Your War Is Your Sickness, And So It's Our Disease

As the major human rights, political, and economic issues in African come more and more to the forefront of international news, the amount of aid going out to these situations is ever increasing. While the sentiment and good will is there, sometimes patching a hole with money merely facilitates a vicious cycle of corruption, violence, and poverty.

Human nature is fueled by incentives and motivations. If organizations keep giving these troubled areas money and other temporary aid, it will merely gloss over a bigger issue and enable things to keep moving as they were before, perpetuating the system that clearly doesn't work. 

That being said, the Red Cross is launching a campaign for a better world, in which everyone can make a contribution towards alleviating another's suffering. The campaign, entitled "Our World, Your Move," operates on the idea that every simple action can make a difference. Although the concept of foreign aid is a tricky one, the idea of a global movement towards peace and harmony is refreshing and hopeful. Help comes in many ways, and the first step towards reducing and eliminating the suffering in the world from whatever cause is one person's working against one small bit of pain, suffering, or cruelty.

http://www.voanews.com/english/2009-05-08-voa6.cfm

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123758895999200083.html

What's Another War, When It's Not Your Children?

Violence and human rights violations run rampant throughout our modern world, exerted upon such unassuming people as the innocent children of Uganda, Sudan, and other hotspots countries. These children are being hurt, tortured, abducted, raped, forced to fight, and killed. For example,

"More cases of child trafficking and abuse are being reported in the northern Ugandan districts of Gulu, Kitgum and Pader, according to officials. The region is mainly inhabited by an internally displaced population recovering from over a decade of war."

In some cases of child theft or abduction, at the hand of witch doctors, circumcision and earring adornment are undesirable characteristics that parents instill in their children in an effort of protection. The fear of death and torture and the danger of that happening are real, everyday experiences for these poor impoverished people who have  no line of defense. They are weak in resources, weak in body, and becoming weaker in spirit.

We cannot sit idly by and let these atrocities pass, but we can not do all the rescuing either. These places of turmoil need to get up and stand on their feet, but we can help them get there. Especially in situations such as these children and their helplessness to the violent attacks places so wrongly on their innocent lives. 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sean-carasso/dare-to-dream---rally-to_b_190883.html

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=84143

Iranian for a weekend.

The Model UN simulation was a very interesting experience. Its not very often that you get to step into the shoes of a rash, religiously motivated nation and make decisions regarding nuclear weapons and assassination plots. 

What I found to be most enjoyable from this experience was the intricate action orders that we were able to come up with as a group. From references to esoteric Turkish terrorist groups to random celebrations of Iranian culture, we were anything but ordinary in our creative ploys. It was really fun to use all of our combined knowledge on Iran to create ridiculous yet plausible circumstances.

Looking back at the experience, although I felt thoroughly prepared within my own topic and reasonably informed on the other ministries, I wish that I had prepared better with general knowledge on the Middle East and the other countries present in the simulation. I had enough knowledge to get by, but more would have allowed me to be more well-versed in the sorts of relations we should work towards, etc.

The action that I was most proud of that my group organized was our last action order of the simulation, which was our attack on the US. It was so precisely planned out, we figured it out to a T. I feel like this action demonstrated a high level of team work as we brought together aspects of all of our ministries and expertise, applied it to the situation, and created a unique but plausible action.

One thing that I wish that we as Iran could have done is make more peace with other nations. I understand that we had to act as our country truly would, and Iran is not all that peaceful right now, but I think pacifism would have been an interesting take on a simulation like this.

You Don't Know The Cost We're Paying

Poverty is not the kind of problem that can be solved by just throwing money at it. So many people try to do that, and it seems like it would make sense. People don't have money, so you give it to them, and problem solved! This is not the case. Sustainability is the key. No, not in terms of "going green," but simply in terms of the people having the capacity to sustain their monetary increase. The solution to poverty is not simple, but it can be achieved. 

"Many remote areas in South Africa are still waiting to see experience the social development that has taken place in most cities since apartheid ended 15 years ago," reads this article about the poverty issue. Economic lacking takes its toll on other aspects of the nation, as is to be expected, in countries like South Africa.  This becomes a human rights atrocity, as people suffer left and right at the hand of poverty. No money can mean no food, clothing, shelter, these basic human needs simply not being met. 

Poverty needs to be ousted. Jobs need creating, money needs earning, and people's livelihoods need sustaining. Although "It’s looking harder for South Africa to cut the jobless rate to 14 percent by 2014 from 21.9 percent in the fourth quarter after the economy contracted in the last three months of 2008 for the first time in a decade, " the South African government has decided to maintain their goals for the reduction of unemployment. Economic stability is the backbone of stability of nation, rights, and simply people.

http://www.asiaone.com/News/AsiaOne%2BNews/World/Story/A1Story20090417-135799.html

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601116&sid=abSVw9ma02as

Hold Me Now It's The Evil Liberator

"Zimbabwe has been a hotspot of political turmoil, what with the struggle over corruption in the government and the dire and terrible inflation that plagues the citizens of this southern African nation. This situation has been worsening over the course of the past decades, and it is time that steps be taken to remedy it.

Due to the oppression exerted on the Zimbabwean people by their corrupt "democracy," some have compared their situation with former president Robert Mugabe to that of the late Iraqi ruler Saddam Hussein. Westerners are claiming that, like with Iraq and Hussein, "the removal of one man from political office is going to create a super democracy that would make Zimbabwean poverty history." The government of Zimbabwe is embarking on a journey to revive the nation's economy, the international community must refrain from interfering in the political set-up of the country. As this article from a Zimbabwean paper says in its headline, "We're Our Own Liberators". 

"Now Zimbabweans are being helped by fellow Africans in liberating themselves from the chains of impoverishment by way of constructive solutions to their problems."

Zimbabwe needs to take steps on its own to fortify its political and economic structure in order to maintain any sort of recovery, but other nations are lending a hand in helping them out of their current deep hole.

In light of this poverty-stricken state, Zimbabwean journalist Sifelani Tsiko brings about the question "Is there a direct link between 'behavioural and cultural poverty', on the one hand, and economic poverty, on the other?"

Anthropologists and sociologists have grappled with this question for some time, but what it comes down to is the capacity and motivation for cultural development in a people and whether it is allowed to develop, which in the case of extreme poverty, it is often not. The Zimbabwean people have a lot on their plate, economically and culturally. Their rich culture risks withering away if the subsistence of the people is something that remains uncertain and precarious.

 

http://allafrica.com/stories/200904090093.html

http://allafrica.com/stories/200904141021.html

With all the food on this world there still be famine in this here nation

In the face of this worldwide economic downturn, there is one industry that is prospering rather than downsizing. Unfortunately, that industry is organized crime. The serious recession that is being felt within US borders is taking effect across the world, up to 50 million people potentially losing their jobs by the end of this year. As Michael Klare points out, 

"From Mexico to Africa, Russia to China, the pool of the desperate and the bribable is expanding exponentially, pointing to a sharp upturn in global crime. As illicit profits rise, so will violence in the turf wars among competing crime syndicates and in the desperate efforts by panicked governments to put a clamp on criminal activity." http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2009/04/07/crime_wave/print.html

Unfortunately, and ironically, as global trading and other aspects of economic globalization are breaking down, crime may be globalizing. From the increased criminal in Mexican drug cartels to piracy, the economic downturn is throwing everyone into a panic and causing people to have to resort to all kinds of methods to make, or at least come up with, money. Piracy in particular has been an issue, what with the Somalian pirates invading American ships.  While all that we see is the piracy and its effect on "us, what we don't realize is the motivation behind these crimes. This is not to say that we should justify piracy, but this, too, is a result of the global economy crash. Current daily life in Somalia is rife with "Warlords and militias terrorizing villages. No functioning government, courts or police. Drought and hunger afflicting half the country." 

The spike in piracy incidents recently is rooted in poverty and desperation. They must be stopped and the criminals prosecuted, but we also must take steps to eliminate the need for such actions. According to Dawn Elizabeth Blalock, a U.N. spokeswoman, attempts to alleviate poverty, which could reduce the need for Somalis to turn to crime, have fallen short. The U.N. World Food Program put out a $900 million appeal for aid to Somalia this year. http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2009-04-08-pirateinside_N.htm

http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2009/04/07/crime_wave/print.html

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2009-04-08-pirateinside_N.htm

We've got bombs, they've got barrels of gasoline..

Energy in Iran is a very powerful issue, largely because of the oil and natural gas reserves located in country. A member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), and among the world’s top three holders of these reserves, Iran is OPEC’s second-largest producer and exporter after Saudi Arabia, and is the fourth-largest exporter of crude oil globally after Saudi Arabia, Russia, and Norway (http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cabs/Iran/Full.html.)

The domestic energy consumption in Iran is supplied halfway by natural gas power, the rest of their power coming primarily from oil. There are areas in Iran that continue to be explored for their potential natural fuel reserves. The second-largest producer for oil and fourth-largest for crude oil, Iran is a world leader in fossil fuels, these industries carrying Iran's economy.

The high level of production for these fuels within Iran not only means that the economy is extremely dependent and almost based on it, but also this is how Iran fuels the majority of their own energy needs as well. In terms of electricity, Iran is working with hydroelectricity technology as people begin to question Iran's ability to fill its own domestic energy needs.

US sanctions during the past two decades have led to the suffering of Iran's oil and gas sector suffers from under-investment.

Not only do these sanctions keep UA business from Iran, but it also scares some other nations away for fear of sanctions fron the US tat might harm them and their needs.

In Iran, petrol is heavily subsidized, consequently raising consumption levels and increasing the smuggling that goes on. Wasteful consumption in conjunction with refinery shortage has led to the import of petrol despite their production of the fuel. 

Iran holds a spot as a major contender for pipeline projects, has plans for the exploitation of Caspian Sea oil, is working on nuclear energy technology, and, according to the director of Iran's New Energies Organization, 0.2% of Iran's oil revenues - amounting to millions of dollars - is to be used to develop new energy sources.(http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4688984.stm)

(http://www.eia.doe.gov/cabs/Iran/Background.html)

(http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4688984.stm) 

(http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/country/country_energy_data.cfm?fips=IR)