tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20644423100931511362024-02-07T09:16:14.722-05:00Ryan J. Suto's BlogWelcome to my blog.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger92125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2064442310093151136.post-72192309424756350172017-01-17T14:16:00.001-05:002017-01-17T14:16:45.715-05:00Trump’s ties and voter oversight<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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The past ten days have brought to surface a list of revelations
about, and statements from, President-elect Donald Trump. These realities force
Americans to inquire as to motivations of Trump and his staff in the
Administration’s stance toward Russia. But more importantly, they force each of
us to examine exactly how a large swath of voters allowed themselves to be
swayed by foreign actors during the election itself. <o:p></o:p></div>
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To start, a briefing from leaders of US intelligence
agencies and the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/intelligence-chiefs-expected-in-new-york-to-brief-trump-on-russian-hacking/2017/01/06/5f591416-d41a-11e6-9cb0-54ab630851e8_story.html">release</a>
of an unclassified report found that Russian interference in the 2016
presidential election represented “a significant escalation in directness,
level of activity, and scope of effort beyond previous election-related
espionage.” Afterward, the Trump team begrudgingly <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-russia-cyber-idUSKBN14S0O6">admitted</a>
that Russia was behind the hacking of the Democratic National Committee and the
Hillary Clinton campaign. Despite the continued and months-long stream of
condemnations of the election interference from <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/lindsey-graham-hacking_us_5872a655e4b043ad97e3cfad">both
sides</a> of the political aisle, Trump himself seemingly never speaks ill of
Russia or her president, Vladimir Putin. Notably, Putin <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/01/28/upshot/donald-trump-twitter-insults.html">does
not appear</a> on the New York Times’ running list of people or things Trump
has insulted, while civil rights leader and Congressman John Lewis, General Colin
Powell, Chief Justice John Roberts, Senator John McCain, NATO, the UN, and the
Broadway musical <i>Hamilton</i> have all
caught the President-elect’s ire. In fact, Trump often praises Putin, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/wp/2016/12/30/trump-praises-putins-response-to-sanctions-calls-russian-leader-very-smart/?utm_term=.e13a53371fc7">most
recently</a> for Russia’s response to increased US sanctions, perhaps due to Trump’s
<a href="http://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/news/donald-trump-talks-vladimir-putin-relationship-in-2013-interview-w460547">documented
relationship</a> with the man, which goes back to at least 2013.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Early last week Buzzfeed published an admittedly <a href="https://www.buzzfeed.com/kenbensinger/these-reports-allege-trump-has-deep-ties-to-russia?utm_term=.pkjE584aL#.llek0wQRx">unsubstantiated
report</a> that Russia has substantial <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2017/01/12/everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-russian-art-of-kompromat/"><i>Kompromat</i></a> on Trump: compromising
material which includes evidence of legal, financial, or moral misdeeds for the
purpose of blackmail, influence, or control. The material allegedly stems from
Trump’s 2013 visit to Moscow during his Miss Universe pageant held just outside
that city. Importantly, allegations in that report <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2017/01/10/politics/donald-trump-intelligence-report-russia/index.html">include</a>
a continuing relationship between Trump campaign officials and the Russian
government. A Trump aide later confirmed that Trump's national security
adviser, Michael Flynn, has been in <a href="file:///C:/Users/rsuto.CYDECOR/Downloads/bigstory.ap.org/article/ba462d64c12d4692b8381cb7076d34ab/ap-source-trump-aide-frequent-contact-russia-envoy">frequent
contact</a> with Russia’s ambassador to the US in recent weeks. The FBI has
since <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2017/01/10/politics/comey-republicans-hacked-russia/">confirmed</a>
that Russia hacked the Republican National Committee during the election, as
well, but did not leak whatever information was obtained. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Later in the week we learned that top US intelligence
agencies <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/11/opinion/donald-trump-a-modern-manchurian-candidate.html">expressed</a>
“high confidence” that Putin himself ordered electoral interference at the
expense of Clinton, and that the CIA and FBI are <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-38589427">investigating</a>
whether Russia financially contributed to the Trump campaign. Despite this
news, Trump later <a href="http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2017/01/14/trump_says_he_may_get_rid_of_russia_sanctions_and_one_china_policy.html">expressed</a>
the possibility that he may remove sanctions the US has placed on Russia in
2014 after the annexation of Crimea and extended after the meddling in the 2016
election. Further, Trump advisers have <a href="http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/314374-trumps-first-foreign-trip-as-president-will-be-to-meet-putin">stated</a>
that the President-elect’s first foreign policy trip will be to Iceland to meet
with Putin within weeks of his Inauguration. Trump has still not released his
tax returns, but we know he <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/16/us/politics/donald-trump-russia-business.html">has
continuously tried to</a> do business in Russia in the past. <o:p></o:p></div>
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In sum, there is reason to believe
that Russian officials, acting on the orders of Vladimir Putin, may have used
their ability to <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2017/01/12/everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-russian-art-of-kompromat/">blackmail
Trump</a>, both with the material in the dossier published by Buzzfeed and any
information obtained from hacking the RNC, as leverage to gain influence with
his campaign, which may include financial contributions, in order to undermine
the Clinton campaign and convince the American people to elect Trump. As further
evidence, since his victory, Trump has expressed his intention to re-evaluate
US sanctions on Russia, his top aides continue frequent contact with Russian
officials, and once sworn in he plans on immediately meeting Putin in person. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Under relevant federal law, an
organization or individual, which agrees or consents to be indirectly
supervised, directed, financed, or subsidized in whole or in major part by a
foreign government or political party is <a href="https://www.fara.gov/indx-act.html">an agent of a foreign principal</a>,
and must register as such with the Department of Justice. Further, public
officials who act as agents of a foreign principal would be in violation of <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/219">18 US 219</a> and are subject
to fines or imprisonment. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Whether the President-elect or any
or his organizations, appointments, or advisors meet the legal standard to
qualify as agents of a foreign principal requires more evidence beyond what is
publicly available. The law requires more than a mere confluence of interests
between foreign and domestic actors, but actual direction or supervision of
foreign actors over domestic actors. The possession of blackmail material would
be key to establishing this link. However, our intelligence agencies may
plausibly corroborate the existing allegations and may yet uncover further
connections between Trump, his staff, and Russia. This reality brings America
to the three following questions:<o:p></o:p></div>
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First, how did we allow so many of
our individual political judgments to be influenced by a foreign power? No
public information implies that Russia infiltrated US election software.
Instead, in November only Americans voted, but too many of us were
insufficiently critical in both how we discerned factual articles from
inaccurate or purposely misleading ones and how we weighed the value of the
factual information, which was available. As much as we may point fingers at
Trump or Putin, we too must look inward for both blame and solutions. Russia
and other adversarial actors may be emboldened by the results of the 2016 election
interference and seek further influence in 2020 and beyond. We the people must
change if the results are to, as well. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Second, how do we convince Speaker
Paul Ryan and Republicans on the Hill to use the threat of impeachment to
obtain sufficient financial and other information from Trump and his staff for
a proper investigation into potential coordination with Moscow? Luckily Trump’s
affinity toward Russia and propensity to insult even allies have made him
unpopular among his own party leaders. Nonetheless, broad and sustained
political mobilization will be required to convince Congressional Republicans
that impeaching a Republican president is politically advantageous for them
individually and as a party. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Third, how do we prevent foreign
powers from influencing our elections again? Neither our Constitution nor our
laws can prevent a sufficiently large number of Americans from making gravely
poor decisions. However, strengthened required financial disclosures for
candidates and appointments or other transparency and ethics legislation may
constrain our future potential lapses in judgment. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Irrespective of any potential forthcoming
revelations or allegations regarding relationships between an adversarial
country and the man who will be our president before week’s end, our country
has already ventured into uncharted waters, guided by a minority of voters who
allowed themselves to be steered by a foreign power. Is the American ship
seaworthy? How we act now, with Republican leaders at the helm, can only answer
this question. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2064442310093151136.post-84583763509151436802016-12-02T11:17:00.001-05:002016-12-02T11:17:37.069-05:00Politics is Perception<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="letter-spacing: -0.352px;"><i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The political games the Republicans are playing leave the </span></i></span><span style="letter-spacing: -0.352px;"><i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Democrats </span></i></span><i style="letter-spacing: -0.352px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">with no strategy moving forward</span></i></span></div>
<h3 class="graf graf--h3 graf-after--p" id="41d4" name="41d4" style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.8); letter-spacing: -0.02em; line-height: 1.15; margin: 56px 0px 0px -2px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">The Out-Party Game</span></h3>
<div class="graf graf--p graf-after--h3" id="9950" name="9950" style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.8); letter-spacing: -0.003em; line-height: 1.58; margin-top: 8px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Recently President Barack Obama <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/showtracker/la-na-obama-interview-transcript-20160211-story.html" href="http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/showtracker/la-na-obama-interview-transcript-20160211-story.html" rel="nofollow" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.439216); background-color: transparent; background-image: linear-gradient(rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.6) 50%, rgba(0, 0, 0, 0) 50%); background-position: 0px 1.07em; background-repeat: repeat-x; background-size: 2px 0.1em; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">pointed out </a>that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and the GOP figured out something very important during the Obama presidency: most Americas either don’t know or don’t care about the nuance of how government works:</span></div>
<blockquote class="graf graf--blockquote graf-after--p tr_bq" id="013a" name="013a" style="background-color: white; border-left: 3px solid rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.8); color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.8); font-style: italic; letter-spacing: -0.003em; line-height: 1.58; margin: 29px 0px 0px -23px; padding-bottom: 2px; padding-left: 20px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And the problem is, is that the general public is not following the intricacies of the legislature and they’re not interested in who’s to blame, they just want to see stuff done. And the one guy they know is the President of the United States, so if things don’t get done, that can advantage the politics of the other party.</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Americans know that the president is in charge of the government, and so if they are told that the government is not working, and they don’t see it working, it must be the president’s fault.</span></div>
<div class="graf graf--p graf-after--p" id="ce02" name="ce02" style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.8); letter-spacing: -0.003em; line-height: 1.58; margin-top: 29px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This is how the Republican Party survived — and actually thrived through — eight years of obstructionism in Congress. By blocking nominations, budgets, and legislation — much of which that would have actually helped their own constituents, and some of which Trump <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/commentary/ct-donald-trump-win-obama-third-term-20161107-story.html" href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/commentary/ct-donald-trump-win-obama-third-term-20161107-story.html" rel="nofollow" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.439216); background-color: transparent; background-image: linear-gradient(rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.6) 50%, rgba(0, 0, 0, 0) 50%); background-position: 0px 1.07em; background-repeat: repeat-x; background-size: 2px 0.1em; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">has championed as his own</a> — the GOP was able to convince enough Americans that the resulting ineffective governance was Obama’s fault all along. He is the president, after all, and he is responsible for getting things done. Republicans were able to ignore a Supreme Court nominee for eight months, along with <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="http://www.cbsnews.com/news/will-the-senate-confirm-obamas-judicial-nominees-before-he-leaves/" href="http://www.cbsnews.com/news/will-the-senate-confirm-obamas-judicial-nominees-before-he-leaves/" rel="nofollow" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.439216); background-color: transparent; background-image: linear-gradient(rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.6) 50%, rgba(0, 0, 0, 0) 50%); background-position: 0px 1.07em; background-repeat: repeat-x; background-size: 2px 0.1em; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">90 other judicial nominations</a>, without any electoral punishment — and they knew they could do it, because not enough Americans concern themselves with esoteric notions like structural democracy.</span></div>
<h3 class="graf graf--h3 graf-after--p" id="41d4" name="41d4" style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.8); letter-spacing: -0.02em; line-height: 1.15; margin: 56px 0px 0px -2px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">The In-Party Game</span></h3>
<div class="graf graf--p graf-after--h3" id="fa07" name="fa07" style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.8); letter-spacing: -0.003em; line-height: 1.58; margin-top: 8px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Now Trump is showing the next phase of this strategy: pure theatre. First, Trump claimed credit for keeping a Ford plant in the US that <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/18/us/politics/donald-trump-takes-credit-for-helping-to-save-a-ford-plant-that-wasnt-closing.html?_r=0" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/18/us/politics/donald-trump-takes-credit-for-helping-to-save-a-ford-plant-that-wasnt-closing.html?_r=0" rel="nofollow" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.439216); background-color: transparent; background-image: linear-gradient(rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.6) 50%, rgba(0, 0, 0, 0) 50%); background-position: 0px 1.07em; background-repeat: repeat-x; background-size: 2px 0.1em; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">wasn’t actually slated for closure</a> or relocation. Now, he claims to be <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://twitter.com/Phil_Mattingly/status/804411989590245377" href="https://twitter.com/Phil_Mattingly/status/804411989590245377" rel="nofollow" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.439216); background-color: transparent; background-image: linear-gradient(rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.6) 50%, rgba(0, 0, 0, 0) 50%); background-position: 0px 1.07em; background-repeat: repeat-x; background-size: 2px 0.1em; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">saving jobs at a Carrier plant</a> which actually amounts to a state tax break deal from the governor of Indiana — soon to be Vice President Mike Pence — and still allows for jobs to be shipped to Mexico.</span></div>
<div class="graf graf--p graf-after--p" id="99e8" name="99e8" style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.8); letter-spacing: -0.003em; line-height: 1.58; margin-top: 29px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">But most Americans don’t read beyond these headlines. They don’t understand or care about the details, such as an incoming president’s legal inability to unilaterally provide incentives for an individual firm to change their financial decisionmaking. And Trump knows this. He knows that his Tweets and his statements will create headlines that will get tens of millions of views, whereas the resulting fact-checking and counter-arguments will merely get thousands of views among his supporters. Further, he and the GOP have already convinced <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="http://www.gallup.com/poll/195542/americans-trust-mass-media-sinks-new-low.aspx" href="http://www.gallup.com/poll/195542/americans-trust-mass-media-sinks-new-low.aspx" rel="nofollow" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.439216); background-color: transparent; background-image: linear-gradient(rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.6) 50%, rgba(0, 0, 0, 0) 50%); background-position: 0px 1.07em; background-repeat: repeat-x; background-size: 2px 0.1em; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">86% of Republicans</a> that the ‘mainstream media’, the ones best positioned to uncover the facts behind his claims, are untrustworthy.</span></div>
<div class="graf graf--p graf-after--p" id="8b61" name="8b61" style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.8); letter-spacing: -0.003em; line-height: 1.58; margin-top: 29px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Like a lucky hat during a baseball game, Trump supporters will cling to these superficial displays as the cause of all that is good while overlooking the bad — or likely blame it on Obama. No rigorous investigation of cause-and-effect will take place. And without hold of either the House or the Senate, the Democrats have little ability to even use the Repbulican’s obstructionist playbook. They have little ability to undermine the empty theatrics of the Trump Administration that will echo among his supporters.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The Democrats cannot count on Trump’s scandals or failures to shake his support come 2020. If Trump keeps up his smoke and mirrors theatre and Americans take them at face value, the next election may actually be more ‘post truth’ than 2016.</span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2064442310093151136.post-45368110382071241852016-09-13T17:06:00.004-04:002016-12-02T11:24:30.115-05:00Five MENA policy challenges that go beyond ISIS<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEYvKI3ZJF069tBVPPf1fHOJrDmhk1iwLVe4JDm8AyCQ1OVTCPO0m0P-B4G1o-McQLwPhGw5JUnyLypAn-3KOCNYibBHHhNN0exSAXpw7iUoE14ZxAFVTzWuncISurrw2ovI_fF9sUyyK0/s320/maxresdefault.jpg" /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.8); letter-spacing: -0.063px; text-align: start;">The current US presidential campaign debate on Middle East policy has focused disproportionately on the US response to the Islamic State (ISIS or IS). This series will focus instead on five alternative Middle East policy challenges facing the next president. Each post below has been originally published at </span><a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://lobelog.com" href="https://lobelog.com/" rel="nofollow" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.439216); background-color: white; background-image: linear-gradient(rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.6) 50%, rgba(0, 0, 0, 0) 50%); background-position: 0px 1.07em; background-repeat: repeat-x; background-size: 2px 0.1em; letter-spacing: -0.063px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">LobeLog</a><span style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.8); letter-spacing: -0.063px; text-align: start;">.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.8); letter-spacing: -0.063px; text-align: start;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.8); letter-spacing: -0.063px; text-align: start;">1. </span></span><span style="letter-spacing: -0.063px; text-align: left;"><span style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.8); font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="https://lobelog.com/promised-democracy-the-future-of-iraq/">Promised Democracy: The Future of Iraq</a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.8); letter-spacing: -0.063px; text-align: start;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.8); letter-spacing: -0.063px; text-align: start;">2. </span></span><span style="letter-spacing: -0.063px; text-align: left;"><span style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.8); font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="https://lobelog.com/tunisia-new-leaders-old-challenges/">Tunisia: New Leaders, Old Challenges</a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.8); letter-spacing: -0.063px; text-align: start;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.8); letter-spacing: -0.063px; text-align: start;">3. </span></span><span style="letter-spacing: -0.063px; text-align: left;"><span style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.8); font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="https://lobelog.com/bilateral-complicity-the-next-us-president-and-egypt/">Bilateral Complicity: The Next US President and Egypt</a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.8); letter-spacing: -0.063px; text-align: start;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.8); letter-spacing: -0.063px; text-align: start;">4. </span></span><span style="letter-spacing: -0.063px; text-align: left;"><span style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.8); font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="https://lobelog.com/americas-outdated-special-relationship-with-saudi-arabia/">America’s Outdated Special Relationship with Saudi Arabia</a></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.8); letter-spacing: -0.063px; text-align: start;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.8); letter-spacing: -0.063px; text-align: start;">5. </span></span><span style="letter-spacing: -0.063px; text-align: left;"><span style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.8); font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="http://lobelog.com/public-health-as-foreign-policy-trauma-in-the-arab-world/">Public Health as Foreign Policy: Trauma in the Arab World</a></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.8); letter-spacing: -0.063px; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.8); font-family: medium-content-serif-font, Georgia, Cambria, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 21px; letter-spacing: -0.063px; text-align: start;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2064442310093151136.post-72908253765319300562016-09-13T17:06:00.003-04:002016-09-13T17:07:29.938-04:00Five issues ignored during the 2016 presidential election<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEYvKI3ZJF069tBVPPf1fHOJrDmhk1iwLVe4JDm8AyCQ1OVTCPO0m0P-B4G1o-McQLwPhGw5JUnyLypAn-3KOCNYibBHHhNN0exSAXpw7iUoE14ZxAFVTzWuncISurrw2ovI_fF9sUyyK0/s1600/maxresdefault.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEYvKI3ZJF069tBVPPf1fHOJrDmhk1iwLVe4JDm8AyCQ1OVTCPO0m0P-B4G1o-McQLwPhGw5JUnyLypAn-3KOCNYibBHHhNN0exSAXpw7iUoE14ZxAFVTzWuncISurrw2ovI_fF9sUyyK0/s320/maxresdefault.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
Amid an election full of outlandish statements, Twitter spats and ad hominem accusations, many important problems facing America have failed to grace headlines. I address five of them in a series on Fair Observer:<br />
<br />
1. <a href="http://www.fairobserver.com/region/north_america/harm-judicial-elections-america-33007/">The Harm of Judicial Elections in America</a><br />
<br />
2. <a href="http://www.fairobserver.com/region/north_america/suspicion-america-creating-a-problem-for-a-solution-32043/">Suspicion in America: Creating a Problem for a Solution</a><br />
<br />
3. <a href="http://www.fairobserver.com/region/north_america/landscape-of-inequality-how-america-funds-public-schools-32304/">Landscape of Inequality: How America Funds Public Schools</a><br />
<br />
4. <a href="http://www.fairobserver.com/region/north_america/continuing-opacity-surveillance-under-the-next-administration-90901/">Continuing Opacity: Surveillance Under the Next Administration</a><br />
<br />
5. <a href="http://www.fairobserver.com/region/north_america/why-is-america-divided-33203/">The Fairytale of America and its Lost Civic Ideals</a><br />
<br /></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2064442310093151136.post-35129950298926434232016-09-01T10:35:00.002-04:002016-09-01T11:46:14.250-04:00Kaepernick and American-ness<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal">
There are two major issues underlying the dialogue surrounding Colin Kaepernick’s decision to remain seated during the national
anthem: 1. Race and 2. Symbolism.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>1. Our society
questions the American-ness of People of Color more readily than the American-ness
of white people.<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I can't count how many times I've heard Asian Americans
asked, ‘<a href="http://everydayfeminism.com/2015/09/asking-asian-ppl-where-from/">OK, but
where are you REALLY from</a>?”, when their family has lived in the US longer
than mine has. Or heard <a href="http://fusion.net/story/211561/soccer-godcast-episode-5-usa-mexico-patriotism-fans/">fans
of Mexican soccer</a> criticized for a lack of patriotism in a venomous way
that fans of European soccer are not. Remember when even elected officials <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-russnow/obama-birthers_b_1830644.html">questioned
the American-ness</a> of a US-born black presidential candidate, but uttered
nothing about his white opponent who was actually born abroad? Or perhaps when <a href="http://foreignpolicy.com/2016/07/28/bill-clintons-loyalty-test-for-muslim-americans-trump-islam/">a
former president</a> suggested administering loyalty tests to Muslim Americans.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In our society, if you aren't an English-speaking white
Christian, you have the burden of proof to show your American-ness.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>2. Americans are
fiercely protective over our symbols</b>: the flag, the Constitution, the
pledge of allegiance, the national anthem. Our Founders are held as not wealthy
aristocrats who bright and ambitious, but prophets, bestowing upon us words and
ideals beyond the tampering of mere mortals. We have been uniquely hesitant to modify our Highest Law, having only done so on 18 occasions since 1787. While others insult America and its military, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/feb/29/donald-trump-disrespect-military-veterans-appalling-unprecedented">like
Donald Trump</a>, they are careful to not deviate from reverence of national
symbolism. When any public figure denies the sanctity of these symbols, they
face quick reproach from many corners. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Both of these issues are symptoms of the same sickness:
insecurity. <b>Americans are insecure about
what it means to be American.</b> Like a paranoid lover, we desire uncritical
loyalty. Like a worried child we clench tight the words of our Founders as
though they are the strands of our safety blanket.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This insecurity is at least partly caused by the many
Americans who provide demographics as the identity of American-ness:
Anglophone, white, Christian. And as those demographics dwindle, anxiety rises.
Unfortunately for them, demographics are transient; human migration is the most
stable truth of our short history. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
As Americans continue to react to the contemporary model of
globalization—which has temporally trailed reactions in the Middle East, Asia, and
Europe—our collective identity must be more resilient than demographics and
more flexible than worship of parchment from a horse and buggy generation. <o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2064442310093151136.post-55292491091745817342016-08-17T13:49:00.001-04:002016-08-17T13:49:01.463-04:00The man who talks most about winning is an expert in losing<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal">
Don’t be surprised that Trump has been peddling reasons for
his eventual loss, stating that the <a href="http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2016/aug/15/donald-trump/donald-trumps-baseless-claims-about-election-being/">election
will be rigged</a> against him. Don’t be surprised when he focuses more on
maintaining an intense following rather than softening his message, <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/donald-trump-aims-shore-black-support/story?id=41451772">only
feigning attempts</a> to gain wider appeal. And don’t be surprised that he’s
cozy with ultra-right, and largely successful, media figures like <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/18/us/politics/donald-trump-stephen-bannon-paul-manafort.html?_r=0">Steve
Bannon</a>.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The man who has remained in the public eye through <a href="http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2015/sep/21/carly-fiorina/trumps-four-bankruptcies/">four
bankruptcies</a> knows how to lose. He’s not preparing his first 100 days as
president, he’s preparing his next business, to be deployed on Wednesday,
November 8<sup>th</sup>. Will he start a media outlet? A new TV show? Or a
consulting firm? Only time will tell, but this much is true: Trump is prepared
to lose the election, and profit from it as much as possible.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
This attitude is indicative of corporate America: blow smoke
to <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1596363/">inflate worth or value</a> as
much as possible and use leverage to negotiate/set-up a golden parachute, so
that when you get exposed you land with more than you had originally. It’s bark
with no bite, it’s style without substance, but in business and in politics, it
seems to work far longer than it should. <o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2064442310093151136.post-16905997043267622442016-07-08T15:50:00.000-04:002016-07-08T16:43:04.782-04:00White America: how did we get here?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222;">Since the time of
honest racial segregation in America—when whites wrote down race-based rules of
exclusion—we have been formulating modes of dishonest segregation: denials of
equality and inclusion in areas such as </span><a href="http://www.mdjonline.com/neighbor_newspapers/divided-america-a-look-at-the-country-s-economic-and/collection_4230da46-445e-11e6-adf2-dfc3b80b6aee.html">housing</a><span style="color: #222222;">, </span><a href="https://www.cpr.org/news/story/white-black-and-latino-kids-smoke-pot-same-rates-arrest-rates-thats-different">criminal
justice</a><span style="color: #222222;">, </span><a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2015/12/black-white-unemployment-gap/421497/">employment</a><span style="color: #222222;">, interpersonal relationships, and private organizations.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222;">Once institutionalized,
this dishonest segregation becomes subconscious for us whites: we do not create
race-based rules, we just live by the status quo. We are not racist, after all,
we just </span><a href="https://www.thenation.com/article/time-retire-chief-justice-robertss-umpire-analogy/">call
balls and strikes</a><span style="color: #222222;">. We're objective when
pressing charges, citing criminal statistics, administering standardized tests,
</span><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/06/09/how-a-widespread-practice-to-politically-empower-african-americans-might-actually-harm-them/">drawing
political districts</a><span style="color: #222222;">, or selecting the </span><a href="http://www.racismreview.com/blog/2011/04/22/racial-inequality-and-meritocracy-a-closer-look/">best
candidate</a><span style="color: #222222;">.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222;">Many whites were born
into this dishonest America: told that ours is a diverse country, only to be
raised in </span><a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-35255835">all-white
neighborhoods</a> and <span style="color: #222222;">sent to local </span><a href="http://www.npr.org/2016/04/18/474256366/why-americas-schools-have-a-money-problem">property
tax-supported</a><span style="color: #222222;">, largely white schools, with few
opportunities placed in our laps to have black friends.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222;">By the time Rodney King
made the news, we had to learn of the goings on of our own country from strangers on
the screen—we had no loved ones who experienced institutionally tolerated
racial prejudice or violence. We knew no faces on which to see pain. We had no
connections.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222;">Twenty years later, and
what has changed? Inequality remains. Informal segregation remains. This is
still a dishonest America. Whites only know more because there are more
cameras, not because of an increase in interracial neighborhoods, places of
worship, or other voluntary activities or organizations.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222;">This reality does not
create people without tolerance, it creates people without empathy. It is
difficult, and perhaps unnatural, to feel empathy for a group excluded from
your childhood, education, community, and workplace—especially when you are
simultaneously told they are not actually being excluded.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222;">Our crisis today is not
that us whites are any more racist than anyone else, it is that we do not
engage in empathy. We see a country that functions reasonably well for us and
fail to ask how well it works for others. Whites need to view #BlackLivesMatter
not as implying other lives do not matter, but as a plea for empathy, a plea to
help create a country that works just as well for others as it does for us. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222;">Our crisis tomorrow is
that any unrest—any threat to change the status quo, any risk of this country
continuing to work as well for us as it did in our childhood—will push white
people to increasingly blame others. In accepting the Republican nomination for
president in 1968, Richard Nixon </span><a href="http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=25968">stated</a><span style="color: #222222;">, “When a nation that has been known for a century for
equality of opportunity is torn by unprecedented racial violence … then it's
time for new leadership for the United States of America.” Nixon could not have
possibly been talking to black America, fresh off the heels of a century of
Jim Crow and the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. He was talking to
white people—the same people presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald
Trump excites by the promise of making America great again. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222;">As we did in 1968, we
risk looking to a presidential candidate who promises to restore order and,
implicitly, ensure that America continues to work well for us whites.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222;">We do not need to make
America great again for us white people. We do not need to tell ourselves that
police officers are increasingly </span><a href="https://psmag.com/violence-against-police-is-at-a-45-year-low-but-you-wouldn-t-know-that-from-watching-the-news-eba6093fe52#.h5dszycvd">targets
of violence</a><span style="color: #222222;">. We do not need more excuses to dig
our heels into the status quo. We need to begin a social evolution in which our
influence is real: we must listen to how America works for all minorities—Black,
Latino, Muslim, LGBTQIA, Disabled, women, etc. Real understanding will foster
empathy between communities, allowing for the creation and promotion of more
inclusive spaces, institutions, and policies. Through listening to the voices,
pain, and strife of our fellow Americas with whom we may not live, work, or
pray, we can begin to create the nation we were raised to believe we already
had. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2064442310093151136.post-45492632537264057102016-04-27T07:35:00.001-04:002016-04-27T09:01:12.271-04:007 Goals for Progressive Millenials<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Progressive
voters under 30 years </span><a href="http://www.usnews.com/news/campaign-2008/articles/2008/11/06/young-voters-powered-obamas-victory-while-shrugging-off-slacker-image"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">famously</span></a><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"> helped President Barack
Obama take the presidency in 2008. Similarly, throughout this campaign they have been </span><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/02/02/bernie-sanders-crushed-hillary-clinton-by-70-points-among-young-people-in-iowa-but/"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">unquestionably the largest
supporters</span></a><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">
of Senator Bernie Sanders</span><span style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">—presently </span><a href="http://www.npr.org/2016/04/25/475658752/harvard-poll-millennials-yearn-for-bernie-but-prefer-clinton-to-trump"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">the only 2016 candidate who
Millenials view favorably</span></a><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">. But after last night’s results in Maryland, Pennsylvania, and elsewhere,
the nomination of former Secretary Hillary Clinton as the Democratic candidate
for the presidency is now all but inevitable, leaving millions of young progressives
disappointed. However, the future of progressivism cannot be about any singular
candidate, and much work remains for those who wish to give our children a more
compassionate and just America. The following 7 goals are where those who
#FeelTheBern can turn to continue the fight.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">1. Vote this November.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">While the
Democratic primary has been more substantive than the other side, a majority of young progressives
who support Sanders still feel hesitance toward Clinton. However, she is the
closest in policy and priority to Sanders of any other candidate this election.
A Clinton victory in November would protect women’s rights, ensure another
progressive on the Supreme Court, and raise the waters for down-ticket
progressive support, such as Congressional candidate and Sanders supporter
Zephyr Teachout. Even the most anti-Hillary progressive should consider her
come November; the alternative—Donald Trump—is simply too disastrous. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">2. Bottom-up governance.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">It is
well-documented that Democrats have </span><a href="http://www.vox.com/2015/10/19/9565119/democrats-in-deep-trouble"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">failed</span></a><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"> at electing people not
named Barak Obama over the past </span><a href="http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2014/12/democratic_party_s_losses_at_the_state_level_are_extraordinary_the_party.html"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">decade</span></a><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">, allowing the GOP to
control the House, Senate, 70% of state legislatures, and a majority of
governors. At the federal level, since the 2010 midterm elections we have seen
how difficult making progress can be with a Republican-dominated legislature.
And while progressive Millenials like to dream nationally, the mechanisms for
enforcing many of our policy positions—from universal healthcare (including
mental health) to education reform—lie at the state and local level. Perhaps
more importantly, state elections are the only place where redistricting and
criminal justice reform can occur. If progressives do not think and act locally,
we will continue to be politically out-flanked by conservatives for a
generation. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">3. Structural reforms.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Before going
straight to emotion-laden policy goals like immigration, a woman’s right to
choose, and gun control, the new progressive generation needs to focus serious energy
on structural improvements to how the game of politics is played. Overturning </span><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2014/01/21/how-citizens-united-changed-politics-in-6-charts/"><i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Citizens United</span></i></a><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"> and the intricacies of primary voting has grabbed
our collective attention, but there has been less rage about the </span><a href="http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/04/republican-voting-rights-supreme-court-id"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">gutting of the Voting
Rights Act</span></a><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">
and the </span><a href="https://www.aclu.org/news/aclu-files-lawsuit-behalf-thousands-kansans-blocked-voting-over-illegal-documentation"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">legalized voter
suppression</span></a><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">
which followed it. Just as important are reforms for judicial elections: while
the framers of the U.S. Constitution prohibited elections for federal bench,
states—where over 90% of all cases are heard—have free reign to decide how to
select their own judges. Former Supreme Court Justice </span><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/23/opinion/23oconnor.html?_r=0"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Sandra Day O’Connor</span></a><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"> and organizations such as
the </span><a href="https://www.brennancenter.org/publication/bankrolling-bench-new-politics-judicial-elections"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Brennan Center for Justice</span></a><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"> have spoken out about the
influence of seeking reelection has on how judges decide cases.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">4. Criminal justice.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">The frequent murders of unarmed black men and
mass shootings in 2015 have rightfully made criminal justice an important topic
for 2016. Common sense gun control, reforming the training and diversification
of police forces, and cultural changes at both the national and community level
must be achieved if we hope to reduce the instances of similar tragedies in the
future. Further, progressives should push for </span><a href="http://www.drugpolicy.org/resource/drug-war-mass-incarceration-and-race"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">sentencing reforms</span></a><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"> which no longer target </span><a href="https://www.aclu.org/drug-war-new-jim-crow"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">communities of color</span></a><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">,
as well as oppose the expanse of privatized prisons (though Clinton seems to
hold a </span><a href="http://www.politico.com/blogs/under-the-radar/2016/02/clinton-campaign-gives-private-prison-lobbyist-cash-to-charity-218524"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">mixed position</span></a><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"> here). For Millenials, moving beyond
President Obama should mean opposing the continued expanse of </span><a href="http://rare.us/story/where-do-the-2016-candidates-stand-on-the-patriot-act-and-mass-surveillance/"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">government surveillance</span></a><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"> which he continued from the Bush
Administration, as well as the </span><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/james-zogby/cve-in-the-us-more-harm-t_b_7868180.html"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">discriminatory</span></a><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"> Countering Violent Extremism (CVE)
initiative. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">5. Social justice.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Movements like #BlackLivesMatter have worked to push social justice to the fore of our national discussion leading up to the 2016 elections. Coming to age during these time have made Millenials particularly sensitive to ethnic and racial inequalities. Young progressives of all colors should be allies of communities which have been marginalized, disenfranchised, and underserved. While much of this remains cultural change which cannot be legislated, progressives can make policy accomplishments by fighting poverty, rejecting </span><a href="https://twitter.com/JeanetteJing/status/674599793365094401"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">xenophobic immigration policies</span></a><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">, requiring equal pay for equal work, advancing disability rights, and accepting more refugees from war-torn countries. And while the Supreme Court delivered a major victory for gay rights, the “religious freedom” bills—legitimized discrimination—being introduced in state legislatures throughout the country show that work remains undone.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">6. Equal economic opportunity.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">This was the
central issue of the Sanders campaign, and it behooves those most effected,
those with college debt or little work experience, to continue the fight. To
properly address the causes of income inequality, we must look to expanding
early education, public school finance reform, and college affordability. These
achievements will allow future generations of disadvantaged Americans to
compete on a more level ground than exists now. For the present workforce, we
must continue advocating for more progressive tax structures, increased
employee rights, such as paid parental leave, benefits for part-time workers,
and a living wage for all full-time employees. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">7. Principled foreign policy.</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Lastly,
progressives must support policies abroad which are in line with our founding
principles of democracy and human rights—yes, </span><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/bernie-sanders-hillary-clinton-israel_us_57114f60e4b0060ccda353ab"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">even for the Palestinians</span></a><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">. The United States must
lead by example in supporting these ideals while conforming to domestic and
international law, in contrast to the Cowboy Diplomacy of the Right. This
stance requires </span><a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/04/21/iraq.hillary/"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">measured and limited use</span></a><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"> of an efficient Department
of Defense which protects Americans without </span><a href="http://www.military.com/daily-news/2015/01/28/pentagon-tells-congress-to-stop-buying-equipment-it-doesnt-need.html"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">unnecessary expenditure</span></a><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">. And those who serve us
must be treated with the respect they deserve when they come home, including
educational and employment opportunities, mental and physical health services, and
an expanded Transition GPS (Goals, Plans, Success) program.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">These 7
goals can help to frame and structure the energy and passion that Millenial
progressives have shown in support of Senator Bernie Sanders. While his 2016
presidential candidacy has little hope of succeeding, the policy stances
Sanders brought to the fore—income inequality, education reform, and limited
military force—are worthy of carrying beyond 2016 to create a future in which
our generation can believe. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2064442310093151136.post-81763213563262673212016-02-28T23:46:00.005-05:002016-02-28T23:46:53.043-05:00Xenophobia Has No Place in America<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Posted on <a href="http://www.fairobserver.com/region/north_america/xenophobia-has-no-place-in-america-42023/">Fair Observer</a>.<br />
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On January 16, <a href="http://www.rawstory.com/2016/01/my-heart-is-so-broken-now-muslim-man-beaten-for-speaking-arabic-on-philadelphia-street/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #059cc7; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Amine Aouam was battered</a> on the streets of Philadelphia so badly that he regained consciousness in the emergency room. His transgression? Speaking Arabic. Last November, two men were <a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/cheats/2015/11/20/philly-men-pulled-off-flight-for-speaking-arabic.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #059cc7; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">temporarily barred</a> from boarding their flight in Chicago, causing delays and involving airport security. What was their suspicious behavior? Speaking Arabic. In October, <a href="http://abc7ny.com/news/brooklyn-father-allegedly-stabbed-for-speaking-arabic-two-teen-brothers-arrested/1048641/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #059cc7; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Said Othman was stabbed</a> in Brooklyn, and in February 2015, a man was <a href="http://www.freep.com/story/news/local/2015/02/19/dearborn-kroger-man-assaulted-isis/23708665/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #059cc7; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">attacked</a> in Dearborn, Michigan. Speaking Arabic was also the provocation in these acts of violence and hate.</div>
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This pattern troubles me, as it should trouble all Americans. These attacks are not isolated and cannot be ignored; they are the implicit consequence of the vitriolic rhetoric that has surrounded Islam and Arabs this election season.</div>
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These men, along with countless others whose victimization has gone unreported, bear the burden created by the xenophobic and opportunistic rhetoric and policies proffered by many of our public figures.</div>
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While neither Arab nor Muslim, I cannot help but feel that my family has been attacked when I read of such ignorant hatred. My late grandmother was born in 1922 to immigrants who, like all who freely came to these shores, arrived in hopes of living a better life.</div>
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An oft-told story of Grandma’s involved social rejection from other children at school because her family spoke Polish at home. Facing ostracization, she vowed to no longer speak her parents’ language. While Grandma regretted not passing on her Polish heritage, her commitment to America never waned. She proudly recalled her time working in a factory in central New York as part of the ubiquitous war effort during World War II.</div>
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Yet my repulsion from such bigotry goes beyond my family’s past—they feel like attacks against my family’s future, as well. My fiancée is an Arab Muslim, heiress to the same rich cultural tradition of the aforementioned victims in Philadelphia, Chicago, Brooklyn and Dearborn. Like Grandma, she was raised in a bilingual household that welcomed everyone with open arms and open hearts. If we have a son, he might look like Amine or sound like Said. Will I have to worry for his safety, simply for speaking his mother’s language?</div>
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This must be the same worry that every Arab parents faces in America today. Xenophobia and ignorance have once denied my family’s access to the benefits of bilingualism. Do not allow it to happen again.</div>
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In every area of American triumph, there are the fingerprints of the hard work and unique insights of new Americans. They are grateful for new beginnings and bring with them the experiences and lessons of the lands they left, enriching the lives of us all. Despite this, since before our founding, conflict between newcomers and those already here has, unfortunately, been a tradition on this land.</div>
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But if Americans wish to derive pride as a nation built by and composed of immigrants, refugees, pilgrims and slaves, this is unacceptable.</div>
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So let us begin a new American tradition. Let us marginalize the bigots who use hatred as a political tool. Xenophobia should not be an effective tool in America. Let us be not only a diverse people, but an open and accepting people as well. Let us celebrate the cultural and religious flexibility that the founding ideals allow, and embrace our differences, not denigrate or diminish them.</div>
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Instead of denying Muslim refugees and attacking Arabic speakers, we should show them <em style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: inherit;">współczucie</em>, the Polish word for compassion. That is how Grandma, who loved irrespective of race, religion and even sexual orientation, would have wanted it.</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2064442310093151136.post-11176575038718848332016-02-28T23:45:00.001-05:002016-02-28T23:48:18.483-05:00The Presidential Race We Deserve<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The political discourse of shouting, speaking in platitudes,
making vague and nebulous claims, blatant lies, mis-information, and xenophobia
has dominated this election cycle. Individually none of this is new in
politics, but they are combined and accentuated to create the worst political
discourse that I can remember. While it is easy to blame particular candidates,
demographics, or industries, the blame for the degradation of our national
politics lies with We The People. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">First, political campaigns react to nothing more strongly
than polls, perception, and donations. No political candidate could afford repetitious
lying or unapologetic scapegoating if there were either financial or electoral consequences.
Relatedly, the ubiquitously vilified American media are largely, at the bottom
line, private corporations which aim to turn profits. Contemporary coverage and
narratives are more often driven by our desires than by civic duty. Our clicks
and views tell outlets what stories will lead to greater ad revenue and bigger
audiences. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Next, our understandable frustration with our economy, foreign
policy, and other issues has turned the American people against anyone with prior
political experience. This is an erroneous approach. By analogy, if an airplane
crashes due to pilot error, no one would fire the pilots and hire accountants—instead,
better pilots would be employed. Likewise, we should not replace our current politicians
with surgeons, businessmen, or preachers, but instead with better politicians. Indeed,
when a plane crashes, hundreds can die in an instant, but when a country is led
by misguided policies, thousands can die in needless violence, hunger, or
disease. The aversion of the American people toward those with even a basic
understanding of legislation and governance has decreased the political
discourse among presidential candidates and will undoubtedly decrease how we are
served by our government. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Last, and perhaps most importantly, we have allowed ourselves
to <a href="http://www.edweek.org/tm/articles/2014/09/17/tm-constitution-day.html">under-fund</a>
crucial programs in civics and humanities at both primary and secondary levels.
By viewing education as merely a means to employment, teaching only performance
on standardized tests, and <a href="http://www.tulsaworld.com/opinion/othervoices/fareed-zakaria-america-s-obsession-with-stem-education-dangerous/article_40bcdb20-dbbb-5eed-8fb8-076d2c8e9122.html">obsessing</a>
over <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2014/03/the-myth-of-the-science-and-engineering-shortage/284359/">science
and technology education</a>, we habitually let our children down by ignoring
coursework and lessons which instill citizenship. Studying the humanities, for
example, has been <a href="https://www.aamc.org/newsroom/reporter/may2014/380438/humanities.html">shown</a>
to increase empathy, a trait badly needed in our public discourse about immigrants,
refugees, and Muslims. Greater requirements and resources for courses in
history, political science, and government would create a more informed, more
engaged, and more diverse electorate than <a href="http://www.people-press.org/2012/08/10/what-voters-know-about-campaign-2012/">we
have now</a>. More knowledgeable voters would have a greater ability to discern
fanciful promises from practical solutions, and have a greater understanding of
the context and contents of our Constitution. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">From school funding decisions
to clicking sensationalist headlines, and from tolerating xenophobic statements
to shunning policy nuance, we have built a political discourse that reflects the
worst in us. In this election, our candidates represent how little we collectively
think about and pay attention to public policy. In order to change our
politics, we must change ourselves. Thomas Jefferson tasked us to do so,
famously writing, “An educated citizenry is a vital requisite for our survival
as a free people.” It may be too late to change 2016, but by improving our
civic knowledge and engagement, we can lay the groundwork for a better 2020 and
beyond.</span></div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2064442310093151136.post-4309870905340261492016-01-05T15:53:00.000-05:002016-01-05T15:54:21.580-05:00The “Citizens for Constitutional Freedom” Claim to Defend the Constitution. Here’s Why They’re Wrong.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Three days ago, a group of armed individuals took occupation of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service's Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, a federal building in remote Oregon. They did so on behalf of fellow ranchers who recently <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/US/oregon-ranchers-expected-report-california-prison-amid-armed/story?id=36079385" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">turned themselves in</a> for setting fire to federal land. In both traditional and social media, a national debate has emerged as to how the government should address this situation, and whether those involved are protesters, occupiers, terrorists, insurgents, or a militia. While these are important discussions, at the heart of the matter is an invocation of the U.S. Constitution which has largely been overlooked.</div>
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Cliven Bundy, one of the individuals, has <a href="http://bundyranch.blogspot.com/2016/01/for-immediate-press-release-cliven-d.html" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">argued</a>, “The United States Justice Department has NO jurisdiction or authority within the State of Oregon, County of Harney over this type of ranch management. These lands are not under U.S. treaties or commerce, they are not article 4 territories, and Congress does not have unlimited power.” Thus, Bundy and the others view the federal government’s ownership of the land as unconstitutional. As such, they have now labeled themselves Citizens for Constitutional Freedom.</div>
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The relevant clause in Article IV of the Constitution that Bundy referenced reads, “The Congress shall have Power to dispose of and make all needful Rules and Regulations respecting the Territory or other Property belonging to the United States…” Bundy proffered no further explanation as to why the refuge does not fall under this language. Regardless, the acquisition of control of federal land within states has long been settled in Supreme Court cases such as <i>Hutchings v. Low</i>, 82 US 77 (1872) (affirming the constitutionality of Yosemite National Park) and <i>Alabama v. Texas</i>, 347 US 272 (1954) (“The power over the public land thus entrusted to Congress is without limitations. And it is not for the courts to say how that trust shall be administered. That is for Congress to determine.”). Supreme Court decisions are law, which only can be overturned by later Supreme Court rulings or constitutional amendments, not by armed occupation.</div>
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As such, allow me to suggest an alternative label for the “Citizens for Constitutional Freedom”: criminals. Under 25 CFR 11.411 a person is liable for criminal trespass if he or she “knowing that he or she is not licensed or privileged to do so, he or she enters or surreptitiously remains in any building or occupied structure.” The refuge has <a href="http://www.fws.gov/refuge/malheur/" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">now been closed</a>, and they remain in the building. Further, they have the aggravating circumstance of possessing firearms within a federal building while committing a crime, as proscribed by 18 U.S.C. §930(b), which could land them up to five years in prison.</div>
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In the United States, processes and institutions exist for the redress of grievances. Government structures are of course not always well-functioning, and civil disobedience is a route other Americans have taken in order to initiate structural changes. However, civil disobedience does not come at the end of a gun barrel. It comes willing to accept the punishment and actions of the state as a means to show onlookers the injustice of the law. By being armed, and <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/oregon-militia-federal-building_568959dfe4b06fa688829f2c" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">declaring a willingness “to kill and be killed”</a>, these individuals present a threat to any federal authority who might arrive to lawfully remove the group from the premises.</div>
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Ensuring governmental authority remains limited is an important part of American citizenship, but the “Citizens for Constitutional Freedom” would gain more sympathy if they had a credible claim. They treat the Constitution as a legal code, expecting the document to anticipate all governmental actions in 4,543 words. However, John Marshall wrote in <i>McCulloch v. Maryland</i> 17 US 316 (1819) that a Constitution contains the “great outlines” of a legal system. So when we read the document looking for absolutist interpretations, “we must never forget that it is a Constitution we are expounding.”</div>
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The Constitution is not a static document, but comes to us through centuries of adjudication and interpretation. Ignoring the text and the path it has taken since 1787 renders one’s interpretation and analysis incomplete. Our political discourse would benefit greatly from more detailed and nuanced discussions around both the strengths and flaws of our foundational legal document. Committing armed trespass while making vague constitutional references injects no such detail or nuance, and only further obfuscates how the Constitution influences our interactions with each other and our government. </div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2064442310093151136.post-68181946668616258862015-11-18T16:48:00.000-05:002015-11-18T16:48:34.438-05:00Safe spaces and court cases: what protesters and professors get wrong on political correctness<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The recent protests on college campuses, particularly at the University of Missouri–Columbia and Yale University, targeting insufficient actions to act against racism on the parts of respective administrations, has brought to the fore a complex and important set of questions for all Americans to consider. The rhetoric in both support of, and opposition to, the angered students has made straw men of the arguments on the other side. A more informed and nuanced discussion of the role of free expression in a community with rampant racial tensions could be a step toward understanding between the opposing viewpoints. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The actions at these universities </span><a href="http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/11/12/us/racial-discrimination-protests-ignite-at-colleges-across-the-us.html?_r=0" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0563c1; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">across the country</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> have poured forth stories of the disheartening experiences of black students, both </span><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/11/us/an-original-missouri-concerned-student-1950-speaks-at-age-89.html" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0563c1; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">past</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and </span><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/students-share-what-its-like-to-be-black-at-mizzou_56439736e4b0603773476699" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0563c1; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">present</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. After a string of high-profile murders of black men at the hands of police officers, the country again finds itself publicly acknowledging the racial tensions that have </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Between-World-Me-Ta-Nehisi-Coates/dp/0812993543" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0563c1; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">never truly gone away</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. However, the story many Americans have received over the past week seems to have been twisted, with those students claiming to be victims of racism being questioned, without similar discourse around those who have been accused of actually creating victims and furthering racial tension. As Virginia Pasley </span><a href="http://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2015/11/12/455748353/on-campus-racism-and-the-fairy-tale-of-the-p-c-police" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0563c1; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">has argued</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, “Maybe we shouldn't worry so much about the students who ask that others consider their feelings and their histories, the ones who don't want to talk to reporters, the ones who would like people to stop wearing Native American headdresses or blackface to Halloween parties.” </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">However, the creation of </span><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/15/opinion/sunday/the-seduction-of-safety-on-campus-and-beyond.html" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0563c1; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">safe spaces</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> by protesting students at Mizzou and the outrage of Yale students toward an </span><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/09/nyregion/yale-culturally-insensitive-halloween-costumes-free-speech.html" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0563c1; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">administrator’s view on racially insensitive Halloween costumes</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> has put free expression and political correctness in the titles of critical commentaries. Shockingly few of these critics, of course, have acknowledged that students at Mizzou may have </span><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2015/11/11/theres-a-good-reason-protesters-at-the-university-of-missouri-didnt-want-the-media-around/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0563c1; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">good reason to distrust the media</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and its discourse. Many Americans are uncomfortable with addressing race as such, and instead would rather drip of cowardice by denigrating political correctness; a heuristic for defending racial insensitivity. Indeed, these objections to safe spaces and political correctness often come from positions of privilege: those who have experienced no need for safety and for whom culture need not be corrected. </span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And so the type of political correctness found on the modern university campus is a public attempt toward empathy. Supporters view the wrongs of history as seeds which bring forth the perennial pain of inequality in American society. Political correctness is one step toward denying nourishment to those seeds, in hopes they will not bloom again. Without this empathic listening and a willingness to understand the realities of others, a person with privilege often cannot see their own advantages. Urging politically correct expression, then, is one way of encouraging and displaying an understanding of the lack of socioeconomic privilege that comes with race, gender, ability, sexual orientation, and other differences. It is a way of saying that society is </span><a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2015/01/an-optimists-guide-to-political-correctness/384927/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0563c1; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">at least trying</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> to recognize hardships based on these immutable characteristics. </span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But these realities do not render the protesters infallible. Previously, political correctness dealt exclusively with social and private constraints: violators of these norms would be shunned, boycotted, named, and shamed. However, now those seeking to uphold a more socially just culture call for the imposition of legally or institutionally punitive measures on those who utter undesired expression. This is a fundamental shift. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">American law is based on philosophical liberalism, which </span><a href="http://poseidon01.ssrn.com/delivery.php?ID=380124069122108090093010069121065081059089022064027023064107065125083019119006000123033062000029047123108124079076082114002031058071007053078077067088068000106095064050012093098103074114121067016117028069087116096068123121092121123100118069006066091&EXT=pdf" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0563c1; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">requires the accommodation</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> of contrary views for consideration in the marketplace of ideas. While free expression is not absolute in the U.S., protections remain broad. When striking down a statute aimed at banning cross burning, the U.S. Supreme Court wrote in </span><a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/01-1107.ZS.html" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0563c1; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">a 2003 case</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> that the government can justifiably limit “those statements where the speaker means to communicate a serious expression of an intent to commit an act of unlawful violence to a particular individual or group of individuals”. This “serious expression” of an intent to commit violence is a very specific standard for limiting expression. In </span><a href="https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/562/09-751/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0563c1; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">2011 the Court found</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> the Westboro Baptist Church protected by the First Amendment when protesting a soldier’s funeral with outrageous signage. It held that the group had the right to address public issues on public property in a peaceful manner. The police can, at times, punish an expressive act for the potential results or context of that speech, but vanishingly rarely for the content thereof. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Is our legal tradition at odds with state-enforced political correctness? UCLA Law Professor Eugene Volokh </span><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2015/11/10/missouri-u-police-call-us-about-harmful-or-hurtful-speech/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0563c1; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">seems to think so</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, objecting to the Mizzou university police’s request for the reporting of “hurtful” speech. University of Chicago Law Professor Geoffrey R. Stone would agree, arguing that </span><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/geoffrey-r-stone/understanding-the-free-sp_b_8535304.html" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0563c1; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">no university should take positions on matters of substance</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. One Mizzou professor has accused the student protesters of having an “</span><a href="http://www.npr.org/2015/11/10/455532242/analysis-at-the-university-of-missouri-an-unlearned-free-speech-lesson" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0563c1; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">a la carte</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">” approach to the First Amendment. So while supporters of these student protesters assert that free expression does not equal the </span><a href="http://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/race-and-the-free-speech-diversion" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0563c1; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">freedom to bully</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, </span><a href="http://www.salon.com/2015/11/11/bring_on_the_outrage_go_ahead_and_hate_on_coddled_college_kids_just_admit_that_anti_p_c_backlash_is_fueled_by_outrage_too/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0563c1; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">outraged</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> detractors view their political correctness as a </span><a href="http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2015/11/can-we-take-political-correctness-seriously-now.html" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0563c1; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">denial of legitimate political discourse</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, and some have gone to hyperbolically compare it to </span><a href="http://hlrecord.org/2015/11/fascism-at-yale/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0563c1; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">fascism</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. </span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The critics, however, have lost sight of their own context. Almost all people have a list of topics not worthy of public debate. Take miscegenation as an example: most modern-day Americans would be troubled by a university giving prominent speaking time to an individual wishing to convince others of its immorality. In classes, we would be troubled if our children were ‘taught the controversy’ that inter-racial marriage may or may not be morally defensible. We do not need to actively censor these ideas; a vast majority feel that society has resolved these issues and moved beyond these discussions. But this is generational; many Americans felt differently about miscegenation only three generations ago. Thus with present college students: what many of them find unworthy topics of serious public discourse (racially insensitive Halloween costumes, for example), older commentators find to be legitimate political issues about which reasonable people may disagree. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The modern challenge of racism is that few people are consciously or actively engaged in overt discriminatory practices which lead to evidenced subjugation of those who are not straight white males. One could sardonically note that blacks just so happen to be arrested, jailed, and killed at astronomical rates, for example. But even if racism is less legally identifiable, it is no less important to combat. Advocating for political correct expression sets the tone of acceptable discourse in society. However, involving the machinery of the state to compel socially responsible expression creates a conflict between social justice and individual liberty. Resolving that conflict in favor of social justice would require a wider re-cognition of the American legal system, which is largely based on individual liberty. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The institution of American law, of course, has been created, shaped, and maintained nearly exclusively by white males, many of whom view their job as simply </span><a href="http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/09/12/roberts.statement/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0563c1; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">calling balls and strikes</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. This is a problematic claim that one can and should hold inherently objective views, with no subjective reflection of one’s experiences. There rarely exists the recognition that a biased strike-zone renders the mere calling of balls and strikes an act of bias itself. Thus, yelling ‘First Amendment!’ at students of color when they demand safe spaces or institutional condemnation of racist expression comes across as tone deaf to the greater challenge of re-understanding what is fair for all in America. Many of the students making headlines have moved beyond </span><a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/culturally-speaking/201112/colorblind-ideology-is-form-racism" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0563c1; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">the colorblind fallacy</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, understanding that race-blind policies entrench the structurally unequal status quo.</span></div>
<br /><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Yet here lies the nuance: while the First Amendment was in fact written entirely by white males, many of whom owned slaves, and has been almost exclusively interpreted and applied by white males, it is not inherently void. Rendering it so would be </span><a href="http://www.nizkor.org/features/fallacies/genetic-fallacy.html" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #0563c1; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">fallacious</span></a><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. It can be considered voidable, and the context of its creation should be understood when assessing it. Such an assessment should subject the First Amendment and the U.S. Constitution itself to debate on college campuses, full of vehement, caustic, and sometimes unpleasantly sharp criticisms. Students should be uninhibited, robust, and wide-open in their discussion of these documents, so that all races, genders, and experiences have a voice. Indeed, an inclusive discourse, where subjective experiences are expressed, where hot emotions clash with cold reason, would be most fitting for the First Amendment. Because that is all it asks for.</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2064442310093151136.post-63910692195865451052015-03-12T15:33:00.003-04:002015-03-12T15:34:48.536-04:00Assured Dysfunction: Egypt’s Parliamentary Constituencies Law<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
This post can also be found at the <a href="http://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/egyptsource/assured-dysfunction-egypt-s-parliamentary-constituencies-law">Atlantic Council</a>.<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px;">Earlier this week Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi approved a law to govern the upcoming parliamentary elections, presently scheduled to occur “</span><a href="http://www.dailynewsegypt.com/2014/12/09/egypts-political-parties-split-new-parliamentary-laws/" style="background-color: white; color: #3363ad; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px;">before the end of March 2015</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px;">.” The law creates an electoral system which is overly complex, marginalizes political parties, and allows for easy government manipulation. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px;">In accordance with Article 102 of the Egyptian Constitution, the law </span><a href="http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/117628.aspx" style="background-color: white; color: #3363ad; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px;">calls for</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px;"> the House of Representatives to include 567 members: 120 members chosen from closed party lists, 420 individuals elected by geographic districts, and 27 member appointed by the president. Each elected official will serve a 5-year term. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px;">Regarding the 120 seats chosen from closed party lists, Egypt will be divided into four large geographic regions. Each party will have a separate list with candidates from each region. The final 120 members </span><a href="http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/117621/Egypt/Politics-/Egypt-Cabinet-approves-parliament-constituencies-l.aspx" style="background-color: white; color: #3363ad; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px;">must include</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px;"> at least 24 Christians, 21 females, 8 Egyptians living abroad, and 8 handicapped persons. Regarding the 420 individuals, they </span><a href="http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/118013/Egypt/Politics-/Court-revision-of-electoral-constituencies-law-mak.aspx" style="background-color: white; color: #3363ad; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px;">will be elected</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px;"> as independents from 237 electoral districts. Of those districts, 83 will elect a single representative, 123 will elect two, and 30 will elect three representatives. Presidential spokesperson Alaa Youssef stated that each elected member would “</span><a href="http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/118608/Egypt/Politics-/BREAKING-Sisi-ratifies-Egypt-electoral-constituenc.aspx" style="background-color: white; color: #3363ad; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px;">represent equal segments of the electorate</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px;">.” </span><br />
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PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS TIMELINE</h4>
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<li style="border-top-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); border-top-style: dotted; border-top-width: 1px; line-height: inherit; padding: 5px 0px;">June 9: <a href="http://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/egyptsource/egypt-s-parliamentary-elections-law-a-setback-for-democracy" style="color: #333333; text-decoration: none;">The Parliamentary Election Law is issued by then-interim President Adly Mansour.</a></li>
<li style="border-top-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); border-top-style: dotted; border-top-width: 1px; line-height: inherit; padding: 5px 0px;">December 8: <a href="http://www.dailynewsegypt.com/2014/12/09/egypts-political-parties-split-new-parliamentary-laws/" style="color: #333333; text-decoration: none;">The Electoral Districts Committee sent the bill to the cabinet for approval of the proposed 231 electoral districts.</a></li>
<li style="border-top-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); border-top-style: dotted; border-top-width: 1px; line-height: inherit; padding: 5px 0px;">December 10: <a href="http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/117621/Egypt/Politics-/Egypt-Cabinet-approves-parliament-constituencies-l.aspx" style="color: #333333; text-decoration: none;">Egypt’s cabinet approved the bill and sent it to the State Council.</a></li>
<li style="border-top-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); border-top-style: dotted; border-top-width: 1px; line-height: inherit; padding: 5px 0px;">December 15: <a href="http://en.aswatmasriya.com/news/view.aspx?id=517c7680-ff73-4161-8c11-8b9835e3355d" style="color: #333333; text-decoration: none;">the State Council increased the number of independent constituencies to 237 and approved the law.</a></li>
<li style="border-top-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); border-top-style: dotted; border-top-width: 1px; line-height: inherit; padding: 5px 0px;">December 16: <a href="http://en.aswatmasriya.com/news/view.aspx?id=517c7680-ff73-4161-8c11-8b9835e3355d" style="color: #333333; text-decoration: none;">The High Electoral Commission approved the law.</a></li>
<li style="border-top-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); border-top-style: dotted; border-top-width: 1px; line-height: inherit; padding: 5px 0px;">December 22: <a href="http://www.egyptindependent.com/news/egypt-s-sisi-ratifies-electoral-constituencies-law" style="color: #333333; text-decoration: none;">President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi approved the law.</a></li>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px;">This electoral system, like </span><a href="http://www.democracy-reporting.org/files/dri_egypt.pdf" style="background-color: white; color: #3363ad; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px;">others of Egypt’s past</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px;">, is complicated. The presence of a parallel voting system, similar to that of the 2012 constitution, is not by itself overly complicated. It is used in countries such as Japan and the Philippines. But a parallel voting system which includes new electoral districts of variable district magnitudes (the number of representatives elected in a given district) and four regional party lists is a lot to digest for any political community, especially one which has seen several new constitutions and heads of state within the past four years. The political process, for voters and parties, of </span><a href="file:///C:/Users/Ryan%20J.%20Suto/Downloads/Selb%20-%20Strategic%20Adaption%20to%20New%20Electoral%20Systems.pdf" style="background-color: white; color: #3363ad; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px;">learning the incentives of new electoral structure</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px;"> will be gradual, and will be based more on experiences from previous elections than detailed analyses of the current law. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px;">The benefits of the system’s complication, however, are not sufficient. Regarding district magnitude, only 30 districts will elect three candidates and 80 will elect only one, with the majority electing just two. These variations in district magnitude could have different effects on </span><a href="http://www.yale.edu/leitner/resources/papers/Riambau-DistrictMagnitude.pdf" style="background-color: white; color: #3363ad; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px;">strategic voting</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px;">, how </span><a href="http://elibraria.org/assets/1990-Cox-CentripetalCentrifugalIncenforElecSys.pdf" style="background-color: white; color: #3363ad; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px;">centrist or extreme</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px;"> the elected representatives are, and to what extent elected officials </span><a href="http://personal.lse.ac.uk/hix/Working_Papers/Carey-Hix_PubCh2013.pdf" style="background-color: white; color: #3363ad; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px;">deviate from the desires of voters</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px;">. While each elected official will represent </span><a href="http://www.dailynewsegypt.com/2014/12/09/egypts-political-parties-split-new-parliamentary-laws/" style="background-color: white; color: #3363ad; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px;">about 131,000 voters</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px;">, Egyptians in different electoral districts will be asked to vote and think in different ways. As such, Egyptian in districts which are physically much smaller in cities like Cairo and Alexandria will vote differently than Egyptians in physically larger districts in the desert and in Upper Egypt. Generally, the simultaneous use of a majoritarian system in parallel with a proportional system is motivated by the desire to mitigate the drawbacks of each. However, </span><a href="http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=8793054&fileId=S0007123412000233" style="background-color: white; color: #3363ad; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px;">it is unclear</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px;"> if this goal is actually achieved in practice. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px;">The marginalization of the political influence of parties by restricting them from participating in the majoritarian contests could be one such goal. Only 120 of 567 members of the legislature are allowed to carry the banner of a party. Even if all 120 proportionally-allotted seats were won by a single party, no governing legislative majority would be possible in order to present a unified voice to challenge the political power of the presidency. This was likely a desired result of those who crafted the electoral law: parties are given </span><a href="http://ahwatalk.com/2011/06/24/the-implications-of-egypt%E2%80%99s-proposed-electoral-system-long/#?1" style="background-color: white; color: #3363ad; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px;">far fewer seats</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px;"> than they were during the late-2011 through early-2012 legislative elections which were dominated by the Muslim Brotherhood. The past electoral strength of Muslim Brotherhood has likely turned the present government sour to political parties, thus leading to a conscious decision to marginalize their potential strength within electoral politics. Nonetheless, the </span><a href="http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/117628.aspx" style="background-color: white; color: #3363ad; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px;">Conference Party</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px;"> supports the law, and the</span><a href="http://www.dailynewsegypt.com/2014/12/09/egypts-political-parties-split-new-parliamentary-laws/" style="background-color: white; color: #3363ad; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px;">Wafd Party</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px;">, the </span><a href="http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/118676.aspx" style="background-color: white; color: #3363ad; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px;">Reform and Development Party, Egyptian Front, and Democratic Alliance</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px;"> will participate in the election, with many expressing criticism of the law. Both the </span><a href="http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/117628.aspx" style="background-color: white; color: #3363ad; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px;">Egyptian Social Democratic Party</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px;"> and </span><a href="http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/egypts-sisi-ratifies-electoral-constituencies-law-567092314" style="background-color: white; color: #3363ad; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px;">al Dostour Party</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px;"> have opposed the law. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px;">A related, though distinct, decision which strengthens the present government’s hand is the prevalence of geographically-based representatives. Farid Zahran of the Egyptian Social Democratic Party </span><a href="http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/117628.aspx" style="background-color: white; color: #3363ad; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px;">expressed concern</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px;"> the government might gerrymander, engaging in the splintering and packing of opposition-heavy geographic areas. Zahran is right to be concerned: the drawing of electoral districts by a unitary, partisan body is the easiest way </span><a href="http://dingo.sbs.arizona.edu/~ggoertz/iqrm/workshopir/berlin2011/readings/schedler2002.pdf" style="background-color: white; color: #3363ad; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px;">to manipulate the results</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px;"> of an election while maintaining the veil of legitimacy. Moreover, these elections are particularly important as the first parliamentary plebiscite under the 2014 constitution, as they will </span><a href="http://elibraria.org/assets/1997-Ishiyama-TransitElecSysinPost-communistEastEur.pdf" style="background-color: white; color: #3363ad; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px;">set the precedent of electoral behavior</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px;"> in all future elections. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px;">This law creates the need for both voters and parties to perform complex political calculus, nearly eliminates the ability for any party to form a legislative coalition, and gives the government an unchecked ability to draw electoral lines. In the context of a strong executive as both enshrined in the 2014 constitution and as seen in practice, this law assures that Egypt’s legislature will be too dysfunctional and manipulable to act as a legitimate check on executive power. </span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2064442310093151136.post-92006037679274575532014-12-22T09:47:00.002-05:002014-12-22T09:47:45.111-05:00Egypt’s New Terrorism Law<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
The original can be found at the Atlantic Council <a href="http://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/egyptsource/egypt-s-new-terrorism-law">here</a>.<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px;">Egyptian president Abdel Fattah al Sisi approved a new terrorism law earlier this month. While disturbing, the law is not surprising when viewed in the context of Egypt’s consistent rhetoric of its war against terror. With the Egyptian militant organization Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis recently pledging allegiance to the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), the threat is real. The recently passed law, however, comes at a high cost. </span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px;">First, the terrorism law is deeply flawed, as it is overly vague and allows legal culpability for constitutionally-protected actions. According to Article 1 of the </span><a href="http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/116565/Egypt/Politics-/Egypt-cabinet-approves-new-antiterrorism-law.aspx" style="background-color: white; color: #3363ad; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px;">new law</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px;">, “a terrorist entity is any group which disrupts public order or threatens the safety, security or interests of society, or harms or frightens individuals or threatens their lives, freedoms, rights or security or harms national unity…” Here, any organization that the Egyptian government claims has ‘disrupted public order,’ ‘threatens the interests of society,’ ‘frightens individuals,’ or ‘harms national unity’ can be labeled a terrorist organization. In reality, any organization which publicly expresses displeasure with the social or political status quo in Egypt could foreseeably fall into one of these categories. </span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px;">The </span><a href="http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/117091/Egypt/Politics-/Egyptian-NGO-urges-president-not-to-ratify-terrori.aspx" style="background-color: white; color: #3363ad; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px;">Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px;"> criticized the potential designation as a terrorist entity any group which calls “through any means to stop a specific law or overturn a court verdict,” noting that such wording could include peaceful political expression. Free expression is guaranteed in Article 65 of Egypt’s constitution. This law, however, empowers the government to label organizations which peacefully and constructively express political or social opposition as terrorists. In practice, this law could be used to silence, for example, organizations calling for protests against the verdict in which charges were dropped against ousted president Hosni Mubarak.</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px;">Second, the law gives the executive branch of the Egyptian government potentially damaging power over the rights of Egyptians with no or insufficient due process. The government first has </span><a href="http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/116565/Egypt/Politics-/Egypt-cabinet-approves-new-antiterrorism-law.aspx" style="background-color: white; color: #3363ad; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px;">the right to</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px;"> dissolve, freeze the assets of, and arrest the members of an organization designated as a terrorist entity in a manner discussed above. Under Article 74 of the Egyptian constitution, a political party can only be dissolved by a court judgment. The government can also </span><a href="http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205404215_text" style="background-color: white; color: #3363ad; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px;">create a list</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px;">of terrorist entities (Article 2) and a list of national security threats (Article 5). In short, the executive branch, security forces, and the public prosecution </span><a href="http://www.dailynewsegypt.com/2014/11/26/cabinet-approves-terrorist-entities-draft-law/" style="background-color: white; color: #3363ad; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px;">are empowered to</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px;"> identify and eliminate terrorist organizations by ending the organizations’ activities and seizing their property. </span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px;">Missing from the bill is any judicial or legislative involvement, and no requirements of evidence are to be submitted to any independent reviewer. While groups are</span><a href="http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/116565/Egypt/Politics-/Egypt-cabinet-approves-new-antiterrorism-law.aspx" style="background-color: white; color: #3363ad; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px;">allowed to appeal</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px;"> decisions labelling them terrorist entities, the label itself allows wholesale removal of all political, property, and monetary rights, which would only be restored if the appeal were successful—a process which the law itself allows to take up to three years. Effectively, the Egyptian government can unilaterally remove all functional rights from any organization without having to present any evidence of its claims for three years, potentially violating constitutional Article 54’s due process requirements for restricting rights and freedoms.</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px;">When considering the political context of this law, is important to remember that Egypt does face legitimate terrorism threats, primarily </span><a href="http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/security/2014/11/wave-of-terror-attacks-in-egypt.html" style="background-color: white; color: #3363ad; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px;">but not exclusively</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px;"> in Sinai. Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis has been a thorn in the side of every Egyptian government since 2011 and </span><a href="http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2014/12/egypt-ansar-maqdis-sinai-spread.html" style="background-color: white; color: #3363ad; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px;">shows no sign of stopping</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px;">. The Egyptian people have legitimate fears of violence which any government would have to address. </span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px;">However, laws which combat terrorism but still allow for free political expression exist both within Egypt and around the world. Article 237 of Egypt’s constitution, for example, allows the government to combat terrorism, but cannot logically be inferred to violate the free expression guarantees of the same document while maintaining consistency. The removal of all rights from peaceful and lawful organizations will not defeat Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis, and the Muslim Brotherhood has already been </span><a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-24208933" style="background-color: white; color: #3363ad; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px;">prevented from functioning</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px;">, had its assets frozen, and has </span><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/now-that-the-muslim-brotherhood-is-declared-a-terrorist-group-it-just-might-become-one/2014/01/10/268977d2-77d6-11e3-af7f-13bf0e9965f6_story.html" style="background-color: white; color: #3363ad; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px;">been declared</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px;"> a terrorist organization. The terrorist entities law is yet another example of legislation passed by the Egyptian authorities which aim to restrict public space. It joins the so-called </span><a href="http://www.dailynewsegypt.com/2014/09/11/amnesty-international-urges-egypt-withdraw-ngo-law/" style="background-color: white; color: #3363ad; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px;">NGO law</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px;">, which has given the Egyptian state regulatory authority over NGO funding and activity, and a restrictive protest law requiring that the ministry of interior receive prior notification of all demonstrations.</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px;">In the context of these previous legal actions, the goal of Egypt’s new terrorism law appears to be to suffocate the country’s civil society by granting the government the ability to eliminate any group it sees fit without providing evidence or reasoning. The ambiguous wording also affords it the opportunity to silence critics, activists, and journalists. This will chill any attempts to present alternatives to the political or social status quo, which is a key function of civil society and a free media in a liberal democratic society. </span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2064442310093151136.post-2261712152738669892014-12-14T13:29:00.000-05:002014-12-14T13:42:00.538-05:00Explaining America: #BlackLivesMatter and CIA Torture<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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One of the hats I wear is a teacher of English as a new
language, mostly to new Americans. They all came here for a reason—for a better
shot at happiness—and as such generally have a personal stake in the American
Dream not only being a reality, but having room for them and their children, as
well. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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In order to present a full picture of the United States,
however, I try to allow the students to draw their own conclusions from the
country’s past: our relations with Native Americans, our Founding, our
reactions to the various waves of immigrants, the history of slavery and its
role in our governmental development, and the Women’s Rights, Civil Rights, and
Gay Rights movements. The 2000 presidential election, for example, is a great
lesson on our respect for governance institutions. I try to highlight the pressures
and interests which explain what seems bad about American history and note the asterisks
which often follow what seems good about American history. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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In previous months, I have been asked questions which lead
to teachable moments. An individual burning a Quran in Florida leads to a
wonderful discussion of free speech and the path of 1<sup>st</sup> Amendment
litigation during the 20<sup>th</sup> Century and where it stands today. A discussion
on curbing climate change leads to a mention of the Kyoto Protocol, and therefore
a lesson on the concept of dualism in international law. The controversies
surrounding the Affordable Care Act can lead to an important lesson on federalism.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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This past month has been different. Sure, the grand jury
verdict regarding the death of Michael Brown led to a discussion about evidence
and the presumption of innocence, but the verdict following the death of Eric
Garner made the previous lesson feel hollow. Of course the CIA Torture Report
can bring to the fore the separation of powers, but the existence of such programs which are so obviously <a href="http://justsecurity.org/18372/torture-report-step/">“contrary to our
values”</a> is difficult to present in a non-judgmental way. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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I love my country. I view America as a good literary protagonist:
she has a complex past and she does make mistakes, but she’s affable and fundamentally
good. These terrible news stories, however, have made explaining America more
difficult and more troubling. Are Jim Crow and <i>Korematsu</i> really just skeletons in America’s closet, or are they
examples of her deep flaws which she refuses to address? December 2014 suggests
the latter. <o:p></o:p></div>
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The beauty and frustration of a federal republic is that no
single institution can address these flaws alone. But America’s story is not
over: We The People must actively engage in all levels of governance in order
to write the chapter that we wish to read. Looking forward to 2015, I hope we write
for America a better future, so when it eventually becomes the past itself, the
job of explaining America will be an easy one.<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2064442310093151136.post-75867610822997671002014-11-06T09:05:00.000-05:002014-11-06T10:46:35.602-05:00Simplistic and Orientalist: How Atheists Attack Religion<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Over
the past month a refreshed debate between atheism and Islam has been raging in
the Anglosphere. While hardly new—Atheists have been intellectually attacking
religion in general and Islam in particular since 9/11—this debate has
intensified since the exploits of the “Islamic State” have given rise to a new
brand of religiously-inspired violence which has terrified much of the West. <a href="http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/09/27/1332748/-Bill-Maher-s-controversial-New-Rule-on-liberals-and-the-Muslim-world" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">Bill Maher</span></a>, <a href="http://www.salon.com/2014/09/30/reza_aslan_takes_down_bill_mahers_facile_arguments_on_islam_in_just_5_minutes/" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">Reza Aslan</span></a>, <a href="http://hotair.com/archives/2014/10/04/video-bill-maher-and-sam-harris-versus-ben-affleck-on-islam/" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">Ben Affleck and Sam Harris</span></a>
have been the most high-profile participants in this debate by shouting past
each other on television. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">But
while religion genuinely has much to answer for regarding its place in and
contribution to the modern world, much of the criticism by the so-called New
Atheists has been simplistic and Orientalist—offending many and leaving others
unconvinced. </span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">An
atheistic point of view</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">For
those who view religion and religious belief as outsiders, it is clear that
there are many troubling features of religiosity which seem antiquated at best
and dangerous at worst. For example, one of the many objections to religion by
Western seculars is the jailing of people like <a href="http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/2/8/113166/World/Region/Tunisian-jailed-for-insulting-prophet-receives-sec.aspx" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">Jabeur Mejri</span></a> or the
repeated attacks and calls for murder against Danish cartoonist Kurt
Westergaard. Both men merely posted depictions of the Prophet Mohamed. Indeed,
the mocking or disrespect of any idea should never be met by <a href="http://mic.com/articles/15751/westboro-baptist-church-and-innocence-of-muslims-why-even-offensive-speech-must-be-protected" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">the threat of physical or legal force</span></a>.
The schoolyard rule remains true here: words are fought with words, and only
physical attacks, or the imminent threat thereof, warrant physical responses. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">When
attempting to discredit religiously based actions, atheists generally ignore
arguments of moral relativism and instead argue in favor of universal human
rights: protections for free expression, blasphemy, apostasy, and other actions
which have been claimed to violate various religious traditions such as
homosexuality and a denunciation of gender roles. While some see religion as <a href="https://www.opendemocracy.net/openglobalrights/larry-cox/human-rights-must-get-religion" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">the source of the conception of
universal human rights</span></a>, atheists find <a href="http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2201594" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">no need for religion here</span></a>
either, and instead find secular sources of human rights. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In
the face of violent actions which are claimed to be religiously motivated, many
mainstream theists (not to use <i><a href="http://www.newrepublic.com/article/118391/troubling-phrase-moderate-muslims-only-empowers-islamophobes" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">moderate</span></a></i>) attempt to
distance themselves from the perpetrators thereof. However, when peaceful
adherents of a religion state that violent adherents are not actually following
the faith, they are engaging in a <a href="http://www.iep.utm.edu/fallacy/#NoTrueScotsman" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">no true Scotsman</span></a> argument which merely pits their
interpretation of ancient texts against that of their co-religionists, whom
often similarly denounces the pacifism or tolerance of the mainstream. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Reza
Aslan <a href="http://nymag.com/scienceofus/2014/10/reza-aslan-on-what-the-new-atheists-get-wrong.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">tells us</span></a> that often both
the violent and peaceful versions of religion can often be validated by
interpretations of the same religious text. As such, deciding who ‘truly’
represents the religion is often a fruitless and impossible task. In defending
religion, Aslan <a href="http://mobile.nytimes.com/2014/10/09/opinion/bill-maher-isnt-the-only-one-who-misunderstands-religion.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">states</span></a>,</span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">People of faith insert their values into their Scriptures,
reading them through the lens of their own cultural, ethnic, nationalistic and
even political perspectives... If you are a violent misogynist, you will find
plenty in your scriptures to justify your beliefs. If you are a peaceful,
democratic feminist, you will also find justification in the scriptures for
your point of view.</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">So
the pious judge religion by their previously-held views, they do not judge
their views by their previously-held religion. If this is so, then it is clear
that secular foundations of understanding what is right and wrong are the
initial sources of our values, and only later do we mold religion to fit that
understanding. It has been clear for some time that religion is not a source of
scientific knowledge, and Aslan seems to unavoidably imply that it is not a
source of ethics, either. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Nietzsche
may not have killed God, but Darwin and now Aslan have certainly neutered him,
rendering impotent his follower’s claims of wisdom and social value.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Over
simplified argumentation</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Despite
this seemingly strong intellectual foundation from which atheists can argue,
their talking points have undermined their positions by being blatantly
simplistic. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">For
example, whether reading about conflicts in <a href="http://www.salon.com/2014/10/26/richard_dawkins_is_wrong_religion_is_not_inherently_violent/" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">the vast majority of human history</span></a>
or <a href="https://www.opendemocracy.net/arab-awakening/katerina-dalacoura/beyond-self-fulfilling-prophesy-religion-and-conflict-in-middle-ea" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">the contemporary Arab world</span></a>,
separating politics, religion, and economics is not only difficult, but it
renders analysis nonsensical. Attempting <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sean-mcelwee/stop-blaming-religion-for_b_4416137.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">to blame this war or that conflict on
religion</span></a>—or even claiming that certain atrocities would not have
occurred sans religious motivation—is an illusory argument which engages in
counter-factuals and an anachronistic view of human social organization, as
most societies have not viewed these concepts as inherently separate. When even
the “Islamic State” imposes a claimed “<a href="http://www.niqash.org/articles/?id=3497&ang=en" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">Islamic customs duty</span></a>” at the edge of their
controlled territory, the goals seem more financial than faithful. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Attempting
to remove mixed and alternative motivations like individual variables in a
physics experiment shows how much more complicated the human world can be than
the physical world. If religion provided the only necessary motivation toward
violence, then all religious people would be violent. Once another variable is
admitted, the confidence in our conclusions must be questioned: is religion the
driver and politics or nationalism or patriotism or xenophobia the passenger,
or <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2014/09/04/dont-blame-religion-for-rise-isis/" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">vice versa</span></a>? This ambiguity
shows that it is supremely foolish to conclude that <a href="http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/opinion/columnists/2014/08/14/middle-east-crisis-religion-cause/14039649/" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">religion is the source of all of our
troubles</span></a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Religion
is not ‘off the hook’ for providing an excuse to systematically oppress women,
nonbelievers, homosexuals, and others for a majority of human history, however.
It simply must reasonably share the blame with other human fears, desires,
motivations, and institutions.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The
original sin of Orientalism </span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">More
insidious than poor reasoning is Orientalism. Herein the term will be used to mean
a Western tendency and attempt to simplify, other, and impose external
interpretations on Islam. While figures like Sam Harris, Richard Dawkins, and
Bill Maher have attacked Christianity and religion in general, Islam has been
somewhat of an obsession of these vocal critics. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Harris
argues that <a href="http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20060207_reality_islam" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">Islam is simply different</span></a>:
its falsehoods more false, its dangers more dangerous. Harris’s contention that
<a href="http://www.salon.com/2014/09/17/atheists_dont_get_terrorism_why_sam_harris_fails_to_understand_the_islamic_threat_partner/" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">modern terrorism flows from Islam</span></a>
dances dangerously close to <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/media/2010/10/15/124417/kilmeade-muslim-terrorists/" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">belonging on Fox News</span></a>—and
is simply <a href="http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2013/05/muslims-only-carried-out-2-5-percent-of-terrorist-attacks-on-u-s-soil-between-1970-and-2012.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">incorrect</span></a>. But the
criticism does not stop at an association with terrorism. “<i>Islam breeds
theocracy!”</i> many Western atheists have claimed. Any more than Christianity?
The goals and methods of Christians have been, both historically and presently,
<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2014/02/21/the-islam-is-different-argument/" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">little different</span></a> than the
goals and methods of Muslims, and <a href="http://big.assets.huffingtonpost.com/toplines_churchstate_0403042013.pdf" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">34% of Americans</span></a> want the
United States to be a Christian theocracy. While the support for theocracy may
be higher in many majority Muslim countries, it’s important to note that the
difference is numerical, not categorical. Up until the 1960s Catholic Church
had <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2014/02/21/the-islam-is-different-argument/" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">no requirement that non-Catholics be
given rights to practice their religion</span></a>, a guarantee <a href="http://www.ahmadiyya.org/islam/tolerance.htm" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">found in the Quran</span></a> and many historical
interpretations thereof (though subject to the problems of interpretation mentioned
above). “<a href="http://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/international/216730-is-islamism-compatible-with-democracy#ixzz3CTfJSczm" target="_blank"><i><span style="color: blue;">Islam is anti-democratic!</span></i></a><i>”
</i>other Westerners have claimed. Less democratic than Catholicism, with its
patriarchal, trans-national hierarchy which emphasizes lay obedience? Many
questioned whether <a href="http://articles.latimes.com/2002/dec/22/opinion/op-avineri22" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">Catholic countries could become
democratic</span></a> back when they were the popular group to be othered. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Make
no mistake, however: It is specifically Islam which is the object of derision
from the New Atheists, not simply non-Western religions. Ignored has been the <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2014/06/19/world/asia/sri-lanka-muslim-aluthgama/" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">violence of Buddhists against Muslims</span></a>,
as well as <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/02/opinion/sunday/its-not-jihad-its-just-love.html?_r=0" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">Hindu attacks</span></a> in India
against Hindu female -Muslim male weddings. Just as religious people can
justify their motives with religion, these prominent atheists justify their
xenophobia toward Islam with critical argumentation. Islam is historically <a href="http://www.todayszaman.com/anasayfa_is-islam-more-violent-than-any-other-faith_358053.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">no aberration</span></a> with respect
to other religions on issues of <a href="http://communities.washingtontimes.com/neighborhood/just-enough-city/2013/may/1/which-religion-most-violent/" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">tolerance and violence</span></a>.
Many of its adherents, however, have been the victims of historical and
structural violence against their identity groups, the results of which they
deal with daily. While there is no acceptable justification for offensive
violent action, it is important to understand that this is a background to some
of the violence in the Muslim world. Having empathy can allow one to see the
broader social and political context in which violence in the name of Islam
sometimes occurs. Given similar political and historical backgrounds, violence
would find a similar audience within our society, as well. Such empathy would
allow us to work with Muslims to mitigate the causes of these exacerbations of
violence instead of only addressing their symptoms. But because we live in a
post-9/11 world where many Anglophones are unfamiliar with the anthropological
context of Islam, the religion of a growing number of those with whom we share
our communities, attacking the entire Muslim world is an easy way to sell books
and gain applause. </span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Suggestions
for future discussions</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Where
does the conversation go from here, then? Here are four suggestions for
analyzing the role of religion in society and dialogue between atheists and
theists:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">First,
social commentators must take theists at their word when they state religion is
the motivation for their actions. Yes, religion is a scapegoat for many, but to
impose onto an actor our external ideas of what are his or her <i>real</i>
motivations are is simply another form of imperialism. If someone is willing to
kill or die for a belief, who are we to not take that person at his or her
word, and to simply make presumptions about authenticity and intentions? If the
societal value of religion is strong enough to inspire others to commit
violence and act immorally, it is a social force worth critiquing. Nonetheless,
be mindful about what implicit motivations might also exist: <i>What are their
stated goals? What are their methods of achieving those goals? What are the
steps taken toward those goals?</i> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Second,
religion is simply an identity, which, like any other identity, breeds shared
experience, exclusion, animosity, a sense of belonging, and social division.
Reza Aslan <a href="http://mobile.nytimes.com/2014/10/09/opinion/bill-maher-isnt-the-only-one-who-misunderstands-religion.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">writes</span></a>, “As a form of
identity, religion is inextricable from all the other factors that make up a
person’s self-understanding, like culture, ethnicity, nationality, gender and
sexual orientation.” Even Richard Dawkins <a href="http://www.salon.com/2014/10/14/richard_dawkins_religion_isnt_the_problem_in_the_middle_east_partner/" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">has conceded</span></a> that
volunteers for the “Islamic State” sign-up more out of a sense of tribalism
than religion. Political science has known for some time that <a href="https://muse.jhu.edu/login?auth=0&type=summary&url=/journals/journal_of_democracy/v015/15.2lijphart.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">divided societies are generally harder
to govern</span></a> than monolithic ones, and in that way the continued
existence of religion presents a political challenge across the world. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Third,
all beliefs, including democracy and Islam, must be criticized, defended, and
mocked. This is because correct beliefs will be found through a free
marketplace of ideas, wherein beliefs are attacked, allowing us to see if they
are strongly grounded in reason. Otherwise, we would be engaging in censorship,
allowing an authority to determine which beliefs are correct or incorrect.
Stifling debate and the flow of beliefs artificially limits the scope of belief
destruction and creation, impeding the progress of human thinking and
innovation.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Fourth,
<a href="http://www.salon.com/2014/10/11/atheism_islam_and_liberalism_this_is_what_we_are_really_fighting_about/" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">atheists are generally literalists</span></a>.
Many atheists can only read texts, religious or otherwise, literally. In an odd
way, atheists need the religious fundamentalist, the person who thinks Adam and
Eve really existed and Noah’s Ark was really built. Atheists know how to
counter factual claims, and thus take comfort in easily uncovering the meaning
of a text upon its first reading. This is why atheists discount religious texts
which have inherent contradictions or are as vague as horoscopes in supplying
wisdom. Atheists must realize that religion for many, but of course not all, is
an emotional connection with others, a sense of comfort, and something which
many believers are fine with not analyzing line-by-line. All the Muslims that I
have met, similar to any other religious group, simply want to be good people
and to have those they respect view them as such. To the extent that religion
is involved in that, which varies greatly, they are religious. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Secularism,
especially coupled with humanism, offers a strong alternative to religion as
how people see the universe and reality. However, when criticizing religion,
atheists must be diligent in crafting arguments. Making shallow statements
about the blood on the hands of religion or launching thinly-veiled xenophobic
critiques toward Islam will not lead to apostasy, but will encourage Muslims
and others to do what all humans do when their identity is being challenged by
an outside force: double-down and become stubborn. As is true for much of life,
humility and empathy on the part of the religious critic here can go a long
way.</span></div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2064442310093151136.post-91664309495297231232014-11-04T13:30:00.001-05:002014-11-04T13:30:10.580-05:00The trials of Mohamed Morsi<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
This was written for Middle East Eye and was originally published <a href="http://www.middleeasteye.net/columns/trials-mohamed-morsi-1173100808">here</a>.<br />
<br />
<br />
The postponed and pending trials of former Egyptian President Mohamed
Morsi have punctuated the news coming from Egypt in 2014. But below the
transparent cover of legal procedure lies the base political desires of
the judiciary: to marginalize and eliminate the defiant Muslim
Brotherhood from Egyptian political life.<br />
<br />
On 3 July 2013 Mohamed Morsi was removed as President of Egypt.
Shortly thereafter, the new interim government detained him; he has been
in the custody of the Egyptian state ever since. Later in 2013 the
government began to level a series of charges against Morsi, leading to a
string of various trials which can best be characterized by Morsi’s
defiance to recognize the court as legitimate and the frequent
postponements.<br />
<br />
<span style="line-height: 1.428571429;">Here is a short update as to the status of the trials of Mohamed Morsi. He faces:</span><br />
<ul>
<li>A trial for espionage, which includes a total of 36 defendants. Most recently, it <a href="http://test.middleeasteye.net/news/senior-muslim-brotherhood-member-released-bail-egypt-1032922292" target="_blank">was postponed earlier this month</a>
and will resume on 14 September, at which time media will be allowed to
cover the proceedings. The charge alleges the senior leadership of the
Muslim Brotherhood conspired with foreign organizations such as Hamas
and Hezbollah regarding terrorist activity within Egypt;</li>
<li>A trial regarding the charges faced with respect to Morsi’s 2011 escape from prison. On 18 August the case <a href="http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2014/08/19/375822/egypt-court-postpones-morsis-trial/" target="_blank">was postponed to</a> 23 August, and then <a href="http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2014-08-24/news/53166664_1_mohamed-morsi-muslim-brotherhood-safwat-hegazy" target="_blank">was postponed again</a> until 15 September. An additional 130 defendants await that trial date;</li>
<li>A trial for the charge of <a href="http://pomed.org/regional-news-digests/egypt-daily-update-aug-25/" target="_blank">inciting murder</a>,
postponed to 11 October. That trial includes 14 other defendants and is
regarding the deadly protests in late 2012 outside the Ittihadeya
presidential palace; and</li>
<li>Two other charges: <a href="http://www.ndtv.com/article/world/egypt-s-mohamed-morsi-to-face-trial-on-new-charges-source-472978" target="_blank">insulting the judiciary</a> and <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-24772806" target="_blank">economic fraud</a>. Dates are not presently associated with the potential trials originating from these charges.</li>
</ul>
The noted frequent delays have been most often due to the
availability of witnesses or due to the wishes of attorneys involved for
the purposes of preparation.<br />
<br />
<span style="line-height: 1.428571429;">It must be stated unequivocally: these trials are political. This past year has left little doubt that the Egyptian judiciary </span><a href="http://test.middleeasteye.net/columns/episodes-oppression-banning-april-6-1788189259" style="line-height: 1.428571429;" target="_blank">has become a political actor</a><span style="line-height: 1.428571429;">,
and there is no reason to view these Morsi trials as in any way above
the political fray. Egypt’s judiciary has not only tried hundreds of
defendants at once during trials lasting only a few hours with no
procedural protections, but has </span><a href="http://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/egyptsource/proven-guilty-egypt-s-judiciary-and-the-undermining-of-democracy" style="line-height: 1.428571429;" target="_blank">upheld many of the resulting convictions</a><span style="line-height: 1.428571429;">. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="line-height: 1.428571429;">The charges against Morsi
range from the possibly sound pending the evidence presented (inciting
murder against protesters at Ittihadeya, escaping from prison), to the
incredibly weak (insulting the judiciary), to the fanciful (conspiring
with Hezbollah to commit terrorism). </span><br />
<br />
<span style="line-height: 1.428571429;">The legal merit to these
charges under existing Egyptian law at the times of commission will have
little to no influence on the outcomes of the trials themselves.
Ironically, last October I wrote about Morsi’s </span><a href="http://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/egyptsource/former-president-morsi-s-legal-liability-for-incitement-to-violence" style="line-height: 1.428571429;" target="_blank">potential legal liability</a><span style="line-height: 1.428571429;">
under Egyptian and international law regarding the death of four Shia
shortly after he spoke nearby in the presence of rather explicit
anti-Shia hate speech. That is not among one of the charges here,
however. While that case would by no means be a ‘slam dunk’, it stands
on more firm legal ground than several of the charges Morsi faces
presently.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="line-height: 1.428571429;">If the judiciary wishes for the law, and therefore their decisions, to give behavioral guidance </span><em style="line-height: 1.428571429;">to</em><span style="line-height: 1.428571429;"> Egyptians and be respected </span><em style="line-height: 1.428571429;">by</em><span style="line-height: 1.428571429;"> Egyptians, they must have </span><a href="http://www.jstor.org/stable/23365538?seq=2" style="line-height: 1.428571429;" target="_blank">judicial consistency</a> - <span style="line-height: 1.428571429;">or
at least provide legally defensible arguments therefor. No
reconciliation has been made between the hundreds of death sentences
handed down after a few hours of trial and a few dozen charges of
insulting the judiciary requiring months of delay occurring within the
same legal system and under the same laws. It is clear, then, that the
structural health of the judiciary or the legitimacy of Egypt's greater
legal system is not the primary concern with respect to these trials.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="line-height: 1.428571429;">Viewing the subject more
broadly, the trials of both former Egyptian presidents Hosni Mubarak and
now Mohamed Morsi represent an ad hoc and ill-conceived version of
transitional justice. Each deposed president has been strung along after
many delays and multiple charges which are often peripheral to why they
were so despised. This is either the result of an attempt to take
extreme procedural care when trying a former head of state or a desire
to neuter their respective followings by continually placing both men in
the public consciousness as merely medium-level criminals, while also
being careful not to create new martyrs. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="line-height: 1.428571429;">Regardless of the intention,
the approach is ineffective. Those who support Morsi will clearly not
disappear as a result of court verdicts, and those who were </span><em style="line-height: 1.428571429;">felool</em><span style="line-height: 1.428571429;"> (derogatory
term relating to the old regime) with respect to Mubarak’s government
have already done their damage by continuing to occupy the machinery of
the state to this day. Instead, these drawn-out trials, juxtaposed with
the blistering speed of the trials of low-level Muslim Brotherhood
supporters, merely give the impression that the judiciary does what
serves its own political ends.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="line-height: 1.428571429;">The immediate results of the
charges against Morsi will follow the political prudence of the
judiciary: the trials will be postponed when beneficial, the charges
dropped when needed, and the defendant convicted when desired. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="line-height: 1.428571429;">As always, unfortunately, the
real victims of the Morsi trials are the Egyptian people. While ideal
transitional justice mechanisms remain unlikely to surface in Egypt in
the foreseeable future, Morsi’s treatment by a demonstrably biased
institution serves only to further polarize, not heal, a public in
desperate need for moderate politics. This past year has given no
evidence to even the most optimistic observer that the judiciary in
Egypt can be a properly principled institution which can be so crucial
to a democratic transition.</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2064442310093151136.post-21258109787405265082014-06-03T10:20:00.000-04:002014-08-02T16:39:21.388-04:00A Renewed Case for a Syria Tribunal<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">This post was written for the Atlantic Council and can be found <a href="http://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/menasource/a-renewed-case-for-a-syria-tribunal">here</a>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 27px;">Last month, China and Russia predictably </span><a href="http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2014/05/22/U-N-vote-on-Syria-faces-Russian-veto.html" style="background-color: white; color: #3363ad; line-height: 27px;">vetoed</a><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 27px;"> a French UN Security Council proposal to refer Syria to the International Criminal Court (ICC). Without Syria’s </span><a href="http://www.opendemocracy.net/opensecurity/luke-moffett/syria-and-international-criminal-court-justice-denied" style="background-color: white; color: #3363ad; line-height: 27px;">ratification</a><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 27px;"> of the Rome Statute, the Security Council is the only body that can refer investigation of the conflict to the ICC. Although this window has effectively closed, other options exist to hold accountable the perpetrators of the gross human rights violations that have occurred in Syria over the past three years. </span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 27px;" /><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 27px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 27px;">In the spring of 2012 at Syracuse University College of Law, Professor David Crane began a new course, which would become the </span><a href="http://www.iamsyria.org/syrian-accountability-project.html" style="background-color: white; color: #3363ad; line-height: 27px;">Syrian Accountability Project</a><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 27px;"> (SAP). Professor Crane is a former Chief Prosecutor for the Special Court in Sierra Leone, the tribunal which held former Liberian President Charles Taylor responsible for war crimes. The task of the students in that course was to connect news reports, </span><a href="http://www.usip.org/publications/syria-s-socially-mediated-civil-war" style="background-color: white; color: #3363ad; line-height: 27px;">social media</a><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 27px;">documentation (viewing pictures on Twitter and watching videos on YouTube was perhaps the most difficult task), and other data to attempt to corroborate claims and create a comprehensive narrative of the Syrian Civil War, from the beginning to contemporary accounts. The goal was accountability: the SAP sought to identify individuals who either commanded or performed major acts of violence. Next, the SAP sought to match each entry in its database with applicable law to identify possible violations of international humanitarian law or the Syrian penal code. </span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 27px;" /><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 27px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 27px;">Since then, the international community’s attention toward Syria has waned. Nonetheless, the Syrian people continue to languish in one of the most devastating and thoroughly documented man-made tragedy in our lifetime. The world at large has done nothing to seek justice for Syria.</span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 27px;" /><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 27px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 27px;">The SAP nonetheless continued these efforts over the past two years, bringing on other esteemed international jurists and organizations to consider the legal options for transitional justice once the widespread violence ends. Last year this group released the </span><a href="http://publicinternationallawandpolicygroup.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Chautauqua-Blueprint-2014.pdf" style="background-color: white; color: #3363ad; line-height: 27px;">Chautauqua Blueprint</a><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 27px;">, a draft statute for a Syrian tribunal for the prosecution of human rights atrocity crimes. The document is much like a legal </span><i style="background-color: white; line-height: 27px;">Mad Lib</i><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 27px;">, allowing specific decisions to be made at a later time. The drafters of this document understand first-hand the glacial pace of international bureaucracies and internal negotiations when creating transitional justice mechanisms. As such, they attempt to help provide a key structural framework to accelerate the process in any way, because justice delayed is justice denied. </span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 27px;" /><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 27px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 27px;">At </span><a href="http://insct.syr.edu/chautauqua-blueprint-prosecute-syrian-war-crimes-unveiled/" style="background-color: white; color: #3363ad; line-height: 27px;">the release of the document</a><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 27px;">, the drafters acknowledged that the political context needed for such a transitional justice mechanism might not materialize anytime soon—or perhaps ever. Religious extremism, the Saudi Arabia-Iran regional rivalry, and the US-Russia international rivalry have exacerbated the conflict, made unlikely a diplomatic resolution, and prevented international intervention, respectively. That same political context has kept the conflict going for </span><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/18/world/middleeast/three-years-of-strife-and-cruelty-put-syria-in-tailspin.html?_r=0" style="background-color: white; color: #3363ad; line-height: 27px;">three years</a><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 27px;">, with no hope to curb the massive loss of home and life, and has now prevented the ICC from gaining jurisdiction over the country. </span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 27px;" /><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 27px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 27px;">Previously, ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda </span><a href="http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2014/05/18/Interview-ICC-prosecutor-to-examine-alleged-British-crimes-in-Iraq-war.html" style="background-color: white; color: #3363ad; line-height: 27px;">stated</a><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 27px;"> she would support a special tribunal for Syria if the ICC was not granted jurisdiction over the conflict. This option is not without critics, however: the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia were hugely expensive endeavors that give pause to many when discussing transitional justice. However, the structures recommended in the Chautauqua Blueprint more closely resemble the Special Court in Sierra Leone, which was </span><a href="http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1674063" style="background-color: white; color: #3363ad; line-height: 27px;">one of the least expensive</a><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 27px;"> ad hoc tribunals to date. The international community also now has greater experience in creating and managing a variety of ad hoc trials, allowing for the implementation of best practices and a more efficient justice institution. </span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 27px;" /><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 27px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 27px;">Any transitional justice mechanism for Syria cannot begin functionality until a majority of the violence has ended and either a peace is brokered or a side is vanquished; sovereignty dictates that those in power must accept such a judicial mechanism. Any such structure would benefit from the incorporation of the Syrian penal code under the principle of complementarity and charge the gravest crimes against humanity as representative of the acts that have been occurring throughout the Syrian Civil War. A formal transitional justice institution should also complement an iteration of a truth commission which would concentrate on restorative justice for victims. Most importantly, a tribunal for Syria must be able to seek the justice which the Syrian people want. The Chautauqua Blueprint is an example of just that structure. </span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 27px;" /><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 27px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 27px;">Last week the international community again failed the Syrian people by not submitting the country to the jurisdiction of the ICC. The world has been unable or unwilling to stop the violence and now appears unwilling or unable to hold the perpetrators of that violence accountable. An ad hoc criminal tribunal for Syria, however, can still help bring justice to a people that have been victimized for so long. It is, quite honestly, the least we can do. </span></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2064442310093151136.post-22827948314049249772014-05-28T13:03:00.000-04:002014-08-02T16:38:38.179-04:00Pillar of autocracy: Egypt’s presidential election law<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">This post was written for Middle East Eye and can be found <a href="http://www.middleeasteye.net/columns/pillar-autocracy-egypt-s-presidential-election-law">here</a>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.428571429;">Earlier this year Egypt’s interim government promulgated </span><a href="http://www.atlanticcouncil.org/images/publications/20140320EgyptPresidentialElectionsLaw.pdf" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #6778b9; line-height: 1.428571429; text-decoration: none;">a new law</a><span style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.428571429;"> to govern the country’s presidential election. That law regulates the administration, adjudication, and validation of the campaign period and electoral process of this week’s vote. The law has created a legal structure which has buttressed the political context created by the interim government to guarantee an electoral result amicable to the state’s interests.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.428571429;">Like any law, the presidential election law contains many unremarkable articles. For example, the total number of required endorsements needed to collect from the Egyptian people decreased from 30,000 for the </span><a href="http://www.democracy-reporting.org/files/law_regulating_the_presidential_elections.pdf#search=Law%20No.%20174" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #6778b9; line-height: 1.428571429; text-decoration: none;">2012 presidential election</a><span style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.428571429;"> to 25,000 this year. Nonetheless, in 2012 there were 13 candidates for the presidency; this year there are only two: former Field Marshal Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and Hamdeen Sabbahi. This likely has more to do with the </span><a href="http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_world_/2014/05/20/egypt_s_elections_won_t_be_free_or_fair_but_you_won_t_see_fraud_on_election.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #6778b9; line-height: 1.428571429; text-decoration: none;">process being viewed as a sham</a><span style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.428571429;"> than the legal requirements for candidacy. However, the most important feature of the law is the new Presidential Election Committee (PEC), which is composed of present judicial Egyptian authorities who will act as an electoral management body.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.428571429;">The PEC has a broad range of powers and discretion: it alone creates a </span><a href="http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/97883/Egypt/Politics-/Egypts-presidential-elections-to-be-held-,--May.aspx" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #6778b9; line-height: 1.428571429; text-decoration: none;">timeline of the election</a><span style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.428571429;">, approves the candidates, creates voter lists, administers penalties for interfering with the election, decides on polling locations, and reviews challenges to any election-related governmental action or claims of election fraud. Under Article 6, the PEC has the power to ensure equal treatment of the presidential candidates in state-owned media. Generally, it has </span><a href="http://timep.org/commentary/election-law-raises-serious-concerns" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #6778b9; line-height: 1.428571429; text-decoration: none;">broad control</a><span style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.428571429;"> over the media, candidate campaigning, and campaign finance during the electoral period, and has prohibited campaigning two days before voters go to the polls.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.428571429;">Under the 2014 Egyptian constitution, polling stations will be supervised by members of the judiciary appointed by the PEC. The presidential election law allows for each presidential candidate to have a representative at each polling station, as well. Interestingly, the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) has suggested that the PEC </span><a href="http://www.ifes.org/~/media/Files/Publications/Reports/2014/Formatted%20Briefing%20Paper%20Egypt_Presidential%20Election%20Law_Final.pdf" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #6778b9; line-height: 1.428571429; text-decoration: none;">should require</a><span style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.428571429;"> the polling station official to initial or sign ballot papers before distributing them to voters as a protection against ballot counterfeiting. It remains to be seen if this recommendation is incorporated this week. After the election is over vote-counting will occur at the polling stations in front of the authorized observers such as the PEC and candidates representatives, and approved external actors such as the </span><a href="http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/98789/Egypt/Politics-/EU-to-monitor-Egypt-upcoming-presidential-vote.aspx" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #6778b9; line-height: 1.428571429; text-decoration: none;">EU</a><span style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.428571429;">, the </span><a href="http://www.sis.gov.eg/En/Templates/Articles/tmpArticleNews.aspx?ArtID=77245#.U4E8QPldVqW" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #6778b9; line-height: 1.428571429; text-decoration: none;">African Union</a><span style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.428571429;">, and </span><a href="http://democracyinternational.com/projects/egypt-international-election-observation-mission" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #6778b9; line-height: 1.428571429; text-decoration: none;">Democracy International</a><span style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.428571429;">.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.428571429;">The most troubling characteristic of the presidential election law is that all decisions of the PEC are only reviewable by the PEC itself. No decisions can be appealed to an external judicial or government entity. Especially interesting, under Article 228 of the 2014 Egyptian constitution, this will be the only election managed by the PEC; future presidential elections will be managed by the national election commission (NEC), which will be in charge of Egypt’s legislative elections later this summer. The decisions of the NEC are in fact appealable. So why did the military-backed interim government create a body of named members of the </span><a href="http://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/egyptsource/proven-guilty-egypt-s-judiciary-and-the-undermining-of-democracy" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #6778b9; line-height: 1.428571429; text-decoration: none;">maligned judiciary</a><span style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.428571429;"> to have un-reviewable authority over only one election in which former Field Marshal Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has been heavily favored for some time? As the interim government could have easily allowed for appeals to the Supreme Constitutional Court, the answer can only be political in nature: the assurance of a state-desired result.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.428571429;">Beyond the law itself, there will be </span><a href="http://www.ibtimes.com/sisi-expected-win-egyptian-elections-landslide-1589634" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #6778b9; line-height: 1.428571429; text-decoration: none;">no surprise</a><span style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.428571429;"> on 5 June if the results are heavily in favour of Sisi. Religiously-based parties, the Muslim Brotherhood, and April 6 </span><a href="http://www.middleeasteye.net/columns/episodes-oppression-banning-april-6" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #6778b9; line-height: 1.428571429; text-decoration: none;">have been banned</a><span style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.428571429;"> and dissenters have been jailed, leading Marc Lynch, Director of George Washington University’s Institute for Middle East Studies, to write that the election is occurring “amidst a </span><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/monkey-cage/wp/2014/04/21/arab-election-season/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #6778b9; line-height: 1.428571429; text-decoration: none;">massively repressive atmosphere</a><span style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.428571429;"> of intimidation, arrest, and institutional bias.” A free election cannot occur in the context of </span><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/21/world/middleeast/egypt.html?_r=0" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #6778b9; line-height: 1.428571429; text-decoration: none;">violence and fear</a><span style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.428571429;"> which the interim government has created, as the opposition has no reasonable measure of confidence that free expression will not be met with imprisonment. Just last week hundreds more suspected Muslim Brotherhood members were </span><a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/05/18/us-egypt-courts-brotherhood-idUSBREA4H04020140518?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews&utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter&dlvrit=992637" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #6778b9; line-height: 1.428571429; text-decoration: none;">thrown in jail</a><span style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.428571429;">.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.428571429;">Sisi </span><a href="http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/100580/Egypt/Politics-/Yes,-I-will-finish-the-Muslim-Brotherhood-if-I-am-.aspx" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #6778b9; line-height: 1.428571429; text-decoration: none;">does not support</a><span style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.428571429;"> reconciliation with the Muslim Brotherhood (though the Brotherhood has expressed </span><a href="http://www.newrepublic.com/article/117820/egypts-muslim-brotherhood-thinks-its-winning-war-future" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #6778b9; line-height: 1.428571429; text-decoration: none;">no interest</a><span style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.428571429;"> in serious negotiation and will </span><a href="http://www.mei.edu/content/news/egypt-vote-brotherhoods-hope-boycott?utm_content=buffer86182&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #6778b9; line-height: 1.428571429; text-decoration: none;">boycott the election</a><span style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.428571429;">), suggesting ongoing tensions in the immediate future. Sisi also supports the </span><a href="http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/100581/Egypt/Politics-/I-support-the-protest-law-to-protect-the-state,-El.aspx" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #6778b9; line-height: 1.428571429; text-decoration: none;">protest law</a><span style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.428571429;"> which has been </span><a href="http://allafrica.com/stories/201405221717.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #6778b9; line-height: 1.428571429; text-decoration: none;">used continuously</a><span style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.428571429;"> to arrest human rights advocates and regime opponents. The former field marshal also views the legitimate security threats to the state stemming from Sinai, Libya, and Syria as part of a </span><a href="http://www.trust.org/item/20140515084627-lo5yg" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #6778b9; line-height: 1.428571429; text-decoration: none;">war against terrorism</a><span style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.428571429;">. This ‘war on terror’ rhetoric of the interim government and Sisi alike may explain the apparent need felt for </span><a href="http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/102088/Egypt/Politics-/UAE-sends-Egypt-armoured-vehicles-to-assist-in-sec.aspx" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #6778b9; line-height: 1.428571429; text-decoration: none;">armored vehicles</a><span style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.428571429;"> from the UAE in order to maintain order during this election.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.428571429;">The presidential election law has not itself created a fraudulent election. However, the legal infirmaries of the law, combined with an electoral context of fear and oppression, will insure that this week’s vote will not be free and fair: many regime opponents are in jail or banned from the political process, dissent has been criminalised by the protest law, and there exists no recourse for electoral decisions made by the PEC. Elections are </span><a href="http://li.com/blog/legatum-institute/2014/05/22/elections-matter" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #6778b9; line-height: 1.428571429; text-decoration: none;">necessary</a><span style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.428571429;">, but </span><a href="http://english.alarabiya.net/en/views/news/middle-east/2014/04/26/Elections-do-not-a-democracy-make.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #6778b9; line-height: 1.428571429; text-decoration: none;">not sufficient</a><span style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.428571429;"> for a democratic state: the people must be free to express their opinions and openly hear the opinions of their compatriots in order to make an informed electoral decision. That has not occurred over the past seven months and will not occur this week, either. </span></span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2064442310093151136.post-55293758584788900832014-05-25T11:10:00.000-04:002014-08-02T16:37:03.172-04:00Episodes of oppression: the banning of April 6<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">This was posted on Middle East Eye and can be found <a href="http://www.middleeasteye.net/columns/episodes-oppression-banning-april-6">here</a>.</span><br />
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<span style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.428571429;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Last month, the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/April-6-Youth-Movement/199378773499996" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #6778b9; text-decoration: none;">April 6 Youth Movement</a> was <a href="http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/april-6-movement-defiant-after-court-ban" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #6778b9; text-decoration: none;">banned in Egypt</a> for allegedly engaging in espionage and defaming the Egyptian state. The informal protest group likely caught the ire of the interim government by actively <a href="http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/0/97265/Egypt/0/April--launch-campaign-to-revoke-protest-law.aspx" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #6778b9; text-decoration: none;">opposing</a> its actions.</span></span></div>
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<span style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.428571429;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">While the group has not kept quiet since the ban, <a href="http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/exclusive-april-6-movement-tells-eu-cancel-observer-mission" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #6778b9; text-decoration: none;">urging</a> the EU to cancel their observation of Egypt’s upcoming presidential election and <a href="http://madamasr.com/content/april-6-youth-movement-proposes-anti-sisi-campaign" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #6778b9; text-decoration: none;">contemplating</a> actively campaigning against Sisi, the short-term future of open dissent in Egypt is bleaker than ever.</span></span></div>
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<span style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.428571429;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">April 6 leaders Ahmed Maher and Mohamed Adel were sentenced to three years in prison in December under <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/26/world/middleeast/egypt-law-street-protests.html?_r=1&" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #6778b9; text-decoration: none;">last November’s Protest Law</a> which <a href="http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/87375.aspx" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #6778b9; text-decoration: none;">requires</a>, among other things, government approval for gatherings of more than 10 people in a public place. Of course, many <a href="http://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/408/104#writing-USSC_CR_0408_0104_ZS" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #6778b9; text-decoration: none;">countries</a> and international agreements (Article 19(3) of the <a href="http://www.ohchr.org/en/professionalinterest/pages/ccpr.aspx" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #6778b9; text-decoration: none;">International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights</a>, for example) recognise <a href="http://dictionary.findlaw.com/definition/time-place-or-manner-restriction.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #6778b9; text-decoration: none;">reasonable time, place, and manner</a> restrictions on free expression.</span></span></div>
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<span style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.428571429;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">However, Egypt’s protest law should be, and could be, much more narrowly tailored as to not prohibit peaceful and legitimate political expression - vital for an open and democratic society.</span></span></div>
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<span style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.428571429;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">However, the banning of April 6 did not result from the Protest Law. It was instead a result of a lawsuit which <a href="http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/99998.aspx" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #6778b9; text-decoration: none;">alleged</a> the group was guilty of espionage and defaming the Egyptian state. The first charge is a result of an accusation that April 6 received funding from foreign sources. Accusing the movement of receiving foreign funds <a href="http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/26901.aspx" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #6778b9; text-decoration: none;">is not new</a>, and has been refuted in the past.</span></span></div>
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<span style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.428571429;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The second charge is merely a modern equivalent of violating what are called laesa maiestas laws, which unquestionably attempt to limit legitimate political dissent by shielding the state from criticism. Such criticism is necessary for citizens to be able to make decisions on their approval or disapproval of state actions. As such, this is a clear violation of the ICCPR’s Article 19 and the <a href="http://www.sis.gov.eg/Newvr/Dustor-en001.pdf" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #6778b9; text-decoration: none;">Egyptian constitution’s</a> Article 65 on free expression.</span></span></div>
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<span style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.428571429;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Moreover, April 6’s lawyers claimed they were <a href="http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2014/05/06/april_6_movement_egypt_jail_sisi" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #6778b9; text-decoration: none;">not notified</a> of the judicial hearing in question, a clear violation of Egypt’s own due process standards, including the constitution’s Article 96 guaranteeing the right of legal self defense. Thus, this ruling is both procedurally and substantively problematic.</span></span></div>
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<span style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.428571429;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The ruling should have been no surprise, however. The banning of April 6 marks only the latest step in the interim government’s oppression of all forms of dissent.</span></span></div>
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<span style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.428571429;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The past 10 months have seen the following episodes of oppression: the<a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-23691571" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #6778b9; text-decoration: none;"> violent clearing</a> of the Raba’a and Nahda sit-ins, the <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-24914121" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #6778b9; text-decoration: none;">imposition</a> of a curfew and a state of emergency, the aforementioned Protest Law and related prosecutions, the<a href="http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2013/1219/Raid-on-Egyptian-NGO-signals-expansion-of-government-enemy-list-video" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #6778b9; text-decoration: none;"> raid</a> of Egyptian Centre for Social and Economic Rights, the <a href="http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2013/11/egypt-court-upholds-muslim-brotherhood-ban-2013116101936365849.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #6778b9; text-decoration: none;">declaration</a> of the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization,<a href="http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2014/04/al-jazeera-journalists-back-egypt-court-201442252550365988.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #6778b9; text-decoration: none;">the Al Jazeera trial</a>, <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/egypt-sentences-683-to-death-in-latest-mass-trial-of-dissidents/2014/04/28/34e0ca2c-e8eb-4a85-8fa8-a7300ab11687_story.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #6778b9; text-decoration: none;">the mass death sentences</a> of suspected Muslim Brotherhood members,<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/egypt-draft-law-to-widen-terror-definition/2014/04/19/e79e5f3a-7725-4a25-a43a-0e005aa99b69_story.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #6778b9; text-decoration: none;">the Terrorism Law</a>, and now the banning of April 6. Many commentators have separated these actions into a <a href="http://www.realclear.com/world/2014/03/16/egypt_crackdown_brings_most_arrests_in_decades_6211.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #6778b9; text-decoration: none;">‘War on Islamists’</a>.</span></span></div>
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<span style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.428571429;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">However, if these twin wars were actually being waged by the interim government, the Tamarod protest movement and the Salafist Nour Party would be been banned and subject to similar state oppression as April 6 and the Muslim Brotherhood, respectively. Instead, both groups have chosen to be at the right hand of the government instead of in its path. As such, it is clear that these actions are part of a singular effort to silence all forms of dissent against the state. There is no ideological focus or reason; the <a href="http://www.opendemocracy.net/arab-awakening/haifaa-g-khalafallah/taking-sides-in-egypt%E2%80%99s-troubled-revolution-but-which" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #6778b9; text-decoration: none;">most relevant division</a> in Egypt is between supporters of the autocratic regime and its opponents.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">A more nuanced analysis of the progression of the marginalization actions taken by the interim government shows an important trend. The actions begin as mostly executive (the clearing of the sit ins, the state of emergency), transition to legislative (the protest law, the terrorism law), and have now entered a judicial stage (the mass death sentences, the Al Jazeera trials).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">While the lack of existence of a legislative branch makes the first transition less institutional than the second, each step is indicative of a further legalization of the authoritarian actions of the regime.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">This step-wise process shows that the present interim government is methodically seeking long-term legitimacy by utilizing instrumentalities of each constitutional branch of government to meet its ends at silencing dissent. While this does not make the banning of April 6 a necessarily predicable move, it offers contextualization within a framework which explains the otherwise capricious actions of the interim government.</span></div>
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<span style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.428571429;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">This legal entrenchment of the authoritarian suppression of dissent will create more generational problems for Egyptian democracy, as now even more laws and legal institutions must be repealed and reformed to allow for institutional democracy to consolidate. In the short term, the upcoming presidential and legislative elections will test first whether the interim government will allow free and fair elections.</span></span></div>
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<span style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.428571429;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">They will also show how willing Egyptians are to again risk life and limb to oppose an authoritarian government. The banning of April 6 has shown little reason to hope the interim government has any intention to allow for open and free political debate and little hope that the Egyptian people will be left with political space in which to peacefully dissent.</span></span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2064442310093151136.post-63270422268675403122014-05-02T16:22:00.000-04:002014-08-02T16:35:14.909-04:00Could a Maliki Win Hurt Democracy in Iraq?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">This post was written for the Atlantic Council and can be found <a href="http://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/menasource/could-a-maliki-win-hurt-democracy-in-iraq">here</a>. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 27px;">Iraqis went to the polls on April 30 to elect a new Council of Representatives, which will produce a new government and prime minister. These elections come in the face of intense sectarian violence and bring forth deeply important questions about how the government should address these and other issues moving forward. These questions will not be answered in a novel way, as present Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s political opportunism has closed his grip on the Iraqi structures of governance, leaving little chance for an electoral rout of his State of Law alliance, spelling trouble for the future of Iraqi democracy.</span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 27px;" /><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 27px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 27px;">Maliki, a man </span><a href="http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2014/04/28/140428fa_fact_filkins?currentPage=all&mobify=0" style="background-color: white; color: #3363ad; line-height: 27px;">deeply involved in political Shiism</a><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 27px;">, rose to power during the US-led occupation of Iraq which produced a new </span><a href="http://www.iraqinationality.gov.iq/attach/iraqi_constitution.pdf" style="background-color: white; color: #3363ad; line-height: 27px;">Iraqi constitution</a><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 27px;"> and quick national elections. Since that time, sectarian violence has played an important role in Iraqi politics—which Maliki and other political elites</span><a href="http://pomeps.org/2014/03/19/seeking-to-explain-the-rise-of-sectarianism-in-the-middle-east-the-case-study-of-iraq/#_ftn1" style="background-color: white; color: #3363ad; line-height: 27px;">exacerbated</a><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 27px;"> for political gain. Maliki was </span><a href="http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2014/04/28/140428fa_fact_filkins?currentPage=all&mobify=0" style="background-color: white; color: #3363ad; line-height: 27px;">emboldened</a><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 27px;"> by what he perceived as his success in mitigating violence after 2008. Since 2010, he has been effectively consolidating political power, centralizing authority over the military, and </span><a href="http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2013/09/iraq-maliki-third-term-court-decision.html" style="background-color: white; color: #3363ad; line-height: 27px;">undermining judicial independence</a><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 27px;">. With this tightening grip, Maliki has sought to marginalize political opponents, </span><a href="http://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/menasource/new-shia-politics-and-the-maliki-sadr-competition-in-iraq" style="background-color: white; color: #3363ad; line-height: 27px;">regardless of sect</a><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 27px;">, under the name of national security and a fight against terrorism. </span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 27px;" /><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 27px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 27px;">As Zaid Al-Ali describes in </span><a href="http://yalepress.yale.edu/yupbooks/book.asp?isbn=9780300187267" style="background-color: white; color: #3363ad; line-height: 27px;"><i>The Struggle for Iraq's Future</i></a><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 27px;">, Iraq has tried several electoral variations within proportional representation, such as open lists and closed lists, but have seen the original US-based politicians return to power each time. Maliki’s State of Law alliance saw an </span><a href="http://www.aljazeera.com/focus/iraqelection2010/2010/03/20103493048404203.html" style="background-color: white; color: #3363ad; line-height: 27px;">embarrassing defeat</a><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 27px;"> at the polls in 2010, but the prime minister was able to ensure he stayed in power with the help of </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/mar/28/iraq-election-iyad-allawi" style="background-color: white; color: #3363ad; line-height: 27px;">political de-Ba’athification</a><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 27px;"> and a </span><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/27/world/middleeast/27iraq.html?_r=0" style="background-color: white; color: #3363ad; line-height: 27px;">judicial decision</a><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 27px;"> allowing for the formation of new coalitions after the election results have been announced. In this election cycle, Iraq’s entire Independent High Electoral Commission resigned to protest political interference in the electoral process. Maliki forced the commission members to </span><a href="http://news.yahoo.com/big-test-facing-iraq-165403763.html?soc_src=mediacontentstory" style="background-color: white; color: #3363ad; line-height: 27px;">rescind their resignations</a><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 27px;">. Political corruption, unfortunately, is </span><a href="http://www.transparency.org/files/content/corruptionqas/374_Iraq_overview_of_corruption_and_anticorruption.pdf" style="background-color: white; color: #3363ad; line-height: 27px;">the norm in Iraq</a><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 27px;">, not the exception.</span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 27px;" /><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 27px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 27px;">Despite the past year’s painful uptick in violence, and its likely effect of keeping many Iraqis home out of fear, Maliki has </span><a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/iraq-elections-securityobsessed-prime-minister-nouri-almaliki-could-be-saved-by-the-growing-threat-of-sunni-insurrection-9303218.html" style="background-color: white; color: #3363ad; line-height: 27px;">portrayed himself</a><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 27px;"> as the candidate for security. The appeal of stability is an important strength in the face of growing fear and prominence of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS)—an al-Qaeda-related group located around the porous border between Iraq’s Anbar province and a troubled Syria. When presented with shortcomings in other areas, Maliki has </span><a href="http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/99969.aspx" style="background-color: white; color: #3363ad; line-height: 27px;">blamed his government</a><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 27px;"> for foiling his legislative attempts at governance. It is true that the previous National Unity Governments (GNUs) constrained effective governance more than they alleviated extremism. This trend partly came about because politician-brokered agreements in Baghdad’s Green Zone have no influence over the actions of the various militias. But it also resulted from governments that were formed specifically on </span><a href="http://yalepress.yale.edu/yupbooks/book.asp?isbn=9780300187267" style="background-color: white; color: #3363ad; line-height: 27px;">ethno-religious grounds</a><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 27px;">, with no regard for individual competencies or abilities to govern. For these reasons Maliki will aim to form a more unified governing coalition in the coming months. Less consequential portfolios and other positions may be given to outsiders to create the façade of multipartisan governance. </span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 27px;" /><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 27px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 27px;">Structurally, Maliki has taken advantage of his </span><a href="http://www.understandingwar.org/report/malikis-authoritarian-regime" style="background-color: white; color: #3363ad; line-height: 27px;">ability to influence the judiciary</a><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 27px;">, as well as the wide reaching membership of the GNUs to decrease both the presence and effectiveness of legislative opposition. He has also</span><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/05/world/middleeast/05iraq.html" style="background-color: white; color: #3363ad; line-height: 27px;">gained control</a><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 27px;"> over government agencies which have previously been independent or demarked for legislative oversight in the constitution. Because the president of Iraq is mostly a figurehead, Maliki’s undermining of judicial independence and the ineffectiveness of the legislature leaves the prime minister as the sole power in Iraq’s federal government, nullifying the constitution’s aim at a separation of powers. Though Maliki’s alliance continues to win elections, the context is important. While reports of outright fraud have been low in Iraqi elections post-2003, the presence of widespread </span><a href="http://m.aljazeera.com/story/201442116043642713" style="background-color: white; color: #3363ad; line-height: 27px;">corruption</a><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 27px;">, continued </span><a href="http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/attacks-raise-tensions-ahead-iraq-polls" style="background-color: white; color: #3363ad; line-height: 27px;">violence</a><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 27px;">, and a lack of electoral and</span><a href="http://www.opendemocracy.net/opensecurity/mohammed-hussainy/shadowy-campaign-financing-will-mire-iraqs-democratic-elections" style="background-color: white; color: #3363ad; line-height: 27px;">campaign finance regulations</a><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 27px;"> bring into question whether today’s election can be considered free and fair.</span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 27px;" /><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 27px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 27px;">Nonetheless, Maliki’s alliance will likely get largely </span><a href="http://news.yahoo.com/big-test-facing-iraq-165403763.html?soc_src=mediacontentstory" style="background-color: white; color: #3363ad; line-height: 27px;">undivided support</a><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 27px;"> from Iraqi Shiites, as well as other Iraqis who see the prime minster as the individual most able to keep Iraq together and return it to the relative calm of 2009. That view may have validity, as a third Maliki term will likely see questions of Iraq federalism sidelined while political opponents and Sunni militias will be pursued ruthlessly. However, the unfortunate ramification for Iraqi democracy will be to reward Maliki’s cooptation of democratic institutions and the politicalization of the Iraqi military. The isolation of political influence for a young democracy sprung out of authoritarianism is deeply important, as the fear of slipping back toward an illiberal state is real. However, Maliki has shown a propensity for circumventing institutional boundaries to achieve his goals and has received no international scorn to dissuade him. There is little reason to assume the next four years will be any different. </span></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2064442310093151136.post-17213448879488067872014-04-30T12:24:00.000-04:002014-08-02T16:34:25.775-04:00Proven Guilty: Egypt’s Judiciary and the Undermining of Democracy<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">This post was written for the Atlantic Council and can be found <a href="http://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/egyptsource/proven-guilty-egypt-s-judiciary-and-the-undermining-of-democracy">here</a>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 27px;">Through the recent spate of death sentence rulings and an apparent unwillingness to challenge the interim government, Egypt’s judiciary has positioned itself as a close ally to the regime, undermining any illusion of impartiality. But how did Egypt’s judiciary get to such a perilous state, and what does this mean for Egypt’s prospects for democracy? </span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 27px;" /><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 27px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 27px;">Before January 2011, Egypt’s judiciary had long been a </span><a href="http://carnegieendowment.org/files/PO17.borwn.FINAL.pdf" style="background-color: white; color: #3363ad; line-height: 27px;">reasonably independent</a><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 27px;"> democratic institution with respect to the autocrat’s influence: actions of former President Hosni Mubarak have been </span><a href="http://content.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1193622,00.html" style="background-color: white; color: #3363ad; line-height: 27px;">openly opposed</a><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 27px;"> by Egypt’s judges. This was an example of the judiciary’s “</span><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/monkey-cage/wp/2014/03/25/why-do-egyptian-courts-say-the-darndest-things/" style="background-color: white; color: #3363ad; line-height: 27px;">very strong sense of loyalty to the Egyptian state</a><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 27px;">,” rather than any particular political leader. Despite the judiciary having been shaped by regular appointments and</span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Struggle-Constitutional-Power-Development/dp/0521124417" style="background-color: white; color: #3363ad; line-height: 27px;">political court packing</a><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 27px;"> by Mubarak, the judiciary presented a possible hope toward creating real democratic institutions in Egypt. This was because the existence and relative importance of </span><a href="http://www.law.nyu.edu/sites/default/files/ECM_PRO_074099.pdf" style="background-color: white; color: #3363ad; line-height: 27px;">democratic institutions</a><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 27px;"> within an authoritarian regime would have bearing on how the transitional phase proceeded. </span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 27px;" /><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 27px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 27px;">However, after Mubarak was toppled and former President Mohamed Morsi elected, the judiciary became its own political actor in Egypt. In order to reverse Mubarak’s loyalist court-packing of the judiciary, the 2012 constitution allowed for Morsi to engage in </span><a href="http://bigstory.ap.org/article/former-judge-challenges-egypts-constitution" style="background-color: white; color: #3363ad; line-height: 27px;">forced retirements</a><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 27px;">. This led to a rivalry of sorts between the judiciary and the Muslim Brotherhood’s Morsi, including the court-ordered dissolution of the Islamist-dominated People’s Assembly and </span><a href="http://www.journalofdemocracy.org/sites/default/files/Brumberg-24-3.pdf" style="background-color: white; color: #3363ad; line-height: 27px;">culminating</a><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 27px;"> in Morsi’s November 22 decree holding presidential actions beyond judicial review. A few weeks later, Morsi supporters </span><a href="http://www.cnn.com/2012/12/02/world/meast/egypt-protests/" style="background-color: white; color: #3363ad; line-height: 27px;">blocked access</a><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 27px;"> to the Supreme Constitutional Court, forcing the judges to postpone a ruling on the constituent assembly and Shura Council, both also stacked with Islamists members. This episode set the tone for the derision the judiciary holds with respect to the Muslim Brotherhood today. </span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 27px;" /><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 27px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 27px;">Earlier this year a </span><a href="http://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/egyptsource/english-translation-of-egypt-s-2013-draft-constitution" style="background-color: white; color: #3363ad; line-height: 27px;">new constitution</a><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 27px;"> gained affirmation through referendum in Egypt. The 2014 constitution contains a similar broad structure to every Egyptian constitution since 1971, including a judiciary which is an independent, unelected branch of government responsible for objectively ruling in legal disputes (See Egypt’s constitution, Article 184). Moreover, the branch is populated by appointments by either the president (Article 193) or the judiciary itself (Article 189), shielding the branch from legislative influence. The 2014 constitution gives the judiciary more independence than any other constitution in Egypt’s history. As such, while the Egyptian judiciary is constitutionally independent, it lacks </span><a href="http://constitutionaltransitions.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Constitutional-Courts-after-the-Arab-Spring-High-Resolution.pdf" style="background-color: white; color: #3363ad; line-height: 27px;">relative judicial independence</a><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 27px;">, which is a balance between structural independence and political accountability. Though this structure is not unique to Egypt, the judiciary’s structural hyper-independence and years of appointments by Mubarak has created a perfect storm to play out in the current political context. </span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 27px;" /><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 27px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 27px;">Since the interim government took control on July 3, 2013, the judiciary has struck down no governmental action where challenges could have, and should have, been made. No judicial organ has challenged either the</span><a href="http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2014/04/activists-defy-egypt-anti-protest-law-2014426232020322134.html" style="background-color: white; color: #3363ad; line-height: 27px;">protest law</a><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 27px;"> or the </span><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/egypt-draft-law-to-widen-terror-definition/2014/04/19/e79e5f3a-7725-4a25-a43a-0e005aa99b69_story.html" style="background-color: white; color: #3363ad; line-height: 27px;">terrorism law</a><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 27px;">, the language and enforcement of which likely violate constitutional Articles 54 and 55 regarding due process guarantees, Article 65’s freedom of expression, and relevant articles of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The judiciary has actually aided the interim government’s persecution of its perceived enemies by convicting dissidents under the aforementioned laws, declaring the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization, </span><a href="http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2014/04/al-jazeera-journalists-trial-adjourned-again-201442216325392221.html" style="background-color: white; color: #3363ad; line-height: 27px;">jailing journalists</a><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 27px;">, and now</span><a href="http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/99998.aspx" style="background-color: white; color: #3363ad; line-height: 27px;">banning</a><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 27px;"> the secular April 6 Movement.</span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 27px;" /><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 27px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 27px;">The most dramatic episode of judicial bias has been the </span><a href="http://www.hrw.org/news/2014/03/24/egypt-shocking-death-sentences-follow-sham-trial" style="background-color: white; color: #3363ad; line-height: 27px;">sentencing of over 1,000</a><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 27px;"> Morsi supporters to death for the killing of several state security officers, other violence, and incitement to violence. Specifically, On March 24 a Minya judge convicted 529 people to death. 37 of those convictions were </span><a href="http://en.aswatmasriya.com/news/view.aspx?id=9df6106b-e2df-4872-afe8-c20b445ff6bc" style="background-color: white; color: #3363ad; line-height: 27px;">upheld on Monday</a><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 27px;">, as the rest were lowered to a life sentence (25 years in prison in Egypt). These convictions </span><a href="http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/100006.aspx" style="background-color: white; color: #3363ad; line-height: 27px;">will be appealed</a><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 27px;"> by the defense once more, while the prosecutor general has already </span><a href="http://gate.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/4/6/484454/%D8%AD%D9%80%D9%88%D8%A7%D8%AF%D8%AB/%D8%AA%D9%82%D8%A7%D8%B1%D9%8A%D8%B1/%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%86%D8%A7%D8%A6%D8%A8-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D8%A7%D9%85-%D9%8A%D8%B7%D8%B9%D9%86-%D8%B9%D9%84%D9%89-%D8%AD%D9%83%D9%85-%D8%AC%D9%86%D8%A7%D9%8A%D8%A7%D8%AA-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D9%86%D9%8A%D8%A7-%D8%A8%D8%A5%D8%B9%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%85--%D9%88%D8%A7.aspx" style="background-color: white; color: #3363ad; line-height: 27px;">filed an appeal</a><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 27px;"> today. On Saturday he handed down a sentence of 57 to 88 years to 11 defendants, on Sunday he </span><a href="http://zeenews.india.com/news/world/egypt-court-jails-42-morsi-backers-for-up-to-15-years_927746.html" style="background-color: white; color: #3363ad; line-height: 27px;">sentenced 42 more</a><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 27px;"> for up to fifteen years in prison, and on Monday </span><a href="http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/99979.aspx" style="background-color: white; color: #3363ad; line-height: 27px;">another 683</a><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 27px;"> were sentenced to death. Among those sentenced on Monday is the Muslim Brotherhood’s Supreme Guide, Mohamed Badie. Egypt’s courts have also sentenced several secular activists, among them the founding member of April 6, Ahmed Maher, to three years in prison. These decisions have come without even the façade of due process, and Egypt has not seen complementary trials of security officials for the death of nearly 1,000 people during the clearing of the</span><a href="http://www.amnesty.org/en/news/egypt-s-disastrous-bloodshed-requires-urgent-impartial-investigations-2013-08-16" style="background-color: white; color: #3363ad; line-height: 27px;">Raba’a sit-in</a><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 27px;">. Almost all security officers charged with killing protesters in the lead up to Mubarak’s ouster have been found not guilty.</span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 27px;" /><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 27px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 27px;">Perhaps more important than the jurisprudential precedents these actions set, is the extent to which they have undermined any confidence in the judiciary as an objective arbiter of the law. Because the branch is unelected, its legitimacy lies not with reflecting popular will, but maintaining popular faith that it operates without political bias and instead maintains a large degree of fidelity to the constitution and notions of justice. However, judges have frequently affirmed laws, either actively or complicity, which are overly vague, in violation of international law, and prima facie unconstitutional. Moreover, the judiciary has dutifully sentenced regime enemies to death or lengthy prison terms on spurious grounds. Going forward, the perception of the courts as another arm of either the military or the government will give opposition parties and dissenting organizations no incentive to take disagreements to the courtroom. </span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 27px;" /><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 27px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 27px;">Trust in democratic institutions must slowly be built in the political culture of transitioning societies if democracy is to consolidate. By politicizing their decisions, the judiciary has removed itself as a possible trusted conflict mediator for any group, especially the Muslim Brotherhood. Even if free and fair elections bring forth a popularly elected legislature, that branch is unable to sanction the rulings or members of the judiciary, insolating judges from any structural need to respect popular will. As such, the Egyptian people have little reason to believe that justice will be done when they go to the courtroom, thus incentivizing other avenues of conflict resolution, such as increased violence. The judiciary’s self de-legitimization has undermined the rule of law and will prevent Egypt from consolidating democracy until judges can be viewed by a vast majority of the citizenry as impartial.</span></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2064442310093151136.post-4091947167836145182014-04-02T15:54:00.000-04:002014-08-02T16:33:31.504-04:00Presidential Election Law Raises Serious Concerns<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">This post was written while at the Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy and can be found <a href="http://timep.org/commentary/election-law-raises-serious-concerns">here</a>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">This weekend, the Egyptian government released a presidential election law to govern the upcoming elections for a new Egyptian head of state. Aside from having certain required provisions, the law may allow for the violation of civil and political rights in Egypt largely due to the finality of the decisions of the Presidential Election Committee and the various provisions enshrining the role of that body in the campaign media landscape of Egypt.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The law calls for a nationwide majoritarian election, which can take place over one or more days. In several areas, the law allows for a second round of elections, but it does not provide the criterion for when such a round would be appropriate or required until Article 39. Under this article, a candidate must win at least 50%-plus-one votes. If this number is not met, the top two vote-getters will run in a run-off election. Aside from the unusually late appearance of such a fundamental aspect of electoral design, many other concerns exist with the law. Below are more detailed notes and some concerns about specific provisions of the law.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Eligibility</span></h4>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The eligibility criteria for running for the presidency laid out in Article 1 of the presidential election law comports with the same requirements for presidential eligibility found in Article 141 of the <a href="http://www.sis.gov.eg/Newvr/Dustor-en001.pdf" style="color: #7b1414; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">current constitution</a>. Similarly, the endorsement requirements found in Article 2 comport with those found in Article 142 of the constitution. However, because the interim government has ordered the presidential election first, the eligibility path involving the House of Representatives specified in Article 142 is not functional. As such, candidates cannot gain eligibility from the endorsement of members of the House of Representatives. In addition, write-in candidates are not eligible to be elected, as they would not have met the signature requirements specified in both the constitution and the electoral law. This eligibility system means that for this election, an individual who is unable to collect thousands of citizens’ signatures spread across the country (as specified in the alternative eligibility method) will be unable to run.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Under Article 36, a candidate running unopposed can be elected if at least 5% of the registered voters cast ballots for him. If this does not occur, the election is run again. It is unusual for an election law to prepare for the possibility of a presidential candidate to run unopposed, especially considering that two candidates have already declared intentions to run. While this could be simply a sign of the law accounting for all possible circumstances, this could also be interpreted as a signal that the government may disqualify all but one preferred candidate.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Lastly, Article 12(9) states that a candidate must affirm that he has not been convicted of any crime of untrustworthiness.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Administration</span></h4>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Article 3 of the law empanels a Presidential Elections Committee (PEC) comprising the head of the Constitutional Court, the President of the Cairo Court of Appeal, the Senior Vice-President of the Supreme Constitutional Court, the Senior Vice-President of the Court of Cassation, and the Senior Vice-President of the State Council. Under Article 6, this body has the sole jurisdiction over, inter alia, announcing the opening of presidential candidacy, devising and overseeing the implementation of the necessary procedures to establish candidacy for the presidency (according to the eligibility requirements elsewhere specified), verifying the application and enforcement of the rules governing the election campaign provided in the law, and taking proper actions against violations.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">It is unclear, however, how this body interacts with the National Elections Commission (NEC) established by the constitution. Under Article 209 of Egypt’s new constitution, that body is “administered by a board made up of 10 members selected equally from among the vice-presidents of the Court of Cassation, the presidents of the Courts of Appeal, the vice-president of the State Council, the State Affairs and Administrative Prosecution.” Moreover, under Article 208, the NEC is “exclusively responsible for managing referenda and presidential, parliamentary and local elections.” The jurisdictions of both bodies are incredibly similar, though both are given exclusive authority over their competencies. There is no apparent benefit to having two separate committees, the memberships of which arise from similar judicial bodies, that both have exclusive jurisdiction over largely similar functions of electoral administration. Indeed, they are both structured as <a href="http://aceproject.org/ace-en/topics/em/ema/ema01" style="color: #7b1414; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">electoral management bodies</a> (EMBs).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Regarding the setting of dates for the election, Article 16 states that the PEC must announce a final list of eligible candidates “at least 20 days before elections.” Article 18 sets the campaign period from the day the candidates are announced until two days before the election. Campaigning can only occur during this time. Generally, the PEC has a wide range of discretion with respect to setting timetables with respect to administering the presidential elections.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Media and Campaigning</span></h4>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The PEC has broad discretion over much of the administration of this election, and the area of media and campaigning is no exception. First, Article 19(2) prohibits the “threatening of national unity and using religious slogans to divide the public or to discriminate among citizens.” Similar language has been used to suppress individuals campaigning for a “no” vote during the recent constitutional referendum as well as to marginalize Islamist parties.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Article 20 requires state-owned media to be committed to give equal coverage of candidates, and Article 21 lists requirements for publishing polls. Although these requirements have the potential to translate into incursions on freedom of speech, they can be reasonable and legitimate limitations in the volatile setting of transitional elections if administered sparingly and in an unbiased manner. Similarly, Article 22 sets a maximum for campaign spending (EGP 20 million), and Article 23 limits campaign contributions to 2% of that maximum. Article 24 prohibits campaign contributions from non-natural (juridical) or foreign persons. Article 43 specifies a fine for those who are registered to vote but do not do so without an excuse. This clause, though not regularly enforced, is common in Egyptian election law. Throughout the document, the PEC is given the discretion to determine violations and appropriate remedies.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Under Article 6(11), the PEC notably has the competency to “[establish] guidelines for the participation of the media and Egyptian and foreign civil society organizations in following the election process.” This gives the PEC the authority to regulate election-observers and media coverage during the election and (presumably) during the campaign period as well. Article 6(10) allows for the PEC to “[invite] voters to participate in the election,” and Article 8 allows the body to “educate citizens about the importance of the presidential election.” In the context of previous elections and referenda in Egypt, this may allow for the PEC to continue the state-run propaganda similar to the government’s urging of Egyptians to vote for the current constitution which was experienced earlier this year.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Appeals</span></h4>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">A previous version of Article 7 of this law allowed for the appeal of a decision of the PEC to the Supreme Administrative Court within one week after a decision is announced. This was similar to language found in Article 210 the constitution, which allows for the appeal of decisions of the NEC to the same body. However, the final version of Article 7 allows for no appeals of the decisions of the PEC to any higher authority, making the body the first and final word on electoral disputes within its listed competencies. Later in the law, Articles 13-15 outline the procedures for appealing the original decisions of the PEC, but these appeals are reviewed by the PEC itself, not by any external actor. Lastly, Article 27 allows the PEC to set up regional subcommittees, and Article 28 both allows those subcommittees to count votes and allows approved media and observer groups to attend the vote-counting. Again, challenges to the decisions of the subcommittees of the PEC are only heard by the PEC, not by any other authority.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Largely because of the inability to appeal the decisions of the PEC described above, several individuals and groups have expressed concern with the law, such as <a href="http://www.dailynewsegypt.com/2014/03/09/new-presidential-elections-law-comes-fire/" style="color: #7b1414; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">the Nour Party, Tayar al-Sha’aby, the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights, Dostour Party</a>, <a href="http://www.shorouknews.com/mobile/news/view.aspx?cdate=10032014&id=c5803154-3d24-496c-801c-6b7432a4915e" style="color: #7b1414; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">Mohamed Abdel Abdul Aziz (Tamrod), Mohamed Kamal (April 6th Movement), Mohamed Fasil (Kefaya Movement)</a>, <a href="http://www.shorouknews.com/news/view.aspx?cdate=10032014&id=a1021fee-b6af-4f82-8e36-214ce4529093" style="color: #7b1414; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">Khalid Ali</a>, and <a href="http://allafrica.com/stories/201403090021.html" style="color: #7b1414; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">Nour Farahat</a>. These detractors have generally argued that this law violates Article 97 of the constitution, which states, inter alia, “The State shall guarantee the accessibility of judicature for litigants and rapid adjudication on cases. It is prohibited to immunize any administrative act or decision from judicial review.” This point is debatable, however, as the PEC is composed entirely of members of the judiciary, and as such, it could structurally be considered a judicial body (not an administrative one). That interpretation would mean that the internal challenges of the PEC’s decisions do legally constitute judicial review within the meaning of Article 97. However, as the similarly structured (and similarly functioning) National Elections Commission created in the constitution allows for appeals to the Supreme Administrative Court, one could argue that the constitution would envision any Egyptian EMB to also issue decisions appealable to the Supreme Administrative Court.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Overall Impressions</span></h4>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">This election law creates some of the necessary guidelines required for the administration of an election, including many provisions regarding out-of-country voting, equal-time media provisions, and electoral fraud protection. However, Article 47 prohibits insulting members of the PEC, Article 48 prohibits the use of intimidation or terror during the election, and Article 52(1) prohibits the threatening or use of force to prevent others from voting. These articles present a potentially dangerous mix of protecting the electorate and inhibiting the free political expression of Egyptians. Along with the points noted above, and considered in its entirety, this law may lead to violations of the political and free expression rights of Egyptian citizens.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Moreover, the PEC has broad discretion over the administration of the election, and its decisions are not appealable to an external body. The PEC is also composed entirely of presently-empaneled members of the judiciary. This creates a potential for discrimination against candidates who are out of favor with the judiciary by the possible use of the various not-externally-appealable powers of the PEC to disqualify potential candidates.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">While laws themselves do not render an election free and fair or illegitimate, this law allows the government, and specifically the PEC, broad discretion to make policies and take actions that could call into question the legitimacy and reliability of the results of the election. Given the actions of the interim government so far, from passing an anti-protest law to the propaganda campaign and opposition crackdown leading up to the recent constitutional referendum, this law offers little in the way of signs that the interim government intends to change course during the upcoming presidential campaign and electoral periods.</span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2064442310093151136.post-53755782647929094142014-04-02T15:52:00.000-04:002014-08-02T16:31:55.050-04:00Human Rights Treaties in Egypt: as Good as the Government that Upholds Them<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">This post was written while at the Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy and can be found <a href="http://timep.org/analysis/human-rights-treaties-in-egypt-as-good-as-the-government-that-upholds-them">here</a>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Egypt’s constitution has recently garnered praise for its “<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/02/world/middleeast/in-egypt-charter-new-rights-but-no-great-change.html?_r=0" style="color: #7b1414; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">commitment to abide by international human rights treaties signed by Egypt</a>.” Yet a close analysis shows that such praise may yet be premature; the commitment can be easily circumvented by Egypt’s soon-to-be elected House of Representatives.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">The relevant section of the new </span><a href="http://www.constitutionnet.org/files/final_constitution_-idea-_english-2_dec_2013-signed.pdf" style="color: #7b1414; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">constitution</a><span style="line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">, Article 93, states in full:</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">“The state is committed to the agreements, covenants, and international conventions of human rights that were ratified by Egypt. They have the force of law after publication in accordance with the specified circumstances.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Plainly, ratified human rights treaties are now considered Egyptian domestic law. Nathan J. Brown and Michele Dunne <a href="http://carnegieendowment.org/2013/12/04/egypt-s-draft-constitution-rewards-military-and-judiciary/gvc8" style="color: #7b1414; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">call this article</a> “a potentially major innovation,” but note that it is only as good as the courts which interpret it. Heba Morayef of Human Rights Watch noted that the article <a href="http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/88458/Egypt/Politics-/Inside-Egypts-draft-constitution-Progress-on-key-f.aspx" style="color: #7b1414; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">offers</a> Egyptians stronger human rights protections than the 2012 constitution.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">This constitutional article incorporates international treaties as part of Egyptian domestic law without the requirement of enabling legislation, exhibiting the characteristics of <a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=WYRCBDZHWsoC&pg=RA1-PA26&source=gbs_toc_r&cad=3#v=onepage&q&f=false" style="color: #7b1414; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;"><i style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">legal monism</i></a>. In a monist legal system, <a href="http://digitalcommons.law.scu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1620&context=facpubs&sei-redir=1&referer=http%3A%2F%2Fscholar.google.com%2Fscholar%3Fas_ylo%3D2010%26q%3Dtreaty%2Blaw%2Bas%2Bpart%2Bof%2Bdomestic%2Blaw%2Begypt%26hl%3Den%26as_sdt%3D1%2C9#search=%22treaty%20law%20as%20part%20domestic%20law%20egypt%22" style="color: #7b1414; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">the judiciary can generally</a> interpret and apply international law as it would domestic law. Like other legal monist countries, Article 151 requires the legislature to approve treaties in order for them to be ratified.<sup id="rf1-3676" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="http://timep.org/analysis/human-rights-treaties-in-egypt-as-good-as-the-government-that-upholds-them#fn1-3676" style="color: #7b1414; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" title=" Article 151 states, inter alia, “The President of the Republic represents the state in foreign relations and concludes treaties and ratifies them after the approval of the House of Representatives.”">1</a></sup> This approval is taken as the requisite sovereign action of affirming the role of a treaty as law within the state.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The key issue here, then, is how a treaty functions as a statute within a domestic legal system. The Egyptian constitution is unusually lucid on this point: treaties have the force of law. (That is, international treaties are to be treated the same as legislation.) As such, these treaties enter Egyptian law as statutory law; they are subject to the legal concept of <a href="http://www.constitution.org/tb/tb-1103.htm" style="color: #7b1414; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;"><i style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">leges posteriores priores contrarias abrogant</i></a>, which holds that if two laws are passed which are <i style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">prima facie</i> contradictory, the law passed most recently is enforced.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Of course, in most legal systems a more recent statute is often interpreted in an attempt to <a href="http://www.law.gonzaga.edu/law-review/files/2011/02/Markham.pdf" style="color: #7b1414; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">avoid the implicit repeal</a> of a previous statute. Moreover, the rebuttable presumption of conformity<sup id="rf2-3676" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="http://timep.org/analysis/human-rights-treaties-in-egypt-as-good-as-the-government-that-upholds-them#fn2-3676" style="color: #7b1414; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" title="See: Beaulac, S. and Currie, J. H. (2011) Canada. International Law and Domestic Legal Systems: Incorporation, Transformation, and Persuasion, pg. 149. Oxford">2</a></sup> assumes that domestic legislation is intended to comport with the treaty obligations of the state. What is clear, however, is that the <i style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Egyptian legislature can nullify the force of previously ratified human rights treaties by passing legislation which explicitly contradicts them.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Brown and Dunne are certainly correct in pointing out the importance of the judiciary in enforcing the statutory role of international human rights treaties within Egyptian domestic law. However, perhaps just as important will be the role of the House of Representatives. While any political discussion must wait until the body is actually elected, the House has the effective ability to negate the legal effects of a ratified treaty by a simple majority vote.<sup id="rf3-3676" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="http://timep.org/analysis/human-rights-treaties-in-egypt-as-good-as-the-government-that-upholds-them#fn3-3676" style="color: #7b1414; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" title="This is of course subject to a presidential veto under Article 123, which can be overruled by two-thirds of the House.">3</a></sup></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">It is possible, however, that such a statute would be considered <i style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">complementary legislation</i> under Article 121, as it may be construed to “organize the rights stipulated in the constitution.” In this case, such a statute would require a two-thirds majority approval in the House. Nonetheless, this is still quite different from a formal amendment process to change the constitution, which is found in Article 226. That article states that a constitutional amendment must be approved by two-thirds of the House <i style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">and</i> pass a public referendum.<sup id="rf4-3676" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="http://timep.org/analysis/human-rights-treaties-in-egypt-as-good-as-the-government-that-upholds-them#fn4-3676" style="color: #7b1414; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" title="Article 226 also stipulates that no amendment can diminish the rights and freedoms outlined in the constitution. However, since treaties are not incorporated as part of the constitution, but simply as statutory, this clause would not likely be a concern here">4</a></sup> While it is unclear how exactly legal challenges of this nature would play out, it is clear that Article 93 can be effectively appealed without consulting the Egyptian people, in contrast with any other constitutional article. As Article 93 has been widely considered a high point in the constitution, this subtle fact of the Egyptian constitution is important to note.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">This analysis thus far has ignored the Article 2 requirement that legislation is to be crafted with <i style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">sharia</i> as a source of inspiration. While this language has evaded precise definition during its decades of presence in various Egyptian constitutional documents, its place in the constitution undoubtedly holds it superior to the statute-equivalent ratified human rights treaties. That is to say that international human rights conventions are held inferior to Egypt’s Supreme Constitutional Court’s interpretation of Article 2.<sup id="rf5-3676" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="http://timep.org/analysis/human-rights-treaties-in-egypt-as-good-as-the-government-that-upholds-them#fn5-3676" style="color: #7b1414; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" title="While some treaties are stated to be in harmony with sharia, others are only accepted to the extent to which they do not conflict with sharia.">5</a></sup></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">While this is important to note when considering legal challenges in Egyptian courts, the Supreme Constitutional Court <a href="http://www.cihrs.org/?p=7235&lang=en" style="color: #7b1414; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">generally does not</a> strike down legislation for violation of Article 2. Additionally, as the Article 93 text specifically mentions treaties, it is silent regarding customary international law. This means that enabling legislation in the House is possibly required to bring in customary international law in as part of Egyptian law. As such, international norms not codified in treaties ratified by Egypt have no domestic legal effect.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">What does this all mean for the average Egyptian? Right now the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD), and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) (with important reservations) <a href="http://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/research/ratification-egypt.html" style="color: #7b1414; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">are all</a> a part of Egyptian law. But Egyptians will want to be careful about those for whom they vote over the next few months—they will be empowered with the ability to negate these documents.</span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2064442310093151136.post-14107349119310463232013-11-04T13:19:00.003-05:002014-08-02T16:30:42.616-04:00Moral Relativism & US Public Diplomacy (revised)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">This update of an older post was written for the Public Diplomat and can be found <a href="http://thepublicdiplomat.com/2013/09/06/moral-relativism-us-public-diplomacy/">here</a>. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">As the science of morality progresses, US public diplomacy should educate others despite any cultural differences.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Since the Age of Exploration, the dominant views of Europeans toward people who populated the other continents were paternalistic and ethnocentric — to not be Europeans and Christian instantly diminished the worth of a person or a belief. Relatively recently, the prevailing view in Europe and the West has shifted to become more tolerant — perhaps in reaction to the brutality of past injustices. In the extreme this has led to moral relativism, a judgment-free approach toward the values of other cultures. At present this view is ubiquitous in anthropological and sociological literature. As a modern, accepting people, so the argument goes, we shall not narrow-mindedly impose our morals on others.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">But this argument assumes that morality is a subjective notion, or that there is no objective measure by which one can judge others actions or values. The only reason these assumptions have not been effectively challenged, argues Sam Harris in his book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Moral-Landscape-Science-Determine/dp/143917122X" style="-webkit-transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out; background: transparent; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;"><i style="background: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The Moral Landscape</i></a>, is because we have an underdeveloped science of morality. Harris makes a key point: unknown is not the same as unknowable. Just because we have yet to coalesce on a singular measure of objective moral judgment does not mean that we will not be able to do so in the future. In light of the history of scientific and rational progress, we cannot say that the fields of neuroscience, evolutionary biology, and anthropology will never advance and be able to determine that certain actions, beliefs and principles are objectively counter to human well-being.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Can one say that rights of self-governance are objectively morally good? Can one say that deploring despotic rule is merely a subjective preference, based on little more than culturally arbitrary preferences? One’s answer to these questions is vital to one’s view of public diplomacy. If the answer is that there is no objective truth on such moral questions, then why should the American people try to influence other cultures with portraying our values of democracy and human rights? If it’s for mere economic gain, why not sell the beaches of Hawai’i instead of</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">democracy and human rights? Surely vacation destinations are far easier to sell in places like China. If public diplomacy only functions to serve our subjective national trade or diplomacy interests, should it be valued as a legitimate field, or simply method of propaganda?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">I view public diplomacy more expansively. The message of public diplomacy, like any other communication, must come from our ‘mission statement’ — the Declaration of Independence. The Declaration tells a candid world with what rights <i style="background: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">all</i> people<a href="http://thepublicdiplomat.com/2013/09/06/moral-relativism-us-public-diplomacy/#_ftn1" style="-webkit-transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out; background: transparent; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;" title="">[1]</a> were born — not just Americans. It discusses why <i style="background: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">all</i> governments are instituted—not just the U.S. government. These are statements claiming objective truth! As such, I argue that any U.S. public diplomacy which flows from our organizational mission statement <i style="background: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">cannot</i> be morally relative. And while the science of morality is underdeveloped, that does not mean that nothing is known. Harris compares morality to health: just as we know that eating only marshmallows is less likely to lead to a healthy body than eating a diet which includes leafy green vegetables and protein, we also know that enslaving or subjugating women or whole ethnic groups are less likely to result in human flourishing than equal rights and opportunities for all. For these reasons, U.S. public diplomacy should not shy away from strongly holding any cultural or political practice as superior to those which we know are wrong — especially as science progresses to advance our knowledge and understanding on these points<a href="http://thepublicdiplomat.com/2013/09/06/moral-relativism-us-public-diplomacy/#_ftn2" style="-webkit-transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out; background: transparent; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;" title="">[2]</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">In a sense, U.S. public diplomacy should not narrowly seek to advance our economic interests, but instead promote values which are objectively aligned with the promotion of human well-being. And as our understanding of human happiness and well-being advances, the more we will know about the science of morality, and the better we can conduct our public diplomacy toward educating others. “What right does the West have to tell a conservative Islamic country that women should not wear the veil?” one might ask. Someday, perhaps as much right as one has to assert that the Earth is an oblate spheroid and revolves around the Sun, and anyone arguing the contrary is simply wrong.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="http://thepublicdiplomat.com/2013/09/06/moral-relativism-us-public-diplomacy/#_ftnref1" style="-webkit-transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out; background: transparent; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;" title="">[1]</a> I generally take “all men” to mean “all humans,” but even if Jefferson explicitly meant the male gender, the point still stands that it was meant universally to all men, not just American men.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="http://thepublicdiplomat.com/2013/09/06/moral-relativism-us-public-diplomacy/#_ftnref2" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="">[2]</a> I don’t assume that the U.S. has any monopoly on objective morality. No study has shown that corporal punishment bestows any long-term benefit on any person, yet the U.S. stands as a country which frequently practices it. Science also requires flexibility and recalibration in the face of evidence.</span></div>
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