Hey all!
We hope you had a wonderful time this holiday season and we wish you a peaceful new year!
In the last newsletter of 2022, we look to the future, familiarizing ourselves with the global affairs landscape ahead. This roundup focuses on year-end happenings we think the global community will be discussed well into 2023. The first event is America’s newfound interest in a relationship with the African continent. Prior to the invasion of Ukraine, the U.S. had the continent on the back burner. Now, they’re appealing to African leaders they’ve largely neglected for years. The U.S. still views the continent through a Cold War framework which has resulted in a trust deficit among African leadership. Their framework views the continent as a battleground for ideological hegemony — and despite the messaging U.S. representatives touted at the U.S. - Africa Summit, this doesn’t seem to have changed much. As Africa gains more global influence and becomes an important partner in the global affairs realm, the U.S. must quickly find favor on the continent.
Protests in China against the government’s zero-COVID policy, have been going on for some time now, but they’ve suddenly become even more dangerous to the cultural hegemony after a fire took the lives of at least ten Uyghur citizens in the city of Xinjiang this month. In a communist country like China, where collectivism is a building block of the social structure, citizens are willing to deal with inconvenience for the good of the collective. This may be why it took three years for Chinese people to finally get fed up with the heavy quarantine and travel restrictions mandated in the zero-COVID policy. Now, the state faces a new challenge wherein its legitimacy is in question. Perhaps these protests have caused a splinter in the otherwise well-sanded relationship between the CCP and Chinese citizens.
In observance of the lazy week before the new year, we’ve kept the roundup light — enjoy!
» Africa Is The Future
“The U.S. doesnt have permanent partners in Africa, and this is a reflection of the type of engagement that the U.S. has been doing in Africa. The reason we dont have, is because we’ve not invested to the level where people come to see us [the US] as reliable.”
Mvemba Dizolele discusses how countries like China, Turkiye, and Russia have had long standing relationships with African countries and how the U.S.’s nearly non-existent presence in Africa, except for in a humanitarian capacity puts them at a disadvantage. This geopolitical relationship is one to watch as the U.S. carries out a late-stage attempt to out-influence China on the continent. The African continent is the continent of the future – it’s rich in resources, and most importantly it’s the youngest continent, with the median age being 19 years old: “For all the contingencies were talking about, moving forward as a world, we cannot solve those problems without the imput of African youth.” — Alexis
Samar Al-Bulushi (political anthropologist) and Lina Benabdallah (author of “Shaping the Future”) describe the political theater that took place at the U.S.- Africa Summit earlier this month. Im sure the Countering Malign Russian Activities in Africa Act played into how U.S. representatives approached the Summit. The bill passed in the House earlier this year and its objective is to police Africa in its relationship with Russia. This doesn’t seem like a good start to a good-faith relationship, but we’re waiting to see what will happen here. — Alexis
Morocco Makes History as First African Country to Reach World Cup Semifinals
In the 1930s, when the French soccer team first traveled to Morocco for a match, French media claimed that their skills and teamwork were superior to the “submissive” Moroccans. When Morocco came out victorious and beat France 4-2 in an embarrassing defeat, French General Charles Nogues passed a law requiring all Muslim teams to have at least three French citizen players so that future European teams would not be beaten by their country’s colonial subjects. The anti-Arab racism and Islamophobia that was prevalent in every aspect of Moroccans’ lives, meant that even a sport - a form of entertainment and fun - was a form of resistance. Soccer has since been a symbol of freedom in Morocco. National clubs, founded by Moroccans, were a tool in the struggle for independence as they challenged the clubs founded by the French. A win on the soccer field gave hope that they could win over their colonizer. That same sentiment of soccer being a symbol of freedom rings true today. North Africans and Arabs face discrimination all over Europe, and yet on the soccer field, they still have a chance to beat those European countries and come out on top. That is why when Morocco made it to the Semifinals of the World Cup, Africans, Amazigh (indigenous Moroccans) people, Muslims, and Arabs all over the world felt symbolically victorious over their colonizers. — Sarah
Many criticized the Moroccan team for their selective activism – raising the Palestinian flag while their country currently occupies Western Sahara. The guests in this episode argue that this critique of their activism doesnt take into account important context: 1) the Moroccan government has normalized its relations with Israel, so their protest is a pushback on their own government as well, and 2) right now, Morocco is being pressured by the West to build energy farms across Western Sahara in an attempt to satiate European energy needs. Which is, ironically, a repurcussion of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in an attempt to take back land they claim is rightfully theirs. If you hadn’t put the pieces together before, you’re wlecome! This is the disastrous domino effect of neo-colonialism. And, in classic greenwashing fashion, the Just Energy Transition is Morocco’s valiant attempt at produce clean energy to support itself and its European partners, but it’s happening at the expense of Sahrawi sovereignty. — Alexis
Randa Hamid of Sudanese fashion zine, REVout, talks about the inspiration and hope she has for the zine, which is the biggest fashion project in the country and is being funded by the EU. While listening to this episode, it struck me how little we see foreign investment of cultural projects like this on the African continent. Humanitarian aid projects, yes. Infrastructure projects, also yes. But, it was nice to hear that necessary cultural industries are being taken seriously too. — Alexis
» Let Us Not Forget Haiti
Gangs have taken control of large swaths of Haiti and have blocked access to the islands main fuel port. This move has devastated Haitians’ ability to leave the island and hospitals’ ability to address the cholera outbreak. There is no funcional electrical power grid on the island, so everything is running on diesel generators. In this episode, were given a clearer picture of what Haitians are facing. — Alexis
Earlier this month, Haiti’s Prime Minister, Ariel Henry, requested the immediate deployment of foreign troops in response to the violence and turmoil in Haiti. This request has triggered memories of a violent history of U.S. intervention in the country. In this episode New York Times colomnists Lydia Polgreen and Nick Kristof debate wether the U.S. should intervene in Haiti. — Alexis
» A Look at Asia
For the First Time, Chinese Protestors are Standing With Uyghurs. Will it Last?
I often wondered why there haven’t been protesters in the streets of China drawing attention to the ethnic cleansing of the Uyghur people. China is a collectivist society so they try hard to move as one unit, made up of many people, which shapes aspects of their way of life. What suddenly drew other Chinese ethnic groups to the Uyghur cause, was a deadly fire in the capital of Xinjiang, where Uyghurs have been persecuted for years. Everyone who died in this horrific fire was Uyghur. These deaths were due to the harsh restrictions of China’s vastly opposed zero-COVID policy which put strict guidelines on how emergency responders were able to operate. The zero-COVID policy affects all Chinese people, but this incident has shone a spotlight on the unjust treatment of the Uyghur population. Because China is a communist country, the government controls the media outlets, so this was the first time Chinese citizens were able to see the unequal treatment of Uyghurs for themselves. Many Uyghurs were filled with hope watching the Chinese protesters stand alongside them. The Chinese government has been pushing the narrative that Uyghurs are being sent to reeducation camps to help them assimilate into mainstream Haan Chinese culture — a unified cultural identity is important to upholding tenets of Communism. But the Uyghur diaspora, who have been able to speak to Western media outlets hope they are cutting through the government-backed talking points and reaching other Chinese people. The population should be suspicious of a camp that’s set up to reeducate one ethnic minority, especially when China is a country with over 56 ethnic groups. It’s also possible that if protestors’ civil efforts are effective, the Chinese government might push their reeducation camp agenda using a new angle. The Uyghur community is fearful the current protests will not last. Perhaps the Chinese government will push its reeducation camp agenda using a new angle, in which case organizers will have to find ways to stay agile in this fight. — Sarah
Sex Outside Marriage to Be Banned in Indonesia
Indonesia has made abortion (except for rape victims), sex outside of marriage, and practicing black magic illegal for both its citizens and foreigners. Contrary to popular belief, the country with the largest Muslim population isn’t a Middle Eastern country, it’s Indonesia. The Indonesian government is now using religion as a way to control. This news comes at a particularly damaging time for Muslims, as the international world watches countries like Saudi Arabia and Iran use Islam to violently monitor and police certain groups of people (this is called a Theocracy). How will the government know if someone is having sex outside of marriage? A family member or relative must report it, which means that relatives will now have additional means of controlling the women in their family. Like many oppressive laws, this will disproportionately affect women, minoritized religious communities, and the LGBTQIA+ community. Because these populations have less social, economic, and political power, men can use this law to abuse or control them. Indonesia relies pretty heavily on tourism so it'll be interesting to see how this law affects that industry. Although the law states that foreigners can be jailed for having sex outside of marriage, we will not know the details for another three years when the legislative changes are officially made. Couples may have to bring marriage certificates in order to purchase a shared room at hotels, as was the case in some Muslim countries like Egypt in the early 90s. I don’t think Indonesians will accept this law without some form of protest — the Indonesian government attempted to pass this law a couple of years ago and protestors shut it down. But, the new law also limits the right to protest and participate in the public sphere so retaliation by the government should be expected. — Sarah
» Updates
Host Ahmad Ali Akbar has had his name mispronounced his entire life and in this episode he explores the linguistics behind name pronunciation. If you are someone who has felt the anguish of correcting any mispronunciations or found yourself anglicizing your beautiful name, then this episode will be a tear jerker. — Sarah
The Morality Police and Me
“...the revolutionaries do not want to be freed by the United States. They’re fighting to free themselves.”
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In Solidarity,
The 823 Team