Somewhere in the world:
Those on the continent face an international conspiracy of make - believe they are inferior, incapable and undignified. They also face a crisis of leadership which subscribes to the same notion. - The ones living outside the continent are ignored and relegated to the level of "if you are African, you must definitely be in need of help" and sorry your colour does not just fit in the economic and political scheme of things.... That is according to the Durban Declaration
A Year Dedicated to People of African Descent
Around 200 million people who identify themselves as being of African descent live in the Americas. Many millions more live in other parts of the world, outside of the African continent. In proclaiming this International Year, the international community is recognising that people of African descent represent a distinct group whose human rights must be promoted and protected.
This International Year
offers a unique opportunity to
redouble our efforts to fight against racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia
and related intolerance that
affect people of African
descent everywhere.
Navi Pillay, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights
People of African descent are acknowledged in the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action1 as a specific victim group who continue to suffer racial discrimination as the historic legacy of the transatlantic slave trade. Even Afro-descendants who are not directly descended from slaves face the racism and racial discrimination that still persist today, generations after the slave trade ended.
You are free to make a choice, your choice is your limitation!
Sunday, September 18, 2011
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Vote or Vetoe: The Future of Middle East
Jimmy Carter has written some thoughts on the process and Palestine question. He asserts with reasonable assumptions that if the Palestinian statehood is widely recognized despite a U.S. veto in the Security Council, what are the options for the future? He sees this as an opportunity for leadership from Europe, there will be an opportunity for the United States and other members of the International Quartet (Russia, the European Union and the United Nations) to put forward a comprehensive peace proposal based on the fully compatible U.S. official policy, previous U.N. resolutions and the Quartet’s previous demands. There is little doubt that the Arab Peace Proposal could be modified to comply.
It is not clear what he implies by being fully compatible with US official policy. I suppose this was written to the American policy makers as opposed to those agitating for their rights and in their terms.
There is an interesting summary here on the possible outcomes based on the proposed vote at the UN by author/writer B.Z. Khasru. He concludes "If a positive vote by three-fourths of the 193 U.N. member nations, which is expected to be the outcome in the General Assembly, is trampled by the heavy feet of two or three veto-wielding nations, the credibility of Western nations will plunge yet another notch".
While the US has upped it tempo to try delay the vote. Senior officials said the administration wanted to avoid not only a veto but also the more symbolic and potent General Assembly vote that would leave the United States and only a handful of other nations in opposition. The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss diplomatic maneuverings, said they feared that in either case a backlash could sweep the Palestinian territories and the wider Arab world when the region is already in tumult.
You are free to make a choice, your choice is your limitation!
It is not clear what he implies by being fully compatible with US official policy. I suppose this was written to the American policy makers as opposed to those agitating for their rights and in their terms.
There is an interesting summary here on the possible outcomes based on the proposed vote at the UN by author/writer B.Z. Khasru. He concludes "If a positive vote by three-fourths of the 193 U.N. member nations, which is expected to be the outcome in the General Assembly, is trampled by the heavy feet of two or three veto-wielding nations, the credibility of Western nations will plunge yet another notch".
While the US has upped it tempo to try delay the vote. Senior officials said the administration wanted to avoid not only a veto but also the more symbolic and potent General Assembly vote that would leave the United States and only a handful of other nations in opposition. The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss diplomatic maneuverings, said they feared that in either case a backlash could sweep the Palestinian territories and the wider Arab world when the region is already in tumult.
You are free to make a choice, your choice is your limitation!
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Some quick links for today!
For a start, there were two major accidents in East Africa within the last two weeks. A ferry capsized killing many in Tanzania. A week later, a leak from a oil storage lead to the death of over a 100 in Kenya.
Meanwhile, the issue of hunger within the Horn of Africa is still in the radder of most alternative media, but off the major news outlets. The key international news and events of late have focused on reflections about the Sept 11 attacks. There is an interesting article from the CNN on the evolution of Iran as a power broker in the Middle east post 9/11. Much attention continues to be on Libya, the economic crisis in Europe and globally.
How are we doing today?
Meanwhile, the issue of hunger within the Horn of Africa is still in the radder of most alternative media, but off the major news outlets. The key international news and events of late have focused on reflections about the Sept 11 attacks. There is an interesting article from the CNN on the evolution of Iran as a power broker in the Middle east post 9/11. Much attention continues to be on Libya, the economic crisis in Europe and globally.
How are we doing today?
Monday, September 12, 2011
The "After Liberation Effect"- How do we use our new found freedom?
After freedom, what comes next? Liberation?
A new freedom is about to be unleashed in the Middle East. For what it is worth, following the forthcoming UN General Assembly meeting scheduled for Sept. 23 might give a clue on how the future of the Middle East is shaping up. The Palestinian leaders will plead their case for Nationhood and UN recognition, the Turkey PM has called this an Obligation and not an Option. Those who monitor the situation in the Middle East will also not have failed to grasp the heavily coded message from the King of Jordan, a close ally to Israel, who in his opinion, the time for Palestine is now. In his words, he put it candidly, "the uprising taking place in the Middle East, has increasingly put Israel in a very difficult position" ". In this, there is an implicit message on the future of the two states.
The US must know this, but despite this realisation and the possibility of fueling anti-US backlash from the region, the USA has stated their readiness to veto a Palestinian-state resolution at the Security Council. At the same time, they have been busy working on a modality that would avoid the vote at the UN. What impact will the veto have? Will this have an impact on the Arab spring? The issue is fueling divided opinion, with Moscow ready to back the Palestinian bid to secure statehood, a position Russia has supported since 1988. While according to the EU foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, the EU is divided and lacks a common stand on the Palestine move.
The three possible outcomes from the meeting are; Palestine is given an observer status, a full recognition or a complete snub. The outcome of a complete snub has many observers and analyst suggesting that the leader of the PLA should resign and pass the keys to the PLA either to the White House or the Israeli Authority. This in itself will push a different momentum in the stalled negotiations with a deeper responsibility shifted to Israel or White House to govern a leaderless Palestinians.
Never have the portraits of leadership changed so rapidly in the history of the Arab world. This has shattered the traditional pillars of regional peace, leadership and power broking. With the spring fever spreading, it is worth noting that while engaging with the UN process, our focus should not be removed from the new and emerging political landscape, power dynamics and implications to the future of the Arab-Middle East. New cross boundary relationships are being established notably between Israel and her neighbours. The power of control and political might is slipping away from the traditional players. There is a weakening of the strong bonds that existed in the past between allies.
The Arab world has rediscovered a new kind of nationalism which is creating a momentum for change. After the liberation, the people have realised that change of political leadership does not necessarily deliver instant change and gratification. Through this huge appetite and hunger for change, the people are finding a different meaning to political engagement between themselves and the rest of the world. The national discourses are merging with the regional and international politics. While the regional political change has become a central quest, at the international level, diplomacy seems to have been relegated to the periphery. International diplomacy has its own tweaks, in that case, if the path of diplomacy is to be trodden and restored, it should not be seen to be un- representative and promoting a biased agenda. In the case of diplomacy being interpreted as biased, the Arab spring might just find new wind to quench its thirst with an issue that unites them above clans and tribes.
Turkey has taken the issue of international diplomacy (by flexing its muscle and showing her strategic value) to another level, and there is a political mileage to be gained from this. The PM Erdogan has stated that, the recognition of Palestine is an obligation and not an option. While Turkey has its own problems with the Kurds, by deflecting its attention and escalating the political spat with Israel, Turkey wants to stamp its authority as true broker of the Muslim world politics, and the anchor between Europe, the Arab World and the rest of the world. This gives Turkey a bigger political clout, better than joining the European Union and especially at a time when the Euro zone is facing a financial crisis (Italy goes to China for bond rescue).
As this writer puts it Turkey is situated in a highly sensitive geopolitical location, particularly where Europe's security is concerned. The eastern Mediterranean, the Aegean, the western Balkans, the Caspian region and the southern Caucasus, Central Asia, and the Middle East are all areas where the west will achieve nothing or very little without Turkey's support.
As we try piece together the social and political fabric of the region, it is not very difficult to see in which direction the change is taking. One can speculate and argue where the real energy for change is coming from, but one thing is clear, people become restless under confinement, when a critical mass is reached, things are bound to tip over. The confinement can be physical, or mental. As long we ignore where these confines are and the issues that trigger the change, we will never be able to anticipate where the next uprising will manifest itself and how it will. Social change is immeasurable. It is only after the event that we get clues on what actually transpired.
At the moment, we are in the middle of a process change, unfortunately, the end is far and out. When the Tunisia uprising started, even the most well placed analysts never saw it coming. When the flue spread to Egypt and then sweeping to Libya, the process became of international concern. We are yet to agree on what drove the change in Tunisia, but it is clearly not from the direct investment by the external agents, but rather a popular movement that was rooted on a peoples desire to see change. We are however confounded with a bigger challenge; What is the preparedness of the "newly liberated" to take charge of their lives and the new opportunities coming with the new freedom?
The involvement of the international community (NATO)in the Libya conflict brings into limelight the scale of this question of "the after liberation effect". While NATO has been questioned about its ability "finish" off a process, the behind the scenes negotiations paint a wholesome picture of the real-economics of oil in war as this Guardian article points out.
As the argument goes, the new transition authority in Libya needs money to fund the Governments operations. Libya has the money, the money will come from the oil underground. Lest we forget, before that oil is recovered, infrastructure needs to be put back online. It is not a hidden secret that most of the big companies from the west (NATO leadership)are lining up for the lucrative reconstruction efforts in Libya, specifically in the oil industry. They have the stomach to carry these calculated risks, a burden easily transferred to the sponsoring state. How will the Western companies (seen by most as part of the larger geo -political problem) morph into this new political landscape without creating an environment for a protracted conflict in the zone? This question might have to wait longer while the process of change moves into its next phase.
The international society has been left mining for data in a bid to understand and figure out how the situation unfolded and where it is headed. Some group of scientist now claim to have developed a computer model that can predict future of the revolutions. By using key words, they claim to have mapped "chatter" in the cyberspace which shows a link to the social change and deductively, the route to a revolution. According to Silke Trommer, a political economist at the University of Helsinki, the assertion that it is possible to use technology for predicting human action disputes the possibility of human freedom. According to algorithms one type of human action leads to another, which necessarily leads to specific social outcomes, can all this be traced by some machine? Whatever we find in the chatter,it will be a past event and not replicable, as it were history never repeats itself lest it devours its own existence.
Silke also suggests we explore the Arab spring and seek to discover if there are differences on the outcomes of the uprisings between countries where there was external interference and countries where there was none. She doubts that the situation in any of the countries in Northern Africa or the Middle East is really comparable in any direct manner, or "at least it would be very challenging to make meaningful comparisons because so many social, political, economic and other parameters vary. It also would be difficult to determine at this point that there was certainly no external interference in any other country but Libya". The footprint of the Arab spring will be totally different to the post European Dawn and quite the opposite to what we anticipate by "looking at tea leaves" about the future of Africa.
Back to the UN meeting, the Palestinians are undeterred in their quest for nationhood, despite Hamas claiming that Ghaza is not part of the deal. The issue of two states is not in doubt, all parties to the negotiations are in agreement that this is the future of the region. Palestine will table the motion at the UN (Which they see as friendly at the moment), a move opposed by Israel who are adamant on a negotiated process. The process is supported by some EU members, but unfortunately, at the moment it is on ice and will not deliver the urgent solution needed going by the look of things.
Despite the declaration at the UN being non-binding, it will still have implications when (if) the US vetoes it (which they have promised), and especially if it takes a protracted and polarized route. It remains to be seen how will it impact on the already fragile relationship between Israel, Egypt, Turkey, Iran etc.
Another point to ponder is the "possible collapse" of Syria under the wave of change within the same time period. Is a broken Syria of consequence to the stability of the region? It seems that the international community is ambivalent on the plight of Syrians, there must be a reason, is there something we don't know? The only answer to this would be the lack of uncertainty over the possible successor "government in waiting". The consequences of a political vacuum in Syria are grave and the world does not have the political stomach for this.
If there is any lesson learned from the global wars, the uncertainty over the "after battle stability" is a far greater risk to peace than the actual war. Succession politics of countries that have fallen aside in recent history does not paint a compelling picture of success, the quick victories in Iraq and Afghanistan remain all but an illusion.
Pointing to the hand of the pro-democracy West, some political pundits have already been stating and speculating where next the wind of change will blow, Syria, Iran? The issue of Syria is an international diplomatic headache, many are worried.
A Piece of rant: It has been speculated that Iran is the ultimate target and objective of the NATO exercise in Libya. If so be the case, the "non-capability" to finish off the exercise and tactical glaring weaknesses point to a haunting picture from this part of the world. We do not yet have the full picture, we are just starting to put pieces of the puzzle together, gazing into the future. There are many "ifs" linked to the Arab spring than meets the eye, in the midst of all these many "what ifs".
A new freedom is about to be unleashed in the Middle East. For what it is worth, following the forthcoming UN General Assembly meeting scheduled for Sept. 23 might give a clue on how the future of the Middle East is shaping up. The Palestinian leaders will plead their case for Nationhood and UN recognition, the Turkey PM has called this an Obligation and not an Option. Those who monitor the situation in the Middle East will also not have failed to grasp the heavily coded message from the King of Jordan, a close ally to Israel, who in his opinion, the time for Palestine is now. In his words, he put it candidly, "the uprising taking place in the Middle East, has increasingly put Israel in a very difficult position" ". In this, there is an implicit message on the future of the two states.
The US must know this, but despite this realisation and the possibility of fueling anti-US backlash from the region, the USA has stated their readiness to veto a Palestinian-state resolution at the Security Council. At the same time, they have been busy working on a modality that would avoid the vote at the UN. What impact will the veto have? Will this have an impact on the Arab spring? The issue is fueling divided opinion, with Moscow ready to back the Palestinian bid to secure statehood, a position Russia has supported since 1988. While according to the EU foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, the EU is divided and lacks a common stand on the Palestine move.
The three possible outcomes from the meeting are; Palestine is given an observer status, a full recognition or a complete snub. The outcome of a complete snub has many observers and analyst suggesting that the leader of the PLA should resign and pass the keys to the PLA either to the White House or the Israeli Authority. This in itself will push a different momentum in the stalled negotiations with a deeper responsibility shifted to Israel or White House to govern a leaderless Palestinians.
Never have the portraits of leadership changed so rapidly in the history of the Arab world. This has shattered the traditional pillars of regional peace, leadership and power broking. With the spring fever spreading, it is worth noting that while engaging with the UN process, our focus should not be removed from the new and emerging political landscape, power dynamics and implications to the future of the Arab-Middle East. New cross boundary relationships are being established notably between Israel and her neighbours. The power of control and political might is slipping away from the traditional players. There is a weakening of the strong bonds that existed in the past between allies.
The Arab world has rediscovered a new kind of nationalism which is creating a momentum for change. After the liberation, the people have realised that change of political leadership does not necessarily deliver instant change and gratification. Through this huge appetite and hunger for change, the people are finding a different meaning to political engagement between themselves and the rest of the world. The national discourses are merging with the regional and international politics. While the regional political change has become a central quest, at the international level, diplomacy seems to have been relegated to the periphery. International diplomacy has its own tweaks, in that case, if the path of diplomacy is to be trodden and restored, it should not be seen to be un- representative and promoting a biased agenda. In the case of diplomacy being interpreted as biased, the Arab spring might just find new wind to quench its thirst with an issue that unites them above clans and tribes.
Turkey has taken the issue of international diplomacy (by flexing its muscle and showing her strategic value) to another level, and there is a political mileage to be gained from this. The PM Erdogan has stated that, the recognition of Palestine is an obligation and not an option. While Turkey has its own problems with the Kurds, by deflecting its attention and escalating the political spat with Israel, Turkey wants to stamp its authority as true broker of the Muslim world politics, and the anchor between Europe, the Arab World and the rest of the world. This gives Turkey a bigger political clout, better than joining the European Union and especially at a time when the Euro zone is facing a financial crisis (Italy goes to China for bond rescue).
As this writer puts it Turkey is situated in a highly sensitive geopolitical location, particularly where Europe's security is concerned. The eastern Mediterranean, the Aegean, the western Balkans, the Caspian region and the southern Caucasus, Central Asia, and the Middle East are all areas where the west will achieve nothing or very little without Turkey's support.
As we try piece together the social and political fabric of the region, it is not very difficult to see in which direction the change is taking. One can speculate and argue where the real energy for change is coming from, but one thing is clear, people become restless under confinement, when a critical mass is reached, things are bound to tip over. The confinement can be physical, or mental. As long we ignore where these confines are and the issues that trigger the change, we will never be able to anticipate where the next uprising will manifest itself and how it will. Social change is immeasurable. It is only after the event that we get clues on what actually transpired.
At the moment, we are in the middle of a process change, unfortunately, the end is far and out. When the Tunisia uprising started, even the most well placed analysts never saw it coming. When the flue spread to Egypt and then sweeping to Libya, the process became of international concern. We are yet to agree on what drove the change in Tunisia, but it is clearly not from the direct investment by the external agents, but rather a popular movement that was rooted on a peoples desire to see change. We are however confounded with a bigger challenge; What is the preparedness of the "newly liberated" to take charge of their lives and the new opportunities coming with the new freedom?
The involvement of the international community (NATO)in the Libya conflict brings into limelight the scale of this question of "the after liberation effect". While NATO has been questioned about its ability "finish" off a process, the behind the scenes negotiations paint a wholesome picture of the real-economics of oil in war as this Guardian article points out.
As the argument goes, the new transition authority in Libya needs money to fund the Governments operations. Libya has the money, the money will come from the oil underground. Lest we forget, before that oil is recovered, infrastructure needs to be put back online. It is not a hidden secret that most of the big companies from the west (NATO leadership)are lining up for the lucrative reconstruction efforts in Libya, specifically in the oil industry. They have the stomach to carry these calculated risks, a burden easily transferred to the sponsoring state. How will the Western companies (seen by most as part of the larger geo -political problem) morph into this new political landscape without creating an environment for a protracted conflict in the zone? This question might have to wait longer while the process of change moves into its next phase.
The international society has been left mining for data in a bid to understand and figure out how the situation unfolded and where it is headed. Some group of scientist now claim to have developed a computer model that can predict future of the revolutions. By using key words, they claim to have mapped "chatter" in the cyberspace which shows a link to the social change and deductively, the route to a revolution. According to Silke Trommer, a political economist at the University of Helsinki, the assertion that it is possible to use technology for predicting human action disputes the possibility of human freedom. According to algorithms one type of human action leads to another, which necessarily leads to specific social outcomes, can all this be traced by some machine? Whatever we find in the chatter,it will be a past event and not replicable, as it were history never repeats itself lest it devours its own existence.
Silke also suggests we explore the Arab spring and seek to discover if there are differences on the outcomes of the uprisings between countries where there was external interference and countries where there was none. She doubts that the situation in any of the countries in Northern Africa or the Middle East is really comparable in any direct manner, or "at least it would be very challenging to make meaningful comparisons because so many social, political, economic and other parameters vary. It also would be difficult to determine at this point that there was certainly no external interference in any other country but Libya". The footprint of the Arab spring will be totally different to the post European Dawn and quite the opposite to what we anticipate by "looking at tea leaves" about the future of Africa.
Back to the UN meeting, the Palestinians are undeterred in their quest for nationhood, despite Hamas claiming that Ghaza is not part of the deal. The issue of two states is not in doubt, all parties to the negotiations are in agreement that this is the future of the region. Palestine will table the motion at the UN (Which they see as friendly at the moment), a move opposed by Israel who are adamant on a negotiated process. The process is supported by some EU members, but unfortunately, at the moment it is on ice and will not deliver the urgent solution needed going by the look of things.
Despite the declaration at the UN being non-binding, it will still have implications when (if) the US vetoes it (which they have promised), and especially if it takes a protracted and polarized route. It remains to be seen how will it impact on the already fragile relationship between Israel, Egypt, Turkey, Iran etc.
Another point to ponder is the "possible collapse" of Syria under the wave of change within the same time period. Is a broken Syria of consequence to the stability of the region? It seems that the international community is ambivalent on the plight of Syrians, there must be a reason, is there something we don't know? The only answer to this would be the lack of uncertainty over the possible successor "government in waiting". The consequences of a political vacuum in Syria are grave and the world does not have the political stomach for this.
If there is any lesson learned from the global wars, the uncertainty over the "after battle stability" is a far greater risk to peace than the actual war. Succession politics of countries that have fallen aside in recent history does not paint a compelling picture of success, the quick victories in Iraq and Afghanistan remain all but an illusion.
Pointing to the hand of the pro-democracy West, some political pundits have already been stating and speculating where next the wind of change will blow, Syria, Iran? The issue of Syria is an international diplomatic headache, many are worried.
A Piece of rant: It has been speculated that Iran is the ultimate target and objective of the NATO exercise in Libya. If so be the case, the "non-capability" to finish off the exercise and tactical glaring weaknesses point to a haunting picture from this part of the world. We do not yet have the full picture, we are just starting to put pieces of the puzzle together, gazing into the future. There are many "ifs" linked to the Arab spring than meets the eye, in the midst of all these many "what ifs".
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