that is advertised to put you to sleep within 10 minutes, or a $500 ring that will track all your bodily functions, which will most likely not be accurate, all the problems you can’t even imagine having have been solved for you. You are no longer only overwhelmed but you now also live in an overcrowded space. As if being exposed to advertisements of these isn’t enough, you also have the opportunity to buy them and test them out. Because investing in yourself can’t be a bad thing, can it? Read More April 29, 2025 Tips To Survive Sciences Po Menton A town that I have learned to love and maybe sometimes to hate, but one that I will certainly miss when I have to leave eventually. This petite town of citrons has seen many generations of the Ummah pass through it. I think it holds a special place in our hearts. I hope you will feel the same way! Read More April 29, 2025 Gramsci: la politique est une guerre de position La pensée de Gramsci n’a rien d’une abstraite bataille des idées. , Iil s’agit tout au contraire de permettre la réalisation effective de la révolution et de l’émancipation en balisant son parcours. Aujourd’hui, plus que la vieille révolution prolétarienne dont on connaît les dérives possibles—c’est un euphémisme—il faut retenir de Gramsci son souci de préparer le changement radical. Read More April 29, 2025 Trump’s Institutionalized Incompetence 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. Read More April 29, 2025 Pumping and Jumping Through the Balkan Spring Seeing the different branches of the Balkan tree blossom leads to the conundrum of what fruits they may bear at the end of spring. The last couple of months have shown that young people are now fed up with government negligence, illiberal practices and economic uncertainty. The ever-present young spirit of the protests, coinciding with the literal progress of the season of change and blossom, Spring, allows us to talk of a Balkan Spring. Mass injustices or tragedies act as catalysts for social unrest. Read More March 31, 2025 خاطرة في اليوم العالمي للمرأة في اليوم العالمي للمرأة، كشعيرة من شعائر "الإنسانية،" يجب علينا، نحن ماكثي العالم الغربي، أن ننعى بؤس المرأة العربية. ولكن الحقيقة هي أن المرأة العربية، في طبعها، ثورية عنيدة. Read More

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

War is war. No matter when it starts, where it is or who ends up carrying its weight. I’m usually the first to argue that suffering should never be compared, but in the cases of Sudan and Yemen, comparison becomes almost unavoidable. Not to decide who suffers more nor to rank tragedies, but to confront the world’s selective outrage and the chilling apathetic silence that allows some wars to disappear from collective memory. < Back The Invisible Wars: Yemen, Sudan, and the Selective Outrage of the World Amena Elkayal War is war. No matter when it starts, where it is or who ends up carrying its weight. I’m usually the first to argue that suffering should never be compared, but in the cases of Sudan and Yemen, comparison becomes almost unavoidable. Not to decide who suffers more nor to rank tragedies, but to confront the world’s selective outrage and the chilling apathetic silence that allows some wars to disappear from collective memory. Some conflicts dominate global headlines for months, shape foreign policy debates, saturate our screens and even household conversations. Others, equally brutal and equally tragic, barely surface. Yemen and Sudan stand among the world’s worst humanitarian disasters of our time, yet they remain trapped on the margins of global attention. Their absence reflects a deeper hierarchy of suffering, one where geopolitical interest, emotional convenience and media priorities determine whose suffering is worthier of visibility. When wars are not seen, they are unfelt. And when they are unfelt, they are abandoned. Since April 2023, Sudan has recorded more than 20,000 deaths and 4.9 million displaced people. That is besides 25 milions facing hunger and at least 36 women and girls raped only between April 2023 and October 2024. Yemen, meanwhile, has seen at least 1,742 civilians killed since late 2022, alongside 4.8 million internally displaced people and 17.1 million people living in acute food insecurity. Despite these figures you could count on one hand the number of times you’ve stumbled upon these crises in global headlines—especially when measured against the omnipresent coverage of Gaza or Ukraine. The inequality of attention becomes impossible to ignore. To readers around the world, Sudan and Yemen’s violence often feels distant, confusing, or inaccessible—and that is partly by design. These conflicts are frequently described as “invisible wars”, a label rooted in the chronic absence of sustained human-centered coverage. Yemen, for example, receives consistently low global media attention. This pattern is documented by outlets such as the BBC, who examined why the country’s humanitarian catastrophe fails to appear in headlines. Humanitarian agencies operating in both countries have long warned that donor fatigue, shrinking aid budgets and the near-impossibility of accessing active conflict zones make it difficult to draw global attention to unfolding crises. Doctors Without Borders note that in Sudan, warring factions regularly restrict the movement of aid workers and journalists Further, they frequently cut communications, diminishing visibility in international media. The result is that these wars become “uncoverable,” and therefore, unseen. By contrast, conflicts like in Ukraine and Palestine receive sustained attention, while Sudan and Yemen fall into a blind spot shaped by power dynamics rather than humanitarian urgency. This is not because the former conflicts are inherently “more tragic”, but because they benefit from clearer political narratives, stronger advocacy networks and direct Western involvement. Wars that intersect with Western foreign policy priorities are more likely to receive sustained attention and sympathy than those unfolding in regions perceived as geopolitically peripheral. Coverage follows power. Outrage follows proximity. And empathy follows the stories people are given the chance to see. Analyses of global news patterns repeatedly show how conflicts tied to Western interests remain amplified, while others quietly fade into the background, marked by a general feeling of less humanitarian urgency. The imbalance is staggering. Media monitoring platform Meltware found that between Jan. 1 and Sep. 30, 2022, Ukraine received five times more media coverage than all ten of the most dangerous conflict zones for children combined. Sudan— now considered the world’s worst humanitarian crisis—occupies only a narrow and fragile space in international news reporting. This isn’t just a media gap; it’s a moral one. Emotional engagement itself is greatly shaped by the narratives people encounter. An article by Prismreports.org points out how the public’s capacity to care is directly influenced by the stories they are offered: when journalists don’t cover these wars, audiences don’t feel them. And when audiences don’t feel them, governments don’t act. Silence becomes distance. Distance breeds apathy. The consequences are not abstract. They are fatal. In Sudan, most hospitals in active conflict zones have collapsed or shut down, leaving entire cities without medical care. In Yemen, famine, cholera outbreaks, and widespread infrastructure collapse continue unabated, as detailed by the U.N.’s humanitarian updates. Despite the severity of these crises, the flow of aid remains insufficient and inconsistent—an outcome that might result from their invisibility . The disparity becomes even more glaring through the legal and humanitarian lens presented by Opinio Juris . Their analysis shows that Sudan’s civil war, which resumed in April 2023, has resulted in more than 150,000 deaths, displaced over 12 million people and left nearly half of its population facing famine. Across the African continent, over 45 million people were displaced by conflict in 2024 alone—an astonishing 14% increase from the previous year—yet these crises rarely dominate international headlines. This selective attention creates a “hierarchy of suffering,” where victims of high-profile wars are perceived as more deserving of empathy than those trapped in the invisible conflicts of the global south . Data from the 2025 Global Peace Index confirms these patterns. Vision of Humanity report that civil conflicts—like those in Yemen and Sudan— receive dramatically less coverage than interstate wars. On average, interstate conflicts generate roughly 870 news articles per civilian death, while intrastate conflicts (which make up the majority of global wars) generate only 37. The least visible are internationalised intrastate conflicts, at just 18 articles per civilian death. Notably, even when comparing 2014 coverage, the Gaza war and the Russian-Ukrainian conflict received far more attention than the Central African Republic’s civil war, despite the latter experiencing higher mortality rates. This disparity does not arise in a vacuum. While the imbalance is stark, it is also shaped by the geographic and political orientation of major news organisations: the Russian invasion of Ukraine, as a European war, directly implicates European security, economies, and populations—the primary audience these outlets serve. The pattern nonetheless endures: attention follows geopolitical proximity and interest more readily than human need. The report also highlights rising negativity in news consumption, audience fatigue from long-term crises, and a growing tendency to avoid emotionally draining topics—all of which contribute to the systematic erasure of certain wars from public consciousness. Addressing this erasure requires far more than fleeting sympathy. Humanitarian groups like CARE note that sustaining global attention demands innovative media strategies. For example, local partnerships, long-form reporting and storytelling rooted in lived experience rather than abstract geopolitics. Coverage that prioritizes people over politics can counter public fatigue, a point echoed across reports from NPR, showing how individual narratives can revive empathy. Similarly, analyses by the International Crisis Group call for increased foreign aid, renewed focus on forgotten conflicts, and diplomatic pressure tied to civilian protection. Media watchdogs such as the Committee to Protect Journalists urge deeper investigative work and collaboration with local reporters who can safely document realities on the ground. Advocacy organizations including Human Rights Watch add that supporting grassroots campaigns and independent digital platforms—especially those operating from within Sudan and Yemen—is essential to bypass censorship and ensure these wars are not erased simply because they fall outside geopolitical priorities. Because at its core, selective outrage isn’t just a failure of the press. It is a failure of our shared moral imagination. Yemen and Sudan are not invisible because their people are less worthy of empathy. They are invisible because the world has chosen to look elsewhere. If international law, governments, the media and global institutions are to retain integrity and maintain any moral consistency, they must dismantle the hierarchy of suffering that governs which lives are seen and which are allowed to simply fade into silence. Every war demands to be witnessed. Every victim deserves to be mourned. Until all human suffering is met with equal urgency, justice will remain uneven and peace will remain painfully out of reach. The world cannot claim ignorance. It can claim only silence. And silence, in these wars, kills . Photo Source: UNMISS, Flickr

< Back Pandora Papers: Everything You Need to Know About the ‘Biggest Ever’ Leak of Off-Shore Data By Celeste Abourjeili November 30, 2021 Making headlines earlier this fall, the Pandora Papers are a leak of nearly 12 million documents which implicate world leaders in legal and illegal tax evasion, hidden wealth, and even cases of money laundering. Despite the massive breadth of the leak, which exposed 330 politicians and indicated over 10 trillion USD in offshore investments and accounts, the Pandora Papers have received little coverage. This article will cover the most important details of the leak, and feature an interview with Thinking Like a Lawyer professor and legal scholar Daniel Traficonte. What exactly are the Pandora Papers? The Pandora Papers are a leak of documents that have been thoroughly investigated by 600 journalists from 117 sources for several months. In the United States, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) was heading the investigation. In the United Kingdom, the initiative was spearheaded by BBC Panorama and the Guardian. The leak included documents, photographs, emails, and spreadsheets amounting to a grand total of 12 million objects. The most significant components of the leak concerned offshore wealth, including offshore investments of 330 politicians. What does offshore wealth consist of? Offshore wealth has provided a means for the world’s most affluent people to conceal their assets and minimize taxes. Wealth can be legally concealed when spent or saved in “tax havens,” or nations with low taxation, such as Panama, Dubai, Monaco, Switzerland, the Cayman Islands, and a number of American states. Investments such as home ownership may be conducted through anonymous companies that conceal their owner’s identity. Some countries do not require the identity of “beneficial owners” of property. In these cases, the beneficial ownership loophole allows owners to legally hide behind false company names. “I think global tax-dodging is a classic case of ‘legalized corruption,’” said Traficonte. He believes that the legality of this kind of tax evasion may be one of the reasons why public reaction following the leak has been low. “But of course what is ‘legal’ can still be extremely corrupt and harmful to society, and people shouldn't lose sight of this distinction,” he said. What are the implications of the leak? With such wide wealth disparity in the status quo, the implications of the leak could have been massive. The leak revealed that many political leaders who claim to support the common people are, in fact, hiding extreme amounts of wealth. This could also have created a public resentment against leaders for their lack of transparency. Russian president Vladimir Putin was implicated by his associates’ assets in Monaco, including that of a woman with whom he is suspected of having a child. The king of Jordan was found to have used anonymous companies, known as shell companies, to acquire a large number of properties in the United States and abroad. While there may not be direct repercussions for this hidden use of extravagant wealth, political leaders may face a reputational slap in the face. “Of course, in authoritarian regimes, high profile corruption is nothing new. But the example of Czech prime minister shows that the differentiation between [authoritarian regimes] and modern, ‘good’ liberal democracies is rather illusory,” said Political Humanities major Stanislaw Naklicki. Traficonte also pointed to the fact that “global wealth inequality is probably much worse than the official numbers would suggest, since the global ultra-rich are so easily able to hide the true extent of their wealth from official data.” Traficonte also suggested that world leaders may face more pressure to conceal their wealth as this form of private power is becoming “obviously excessive and undemocratic” in the public eye. Traficonte used the king of Jordan as an example: “[he] doesn't have to hide the fact that he owns all this luxury real estate in California. The fact that he feels he now has to is pretty interesting.” The economic implications of the storage of 10 trillion USD in offshore assets is worth considering, as well. “The macroeconomic implication is that so much… global capital that could be used to generate growth, particularly in the sectors that we might think are important (i.e. green and sustainable technologies), is basically sitting idle and collecting rents,” said Traficonte. He also pointed to a theory which suggests that, in the past 40 years, or since the rise of ‘neoliberalism’ in Western states, the economic elite have stopped investing in productive activities (e.g. buying companies or investing in new products). These classic ‘capital’ investments, it seems, have stopped being profitable — or so the elite believes, according to this theory. “These leaks I think could be some confirmation of that view, since what we see here is the ultra-rich just parking their money into real estate, for the most part,” said Traficonte. What now? The European Union and the United States, among other governing bodies, have both said that they will respond to the Pandora Papers with new legislation to crack down on methods of tax avoidance. At a glance, legal repercussions and changes in legislation would seem like practical solutions — if they actually happen, that is. “The ideal solution,” said Traficonte, “would be an international treaty with real "teeth" –– real enforcement mechanisms that force governments to crack down on this kind of activity. The problem is that, if you have any holdouts, those are going to become the new tax havens.” In other words, without a “totally comprehensive international regime,” there will always be other options and methods for people to move and disguise their wealth. For that reason, Traficonte concluded that this solution seems unlikely. However, “there is plenty that national governments could do to control capital outflows, if they chose to.” Yet, he believes that more attention and political mobilization on this topic would be needed before serious solutions can be considered. Given the amount of political leaders who were directly involved, it is hard to imagine that such a solution could realistically take place in most states. What are some long-term consequences of the Pandora Papers leak? Considering its size, this leak has received relatively little coverage and attention. The Panama Papers, a similar leak in 2016 of a much smaller size, received a lot more public attention, for instance. “The Panama Papers were ‘the revelation,’ the first hint which stimulated the instinct that the global financial/political system may be more rotten than previously thought,” said Naklicki. “Every next leak was… nothing new. I think there is no way the leak will actually change something substantially.” Traficonte believes that people fail to draw the connection between global stashing of wealth and domestic issues in their everyday lives, and this could be a reason for the low public backlash. However, he told us “the connection is real: this is all money that should be taxed and used for social and public services. I think the media needs to do a better job at pointing out these connections, otherwise people will continue to see this as a distant problem and it'll just keep blowing over.” Though there might be some resignations following the leak, Naklicki stipulated that as long as the system remains, such an abuse of power is sure to continue. “History taught us on the example of the Panama Papers that nothing is bound to change… we have gone ‘too deep’ into late capitalism to actually see an alternative.”

Secularism is a valid outlook and a reality for many 21st century states; however, we often fail to consider the fact that states in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia can have a different perspective on this separation, with different traditions and political systems. This creates the question of what is and what should be the role of religion in the world of politics. < Back Religion and Politics: Always at War By Angeliki Vytogianni October 30, 2021 The topic of religion is always a hot one, fueling debates and conversations both in politics and in individuals’ behavior. For many with European and North American influences, the answer is easy: religion should be 100 percent separate, never involved in domestic politics or international relations. Secularism is a valid outlook and a reality for many 21st century states; however, we often fail to consider the fact that states in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia can have a different perspective on this separation, with different traditions and political systems. This creates the question of what is and what should be the role of religion in the world of politics. Religious extremism and fanaticism around the world have sparked many tragedies throughout the centuries. From the Crusades in the 11th to 13th century, to European wars on religion in the 16th to 18th centuries, to the Indo-Pakistani wars, to the Israeli-Pakistani conflict, to the Sudanese conflict, to Bush’s “war on terror,” religion is a common denominator in almost every conflict, the dividing factor, an urge to extremism and the development of paramilitary groups. We have seen the extent to which terrorist organizations like the Islamic State (ISIS) and Al Qaeda will go in order to fulfill their religious/political aims. We have seen the number of countries divided not because of nationalities, but because of religion, or religious branches, denominations, movements. We’ve seen the damage done by religion-related hostilities. So why are we not abolishing religion completely? Why not ban its involvement in foreign and domestic politics? Separate the Church from the State, should we not? For a historian studying these events, religion seems like the absolute worst subject to include in policy drafting, as it has made the people, the land, and the army suffer in every case it was involved. However, this view is rather ignorant for countries that have religion at the heart of their organization and their identity. Until the era of imperialism, most parts of the Middle East, Africa, and Asia organized themselves into groups according to religion. Religion was the most significant part of their identity and culture. To this day, it plays a much bigger role than the West understands. After the Second World War, the decolonization period brought several changes to most former colonies and/or occupied territories of the Great Powers. To avoid and contain uprisings or conflicts that developed, artificial borders and states were created. A prime example of the West’s treachery and imperialism, the areas were divided according to such preferences rather than the will of the people. Especially because of the Cold War and conflict occurring primarily through proxy, areas of great geopolitical importance such as the Middle East, Africa and Asia (Yemen, Afghanistan, Vietnam, Myanmar in particular) became the tennis courts for a match that never truly mattered to them. In most cases, the borders do not even come close to the pre-existing divisions between ethnic, cultural, and religious distinctions in the area. The political and humanitarian crises, civil wars, and uprisings the world faces today are results of those deep-run divisions. Many conflicts have arisen due to religion-fueled hatred that spiked when distinct groups were forced to co-exist within specific borders. Those who drew the lines between the artificially created states failed to consider the pre-existing conditions in the region and placed power interests above the locals’ right to self-determination. Many groups place religion at the core of their identity and culture, so it is inevitable that it should play a role in politics and international relations. We cannot ban or prohibit something so fundamentally important for these people, nor should we really try to. There is a way to meet in the middle and respect the traditions in every part of the world. It is the only way to hold effective negotiations and resolve the apparent issues. The first papal visit in Iraq, back in March, gives a hint of hope, pushing tolerance, understanding, and inclusion of different cultures. A historic moment for the Christian and Muslim communities, Pope Francis’ visit to the former Islamic State occupied territories should not be a symbol of Christian saviors healing the land and the people, but rather an act of co-operation, a step towards mending the conflict. 2021 also brought the re-establishment of Taliban rule in Afghanistan. An oppressive, authoritarian regime that uses its own interpretation of religious beliefs to persecute women, erase their accomplishments, and forbid their existence. How does the world deal with these violations of rights and freedoms in the name of religion? And how does one find the balance between preventing this oppression of the people but also practicing religious tolerance? Since offensive and aggressive behavior occurs both in the name of religion and in the name of secularization, it is imperative that we work on such issues collectively, and not solely through a Western point view. Only by listening to the people and the countries involved can we reach a point where politics, religion, and different forms of self-determination can peacefully coexist.

Tunisian President Kais Saeid released a new constitution. How is it different from the 2014 Constitution and what are the political consequences? < Back The Tunisian Constitution, or Kais Saeid’s Constitution? By Luca Utterwulghe October 31, 2022 Tunisia’s 2014 constitution has been hailed as one of the Middle East and North Africa region’s most progressive. A product of the multi-stakeholder process led by the Quartet du Dialogue National during the post-uprising period, the Constitution exhibits, aside from its praised commitments to “liberal” values, a strong system of checks on power between the three branches of government. However, recent political developments are challenging the foundational principles — compromise, pluralism and multi-polarity — of this (literally) revolutionary document. Tunisian President Kais Saied’s momentous consolidation of power, beginning with his move to terminate Parliament on July 26, 2021, and subsequent decision to fire Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi, was situated in the broader context of Tunisian political dysfunctionality and economic crisis. Kousai Ghrimil, a Tunisian 1A student, expresses his support for this measure: “One of the things it does… is weakening Ennahda , which is the leading Islamist party … that party has caused a lot of destruction and a lot of issues in the country ever since the revolution.” As a manifestation of his endeavor to restructure Tunisia’s political system, Saied released a draft constitution — crafted by a small group of ‘handpicked’ architects — in late June 2021. The Saeid administration released an online consultation survey which, in theory, offered citizens a platform to share their thoughts on the document’s fundamental elements, although only 10 percent of citizens were eligible to respond. Ghrimil suggests that the constitutional formation process was legitimate because President Kais Saeid “does have the right to call for a new constitution.” A referendum on the proposed constitution was held on July 25, 2022; the state’s Independent High Authority for Elections reported that 95 percent of voters ( only 30.5 percent of the eligible population) voted “yes” for Saied’s proposed document. These numbers bring into question the extent to which the new Tunisian Constitution of 2022 was formed through a legitimate, genuine “constituent power” or whether the nation is transitioning into a “façade democracy.” How is the 2022 Constitution different from the post-revolution 2014 one? Article 101 of the 2022 Constitution gives the President the power to appoint the “Chef du Gouvernement” (Prime Minister) and “les autres membres du gouvernement” (cabinet ministers); the 2014 Constitution reserved this power for the Parliament. Moreover, Article 102 authorizes the President to dissolve the Parliament at his wish, further demonstrating the constitutional shift to a more powerful executive. In a direct effort to undermine parliamentary primacy in lawmaking, Article 68 of the 2022 Constitution grants the President the ability to propose statutes to Parliament which are granted “la priorité” (priority) over Parliamentary proposals. Additionally, Article 110 explicitly states that the President “bénéficie de l’immunité durant son mandat présidentiel” (benefits from immunity during his presidential mandate), fundamentally limiting criticism and formal checks on the executive’s power. Ghrimil has mixed sentiments on the 2022 Constitution: he supports adjustments that will place more importance on the national popular vote. Still, he struggles with the Constitution’s commitment to advance Islamic principles, for Tunisia is “a secular country and this takes us a step backward.” On the contrary, he “wish[es] that the constitution would have mentioned the Jewish minority, the Christian minority,” as this is a symbol of Tunisia’s diversity. Evidently, President Kais Saeid is spearheading a significant constitutional and political restructuring of the Tunisian system. In light of an economic crisis and growing disillusionment towards the political system, how will these changes shift the relations between the Tunisian people and the government? It will be essential to keep a close eye on the parliamentary elections in December of 2022 as they may reflect the developing political sentiment in the country.

The Sadrists became a major force over the last decade, doubling their share of parliamentary elections from 2014 to 2018. However, their 2021 political downfall made way for the rise of Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani’s administration. What can we expect from the new government? < Back Will Iraq’s New Government Bring Change? By Noor Ahmad January 31, 2023 The new Iraqi government, headed by Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani, was formed in October 2022 and put an end to over a year of political deadlock. The impasse arose as the major bloc of parliamentary seats was won by supporters of Shiite Muslim cleric Muqtada al-Sadr (the Sadrists). They sought to challenge the status quo of the Shia Coordination Framework, a coalition of Shiite organizations representing vested interests, including those led by former Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki. In fact, al-Sudani is a close associate of Nouri Al-Maliki, who many associate with corruption and mismanagement, and served in his cabinet when he joined national politics in 2010. The Sadrists draw their strength from the youth and professional classes – many of them are either unemployed or in insecure forms of employment. Former administrations failed the Sadrist base by not meeting their fundamental needs. In fact, recent data shows that 41 million Iraqis lack access to potable water or electricity, and many feel disillusioned with a corrupt and ineffective political system. The popular demand for an end to corruption manifested itself in an October 2019 protest, known as the Thawrat Tishreen (the October Revolution). Yet, these tensions have persisted, with the Sadrists using opportunities at times to side with the government and stabilize the system and at others to destabilize it. When al-Sudani was first nominated as prime minister, the militant wing of the Sadrists, Saray al-Salam, occupied the Green Zone in Baghdad and stormed parliament. Al-Sudani ascended to the premiership against this contentious background, and vowed to root out corruption following longstanding abuse of power. He appears to have had some success – he established The Supreme Anti-Corruption Commission to support the Ministry of Interior in pursuing large scale and high-profile corruption cases; retrieved around $125 million of the stolen tax funds in late November; and rid the government of around 900 compromised officials after six weeks in office. Al-Sudani also outlined ambitious goals of significantly increasing the number of public sector jobs, in an attempt to mirror al-Maliki, who created over 600,000 jobs during his time in office. While Sudani seems to have admirable objectives for the country, these ideas are not novel, nor are they realistic. His desire to expand public sector jobs is idealistic given that over 60 percent of Iraq’s population is under 25-years-old, and that around 700,000 people already enter the job market annually, a two thirds increase compared to the Al-Maliki era. The state is already burdened with over-employment and unscrupulous officials create fictitious employees to extract their wages from the government. Moreover, the commission to fight corruption established by al-Sudani is only one in a lineage of those established by his predecessors, for example, Mustafa al-Kadhimi, the former Prime Minister accused of embezzling 2.5 billion tax dollars from Iraqi state coffers, in what is regarded as Iraq’s “heist of the century”, established the Supreme Anti-Corruption Committee. The anti-corruption bodies preceding al-Sudani have been merely symbolic, providing the administrations with much-needed legitimacy and sometimes used to attack political opponents of the government. Given al-Sudani’s reliance on the political elite to prop up his government, there is nothing stopping him from following in their footsteps. Al-Sudani and his government are not only supported by the political elite in Iraq but also by foreign actors. His government set up a state-financed company to manage government projects, and this is run by an affiliate of the pro-Iran militant group Hashd al-Shaabi. Many believe that the Hashd al-Shaabi want to win contracts in the oil and gas sector, as well as in housing construction. To add credence to this, al-Sudani’s first major overseas visit after securing the premiership was to Iran, where he sought to assuage concerns of the Iranian government on bilateral issues, including security and economic cooperation. The Shia Coordination Framework, which helped elect al-Sudani, is also backed by Iran. Al-Sudani must work quickly to win over the millions of Sadr supporters. This is not just a race to stabilize the economic system, but also a political contest as the Sadrists vie to displace the pro-Iran influence with a Shiite domestic equivalent. The Sadrists have become a major political force over the last decade, doubling their share of parliamentary elections from 2014 to 2018. However, their 2021 choice to break the status quo and ally with Sunni and Kurdish groups to form a government spelled their political downfall. It was their unwillingness to compromise with the Shia Coordinate Framework that ultimately upset their plans. Undoubtedly, they will try again if al-Sudani fails to implement his plans for reforming the state.

< Back L'OCS ou la Peur a L'Occident Eloïse Franzmann September 30, 2025 Le 1er septembre 2025, lors du sommet annuel de l’Organisation de Coopération de Shanghai (OCS), Xi Jinping dénonçait une « mentalité de guerre froide » et des « actes d’intimidation » visant implicitement l’administration américaine. Ces propos, repris dans de nombreux médias occidentaux, renforcent une certaine inquiétude quant à la montée en puissance de la Chine. L’OCS est fondée en 2001 comme prolongement et institutionnalisation du « Groupe de Shanghai », forum de coopération régionale créé sous l’impulsion de la Chine et de la Russie. Comme mission première, assurer la stabilisation sécuritaire de l’Asie centrale, bien que la coopération économique et commerciale revêt désormais une dimension tout aussi importante. La Charte de l’OCS, adoptée la même année, fixe comme principaux objectifs « la lutte contre le terrorisme, le séparatisme éthnique et l’extrémisme religieux ». Néanmoins, en pratique, cette doctrine des « trois fléaux » (terrorisme, séparatisme, extrémisme) élaborée par Pékin, permet de justifier de nombreuses politiques autoritaires, que ce soit la répression de groupes d’opposition en Russie ou la répression virulente des Ouïghours en Chine. Si l’organisation est fondée par 6 pays (Chine, Russie, Kazakhstan, Kirghizistan, Ouzbékistan et Tadjikistan) elle s’est progressivement élargie à l’Inde et au Pakistan en 2017, ainsi qu’ à l’Iran en 2023, représentant aujourd’hui 42% de la population mondiale. Parallèlement, le nombre de pays observateurs (Mongolie, Biélorussie, Afghanistan, etc.) et « partenaires de dialogue » a considérablement augmenté, passant de 6 en 2022 à 16 en 2025. De cette expansion indéniable découle une sphère d’influence agrandie, qui s’étend au-delà du continent asiatique jusqu’au Moyen-Orient. L’OCS s’affirme par conséquent comme un pôle incontournable pour les États eurasiatiques. C’est dans le contexte d’un ordre multipolaire, où l’influence occidentale est remise en cause, que l’OCS apparaît, aux yeux des spécialistes, comme une force diplomatique prééminente sur la scène internationale. Alors que Xi Jinping défend une « gouvernance mondiale plus juste et plus équitable,» certains perçoivent avec l’ascension de la diplomatie chinoise un essoufflement de l’hégémonie occidentale. Le sommet de Tianjin, du 31 août au 1er septembre 2025, s’est d’abord présenté comme le théâtre de l’amitié sino-russe. De fait, les dirigeants Vladimir Poutine et Xi Jinping n’en sont pas moins qu’à leur soixantième rencontre. Quelques jours après l’OCS, à l’occasion des commémorations du 80e anniversaire de la fin de la Seconde Guerre mondiale le 3 septembre 2025, Vladimir Poutine mais aussi Kim Jong-un ont été conviés au défilé par Pékin. Une amitié qui met en scène leur unité face à l’Occident. De même, la présence du président iranien Massoud Pezeshkian et la signature de 24 documents finaux sur le renforcement de la coopération de l’OCS, nourrissent les préoccupations des Etats-Unis et de leurs alliés quant à la consolidation d’un axe Russie-Chine-Iran concurrent et autonome. Toutefois, si les présences russes et iraniennes n’ont rien d’insolite, la venue du président indien Narendra Modi est assez inédite, marquant le retour du président indien en Chine pour la première fois depuis le contentieux frontalier sino-indien dans la vallée de la Galwan en 2020—où des soldats des Etats respectifs s’étaient affrontés. Le sommet de Tianjin témoigne d’une nouvelle réussite diplomatique, certainement plus marquante après l’intégration simultanée de l’Inde et du Pakistan en 2017, alors même que les litiges frontaliers persistent depuis des années. Malgré des rivalités, la coopération n’est pas nécessairement bloquée. Cette idée fait écho à la logique développée par le chercheur en relations internationales Robert O.Keohane qui, dans son ouvrage After Hegemony, convient que “la coopération n’est pas un état exempt de conflictualité, mais une réaction à la conflictualité ou à sa potentialité”. Si la Chine apparaît, aux yeux de la plupart des observateurs internationaux, comme une puissance fédératrice à travers l’OCS , l’inquiétude au sein du bloc occidental, qui comprend notamment les États-Unis et l’Union européenne, est bien celle de se marginaliser face à un bloc eurasiatique organisé autour de ses plus grandes puissances. Alors que la Turquie ne possède jusqu’alors qu’un statut de “partenaire de dialogue”, Recep Tayyip Erdogan annonçait dès 2022 sa volonté de rejoindre à part entière l’organisation, dénotant le poids de l’OCS. Pour autant, sous couvert d’une démonstration d’unité, des rivalités internes persistent entre les différentes puissances membres de l’OCS et peuvent empêcher son bon fonctionnement. Les Etats membres affichent des ambitions géopolitiques divergentes, voire concurrentes. Ainsi, la bonne entente entre Pékin et Moscou n’empêche pas une compétition persistante entre les deux puissances. De fait, le rapprochement récent entre Moscou et Pyongyang, qui s’est traduit par la signature d’un accord d’assistance mutuelle en juin 2024, a contrarié Pékin. Xi Jin Ping entend dès lors rappeler sa prééminence régionale, notamment à travers le défilé militaire du 3 septembre 2025 auquel la Russie et la Corée du Nord étaient accueillies. De même , le sommet de Tianjin n’a pas pu cacher les divergences entre la Russie et la Turquie. Le président turc, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, invité en tant que partenaire de dialogue a proposé à Vladimir Poutine une médiation dans le conflit russo-ukrainien, proposition qui fut très mal reçue. Cette hétérogénéité témoigne d’une chose : l’OCS incarne un projet d’affirmation collective anti-occidental alors que sa capacité à se construire en tant que bloc reste entravée par des rivalités internes. Par ailleurs, face à la consolidation d’un bloc eurasiatique, plusieurs questionnements surgissent à propos de l’organisation même de l’OCS, en particulier de sa possible dimension militaire. Depuis 2005, plusieurs exercices conjoints dédiés à la lutte antiterroriste, telles la « Peace Mission » ont été organisés, mobilisant les forces nationales respectives des États membres. Toutefois, l’OCS est dépourvue des attributs d’une véritable alliance militaire. Celle-ci ne dispose d’aucune clause de défense mutuelle comparable à celle de l’article 5 du Traité de l'Atlantique Nord et ne possède pas non plus de forces de projection. L’OCS ne prétend aucunement créer une alternative à l’OTAN, l’organisation semble davantage rester fidèle à ses objectifs initiaux et ainsi fonctionner comme un forum diplomatique et sécuritaire plutôt que comme une coalition militaire. L’OCS occupe désormais une place significative dans le concert des nations. Il convient d’admettre que la force diplomatique de l’OCS provient certainement de sa capacité à prendre en compte des intérêts stratégiques communs entre plusieurs pays d’Eurasie, que le multilatéralisme occidental n’aurait pas assez considéré. Cette coopération entre pays, non seulement en proposant un bloc alternatif au système occidental mais aussi en servant d’appui stratégique aux ambitions chinoises et russes remet en cause la domination économique, sécuritaire et idéologique occidentale. Pour autant, sa posture menaçante est à mettre en perspective. Selon Cédric Garrudo, diplômé de sinologie et analyste en stratégie internationale, il convient de prendre ces précautions quant à l’analyse parfois instrumentalisée et politisée qui présente l’OCS comme une organisation profondément et essentiellement anti-occidentale, une vision qui serait entretenue “pour encourager au réarmement et resserrer les rangs des pays de l’OTAN”. https://legrandcontinent.eu/fr/2025/08/30/lorganisation-de-cooperation-de-shanghai-represente-23-du-pib-et-42-de-la-population-mondiale/ (chiffre : membres de l’OCS représentent 42% de la population mondiale). Photo Source: Minister of External Affairs of India, Flickr

When conflicts arise, the most vulnerable members of society—women and children—are impacted disproportionally. As a global society, global organizations such as the United Nations need to ensure that every person within the Sudanese community is protected and their rights are upheld during such conflicts. < Back Women in Sudan Caught in Conflict Nil Çelik September 30, 2024 “My family did not leave. I was sleeping with a knife under my pillow for months in fear of the raids that lead to rape by RSF. Since this war started, it is not safe anymore to be a woman living in Khartoum under RSF.” Reports from Human Rights Watch and the UN indicate that during periods of conflict and mass displacement, the risk of gender-based violence, sexual exploitation, issues concerning sexual and reproductive rights (SRHR) and the concern regarding access to education increases in drastic amounts. The ongoing conflict in Sudan began on April 15, 2023, in its capital, Khartoum. A sequence of armed confrontations between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has incurred at least 14,600 deaths and 26,000 injuries. Nearly eight million people have been displaced , and more than 19 million children are out of school. UNICEF describes the deteriorating situation as the “world's largest child displacement crisis.” Based on the findings of the UN Population Fund, more than three million women in Sudan are at the moment under threat of sexual violence and exploitation. This has disrupted women from accessing fundamental medical care such as reproductive health assistance for pregnant women. There has been extensive raiding of healthcare buildings and humanitarian organization storage impacting the availability of medical resources. It has been found that 28 medical buildings have been targeted and demolished, resulting in eight fatalities and 18 injuries. Approximately 479,000 women need immediate and fundamental reproductive health assistance. The lack of services has led to pregnant women and their babies facing vital threats to their well-being. The fatal strike of the maternity hospital in Khartoum indicates the destructive consequence of the conflict on Sudanese women. Furthermore, the attacks have led to a shortage of medical supplies and a blockage of international aid. Healthcare facilities in Khartoum are in extreme lack of medical supplies, consisting of medications for life-threatening conditions and chronic diseases. The expansive devastation of healthcare facilities in the capital of Sudan, the blockage of medical aid, and assaults directed toward health professionals have significantly played a role in delaying survivors of sexual violence from receiving the necessary care. Human Rights Watch issued a statement by a 20-year-old woman in early 2024: “I have been living in this RSF-controlled area since the war started.” Women, girls and occasionally men and boys have been subject to sexual violence, mostly by the RSF in Khartoum, who are in control of residential areas throughout the city. Human Rights Watch interviewed 18 healthcare providers from the emergency response units. Numerous interviewees have stated that survivors who had been raped by the SAF seemed more hesitant in reporting incidents involving the SAF. The interviewees stated that they supplied direct medical care, offered psychosocial support and oversaw individual cases. Between April 2023 and February 2024, these 18 aid providers delivered assistance for 262 survivors of sexual violence. The majority of the sexual assault victims revealed being raped and sexually violated by the RSF. Also in 2024, nine cases of rape by the SAF were disclosed when the SAF seized possession of regions of Omdurman and North Bahri. Human Rights Watch stated in a report released on July 28, 2024, that the RSF in Khartoum perpetrated widespread acts of rape, such as gang rape, and enforced illegal marriages such as forcefully marrying women and young girls without their consent in order to maintain control of the areas. Remaining in their own homes does not ensure security for women, as some families have been removed from their own houses by soldiers. Simultaneously, some members of the community who have been displaced in Khartoum have been obliged to share their houses with RSF fellows. These RSF members are exposing women and girls to potential abuse. This case of armed groups engaging in violence, as previously mentioned, is constructed from the historical use of CRSV in Sudan when the country faces conflict, notably the use of rape as means of war. Specific groups such as young girls are at an extremely heightened threat of gender-based violence and further infringements on human rights. The following groups comprise IDPs and refugees residing in overpopulated, insufficiently lit housing centers with minimal security. The conflict's impact on access to education has raised the risk of early marriage and gender-based violence for young girls. Despite the fact that health risks are rising, including the present cholera outbreak, women and girls face a decline in access to fundamental healthcare. The lack of menstrual hygiene products also harshly impacts their dignity. The ongoing conflict in Sudan has profoundly influenced the safety and health of women and girls, and has also resulted in notable shortages of critical resources like medical supplies, fuel and life-saving medications. This has caused delays in providing healthcare and protection for women, leading to major healthcare risks that could cost them their lives. Similar challenges can be seen in Gaza where women are faced with risks to their wellbeing due to the ongoing conflict between Palestine and Israel. In Sudan the international community has been more dominant since there has not been such a powerful blockage to aid coming in, and because the borders of Sudan have not been closed off. Although women have been faced with obstacles that acutely affect their bodily and mental health and development during the conflict in Sudan, they have not given up fighting for their rights and are still striving for peace. 49 women-led peace, humanitarian, and civil initiatives have been developed, named the Peace for Sudan Platform , in reaction to the civil war. This initiative is supported by the UN Women Sudan office which establishes communication for women-led advocacy movements. When conflicts arise, the most vulnerable members of society—women and children—are impacted disproportionally. As a global society, global organizations such as the United Nations need to ensure that every person within the Sudanese community is protected and their rights are upheld during such conflicts.

Le Vagina Show est revenu faire rayonner notre campus mentonnais le temps d’une soirée pour une quatrième année consécutive ! < Back Vagina Show: La Création d’un Espace Libre pour les Femmes… mais Également pour les Hommes! By Aicha Yahaya April 30, 2022 Si la journée du 8 mars est officiellement et internationalement reconnue comme la journée des droits des femmes, au sein de la Feminist Union, chaque jour est une bonne occasion pour représenter et célébrer l’expression de la féminité. C’est pourquoi nous vous avons retrouvés le 15 mars dernier pour une soirée exceptionnelle mêlant art et genre, durant laquelle tous les tabous ont été laissés au pas-de-porte. Vous l’aurez compris, le Vagina Show est revenu faire rayonner notre campus mentonnais le temps d’une soirée pour une quatrième année consécutive ! Pourquoi un Vagina Show? Inspiré de la pièce de théâtre “Les Monologues du vagin” de l’auteure new-yorkaise Eve Ensler, le Vagina Show a pour but principal la création d’un espace libre pour les femmes, mais également pour les hommes ! A l’image de cette référence du féminisme contemporain, l’idée est avant tout de prôner la libération de la parole, et ce, par divers moyens. En effet, si le monologue occupe une place centrale, le Vagina Show n’en est pas moins resté ouvert à des formes d’arts diverses et variées entre danse, notamment menée par le club de Belly Dance, des chants spécialement préparés le Bureau des Arts, des poèmes et autres performances en tout genre laissant à chacun l’opportunité de faire ressortir sa créativité et ses talents cachés. De quoi parle-t- on ? Le choix du sujet est tout aussi libre ! Il existe mille et une façons d’exprimer sa féminité/masculinité et la question du genre et de la sexualité de manière générale. Cette année, nos participant.e.s ont fait preuve d’inventivité et de toujours plus d’originalité dans leurs choix d'interprétation. Se réapproprier un monologue, créer un poème ou encore reprendre une chanson: tous les moyens étaient bons pour prendre la parole. Les thèmes furent tout aussi multiples, traiter de l’intersectionnalité, de la condition des femmes selon les pays et/ou parler de leurs corps, tout cela en suivant un même principe : au diable le politiquement correct ! Parce qu’évoquer ces différents sujets dans tout ce qu’ils ont de plus réel, et parfois de brutal, ne devrait pas être un tabou, le Vagina Show se veut être la scène qui offre à chacun et chacune le droit de porter sa voix à plus grande échelle, devenant ainsi le théâtre d’une ode à la liberté d’expression. Plus qu’un moyen de s’exprimer, un moyen de partager Si exprimer sa pensée a pu être libérateur pour nos artistes, du côté du public, l’expérience fut davantage instructive et enrichissante. Cette promenade artistique proposée par nos intervenants a en effet pu nous ouvrir à de nouvelles formes d’expression et à de nouvelles facettes de la féminité. Le Vagina Show, c’est donc aussi un événement d’échange et de découverte pour chacun et chacune, toujours dans une ambiance chaleureuse et vivante propre à la Feminist Union ! Ce qu’il faut donc retenir Cette année, le Vagina Show a pu se tenir en présentiel pour la première fois depuis 2019, nous offrant ainsi un grand moment de de partage dynamique, vivant et marqué par la sororité inhérente à cet évènement unique sur notre campus. Liberté, art et femmes formaient les maîtres-mots de cette soirée si spéciale, ne laissant aucune place à la gêne et la honte, prônant au contraire la parole libérée de toute censure et de tout blâme. Il apparaît tout naturellement important de remercier dans un premier temps toutes nos participant.e.s pour leurs présentations plus que remarquables ayant fait de cette soirée un événement inoubliable pour plus d’un. La vivacité et l’enthousiasme dont le public a fait preuve tout au long de la soirée ont aussi contribué à rendre le Vagina Show si agréable et en faire un véritable succès cette année encore.

On average, 24% of women within the EU face Intimate Partner Violence (IPV). In Finland this figure rises to 30% with Denmark being even higher at 32%. In the context of the Nordics, 28% and 27% of Swedish and Norwegian women experienced IPV respectively. These relatively high statistics are described as the Nordic paradox, which explores why countries that are often described as models of egalitarianism face the highest rates of IPV. < Back What Women Learn to Endure: How Early Socialization Shapes the Structural Roots of Intimate Partner Violence Elly Loiseau November 26, 2025 On average, 24% of women within the EU face Intimate Partner Violence (IPV). In Finland this figure rises to 30% with Denmark being even higher at 32%. In the context of the Nordics, 28% and 27% of Swedish and Norwegian women experienced IPV respectively. These relatively high statistics are described as the Nordic paradox, which explores why countries that are often described as models of egalitarianism face the highest rates of IPV. Understanding why this contradiction exists requires looking beyond numbers and into the social dynamics that shape behaviour. The Council of Europe defines sex and gender-based violence as “Violence founded on a gender-based power imbalance … deeply rooted in the structures, norms and social and cultural values of society”. Consequently, the coexistence of strong equality frameworks and persistent violence therefore suggests that the roots of IPV lie within these cultural, social, and structural foundations, not simply in the absence of legal progress. Some believe the Nordic paradox may be due to backlash effects, in which progressive gender-equality ideals provoke resistance from traditional norms. Given the comparatively high levels of equality in the Nordic region, this resistance may be magnified, helping to explain the paradox. Conversely, it is suggested that Nordic countries' advanced gender equality laws help destigmatize reporting and thus we see an increased rate of IPV, not due to a true difference between the countries but rather as there are increased reports. This would reveal, however, a darker truth that IPV is more prevalent in other countries, but due to under-reporting, we just remain ignorant of its fact. Devon Buchanan, flickr The existence of the Nordic paradox prompts a larger reflection on the limits of policy. Not just what we as a society put in place to combat inequality but also as to why IPV continues to persist regardless. Similar contradictions appear in global data. For example, studies in low and middle-income countries have found that women's improved economic or educational status can either protect them or increase their risk of IPV victimization, depending largely on cultural and interpersonal context. This supports the idea that IPV's causes are embedded in culture and society regardless of policy changes. These patterns begin shaping vulnerability at an early age. Kelly Liz, a professor of sexualised violence , states that the “underlying theme is that daughterhood as currently constructed sets women up to be victimized”. She emphasizes that vulnerability is not accidental, but produced. Reflecting on this, I first felt men’s eyes on me when I was 12, and by 13, I had already become hypervigilant of my surroundings. At 14, I was catcalled in front of a construction site on my way home from school; to this day, I feel uneasy walking past one. At 15, my friends traded stories about how men had driven by calling them “easy”, or tried to take pictures up their skirts or followed them home. Recently, one of my friends asked me whether it was normal that a guy at the club had put his hands under their clothes and kept touching them despite their objections while holding them in place. I highlight these moments because they are not anomalies; for every second woman, they are simply life. What may appear as isolated incidents for an outsider actually reflects broader patterns that shape how girls learn to move through the world. These experiences impact a woman's sense of boundaries; it warps inappropriateness into a normal part of growing up, and is an infringement of their human rights as women. This normalization of discomfort forms the backdrop against which women learn to manage, rather than confront, danger as it all fades into the background noise of becoming a woman. roga muffin, flickr After interviewing women on their experiences, Kelly Liz concluded that the reason behind women's non-reaction was typically for two reasons: fear of escalation and the inability to think of an appropriate response. I can say from personal experience that the impulse to ignore such behavior is both ingrained and normalized. Living with that persistent sense of fear becomes a form of violence in itself. It degrades boundaries and rewires reactions . The normalization of discomfort in girlhood may shape how women later interpret, tolerate, or respond to controlling behaviours in relationships. If so, these learned responses are not individual shortcomings, but reflections of a social environment and institutional practices that continue to reproduce the conditions for IPV. The West may have seen progress regarding the elimination of discrimination against women within a legal framework, yet, as the UN describes , “it is no accident that family law remains the slowest to change”. Family law shapes women’s rights around marriage and divorce. It is not enough to say that culture alone makes women vulnerable, but rather necessary to look at how institutions themselves reproduce this vulnerability. This gap between formal rights and lived reality. These dynamics become particularly visible when looking more closely at factors that shape a woman's decision to leave abusive relationships and marriages. The liberalization of divorce law is often presented as proof that modern states have already done their part for women. Many countries in the West have seen a shift from fault-based divorce, which studies show has consequently led to a decrease in female suicide, a reduction in reported domestic violence and fewer cases of intimate partner homicide. However, this progress narrative obscures the truth that for many women, the process of leaving remains dangerous and institutionally unsupported. Joelle Hatem, flickr This gap between formal progress and lived danger is echoed in women's testimonies. Kelly Liz observes that leaving abuse is rarely a single event, but rather a process marked by endurance and adaptation. A record linkage study done in Finland strengthens this point: demonstrating that the risk of partner assault was sharply elevated two to three years before divorce, with especially higher rates for women with children under the age of 12. Their risk remains higher even a year after the divorce. Between 2003 and 2013, roughly 65% of women killed in Finland were killed by their current or partner. Mothers face additional vulnerability as joint custody means they must remain in contact with their abuser throughout the process and perhaps the rest of their lives. These statistics are key in seeing how divorce for women in abusive relationships often concentrates the violence rather than ending it. Furthermore, violence often escalates when women attempt to leave their abusive partner. Rane and Holmes describe divorce as one of the most stressful events in someone's life. Women often face cultural pressures to keep families together. These expectations shape how a woman perceives her personal safety. Scientific data suggests that “with the exception of parents faced with unresolvable marital violence, children fare better when parents work at maintaining their marriage”. Although this conclusion explicitly excludes situations of abuse, it reinforces a broader social message that preserving a nuclear family must be prioritised above all else. As a result, many women come to absorb the notion that their own safety is secondary and treated as negotiable rather than an unquestionable human right. Beyond immediate safety, leaving exposes women to steep financial penalties that leave them more vulnerable; women see a 27% decrease in their standard of living as a result of divorce. Additionally, across the EU, women's income dropped by roughly 24%, a figure that can drop to 50% for custodial mothers, while men's losses are smaller. Women ultimately bear the brunt of the marital loss in a divorce, creating a level of economic dependence that makes the decision to leave far more complicated. Compounding this, criminal justice institutions systematically fail to act on reported violence. Data from the UK shows that while reports of rape have reached record highs, the number of prosecutions has fallen by around 70%, with many women withdrawing their cases due to exhaustive and hostile interrogation. Sexual and domestic violence remain among the only crimes where the victim is routinely treated as the main object of suspicion, showing that women continue to be held responsible for male aggression. Taken together, these dynamics show that IPV cannot be understood merely as individual behaviour or legal failure; there is a level of complexity that goes beyond equality clauses. The question “why didn’t you just leave?” overlooks how women have been culturally taught to absorb harassment, take responsibility for others’ actions, and endure. This continuity is the thread that ties private experience to institutional behaviour. It is necessary to see how these traditions shaped institutions put in place to protect women, and how history continues to repeat itself. Until institutions stop mirroring the culture that harms women, the promise of equality will remain only partial. Photo Source: Chase Carter, flickr

Stone skipping is a sport at least to the same extent as tennis is a sport. It involves a motion and movement giving a round object projectile motion. They both involve handsome gentlemen and ladies partaking in the activity. < Back Stone Skipping Society: A New Player in Menton Athletics By Ada Baser October 30, 2021 No one can dispute that the key value of the Menton campus is athletic excellence. Students burn the midnight fuel in the volleyball courts or drag themselves out of bed to head to the fields. Yet, the rocky beaches and the crystal clear water remained untouched in a competitive environment. Until now. Three 2A entrepreneurs and masterminds responded to the deep void created by the absence of organized stone skipping on campus. An association that is well before its time, the Stone Skipping Society of SciencesPo Menton engrains the sport into our community forever. Established in 2021 by co-founders Nikola Avramovic, Stanisław Naklicki, and Benjamin Vitenson, the Society is a response to those with a great interest in and desire to institutionalize the sport, according to Naklicki. The athletes in the society can be found on the Sablettes and Bastion beaches in their training positions, although the organized events themselves are characterized as “spontaneous” and “impromptu” by Naclicki. The open and integrative team offers ample competition for those to perfect their sport, while simultaneously instilling the inspiration to learn in many by assisting and encouraging perfection and accuracy. As the name suggests, the goal of stone skipping is twofold: for the rock to skip the most number of times while simultaneously achieving the farthest distance. Sound simple? Not at all. The precision of the sport comes down to the choice of the right flat rock, core strength and balance, and muscular endurance to throw with aim and dexterity. All of these skills are targeted during the society’s trainings. Video evidence and inspiration can be found on the society’s Instagram page, @stone_skipping_society. Unfortunately, no tell-all article on the issue of stone skipping can be complete without the discussion of its status as a sport. The controversy is at best baseless and harmful to the many people that dedicate their time, energy, and hopes into the sport. Naklicki defends his position with a simple statement: “Stone skipping is a sport at least to the same extent as tennis is a sport. It involves a motion and movement giving a round object projectile motion. They both involve handsome gentlemen and ladies partaking in the activity.” Furthermore, how would established organizations like the North American Stone Skipping Association respond to unfounded accusations towards their legitimacy? Or legends in the game, like Kurt Steiner, Christina Bowen-Bravery or Peter Szep? Christina Bowen-Bravery further nuances the discussion of stone-skipping with a sad fact: the sport is very male-dominated. Especially for a campus with a female majority population, shattering gender stereotypes should be at the core of all associations. Vitenson commented on the sad reality of gender imbalance in the game: “I think if we had more women role models in the sport we would see a surge in participation, but we are looking to tear down that gender wall of stone skipping and have everyone participate.” As the sport becomes accepted and embraced on campus, the real question becomes, why does the serious sport of stone skipping get continually excluded from the mini-crit competition? Vitenson, appalled at the lack of stone skipping at such a well-rounded, inter-campus competition, calls for action on the student and administrative level to fix the wrongdoing. Whether it be your first time looking at a rock, or your final practice before the next World Stone Skimming Championship, the new society has “expanded into everyday life of students,” according to Vitenson, and is dedicated to continuing this legacy and cultural tradition. Who will stand in the way of such a “noble activity” and the interest therein among the student population? The official incorporation of this sport into campus life is changing how the campus views athletics and actively pushes for change in the professional sport. The time has come to end unproductive debates regarding the activity and instead focus the energy of the campus on embracing an integral aspect of culture: stone skipping.

Will Al-Zawahiri’s successor irreparably fragment al-Qaeda, leading it to its dissolution, or will he unify and strengthen it, making the group more dangerous and threatening than ever before? < Back What Can We Expect From Al-Qaeda Now? By Isabella Hehl September 30, 2022 Since Joe Biden, President of the United States, authorized the deployment of two Hellfire missiles by an unmanned drone on July 31, 2022 in Kabul, killing al-Qaeda’s leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, the terrorist group’s future seems uncertain. While jihadist movements are known for easily replacing their emirs, bin Laden’s death in 2011 had already caused the organization to suffer structural fragmentation and it could now completely deteriorate if al-Zawahiri is not replaced with an equally charismatic and respected jihadist. Furthermore, the event resulted in tension between Afghanistan and the United States, with both sides claiming that the other violated the Doha Agreement – terms which stipulated that American military presence would gradually come to an end in Afghanistan if the Taliban follows its commitments, such as not harboring terrorist figures – and caused further insecurity for the locals in the surrounding area. Al-Zawahiri became the emir of al-Qaeda after bin Laden was killed in a U.S. raid, however, by that point, the group was fractured and his followers were not as loyal to him as they had been to bin Laden. In the following years, al-Zawahiri attempted to lead far-reaching terrorist groups that often showed disloyalty and insubordination. The success of the Islamic State in its violent and cruel dominion over Iraq and Syria, especially in 2014 and 2015, overshadowed al-Zawahiri’s reputation. However, he had been bin Laden’s physician and right-hand man for years before 2011; thus he still commanded a certain degree of authority and respect from his followers, reminding them of when al-Qaeda was at its peak strength. His videotaped tirades against the U.S. had helped him assume a significant role in molding al-Qaeda to become as ambitious and deadly as it had been during the 9/11 attacks. When joining the terrorist group, he merged it with the extreme Egyptian-centric operation called Egyptian Islamic Jihad he had led, making al-Qaeda even more globally powerful. However, even his admirers conceded that he lacked the charisma for which bin Laden had been known. During al-Zawahiri’s leadership, no terrorist attack took place comparable to the scale of bin Laden’s time. As a result, al-Qaeda began to lose its control over some of its territories, most notably in greater Syria. The jihadist group fragmented into different strands, creating ISIS, which later became its greatest rival in the Islamist movement. For al-Qaeda to survive and return to its original reputation of strength and terror, the next emir must already be known among the followers and jihadists and show great magnetism and ability to unify the fragmented group. The often unspoken consequences of firing the two Hellfire missiles concern the inhabitants of Shirpur, the neighborhood in central Kabul where al-Zawahiri was residing. Syed Agha, an unemployed schoolteacher who sells vegetables from a cart, stated, “We have had so many years of war, and things were just beginning to settle down. The conflict is past, and no one should have the right to violate our sovereignty. An attack like this could badly affect our future.” A year after the Taliban seized power of Afghanistan, the country is on the threshold of economic collapse, as Kabul’s alarmed civilians responded to the killing helplessly and bitterly. 29-year-old Ezatullah explained, “I wish we had this power to defend our country. The people can’t show any reaction or anger because they cannot say what they want to and they have economic problems.” This sense of vulnerability seems common among the inhabitants of Shirpur. According to the Washington Post, a man named Abdul Wali “changing money on a sidewalk” told the paper, “I heard Joe Biden did it. This means Afghanistan still belongs to America. They can do whatever they want. If they can do a drone strike in the city, it means they are still in charge.” Indeed, the relationship between the Taliban and the United States has become even more complicated since July 31, 2022, as both claim that the other violated the terms of the Doha Agreement, which was signed in February of 2020 as the U.S. left Afghanistan. American officials claim that senior members of the Haqqani Taliban knew about al-Zawahiri’s presence in Shirpur and attempted to conceal his whereabouts, a direct violation of the Doha Agreement. Al-Qaeda’s utilization of Afghanistan as a safe haven broke the terms of the peace deal, to the detriment of the Afghan people, who are often the victims of these domestic and foreign policies. Antony Blinken, the U.S. Secretary of State, stated that “By hosting and sheltering the leader of al-Qaeda in Kabul, the Taliban grossly violated the Doha Agreement and repeated assurances to the world that they would not allow Afghan territory to be used by terrorists to threaten the security of other countries.” UN intelligence recently published a report revealing that al-Qaeda not only saw Afghanistan as a safe haven but even enjoyed freedom under the rule of the Taliban, as al-Zawahiri was found to be freely communicating with others. Now that the emir was proven to be in Kabul, the Taliban’s commitment to upholding their end of the Doha Agreement is further called into question by American and international authorities. However, the Taliban also vehemently opposed the drone attacks, as Zabihullah Muhajid, the Taliban spokesman, stated that the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan “strongly condemns this attack on any pretext and calls it a clear violation of international principles and the Doha Agreement.” This highly controversial missile strike has even been theorized by some, such as the highly influential Jordanian Arabic daily newspaper Ad-Dustour, to have been organized by al-Qaeda itself and that perhaps its own members were responsible for leaking information concerning the whereabouts of al-Zawahiri. Ad-Dustour even claimed that “the terrorist organization’s title is division and the intrigues within it contributed to the killing of its terrorist leaders.” Arguably, the breaches within the dead emir’s protection network allowed for the circumstances in which the jihadist leader could be executed. It is difficult to substantiate these claims as interpretations differ based on the geographical location of the source. While the West prefers to consider the U.S. as solely responsible for what they perceive to be an almost heroic act of perseverance and revenge against its enemies, Middle Eastern perspectives often question if American intelligence agents were really capable of attaining information about al-Zuwahiri’s whereabouts without help from within the jihadist group. Either way, the long-term consequences of this event are severe and will be far-reaching. Al-Zawahiri’s execution revealed the fragile structure of the group, as withdrawals from al-Qaeda followed immediately after his death. Hassan Abu Haniyeh and Muhammad Abu Rumman, two Jordanian scholars specializing in terrorism, explained that although such jihadist groups are often not majorly impacted by the assassination of their leaders due to their capability to rapidly rebuild ranks, al-Zawahiri’s death may have particularly strong repercussions. This is because other influential terrorist leaders, such as Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, Saeed al Shehri, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, Nasser al-Wuhayshi and Osama bin Laden, had already been assassinated, leaving the jihadist group unable to withstand another emir assasination. Due to the general timing and overall context of this death, an already weakened al-Qaeda is now experiencing a leadership crisis, a rebellion of its branches, unprecedented levels of disengagement, a decline in geographical spread and a general discord. The leadership crisis arguably represents a worrisome turning point in this organization which was originally founded on harmony between bin Laden and al-Zawahiri’s visions. As the central leadership of this group is in a period of decline within Afghanistan, the regional branches are experiencing severe division. In the past years, al-Qaeda has expanded its ethnic and tribal alliances with jihadists such as Nusrat al-Islam. However, without al-Zawahiri, his jihadi fame and impressive theoretical capacity, these alliances could potentially collapse. Especially compared to ISIS, which has clear strategic and theoretical aims, al-Qaeda now faces a crisis of vision. As a result, the young Islamist extremists, looking for a straightforward intellectual, political and ideological system, would rather join ISIS than al-Qaeda. Hence, there is significant reason to assume that al-Qaeda will suffer short-term and experience waves of disintegration and fragmentation until the new emir either dooms or revives the group. However, others argue that al-Zawahiri’s assassination has been overplayed in the media and that this will impact his group minimally. An anonymous former member of al-Qaeda, who then joined the Islamic State, said, “I’m sure Biden will try to make it sound as if it’s something big, but actually it’s not significant for us at all. Ayman al-Zawahiri became the emir after bin Laden and is now a shaheed [martyr]. And that’s it for us. The significant question will be: Who will become the new leader now?” Indeed, some point out that the leader was almost invisible in recent years, and that the act of replacing him is not as momentous as many claim. Currently, no obvious successor who holds great respect and name recognition within the Islamist world exists. However, the core and affiliates of the jihadist group in countries in northern Africa and Yemen, who have waged war for decades, will most likely put forward a leader who has been battle-tested and who will perhaps possess even more charisma than al-Zawahiri. America’s tireless campaign against al-Qaeda through targeted assassinations has resulted in a lack of experienced leaders within the group. Some experts have claimed that a likely candidate for the role could be former Egyptian special forces lieutenant-colonel Saif al-Adel, one of the remaining members of al-Qaeda’s old guard. Arguably, his greatest rival in emir-hood could be a leader of The Guardians of Religion Organization — a Syrian hard-line Islamist group — Abu Abd al-Karim al-Masri. Either successor will surely benefit from the current decline of ISIS, which has become weaker and less inspiring since its loss of the caliphate. However, the competition between the two will still continue as long as the Islamic State retains its remaining land and popularity. Even in bin Laden’s days, al-Qaeda faced the problem of some of its branches swearing fealty to the emir just to pivot and pursue their own goals and ideology. Thus the new leader will need to ensure the unity of the organization. Perhaps he will be able to achieve this by attempting to organize a high-profile terrorist attack against the West to gain attention and boost his stature. However, the tough U.S. counter-terrorism network forces terrorist leaders to remain on the move to avoid discovery and execution constantly. Indeed, the relationship between the future emir and the Taliban movement will be key, as it could allow al-Qaeda to rebuild its base in Afghanistan and recruit more members. Due to the decreasing counter-terrorism efforts in Africa, al-Qaeda’s regional strands in Mali, Somalia and North Africa will likely solidify. As a result of the closure of political tracks in the Middle East, southern Sahara, North Africa, the Sahel and Southeast Asia, all of which are suffering from economic crises, al-Qaeda could exploitatively rebuild and solidify its roots in these areas amid these fiscal calamities. Although the Islamic State remains more radical and attractive to new jihadists, new leadership in al-Qaeda arguably allows it to adapt and take advantage of cooperation opportunities due to a common enemy. While al-Zawahiri’s death was a curse for al-Qaeda, perhaps it was also a blessing, as a new emir could rebuild al-Qaeda’s reputation and end the era of division. With the emergence of an international jihadi agreement about international opportunities, rising cross-border terrorism and multipolarity, new opportunities crop up for global jihadism. Whoever emerges, what is certain is that he will preside at a turning point in the overall jihadi movement. Will he irreparably fragment al-Qaeda, leading it to its dissolution, or will he unify and strengthen it, making the group more dangerous and threatening than ever before?

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

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

Joy is evident everywhere. It is woven into the fabric of the robust youth culture. It is painted into the murals that decorate almost every street. It mingles with the smoke in the jam packed shisha bar. < Back Amman Travel Review: What I Lost in Egypt, I Found in Jordan Lara-Nour Walton March 30, 2022 I spent my early childhood draped on couches in Heliopolis, spitting sunflower seed shells into ashtrays, curling up with cousins under the glow of Pixar movies. My fingers were perpetually sticky with mango. I sat on everybody’s lap, kissed everybody’s cheek. I slept in intergenerational apartments – blood relations on each story. I once knew Cairo by heart. I traced its corners, memorized its streets from balconies and car windows. But my great grandmother’s death marked a definitive shift in the Egypt that I had grown up with. Her passing preceded several more uprooting family losses. Without our Cairo-based matriarch, remaining relatives began to leave downtown for satellite cities. With the ascendance of Al-Sisi, bridges and highways diced up the metropolis, defacing its once recognizable figure. My relations scattered. Cairo lost all its unity, diminished to a blur of billboards and bustle, on my way from the airport to Sheikh Zayed. I wondered if the Egypt of my girlhood was gone forever. But, what I lost in Egypt, I found in Jordan. Jordan does not look like Egypt. Amman, the capital, is a sprawling city– boxy, and entirely limestone according to the Kingdom’s strict building code. Amman is uniform and retains very little of Cairo’s chaos. Jordan does not sound like Egypt. Shamy Arabic is sweeter– less guttural than its Egyptian counterpart. Fewer car horns are heard in the streets. The muezzin is more inconspicuous. Jordan does not smell like Egypt. The molokhia is spiced differently, the pollution hangs lighter in the air. But the sense of community, family, liveliness, that had vanished from my Egypt, it lives on in Jordan. When I landed in Amman this spring break, I was brimming with anticipation. My conception of the SWANA region was limited to my childhood experiences. I wondered how Jordan would stack up. My excitement was timidly matched by my traveling companion/tour guide, English Track 1A, Sami Omaish. Much like me, Omaish grew up between the Middle East and states. His Jordanian family magnanimously agreed to open their home to us for the vacation. Omaish’s palpable nervousness in Queen Alia Airport was familiar to me. Every time I return to Egypt, I too have airport crises– panicking about whether I will spontaneously lose the ability to interact with my relatives or, worse, forget how many bises are required for standard greetings (two). I suspected that his anxiety, just like mine always is, would soon be quelled by the open arms of family. When we arrived at the Omaish household, my hunch was confirmed. We were welcomed with guffaws, embraces, and a piping hot lunch in the dining room. Omaish’s grandparents are the epitome of Arab elders. His grandfather, Sami Omaish Sr., bellows on the phone and is acquainted with everyone in the neighborhood. His grandmother dotes on every guest and knits her eyebrows when there isn’t enough khobs on the table. His family was the veritable backbone of our trip: uncle Ziad organized our transportation from Petra, to Wadi Rum, to the Dead Sea; great aunt Samira, a downstairs neighbor to Omaish’s grandparents, gave me and English Track 1A Basak Üstün a bed to sleep in; cousin Laith led us to one of the best meals of the trip, Jordanian mezze – hummus, falafel, pita bread, pickled carrots, and baked cheese. Amman felt like a homecoming to me – the bevy of children, the animated conversation, the unwavering warmth – was reminiscent of my early years in Egypt. But there was an unknown face of SWANA, one that I never witnessed in Egypt, that I delighted in during my stay in Jordan. The youth scene in Amman is positively effervescent. Although spending bountiful time with young adults in Cairo, I never truly strayed from the sphere of domesticity. But, in the capital’s trendy locales, I experienced SWANA for the first time without familial restraint. It was in the Jabal Amman and Weibdeh neighborhoods where I was exposed to a cafe culture rivaling both Paris’ and Vienna’s. Rumi Cafe operates to a soundtrack of English and Arabic. They do cafe favorites with an Arab twist – saffron hot chocolates and cardamom cakes grace the tables of patrons. Down the street, Wild Jordan offers an array of coffees and smoothies that would make Starbucks quake in its boots. Snacks like apple pie and lentil soup were fan favorites among my travel partners. And if the menu was not enticing enough, the windows offer panoramic views of the Amman – the ancient citadel in direct eyeshot. But, Books@Cafe was my favorite establishment. Although boasting the title of “the Middle East’s first ever internet cafe”, it had the most unreliable wifi of all the ones we visited. This, however, could be overlooked. Books@Cafe is the type of business that, I believe, should be in every SWANA city. On the ground floor, local art is sold, creating a vibrant market for young Jordanian artists. Stacked up against kaleidoscopic wallpaper are shelves upon shelves of books in both Arabic and English. Stooped over laptops and books are school age people – the 50% off student discount presenting reason enough to frequent the coffee house. A hub for the Jordanian artistic, literary, and youth scenes, Books@Cafe also doubles as a haven for Amman’s queer community. This cafe represents joy. It is accessible and tolerant – a space where people of all backgrounds are encouraged to create, to learn, to share some delicious food and drink. And joy is not only relegated to Books@Cafe. It is evident everywhere. It is woven into the fabric of the robust youth culture. It is painted into the murals that decorate almost every street. It mingles with the smoke in the jam packed shisha bar. Jordan is the renewal of my Cairene glory days, but it is also unlike anywhere else I’ve been before.

Les Etats-Unis présentés comme terre mère de la démocratie et du libéralisme politique et économique sont aussi un état-continent appliquant toujours la peine de mort sur leur sol. < Back L'exécution de Kenneth Smith: une rupture dans l'application de la peine de mort aux Etats-Unis By Salomé Greffier Les Etats-Unis présentés comme terre mère de la démocratie et du libéralisme politique et économique sont aussi un état-continent appliquant toujours la peine de mort sur leur sol. Un pays, considéré comme la première puissance mondiale, qui laisse en effet vingt deux de ces états fédéraux condamner des criminels à la peine capitale. Un paradoxe soulevant des questions socio-politiques qui, malgré les interpellations, ne semblent guère faire agir la communauté internationale. Alors que 1 583 exécutions ont été répertoriées depuis 1977 sur l’ensemble du territoire, le 25 janvier dernier marque un tournant dans l’application de la peine de mort sur le sol étasunien. L’Alabama, état défenseur de la mise en vigueur de cette sentence, exécute Kenneth Smith par inhalation d’azote. Ce meurtrier âgé de 58 ans avait été condamné par le juge en charge de l’affaire à la peine capitale pour avoir commis le meurtre commandité d’Elizabeth Sennett en mars 1988. Kenneth Smith avait été payé par le mari de la victime, Charles Sennett Sr., pasteur et propriétaire du criminel, pour perpétrer l’assassinat. Suite à une tentative avortée d’application de sa peine, en novembre 2022, le condamné s’est vu imposer une exécution par une méthode non testée auparavant: l’hypoxie à l’azote. La Cour suprême avait en outre autorisé le procédé malgré l’objection de ses trois juges libéraux et les inquiétudes des opposants à la peine de mort, estimant que cette méthode pourrait potentiellement infliger des souffrances au condamné. Le procureur général de l’Alabama aurait, quant à lui, affirmé que l’azote gazeux “provoquerait une perte de conscience en quelques secondes et causerait la mort en quelques minutes”, rapporte l’agence Associated Press. Pourtant, la durée de l’exécution semble avoir donné raison aux préoccupations des libéraux et activistes luttant contre la peine de mort. Selon des témoins, la pénitence aurait en effet duré vingt deux minutes, entre le moment où le masque fut apposé sur la figure de Kenneth Smith et la déclaration de sa mort. Un délai également dénoncé par le conseiller spirituel du condamné, Jeff Hood, interrogé par la chaîne de télévision CNN. Il confie en ce sens qu’il n’avait jamais assisté à une telle exécution et qu’elle s’élèverait, d’après lui, au rang de la torture. (“I have never, ever seen anything like that [...] That was torture”) Par conséquent, l’essai de cette nouvelle méthode d’exécution, consistant à étouffer la personne à l’aide d’un gaz, soulève des questions morales et éthiques au delà du politique. Le problème dans ce cas n’est plus de savoir si la personne doit mourir pour le crime qu’elle a commis mais si celle-ci mérite d’être tuée en souffrant. L’histoire de la peine de mort aux Etats-Unis est à ce sens parsemée de condamnations ayant intenté à l’intégrité physique du condamné à cause d’aléas techniques. L’exemple de l’exécution de William Kemmler à la chaise électrique en août 1890 demeure dès lors significatif. Le condamné, après s’être vu infliger près de vingt secondes de courant électrique haute tension, perdit seulement connaissance, forçant les gardiens à réitérer l’opération malgré la souffrance de William Kemmler. Il en va de même pour toutes les innovations de techniques de mise à mort telles que la chambre à gaz ou l’injection létale. Chacune d’entre elles a été expérimentée sur un humain, un cobaye, au mépris du respect de la dignité et de l’intégrité humaine. Ainsi, la technique développée par l’Alabama semble nier les principes fondamentaux qui régissent le droit international relatif aux prisonniers. Volker Turk, le haut commissaire des Nations Unies aux droits de l’homme s’est alors emparé de la controverse en déclarant que l’étouffement par azote gazeux pourrait s’apparenter à de la torture ou à un traitement cruel et dégradant ( “I deeply regret the execution of Kenneth Eugene Smith in Alabama despite serious concerns this novel and untested method of suffocation by nitrogen gas may amount to torture, or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.”) Malgré cette dénonciation, il sera intéressant de se pencher sur les actions et condamnations possibles envers l’Etat de l’Alabama ou les Etats-Unis en général, de la part de la communauté internationale. Aux portes du couloir de la mort, les derniers mots prononcés par Kenneth Smith résument finalement tout l’enjeu soulevé par sa condamnation et méritent réflexion : “Tonight, Alabama caused humanity to take a step backward.” ( “Ce soir, l’Alabama a fait reculer l’humanité”).

From Khuzestan to Tehran, we hear the phrase “زن، زندگی، آزادی” being chanted in streets by hundreds of Iranians. From Tehran to Paris, we see it take the form “femme, vie, liberté”; in New York and London we hear “women, life, freedom.” This central phrase of the protests exemplifies the basic values Iranians are fighting for — but what are they really related to and where do they stem from? < Back “Women. Life. Freedom” — What are the Iran protests fighting for? By Anonymous October 31, 2022 From Khuzestan to Tehran, we hear the phrase “زن، زندگی، آزادی” being chanted in streets by hundreds of Iranians. From Tehran to Paris, we see it take the form “femme, vie, liberté”; in New York and London we hear “women, life, freedom.” This central phrase of the protests exemplifies the basic values Iranians are fighting for — but what are they really related to and where do they stem from? On Sept. 16, 2022, the news of the murder of Zhina Mahsa Amini — a 22-year-old Kurdish woman who was visiting Tehran — by Iran’s morality police broke out. They brutally attacked Amini for wearing an “improper hijab,” causing a traumatic brain injury that put her in a three-day coma prior to her death. In an attempt to dodge accountability, Iranian officials claimed her death was due to pre-existing heart conditions. However, her family denied these allegations, confirming that she had no serious health problems prior to this event. This shocking report instigated a wave of visceral reactions, predominantly nationally but also internationally. People were outraged at the human rights abuses taking place, the systemic oppression against women and the extent to which the regime devalues the lives of their population. What started as women cutting off their hair on social media snowballed into Iranian women courageously unveiling themselves and burning their hijab in public, and has now transformed into the population taking to the streets of Iran and demanding their rights. To better understand this social movement, let us try to dissect its central slogan and its implications. Women As the first word of our phrase and the catalyst of the protests, Iranian women are central to this cause. Women’s rights (or lack thereof) in Iran takes several dimensions; nonetheless, a detail that gives a glimpse into the injustices they have to submit to is the imposition of the hijab and the existence of the morality police. The latter is a branch of the security force that ensures that women are abiding by the Islamic Republic’s strict dress code which forces all women, regardless of belief or religion, to wear the hijab and dress “modestly” through loose clothes and minimal to no makeup. Consequently, wearing an “improper” hijab or not wearing one at all, tight clothing or showing a little bit of skin is penalized. This general concept has existed since the 1979 revolution, but has been reshaped and taken its current institutionalized form during the Ahmadinejad presidency. The morality police operate as a patrol team in a van, generally including two to three women who lure in the victims and at least two men who may use force if she resists, as they did with Amini. They situate themselves in crowded areas of cities and their actions can range from a simple warning or a fine to taking women to the “center of education and commitment,” punishing those who resist, and occasionally arresting victims. The morality police’s abuse of power through the unjustifiable use of violence raises infinite distrust about their legitimacy. Furthermore, the police’s omnipresence shines a light on the ceaseless mistreatment of Iranian women who fear for their lives due to clothing further underscores their objectification by the regime as they are being obliged to cover up. The enforcement of the hijab strips women of their choice, acting as an instrument to control their bodies. Said instrument — this mere piece of fabric — symbolizes their oppression, informing Iranian women’s decision to burn it. After all, the hijab loses all meaning once imposed. By cutting their hair, Iranian women broadcast the tragic reduction of their existence to these few strands. This is not said to orientalize and pity Iranian women. As the face of the movement, their strength, bravery, and grace are to admire and undoubtedly to defend. Life The right to life should not be subject to negotiation because it is an essential and fundamental human right. Yet, it is clear that the regime values the lives of some over others’. This is epitomized by the discrimination against the Kurdish-Iranian population, illustrated through the murder of Zhina Mahsa Amini, who is believed by some to have provoked officials by speaking with a Kurdish accent. Amini’s choice to go by her Persian name (Mahsa) as opposed to her Kurdish birth name (Zhina) further confirms this perennial fear of ethnic intolerance. On a larger scale, Iran’s bombing of Iraqi Kurdistan on Sept. 26, accusing them of the protests happening in the country, displays the Iranian government’s hostility towards the Kurdish population. It goes without saying that the regime targets protestors, as the death count stemming from these protests has reached (at the time of writing this article) over 150 people. Let us turn to the Islamic Republic’s treatment of students — the future of their nation. How much does the government value a demographic that most would assume it would prioritize? How does it treat their “élite de la nation”? Even here, we find that students’ lives are practically worthless to the authorities who recently attacked Sharif University in Tehran, Iran’s highest-ranking engineering academy. They locked the entrances and exits, trapping the students, and started shooting, students even compared it to a “war zone”. Their identities no longer mattered — not whether they were innocent or guilty, nor whether they stayed longer to study or to talk with their friends. At this moment, they were all a threat, voices to be silenced, an existence that no longer served the government. One by one, with each bullet, another name, and another bright future was permanently crossed off the attendance list. Freedom The intense restrictions on freedom extend across almost every aspect of Iranian life, yet one kind of right — freedom of speech — is particularly endangered. I am sure, as Sciences Pistes, you have all seen the Fariba Adelkhah posters plastered in the corridors and amphitheater of campus. This Iranian Sciences Po Academic, this colleague of our professors and administration, was detained in 2019 simply for speaking against the regime. This fear lives within virtually every Iranian — extreme censorship is a pillar of the republic’s tight grip on power. The censorship ranges from day-to-day inconveniences, such as needing a VPN to access certain social media platforms, to fearing exile, arrest and even death for expressing one’s views. The magnitude of the repressive situation is highlighted throughout these protests as the government has shut down (or slowed) the internet for almost two weeks, so news cannot reach the electronics of everyday Iranians covering the process stays quiet. Moreover, countless journalists and political activists have been detained. As goes another slogan stated in the protests, “Evin has become a university and Tehran a prison.” “Evin” relates to a notorious prison in Tehran that incarcerates political prisoners. This same prison was recently set on fire by the regime, killing and injuring its prisoners often consisting of students, activists or protestors. This chilling reality is precisely the reason that it is vital that we, as the international community who can talk about this issue, do not cease to be the voice of Iranians living in Iran. The Iranian people depend on our efforts to spread the movement and prevent the dialogue from fading away. “Women. Life. Freedom.” A simple expression embodying a myriad of grievous realities that Iranians resist daily. The Iranian people are putting their lives on the line to be heard. From Rue Longue to Bastion, it is now our turn to show support. It is time for these three powerful words to resound through the Menton’s streets.

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