Winter 2013 Issue No. 1

COLUMBIA POLITICAL REVIEW

VOL. XIII NO. 1

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International: The Irish Curtain

By Bryan Schonfeld

Domestic: Teaching the A-Team

By Kyle Dontoh

Interview: Deciphering Benghazi with Jack Murphy, GS’14

By Taylor Thompson

FIRST NATIONS, LAST HOPE

By Julian NoiseCat

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A PUBLICATION OF THE COLUMBIA POLITICAL UNION

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VOLUME XIII, NO. 1

Editor-in-Chief Publisher Managing Editors

Web Managing Editor Web Editor Senior Editors

Associate Web Editor Arts Editor Copy Chief Assistant Copy Editors

GEETIKA RUDRA MALINI NAMBIAR GREGORY J. BARBER TAYLOR THOMPSON ELIZABETH STRASSNER JORDAN KALMS JAMIE BOOTHE JOSHUA FATTAL MELISSA FICH GEORGE JOSEPH LUCAS REHAUT DAVID SILBERTHAU TOMMASO VERDERAME ELIOT SACKLER SIDA CHEN TOMMASO VERDERAME SHUA BHATTACHARYA NICOLAS SAMBOR SOFI SINOZICH

Head Design Editor

ALEJANDRA OLIVA

Design Editor

DAVID BLACKMAN

Artists: Alice Chang (pages 4,6) Sida Chen (pages 8, 15) Alexis Huseby (pages 9, 11) Colin Ross (pages 12, 13) Tiffany Kim (pages 18, 20) Lena Ji (cover, pages 23, 24) Xin Xu (page 29)

Editor’s Note As of this issue’s publication, the United States Congress has failed to pass legislation preventing scheduled, across-the-board, federal spending cuts. With the sequester in effect as of March 1 and cuts to military, domestic discretionary, and Medicare spending looming, we are prompted to reconsider the size and role of government.

In this issue of the Columbia Political Review, we see government as an impetus for social change. In “The Irish Curtain� (9), by Bryan Schonfeld we explore political tensions between Unionist Protestants and Irish Catholic Republicans in Northern Ireland. Schonberg argues for the creation of schools in Northern Ireland that integrate Protestant and Catholic students, citing Harvard psychologist Gordon W. Allport’s Contact Hypothesis, which highlights the need for interpersonal contact in alleviating social stereotypes and discrimination.

Government should also play a role in ensuring equality of potential and opportunity. In “Teaching the A-Team� (4), Kyle Dontoh argues the need for governments to provide educational opportunities for the nation’s gifted and talented students. Gathering inspiration from the global scale, Dontoh suggests looking to Singapore and Finland’s educational systems as models for what the United States can do.

In February, our managing editor, Taylor Thompson, had the distinct privilege of talking to Jack Murphy, GS ’14 and an eight-year veteran of Army special operations, about his new book Benghazi: The Definitive Report. In his book Murphy, along with former Navy SEAL Brandon Webb, recounts the September 11, 2012 attack on the American consulate in Benghazi, Libya and its implications for Washington. Ultimately, we learn the importance of coordination between different facets of government, particularly the White House, the military, the intelligence community, and the State Department, in ensuring effective counterterrorism policy.

For our cover story, “First Nations, Last Hope� (21), Julian NoiseCat brings to light turmoil between the First Nations of British Columbia and the Canadian government. In the wake of recent treaty negotiations, the First Nations are forced to choose between rights and entitlements as sovereign nations as opposed to land and money. With the future of a people at stake, NoiseCat explores the rising Idle No More movement and underscores that Canada’s indigenous population is a force to be reckoned with.

Finally, in this issue’s briefing, we explore global energy strategies in developing nations. I would like to heartily thank Adjunct Professor Joel Moser, Adjunct Professor Phil LaRocco, and Professor Jason Bordoff from Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs for sparking an insightful discussion on the state of energy production and consumption today and in the coming decades.

And so it is with an eye to the future that I implore all our readers to think critically about the questions at hand. What can and should we expect of our governments? And how do we ensure our governments fulfill their duties and responsibilities?

I would like to thank my fellow board members for all their hard work and dedication over the past few weeks. Congratulations on completing the first issue of the Columbia Political Review’s thirteenth volume.

And I would like to thank all of our readers for their continued support for our work. Feel free to email me questions, comments, or concerns at gr2362@columbia.edu.

Good luck with midterms, and have a great spring break!

Geetika Rudra Editor-in-Chief

DISCLAIMER: The views and opinions expressed in this magazine belong to their authors and do not necessarily reÀect those oI the &olumbia 3olitical 5eview &olumbia 3olitical 8nion or &olumbia 8niversity

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SPRING.2013 table of contents cover story 21

First Nations, Last Hope ,ndigenous 6overeignty in %ritish &olumbia

a modest proposal 7

By Julian NoiseCat

Electoral Dysfunction Modernizing American Democracy

By Karina Jougla

interview

brieďŹ ng 25

Global Energy Policy Emerging Trends in Energy 3roduc tion and &onsumption

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Deciphering Benghazi A &onversation :ith Author -acN Murphy *6Âś1

By Taylor Thompson

By Columbia Political Review

features | domestic

features | international 9

The Irish Curtain Desegegating 1orthern ,relandÂśs 6chools

By Bryan Schonfeld

28

There’s Something About Mali ,nside :est AIricaœs Ethnic and 5eligious &onÀict

By Claire Heyison

Teaching The A-Team Motivating AmericaÂśs %rightest 6tudents

By Kyle Dontoh

12

The Prisoner Dilemma Mental ,llness in the 86 3rison 6ystem

By Farah Tamizuddin

18

Classroots Activism A &hallenge to 1eoliberal (ducation in the 6pirit oI Âľ2ccupyÂś

By Jake Hamburger

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columbia political review :: spring 2013

features :: domestic

Teaching The A-Team Motivating America’s Brightest Students

by Kyle Dontoh

I

n recent decades the 8nited 6tates has made it a priority to improve American education by ³guaranteeing pro¿ciency´²that is bringing everyone up to par 3resi dent /yndon -ohnsonœs +ead 6tart 3rogram 3resident *eorge + : %ushœs Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and most notably the 1o &hild /eIt %ehind Act oI 3res ident *eorge : %ush have exem pli¿ed this egalitarian ethos These programs have resulted in millions oI dollars oI new tests regulations and procedures not to mention a bur geoning industry designed to help students and schools meet them 8n deniably the message behind these eIIorts is noble and worthwhile²no good shall ever come oI having a nation oI subpar undereducated students²but it is necessary to con sider those who it naturally excludes:

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students who are already above par Much has been made oI guaranteeing an eTual Tuality education Ior all² but what about eTuality oI potential" ETuality oI opportunity" Today we are engaging in a race to the middle rather than a race to the top :e see in our giIted students to day the roots oI such a catastrophe emerging There are many giIted students who at a young age are unchallenged by their coursework and bored by their academic liIe ,n a 2 12 paper 3amela &linkenbeard oI the 8niversity oI :isconsin writes that giIted students who begin to academically underachieve due to insuI¿cient challenges are unlikely to reverse the pattern continuing to underachieve both in personal and proIessional relations )or many oI these students learning is an inter nal concept Iocused on the acTuisi

tion oI Nnowledge as opposed to an external outcome oriented process Thus the challenge oI learning itselI is a motivation This &linNenbeard writes ties into +ungarian American psychologist Mihaly &siNszentmih alyiœs idea oI a productive ³Àow ´ in which a goal oriented process devel ops into ³an activity Ior its own saNe ´ )or these students iI the process is exceedingly unchallenging they Ieel as iI they are not learning at all This is especially true in regards to underprivileged children As per the results oI a 2 2 report oI the 1ational Association Ior *iIted &hil dren giIted students Irom economi cally deprived backgrounds were par ticularly at risk oI dropping out and when they did most oIten cited rea sons such as ³, did not like school ´ or ³, am Iailing school ´ :hen students are not given stimulating course work they do not perIorm as well )urthermore as the chips always seem to Iall in these cases the economi cally deprived are hurt the most ,n our socially conscious times in which consterna tion over alarming rates oI income ineTuality and immobility in the 8nited 6tates is rampant advo cating that we set aside groups oI children many at a young age as inherently ³giIted ´ ³talented ´ or Must Àat out ³smarter´ than oth ers seems to run contrary to our sensibilities %ut un less one buys into the idea that there is a correlation between wealth and intel ligence as Ior example 5ichard /ynn and Tatu

columbia political review :: spring 2013 Vanhanen propose in their book IQ and the Wealth of Nations accel eration programs iI instituted across the board should not disproportion ately bene¿t the wealthy but rather level the playing ¿eld To broaden the scope oI giIted education would be to directly broaden the chances that giIted children oI all races and incomes succeed Today the wealthy have access to a litany oI resources and ³tricks´ they can utilize to put their children ahead: private schools tutors admis sions coaches and contacts Indeed we have reached a point where aca demic results have increasingly little to do with intelligence and much to do with wealth²as seen Ior example in the strong correla tion between Iam ily income and 6AT scores²leaving the poor only with their own wits and luck &ertainly all giIted students are suIIering Irom the lack oI challenging academics but the eI Iects are magni¿ed when it comes to the poor %roadening the range oI giIted education would not widen the divide but rather reduce trends in ineTuality and promote egalitarian ism by providing eTual resources Ior the giIted everywhere :hile some may Ieel any kind oI academic division promotes the con tinuance oI ineTuality allowing top students to move ahead was once commonplace The schoolhouses oI the past maintained that students learn at their own pace and should move ahead only when they are ready Those who excelled in turn could progress as a Iaster rate In deed in colonial times students en tered the Iew extant colleges as young as 15 or 1 &ertainly times have changed: &ollege bound students are no longer reTuired to have a ¿rm grasp oI *reek and /atin nor is uni versity education limited to the elite %ut the ethic remains constant 6ome oI our greatest Americans²such as Martin /uther .ing -r and : E % Du %ois²bene¿ted Irom this culture oI acceleration despite the challeng es they Iaced As the country grew however and as education became

available to more and more people regularization and standardization increased as policymakers preach ing guarantees oI eTuality sought reIorm %ut other nations have successIul ly taken diIIerent approaches 6inga pore Ior example has had a coherent giIted education policy since the ear ly 198 s The challenges Ior such a system were daunting: 6ingapore is a highly diverse country with &hinese Malaysian Indian and European populations and as a city state no regionalization to speak oI Although the education system is conducted wholly in English and is heavily based on the %ritish model the ma

features :: domestic velopment as one oI the key goals oI giIted education is to nurture a new cohort oI political social and busi ness leaders This has received oc casional criticism as one sociologist &hua %eng +uat said ³the single minded pursuit oI continuous eco nomic growth has become the sole criterion Ior initiating and assessing all public policies ´ 5egardless the program has become popular At one school the prestigious 1ational -u nior &ollege the I3 program had 5 applicants Irom both 6ingapore and overseas Ior 1 locations :hile some 6ingaporeans have criticized the program as being elit ist the planners contend that the I3 actually works against ineTuality ³The Integrated 3ro grammes ‌ spend a lot more time on developing leader ship and commit ment to the commu nity ´ argued Iormer Education Minister Tharman 6han mugaratnam ³II anything it oIIers an opportunity Ior the top academic talents to develop stronger instincts oI 6ingaporeaness and commitment to their Iellow citizen ´ Much attention in 6ingapore is Iocused on ensuring a high level oI teacher Tuality %eIore they begin teaching all teachers are reTuired to take special courses in giIted educa tion as well as special supplemen tary modules on the specialization oI curricula within two years oI starting Each teacher receives special men toring Irom a specialist in the *iIted Education %ranch oI the Ministry oI Education and regular workshops are held on pedagogy assessment and student motivation Also giIted education teachers are assigned Iew er teaching periods than their peers out oI the expectation that the extra time will be used to broaden and elaborate their curricula 2I course the 8nited 6tates can never expect this level oI uniIormity 6ingapore is a city and its ministries are eTuivalent to municipal bureaus %ut the 8nited 6tates can learn that a national initiative Ior giIted edu cation can bring results and that such eIIorts do work to counteract

“We need to let each students learn at their own pace, and that means letting those who learn quickly move ahead.�

Mority oI the 6ingaporean population is oI &hinese decent and thus the Io cus on giIted students ¿ts well within a system oI intellectual meritocracy that itselI has roots in &onIucianism Thus 6ingaporeœs giIted program is Must the latest application oI a long societal tradition AIter several decades oI trial runs and testing the 6ingaporean Min istry oI Education launched the In tegrated 3rogramme I3 in 2 which allows students to skip their last two years oI secondary school and immediately take their college entrance exams The scheme which is open only to the top 1 percent oI students allows according to a 2 2 report these students to ³bet ter spend the last Iour years oI their >secondary@ education Irom 6econd ary <ear to -unior &ollege <ear 2 engaging in broader learning experi ences instead oI preparing Ior two maMor examinations ´ 2ne oI the maMor aims oI the I3 is to allow students to develop their independent development through several enrichment opportunities including research Mobs overseas ex change programs and community leadership Moreover the program strongly emphasizes leadership de

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features :: domestic ineTualities and elitism not deepen them 6ingaporeœs giIted policy has worked²so much so that the 8nited .ingdom the origin oI much oI the 6ingaporean education system is now considering adopting 6ingapor ean style policies This despite 6in gaporeœs vast diversity and pluralism is a sign the 8nited 6tates can walk down the same path 2r on a geographically larger scale take Finland The 6candina vian country has come into the lime light in recent years Ior consistently posting scores at the top oI interna tional comparative assessments The 3rogram Ior International Assess ment 3I6A placed the Finns at the top overall with a ¿rst place ranking in science and second place rankings in reading and math behind 6outh .orea and Taiwan re spectively Indeed the Wall Street Journal described the Finnish system as so uniIormly excellent that a Finn ish senior Elina /am ponen who studied abroad Ior a year in a Michigan high school had to repeat the year upon her return to Fin land 2ne peculiar aspect oI the Finnish experi ence is that there is a minimal Iocus paid to giIted education ³Finnish educators ´ the Journal writes ³believe they get better overall results by concentrat ing on weaker students rather than by pushing giIted students ahead oI everyone else The idea is that bright students can help average ones with out harming their own progress ´ This attitude however has been shown not to work in the 8nited 6tates %ut a number oI signi¿cant diIIerences exist between the 8nited 6tates and Finland and it is in those diIIerences where the key to emulat ing the Finnish approach Ior giIted students may lie 6ince the 199 s Finnish educa tion policy has Iocused on Ireedom oI choice and individual progress² two areas oI emphasis that Ameri can education lacks Finnish parents

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columbia political review :: spring 2013 have the right to enroll their children in school early Many elementary schools are ungraded which allows children to accelerate in other terms Iollowing the model oI the one room schoolhouse A number oI other pol icies also help students: classes with higher grades enrichment work shops cooperation with companies or non proÂżt organizations special extraÂącurricular activities individu al mentors and selI study Finland importantly separates students Ior the last three years oI high school based on their grades; 5 percent go to high school and the rest enter vocational school Thus despite the initial perception oI in eTuality those students who are cur rently being academically challenged continue down that path while those

who are struggling Âżnd appropri ate options :hile the 8nited 6tates provides magnet schools at the upper levels this is only a partial solution Meanwhile FinlandÂśs culture oI di viding the whole body oI students by their abilities ensures each student receives an education that Âżts their needs The education culture oI Fin land is one oI excellence and intense individualization; teachers custom ize lessons Ior students as opposed to Iollowing an inĂ&#x20AC;exible curriculum or worse yet Âłteaching to the test ´ In Finland as one education oIÂż cial said Âłteachers are the entrepre neurs ´ and the barriers to entry are indeed high Teachers are reTuired to be rigorously trained and hold a post graduate degree 6ome ap

plicants exist Ior every teaching Mob yet teachers in Finland earn roughly the same as their American counter parts %ut the culture oI proIession alism in Finland imbues the occupa tion with prestige and gives teachers greater leverage²Iostering excel lence in a similar way to 6ingapore Indeed there is a signi¿cant amount oI cultural diIIerence be tween these countries and the 8nit ed 6tates Finland is a homogenous country²ethnically racially socially and economically²compared to the divergent dissonant nature oI Amer ican society 6ingapore on the other hand while having an ethnic diver sity more similar to ours is a city smaller than 1ew <ork <et Finland and 6ingapore have despite all their diIIerences prioritized excellence in both teachers and stu dents They have made the decision to recog nize their brightest stu dents and pay special attention to them There is then no reason we should not do the same :e need to Iocus upon all students we need to broaden the education spectrum :e need to let each stu dents learn at their own pace and that means letting those who learn Tuickly move ahead :e may Ior this kind oI system to work have to acknowledge some students are more intelligent than other but in this competitive Iast paced world we cannot aIIord to ignore reality 2nce we acknowledge the Iacts we can move towards an eTuality oI op portunity where the brightest are identi¿ed regardless oI race gender or wealth II we do nothing we risk letting our brightest Iall through the cracks :e have a moral imperative to not let that happen cpr

Kyle Dontoh is a Âżrst year in Columbia College. He is currently pursuing a bachelor of arts in economics-political science. He intends to specialize in development economics. He can be reached at knd2115@columbia.edu

columbia political review :: spring 2013

a modest proposal

Electoral Dysfunction A Modest Proposal: Modernizing American Democracy

by Karina Jougla

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n -anuary 15 2 1 5achel ponents in 2 12 the *23 managed delegate redistricting to independent Maddow reported that 5epub to maintain a seat +ouse maMority commissions but in most states the lican controlled legislatures thanks to their unabashedly named responsibility Ialls on the legislatures in several states won by 3resident 5edistricting MaMority 3roMect or :hen one party controls the legis lature it may gerrymander district %arack 2bama in 2 12 are consider 5EDMA3 II this is starting to sound like a lines to protect incumbents or give ing changing the way they send dele gates to the Electoral &ollege Instead one sided invective against the un that party an advantage (the term oI electing the president on a winner derhandedness oI the 5epublican gerrymander derives Irom the name take all basis these states propose 3arty that is not my intention My oI Massachusetts *overnor Elbridge splitting their electoral votes propor own political belieIs aside I expect *erry who approved a salamander tionally based on which candidate that iI the Democrats were in the shaped district in 1812 to protect his wins a maMority in each individual 5epublicansÂś situation they would party The 6upreme &ourt deems congressional district (1ebraska and probably be trying to manipulate the gerrymandering based on race or Maine currently use this method Electoral &ollege by the same means ethnicity unconstitutional in keep In the battleground states oI Florida And as much as I love 5achel Mad ing with the 19 5 Voting 5ights Act Michigan 2hio 3ennsylvania Vir dow I think she missed the mark on but to date it has not prohibited ger ginia and :isconsin 5epublicans this one Instead oI demonizing the rymandering based on political party 5epublican 3arty Ior trying to rig the aIÂżliation In the Vieth v -ubelirer are charging ahead with this plan In many oI these states congres Electoral &ollege in their Iavor we case (2 the 6upreme &ourt sional district lines have been ger should take the opportunity to point ruled 5 that partisan gerrymander rymandered to Iavor 5epublicans out the glaring problems with the way ing in 3ennsylvania did not violate the &onstitution on the grounds that eIIectively guaranteeing that those we elect our leaders The Âżrst maMor weakness in the no clear standards or precedents ex districts will support 5epublican presidential candidates in Iuture American electoral system is the ist In order to prevent gerrymander elections As 6tephen &olbert aptly troublesome process oI redistrict ing Irom skewing election outcomes said oI gerrymandering ÂłInstead oI ing Every decade states redraw their the process oI redistricting should be conducted by nonpartisan the voters getting to pick their leaders the leaders get to pick â&#x20AC;&#x153;A memo from the Republican State Lead- independent bodies and stan dardized nationwide to remove their voters ´ Moreover Mad dow Tuoted a FairVote org re ership Committee triumphantly declared state to state inconsistencies 2ur electoral systemÂśs sec port indicating that ÂłII the 5e that, even though Democratic candidates ond maMor weakness lies in the publicans in 2 12 had passed laws Ior allocating electoral for the House of Representatives won 1.1 inherent Ă&#x20AC;aws oI its design votes >by district@ the exact million more votes than their Republican First oI all the candidate who wins the national popular vote same votes cast in the exact same way in the 2 12 election opponents in 2012, the GOP managed will not necessarily be elected would have converted Barack to maintain a 33-seat House majority In 182 187 1888 and 2 the candidate who lost the 2bamaÂśs advantage oI nearly 5 million popular votes and 126 thanks to their unabashedly named Re- popular vote actually won the electoral votes into a resound districting Majority Project, or REDMAP.â&#x20AC;? presidential election 6econd a vote cast in a sparsely popu ing Electoral &ollege deIeat ´ lated state like :yoming holds A memo Irom the 5epublican 6tate /eadership &ommittee trium congressional district lines to reĂ&#x20AC;ect three to Iour times the weight oI a phantly declared that even though updated census data The &onstitu vote cast in a densely populated state Democratic candidates Ior the +ouse tion does not speciIy how district like 1ew <ork This is because even oI 5epresentatives won 1 1 million lines should be determined so it has though states get one electoral vote more votes than their 5epublican op been leIt up to the states 6ome states Ior each oI their representatives in

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a modest proposal the +ouse (where the number oI seats is roughly proportional to population size each state also gets two electoral votes thrown in to eTual the number oI senators This disproportionately concentrates voting power violating the principle oI one person one vote by giving one person the eTuivalent oI three or Iour votes in less populated states Furthermore electors sent to the Electoral &ollege are techni cally not bound to vote the way voters mandate There have been 85 in stances oI so called ³Iaithless electors´ deIecting to vote Ior an other can didate 2ther is sues with the Elector al &ollege stem Irom the Iact that it was designed beIore po litical par ties and national campaigns existed²in other words it was not in tended to Iunction with partisan cam paign politics In 2 12 2bama and 5omney only campaigned in 1 states between their respective party con ventions and Election Day The result is that candidatesœ campaign dollars and attention are concentrated on a handIul oI battleground states while voters in the rest oI the country are eIIectively ignored According to the New York Times ³There is evidence that the current system is depress ing turnout distorting policy weak ening accountability and eIIectively disenIranchising the vast maMority oI Americans ´ The Electoral &ollege is a dysIunc tional 225 year old relic and this most recent controversy over 5epub lican attempts to rig the system high lights the desperate need Ior change In a -anuary 2 1 *allup poll 6 percent oI Americans were in Iavor

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columbia political review :: spring 2013 oI doing away with the Electoral &ol lege entirely Even the American Bar Association has come out in Iavor oI reIorm calling the Electoral &ollege ³archaic´ and ³ambiguous ´ +owever there is much less agreement on how to reIorm the system 2ne possibility is to abolish the Electoral &ollege entirely and conduct a direct popular vote +owever oppo nents oI this plan have argued that it would lead to the rise oI viable third

parties and eventually turn the 8 6 into a pluralist system which would Iundamentally change the nature oI the American political system (Ior better or Ior worse Furthermore candidates would likely concentrate on urban areas where more votes are up Ior grabs at the expense oI rural regions To avoid these and other na tionwide recount issues some have suggested an instant runoII vote mechanism in which voters rank the candidates in order oI preIerence II no candidate receives a clear maMority the candidate with the least amount oI votes would be eliminated and the votes the loser garnered redistributed to the votersœ second choice candi date until someone wins a maMority This would eliminate the ³spoiler eI Iect´ in which a vote Ior a third party candidate eIIectively becomes a vote Ior a least desired candidate As a hy pothetical example iI 5alph 1aderœs

supporters had indicated Al *ore as their second choice in 2 through this mechanism *ore likely would have won the election Another possibility would be to divide a stateÂśs electoral votes pro portionally in accordance with the percentage oI the popular vote that each candidate receives +owever proportional allocation is problem atic because the percentage oI votes would have to even out to whole elec toral votes and rounding votes would be conten tious and messy The most interesting alternative is the 1ational 3opular Vote plan 8n der this bill state legisla tures pledge to send all oI their elec toral votes to the candidate who wins the overall na tional popu lar vote en suring that this candidate becomes president 6o Iar &aliIornia Maryland Vermont Massachusetts 1ew -ersey Illinois :ashington +awaii and D & have signed on amounting to 1 2 commit ted electoral votes The bill will not come into eIIect until enough states pass it to bring the total to the 27 votes needed Ior a maMority This plan is particularly compelling because it would result in the democratic election oI the president by popular vote without a messy constitutional amendment process It would also Iorce candidates to pay attention to more oI the country than Must the bat tleground states cpr

Karina Jougla is a freshman in Columbia College from Carpinteria, California studying human rights and French. She is an active member of Barnard Columbia Divest. She can be reached at kcj2118@columbia.edu

features :: international

columbia political review :: spring 2013

The Irish Curtain Integrating Northern Irelandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Catholic and Protestant Schools

by Bryan Schonfeld

2

n December 2 12 the Bel Iast &ity &ouncil voted end a 1 6 year old tradition: Ă&#x20AC;ying the British Ă&#x20AC;ag over its Victorian style city hall building 65 days a year In stead the Ă&#x20AC;ag would be Ă&#x20AC;own to mark Must 18 national holidays 6eeing this decision as an act oI Irish 5epublican aggression 3ro British 8nionists ri oted attacking police oIÂżcers with Mo lotov cocktails and setting Âżre to a bus Dozens oI oIÂżcers were inMured and more than a hundred rioters arrested The 1orthern Irish government had to come up with approximately ÂżIteen million pounds to police the Ă&#x20AC;ag pro tests; economists estimate the riots cost 1orthern Ireland an additional ÂżIteen million pounds in lost revenue The surge in violence ultimately brought renewed international attention to a conĂ&#x20AC;ict between Irish 5epublicans and British 8nionists that continues today despite 1998Âśs supposedly conĂ&#x20AC;ict re solving *ood Friday Agreement The ongoing hostilities between 8nionist 3rotestants who Iavor British sovereignty over 1orthern Ireland and Irish &atholic 5epublicans who de sire a united Ireland are unsurprising given the Ă&#x20AC;awed nature oI the peace agreement that brought the conĂ&#x20AC;ict to an oIÂżcial close From the late 196 s until the 1998 *ood Friday Agreement intense sectarian violence between Irish &atholics and British 3rotestants claimed three thousand lives Most 1orthern Irish identiÂżed with Britain wanting to remain in the 8nited .ing dom; others desired a united Ireland The Irish 5epublican Army (I5A a group oI &atholic Irish nationalists committed terrorist attacks against the British in an attempt to wrest 1orthern Ireland Irom British control 8nionist paramilitary groups like the 8lster Volunteer Force conducted

their own terror campaigns against 1orthern Irish &atholics oIten target ing civilians In the *ood Friday Agree ment between the British government the Irish government and eight 1orth ern Irish political parties agreed that 1orthern Ireland would remain part oI the 8. until a maMority in 1orthern Ire land desired to become part oI a united Ireland It gave everyone in 1orthern Ireland the right to be recognized as British or Irish (or both and to hold British or Irish citizenship Addition ally all paramilitary groups Irom both sides had to disarm; this stage was not carried out right away as the I5A did not decommission all oI its weapons until 2 5 To this day some groups have still not disarmed This history is well known :hat is less widely known is that in the 15 years since the *ood Friday Agreement little has been done to end the segregation between the two sectarian groups in 1orthern Ireland Despite the agree

mentœs strong language claiming ³prin ciples oI Iull respect Ior and eTuality oI civil political social and cultural rights ´ this persistent segregation has prevented 1orthern Ireland Irom truly moving past the mistrust and hostility oI the Troubles providing Ior an un easy peace and a barricaded society There are three times as many ³peace wall´ barriers between &atholic and 3rotestant neighborhoods than there were during the height oI the Troubles From April to August during ³march ing season ´ 8nionist and 5epublican groups stage parades to stake their claims to their traditional districts 3olls reveal the entrenchment oI Brit ish and Irish identities with only about 2 percent oI respondents identiIying as 1orthern Irish But the deleterious eIIects oI this division are not limited to the occasional spurts oI violence and antagonistic marches or even to the ³peace wall´ barriers between neigh borhoods

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features :: international The Alliance 3arty the only party supported by both 3rotestants and &atholics estimates that the duplica tion oI services on account oI 1orthern IrelandÂśs social divisions costs about 1 5 billion pounds a year There has been a Âłbrain drain´ Irom 1orthern Ireland; talented individuals have leIt 1orthern Ireland in great numbers Ior economic opportunity elsewhere Fur thermore voter participation is down as power sharing has become Irustrat ing and divisive Alliance leader David Ford explains: Âł&ontinued divisions in our soci ety impact upon people in many ways including how we live how we learn how we work and how we play These divisions bring signiÂżcant human social eco nomic and Âżnancial costsâ&#x20AC;ŚBy contrast the creation oI a shared Iuture would provide better op portunities Ior all and signiÂżcant ly assist the development oI our economy ´ To progress towards shared 1orthern Irish prosperity a culture oI tolerance and mutual helpIulness must be Ios tered The best place to start is the edu cation system which the Alliance 3arty recently identi Âżed as the key to integration 6ocial segre gation is espe cially apparent in education About 95 percent oI 1orthern Irish children attend 3rotestant domi nated schools or &atholic schools with the other Âżve percent attending Âłinte grated´ schools There are Âżve types oI schools in 1orthern Ireland Âł&on trolled´ schools are 3rotestant domi nated and owned by the Education and /ibrary Board with 3rotestant church es oIten represented on the board oI governors &atholic Âłmaintained´ schools are owned by the &atholic &hurch although the Education and /ibrary Board also provide Iunding There are also 3rotestant Âłmaintained´ schools owned by 3rotestant churches with some public Iunding and volun tary grammar schools /astly inte grated schools are partially owned by trustees while receiving Iunds Irom

columbia political review :: spring 2013 the Department oI Education 51 per cent oI 1orthern Irish students are &atholic usually attending the ³main tained´ 5oman &atholic schools 3rot estant children overwhelmingly attend the ³controlled´ schools This religious segregation costs the state millions oI pounds more than an integrated sys tem would because oI the duplication oI educational resources More disturbing is the eIIect a segregated education sys tem has on the identities oI 1orthern Irish children; because oI this system schoolchildren oIten reach adulthood barely ever having engaged with their counterparts and Iellow citizens In 2ctober 2 1 1orthern Ire landœs First Minister 3eter 5obinson called the 1orthern Ireland education system a ³benign Iorm oI apartheid ´ asking ³:ho among us would think it acceptable that a state or nation would educate its young people by the criteria oI race with white schools or black schools" <et we are prepared to operate a system which separates our children almost entirely on the basis oI their religion ´ But there is nothing benign about an education system that perpetuates sectarianism and mistrust sometimes to the point oI violence

to university or to a Mob and ¿nd that itœs mixed"´ 8nIortunately by the time students have reached the university level their ideas about the ³other´ have in all likelihood been shaped by skewed stereotypes rather than by continual interaction and personal experience Academics in psychology and sociol ogy have studied intergroup relations in regards to preMudice 2ne prominent theory in intergroup relations is the &ontact +ypothesis put Iorth by +ar vard psychologist *ordon : Allport in 195 +e believed stereotyping and discrimination could be reduced iI Iour speci¿c conditions oI interpersonal contact were met These Iour condi tions included an eTual status relation ship between the two groups common goals intergroup cooperation towards common goals and a higher authority acknowledged by both groups Further studies have re¿ned this hypothesis emphasizing speci¿c conditions under which positive attitudes emerge The hypothesis has enMoyed sub stantial support: A 2 analysis by 3ettigrew and Tropp oI 2 studies in 25 countries showed about a 9 per cent success rate Ior the &ontact +y pothesis The hypothesis has been re¿ned to more speci¿cally show the condi tions that promote tolerance A much cited study by Is raeli psychologist <ehuda Amir oI Bar Ilan 8niver sity published in 1969 emphasized that increased con tact does not always lessen tensions or preMudice +e Iound that unIavorable conditions increasing tension included contact with individuals oI a ³lower sta tus ´ and an absence oI shared goals In other words Amir Iound that intimate contact has a much greater eIIect on attitudes than casual contact Favor able conditions reducing preMudice in cluded contact between people oI eTual status cooperative activities shared goals and a supportive social space with institutional support The &ontact +ypothesis applies to various kinds oI preMudice: A 199 study by +erek and *lunt Iound that increased contact with homosexuals

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Based on the overwhelming research in favor of the Contact Hypothesis, the best way to engender tolerance is through the promotion of integrated schools, whose students are split about evenly into Protestants and Catholics.â&#x20AC;?

10

II 1orthern Ireland is to move be yond its troubled past its youth must be educated in tolerance 5obinson noted ³II one were to suggest that 3rotestants and &atholics would be ed ucated at separate universities it would be maniIestly absurd; yet we continue to tolerate the idea that at primary and secondary level our children are edu cated separately ´ The current primary and secondary education system Iails to prepare 3rotestant and &atholic chil dren Ior the diversity oI the real world: .athleen *ormley a Iormer principal oI a &atholic school asks ³+ow many children²and I was one oI them²go to a &atholic school and then to a &atho lic post primary school and then go

columbia political review :: spring 2013

(Ior heterosexuals was more predic tive oI positive attitudes towards gay men than any other variable tested despite religious ethnic and cultural diIIerences 6imilarly a 2 11 1ovotny and 3olonsky study demonstrated that personal contact with Muslims leads :esterners to more positive views oI Muslims 3erhaps most relevant to the case oI 1orthern Irish schools is a 2 study conducted by researchers at &o lumbiaœs Teachers &ollege and 8&/A examining desegregated schools in the 8nited 6tates which concluded ³desegregation made the vast maMor ity oI the students who attended these schools less racially preMudiced and more comIortable around people oI diIIerent backgrounds ´ Based on the overwhelming re search in Iavor oI the &ontact +ypoth esis the best way to engender tolerance is through the promotion oI integrated schools whose students are split about evenly into &atholics and 3rotestants To some degree the hypothesis has already been proven true In 1981 a parenting group established 1orthern Irelandœs ¿rst integrated school /agan &ollege which has the /atin motto ³8nt 6in 8num ´ meaning ³That They May Be 2ne ´ 2riginally opened with only 28 students today the school boasts more than 1 2 Three more integrated schools opened in 1985 and today there are 61 integrated schools 1 oI which are primary schools 2r ganizations dedicated to promoting integrated education include the Inte grated Education Fund and the 1orth ern Ireland &ouncil Ior Integrated Ed ucation The 1orthern Ireland &ouncil Ior Integrated Education enumerates

Iour basic principles: eTuality Iaith and values parental in volvement and so cial responsibility ETuality means having roughly eTual numbers oI 3rotes tant and &atholic students and board members through an admissions process that ensures an inte grated environment Faith and values means the school is Âł&hristian in character and welcomes all Iaiths and none ´ 3arental involve ment underscores the importance oI including parents in the education process and Âłensuring that parents are made Iully aware oI the schoolÂśs inte grated ethos ´ 6ocial responsibility is the teaching oI non violent conĂ&#x20AC;ict res olution mutual understanding and tol erance to create a Âłshared civic space ´ Integrating education in 1orthern Ireland completely would however prove controversial &urrent education minister -ohn 2ÂśDowd has said that the proponents oI integration should acknowledge the desires oI parents to have their kids receive religious educa tion: ÂłIt is important that in an open modern society parents have the right to express a preIerence Ior schools that reĂ&#x20AC;ect a religious or integrated ethos Indeed it would not be appro priate Ior me to attempt to Iorce par ents to choose one type oI school over another ´ Framed this way the is sue becomes one oI individual choice and the group rights oI religious sects versus the Iostering oI a more peace Iul and tolerant society 6till the aca demic research shows the importance oI sustained intimate contact between groups in changing attitudes This kind oI contact can only be Iostered in an in tegrated system 2thers believe integration should occur within the 3rotestant dominated state system +owever the 3rotestant demographic dominance oI the state system makes it unlikely that &atho lics will begin sending their children to them in great numbers Additionally it may be more diIÂżcult to provide a bal anced account oI 1orthern Irish his tory in a British 3rotestant dominated

features :: international system 2nly an integrated system could Ioster the ÂłeTual status´ condi tion oI the &ontact +ypothesis The societal implications oI contin ued segregation are the perpetuation oI the mistrust and hostility that has dogged 1orthern Ireland Ior so long To balance the twin concerns oI indi vidual rights and promoting tolerance a nuanced approach can be taken Funding to integrated schools can be increased without limiting the auton omy oI parents to make their own deci sions Ior their children An integrated education system should promote the conditions cited by academics as ones that Ioster tolerance such as eTual sta tus between 3rotestants and &atholics within the school and tasks that Iorce cooperation In -uly 2 12 2ÂśDowd announced the establishment oI an advisory group to look into Âłshared education ´ In -anuary the Alliance 3arty set an am bitious goal Ior integration: to have 2 percent oI students educated in inte grated schools in 2 2 *ormley who is currently 3rincipal oI +azelwood Integrated &ollege sees a rise in non integrated schools moving towards in tegration saying ÂłI was contacted by two principals in the last month to ask how they would move their schools to becoming integrated so whilst we may see the setting up oI more integrated schools we may see more schools transIer to integrated status simply be cause the management style is diIIer ent in an integrated school ´ These are promising indicators that both &atho lics and 3rotestants are realizing more and more the costs oI indeÂżnite segre gation The economic and social well being oI 1orthern Ireland depends on &atholics and 3rotestants deciding to Ă&#x20AC;ourish together Education integra tion is Must the place to start cpr

Bryan Schonfeld, CC â&#x20AC;&#x2122;16, is leaning towards majoring in economics. He is a board member of J Street CU, a ProIsrael on-campus group devoted to furthering a two state solution. In addition, he is a proud member of the Undergraduate Recruiting Committee and the Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity. He can be reached at: bjs220@columbia.edu.

11

columbia political review :: spring 2013

features :: domestic

The Prisoner Dilemma Combatting Mental Illness in the US Prison System

by Farah Tamizuddin

A

ccording to the International &entre Ior 3rison 6tudies 7 86 citizens out oI ev ery 1 are incarcerated while 5wanda 5ussia and *eorgia have the next three highest rates oI 595 568 and 5 7 respectively This means that despite having had a stable government Ior centuries the 8nited 6tates has 25 percent more inmates per capita than those coun tries America is not contending with the political instability oI these countries but still leads the world in number oI incarcerated criminals The Tuestion that remains is whether the punishments handed down by 86 Mudges are eIIec tive deterrents to crime 2ne oI the causes oI the 8nited 6tatesÂś large prison population is the mandatory min imum: a statuto ry reTuirement that Mudges give convicted oI Ienders a mini mum length oI imprisonment For example these laws Ire Tuently give nonviolent drug addicts sentenc es oI 15 years to liIe &urrently about 5 inmates are incarcer ated Ior drug crimes These lengthy prison terms are coupled with the treatment oI many petty crimesÂąlike writing bad checksÂąas oIIenses wor thy oI incarceration The ludicrously high prison popu

12

lation has hindered prisons across the country Ior years In 2 6 &ali Iornia declared a state oI emergency over its prison system which housed over 15 inmates in Âłgymnasi ums dayrooms and other common areas not commonly designed as liv ing units IreTuently in double or triple bunks ´ The proclamation will be terminated on -uly 1 2 1 due to a lower prison population But this is hardly a triumph Ior a sys tem that has lowered inmate levels primarily by re shuIĂ&#x20AC;ing prisoners: &aliIornia has moved 8 9 inmates to private out oI state prisons and ordered that lower level Ielons be

held in county Mails not state prisons The euphemism Ior such shuIĂ&#x20AC;ing is Âłrealignment´¹inmates are spatially realigned to places where Ior now there is more room 8nIortunately the &ongressional 5esearch 6ervice reported that in

2 11 Iederal prisons were operat ing on average at 9 percent over capacity and that the prison popula tion has increased about 79 percent since 198 6ooner rather than later the 8nited 6tates must learn that re shuIĂ&#x20AC;ing prisoners is a bandage not a cure The &ongressional 5esearch 6er vice (&56 reported in 2 11 that the risk Ior recidivism (a released in mateÂśs return to crime as measured by re incarceration rates is highest Ior oIIenders on probation in the Âżrst year aIter their release This indicates that incarceration is having little eI Iect on curbing criminal impulses once oIIenders re enter society It has been known since 1979 that ÂłIear oI oI Âżcial punishment is not one oI the more important correlates oI delinTuency ´ and thus the prison sys tem must look to re habilitating inmates The &56 report also states that a treat ment program Iol lowed by surveillance probation in which an inmate is monitored by or meets regularly with a probation oI Âżcer is more likely to reduce the chance oI recidivism Incar ceration may keep inmates reasonably subdued in strict daily routines but Iails to provide any sort oI motivation or deterrent once an oIIender is released Making in carceration a one time occurrence Ior most oIIenders and thus reducing the prison population reTuires reha

columbia political review :: spring 2013 bilitation not merely retribution Though there is no cure all reha bilitation program ³5isk 1eed 5e sponsivity´ (515 is one oI the most reputable pro grams to combat recidivism 515 was validated by a meta analysis con ducted by &arleton 8niversity proIes sor oI psychology D A Andrews and his colleagues An drews et al con cluded that both sentencing without rehabilitation and sentencing with rehabilitation that was not speci¿cally matched to the oI Iender are ineIIec tive at reducing recidivism ¾5e sponsivityœ reIers to the rehabilitation service provided Andrews advocates Ior Iocusing on higher risk cases targeting ³criminogenic need´ (that is the dynamic risk Iactors that can aIIect rehabilitation and matching the learning style oI prisoners to pro grams 515 lowers recidivism and stud ies show would not reTuire increases in prison budgets: A 2 12 article in 3sychology 3ublic 3olicy and /aw meta analyzed the correctional ser vices used by Andrews and Iound that 515 was not signi¿cantly more ex pensive than inappropriate rehabili tation or traditional incarceration In Iact inappropriate services in which oIIenders and programs were not as sessed to determine risk level and eI¿cacy were Iound to be more ex pensive perhaps due to the length oI provision IneIIectiveness oI incarceration was illustrated 2 years ago in *eor gia when the state extended prison terms Ior parole eligible criminals +arvard 8niversity 3roIessor 3e ter *anong Iound that an extra year in prison reduced the three year re cidivism rate by six percent but con cluded that the costs incurred by the prison system during prolonged in carceration outweighed any bene¿ts oI preventing crime 515 on the

other hand provides a reliable reduc tion in recidivism without incurring dead costs 6ome states are realizing the ben

eÂżts oI treating criminals rather than Must punishing them A 2 12 article in American Educator described a Mis souri Muvenile rehabilitation program that substituted therapy and educa tion Ior incarceration The program successIully and deÂżnitively reduced recidivismâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;and cost less than incar ceration A year ago 6eattle launched /aw EnIorcement Assisted Diversion (/EAD which makes a Iew nights a month a Âłgreen light night ´ :hen police oIÂżcers Âżnd drug addicts and minor dealers on these nights they divert the oIIenders away Irom the prison systemâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;and not Must to pri vate or out oI state Mails The oIIend ers are instead sent to a social worker where they receive immediate care and long term housing Mob training and drug addiction services The pro gram is intended to remove IreTuent ly re incarcerated drug oIIenders and dealers Irom the prison system and to treat not punish their addictions Drug dealers selling more than three grams still go to prison /EAD and the Missouri rehabilitation program are signs that Mustice systems around the country are realizing that Ior most the traditional prison system simply does not work A report by the Australian &rimi nology 5esearch &ouncil (&5& in 2 9 Iound that the programsâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;in

features :: domestic cluding cognitive skills anger man agement drugs and alcohol and victim awarenessâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;had reduced re cidivism by 5 percent :hile 1 hours oI program time was optimal the pri mary key was 515â&#x20AC;&#x201C; channeling high risk oIIenders into speciÂżc behavioral rehabilita tion programs The &5& reported that 515 rehabilitation had been clearly es tablished in Australia Must Âżve years aIter initiation This heart ening success story should be an impetus Ior all Mustice systems In considering pris oner rehabilitation however suIÂżcient attention must be given to mental health medication Mental health care in 86 prisons is oIten seen as a privilege bestowed primarily upon the recalci trant A 2 1 study in .ansas oI adult male inmates Iound Âłthe amount oI mental health treatment an inmate received was associated with prob lematic institutional behavior (i e increased severity and number oI dis ciplinary inIractions ´ It is curious that mental health care is largely the result oI disobedience aIter incarcer ation All inmates are guilty oI prob lematic behavior and all should have eTual access to mental health care regardless oI their behavior in prison Instead inmates who Iollow the rules are released with no new psycho logical tools to re navigate the world Irom which they were removed Furthermore prisons contribute to a decline in mental health likely precipitating higher rates oI recidi vism In December 2 12 the -our nal oI +ealth and 6ocial Behavior published an article examining psy chiatric disorders and incarceration The study Iound that incarceration was a robust predictor oI later mood disorders such as maMor depressive disorder bipolar disorder and neu rotic depression Because inmates are IreTuently released in a more volatile mental state than when they were incarcerated incarceration does not

13

features :: domestic make Ior a better society The Mustice system should not be merely about punishment: It should be about repa ration and cure &ures become all the more im portant when we consider that pris ons and Mails treat more mentally ill Americans than hospitals do The Bureau oI -ustice 6tatistics released a 2 6 report that Iound mental health issues elevate the likelihood oI crimi nal risk Iactors About 75 percent oI inmates with mental health problems abused or were dependent upon ille gal substances or alcohol They were twice as likely to have been homeless and three times as likely to have been physically or sexu ally abused The mentally ill seem to be on a di rect path to prison but the treatment they receive is not centered on the ill ness that brought them there The re port Iound that mental health prob lems aIĂ&#x20AC;ict more than halI oI inmates in prison and Mail 2nly 12 percent oI Iederal inmates and 17 percent oI state inmates received mental health care even though 5 percent had ma Mor depression mania or psychotic disorders Furthermore the report Iound that inmates with mental health problems were more likely to violate rules and twice as likely to en gage in Âżghts These encounters oIten lead to more punitive measures that contributed to the inmateÂśs decline in mental health An example oI a Mail with a high proportion oI mentally ill inmates is 5ikers Island in 1ew <ork The second largest inpatient psychiatric ward in the country 5ikers is noto rious Ior alleged abuse oI inmates within its walls There are reports oI inmates being beaten and raped and even oI inmates killing themselves by swallowing soap A chaplain re turning to 5ikers immediately saw a Âżght in which an inmate was critically wounded +e said ÂłII I had Iorgot ten violence during my weekÂśs break once again I am conIronted with the Iolly oI this world oI isolation and emptiness ´ 3risoners are Tuaran tined and subMect to inhumane condi tions not taught to live better lives

columbia political review :: spring 2013 At 5ikers mentally ill people are increasingly placed in ³punitive seg regation ´ a Iorm oI solitary con¿ne ment that usually exacerbates mental health problems and oIIers no con structive treatment This is where the problem lies Mental illness can increase suscep tibility to crime even more so when combined with a bad environment The legal system takes hundreds oI thousands oI mentally ill people and puts them into an environment that is not conducive to mental health reha bilitation It is no wonder that incar ceration is not eIIectively deterring

crime the Mustice system must pre pare a release plan to keep criminals Irom sliding back into mental health decline and crime 3risons rarely oIIer rehabilitation medicine or psychological tools to help criminals Iunction once they re turn to society Most inmates are re leased with no diIIerent an outlook on liIe and no means oI continuing the drug treatment they received in pris on and will likely return to the liIe they knew beIore 2IIendersœ Iriends spouses children and neighbors may be pulled into crime²and instead oI one person returning in the next ¿ve years oIIenders might bring six acTuaintances with them 6imply put American pris ons are overload ed The ¿nan cial and social strain is draining and unnecessary 3rison centers should work on identiIying how to improve criminalsœ lives by providing the cor rect therapy or drugs Fewer than one in Iour Iederal inmates with mental health issues receive treatment and this is simply not enough 3lans need to be introduced to increase the num ber oI treated inmates and to contin ue treatment outside prison to ensure mental health issues do not Iurther precipitate crime All inmates should be subMect to participation in 515 programs a proven and cost eIIective method oI reducing recidivism by Io cusing on the practical use oI risk Iac tors 5ehabilitation has been proven to work; the only way to stop the cycle oI crime is to treat crime not merely punish it II the Mustice system Iocuses on rehabilitating individuals and not merely punitive measures we would live in a dramatically saIer society

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Cures become all the more important when we consider that prisons and jails treat more mentally ill Americans than hospitals do.â&#x20AC;?

14

crimes when inmates are released The oIten inhumane treatment sets a poor example Ior release into the world where inmates have learned nothing about how to treat humans humanely Mental health problems increase criminological risk Iactors prison increases mental health problems and when released a prisoner is in a worse state oI mind than beIore The Mustice system should ensure crimi nals receive proper health care and therapy in prison This way we truly treat the crime instead oI Must pun ishing it; prison should not simply be a holding area Ior the mentally ill In rehabilitating consideration must be given to the biochemi cal causes oI crime 5ehabilitation should incorporate antidepressants that correct serotonin or dopamine imbalances and mood stabilizers like lithium Ior bipolar disorder This treatment must be continued aIter release &urrently oIIenders are giv en only a short supply oI medication and usually there are no Iollow up appointments A 2 2 study oI 1ew -ersey Mails Iound that almost every Mail surveyed ³reported providing no real release planning´ Ior mentally ill inmates and ten oI the 21 Mails ³pro vide aItercare plans Ior Iewer than 1 percent oI inmates with serious mental illness ´ To eIIectively treat

cpr

Farah Tamizuddin is a sophomore in Columbia College majoring in neuroscience and behavior. She is a member of TRACT, Youth for Debate, CUFSP, and the Charles Drew Medical Society. She believes that, as Dorothea Dix said, â&#x20AC;&#x153;man is not made better by being degraded.â&#x20AC;? She can be reached at ft2214@columbia.edu.

columbia political review :: spring 2013

interview

Deciphering Benghazi A Conversation With Jack Murphy, GSâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;14

by Taylor Thompson

J

ack Murphy, a political science major in the Columbia School of General Studies, served for eight years in the United States Army before coming to Morningside Heights. He is managing editor of SOFREP.com, a special operations news and information site. His new book, Benghazi: The DeÂżnitive 5eport, co-authored with former Navy SEAL Brandon Webb, is among the Âżrst accounts of the September 11, 2012 attack on the American consulate in Benghazi, Libya, which led to the deaths of four Americans, including Ambassador Christopher Stevens, the Âżrst US ambassador to die in ofÂżce since 1 88, and the eighth US ambassador to be killed in the line of duty. CPR Managing Editor Taylor Thompson sat down with Mr. Murphy to discuss the book, the consulate attack in Benghazi, its implications for American counterterrorism policy, and some surprising ties between Libya and the resignation of Gen. David Petraeus as Director of the CIA. TT: :hy did you decide to write about the attack in Benghazi" JM: A couple oI diIIerent reasons I run a website with a Iriend oI mine a Iormer 1avy 6EA/ named Brandon :ebb :e started this site up about a year ago and we cover special operations and the intelligence community so we write about this kind oI thing to begin with In addition to that he and I both knew one oI the people who were killed in Benghazi *len Doherty I Must knew him casually but actually he and Brandon were best Iriends going back years and years to their

15

columbia political review :: spring 2013

interview time in the military 6o that was kind oI our personal connection to it And then in addition to that we saw how distorted the story was getting in the media and how politicized it had become :e had the opportunity through the people we know and the contacts we have to shed some light on it and put the truth out there TT: Do you think that the news me dia have Iocused on the relevant issues with regards to Benghazi" :hat have they missed" JM: I think the biggest issue they missed was the ³why ´ :hy did the attack happen" And thatœs really the critical Tuestions I attempt to answer in the book²why this attack" It gets so muddled and distort ed because there are so many other things going on The 6tate Department put out one story then they had to reverse course about this >anti Is lam ¿lm trailer on YouTube] that they said inspired the at tack You had oth er embassies getting attacked in the Middle East >on 6eptember 11 2 12] as well 1one oI them were nearly as bad as Benghazi though²not even close I donœt even think there was any loss oI liIe to speak oI 6o why was >the 86 consulate] in Benghazi attacked on 9 11 and why was the attack so drastic and so much stronger than the others"

to air missiles 6o what are we going to do to get those weapons back" These were legitimate counterterrorist opera tions²we can have a separate conver sation about counterterrorism or Ior eign policy²but these operations were legitimate The problem was that they were not being de conĂ&#x20AC;icted at a higher level speciÂżcally at a 1ational 6ecurity &ouncil level TT: :hat speciÂżcally was happen ing at the level oI the 1ational 6ecurity &ouncil" JM: John Brennan who was acting as >3resident] 2bamaÂśs counterterrorism adviser was authorizing the operations in /ibya through the J62& commander >Admiral :illiam Mc5aven] But Ior

raid in early 6eptember Must beIore the consulate was hit That was really the straw that broke the camelœs back in that case 1ow were these militias inspired by what they saw going on in Egypt" :as this YouTube video used as a way to mobilize some oI the youth in Benghazi and Derna and motivate them that night to go out and attack the consulate" 3erhaps But that wasnœt the reason why TT: :ho speci¿cally conducted the at tack on the consulate" JM: The attack was really launched by Ansar al 6haria which is a militia in side Benghazi and thatœs been active in /ibya Ior a while They claimed to ¿ght against 4adda¿œs Iorces during the civil war which is debatable Iœve talked to people who Iought in the civil war and they say that they never saw them out there It could be a Tuestion oI them trying to claim that they had a bigger role in the war than they did to try and legiti mize themselves But Ansar al 6haria is also a group which has come to be aI¿liated with al 4aeda on some level and it acts as a banner under which a lot oI diIIerent people ¿ght The only other thing that I would note with them is their leader who was a guy named >6uIyan Ben] 4umu +e has an interesting sort oI traMectory in his career as a Mihadist in that he ran a charity inside AIghanistan prior to 9 11 which was really a Iront Ior al 4a eda inside AIghanistan and 3akistan AIter 9 11 he came up on our shoot to kill list so to speak our target deck and the 3akistanis picked him up In stead oI delivering him to /ibya (heœs a /ibyan national they handed him over to the Americans :e put him in *uantanamo and later we cut a deal with 4adda¿ as our relations warmed with him and we started to cooperate with him on coun terterrorism initiatives in 1orth AIrica But we handed 4umu over to 4adda¿ and then 4adda¿ cut a deal with sort oI the indigenous armed Islamist group within /ibya 3art oI the deal was that he had a kind oI charity day at the pris on and cut all these prisoners loose²

â&#x20AC;&#x153;There was a JSOC raid in early September, just before the consulate was hit.

That was really the straw that broke the camelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s back.â&#x20AC;?

TT: And how do you answer that Tues tion in the book" JM: :hat we Iound out was that there were covert operations that >the 8nited 6tates] was launching inside oI /ibya :e were really angering the militias These operations were through Joint 6pecial 2perations &ommand (J62&

and they were targeting an al 4aeda personality an Iranian thatÂśs acting as a money and Ioreign Âżghter Iacilita tor They were targeting him inside oI /ibya and they were also taking and destroying the weapons that >/ibyan] militias had captured during the war :e had allowed the militias to take those weapons or Iacilitated them into their hands during the /ibyan &ivil :ar to oust 4addaÂż but things were a little bit diIIerent now and we donÂśt want a bunch oI al 4aeda Ioreign Âżghters and a bunch oI Irankly crazy people running around with surIace

16

instance *eneral David 3etraeus who was the &IA Director at that time was not being read on to these operations and did not know what was going on And thatÂśs with a sizable &IA and para military operation going on inside /ib ya >operating Irom] the annex at the Benghazi consulate Also Ambassador 6tevens had no idea what was going on TT: 6o the top 86 diplomatic oIÂżcial in country and one oI AmericaÂśs top intelligence oIÂżcials didnÂśt know about these covert operations" JM: Those two people deÂżnitely did not know At best I would say that the &IA paramilitary people on the ground had enough awareness or visibility Irom their perspective on the ground that they might have been able to see some oI it And they were smart enough to realize what was going on but they were not being read on Ambassador 6tevens and the rest oI the 6tate De partment as well as the &IA paramili tary personnel at the Benghazi annex never could have seen that there would be this blowback this retaliation be cause they didnÂśt know these opera tions were going on To make a long story short >the J62& covert operations] were what inspired the attack There was a J62&

columbia political review :: spring 2013 4umuÂśs one oI them +eÂśs a Mihadist heÂśs a terrorist to begin with and now heÂśs angry at us because oI his treat ment in *uantanamo 6o thatÂśs the situation we walked into TT: :ithout divulging too much in Iormation about your sources who did you talk to in writing this book and what other sorts oI research did you conduct" JM: All sorts oI people diIIused across various governmental agencies²peo ple in the intelligence community peo ple in the military TT: :as that people within the special operations community primarily" JM: I would not say primarily :e had to talk to a lot oI diIIerent people to put the whole story together because there are so many diIIerent angles to it and people saw things Irom diIIerent per spectives There are still some unan swered Tuestions but I think we got the bulk oI it 2bviously we consulted open source material as well like white papers that came out oI the 6tate De partment and history books I inter viewed somebody that Iought in the /ibyan &ivil :ar as well to get some oI that background TT: IÂśd like to go into the aspects oI the book that deal with David 3etraeus Tell us about the 3etraeus resignation and the angle that you and Brandon took on that JM: I really went into the *en 3etraeus scandal in the book because there was a lot oI conIusion out there and a lot oI people speculating about what [his res ignation as &IA Director] did or did not have to do with Benghazi 6o I tried to clear that up Ior better or worse :hat was going on behind the scenes was that aIter Benghazi *en 3etraeus Âż nally opened his eyes to the Iact that he was an outsider in the 2bama admin istration +e wasnÂśt really part oI the inner circle II anything they brought him in to prevent him Irom being a po litical threat on the outside +e realized this and since he wasnÂśt being read on to these J62& operations inside /ibya he was prepared to resign +e was actually interviewing Ior a Mob at 3rinceton 8niversity²he was going to step downâ&#x20AC;ŚI was surprised that he resigned citing an aIIair 6o what was going on there and that was one Tues tion that I tried to answer in the book The answer is that the people who were close to him²his protection detail²

knew about this aIIair and when the time came the inIormation was basi cally capitalized upon by people within the &IA to get *en 3etraeus ousted TT: :hy" :hat kinds oI problems did *en 3etraeus encounter at the &IA" JM: A lot oI it had to with clashes oI culture between pursuing the paramili tary mission over the traditional intel ligence gathering The &IA is already very paramilitary and has been since 9 11 *en 3etraeus was going to take it even Iarther in that direction There was also a clash between military and civilian institutions *en 3etraeus ob viously is a career military man and he was still acting like a Iour star general and that upset a Iew people TT: :hat do you make oI the allega tions that Ambassador &hristopher 6tevens who was one oI the Iour Amer icans killed during the Benghazi attack was linked to a scheme to supply weap ons to 6yrian rebels" JM: I think this is an interesting Tues tion and Iœll try to be as clear as I pos sibly can Ambassador 6tevens and the 6tate Department had absolutely noth ing to do with traI¿cking weapons and Ior that matter neither did the &IA That was a 6tate Department mission in Benghazi that had been packed Iull oI paramilitary operatives Irom the &IA but the thing I would emphasize is that none oI them²the 6tate Depart ment or the Agency²were running guns to 6yria But I can con¿rm and I have to say that yes there is an en deavor to smuggle or otherwise traI¿c weapons Irom /ibya to the battle¿elds in 6yria That does exist but itœs a pri vate endeavor that has de Iacto autho rization at a very high level TT: :hat do you think are the lessons oI Benghazi Ior American Ioreign pol icy the military the intelligence com munity and the 86 public" JM: I think there is a Ioreign policy Tuestion on the bureaucratic incen tives that exist Ior pursuing counter terrorism And in this sense I think we have to look at who is being targeted in /ibya and we now have this bil lion dollar counterterrorism appara tus thatœs coming to the point where it doesnœt have a war to ¿ght anymore As AIghanistan is winding down theyœre starting to look elsewhere :hereœs all this money and whereœs all this bu reaucracy going to shiIt Theyœre all looking Ior a place to go right now on

interview the government side and on the private side²the private military contractors and private intelligence and so Iorth I think there are three big lessons that I take away Irom Benghazi one positive and two negative The positive thing is what Ty :oods did that night² launching a rescue mission on his own initiative +e was really the guy push ing Ior that on the ground level and he and a couple other guys rescued all those people at the consulate and they did an amazing Mob 6adly *len and Ty made the ultimate sacriÂżce but I think there is a very positive message in that these were two guys who manned up and went out there and did it 2n the negative side I think you have to look at the 6tate Department² whether or not they were in compliance with their own security policies Irom the 6ecretary oI 6tate all the way down and what the institutional Iailures were :e know &hris 6tevens was writ ing about the security at the consulate and he had concerns with it The Dip lomatic 6ecurity 6ervice people were being rotated in and out oI the consul ate so Tuickly that there was very little continuity as Iar as establishing secu rity measures there Moving past the security issue though we have to look at the de conĂ&#x20AC;iction oI missions :e now have a situation in which the &IA the 6tate Department and special op erations are all doing their own things separately +igh level bureaucrats have essentially carved out their own little proIessional ÂżeIdoms and theyÂśre stepping on each other And itÂśs to the point now where the actions oI one mil itary element over here is getting the paramilitary element over there killed all because the leIt hand isnÂśt talking to the right hand I think thatÂśs really something that has to be dealt with ItÂśs something that can be dealt with Irom an executive level all the way down but the 2IÂżce oI the 3resident can really set a standard I think II it doesnÂśt get solved now thereÂśs going to be another Benghazi ItÂśs going to happen again and it could be even worse with an even greater loss oI liIe Taylor Thompson, CC â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;14, is managing editor of the Columbia Political Review. Hailing from Carrollton, Ohio, he is a history major specializing in 20th-century US foreign relations. He can be reached at tmt2126@columbia.edu.

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columbia political review :: spring 2013

features :: domestic

Classroots Activism A Challenge to Neoliberal Education in the Spirit of â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Occupyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;

by Jake Hamburger

B

rian Jones has a lot to be excited about A 1ew York &ity public school teacher deeply involved in grassroots organizing he sees a growing radical vision among his Iellow activists ÂłMore and more parents and teachers are beginning to understand that itÂśs not about this policy or that but really an all out war over public education ´ he explains In the past several years there have been numerous Ă&#x20AC;are ups oI protest activity centered on eTual access to Tuality public schools Irom &hile to 4upbec to &hicago Jones believes that recent shiIts in the political landscape along with enhanced potential Ior col laboration between organizations sig nal that activists are on the verge oI a transIormational movement Ior public education :hen Jones is not teaching elemen tary school in East +arlem he is en gaged in resisting what he and many

18

others reIer to as Âłcorporate education reIorm ´ a set oI proposals Ior AmericaÂśs schools that many mainstream politi cians business leaders and philanthro pists have Iavored Ior several decades These include using standardized tests as a maMor determinant oI teacher com pensation closing schools whose stu dents Iail to meet certain benchmarks and opening charter schools as alterna tives to public schools :hile the aim oI such policies is to increase accountabili ty and Tuality critics believe they reĂ&#x20AC;ect the logic oI proÂżt seeking businesses rather than that oI educators and that they are detrimental to Iostering eIIec tive learning environments Âł&orporate´ education reIorm poli cies were Âżrst enacted by the Depart ment oI Education during the 5eagan administration Back then 86 schools were already vastly uneTual largely as a result oI economic and ethnic segre

gation Then as now a childœs zip code more or less determined the Tuality oI his or her education 2I¿cials believed that introducing competition would produce incentives Ior teachers and ad ministrators to provide Tuality school ing In the decades that Iollowed how ever as subseTuent presidents mayors and a cadre oI wealthy philanthropists continued to make these reIorms oI¿cial policy the eIIect was to exacerbate in eTuality Many credible studies oI edu cational research²conducted by institu tions including the 1ational &enter Ior 3erIormance Initiatives the Institute Ior Education 6ciences and 6tanIord 8ni versity²have called into serious doubt claims in Iavor oI merit pay Ior teachers standardized testing as a holistic mea sure oI academic learning and charter schools as improvements on the model oI traditional public schools :hereas private schools and wealthy public dis tricts have not been sub Mected to such policies poor urban communities across the country have Ielt their disruptive eIIects while reaping little bene¿t as these studies show Though corporate education reIorm is still the prevailing school oI thought in oI¿cial policy today it appears that the tide may be turning against it +istorically teachers and students have both played maMor roles in popular protest movements but until re cently there have been Iew notable cases oI resistance to business inspired prac tices in public education 3art oI what makes people like Brian Jones optimis

columbia political review :: spring 2013 tic however is the political transIorma tion that has taken place due to the rise oI 2ccupy :all 6treet For activists ev erywhere Jones explains 2ccupy rep resented a ³huge inMection oI con¿dence in the public sphere 2ur ¿ght took on a vision oI how people should be edu cated and provided Ior in our society ´ :hat Jones sees in his Iellow grassroots organizers is an enhanced conscious ness oI not only their power to support or oppose particular reIorm policies but to maniIest broader demands Ior an education system modeled on eTuality rather than competition or other Iree market principles For education activists 2ccupy helped bring to light the connection between corporate education reIorm and greater economic structures oI in eTuality AIter all 2ccupy was not Must any revival oI radical grassroots protest but a maniIestation oI discontent with neoliberal ideology and policy 1eolib eralism reIers to the belieI prevalent in policymaking since the 197 s that the Iree market is the ideal organizing prin ciple oI society The past three decades oI neoliberal governance²characterized by a withdrawal oI Iunds Irom public resources hostility to organized labor increased prominence oI the ¿nancial sector and overall economic instabil ity²have resulted in the economic and political ineTuality that gave rise to the discontent behind the 2ccupy move ment A direct result oI 2ccupy :all 6treet was to return issues oI economic ineTuality to the political discussion and into the consciousness oI ordinary citi zens For more and more Americans the connection between personal hardships during the *reat 5ecession and histori cal trends in neoliberal governance has become much more salient &uts to public education Iunding as well as increased hostility to teachersœ unions are textbook cases oI neoliberal policy Today Ior parents and commu nities Ieeling the sTueeze oI corporate education reIorm the relation to larger policy trends is increasingly clear For many the Iact that a large number oI prominent corporate reIorm advocates are among the countryœs richest citizens is evidence that their policies do not represent the interests oI the 99 per cent As the research oI writer Joanne Barkan illustrates corporate executives and billionaire philanthropists exercise

a considerable amount oI inĂ&#x20AC;uence in the politics oI school reIorm 3rivate Ioundations Ior example oIten have di rect say over issues oI policy 6ecretary oI Education Arne Duncan reIers to the *ates Foundation guide to school re structuring as his personal policy Âłbible´ and cites it as a maMor inĂ&#x20AC;uence on the 2bama administrationÂśs Âł5ace to the Top´ school reIorm legislation Accord ing to activists the disproportionate power that private unelected individu als hold over education policy is indica tive oI an anti democratic reIorm proM ect based on corporate logic 2ccupy :all 6treet by identiIying neoliberalism as a cause oI ineTual ity and reinvigorating grassroots move ments has helped to renew education activistsÂś ability to successIully organize 1owhere has this transIormation been more apparent than in last yearÂśs teach er strike in &hicago Although the &hica go Teachers 8nion (&T8 is technically barred by law Irom striking over any is sues other than salary beneÂżts and pro cedures 3resident .aren /ewis insists that the goal oI the strike went beyond mere contractual disputes TeachersÂś unions /ewis said in an interview with Democracy 1ow have Ior too long been complicit in maintaining educational ineTuity &ritics oIten paint teachersÂś unions as top down bureaucratic insti tutions an assertion that is not without truth In the past these unions have limited much oI their activity to deIend ing contract measures leading them too oIten to close ranks rather than stand up Ior educational best practices Although this was a logical approach to take in the midst oI a policy regime oI widespread cuts to teacher pay and deteriorating working conditions it ultimately proved to be politically debilitating In &hicago however something had clearly changed 6eptemberÂśs strike was galvanized by a particularly radical wing oI the &T8 known as the &aucus oI 5ank and File Educators (&25E These teachers understood that their political goal was not only to have a Iair contract with the city but also to lead a popular struggle Ior eTual education +ence the mantra oI the striking teachers: Âł2ur working conditions are studentsÂś learn ing conditions ´ In a city that has been at the IoreIront oI corporate education reIorm under Mayor 5ahm Emanuel and Iormer &hicago 3ublic 6chools &E2

features :: domestic Arne Duncan &25E members pulled no punches Mass protests in addition to the strike were aimed explicitly at poli cies labeled as no less than ³educational apartheid ´ As a result oI this renewed militancy the strike demonstrated a nearly unprecedented degree oI demo cratic union organizing with rank and ¿le teachers leading the charge rather than their bosses &ommunity support Ior the striking &hicago teachers reveals an enhanced public consciousness oI the connection between neoliberalism and education policy The strikeœs Iocus on corporate reIorm as a part oI a neoliberal system oI ineTuality rather than on mere contract measures created an almost immediate boost to the strikeœs approval ratings According to most polls a maMority oI &hicagoans supported the strike in cluding over 66 percent oI parents with children in public schools 3arent and teacher protesters together bore signs and banners that read not only ³6up port our schools ´ and ³&hildren ¿rst ´ but also ³6top corporate greed ´ and ³Fund books not banks ´ :hatœs more communities aIIect ed by these policies Ieel empowered to oppose them For those in power in &hicago this overwhelming commu nity reMection oI neoliberal corporate reIorm came as something oI a shock and though the immediate results oI the strike were mixed grassroots organizers made clear gains in political leverage The eIIects oI the &hicago strike were not lost on teachers around the country A new organization oI 1ew York teach ers²calling themselves in an explicit reIerence to &25E the Movement oI 5ank and File Educators (M25E ²are seeking to emulate &25Eœs takeover oI union institutions Additionally teach ers in 6eattle recently staged a highly publicized boycott oI city mandated standardized tests Teachers across the country drawing inspiration Irom their &hicago counterparts are communicat ing directly amongst themselves about strategies to oppose corporate education reIorm 8niversity students in the &anadian province oI 4upbec home to a long tra dition oI syndicalist student organiza tion were successIul in staging a mas sive strike that not only overturned a proposed tuition hike Ior public univer sities but also led to the deIeat oI 4up

19

features :: domestic becœs /iberal government in last 1ovemberœs elec tions A crucial strength oI the &anadian student movement has been an understanding oI its mis sion not only as an educa tion struggle but also as a class struggle &/A66E a leading student union consistently reIerred to its activity as a ³social strike ´ and Irom the beginning the movement sought to transcend studentsœ im mediate interests 6tu dents Iormed alliances with mining and public sector workers Iacing lay oIIs and pay cuts; their participation in the pro tests was crucial to move mentœs base oI support For American activists seeking inspiration the &anadian strike illustrates that cooperation between students and labor is polit ically viable Though American students lack 4upbecœs history oI militant student organizing teachersœ union institutions may be able to provide organizational support Ior a mass movement In Iact the social Mustice unionism oI &25E in &hicago and M25E in 1ew York is an optimistic sign oI unionsœ ability to be a progressive Iorce :ith a growing con sciousness oI the connections between school and labor policy under neolib eralism there is potential to translate their militancy into the sphere oI higher education perhaps by Iorming alli ances with disaIIected adMunct Iaculty members or by reinvigorating student unions It will be no small task to re build these organizational structures in American universities but by no means impossible and almost certainly nec essary to Iorm a radical movement Ior educational eTuality 3rotests in &hile have demonstrated how such a movement Ior transIorma tional education reIorm can become a Iorce Ior broader social change As a re sult oI a neoliberal education system leIt over Irom the rule oI Iormer dictator Au gusto 3inochet &hileœs public schools at all levels are the most privatized and uneTual among rich countries Tuition Ior primary secondary and tertiary ed

20

columbia political review :: spring 2013

ucation alike is oIten prohibitively high Ior most &hileans A de¿ning Ieature oI the ongoing mass protests across the country is that unlike those in 4upbec where protests began as a deIensive re sponse to proposed tuition hikes &hil eans are on the oIIensive to demand a radically transIormed education sys tem Iundamentally altering the scope oI what the protests can accomplish In an interview with The Guardian &a mila ValleMo the movementœs unoI¿cial spokeswoman maintains Tuite explic itly that while the protestersœ immediate goal is universal Iree education their struggle is ultimately about overthrow ing the neoliberalism that was violently imposed by 3inochet American activists have the potential to Iollow the &hilean example and turn deIensive struggles² against school closures or university budget cuts Ior example²into an oI Iensive movement not only Ior a more eTual education system but also Ior a radically egalitarian society II grassroots activists in the 8nited 6tates can build a uni¿ed movement learning Irom their counterparts in 4upbec and &hile perhaps the debate over education reIorm will translate to broader challenges to the neoliberal so cial order 2ne oI the most common as

sertions oI corporate reIormers is that it is not necessary to Âżx poverty in order to Âżx education 2ne may speculate that to successIully challenge this neoliberal logic in education would call into Tues tion other Iorms oI thinking that prevent meaningIul discussions oI addressing poverty 2ccupy :all 6treetÂśs greatest success however was to put such a rad ical critiTue oI economic and political systems back on the agenda providing an outlet Ior public discontent with the neoliberal order Education as a system that represents several diverse yet inter connected conseTuences oI neoliberal policy presents itselI as a strategic place to translate this critiTue into action The pieces are in place to mobilize a mass movement Ior educational eTuality The Tuestion today is not whether or not such action will take place but merely where and when cpr

Jake Hamburger, CC â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;15, is a history and philosophy major, as well as a musician, activist, outdoorsman, and aspiring teacher. He welcomes all comments and criticisms, in the hope of starting meaningful debates about politics. He can be reached at jmh224 @columbia.edu.

columbia political review :: spring 2013

cover story

First Nations, Last Hope Indigenous Sovereignty in British Columbia

by Julian NoiseCat

T

he First 1ations oI British &o lumbia stand at a crossroads conIronted with a Faustian bar gain 6hould they sacriÂżce their iden tity and principles in return Ior land and monetary settlements" 6hould they accept current recompense Ior past inMustice while relinTuishing the legal distinctions that have oIIered some (albeit meager resources Ior their survival" Too oIten perceived as welIare consuming dependents on a payroll subsidized by &anadian taxpayers the First 1ations oI Brit ish &olumbia hold but one bargain ing chip: un extinguished claims to &anadian lands This could be their chance to take some oI that land back +owever the current Iramework Ior treaty negotiations asks First 1ations to exchange their rights and entitle ments as sovereign nations Ior land

and money In this ineTuitable deal &anada would settle the ongoing ³In dian problem´ once and Ior all while First 1ations would gamble with their Iuture as a people For nearly 15 years British &o lumbia²a province one and a halI times the size oI Texas²has exer cised extraterritorial rights over the unceded lands oI hundreds oI First 1ations Aboriginal land claims com prise roughly 9 percent oI the prov inceœs landmass 6ince the creation oI the &anadian &onIederation in 1867 it has been common practice Ior First 1ations to sign treaties with the 4ueen ceding title to their land while maintaining a government to govern ment relationship with the Dominion oI &anada This practice has resulted in eleven numbered treaties signed between 1871 and 19 spanning a

huge geography Irom the Yukon to 2ntario Although the word ³treaty´ with respect to First 1ations is oIten a euphemism Ior ³swindle ´ treaties are nonetheless essential to the structure Iunction and economic well being oI &anada and its provinces which could not proclaim sovereignty and owner ship over Indian lands without these pacts In 1871 the colony oI British &o lumbia (B& Moined the &anadian &on Iederation This was Must one month beIore the ¿rst oI the numbered trea ties was signed in present day Mani toba and 6askatchewan At that time unlawIul dispossession oI Indian land was well underway in B& Iueled by a powerIul combination oI greed and poor governance 6ettlers had poured into the colony during the *old 5ush es oI the 185 s and 186 s and even aIter provincehood mainland B& was oI ten reIerred to as ³the *old &olony´²a tacit acknowledgement that the province was dependent upon natu ral resources and that the original inhabit ants had been colo nized The settlers brought with them the Iamiliar diseases and policies oI conTuest: 6mallpox epidem ics in 1862 and 186 killed oII as much as two thirds oI interior First 1ations and the reservation sys tem was introduced at about the same time In these early years the groundwork Ior provincial governance and economics was

21

cover story

columbia political review :: spring 2013

established²erasure oI aboriginal title and exploitation oI natural re sources The Ioundations oI this sys tem remain in place today In B& treaties were never draIted or signed perhaps because proÂżtable natural resource industries provided and continue to provide ample in centive to ignore the dubiousness oI the provinceÂśs title to its land First 1ations have protested this outright theIt Ior over a century In 191 chieIs oI the 6huswap 2kanagan and &ou teau tribes wrote a letter to the then 3rime Minister oI &anada 6ir :ilIrid /aurier: ÂłThey say the Indians know nothing and own nothing yet their power and wealth has come Irom our belongings The 4ueenÂśs law which we believe guaranteed us our rights the British &olumbia government has trampled underIoot This is how our guests have treated us²the brothers we received hospitably in our houseâ&#x20AC;Ś :e de sire that every matter oI impor tance to each tribe be a subMect oI treaty so we may have a deÂżnite understanding with the govern ment on all Tuestions to date be tween us and them ´ The grievances and demands oI this letter²speciÂżcally to build and honor a treaty based nation to nation rela tionship between &anada and its First 1ations²are still unresolved These century old words resonate with Assembly oI First 1a tions 1ational &hieI 6hawn AtleoÂśs statement on January 2 2 1 that First 1ations Âłwant to see the &rown come meaningIully to the table and address the outstanding trea ty relationship ´ To claim that the B& gov ernment has been nonresponsive to First 1ationsÂś demands Ior treaties not only misleads but also grossly un derstates the extent oI governmental wrongdoings :hile land theIt in B& was Iacilitated by the indeÂżnite delay oI treaty negotiations the Department oI Indian AIIairs with the help oI churches across &anada used the res idential school system to render this dispossession not only physical but also spiritual and intellectual Much

has been written about the horrors oI the residential schools 3hysical and sexual abuse negligent exposure oI unvaccinated children to highly conta gious but also highly preventable dis eases institutionalized psychological and corporal punishment Ior speak ing in the only languages students understood²their own²and murder were commonplace In 1922 Dr 3e ter Bryce the &hieI Medical 2I¿cer oI the Department oI Indian AIIairs re vealed that at least 2 percent oI the pupils oI residential schools died be cause oI ³criminal disregard´ to their health with one school reporting a 75 percent mortality rate The history oI Indian relations in &anada generally and in B& speci¿cally is about more than taking land 8nIair and ineTuita ble dealings²including some bent on cultural annihilation²are longstand ing structural underpinnings oI &ana dian society and government Because the land could not be Iully dispossessed Irom the Indian until the Indian was dispossessed Irom himselI &anada set about a proMect to eradicate the cultural and intel lectual property that served to diIIer entiate and distinguish First 1ations Irom other &anadians For example the potlatch an important economic and ceremonial gathering to coastal people was banned until 1951 6imi lar cultural prohibitions aIIected First 1ations throughout &anada the most pernicious oI which was maniIested

because indigenous cultural practices maintain a Iundamental relationship to the land that maniIests itselI in a distinct but real Iorm oI ownership &ultural and intellectual property not only diIIerentiates First 1ations Irom non 1atives but also legitimizes their territorial claims The centrality oI land to indigenous people is obvi ous in subsistence practices such as hunting ¿shing gathering and Iarm ing; however this relationship also maniIests itselI spiritually and ideo logically through oral histories cer emonies songs dances and games For example in lahal which on the surIace looks like a gambling game songs composed in honor oI the land and in memory oI deceased ancestors accompany the exchange oI gambled items (physical property It is not surprising then that missionaries and government agents outlawed la hal along with other cultural prac tices in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries as these practices presented an implicit challenge to the settlersœ title to the land &ultural pro hibitions together with Iorced remov al to reserves Iacilitated the erasure oI indigenous land claims and owner ship Thus the land Tuestion in B& is not merely about land It must also be about culture The British &olumbia Treaty 3ro cess was started in 199 to address outstanding land claims surround ing un extinguished aboriginal ti tle to vast territories throughout the prov ince :idely considered a Iailure the process has produced Must two treaties: Tsawwassen implemented in 2 9 and Maa 1ulth in 2 11 (The ¿rst modern treaty was implemented with the 1isgaœa outside oI the process in 2 3art oI the problem is that the governmentœs settlement oIIers come in at about ¿ve cents on the dol lar²honoring a paltry ¿ve percent oI First 1ationsœ land claims :ith court cases such as that oI the ;eni *wetœin demonstrating that First 1ations can prove irreIutable aboriginal title to over 5 percent oI their traditional territory it is clear that First 1ations are right to resist signing Ior Must ¿v

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Canada set about a project to eradicate the cultural and intellectual property that served to differentiate and distinguish First Nations from other Canadians.â&#x20AC;?

22

in the residential schools where chil dren were Iorbidden to speak their native languages so that they would permanently unlearn the ways oI their Iamilies and communities and be come good British subMects The eIIect was that the 6huswap nation or 6ec wepemculucw was now ³British &o lumbia ´ and that the earth or tmtcw was now ³private property ´ or ³not yours ´ Eradicating the culture was key

columbia political review :: spring 2013

cover story

percent 1ot surprisingly the ;eni through insidious institutionalized cess (and became a blueprint Ior it

*wetÂśin case has been called Âłthe Âżnal eIIorts throughout the twentieth cen reTuired the 1isgaÂśa to conIorm to nail in the coIÂżn´ Ior the British &o tury And so treaty negotiations that &anadian standards oI governance solely address the Âłland´ issue and do thus imposing Ioreign rule over a na lumbia Treaty 3rocess Even such dire predictions did not not include a cultural component miss tion whose inherent right to selI gov Ioreshadow the resurgence oI an ener the bigger picture ernance means that they can govern +owever noting that treaty nego themselves on their territory however gized indigenous rights movement un der the banner oI ÂłIdle 1o More ´ Idle tiations should not be structured as they choose :hile this deal might 1o More began in 6aska remind some oI the Inter toon 6askatchewan when national Monetary FundÂśs Iour indigenous activists â&#x20AC;&#x153;Though First Nations in many instances strings attached loans held a teach in responding resemble developing countries, it is uniquely there are key diIIerences to the +arper administra audacious of the Canadian government here Though First 1ations tionÂśs unilateral introduc to dictate how the people whose natural in many instances resem tion oI omnibus Bill & 5 developing countries have enriched Canada for ble Bill & 5 removed envi resources it is uniTuely audacious oI centuries ought to govern themselves.â&#x20AC;? the &anadian government ronmental protection Irom thousands oI bodies oI wa to dictate how the people ter throughout &anada and changed an exchange oI land and money Ior whose natural resources have en the language oI the Indian Act to al sovereignty and selI governance does riched &anada Ior centuries ought to low tribal councils to surrender re not explain what those negotiations govern themselves *iven the central serve lands without receiving the con should look like Modern treaties are ity oI natural resource extraction to sent oI a maMority oI their community not marketed as exchanges oI rights the &anadian economy in a more eT The bill was introduced without First Ior land and money Indeed treaties uitable world current &anadian Indi 1ationsÂś approval 5esponding to Bill oIten include provisions related to an policy would reĂ&#x20AC;ect and respond to & 5 as an assault on indigenous sov education economic development the history oI First 1ationsÂś gracious ereignty Idle 1o More has grown into annuity payments and even sem sharing oI their lands²the generosity an international protest movement blances oI cultural investment that at the Ioundation oI current &anadian :hile Idle 1o More has Iocused on distract indigenous counterparties prosperity +owever the unIortunate upholding the eleven numbered trea Irom whatÂśs really at stake 2ne oI reality is that natural resource ex ties the movement also draws atten the tricks oI treaty negotiations is to traction in &anada and elsewhere is tion to the outstanding land Tuestion Irame agendas oI assimilation in more attached to a long history oI twisted in B& Idle 1o More is catalyzing the Iavorable terms such as economic and Iacts and cultural denial :hatÂśs particularly unsettling treaty process and treaties are exactly social development This makes the what many First 1ations throughout disagreeable seem more palatable Be about recent treaty negotiations is the province have been demanding Ior lying these selling points is the plain that rights to broader geographic ter over a century Iact that treaties are negotiated with ritories come with the stipulation that To be Iair however the current a stated monetary value Ior the land all First 1ations land becomes ÂłIee state oI negotiations is in part the that is doled out in payments over simple´²a Iorm oI private property result oI First 1ationsÂś demands Ior time thereby demonstrating that Âżnal that can be bought sold leased or treaties Thus the Faustian bargain² agreements between nations are actu dispossessed :hile geographic span to reiterate: an exchange oI aborigi ally market transactions²or better oI control may increase in the short nal rights Ior land and money²is as yet bribes To underline this point it term there is Ior the Âżrst time a lon much a product oI First 1ationsÂś will is rare Ior trade agreements let alone ger term possibility that First 1ations ingness and demand Ior compromise treaties on the international scale to could become landless Thus this Iee as the provincial governmentÂśs mis be discussed valued or negotiated simple stipulation²although it allows management oI Indian aIIairs &om monetarily It is generally understood First 1ations to use land as collateral promise is all too oIten inadeTuate that agreements between nations pos Ior the loans they need to make capital and this compromise in particular sess sanctity above and beyond the investments²sets the stage Ior under creates a Ialse dilemma stemming market though they may be tied to mining sovereignty and Iully assimi Irom an incomplete understanding and shaped by economic concerns lating First 1ations into &anada at oI what dispossessing First 1ationsÂś The Iact that the B& treaties are stated some Iuture time :hat appears to be oI their lands has truly entailed This in terms oI their monetary value is re a repatriation policy is in Iact a slow boil termination policy century long mistake seems to Iorget vealing :hereas First 1ations who sign :hat current treaties set out to do or even ignore the Iact that it is cul tural and intellectual property rights treaties gain title to more lands they is reduce uncertainty so as to better that make First 1ationsÂś land claims must exchange rights as sovereign na Iacilitate the broader natural resource meaningIul &ulture and indigenous tions in return In 2 the 1isgaÂśa marketplace The risks associated intellectual property like the land Final Agreement which was negoti with dubious title to the real estate were wrested away Irom First 1ations ated outside oI the B& Treaty 3ro that B& corporations and private in

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cover story terests depend on are obvious Theo retically both sides stand to bene¿t Irom a clear delineation oI where First 1ationsœ territories end and private or &anadian public property begins The economic basis Ior Iavoring such clar ity is well understood +owever the certainty sought here is not merely one oI property boundaries but rather the expectation that ¿nalized property lines will put an end to indigenous land claims and the resulting protests litigation and political unrest that slows the &anadian economic ma chine causing it to lose ground in an increasingly competitive global econ omy 3roduction does not have time Ior Mustice; production relies upon a cost bene¿t analysis that looks almost exclusively at money saved and mon ey earned over time It may be that in some cases the land Tuestion is Must too diI¿cult to solve and giving First 1ations Iull title to their traditional territories may be no more than a social Mustice pipedream +owever there have been some eIIective policies implemented with B& First 1ations creating land sharing agreements :hile land sharing agreements do not resolve the land Tuestion as emphatically and permanently as some parties on both sides oI the table might preIer they can allow some First 1ations to con tinue cultural subsistence practices while others grow industries This value based decision should be leIt up to each First 1ation which can make its own decisions as well (or poorly as any other sovereign state An example oI one oI these innovative land shar ing solutions is woodland licenses² two have been issued to date²which allow First 1ationsœ Iorestry compa nies to log some portion oI their tra ditional territory (i e land beyond the reserve employ more oI their people and increase economic autonomy This in turn could help First 1ations escape their supposed ³welIare de pendency ´ which inhibits the public discourse and distracts Irom the more important issues at hand Meanwhile other First 1ations could choose to reprise their roles as stewards oI the land working with the province on ecosystem based management²envi ronmental management that doesnœt exclude humans Irom the ecosystem

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columbia political review :: spring 2013 6imilar policies should be pursued in the Iuture²expanding First 1ationsœ land use options while building mutually bene¿cial relation ships between First 1a tions their neighbors and the province :ith respect to the cultural sovereignty is sue a number oI op tions could be pur sued²all oI which would reTuire &an ada and B& to sit down at the table with First 1ations as partners rather than as adversaries It will be the First 1ations themselves who will know what is best Ior the survival and growth oI their indigenous cultures knowledge and history 2ne too oIten over looked point²iI only it could have been made a cen tury ago²is that &anada stands to ben e¿t economically Irom indigenous cultural vital ity Frankly &anada is nearly cultur ally bankrupt without its indigenous heritage II the successes oI the 2 1 Vancouver 2lympic *ames and B&œs burgeoning tourism industry are any indication there is potential in the aboriginal tourism industry²a Iact that has been acknowledged through out the 3aci¿c 1orthwest Ior decades but which has been ignored by policy makers in most iI not all discussions 1ow in the midst oI the Idle 1o More resurgence it is time Ior the civiliza tions and people who ¿rst owned and took care oI the B& landscape and matched its grandeur with their own uniTue beauty to be honored as not only an integral part oI &anadaœs past but also its present and Iuture Thus it seems best to shelve any these modern treaties in Iavor oI working relationships based on in novative land sharing agreements Because iI Idle 1o More demonstrates one thing it is that indigenous issues in &anada will not disappear It may

be that some

years d o w n the road &anada will look back at the Idle 1o More move ment as B& will look back at the treaty pro

cess² in shame All parties may breathe a collective sigh oI relieI that policies oI assimilation ultimately Iailed and that when &an ada and B&œs hands were Iorced they listened Despite the painIul track record oI history to date there is an opportunity Ior real long lasting re lationships between B& &anada and First 1ations²agreements between brothers that First 1ations and their ancestors have wanted all along In the meantime British &olumbiaœs First 1ations must step back Irom the crossroads²neither peace nor pros perity resides there cpr

Julian NoiseCat, CC â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;15, is an enrolled member of the Canim Lake Band and a descendant of the Lilâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Wat Nation of Mt. Currie. He is studying history and the Secwepemc language, and is interested in law, government, economics, social justice, and the arts. He loves his mom. He can be reached at jbn2114@ columbia.edu.

columbia political review :: spring 2013

brieďŹ ng

Global Energy Policy Emerging Trends in Energy Production and Consumption

Joel Moser graphic by Alejandra Oliva

D

espite the eIIorts oI global institutions energy policy in the developing world continues to be driven by geol ogy engineering and economics not climate change But it must be recognized that the developing world comes in many shapes and sizes and that the world is in the midst oI a carbon based energy revolution Dramatically large carbon based energy resources²oil and gas²have been discovered over the past decade or so around the world in unexpected places: oII the coast oI Brazil and Argentina Iar below the sea bed and in very deep waters in the 6antos Basin; within the deep shale Iormations in the 8nited 6tates in the Bakken 8tica and Marcellus regions; trapped in sand in :estern &anada; and in ever deeper water where more shallow wells were already producing oil most notably in the 6outh &hina 6ea These ¿nds have shiIted the dynamic Irom discussions oI ³peak oil´ to a Iuture in which traditional energy resources ap pear to be plentiIul and can come Irom many diIIerent places The Iuture oI oil exploration and production has shiIted to the Americas and the 8nited 6tates is now proMected to be an energy exporting country within the decade shiIting the balance oI trade providing the country an economic re do and reducing the strategic signi¿cance oI oil producing re gions such as the Middle East (and possibly the likelihood oI military involvement as well

Meanwhile 6audi Arabia is proMected to be a net energy importer within the decade under current trends This is a natural result oI a rising middle class and the resultant in crease in consumption Indeed iI there is any generaliza tion that can be made around energy policy in the developing world it is that consumption is increasing as a result oI devel opment in general and urbanization in particular²the latter being perhaps the most signi¿cant global mega trend oI this period oI human history

Adjunct Professor of International and Public Affairs, SIPA In the case oI 6audi Arabia and several other countries with oil based economies in sunny climates the policy is toward alternative energy particularly solar energy Indeed Abu Dhabi is planning to be running 1 percent on alternative energy within the decade 2thers are sure to Iollow II the economy is based on energy export there is no economy iI all the energy is consumed internally Again this is an econom ics driven decision although Abu Dhabi is also pleased to be a world leader in what most believe will be an ultimate iI very long term conversion Irom Iossil Iuels The other energy policy story Irom the developing world is &hina which is proMected to consume much oI the excess oil that will become available as the 8nited 6tates slows its imports and production increases elsewhere &hina is work ing hard to manage development and urbanization on a scale never beIore experienced leading to resource nationalism and worse not Must Ior energy resources but also minerals and Iood Indeed the next military hot spot oI the world may be the 6outh &hina 6ea where &hina lays claim and which is also among the new hot spots Ior oil exploration and production II one is looking Ior glimmers oI hope Ior alternative energy in the developing world one interesting study is Brazil which besides its newly Iound oil is also a leader in hydro power (not without environmental issues and bioIuels which it is producing economically alongside agricultural production The luck oI geology carbon deposits and the power oI en gineering still combine with the basic Iorces oI macroeconom ics to drive energy policy in both the developing and devel oped worlds BeIore a more orderly global energy policy will emerge the developed nations primarily the 8nited 6tates need to lead with a climate change plan That however will reTuire a more robust economic recovery and a national po litical consensus on the issue Â&#x2021;

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B

columbia political review :: spring 2013

y 2 global population is proMected to increase by 1 bil lion people and global income in real terms is proMected to roughly double :ith increased wealth and population comes increased consumption²oI cars reIrigerators televisions air con ditioning and air travel For example the number oI automobiles is on course to double by 2 5 to 1 7 billion worldwide :ith greater consumption comes greater energy use and green house gas emissions Assuming current policy continues unchanged the International Energy Agency proMects global energy use will dou ble by 2 5 and greenhouse gas emissions will rise alongside grow ing energy demand To be clear: Increased energy use can be a good thing Access to aIIordable and reliable energy is a necessary condition to reduce pov erty improve public health and increase economic growth Modern energy services can pull people out oI poverty and improve living conditions in myriad ways boosting productivity and eI¿ciency in everything Irom agriculture to medicine to transportation to tele communications Today 1 billion people do not have access to access to electricity and 2 6 billion do not have access to clean cooking Iacilities These people are mainly in developing Asia and sub 6aharan AIrica Just ten countries account Ior two thirds oI the population without access to electricity; India alone accounts Ior one Tuarter Billions oI people are burning ¿rewood coal dung charcoal and diesel Ior generators These Iuels are bad Ior human health and the environment The challenge is to expand access to aIIordable and reliable en ergy sources and to do so without unduly harming the planet It will be a long time until renewable energy alone can power the global economy 5enewables are proMected to be by Iar the Iastest grow ing Iorm oI global energy in the decades ahead²and yet Iossil Iuels are still proMected to generate three Tuarters oI the worldœs energy in 2 5 Individual countries and the global community should take steps to speed the growth rate oI renewable energy but Iossil Iuels will need to be part oI the mix Ior years to come 6o what should policy makers do to promote economic growth and development Iacilitate access to aIIordable and reliable energy supplies and also encourage a transition to a lower carbon economy" First new technologies have made it possible to dramatically increase production oI natural gas which is cleaner and emits less carbon than both oil and coal 1atural gas has the potential to dis

place the use oI those Iuels reduce the growth rate oI greenhouse gas emissions and buy some time until lower carbon and zero carbon Iorms oI energy become more economical 6econd the 8nited 6tates and its allies need to engage in energy diplomacy to help countries bring new supplies online that can help stabilize markets lower prices and provide a strong Ioundation Ior economic growth IraT Ior example has the potential to double its oil production by 2 2 but is Iacing the prospect oI internal conĂ&#x20AC;ict Ior reasons including disputes between the north and south over control oI oil production and revenue The 8nited 6tates can play a key role in helping to manage such disputes and encourage saIe and responsible resource development Third 86 policy makers should engage with developing countries that are poised to reap new energy resource windIalls to encourage reIorms that allow the new wealth to beneÂżt all the countryÂśs people avoiding the Âłresource curse´ trap that has beIallen so many oth ers These include building political institutions good governance transparent Âżnances and eIIective laws and regulations Fourth the 8nited 6tates should promote regulatory legal and structural reIorms that create incentives Ior investment in electri Âżcation in developing countries This includes investment in the underlying pipeline and transmission grid inIrastructure that will provide people access to the countryÂśs resources MozambiTue Ior example may soon see large oIIshore gas production but without domestic pipeline investments that gas will be exported on ships rather than used to provide electricity to the people Finally energy eIÂżciency is oIten the most cost eIIective way to reduce energy demand prices and emissions According to the IEA two thirds oI economically viable energy eIÂżciency opportunities will remain unrealized through 2 5 *overnments should deploy more Âżnance mechanisms Ior eIÂżciency investments set deIaults that address behavioral biases that lead people to ignore opportu nities to save energy and money and promote regulatory changes that allow investors to reap an appropriate share oI the rewards oI eIÂżciency By taking steps to get it right the world can increase global energy production and provide aIIordable and reliable energy supplies that help pull millions more people around the world out oI poverty² while also accelerating the transition to cleaner and more sustain able Iorms oI energy Â&#x2021;

Jason Bordoff Professor of Professional Practice in International and Public Affairs, SIPA; Director, Center on Global Energy Policy

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graphic by Alejandra Oliva

columbia political review :: spring 2013

:

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hether you care most about health or education the poor climbing out oI poverty or the creation oI eco nomic opportunity the plight oI women or the needs oI children climate change adaptation or natural resource pres ervation; without improved energy very Iew oI these goals can be pursued 2 12 was declared by the 81 as the Year oI Energy Access It is hard to point to what that accomplished except to say that awareness was raised and the Decade oI Energy Access was de clared The number oI meetings and press releases or new or ganizations and programs on energy access are not a measure oI progress 3rogress consists oI the number oI households and Iamilies Ireed Irom energy poverty and the number oI people who now have access to small amounts oI electricity modern lighting and improved cooking The most important new way to expand energy access is through local energy entrepreneurs such as businesspeople civil society organizations and contractors Ior utilities or government programs There is an incredible diversity oI options all oI which are ultimately built on the premise oI a local person bringing modern energy to the doorstep oI a household business or com munity 8nlike grid extensions which have reached their limits in so many ways this second approach oI decentralized energy services is Must hitting its stride and beginning to break a sweat II you believe the expert bean counters there are about 1 billion people without electricity most oI whom spend between 1 2 and 8 5 per month on lighting and cell phone charg ing The same Iolks tell us that 2 billion people cook with dirty dangerous and expensive Iuel and that the vast maMority spends between 1 and 8 95 to do so +ereÂśs what these data points really mean: there are to 5 million households in the world

living in the nineteenth century oI energy services spending 2 5 to 17 a month on mostly nineteenth century Iuels 2ne oI the biggest reasons given Ior the persistence oI en ergy poverty is that we need a massive Âżnancing program Yet I propose that there are no more than 5 million energy poor households in the world Further more than 9 percent oI the vast maMority oI these households is spending 2 5 to 17 a month on lousy energy Bringing improved lighting healthier cooking and small amounts oI electricity can be accomplished Ior 125 to 75 per household The Âłenergy access´ challenge is central to Must about every thing well meaning Iolks want to accomplish regarding health welIare economic opportunity and poverty reduction :e are dealing with a challenge that has to be viewed through the lens oI the individual household community and local micro business The entity best available to deal with these local circum stances is a local small business connected to ever increasing channels oI products The Âżnancing challenge has two parts: we need to corral existing budgets and create Âżnancing programs Ior end users that match up to these spending patterns And we need to create and capitalize lots oI small businesses to deliver these liIe expanding services to their neighbors The status Tuo is hard to dislodge and thatÂśs why energy ac cess is such a challenging problem I am still optimistic howev er Ior three reasons First the growth in awareness has created a space Ior smaller more cost eIIective and sustainable eIIorts 6econd technology is cheaper and better than ever â&#x20AC;&#x201C; and getting better and cheaper Finally as connectivity grows we can envi sion a massive buildup in capacity Ior local entrepreneurs The moment oI energy access is coming closer and closer Ior millions oI people across the globe Â&#x2021;

Phil LaRocco Adjunct Professor of International and Public Affairs SIPA

billions of people, world-wide graphic by Alejandra Oliva

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features :: international

columbia political review :: spring 2013

Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Something About Mali Inside West Africaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Ethnic and Religious ConďŹ&#x201A;ict

by Claire Heyison

I

n January 2 12 conĂ&#x20AC;ict erupted in northern Mali as an inĂ&#x20AC;ux oI arms Irom /ibya economic discontent and longstanding tension between Malian Tuaregs and the rest oI Malian society converged The Malian army attempted to stabilize the rapidly esca lating violence but they were too Iew untrained and poorly eTuipped and the lack oI order devolved into Âżerce war between Tuareg separatists and Is lamist organizations Though many mi litia groups have been involved in this conĂ&#x20AC;ict each with its own ideology and ethnic or tribal make up the main con tenders Ior power have been al 4aeda in the Islamic Maghreb (A4IM and Ansar Dine on the side oI the Islamists and the 1ational Movement Ior the /ibera tion oI Azawad (M1/A on the side oI the Tuareg separatists The Iormer are seeking to impose shariÂśa law in Mali while the latter seeks an independent Tuareg state; both oppose the Malian central government and are Âżghting Ior control oI territory and resources in Azawad MaliÂśs vast mineral rich northern region The growing Islamist presence in the region has caused alarm in the :est In January 2 1 France sent several hun dred troops to Mali and has driven An sar Dine and A4IM out oI the northern strongholds oI *ao .idal .onna and Timbuktu Though the Islamists have been driven underground the instabil ity in Azawad is likely to continue as the conĂ&#x20AC;ict has deepened existing ethnic tension and added a new religious dy namic to longstanding grievances and rivalries A4IM Ansar Dine and the M/1A have attempted to manipulate ethnic and religious divides in order to ensure the loyalty oI their members and the cohesion oI the organization A4IM has not been successIul on this Iront due to its Ioreign leadership and strain oI radical Islam; most Malians Moined A4IM Ior economic rather than ideo

28

logical reasons The M1/A is mostly made up oI Tuaregs Irom a speciÂżc tribe (Idnane while Ansar Dine has recruit ed Tuaregs Irom a rival tribe (IIogha as well as Irom other ethnic groups like the 6onghai Fulani and Bella 2I the three Ansar Dine has been most successIul at integrating diIIer ent ethnic groups Though M1/A has recently been able to gain territory and inĂ&#x20AC;uence by capturing towns where the French military has driven out the Is lamists the organizationÂśs makeup is mostly homogenous A4IM however is structured through a brittle hierarchy with Ioreign leaders Tuaregs as Ioot soldiers and Malian Arabs as middle men In order to understand how religion and ethnicity play into the current con Ă&#x20AC;ict it may be helpIul to envision Ma lian society as divided along three inter secting Iault lines The Âżrst is economic hardship: 5 percent oI Malians and 65 percent oI Malian youth are unem ployed and 51 percent oI Malians live on less than 1 25 a day according to estimates by the International Mone tary Fund The second Iault line involves race ethnicity tribe and proIession; in other words matters oI descent The main ethnic groups oI Azawad are Tu areg 6onghai and Arab Traditionally Malian society was organized through a caste like system; certain proIessions were assigned to certain tribes and eth nicities and interpersonal relationships were determined by oneÂśs place in the hierarchy Moreover during the colo nial period French rulers exacerbated existing conĂ&#x20AC;ict between the nomadic Tuaregs oI the north and the sedentary black Iarmers oI the south to promote inÂżghting and prevent the population Irom contesting their rule Ethnic ra cial and tribal aIÂżliation has shaped loyalties and rivalries within Malian so ciety creating a Iramework Ior militia groups to use to their advantage

6ince A4IM and Ansar Dine estab lished themselves into the north re ligion has become a third Iault line in Malian society 3rior to the Islamist incursion in Azawad religion was not a maMor cause oI tension or division Mali is a secular state and though 9 percent oI the population is 6unni or 6uÂż Mus lim relations between Muslims and re ligious minorities have historically been accepting The Malian practice oI Islam is generally moderate and has adapted to and absorbed local customs Even traditional Tuareg and Berber animist practices are generally tolerated and many Malians Ieel that Islamist groups threaten their way oI liIe Despite MaliÂśs history oI religious tolerance the region oI Azawad is cer tainly no stranger to violence There have been Iour Tuareg rebellions to date: the Âżrst occurred Irom 1962 6 the second Irom 199 95 and the third Irom 2 7 2 9 The current ongoing conĂ&#x20AC;ict began in January 2 12 aIter Tuareg militants and mercenaries re turned Irom the /ibyan &ivil :ar The M1/A began waging war against the Malian army in Azawad Because the M1/A soldiers were heavily armed and had received extensive training Irom Muammar el 4adda¿œs Islamic /egion they easily overpowered government Iorces In March 2 12 dissatisÂżed Ma lian soldiers ousted 3resident Amadou Toumani Tourp because oI his handling oI the northern conĂ&#x20AC;ict As oI the be ginning oI last year it seemed that the M/1A was gaining signiÂżcant traction in Azawad and that the Malian govern ment might be Iorced to consider their demands Ior secession Then in June 2 12 the M/1A lost control oI Azawad to Ansar Dine and the Movement Ior 2neness and Jihad in :est AIrica (M8JA2 a splinter group oI A4IM During its control oI Azawad Ansar Dine (supported by A4IM and M8JA2 set up a tribunal and imple

features :: international mented Iundamentalist law They am putated the limbs oI thieves reTuired women to wear the hiMab imposed a curIew and destroyed the aboveground tombs oI holy men They attacked Tu aregs and displaced nearly people according to the 8nited 1a tions +igh &ommissioner Ior 5eIugees Their strict and violent practice oI Islam alienated most Malians including the Muslims whom they claimed to repre sent In addition to the groupÂśs reputation Ior violence and intolerance A4IMÂśs segregation along racial and tribal lines has created an unstable Iramework Ior the organization that has already begun to disrupt its internal coherence Most oI the other militias in the north began in Azawad and have an ethnic rather than a religious dimension; A4IM diI Iers in that it is a transplant Islamist or ganization connected to the much larger al 4aeda network The leaders oI A4IM are Irom Algeria or Mauritania; how ever its members are mainly Tuaregs Irom the IIogha tribe and Arabs Irom the Berabiche tribe Because Malian Ar abs share cultural and linguistic connec tions with the Algerian and Mauritanian

columbia political review :: spring 2013 leadership they are generally privileged over Tuaregs Additionally most oI the leadership does not speak TamasheT the Tuareg language making Malian Arabs the de Iacto translators between the leadership and its Ioot soldiers Both Tuaregs and Arabs mainly asso ciate with A4IM Ior economic reasons (i e proÂżts Irom the drug and weapons trade rather than ideological aIÂżnity according to a cable Irom the 86 Em bassy in Mali released by :iki/eaks A4IMÂśs strain oI Islamic Iundamental ism is not compatible with Tuareg cus toms and the Malian Islamic practice which is much more moderate than the :ahhabi 6alaÂż custom Thus A4IM has served solely as a way Ior marginal ized individuals or groups to earn mon ey and status 8ntil recently these con crete personal beneÂżts outweighed any disagreements with the groupÂśs extreme ideology Though A4IM still has a strong hold on Azawad their promises oI economic gain and social advancement may not make up Ior the repellent eIIect oI their extreme ideology because there are oth er militia groups in the area which can oIIer similar beneÂżts without threaten

ing the Malian way oI liIe Moreover A4IM has been unable or unwilling to utilize existing ethnic tensions to their beneÂżt and instead marginalizes Tu areg members who may be able to gain more elsewhere Finally their experi ment in implementing shariÂśa provoked terror and resentment in the people oI Azawad who may now be even less likely to support them AIter the French withdraw it is likely that Ansar Dine or the M1/A who are able to use local al legiances to their advantage will edge out A4IM A4IMÂśs inability to adapt it selI to speciÂżc local tensions in Azawad undermines its membersÂś allegiances and threatens the groupÂśs longevity and inĂ&#x20AC;uence in the region It is likely that the Malians who Moined A4IM Ior pure ly economic reasons will deIect and Moin other militia groups which promise the same economic beneÂżt without margin alizing their members 2ne oI A4IMÂśs most serious chal lengers is the M/1A a secular Tuareg separatist movement The M1/A is en tirely based on creating an autonomous state oI Azawad; as such they have no religious agenda which may be a draw Ior Malians who are Ied up with the IslamistsÂś strain oI Iundamentalism The group controlled Azawad Irom April to June 2 12 seiz ing and occupying military bases and prompting hun dreds oI thousands oI residents (mostly Tuaregs and Arabs

to Ă&#x20AC;ee in Iear oI re prisal killings Irom the Malian army In January 2 1 the M/1A Iollowed the French army and re captured towns in Azawad which had been Âłliberated´ by the French Because A4IM and Ansar Dine have been driv en underground the M1/A currently has the greatest degree oI control over Azawad Though the M/1A claims to represent all ethnic

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features :: international groups oI the north its members are almost entirely Tuareg The exclusive nature oI the group and the violent civil wars they have caused in the north has sown resentment among other ethnic groups such as the Bella 6onghai and Fulani In addition many resent Tu aregs Ior their relative political inĂ&#x20AC;u ence Though Tuaregs are impoverished and marginalized their status as an indigenous group has aIIorded them a small array oI beneÂżts: They are over represented in parliament and in the army and they were given Iree reign in Azawad Thus though the members oI the M1/A are Âżercely loyal to the orga nization outsiders are extremely alien ated Irom the movement and will be diI Âżcult to win over A4IM and Ansar Dine have taken ad vantage oI the resentment oI Bella and 6onghai who Moin the Islamists because they do not want to see the Tuaregs gain Iurther privileges or take control oI the north Although both the M1/A and Ansar Dine have a strong base oI Tu areg members both organizations draw upon existing tribal rivalries which helps solidiIy their support among spe ciÂżc communities yet deepens the di vide between them :ithin this context France currently supports the opening oI talks between the M/1A and the government France assumes that the secular M/1A is more in line with their interests than the Is lamists despite the Iact that the M/1A also has a history oI extremism and ter rorist attacks The Malian government has steadIastly reIused to engage in talks with the M/1A Iearing (perhaps rightly that increasing the power oI the M/1A would inevitably lead to another secessionist rebellion For their part the M/1A should be wary oI accepting the help or endorsement oI the French &olonial resentment is very much alive in Mali; many oI those aIĂ&#x20AC;icted by the violence blame France Ior decolonizing Mali without leaving inIrastructure or transitional bodies to help transition to independence The M1/AÂśs main Ă&#x20AC;aw is their inherent alienation oI Bella 6ong hai Fulani and other minority ethnici ties as well as their poor relations with IIogha Tuaregs which has driven other wise unaIÂżliated Malians into the open arms oI the M1/AÂśs rivals Though the M1/A needs ideological and Âżnan cial support in order to overtake the

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columbia political review :: spring 2013 other militant groups in Azawad it will alienate even more Malians than it al ready has iI it gets too Iriendly with the French But Âżrst the M1/A will have to deal with Ansar Dine their Iormer collabo rator and now their greatest rival /ike A4IM Ansar Dine adheres to the :ah habi strain oI Islam which originated in 6audi Arabia The group achieved notoriety Ior destroying :orld +eri tage sites in Timbuktu because oI their connection to 6uÂżsm which they view as apostasy Though they have a mostly Tuareg base they are not a separatist movement²a deliberate choice which has won over minority ethnic groups who do not want to lose Azawad to Tu areg control Many members oI Ansar Dine served as mercenaries in the /ibyan &ivil :ar oI 2 11 and obtained weapons aIter the Iall oI 4addaÂż; the inĂ&#x20AC;ux oI high tech weapons into an already tense and law less area was one oI the catalysts oI the current conĂ&#x20AC;ict Ansar Dine initially worked with the M1/A to gain control oI the north but split with them aIter achieving signiÂżcant territorial gains The two groups are now bitter rivals and clash as much in their ideology as they do in their ethnic and tribal make up 8nlike the M/1A Ansar Dine is well armed well Iunded and has been able to bring together Tuareg Bella 6ong hai and Arabs into an integrated Âżght ing Iorce They also diIIer Irom A4IM in that they have been able to unite these diIIerent groups and tribes against the M1/A Their leader Iyad Ag *haly is a Iormer government elite has close con nections with the IIogha Tuaregs and leads an Islamist group putting him in the perIect position to act as a mediator between the three Iactions Thus An sar Dine appears to have beaten out the M/1A and A4IM Ansar Dine as a homegrown group that has been able to unite Malians oI all ethnicities under the banner oI reli gion will stick around though they may be temporarily driven underground

by French Iorces Though they lost the support oI locals aIter implementing an extreme Iorm oI shariÂśa Ansar Dine has proven that it is more than capable oI using violence to suppress dissent The M1/A poses the greatest threat to Ansar Dine at the moment but they will only be able to suppress Ansar Dine

iI they are given Âżnancial support and training Even iI they obtain the back ing they need existing Tuareg resent ment Irom other ethnic groups might spark backlash against the M1/A II the M1/A truly seeks a Iree and indepen dent state oI Azawad Ior the sake oI all the people oI the north they must Âżrst be able to demonstrate that the Tuareg rebellion is in the interest oI all who Ieel oppressed or ignored by the Malian government They must show that such a state would include and beneÂżt 6ong hai Fulani Arabs and others²not Must the Tuareg :hile the M1/A gave up their demands Ior secession in return Ior internal control in the north the or ganization still promotes Tuareg ascen dancy to the detriment oI other ethnic groups Thus even iI the M1/A gain control oI the north it seems unlikely that they will retain control without be ing challenged BeIore making predictions based on the religious and ethnic makeup oI these groups one must keep in mind that there are many other Iactors in volved in determining who will come out on top Foreign intervention mili tary strategy Iunding and connections with the government will all be crucial in determining the outcome oI this conĂ&#x20AC;ict +owever Ansar Dine and the M1/A appear to be more successIul in using indigenous tension to support their aims As such it is likely that these groups will outlast the Iractured A4IM 6eeing as the remaining maMor play ers in the conĂ&#x20AC;ict represent conĂ&#x20AC;icting sides oI multiple longstanding ideologi cal disagreements a lasting peace is un likely The success oI both the M1/A and Ansar Dine now depends on their ability to expand their alliances²to France to 6audi Arabia to the Malian government to the unaIÂżliated and to those they have alienated in the past cpr

Claire Heyison is a senior at Barnard College, majoring in comparative literature with a focus in French and Arabic language. She is also a Barnard Centennial Scholar. She is writing her senior thesis on comparative representations of the self-immolation of Mohamed Bouazizi in French and Arabic news media. She can be reached at claire.heyison@gmail.com.

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