.: The Red Brick – Dubai College's Student Newspaper :.

            Amidst the chaos of tumbling dictatorships across the world, Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe quietly announces that he will be running for the presidency in 2012, hoping to win elections for the 8th consecutive time in 31 years.

            It costs 10 million Zimbabwe dollars to buy a loaf of bread. Unemployment in the country is at 95% (CIA World Factbook). Yet, 87 year old Robert Mugabe clings to power like a leech, as has done for the past 31 years. Incredibly, Mugabe did not inherit Zimbabwe’s problems. But by pillaging his people and stupid decisions, he single handedly managed to destroy an economy that was once the ‘breadbasket of Africa’. In a world where our dictators are becoming an endangered species, we reflect on the life of one of the remaining few – and how a man is still empowered to swap Zimbabwe’s health care policy for a house in Hong Kong.

            Mugabe first came into power in 1979, a revolutionary hero who toppled the white minority government. An academic with 7 university degrees, he was hailed by the University of Edinburgh as ‘one of the great figures of modern Africa’ and an individual of ‘extraordinary intellectual discipline and energy’. This was undoubtedly reflected in the methodically brutal way Mugabe dispatched political rivals, ordering the murder of an opponent’s wife by burning her alive with gasoline after severing her hands and feet. Mugabe himself was certainly proud of his academic career, claiming that he even had a ‘degree in violence’.

            Needless to say, Mugabe’s revolutionary ideals died. They were replaced by a vicious opposition to homosexuality and white dominance, for which thousands were tortured and killed. In brilliant economic maneuver Mugabe wrote the ‘redistribution act’, where he was able to take land from whites and give it to coloured people. Those that were given farms were not trained farmers and Zimbabwe’s food output fell by 45% as crops died.

            Then came the Matabeleland genocide. In the 1980’s government troops killed thousands of civilians to quell civil unrest in the Matabeleland province of Zimbabwe. That was the official word. In truth, ethnic Shona soldiers systemically slaughtered the Ndebele population of the area. Mugabe never stood trial.

            Unlike other political criminals, Mugabe’s actions are not solely condemned to history. In 2008, the dictator launched a bloody campaign of violence after losing elections. The Zimbabwe Association of Doctors for Human Rights ‘recorded 85 deaths in political violence’ after voting. It turns out that the election committee had the figures wrong, and elections went to a run-off. Mugabe’s ZANU-PF party spectacularly came from behind to seal a power sharing deal with the MDC. How much power sharing the deal involved, was explicitly obvious.

            And so Robert Mugabe prepares to run for the presidency once more. In the run up to this years elections Zimbabwe charged 46 with treason for watching videos of the protests in Egypt and Tunisia. With Mr. Mugabe’s prodigious skill in corruption, brutality and intimidation, there seems to be no doubt who will be Zimbabwe’s president this year. 
 

“Good evening, and welcome! To a night at the Opera.” I declared, scrunching up my face in concentration. Veronika, sitting in front of me outside the canteen at lunchtime, watched me dispassionately. “Or should I put the emphasis on the Night? Good evening, and welcome to a NIGHT at the opera!” She spooned some pasta in her mouth, which for some strange unknown reason she was apparently finding more interesting than my conversation. I took a deep breath and shut my eyes. “Good evening, and welcome to a night.” I opened my eyes dramatically, the effect of which was lost because Veronika wasn’t looking. “At the Operaaaaaaa!” I flung my arms out and knocked half of her pasta off the table. Further talk of a night at the opera or wishing anyone a good evening was a strictly taboo topic for the rest of lunchtime.

The oratory rehearsals were intended for playing a host in, as you may have cleverly surmised, A Night at the Opera. It was to be held in the Music Centre, featuring the finest of Dubai College vocal as well as instrumental talent, meticulously prepared by Mr Zambonini, Mr Crawford and the teachers of the music department. The stage was set, the scene was an elegant flurry of bow tie suits and pretty evening dresses, and parents waited with baited breath and anxious video cameras for their sons and daughters to captivate and enchant in the language of romance, betrayal and passion: opera.

Backstage, it was an altogether different scenario. Violins, trumpets, trombones and cellos all tuning up to different notes at the same time yield nothing but a load of frustrated musicians telling their fellow purveyors of melodic excellence to shut it so they can hear themselves. Throw in some nervous singers all belting out Doh-Mi-Soh-Doh-Soh-Mi-Doh on varying syllables and varying keys to warm up and you’ve got yourself something worthy of Cacofonix the bard (as in Asterix? No? OK). No amount of panic backstage, or anything even life threatening for that matter, however, would deter a dedicated Dubai College musician to deliver less than an outstanding performance, which is what the Chamber Orchestra did in their wonderfully slick Suite, from Carmen by Bizet. Ryan Evans captured hearts with a sweet, pure voice and Sophia Cafoor-Camps, Florence Prosser and Sophie Middleton, accompanied by Mr Hardman, each served up stunning solos that soared effortlessly and lingered glittering in the listeners’ minds long after their last notes.

In stark contrast to the sometimes austere refinement of the older performers, Ethan Ebdon and Isabel Snaas had every member of the audience overcome by a strong urge to sigh “Awww”. Their portrayal of tired, hungry and utterly adorable Hansel and Gretel was a clear success as the singers curled up to sleep after their Evening Prayer, prompting a mass reaching for the tissues on the other side of the stage. Meanwhile, Abby, Prianka and Niamh’s O Mio Baabino Caro, from Gianni Schicchi by Puccini, held everyone spellbound as they conjured up images of a young girl pleading with her father to let her marry the man she loves. Violinist Charles Barsaga and the orchestra quickly followed with the haunting Meditation from Massenet’s Thais, a controversial opera with themes of religion, lust and denial that have ensured its lasting popularity.

The virtuosic streak was maintained as a rousing rendition of Triumphal Chorus from Aida by Verdi was superbly executed by a new ensemble at the school, the Chamber Choir, with solos by Dorottya Nagy (trumpet) and Kinara Rodrigues (flute). After two hours of being treated to some of the most beautiful compositions ever written, the concert was brought to a spectacular end with Sophie and Rory Blincow leading the Senior Choir in Verdi’s effervescent, glorious Brindisi.

As we returned home that night, having had rather more of the excellent complementary canapés and éclairs than necessary, the splendid performances of the young musicians were no doubt ringing in the ears of every listener, each better than the last, but we knew what took the cake. That night, music and the timeless magic of opera was the winner.

The human race is on the verge of complete and utter destruction. We are on the edge of a precipice and at the entrance to a black hole that we cannot escape from. If the euro collapses, it will lead to the collapse of the global financial system and the world economy as we know it. Money markets will dry up and there will be chaos as civil wars grip the nations of the world, which in turn might threaten the supply of oil, leading to rocketing oil prices. People might not afford to heat up their homes or fuel up their cars. There will be permanent blackouts in most parts of the world. Humans will lose their sense of morality as their basic survival instincts take over. As they scramble for food and other basic necessities, the world might plunge into WWIII…..

Indeed, the world stands at such a juncture. This period in history can be summed up by my favourite poem- ‘The Second Coming’ by Yeats:
Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.
(And it ends so beautifully ominous)
What rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?

How can we pull ourselves back from the brink of apocalypse? By listening to me!

Aman’s Four Point Plan
1.) STIMULUS-The word is scorned upon by right-wing politicians and economists. With debt spirals plaguing most of Europe, ‘stimulus’ is a word that you simply do not utter. However, the Americans need another round of stimulus. The government needs to keep up spending in the short-term with an emphasis on infrastructure investment and extending the payroll tax cuts. As long as the Government lays out a medium to long-term plan to reduce the debt, stimulus in the short term will boost the economy and improve the stuttering expansion we are witnessing.
The American government cannot default and its debt, while expanding rapidly, is not an immediate cause for alarm (If you disagree with this view or do not understand why this is the case then you can e-mail me with you queries at amannavani1@hotmail.com). Thus, a well-designed stimulus is still a viable option.

2.) QE- Quantitative easing, which is essentially increasing the amount of money in circulation in the economy, has been meet with widespread criticism. It is certainly not a magical solution to all our problems but it will help to buy us some time and will go a long way in reducing the likelihood of another recession. The fact is QE increases investor confidence and causes an equity and stock market rally which in turn should increase consumer confidence. Quantitative easing is like alcohol; it will only provide a brief high but it is a high that is desperately needed to prevent complete disaster. The Federal Reserve needs to continue its QE programmes.

3.) BAILOUT- Across the Atlantic, the ECB needs to step in without further delay. They must abandon their thoughts of keeping inflation in check. Europe is not going to be transformed into Germany in the 1920’s anytime soon. Instead, the ECB must convince investors that they will provide support on the scale needed to keep Italy afloat. They must continue to buy Spanish and Italian bonds and do more to help banks obtain long term financing. An ECB bailout does raise the issue of moral hazard, however, the euro must not be allowed to collapse under any circumstance.

4.) STRUCTURAL REFORM-The underlying fundamental lacuna in the financial system of the USA, which led to the deepest recession since 1929, remains largely unaddressed. For large investment banks, it is business as usual as they remain free of government oversight. There needs to be greater regulation.

European governments must reduce welfare provisions and the power of the trade unions. Unemployment benefits and pensions must decrease while trade unions cannot be able to negotiate higher wages without matched increases in productivity. These measures should be complemented by long-term supply side reform aimed at increasing innovation and efficiency as well as promoting a greater entrepreneurial spirit.
It remains to be seen if politicians around the world can finally muster up the will to do what is right. The window for manoeuvere, however, is swiftly closing. We seem to be at the behest of a mysterious force that is currently pulling us towards a second Depression.

Nationalism. Perhaps what is so controversial about this statement is the fact that it is impossible to define; each nationalist group has different aims and different methods which makes the whole concept of ‘nationalism’ subjective. There is no consensus amongst historians as to how to view nationalism: should it be an ‘imagined community’ of shared culture and heritage? Or rather defined by the terroritorial boundaries of nation states as they have been drawn out today? Is it a reactionary ideal calling for a return to the past or a revolutionary one calling for the establishment of a new nation state? Whatever the definition, this movement is once again gaining momentum around the world thus it is vital that we consider the role it is plays…

At its simplest, nationalism is the study of identity. Despite the changing dynamics of world order, the desire to belong to a specific community is never erased and always relevant. In the 1920s, the French sociologist Maurice Halbwachs coined the term “collective memory” for things we think we know for certain about the past of our own societies. Typically, he wrote, “a collective memory… is understood to express some eternal or essential truth about the group –usually tragic”. So the Poles remember the partition of their country just as the Serbs remember the Battle of Kosovo in 1389 as their defeat on earth but their moral victory in an unending struggle against Muslims. ‘Collective memory’ is fundamental to the study of nationalism and reveals more about the present than the past as it is integral to how a group sees itself.

Furthermore, nationalism is increasingly important as it is the source of many conflicts around the world; in order to understand these conflicts we have to understand the root of them. For example, Israelis use nationalism as a justification for preventing Palestinians with basic human rights.

Due to the EU crisis at the moment nationalism is remerging since countries are becoming hostile to the idea of bailing out weaker nations. In Finland, France, and Spain, there are signs that nationalism is on the rise in politics, notably to growth of the Front National in France under Marine Le Pen. Further, in Germany, anti-euro sentiment is growing, as taxpayers become more concerned about the costs of stabilizing the system. Many Germans don’t see why their taxes should be used to help people as far away as Greece when there are problems within their own country which need addressing; similarly, Greece does not want to be humiliated and patronised by Germans just because they have helped them out. Nationalist sentiment against immigrants could transfer to opposition to the euro due to the concept of “in-group bias,” a phenomenon that leads people to prefer their own rather than others. Thus nationalism is rising and its next victim could be the euro…

In my opinion, the next few years will see the study of nationalism focus less on the creation of states and more on the devolution of them. Questions will arise such as what is the best solution for the UK; prompted by Scottish calls for independence, the UK government will need to work out whether to continue with an uneven distribution of powers or to establish a federal system or even dissolve the UK entirely? It is imperative that countries learn how to handle multiple, complex national identities existing side-by-side in a single nation state. It is once again interesting to look at the EU in relation to this as to whether the EU is competing against each individual states or whether these single entities can be embedded into a larger one. Within this, the effect that different languages have on a nation state is interesting as it begs the question as to whether a multi-lingual state can maintain their stability or if they are doomed to fail by their nature.

Living in Dubai as we do it would be impossible to not look at the role of nationalism in the Middle East. With the rise of Islamic movements such as the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt it seems that religion and nationalism are becoming intertwined; France is struggling to maintain itself as a secular state which will have a direct impact on how people conceptualise ‘Frenchness’ thus whether the same will happen in this part of the world is debatable. Furthermore, given the recent developments in the Arab Spring, it will be interesting to see whether countries in the Middle East develop a more nationalist state structure or whether they go back to the view that was dominant in the early 20^th Century of Pan-Arabism.

Increasingly pervasive in the society that we live in, the question should not be whether nationalism is considered a force for “good” or as inherently “evil”  but rather what effect these changes will have on our lives.

First we experienced a tide of poppies patriotically pinned to every shirt, raising funds for the British Legion. Then it was time for the onslaught of the pink breast cancer ribbons. Movember was greeted by teachers proudly sporting striking handlebars and students, well, parading bits of fluff that made unimpressive substitutes for the luxuriant whiskers that would show their solidarity with those with prostate cancer. By the time you realize they’ve been growing moustaches, December would have rolled by and it’ll be time to shave again. And while the novelty of wearing various symbols to demonstrate your support for causes may be wearing a little thin, it has never been so essential than now to raise awareness about World AIDS Day, the 1st of December, which is likely to be heralded with red ribbons.

And why is it so vital to raise awareness about it? Because by being one of the biggest killers in the world today, AIDS, or Acquired Immuno Deficiency Syndrome, has taken more than 25 million lives worldwide since 1981, the start of the global pandemic. The results of surveys published in www.usaid.gov show that in 2008, there were approximately 33.4 million people around the world living with HIV/AIDS, including 2.1 million children under age 15. AIDS, caused by the Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), is a wily enemy: it does not strike by direct attack. It chips away at your body’s defences instead, destroying your T-helper cells, a type of white blood cell, gradually weakening the immune system until the body is left fragile and vulnerable. It then lets other pathogens do the dirty work: without the T-helper cells that fight disease, even something as trivial as a cold or the flu can be fatal. (Adapted from www.homehealth-uk.com).

Www.aids-children.org shared a touching account of an AIDS sufferer, John, who now has a flourishing business due to timely intervention by a family strengthening programme in Rwanda.

“I had an active life: a job, a salary and many friends. One day, all this disappeared because I found out that I was HIV-positive. It was not easy at all. When I was told that I was HIV-positive, I thought it was a joke, I didn’t believe it. I spent several weeks feeling sorry for myself, asking myself what happened to me. I cried a lot, I didn’t want to accept that I was infected. I could not imagine that I would stay alive for more than a week. When the news of my illness reached my office, I was dismissed outright. My boss thought I would either die very soon or contaminate the other colleagues.

I found myself alone without friends or a job, and I realized that there was a problem. I began to accept the hard reality that it was necessary to fight to survive. I had no money, no savings and could not imagine that I would overcome this situation. My girlfriend left me, and I found myself alone with a six-month-old baby. “

What is most ironic is that AIDS is a preventable disease, being transferred by the sharing of bodily fluids. The only time when it is not avertable is when HIV is passed on genetically. Something as simple as making sure you are using a sterile needle before you receive an injection and practising safe sex habits can save you from a lifetime of suffering. Buying the crimson ribbon and donating some money to a worthy cause has the potential to raise awareness and contribute towards discovering a cure for the illness, and subsequently change someone’s life for the better. Every penny makes a difference, so the power to put a smile on a sufferer’s face may lie in your hands- pin on the red ribbon!

* All sites were accessed on 26th November 2011.

Two consecutive vetoes, first against a Palestinian statehood and then against a Syrian resolution, have left the international community shamefaced as the fundamentally flawed United Nations Security Council fails the world again.

As Syria pushes into its eighth month of anti-government protests, the violence that grips the country still shows no sign of lessening. With each passing day, fresh deaths litter the newspapers, and with each death the burning flame of anger against President Bashar al-Assad is stoked a little more. At the start of the month, the world turned to the United Nations, that terrific mediator of all conflicts, to support the struggle of the Syrian people. Then, even after a resolution against al-Assad was drafted, international justice was once again denied by one of the biggest diplomatic obstacles of our time – the veto.  

Born out of the insecurity of the post World War II era, the veto, or a negative vote by a permanent member of the UN, prevents the adoption of a proposal by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), regardless of the support in favour of it. Consequently, the ability to veto is a shield that ensures the founding members of the United Nations will never have their beautiful creation turned against them. In short, the veto power makes permanent members wonderfully democratic dictators.

In the case of the Syrian resolution, Russia and China had to veto in order to protect their military and oil interests in their mutual ally Syria. It’s a perfectly valid reason if you ignore their moral obligation to intervene in the wake of thousands of deaths. But how did they manage to pull of such a farce? The official word was that the draft was based on a ‘philosophy of confrontation’. Perhaps they failed to recognize that the heavily diluted resolution had no military allusions whatsoever.

But this is not the first time that the veto has come in the way of international justice. History is littered with past incidents, notably the inability of the UN to confront Israel throughout the 60s and 70s on its expansionist policies. Even last month, the United States were able to fend of widespread international pressure for the recognition of Palestinian statehood, simply by vetoing the concept. Maybe with presidential elections just around the corner, Obama needs to muster all the support he can get, especially from Jewish American voters. But is he willing to do so at the expense of the entire Palestinian nation? When the national interests of one government outweigh international justice, something is seriously wrong. And the veto has allowed for this to take place.

Ever heard of Mohamed Bouazizi? This Tunisian streetvendor set himself on fire in protest against the confiscation of his wares and subsequent humiliation by a municipal officer. He was one of the catalysts of the Arab Spring, a revolution that proved that the people will govern the world in the near future. But in order to live in a truly democratic world the power to veto must seriously be reformed. We must not carry this baggage from the past and allow it to shape international relations. You wouldn’t try to make fire by rubbing two twigs together, would you?