Globalia Magazine 5th edition

GLOBALIA

Magazine

Quarterly | Issue 05 | March 2009 EUR 6, USD 9, GBP 4.50, AED 32, MYR 29, ZAR 60

A new focus on the world Cover story: Eastwards or Southwards?

Europe’s search for its destiny.

History: The man who moved the world.

Frederick II, one of the wonders of his time.

Image: dpa/picture-alliance.com

Business: Building up steam. A new era of rail on the Arab peninsula?

Guantanamo – a symbol of excess, page 22.

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EDITORIAL

By Abu Bakr Rieger.

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COVER STORY Eastwards or southwards?

Europe’s search for its destiny.

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INTERVIEW The power of language. Dr. Asadullah Yate on the impact of Arabic.

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BUSINESS Building up steam. A new era of rail on the Arab peninsula?

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Recognised store of value. Investors demand more and more gold.

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LAW A symbol of excess. The camp and democracy: not mutually exclusive.

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Investigating war crimes. ICC anounce preliminary analysis.

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GLOBAL Onwards to foreign shores. ‘Neo-Mercantilism’ and the economic integration.

CONCEPT AND EDITORIAL

The silent conflict. AFRICOM, China and the Congo resource wars, page 38.

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GLOBAL Providing a successful model. The Egyptian SEKEM Group, founded 1977.

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Alternative UN? NATO and its global ambitions.

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AFRICA The silent conflict. AFRICOM, China and Congo resource wars.

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Genocide and hidden conflicts. Africa’s forgotten wars shame the media.

ASIA “Strategic partnership”. Karzai scares Obama, with Russia.

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EUROPE

CHIEF EDITOR Abu Bakr Rieger PUBLISHER IZ Medien GmbH Beilsteinerstr. 121 12681 Berlin Germany ASSOCIATE EDITOR Sulaiman Wilms DISTRIBUTION IZ Medien GmbH PRINTING msk marketingserviceköln GLOBALIA Magazine reserves the right to shorten letters. Readers’ letters, guest articles and quotations do not necessarily represent the opinions of the Editors, nor do articles by named authors.

One year after. Kosovo: celebrating limited independence.

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The end of an alliance? Analysis of Turkish-Israeli relations.

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HISTORY

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The man who moved the world. Frederick II, one of the wonders of his time.

WEBSITE www.globaliamagazine.com

EDITORIAL

The former Anna Amalia Library (burned down two years ago), which was once directed by the German author Goethe.

GLOBALIA | Issue 05 | March 2009

EDITORIAL

Anyone wanting to learn more about Islam

EDITORIAL

in Europe, aside from Weimar, Cordoba and Sarajevo, should visit Italy too. As Sulaiman

BY ABU BAKR RIEGER

Wilms shows us in his article, the figure of Frederick II has pre-occupied generations

Dear Readers, We are very pleased to present to you the fifth

unbridled capitalism and backwards-looking

of historians down the centuries. The

communism, Europe is looking for other

Emperor’s famous scientific study of falconry

approaches to economic activity.

is of particular interest to the Arab world.

If you visit ever the Castel del Monte in

edition of Globalia Magazine.

Every age has its dangers. “Thrones crack,

Apulia, the legendary castle built by

Everyone has been witnessing the dynamic

empires tremble” wrote Goethe in his famous

Frederick II, not only will you witness its

transformation of political affairs over recent

poetic anthology, West-Eastern Diwan, written

months. The financial and debt crisis – which

between 1814 and 1819. Having just wit-

any reasonable, thinking person could have

nessed the destruction of the Napoleonic

seen coming – is being followed by specu-

Wars, he not only contemplated the geopo-

lations on the geopolitical effects of the

litical events of his time in this work, he also

financial collapse. The consequences of the

constructed an important bridge to Islam.

global crisis remain unclear. Who will win and who will lose? Will it bring forth new

Goethe hoped that his work would achieve

alliances and a new balance of power?

widespread distribution. Not only did he recognise a fascinating intellectual world in

We are naturally interested in the effects of

Islam, he also approved of the idea of a free

the crisis on the latest conflicts in Iraq and

world-citizen, a person without inner limits

Afghanistan. NATO is looking for a new

or outer limits restraints.

legitimacy for its global role, as we discuss

spectacular natural setting, but you will also derive a clearer understanding of the fascinating relationship between Europe and the Arab world.

Our new website, globalia-thinktank.org, shows another aspect of our magazine’s strategy. We want are aiming to publish more in-depth analyses and longer background reports which go beyond the scope of a printed magazine, and by so doing, enable readers, as well as journalists interested in working with us, to study the Magazine’s theses, themes and arguments in greater detail.

in this edition. Yet the financial crisis may not

His intellectual and spiritual journey through

just impinge on the old balance of power, it

the Orient was to set a trend of dissent from

We are always on the look-out for intelligent

will also affect the financing of the current

the prevailing nationalism and rejection of

people to build upon the philosophy of this

conflicts; political will has already been

Islam emerging all over Europe. Today, at the

magazine. At the moment we are engaged in

surpassed as the most effective means of

beginning of a century very much coloured

discussions with universities and think-tanks

disarmament by simple want of money.

by the discussion about Islam, we would be

all over the world on potential collaborations

well advised to read Goethe’s West-Eastern

on content. We will of course need to find

There is no doubt that the unfettered

Diwan as one of the most important attempts

donations and sponsors for this work, in order

financial system is one of the reasons why

at a European dialogue with the Muslim

to enable our journalists and academics to

it is possible in the first place to invest

world.

engage in this kind of research work. Recently

enormous sums of money in the dangerous

we facilitated already a number of young

arming of whole continents. What solutions

Goethe was eager to learn about – and

Muslim journalists to undergo periods of

might lie in store for the future? Islam’s

astonishingly open towards – Islam; in fact

practical training with our editorial office.

prohibition on interest and some elements

he “did not reject the idea that he was himself

of the principles of Islamic economics are

a Muslim.” This edition further examines the

already being discussed widely in Europe as

intellectually stimulating spiritual encounter

a model in search for an answer. Torn between

between Europe and Islam.

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COVER STORY

GLOBALIA | Issue 05 | March 2009

COVER STORY

EASTWARDS OR SOUTHWARDS? EUROPE’S SEARCH FOR ITS DESTINY

Since the fall of the Berlin Wall, the European Union has been steadily expanding towards the East. But this trend is not uncontested, with comparable plans to enlarge the Union along the shores of the Mediterranean sea. This not merely a politicals question but concerns the future geo-political shape of the whole continent.

“Whenever Europe has blossomed, its

can primarily be seen to have emerged above

cultures were always a plurality and

all out of an exchange with others – this in

never stood still. The only constant has

contrast to high civilisations like India and

been change, as the saying goes. People

China, which grew up largely as ‘standalone’

who want to seal Europe off believe in

entities.

the end of history. They believe that our system is the best and the last, that our

Intercourse with Muslims on the other side

culture is complete and finished. They

of the Mediterranean, which the Romans and

are doomed to die.” (Ilja Trojanow)

later peoples referred to affectionately yet condescendingly as ‘Mare Nostrum’ (Our Sea),

In a way the Europeans are a funny breed.

was especially important in the formation of

Geographically speaking they are situated at

today’s Europe, up until the historical phase

the edge of the huge landmass of Asia. Yet

of imperialism. That this is not a purely

in terms of their history and their thinking they

academic matter debated in closed circles is

consider themselves the hub of the earth,

proven by current EU plans and resolutions

describing themselves, from an enlightened

for a ‘Mediterranean Union’ aimed at building

classic antiquity down to the present day, as

up more stable relations with those nations

leaders. Despite this, their origins (as well as

of North Africa and the Middle East that lie

their name) lie in what is known today as Asia

‘on the other side’. The Paris Declaration of

Minor – Turkey, that is – which is still not

17 July 2008 set down and defined its

even a member of the European Union and

approximate delineation, despite the fact that

perhaps never will be.

the EU’s inner contradictions have watered down its original goals.

While the diverse continental societies strive to find a uniting identity for their reluctant

The still unanswered question is whether

elements, their history, culture and economies

Europe will centralise along an East-West

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COVER STORY

axis towards Russia, or along a North-South

Fernand Braudel differed from others in that

through its colonial expansion and an

axis across the Mediterranean and beyond?

he saw the Mediterranean not as a division

enormous accumulation of capital. After World

The leading proponents of these two

between the various nations or states, but as

War II, however, people began to think again

philosophies are Germany and France res-

an element connecting the areas bordering

about the bonding nature of the Sea. As

pectively, who in spite of their recent decades

the sea. Braudel did not consider the sea one

decolonialisation progressed, a merging of

of accord, they harbour quite contrary

uniform entity, but rather a “wide, complex

Western Europe and Africa was viewed by

outlooks on this issue.

expanse” within which humans moved

some as a way of balancing the ideological

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around. Life on its coasts went on: people

The history of a region One of the most original thinkers to tackle the

Recall how Europe’s

opposition between East and West, with a Euro-African bloc as a counterweight to the two big players in the Cold War.5 France under

history and character of the Mediterranean

great thinkers and poets

President De Gaulle tried repeatedly to

region was the French historian Fernand

have often harboured

distance itself politically and geo-strategically

Braudel (1902-1985), whose habilitation

an inner longing for the

from the United States.

thesis on the subject was published in 1949.

1

His monumental work is divided into three sections, each corresponding to a particular

South and the shores of the Mediterranean.

plane through time by which Braudel

Such plans were quick to emerge yet largely ineffective especially with Germany , which was turning itself into Europe’s economic

approaches the past in a different way. The

travelled, fished, fought in wars and drowned

motor-force as it incorporated into the

first deals with the history of the people in

in the waters. The Mediterranean reaches out

Western European and NATO structures,

the landscape and in relation to their

to other regions and islands, where life was

having no political or economic interest in

geographical setting, while in the second

equally diverse and complex. The poorer South

Africa or the Mediterranean region what-

part, Braudel investigates the history of

was influenced by the religious difference

soever. Geopolitical ideas in that category

larger phenomena such as states and

between Catholicism and Islam as well as by

carried no weight at the time.

cultures. The third part is based upon

invasions, cultural and economic, from the

traditional historiography.

more affluent North. According to Braudel, the Mediterranean cannot be understood in

Developments so far under the auspices of the EU

Unlike scholars who have taken a conven-

isolation from what lies on its shores. Seeing

After the fall of the Berlin Wall and the

tional, specifically historical approach,

rigid borders leads to a false analysis.

evaporation of Moscow’s control over the

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Braudel examined the whole region, taking

states of central and eastern Europe, what was

as his time-frame not the urgency of political

To claim that his thinking is a thing of the past

the then European Community found itself

decision-making but the emergence of

would be to overlook Braudel’s continued

moving inexorably towards the East. Fresh

natural phenomena. The Frenchman was

influence in France today, where you can

from their experience of the Warsaw Pact,

fascinated by the slow rhythms of the

barely speak about the Mediterranean

the newly independent states received

Mediterranean. It is interesting to follow his

without reference to this historian. A 2007

overtures from the West with open arms. The

long-term view which sees a slow ‘river’ of

survey by the military’s general staff, for

new Baltic members, as well as nations like

history in the Mediterranean shaping an

example, pleads the case for a Mediterranean

Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic,

attitude towards life defined in particular

Union on security grounds and reasons, begins

became not only suppliers of cheaper labour

by similarities in cuisine, climate, and

with a chapter about Braudel.4

and sales markets (for German industry

relationships with the common space. It was

especially), they also began to influence

the pioneering Muslim thinker Ibn Khaldun

The region moved in the ranks of world history

who had previously recognised and

once the north of Europe, strengthened by

formulated the effect of climate on human

burgeoning capitalism and its plunder, began

There had been, back in the early 1990s,

history.

to outstrip the actual European cultural realm

informal collaborative structures between the

GLOBALIA | Issue 05 | March 2009

Europe’s geopolitical orientation.

COVER STORY

European Community and other countries bordering the Mediterranean, which, it was hoped, would be put on a more permanent basis in Barcelona in 1995. The 15 members of the European Community of the time and the 12 countries around the southern and eastern shores of the Mediterranean agreed to found a Euro-Mediterranean Partnership (EUROMED), hoping, with the Cold War a thing of the past, to create a zone of “peace, security and mutual prosperity.”

The Eurabia Complex From the identity-defining search for Europe’s future geopolitical realm has also emerged, as a consequence of the dominant political method, the delineation of elements perceived as being “non-European”. It was obvious that the continent’s Muslims, and their way of life, should be now prime candidates. The highly polemical term ‘Eurabia’ can now be seen to be doing the rounds in today’s media.

In actual fact the name derives from the title of an ideologically unsuspicious study called Eurabia, which was published in Paris by the European Committee for the Coordination of Friendly Relations with the Arab World in conjunction with various European research institutions. In June 1975, the Parliamentary Association for Euro-Arab Cooperation, a Strasbourg gathering of more than 200 Western European parliamentarians bridging the whole political spectrum, passed a resolution appended to the second version of the study.

Almost three decades later, relentless critics of Islam such as the commentator Bernard Lewis6 used the same label to denounce a supposed takeover of Western Europe by the Muslims living there, which, it was further claimed, was being actively assisted by European politicians. According to this tangled

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COVER STORY

The EU currently views the Mediterranean Sea as a frontier against ‘aliens’.

conspiracy theory, the EU’s leadership,

states, “Those who use the term Eurabia

had to be folded over double and triple and

interested in Middle East resources and keen

invoke a mutating European continent which

sewn down firm. It was the creative and

to create a geopolitical counterweight to the

has, under pressure from oil producing states

productive heart, a web of relationships and

USA, are actively permitting demographic

and devoid of a political vision of how to

new creations. We tend to interpret the

change in favour of European Muslims. In an

stem the Arab influx, abandoned all its values.

cartographic blue of the sea as a border, when

interview with a German newspaper in 2004,

The aim of our book is to investigate this

for a long time it formed a fluid bridge. The

Lewis even went as far as to predict that the

position by laying out the actual development

foundations of European culture would not

European Union would become a part of the

of French policies towards Muslims and

have been possible if it had not been for the

Arabian West.8

organised Islam since the 1970s. We have

permeable, fluctuating and sometimes even

attempted to refute the false assumptions of

symbiotic quality of the edges.” Thus wrote

So many aspects of this paranoid scenario are

Eurabia, which are essentially that the French

the German Muslim author and essayist, Ilja

false that it hardly merits in serious debate.

and European governments, driven by a self-

Trojanow.9

Its proponents forget that not only the USA

despising multicultural politique, have

is one of Saudi Arabia’s biggest allies, but

capitulated to the cultural and religious

According to Trojanow, the European debate

that also the majority of Muslims living in

demands of the Muslims.”

is demanding a “categorical clarification of

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the characteristics of membership.” The

Europe are not of Arab extraction, but from Turkey, North Africa, the Balkans or the

What is Europe?

impression is almost one of ‘racial profiling’

Subcontinent.

“Where the edge is and where the centre is

to decide what is European and what is not.

depends above all on where you stand – and

Trojanow claims, however, that there can only

The two Brookings Scholars Justin Vaisse and

the direction in which you are moving. There

be a future if “borders are understood as

Jonathan Laurence investigated the Eurabia

were times in which the Mediterranean region

confluences.” These, and the Mediterranean

conspiracy in their study. Professor Laurence

did not represent the hem of Europe which

is an example, have always been crucial

GLOBALIA | Issue 05 | March 2009

COVER STORY

pollinators in the continent’s development. It

about the geopolitical orientation of Europe st

Russia, Europe’s big neighbour to the east, is

was the German philosopher Nietzsche who

in the early 21 century. Both are conservative,

assuming a growing role in the provision of

opposed the sterile idea of cultural “purity”.

convinced Atlanticists, and they share many

energy to Germany and other members of

Divisions, say both Trojanow and Braudel, are

views on domestic security, the Middle East

the EU, a fact made plain by the recent gas

only a fleeting aspect of history.

conflict and the treatment of Muslim and

dispute between Russia and the Ukraine.

immigrant minorities. But a more careful look

The geo- and energy-political situation of

Recall how Europe’s great thinkers and poets

reveals the true orientation of these two prime

Germany and the entire Baltic region is

have often harboured an inner longing for the

EU members, not only in cultural terms but

therefore a high priority for Berlin in terms

South and the shores of the Mediterranean.

also and especially in terms of the politics of

of regional development and the stabilisation

From Goethe and Byron, to Nietzsche and

security and energy.

of relations with Russia.

19th century – all were drawn to the

In the debate about a possible Mediterranean

France’s extrovert President Sarkozy, a

landscapes of classical Italy and Greece, as

Union, Germany’s head of government Angela

contrast to the dry character of the Protestant

well as the Muslim cultural regions of the

Merkel has warned of the perils of the splitting

Merkel, sees the Mediterranean Union as the

Mediterranean. But it was not only esteemed

Europe into northern and southern countries.

natural continuation of French interests

Rilke, and through to the famous artists of the

European figures whose existential longing and hunger for education drove them to the Mediterranean. For many generations the affluent considered the it done thing to visit various parts of the region. The Germans in particular seeing the Mediterranean as a counterpoint to the sober, dry spirit of the North.

Yet it would be wrong not to mention the longing for Eastern Europe landscapes, the Baltic or Russia which existed in the European

Despite the Paris declarations, it is doubtful that the dispute over the orientation and geopolitical development of the EU will be all that easy to resolve. The outlooks and needs of the member states involved are too disparate.

already at work in the EU. Not only is the Med common water between France and the countries on the southern shores, many of France’s government’s geopolitical and military initiatives are oriented to the region.

Energy supplies from Algeria and Libya; the silent war against immigration from Africa (author Jean-Christoph Rufin speaks of Europe’s New Frontier) carried on in the EU by the FRONTEX agency; the fear of extremism within the country’s own borders; and the securing of French interests around

intellectual psyche up until the beginning of Soviet communism. Their expansiveness and

She considers the project “very dangerous”

the Mediterranean coast – all may have

calm were viewed as a dreamt-of contrasts

and she believes it possible and raises the

motivated France to push on alone with the

to the homeland. In a similar same way to

spectre that the EU could collapse “at its

Mediterranean Union. And it’s no flash in

the much larger Mediterranean, the Baltic

core” if Berlin turns towards the east and

the political pan: Sarkozy presented similar

Sea played its part in connecting the cultural

Paris towards the south of Europe. Such a

plans at the start of 2007 as part of his

realms of the Baltic states, Scandinavia,

scenario could have a number of effects.

presidential election campaign.11

on its shores and you will see more

For one thing, the position of the German

Sarkozy’s generous offers, however, certainly

commonality than differences.

government has become more important than

did not find favour with everyone. Algeria,

before with the European Union’s eastward

which Sarkozy believed to be a decisive player

EU dispute over future orientation

expansion. Germany plays a key economic

in a future Mediterranean Union, found his

Their public political postures would never

role for many of the new EU member states

equating the perpetrators of the Algerian

betray the fact that Nicolas Sarkozy and

in the east and north, which for their part

War with its victims was called as

Angela Merkel have become major and main

represent appreciable markets for the

“unbelievable cynicism” according to the

adversaries in the European Union debate

expansion of German industry. Furthermore,

daily El Watan.12

10

Germany, Poland and Russia. Visit the cities

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COVER STORY

According to the publicist Rudolf Maresch13,

Mediterranean Union became a matter for the

resistance can also be expected from Turkey.

whole EU. On 13 July 2008, 44 states – the

Ankara, promised entry into the EU’s

27 EU members states, 15 Mediterranean

predecessor as far back as the 1960s, views

countries in North Africa and the Middle East,

the initiative as an attack on its possible

and the Palestinian National Authority,

acceptance into the European Union. The

Mauritania and Jordan – resolved to launch

fact too that Sarkozy is the chief proponent

a new initiative entitled ‘the Barcelona

of Mediterranean Union’s does not help

Process: Union for the Mediterranean.’

matters, since the French President has been one of Europe’s most vocal critics of Turkey’s

The countries of the Mediterranean Union

inclusion into the EU – especially during his

have agreed on where it should be based, and

election campaign.

also to involve the Arab League. Its Secretariat

energies; and higher education in the form

will be in Barcelona, Spain, and the post of

of a Euro-Mediterranean University to be

Diluted resolutions

General Secretary will be taken by one of the

based in EU member state Slovenia.

Merkel asserted herself contrary to Sarkozy’s

countries in the south. And Israel, in return

push for leadership, and the future

for the much-debated concession to the Arab

Which direction will Europe take?

League, will assume one of at least five

Despite the Paris declarations, it is doubtful

representative positions. The Arab League

that the dispute over the orientation and

may not vote. “The Arab League has the right

geopolitical development of the EU will be all

to participate in all meetings and express its

that easy to resolve. The outlooks and needs

views at all levels,” said Egypt’s Foreign

of the member states involved are too

Minister Ahmed Abdul Gheit – yet the

disparate. As with previous matters the

organisation may not take part in ballots.

Mediterranean conflict reveals the systematic

Before the meeting’s conclusion, diplomats

weaknesses in the EU when it comes to acting

had been speaking of “membership” for the

together over and beyond economic issues.

League, but this was not granted.

In spite of its enormous economic power, the

Footnotes: Entitled La Méditerranée et le monde méditeranéen à l’epoque de Philippe II 1

2

de.wikipedia.org

3

www.wikipedia.org

Wolf Lepenies, Fernand Braudel wiedergelesen, DIE WELT, March 2008 4

14

political influence which the EU has been

Rudolf Maresch, Europas Zukunft liegt im Süden, telepolis, 31.01.2009

In spite of the generally festive and also

German journalist Jürgen Elsässer described him as a “Professor of Islamhatred”.

sweeping declarations of intent, the actual

Aside from that, Europeans must ask

measure taken have not lived up to

themselves whether their identity is to be

expectations, especially for the part of

built up solely through a rejection of the

France and other neighbouring states. The

Other, especially Muslims, or whether they

Declaration’s preamble may contain far-

should rather to be able to define their own

reaching statements, but the Annex of the

values. As these values evolve, Islam must be

Agreement only contains a very limited

allowed to assume the place it deserves as a

number of actual steps.

European religion. The crisis of purpose which

5

6

7

de.wikipedia.org

DIE WELT, Interview with Bernard C. Lewis, July 2004

8

Ilja Trojanow, “Wovon reden wir eigentlich, [...]”, Islamische Zeitung, 28.03.2007 9

Rudolf Maresch, Europas Zukunft liegt im Süden, telepolis, 31.01.2009

10

11

ebd.

12

DER SPIEGEL, 5.12.2008

Rudolf Maresch, Europas Zukunft liegt im Süden, telepolis, 31.01.2009

13

14

Tagesspiegel, 4.11.2008

GLOBALIA | Issue 05 | March 2009

able to exert so far remains limited.

official atmosphere of the summit, and its

German and French conservatives are going These include cleaning up the Mediterranean;

through – to define what they actually want

establishing faster and safer transport routes

in positive terms – has prevented this process

on the Sea in order to improve relationships

from taking place.

and facilitate regional trade; disaster management; the promotion of alternative

Text By Sulaiman Wilms

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INTERVIEW

Globalia: Where and when was your first encounter with the Arabic language?

Dr. Asadullah Yate: My first encounter with Arabic was in North Africa, in Morocco. What immediately fascinated me was the overflowing vitality and friendliness of the people.

Linguistically this manifested in an energy which was quite different from what I had experienced in Europe: the people seemed to speak more loudly and of course the various consonants absent in European languages rendered it all the more exotic; when speaking the people came physically much closer, almost nose to nose; one saw vividly the colour of their eyes, their facial features, while from their mouths poured this other means of communication; another body language, with words accompanied by other, different movements of the head, of the hands, and body and while speaking they would often touch you to emphasize a point.

The language and their bodies expressed

THE POWER OF LANGUAGE DR. ASADULLAH YATE ON THE IMPACT OF ARABIC

themselves in unison. The language was an inseperable but key part of this other way of being with each other. Europe in comparison appeared reserved, cool and distant. Of

Languages are undergoing tremendous changes: globalisation, the internet, the demand of eco-

course, the more European an Arab becomes the less such features manifest.The Arabic of an Arab banker in his bank is quieter, more

nomy and communications for an International-

reserved and cooler. It taught me in an

English-Speak mean that more and more non-

existential way that language was the

English languages are having to submit to the

outward expression of an inward core identity: that Arab nationhood is not determined by

parameters of this IES. Arabic has not remained

cartographic borders but by a common

unaffected. However, because it is irrevocably

language.

anchored in the two divine sources of the Qur’an

Globalia: What is particularly fascinating

and the language of the Messenger, sallallahu

about this language?

alayhi wa sallam, the changes have been less intrusive, less destructive.

GLOBALIA | Issue 04 | December 2008

Dr. Asadullah Yate: One learns since the Lord of the Worlds chose this language to

INTERVIEW

reveal to mankind the last acceptable form

various efforts have been made to ‘purify’

The same applies to the word deen: when an

of behaviour, of worship, the last acceptable

these languages of their Arabic element, not

educated Arab Muslim uses this word he is

form of society, the last form of sovreignty,

least of the Arabic alphabet. But it has had

incapable of looking out onto the world and

then it cannot be – as it is sometimes argued

a major influence also on European langu-

dividing it up into separate categories of state

– that all languages are of equal worth.

ages, such as Portuguese, Spanish, Italian,

and religion. The word just does not admit of

Goethe, despite his difficult situation, realised

Albanian and Bulgarian, to name but a few.

such a division. Of course if he has studied

this and strove accordingly to acquaint himself

And this process necessarily continues at an

at a European University he may try to do so,

with this language.

ever increasing rate as more and more

but it would be disingenuous on his part.

Europeans become Muslim.

European Muslims use the word zakat for

The Arabic language and Islam are inseparable, just as German and English are

It has proved necessary for European Muslims

the same reason: when Islam first came to

incomprehensible – at a more profound level

to take the same path as the peoples of those

Europe it was incorrectly translated as ‘alms’

– without a knowledge of Greek and Latin

languages mentioned above – to adopt Arabic

because the priests responsible for the

culture. If you were to try and remove Islam

terms when no corresponding terms exist in

translations chose deliberately or otherwise

from Arabic, it would be like removing Islam

their own language. People will say wudu, for

to reduce its meaning to this level. Alms of

– i.e. all the vocabulary of the Quran and the

example, because the word ablution

course evokes charity, pity, peity and a

Rasoul, sallallahu alayhi was sallam – from

immediately reminds one of a specific church

voluntary donation whereas the pillar of zakat

Urdu. You would end up with Hindi, i.e.

practice. Just as Heidegger was obliged to

is a political and social institution of an

another, albeit cognate, language. When

redefine – or rather purify his vocabulary of

obligatory nature, with precise rules,

people speak Arabic or Urdu they are led into

christian colouring in order to describe Dasein,

demanding gold and silver currencies –

the realm of Islam by the nature of its

so Muslims in Europe have been obliged to

without whose pillar the house of Islam

structure, history and vocabulary – whether

use the Arabic terms lest they too end up

collapses.

they like it or not.

imitating christian practice. Words, as Carl Schmitt realised, are carried over from one

Sawm is used in preference to ‘fasting’

Globalia: The globalised world today

system to another. So, for example, the demise

because fasting in its current wellness-age use

speaks English. Does the Muslim world

of the church, all aspects of the current state

often means abstaining from certain foods,

speak Arabic? Is Arabic increasing in

system in Europe are in fact still denominated

or drink on days of one’s choice – while sawm

importance?

as secularised categories of the church.

is a majestic, social event initiated at the sighting of the new moon by the leader of the

Dr. Asadullah Yate: The influence of Arabic

Further examples will illustrate this point. The

community, with precise rules and times. Hajj

can, by Allah, never diminish. It can only

Muslim will say salat instead of prayer: if he

is hajj because the use of the word

increase. Generally speaking, the stronger the

were to say ‘prayer’ one might be led to

’pilgrimage’ evokes Rome or Santiago de

deen, the stronger the Arabic influence. The

believe that his practise means a being-alone,

Compostela and has little to do with these

influence of Arabic on Bahasi Indonesie,

a raising one’s hand on high and imploring

events. This is not a denigration of the christian

Malay, Persian, Urdu, Kurdish, Turkish, Bengali,

God at times of one’s choosing during the day

terms, only a reminder that the terms used

Berber and numerous other languages has

or night whereas the word salat has in fact

by Allah ta’ala in Arabic came to abrogate the

been tremendous, upwards of 40 or 50 per

a very strictly defined meaning, i.e. a body of

previous language of ‘Isa, alayhi as-salam.

cent of the vocabulary of some of these

men, standing shoulder to shoulder, following

languages coming from Arabic.

in unison the bowing and prostration of an

Naturally this phenomenon is to be observed

imam at precise moments during the day and

working the other way round. When the Arabs

Its importance can be measured by the

night. Prayer evokes an essentially spiritual,

import the word demokratiya they bring with

violence with which on various occasions in

meditative and solitary experience while salat

it – or not as the case may be – all of its

history – but above all in the last century –

is a physical and social experience.

portmanteau meanings accumulated through-

1

14

15

INTERVIEW

Biographical notes:

level. The alleged freedom of the Europeans

immediately recognised its divine, miraculous

Dr. Asadullah Yate was born 1951 in London. He obtained a PhD on Ibn Rushd from the University of Cambridge in 1992.

for each individual to have their opinion has

nature. Their language was at such a high

now been granted the Arabs with all the

level that they were equipped to recognize

terrible divisiveness associated with it and

its sublimity. Allah ta’ala says: “We have sent

the subsequent creation of ‘parties.’

it down as an Arabic Qur’an.” 5 As-Sawi

Among his many translations from Persian and Arabic are The Secret Garden of Shaykh Mahmud ash-Shabistari, Islam in the School of Madina by Shaykh Ahmad ibn Bashir ash-Shinqeeti and the commentary by al-Maydaani on Qudouri’s Mukhtasar fi’l-Fiqh al-Hanafi.

He has been teaching Arabic and fiqh at the Weimar Institute, Germany since 2000. He has travelled and lectured extensively in Europe, Asia and Africa.

reminds us that ‘Arabic is the clearest and Globalia: What are the particular qualities

most eloquent language because it is the

of the Arabic language?

language of the people of the Garden in the Garden’.6

Dr. Asadullah Yate: More than any other people, the Arabic language defines the Arabs

Muslim records that the Rasoul, sallallahu

– or at least it did until they were mercilessly

alayhi was sallim, said: uteetu jamwaami’u’-

divided, geographically, by the colonialists

kalim – ‘I have been given all modes of

and separated from their traditions by the

expression.’7 In other words, because of the

new language of socialism and petty

inimitability of the Qur’an and the superiority

nationalism and when local Arab dialects

of the speech of Muhammad, sallallahu alayhi

were ‘academically’ raised in status.

was sallam, these two linguistic sources will

3

always serve as linguistic precedents. They

out its 2,000 year old history and development. They have been taught that it corres-

Qadi Iyyad in ash-Shifa says the following:

can never be surpassed because of their divine

ponds more or less to shura2 – a Qur’anic

“The Arabs were the masters of linguistic

source.

term meaning ‘consultation with, or advice

expression, having been given eloquence and

given to an Amir’ – who while participating

aphorisms not given to any nation. They were

Arabic means literally “what is clear, to

in such consultation or listening to such

given a sharpness of tongue not possessed

express clearly.”8 Allah taala says in ash-

advice, retains the right to decide and act as

by other peoples and an incisiveness of

Shuara – The Poets, 195, that He has revealed

he thinks fit. The collision of these two realms

speech penetrating right to the heart of the

it in a “in a clear Arabic tongue;” in sura

of meaning is responsible for many of the

meaning. Allah gave them that as part of

an-Nahal – The Bee, 103, “in a clear and

misunderstandings, indeed conflicts in the

their nature and character. They use it

lucid Arabic.” This primal meaning defines

Arab world today.

spontaneously to evoke amazement and it

best how the Arabs saw themselves vis-à-vis

enables them to deal with any situation,

the ‘ajam, the non-Arabs: they were the

speaking extemporaneously.”

masters of clear communication.

Arabic word has been used for a European

For the Arabs, their language is so powerful

Globalia: Tawhid – why is it that the

meaning. Implementation of this word has

that it has always been treated on a par with

Arabic language can express unity

splintered the Arabic world. Originally it meant

action itself. Qadi Iyyad continues: “They

particularly well?

‘to examine and arrive at a judgement’, but

compose poems […] to raise [people] up and

now means ‘opinion’ in a quiz-show sense.

bring [them] low. By use of language they

Dr. Asadullah Yate: It should be noted in

Never has ‘divide and rule’ been more

work permissible magic […] with it they can

passing that the word tawhid itself has been

effectively applied than in the media-machine

deceive the intelligent, make what is difficult

devalued nowadays as it is more often used

of al-Jazeera whose logo is ar-ray wa-r al-

easy, heal ancient feuds, bring ancient ruins

to denote unification in a social or economic

akhir – ‘This opinion and that opinion’. Since

to life, make cowards brave, open up clenched

sense than its original sense of “recognising

its inception, it has completed at a national

hands, make the imperfect perfect and reduce

the oneness of the Creator in the creation.”

level the atomisation of the Arab people who

the highborn to obscurity.” It was for this rea-

However, if one returns to the Qur’anic

had already been separated at a pan-Arabic

son that when the Qur’an came to them, they

definition, one sees that Allah has equipped

The word ray is another kind of import,

4

although this time a meaning-import: an

GLOBALIA | Issue 05 | March 2009

INTERVIEW

us with a vocabulary which allows us to

they feel obliged to translate the word

and these are undoubtedly the ‘ulama –

accurately speak of Him, His creation and our

‘occurred’ as well from the original English.

whether in Iraq, Lebenon, Morocco or Sudan.

position within it.

Again, for an article entitled ‘Iranians start

Thus the matter is not so much geographical

reactor test run’ we have ‘badu tajribati

as social. One notices, even today, that when

We realise, for example, that the language of

tashgheel mafaa’il al-Irani’ which is bizarre.

a well-educated Arab speaks fus-ha the rest

tawhid is part of fitra – the natural make up

It is not, technically speaking, grammatically

of the company will naturally revert to fus-

or being of man – described in the Qur’an.

wrong, its just ‘unarabic’ in its noun-overload

ha. It is clear that the so called MSA (Modern

In other words man, has been created in such

in the absence of a verb.

Standard Arabic), introduced during the last

9

two generations into the education system,

a way that tawhid is natural to him, instinctive to him. Tawhid is a description of the ‘way

Whereas at one time the Arabic Academies

has severely curtailed the scope and richness

things are’. By submitting to Allah, by using

of Damascus and Cairo made an effort to

of traditional Arabic.

the terminology in the Qur’an to describe

find Arabic terms for new things or concepts,

Him, His creation and oneself, one is only

the English vocabularies of science, economics

This new form of Arabic is used in the media,

aligning oneself with one’s necessary situation

and computers are now imported wholesale

universities and schools. Crudely speaking, it

in the world. Conversely if one does not use

and merely transliterated.

is an amalgamation of Arabic and concepts from Western languages, translated or

the language of the Qur’an and the language of tawhid, to describe how things are, then

The classifications of the world, as seen from

transliterated into Arabic with a prescriptive

one is denying this fitra, covering up the

the West are also transferred to the Arabs.

value: a language which interlocks with the

reality of things.

Thus even the Arabs living in Amman are

media-, economics- and computer-speak

living in the ‘Middle East’. They are not

English which supplanted the language of

Globalia: There is a process of moderni-

allowed so to speak to be at the centre of

Shakespeare. A study of the relationship of

sation going on in the Arabic language

things – that centre is still Greenwich. Of

MSA/traditional Arabic with the Osmanlija of

– to what extent is this dangerous?

course this is ‘normal’ in the sense that the

pre-Kemalist times/modern Turkish would be

language of a more aggressive system will

revealing.

Dr. Asadullah Yate: There is no doubt that

always influence another – what is dangerous,

Arabic has undergone huge changes since, for

however, is if this process is not perceived and

example, BBC and CNN started their Arabic

one fails to distinguish between a more

language broadcasting. On a very crude level

aggressive system and a superior system. The

one notices the way the verb is often relegated

so called current Western model is not

to second place after the subject. The

superior, but is supremely more aggressive.

dynamism of the verbal opening is lost. Most of the news is translated from English: instead

Globalia: How and where can one best

of rendering it in concis Arabic by using one

learn the Arabic language?

of the ten or more available verbal forms for each meaning-stem – and we are not simply

Dr. Asadullah Yate: Most Arab countries

talking about tenses or verbal modes such as

claim that in their territories the best Arabic

indicative or subjunctive – the language now

is spoken – and it may well be that in certain

mimics the English.

parts of Arabia, Jordan and Syria one hears a tongue which is closest to the fus-ha Arabic,

So to give a very banale example, while one

i.e. the highest or clearest Arabic. However,

single word would render ‘an explosion

a more accurate definition of where to find

occurred’ in Arabic in BBC-speak it is rendered

the best Arabic would be amongst the circles

with two words – waqa’ al-infijaar – because

of the best-educated, traditionally speaking,

Footnotes: 1

This interpretation of the word salat is by no means theoretical: certain Muslims of the Lebanon, through their keeping excessive company with the christians will argue that this is in fact the meaning of salat.

2 Or sometimes it is equated with the word majlis, which is made to appear as a parliament.

3 See Letter to an Arab Muslim, Shaykh AbdalQadir as-Sufi, chap. 11, Mallorca 2000.

4 Ash-Shifa bi-tareef Mustafa, English Translation, Granada 1991.

5 Sura Yusuf 2.

6 Tafseer Saawi, vol.3, Dar al-Fikr, Beirut, 2001.

7 Sahih Muslim, Bab Masaajid.

8 Al-Qaamous Al-Muheet, vol.1, p. 107, Cairo 1952.

9 BBC, Arabic on-line, 26.02.09

16

17

BUSINESS

improvements. “People have accepted that

BUILDING UP STEAM

transport problems cannot be solved simply

A NEW ERA OF RAIL ON THE ARAB PENINSULA?

by building more and more new roads.”

Tracks for the ‘Empty Quarter’

In spite of its wealth in energy resources and

Saudi Arabia, the largest country in the

capital, the Arabian Peninsula still lags behind

Peninsula by area, currently has three projects on the go: the Saudi Landbridge Project, the

in its regional infrastructure. One element as still

Haramain High Speed Rail Project, and a

missing is a functional rail system for transporting

freight line for transporting phosphates from

freight and passengers. Several large-scale projects are in the pipeline, especially in Saudi Arabia, a country which can look back on to the

the Al-Jalamid deposits in the north and the bauxite mines in the south of the country to the industrial region of Ras Azzour.

All three projects were offered out separately

impressive the Hijaz Railway, built at the

to tender. The Saudi Landbridge Project was

beginning of the previous century.

awarded to the Tarabot Consortium which consists of seven Saudi firms and Australia’s Asciano. As well as construction, the 50-year

Today, you cannot travel from Marrakech to

transport, has not always kept pace with other

concession includes owning and operating

Riyadh by train, but experts believe that a

countries. But with increasing amounts of

the route. The line will run from west to east,

trans-Arabian railway need not remain a

freight as well as higher fuel and transport

connecting Jeddah on the Red Sea to the

dream, and it is now a feasible vision in the

costs and the ecological consequences of

capital Riyadh and then continuing to the

long term. Journalists like David Briginshaw,

individualised transport, even the energy-rich

city of Dammam on the country’s east coast

Editor-in-Chief of International Rail Journal,

nations around the Persian Gulf are consi-

and from Damman in the east on to Jubail.

see reason for hope in the massive

dering permanent alternatives to the relatively

The newly built freight line will be single-

investments currently being made in rail

expensive individual modes of travel.

track at first, although features such as tunnels

infrastructure in countries such as Morocco,

are to be laid out to enable double-track

Egypt and Saudi Arabia. After a succession of

A railway link for heavy transport already

accidents, Egypt is having its railways

connects the Jordanian port of Aqaba to Syria.

revamped at a cost of around 14 billion USD.

Syria is connected in turn to Turkey, which is

High-tech Hajj

Railways have a long history in the Middle

currently investing 1.3 billion USD in bringing

Mecca and Madinah will also be linked by

East. Egypt was one of the first countries in

trains from Ankara to Sivas and on to Iraq.

a high-speed line going via Jeddah. Building

the Middle East to use trains to transport

The next gap is from Iraq down to Kuwait then

work will begin in March 2009 according to

passengers. The International Rail Journal

steadily southwards all the way to the

reports in the press. Involved in what is

mentions plans announced by the Kingdom

Emirates. There have been plans to build

being called the Haramain High Speed Rail

of Morocco in 2007 to build a 1,500 km, high-

railways along this route for a long time. The

Project are Chinese construction companies

speed line for the national railway company

International Rail Journal admits that a trans-

as well as France’s Alstom – the French

ONCF, using France’s TGV as a model.

Arabian railway is still some way off, but says

manufacturing the high-speed trains for the

that governments are on the right track, so

futuristic connection.

operation in the future.

On the Arabian Peninsula, as in many areas

to speak. There has been some promising

of the Muslim world, the development of

progress, and thanks to the oil boom there

Constructing the approximately 444 kilo-

domestic infrastructure, especially public

are enough funds for infrastructural

metre-long railway is predicted to take around

GLOBALIA | Issue 05 | March 2009

BUSINESS

three years, and with the first trains scheduled

from the Masjid al-Haram. A second Meccan

involved in the Haramain High Speed Rail

to commence operation in 2013. According

station is also planned near the university

Project. While Alstom, together with its

to statements, the journey between Madinah

and the business district.

divisions and parent Bouygues, are busy with construction and Thales tackles the electronics

and Jeddah will then take just two hours. The Saudi Transport Minister, Al-Seraisry stated

Saudi Arabia has hoped for some time to

and communications, a division of France’s

that the infrastructure project represents an

generate more income by promoting tourism,

national railway organisation, SNCF, has been

“ideal solution to the transport problems –

and the country’s planners expect the

asked to provide feasibility studies and

experienced during Hajj” and one which will

Haramain Railway to precipitate a greater

technical consulting for the project.

“lessen the workload enormously.”

influx of travellers by connecting Jeddah –

On 3 February, Middle Eastern Business

home to the Kingdom’s national airport and

“This project will make Saudi Arabia the first

sea port – to Mecca and Madinah.

country in that part of the world to enjoy the benefits of a high-speed network,” explains

Intelligence reported that the Al Rajhi

Jean-Pierre Loubinoux, Chairman of SNCF

winner of the Hijaz rail link tender process,

Others hoping for profits in the Kingdom

the company’s 6.9 billion-riyal bid being the

As we have mentioned, the China Railway

state railway company. Getting a foothold

lowest made for the railway contract. The

Engineering Corporation is one of the com-

in the markets of the Middle East is not

final result will be announced by the Saudi

panies involved in building the Haramain

always easy though. Although the French

Railways Organisation.

High Speed Rail Project. To some, however, it

were able to clinch the job in Saudi Arabia,

seems anomalous that China’s corporations

their German rivals Deutsche Bahn AG have

This consortium is led by the Mada Group and

should receive a lucrative order for restruc-

scooped up profitable contracts for the

includes Alstom Transport/Bouygues (France),

turing the transport of the annual flood of

development of high-speed lines and freight

Al Arab Contracting, and the China Railway

pilgrims between Islam’s two most important

lines in the Emirates, and, in summer 2008

Engineering Group. Its price was considerably

cities while its government continues to

also in Qatar.

below the joint offer made by the Saudi

oppresses its local Muslims.

Alliance would probably emerge as the

International, the global division of France’s

Text By Sulaiman Wilms

Binladen Group and Spain’s Obrascon Huarte Lain. But the Saudi Binladen Group did not

According to the journalist Tim Wang at

walk away empty-handed: since, together

Forbes.com, Chinese engineers are hoping to

with French-based arms and high-tech group

be involved in other plans to expand Middle

Thales, they received the two billion-riyal

Eastern railway networks. “Plans in Riyadh to

contract for the line’s signal and communica-

invest around USD 120 billion in improving

tions systems. The Haramain High Speed Rail

Saudi infrastructure” could prove a gold-mine

Project is due to proceed in two phases, with

for Chinese construction companies. The fact

only the start of the first so far being

that China’s President Hu Jintao made Saudi

announced. The first step (scheduled for three

Arabia his first port of call for the year 2009

years with completion set for 2012) is to build

indicates, says Wang, Beijing’s interest in

the link from Jeddah to Madinah. The second

improving relations with the world’s leading

step involves connections between Mecca,

oil producer.

Jeddah, Jeddah Airport, King Abdullah Economic City and Knowledge Economic City.

But it is not just Far-Eastern business that wants to profit from the expansion of the

The station in Madinah is to be three

Middle East’s railway network, European

kilometres from the Prophet’s Mosque, while

companies also want a piece of the action.

the station in Mecca will be just 500 metres

Currently there are three Chinese companies

18

19

BUSINESS

The most striking trend across the year was

RECOGNISED STORE OF VALUE

the reawakening of investor interest in the

INVESTORS DEMAND MORE AND MORE GOLD

holding of physical gold. Demand for bars and coins rose 87 per cent over the year with shortages reported across many parts of the

Investor interest in gold held against heavy

globe.

plunges on the stock markets. Identifiable gold demand in tonnage terms rose 4 per cent on

The figures compiled independently for WGC

by GFMS Ltd., showed jewellery demand up

previous year levels to 3,659 tonnes. The most

11 per cent in dollar terms at almost 60 billion

striking trend across the year was the

US-Dollars for the whole year, but down 11

reawakening of investor interest in the holding

per cent in tonnage terms at 2,138 tonnes.

The adverse economic conditions across the

of physical gold. Demand for bars and coins rose

globe, coupled with a high and volatile prices,

87 per cent over the year.

impacted jewellery buying in key markets, with resilient spending on gold jewellery however indicating the strength of underlying

Sustained interest in gold over the course of

As shares on stock markets around the world

demand, reflected in strong buying when the

2008 against the backdrop of the worst year

lost an estimated 14 trillion US-Dollars in

market offers attractive price points.

on record for global stock markets and many

value, identifiable investment demand for

other asset classes, helped push dollar

gold, which incorporates Exchange Traded

Industrial demand in 2008 was another

demand for the safe-haven asset to 102 billion

Funds (ETFs), bars and coins, was 64 per cent

casualty of the global economic turmoil, down

US-Dollars, a 29 per cent increase on the

higher in 2008 than in 2007, equivalent to an

7 per cent to 430 tonnes from 461 tonnes in

previous year levels. According to the World

additional inflow of 15 billion US-Dollars.

2007. In the electronics sector, the main source

Gold Council’s (WGC) ‘Gold Demand Trends’,

Over the year as a whole, the gold price

of industrial demand, reduced consumer

gold demand in tonnage terms rose 4 per

averaged 872 US-Dollars, up 25 per cent from

spending on items such as laptops and mobile

cent on previous year levels to 3,659 tonnes.

695 US-Dollars in 2007.

phones had a knock-on effect on gold demand.

Aram Shishmanian, the new CEO of the World Gold Council, said: “These figures confirm that investors around the world recognise the benefits of holding gold during this time of unprecedented global financial crisis, recession and the spectre of future inflation.

Gold has again proven its core investment qualities as a store of value, safe haven and portfolio diversifier and this has struck a chord with nervous investors. Whilst current market conditions have impacted consumer spending on jewellery, purchasers in many of the key gold markets understand the intrinsic

GLOBALIA | Issue 04 | December 2008

BUSINESS

investment value of gold and continue to buy.

cent increase. ETF holdings broke new records

earlier levels, with strong growth in the bar

The economic downturn and uncertainty in

during the quarter. Although the net quarterly

and coin market (up 139 per cent) offset by

the markets, that has affected us all, is unlikely

inflow was down on the levels of the previous

a 7 per cent decline in jewellery demand,

to abate in the short term. Consequently, I

quarter, the growth rate in the fourth quarter

which makes up 90 per cent of the market in

anticipate that gold, as a unique asset class,

2007 was as strong as 18 per cent.

this region. A combination of gold price volatility, a sharp fall in the local currency and

will continue to play a vital role in providing stability to both household and professional

Total demand in India, the world’s largest

exchange rate uncertainty led to a 59 per

investors around the world.�

gold market, in the fourth quarter was up 84

cent fall in overall gold demand in Turkey in

per cent in tonnage terms, led by a very strong

the fourth quarter.

Total demand remained very strong in the

107 per cent rise in jewellery demand,

fourth quarter of 2008, up 26 per cent on the

underpinned by the investment attributes of

In the United States, the deteriorating

same period last year at 1036 tonnes, or 26.5

gold. This phenomenon has to be set against

economic conditions produced a mixed

billion US-Dollars in value terms.

a very weak fourth quarter generally, in 2007,

result for gold demand. Fourth quarter

however. Total gold demand in Greater China

jewellery demand was down 35 per cent as

The biggest source of growth in demand for

in the fourth quarter was resilient to the global

consumer spending plummeted. In stark

gold in the fourth quarter was investment.

turmoil. Total off-take was up 21 per cent on

contrast, demand for gold bars and coins

Identifiable investment demand reached 399

the same period last year, with investment the

rocketed by 370 per cent in the fourth quarter,

tonnes, up from 141 tonnes in the fourth

main contributor to growth but jewellery

representing 35 tonnes of gold.

quarter 2007, a rise of 182 per cent. The main

demand also holding up well.

Gold supply in the fourth quarter was up 5

source of this increase was net retail investment, which rose 396 per cent from 61

Investment demand in Thailand soared during

per cent relative to the previous year levels

tonnes in the fourth quarter 2007 to 304

the quarter, from a net outflow of 8 tonnes

and year-on-year, declined 1 per cent. Slightly

tonnes in the fourth quarter 2008.

in the fourth quarter 2007 to a net inflow of

lower mine production, higher levels of scrap

21 tonnes in the fourth quarter 2008. As with

and lower levels of gold producer de-hedging,

The most dramatic surge was in Europe, where

many other parts of the region, this

were partly offset by lower net central bank

bar and coin demand increased from just 9

turnaround was underpinned by safe-haven

sales in the fourth quarter 2008, totalling 71

tonnes in the fourth quarter 2007 to 114

buying. Demand in the Middle East in the

tonnes, down from 97 tonnes in the fourth

tonnes in the fourth quarter 2008, a 1,170 per

fourth quarter 2008 was up 1 per cent on year

quarter 2007. (gm)

20

21

LAW

GLOBALIA | Issue 05 | March 2009

LAW

– in politics or in the press – who are willing

A SYMBOL OF EXCESS

to go against the grain to help the innocent

THE CAMP AND DEMOCRACY: NOT MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE

and persecuted, are urgently.

The camp in Guantánamo came to symbolise

The camp in Guantánamo, the network of

the global crisis of law and the failure of the

American secret prisons, and the practice of

West to abide by legal standards in its fight against terrorism. The question is certainly

torture in Iraqi penitentiaries serve as a reminder

not whether to counter terrorism, but how.

that democracies, too, can fall into the forms and

The lack of reason and balance in all the

the language of the “state of emergency” at any time. Guantánamo has come to symbolise the global crisis of law and the failure of the West

affronts to terrorism are in fact a fundamental measure of the legal situation.

If you respond to terror with excessive counter-terror, then you are at the same level. The fate of the thousands of innocent

to abide by legal standards in its fight against

civilian victims and the excesses of aerial

terrorism.

bombardment – whether in Iraq, Gaza or Afghanistan – have become a warning monument in their own right.

In theory, we Europeans learned in school

rule of law. On such points, we can see that

after the Second World War to resist whenever

a re-run of barbarism threatens us at all times

With the kinds of scenarios we have seen in

an obvious injustice was perpetrated, not to

anew.

recent years, should not the government, like

stand by and watch when minorities are

the citizen, if it wants to retain its moral

persecuted, and never to accept general

In that respect the Italian philosopher Giorgio

integrity, also demonstrate a minimum of

lawlessness. This kind of civic courage is

Agamben was unfortunately right when he

civic courage as well? If we are sensible

expected of European citizens, not just at the

not only associated camps with unjust regimes

enough to say yes, then the verdict on

level of rhetoric but in practical resistance

of the century past, but described them as

European governments must perforce be

against the Right and against ideologies in

“places without order” and an integral part

damning.

general. It is this courageous ideal which we

of the modern nomos. To Agamben, camps

must demonstrate daily, be it on the street,

and democracy are not mutually exclusive

Europeans may exhale in relief today as the

in our railway stations or in our buses,

terms – even if Guantánamo has one day

new American President announces his

whenever foreigners, the old, or minorities

disappeared off the map.

intention to end the unjust methods of his

ever again come under threat.

predecessors, yet for years, all the European Neither are we talking about a one-off

politicians have been doing is precisely to

The existence of the camp in Guantánamo,

situation. Today camps appear not only in

hold their breath. In Berlin, Paris and London,

the network of American secret prisons, and

war zones but increasingly on the periphery

not a single European head of government

the practice of torture in Iraqi penitentiaries

and in the centre of our regions of affluence.

or foreign minister confronted President Bush

serve as a reminder that democracies, too, can

As Foucault has reminded us, we can discover

with an energetic or vociferous stance on

fall into the forms and “state of emergency”

the real state of our societies by looking into

human rights. The new American president,

language at any time. It is this breaking of a

our asylums, hostels, prisons, old-age homes

Barack Obama, has now finally ordered the

modern taboo, which will have long-term

and police stations.

closure of the notorious camp on Cuba within

effects, since, as we now realise, it cannot be stopped by modern states founded on the

the year. But for an innocent man that year For this reason, a new generation of ‘heroes’

will be long. The secret prisons and unatoned

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The current situation in Guantánamo is

not without reason: his career as Foreign

known. Around 245 terror suspects are still

Minister continues only on account of the fact

imprisoned there. According to estimates, at

that the German populace was never

least 50 to 60 of these people are obviously

particularly interested in his failure, ignorance

innocent yet cannot return to their home-

and coldness, towards Guantánamo victim,

lands because, absurdly, they are at risk of

Murat Kurnaz. The tragic case of this utterly

persecution there. They remain “buried alive”

innocent Bremen man, whom Steinmeier, in

in that dubious penal institution.

his position as Head of the Kanzleramt, knowingly allowed to languish in Cuba,

The Algerian Ahmed Belbacha, for example,

embroiled the Minister in a scandal.

spent five years of his life in a windowless

Nowadays Steinmeier, who is a candidate

solitary cell in the Guantánamo prison camp,

for the position of Kanzler, supports the

until even the American military was

acceptance of prisoners.

convinced of his innocence. In February 2007 the army sent an e-mail to the human rights

“We aren’t fighting to take in prisoners, but

organisation Reprieve. It stated: “Your client

it is a question of our credibility – whether

is permitted to leave Guantánamo.” Two years

we really support the USA’s closing of the

later the 40-year-old is still sitting in the

camp or not,” said the Vice-Chancellor

military prison camp in Cuba, criticised

recently on the sidelines of an EU foreign

throughout the world for its inhuman methods

ministers’ meeting in Brussels. For his new

of interrogation.

credibility he is even willing to accept trouble from Christian Democrats with whom he

The reason is staggeringly simple: apart from

shares government. The conservative Minister

his home country Algeria, where Belbacha is

for the Interior, Wolfgang Schäuble, a major

at risk of persecution and torture, no other

player in the German governing coalition,

‘renditions’ through Europe by ‘torture flights’

country will take him. His story is not unique.

has often rejected the proposal of taking in

are also to cease. It is natural that Obama,

According to human rights organisations, 60

foreign terrorist suspects incarcerated at

especially given his purported philosophy of

of the current 244 Guantánamo inmates have

Guantánamo.

‘change’, has had to draw a line through the

been detained for several years even though

controversial methods of the American

the Bush administration has categorised them

But this cold refusal by the German Minister

conservatives.

as harmless. As they are too faced with torture

for the Interior did not trigger any kind of

in their home countries, they are not allowed

debate in Germany about the principles or

It seems however unlikely that Obama will

to be deported. Other countries have so far

credibility of European human rights.

really close all the camps, including all the

been unprepared to take them in.

Important European intellectuals have also

unnamed ones around the world: the ones in

remained silent on these subjects for years.

Afghanistan for example. Obama has certainly

Given the political will, some of these pri-

One of the few people in Germany who was

not stopped the combination of the War on

soners could be given a new home in Europe.

quick to abandon a passive position on

Terror with the geopolitical objectives of the

The German government, for example,

observing American outrages is the German

USA. The fact that the Democrats are hardly

intends to decide quickly, following the

author Roger Willemsen, who several years

likely to permit criminal proceedings against

expected request by the new US government,

ago publicised the fate of Guantánamo’s

Rumsfeld or Bush indicates that there is to

whether Germany could receive former

prisoners and their stoicism attitude under

be no swift return to the non-partisan legal

Guantánamo detainees. The Foreign Minister

extreme injustice in a shocking book based

principles of a law, now extinct.

Frank-Walter Steinmeier is visibly active, and

on interviews with ex-inmates.

GLOBALIA | Issue 05 | March 2009

LAW

American President Barack Obama signed a decree abolishing the camp at Guantánamo.

Willemsen now considers the government’s

Meanwhile there are new rumours circulating

apparently with two Yemeni commanders of

waiting approach as “obscene”. In the daily

about former inmates of Guantánamo which

Al-Qaida cells in Yemen. The four men call for

press he commented scathingly: “Let’s get

may increase European scepticism towards

“holy war” and criticise Lebanon’s Hizbollah

this straight: the Americans are ready to

taking in former prisoners. Supposed new

because they failed to shoot “their many

release people from the camp they have

terrorist activities by former inmates of the

rockets” at Israel during the latest Israeli

declared innocent – after having tortured

controversial US prison camp are causing a

military offensive in the Gaza Strip.

them. And then along comes the German

stir, and not just in the Arab world.

Whether all this is true or not, there is nothing

Interior Minister and declares, “These victims are dangerous, I don’t want anything to do

The European media have reported in detail

left for the Islamic world to do but to turn to

with them.” That is obscene. You have to

on the following case. An official of the Interior

the correct Islamic education of its believers.

keep saying it over and over: they are

Ministry in Riyadh confirmed in the Arab

Now countries are planning programmes

innocent!

newspaper Al Hayat, that two men seen in a

based not on secular or religious ideology,

video broadcast by the Al-Qaida terrorist

but simply on the study of Islamic law. The

But that is not all. Roger Willemsen believes

network from Yemen are two former

solution is simple: someone with a sound

that in the end, Europe’s passivity and the

Guantánamo inmates from Saudi Arabia. Said

Islamic education cannot become a terrorist.

lack of an “uprising of the upright” against

Al-Shihri and Mohammed Al-Aufi even

Guantánamo and its inmates have become

the American policy in Afghanistan and Iraq

underwent a ‘rehabilitation programme’ in

therefore also a symbol of the necessity to

is in reality “widespread anti-Muslim

the kingdom after their release.

overcome a crisis in Muslims not knowing their own understanding of law.

animosity.” To him it is a scandal that the camp was allowed to remain open for so

The video, excerpts of which have been shown

long in the eyes of the world.

on Arab TV channels, shows the pair

Text By Abu Bakr Rieger

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be considered Israeli territory and the ICC

INVESTIGATING WAR CRIMES

would have no jurisdiction to investigate.

ICC ANNOUNCE PRELIMINARY ANALYSIS

Moreno-Ocampo indicated that one focus of his preliminary investigation would be to determine whether the ICC has the authority

Following a war that claimed an estimated 1,300 Palestinian lives, hundreds of them civilians, the

to proceed further. “The office of the prosecutor will carefully investigate all relevant issues, including on jurisdiction,” he

issue of proportionality became a pressing one

said in a statement. Sean Murphy, a law

for obvious reasons. But many scholars have

professor at George Washington University,

argued that determining how much civilian harm

consensus about the PNA’s status meant that

is “excessive” with reference to a given military

the success or failure of the Palestinian move

told IPS that the lack of international

might depend on authorities in The Hague.

objective is so difficult that the proportionality standard is largely useless in practice and that

“It’s possible to file a declaration on an ad

violations of it are unlikely to result in any

Statute,” Murphy said. “The question is

successful prosecution.

whether the registrar would accept it, given

hoc basis, in accordance with the Rome

that they would be having to make a decision on statehood in the face of widespread international disagreement”. Asked if he thought that the PNA’s move would lead to The International Criminal Court (ICC) in The

Justice Minister Ali Khashan recognising the

any tangible results, Murphy said that he

Hague announced a preliminary analysis

ICC’s authority. The ICC can only pursue

found it “unlikely - but stranger things have

into whether Israel committed war crimes

investigations in states that have signed the

happened”. Human Rights groups have called

during the recent Gaza war, following the

Rome Statute, which created the Court, but

for an investigation into alleged Israeli war

Palestinian National Authority’s (PNA) move

from which Israel has abstained. Khashan’s

crimes during the three-week Gaza war,

to recognise the ICC’s authority. Whether

letter was intended to give the ICC jurisdiction

including the killing of civilians and the use

the ICC has jurisdiction in Gaza is expected

to launch an investigation into Gaza. But the

of white phosphorus against human targets.

to be a highly contentious legal issue, and

Palestinian move to recognise the court raises

the ICC investigation comes at a time of

a set of murky legal issues, the foremost of

But debate over the war’s legality has gone

heightened debate over the legality of Israel’s

which is whether the PNA can be considered

beyond the use of specific tactics by Israeli

Gaza campaign under international law. This

a state. The PNA has argued that it can be

commanders on the ground, to the question

renewed debate has come about in large part

considered the de facto sovereign authority

as to whether the campaign as a whole was

due to statements made by former Israeli

in the Gaza Strip effective from Israel’s

in violation of international law. This broader

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on 1 February,

withdrawal from the territory in 2005.

debate became far more contentious, with Olmert responding to continued rocket attacks

in which he appeared to enshrine the ”disproportionate” response as a provocation

If so, then Israel’s non-recognition of the court

from Gaza into southern Israel by promising

to official Israeli government policy.

would not prevent a war crimes investigation,

a “disproportionate” Israeli military response.

since the only relevant factor is whether the

“The government’s position was from the

ICC chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo

alleged violations occurred in the territory of

outset that if there is shooting at residents

made public a Jan. 21 letter from Palestinian

a signatory. If not, then the Gaza Strip would

of the south there will be an Israeli response

GLOBALIA | Issue 05 | March 2009

LAW

that will be harsh and disproportionate by its

compared to the conduct of the conflict itself,

enshrined in Article 51, Section 5 of the 1977

nature,” Olmert said.

the results of which are so clearly unlawful,”

First Additional Protocol to the Geneva

University of Notre Dame law professor Mary

Conventions. It bans any “attack which may

Ellen O’Connell told IPS.

be expected to cause incidental loss of civilian

Although Olmert’s remarks might be taken as mere bluster intended to deter further rocket

life, injury to civilians, damage to civilian

attacks, his claim that the disproportionate

Still, it was clear that Olmert’s remarks marked

objects, or a combination thereof, which

use of force had been government policy

a major shift in the debates over the

would be excessive in relation to the concrete

“from the outset” has been read by some as

proportionality of Israeli military action. The

and direct military advantage anticipated”.

an acknowledgement that the Gaza campaign

term “proportionality” has been used

was disproportionate by design - and

inconsistently and often inaccurately in these

Although Israel is not a signatory to the

therefore in violation of international law.

debates, but has generally referred to two

Additional Protocols, the Israeli Supreme Court

Law professors interviewed by IPS were

criteria: whether the use of force is

has recognised the proportionality standard

unsure as to whether Olmert’s statement

disproportionate to the threat that it responds

as binding, and during the Gaza campaign

would have implications for any future

to, or whether the civilian collateral damage

itself, the Israeli government always

criminal investigation. “Of course a statement

in an attack is disproportionate to the military

maintained that it met the standard. A Dec.

like that could be used to show his knowledge

objective. Israel has primarily been criticised

29 statement by the Israeli Ministry of Foreign

and intent, but it would be small potatoes

according to the second criterion, which is

Affairs stated that “Israel has adopted the

Living in a prison. The main legal issues of Gaza go beyond the latest campaign.

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principles of international humanitarian law [...] and the Israel Defense Force (IDF) has enshrined them in its training, operational planning, and orders [...] (I)n relation to the question of proportionality, IDF doctrine requires a commander to refrain from an attack” that is expected to inflict excessive incidental harm.

Similarly, a few of Israel’s defenders in the media have dismissed the proportionality standard entirely, but most - including prominent commentators such as Alan Dershowitz and Michael Walzer - have accepted the standard and argued that Israel’s campaign adhered to it. Following a war that claimed an estimated 1,300 Palestinian lives, hundreds of them civilians, the issue of proportionality has become a pressing one for obvious reasons. But many scholars have argued that determining how much civilian harm is “excessive” with reference to a given military objective is so difficult that the proportionality standard is largely useless in practice and that violations of it are unlikely to result in any successful prosecution.

Still, although the proportionality debates have been largely unproductive to this point, Olmert’s statement was noteworthy for its apparent abandonment of the proportionality standard altogether. In doing so, he risks setting Israeli government policy on a course opposed to both international law and the rulings of the Israeli Supreme Court. As the ICC mulls its potential investigation of the Gaza war, and the outcry against alleged human rights violations during the war increases, the debate about the latest campaign’s overall legality is likely to become more contentious rather than less. (IPS)

Text By Daniel Luban

GLOBALIA | Issue 05 | March 2009

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Text By Dawud Stewart Hurrell

In October 2008, the NGO Grain published a

ONWARDS TO FOREIGN SHORES

report titled “Seized! The 2008 land grab for

‘NEO-MERCANTILISM’ AND THE ECONOMIC INTEGRATION

food and financial security.” The report documents ominous trends which have the

The financial crisis has had an effect on the present direction of capitalism. Since the profitrate on paper-bound markets and virtual assets

potential to drive up food prices up further and spell the end of small-scale farming. One trend is that countries which have a shortage of arable land, or with high population growths, are resorting to buying up or leasing

is dropping into a bottom-less pit, there is –

farmland abroad in order to secure necessary

according to Dawud Stewart Hurrell – a drive

food production. The report also points towards corporations and private investors

into land-wealth. And what is more promising

who are looking towards investing in foreign

for profiteers than control of agricultural land,

farmland as new sources in revenue in the

itself the source of the most basic needs?

midst of the financial crisis, as an alternative to meagre returns on the crumb ling paper asset model. The result is fertile agricultural

The rise in food prices correlated with energy

oil’ and ‘food shortages’ add fuel to the fire.

land becoming increasingly privatized and

price hikes since the beginning of the War on

Whether or not threats exist to the free-

concentrated in fewer hands, which could

Terror, has led to widespread speculation that

movement of these goods, the perception

“spell the end of small-scale farming and

the world is heading into a period marked by

that commodity supplies are vulnerable to

rural livelihoods” around the world.

conflict and competition between states for

disruption is leading to active state support

access to limited supplies of energy and food-

of initiatives aimed at securing access to these

Parallels have been drawn between local real-

stuffs. The misunderstood concepts of ‘peak

goods, with foreign policy implications.

estate owned by foreign governments or

GLOBALIA | Issue 05 | March 2009

GLOBAL

corporations and colonialism. However, the

governmental level which has resulted in

demand for the nation’s toys, textiles and

control of local territory by foreign entities

debt-to-GDP levels of 190 per cent in the US

electronics.” Economist Michael Pettis wrote,

today is sanctioned by the host government

today and similar levels in Europe. The

that “Korean exports contracted year-on-year

and is of a contractual nature with legal

Economist noted in 2002 that “on some esti-

in November by 18 per cent, and Taiwanese

provisions, which has led to the concept of

mates, by 2050, government debt could be

exports also contracted, by 23 per cent.”

‘neo-mercantilism’. For example, 15 Saudi

equivalent to almost 100 per cent of nation-

Arabian investors operating as the ‘Middle

al income in America, 150 per cent in the EU

It is with this financial downturn in mind,

East Foodstuff Consortium’ and headed by the

as a whole, and over 250 per cent in Germany

that the ‘neo-mercantilism’ being pursued by

BinLaden Group have been ‘tasked’ by the

and France”. The loss of purchasing power in

foreign governments should be viewed. The

Saudi Arabian government to deal with the

the US and the EU following the financial

decline in Asian exports is leading to lower

country’s long-term food supply problem

crisis originating in the US is having an

growth rates, which translates into less wealth

through overseas ventures. The group signed

adverse affect on Asian nations’ economies.

circulating amongst the masses and

an 4.3 billion US-Dollar agreement with

With Chinese exports contracting month-on-

increasing domestic discontent in the

Indonesia to develop 500,000 ha of rice land

month and factories on China’s ‘Golden Coast’

countries affected. UN World Food Programme

with the aim of producing Basmati for export

shutting down, the decline in US purchasing

Executive Director, Josette Sheeran told the

to Saudi Arabia.

power is causing economic problems for Asia’s

US Senate on Foreign Relations in May of last year: “News reports and images from

This convergence of commercial and governmental interests is not always the case, however, Morgan Stanley, the giant US

Parallels have been drawn between local

deadly riots in Haiti, triggering the collapse of the government, and in more than 30 nations throughout the globe are stark

investment bank recently purchased 40,000

real-estate owned by

reminders that food insecurity threatens not

ha of farmland in the Ukraine. A Russian

foreign governments or

only the hungry but peace and stability itself.

investment house, Renaissance Capital has

corporations and colo-

Some say there are only seven meals between

also acquired land in Ukraine, acquiring the rights to 300,000 ha of farmland in ‘the bread-

nialism. However, the

civilization and potential anarchy - at the seventh meal most people are reduced to

basket of Europe’. Russia in turn has seen

control of local territory

fending for their survival - and the survival

some 331,000 ha of its fertile land in the

by foreign entities today

of their children, fraying the very moorings

south bought by Black Earth Farming, a

is sanctioned by the

of society. Ensuring access to adequate,

Swedish investment group. The Grain report notes, “all of these land acquisitions are to produce grains, oils, meat and dairy for those

host government and is of a contractual nature

affordable food and nutrition is certainly one of the fundamental roles of government, and, indeed, of civilization itself.”

in the hungry world market [...] that is, for

with legal provisions,

those who can pay.”

and this has led to the

The need for governments to secure food

concept of ‘neo-mer-

supplies independent of the ‘global market-

This brings us to the crux of the matter; the failed policies of neo-liberal globalization.

cantilism.’

place’ is leading to efforts to acquire equity stakes in food production sources worldwide.

The privatization of government services and the outsourcing of manufacturing jobs to

“They see this as an innovative long-term

foreign nations has led to a situation where

export economies. Bloomburg online reported

strategy to feed their people at a good price

in people are seeing inflation rising without

that: “The government has already unveiled

and with far greater security that hitherto,”

any corresponding check on falling wages. The

a 4 trillion Yuan ($582 billion) stimulus

the report notes, adding that; Saudi Arabia,

maintenance of living standards has entailed

package and cut interest rates by the most

Japan, China, India, Korea, Libya and Egypt

extensive borrowing on a local and

in 11 years as the global recession cuts

all fall into this basket. High level officials

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PROVIDING A SUCCESSFUL MODEL THE EGYPTIAN SEKEM GROUP, FOUNDED 1977

Egypt based SEKEM Group is a unique

from pedagogies, to the arts, to economics

manufacturing products that meet customer

model of an organization which combines

from Islam.”

needs. SEKEM was the first entity to develop

commercial success with social develop-

biodynamic farming methods in Egypt. In

ment. This combination has led to its

In the beginning, the project faced

return, these methods improve the agro-

sustainability and growth over 30 years to

difficulties in trying to convince people of

biodiversity situation without producing

be Egypt’s market leader of organic

the consistency of its approach. The concept

any unusable wastes. All products from the

products and phyto-pharmaceuticals with

of environmental care was not appreciated

method can be either sold or re-used in

a growing international presence. Since its

at the time of its inception. Four years later,

cultivation, thus creating a sustainable

inception, SEKEM has flourished alongside

SEKEM sent the first shipment of medicinal

process.

the organic plants: first building an adult

herbs and food ingredients to the USA. In

training center, then a kindergarten and a

addition, skilled labor was scarce; all

In Recognition of its achievements, SEKEM

literacy programme.

training had to be undertaken as in-service

was awarded the ISO 9001certification in

training over a long period.

1997 and was selected “World Wide

The company was established by Dr. Ibrahim

Project” of the EXPO 2000. In 2004, SEKEM

Abouleish in 1977. His vision was linking

Dr. Abouleish, however, introduced a key

was chosen as the Social Entrepreneur of

healthy foods to development in a three-

solution to these obstacles through a

the Year for Egypt by the Schwab Foun-

fold project. Dr. Abouleish highlights the

’compressive development project’ on a

dation. Later, SEKEM became the first

consistency of the approach with Islam:

170-acre land of desert, 60 kilometers

economic institution to receive the

“All the aspects of the company, whether

outside Cairo. The two most important

Alternative Nobel Prize, also known as the

cultural or economic, have been developed

objectives of the Group are “curing the

Right Livelihood Award. (Dinar Standard)

out of Islam. We believe that it is possible

environment through the application of

to derive guiding principles for everything

biodynamic agricultural methods “and

GLOBALIA | Issue 05 | March 2009

Text By Sherin Deghedy

Image: Yaseer Booley (2008)

GLOBAL

from many of these nations have been on

120,000 hectares (296,000 acres), relying on

The head of the UN Food and Agriculture

the road since March 2008 in a diplomatic

a largely South African workforce. Production

Organisation, Jacques Diouf, has warned that

treasure hunt for fertile farmland in places like

would be mainly earmarked for South Korea,

the controversial rise in land deals could

Uganda, Brazil, Cambodia, Sudan and

which wants to lessen dependence on

create a form of ‘neo-colonialism’, with poor

Pakistan.”

imports.”

states producing food for the rich at the expense of their own hungry people.

This is the first aspect of this ‘neo-mercan-

The Gulf states – Bah-

tilism’, the second involves private investment

rain, Kuwait, Oman,

firms seeking high and secure returns on their investment; and what product is better guaranteed to sell than food?

The Grain report notes that since the financial crisis, “investment houses that manage workers pensions, private equity funds looking for a fast turnover, hedge funds driven off

Qatar, Saudi Arabia and

Countries and Companies China’s Ministry of Agriculture has reportedly drafted a central government policy on

the United Arab Emir-

outsourcing food production, placing food

ates face similar food

alongside minerals and energy in terms of

insecurity issues. For

strategic importance. The Grain report notes

them the problem lies in their inability to grow

that the Chinese government’s promotion of the so-called ‘Go Abroad’ outward investment strategy has led to no fewer than 30

the now collapsed derivatives market, grain

food due to the lack of

agricultural cooperation deals being signed

traders seeking new strategies for growth-are

sufficient water resour-

with willing countries, often with the added

turning to land, for both food and fuel

ces in the area.

benefit of Chinese “technologies, training

production, as a new source of profit.” Getting

and infrastructure development funds.” The

a return on a stable investment like land

process involves Chinese companies “leasing

involves raising the productive capacities of

“These deals can be purely commercial

or buying up land, setting up large farms,

the land, and with food and energy prices

ventures on one level, but sitting behind it is

flying in farmers, scientists and extension

high, the potential for great profits exists, not

often a food security imperative backed by a

workers” and then producing crops. “Most of

least in the production of bio-fuels. In many

government,” said Carl Atkin, a consultant at

China’s offshore farming is dedicated to the

cases, however, as the BinLaden Group deal

Bidwells Agribusiness, a Cambridge firm

cultivation of rice, soya beans and maize,

illustrates, private corporations are given the

helping to arrange some of the big

along with bio-fuel crops like sugar cane,

mandate to seek out lucrative deals on behalf

international land deals.

cassava or sorghum.”

of the government they represent. South Korea which recently acquired an enormous 1,200,000 ha of land in Madagascar, is represented by Daewoo Logistics, a shipping and natural resource development company from Korea.

London’s Guardian Newspaper recently reported that, “Rising food prices have already set off a second ‘scramble for Africa’. This week, the South Korean firm Daewoo Logistics announced plans to buy a 99-year lease on a million hectares in Madagascar. Its aim is to grow 5m tonnes of corn a year by 2023, and produce palm oil from a further lease of

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The Gulf states – Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman,

production. This drive towards securing food

Investment Opportunities

Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab

production in foreign countries was addressed

“The single best recession hedge of the next

Emirates face similar food insecurity issues.

by the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) where

10 or 15 years is an investment in farmland,”

For them the problem lies in their inability to

the idea of “a collective strategy of out-

wrote Reza Vishkai in Insight Investment,

grow food due to the lack of sufficient water

sourcing food production” was formulated,

(July 2008)

resources in the area.

namely with neighbouring Muslim countries such as Pakistan and Sudan, where the UAE

Investors are usually considering two things

These states have compensated for this in

and Saudi Arabia collectively own around

when looking for a place to put their money;

the past through the importing of food, made

1,400,000 ha of land. Countries in South-east

returns and security. With the massive losses

possible by their petrodollar wealth, which has

Asia, Turkey, Kazakhstan, Cambodia, the

in the financial market, it is becoming clear

been dubbed ‘virtual water’.

Philippines, Uganda, Ukraine, Georgia and

that speculative bubbles are unsustainable

Brazil are also being ‘targeted.’

and are bound to burst. And this is where

The report indicates that

investing in tangible assets such as farmland

“governments have lost

An important aspect of these economic

becomes

faith” in markets and

relationships lies in the effects it has on the

BlackRock Inc, “one of the world’s largest

politics of the countries involved, for example,

money managers with nearly 1,5 trillion US-

that “local communities

attractive.

New York-based

the UAE now has an interest in the political

Dollars on its books, has just set up a massive

will inevitably lose access

stability of Pakistan to protect and guarantee

200 million US-Dollar agricultural hedge

to land for local food

the efficiency of its investments. Deeper

fund.”

production,” and con-

economic integration might well translate

cludes by asking the

into stronger political relationships.

The returns on these investments are positive and depending on the political climate of the

question: “What hap-

South Korea and Japan, which both import

countries concerned, of a low-risk nature.

pens over the long term

around 60 per cent of their foodstuffs, are big

Expected returns on investment in European

when you grant control

players in this ‘scramble for land’. South Korea,

agricultural production lies between 10-40

over your country’s

which ‘owns’ 2.300.000 ha of land, more

per cent over a ten year period, while return

than any other country, announced in early

on African investments could be as high as

2008 that it was “formulating a national plan

400 per cent over the same period, the report

to facilitate land acquisitions abroad for

notes. This move towards ‘harvesting money’

Korean food production, with the private

has suddenly gained momentum during what

sector anointed as the main player.” Korean

is being termed the ‘present financial crisis’,

The report cites the rise in food imports from

companies are even buying up land in

and as mentioned before, the significance

8 billion US-Dollars to 20 billion US-Dollars

Mongolia and eastern Russia to facilitate this

lies in investing in tangible assets connected

in the last five years.

goal.

to crucial commodities.

Saudi Arabia decided recently that “given

Japanese corporations are not allowed to

The report indicates that “governments have

impending water shortages, it would make

own farmland in Japan, which protects family

lost faith” in markets and that “local

sense to stop producing wheat, their main

farms. On the other hand, most food imports

communities will inevitably lose access to

food item, by 2016” and instead opt for food

into Japan are handled by private corpora-

land for local food production,” and concludes

production in foreign countries, on land that

tions. Japanese firms already own 12,000,000

by asking the question: “What happens over

was under Saudi control. Saudi Arabia now

ha of farmland around the world, much of it

the long term when you grant control over

controls approximately 1,600,000 ha of land

in China, while land ‘run’ by the government

your country’s farmland to foreign nations

in Indonesia which it utilizes for crop

totals around 325,000 ha.

and investors?”

farmland to foreign nations and investors?”

GLOBALIA | Issue 05 | March 2009

GLOBAL

34

35

GLOBAL

anywhere on the Internet, but alongside the

ALTERNATIVE UN?

numerous politicians they had of course

NATO AND ITS GLOBAL AMBITIONS

invited major lobbyists from the European arms industry. Peace activist and NATO critic Thomas Mohr, tolerated at the conference for

The Cold War is over. NATO’s new enemies are

the first time, noted “that the two, three-

employing asymmetrical tactics globally and

course meals, to which I was invited, were

threatening the supply routes of the industrialised

sponsored by two arms companies, EADS and Krauss-Maffei.”

world. But can NATO interfere in the sovereignty of individual, strategically important nations?

When the conference got down to business, the real future of NATO remained blurry.

Behind the scenes, political advisors are still

NATO is the most powerful military alliance

costly missions have to be paid for by tax-

wavering between a range of possibilities. To

in the world, and, since no-one can take

payers. The best guarantee of disarmament

some, NATO is out of date and a child of the

NATO to court, it has long been its own

could, in the end, be sheer lack of money,

Cold War, to others it should, in the long-

judge and jury above every existing law. But

although for the time being, the arms industry

term, assume global tasks as an “alliance of

since the fall of communism NATO has been

remains a major factor in the economy.

democracies”, and in so doing overcome the

faced with new questions: now what is the

tiresome stalemate in the UNO Security

actual purpose and meaning of the

The European arms industry, therefore, has at

Council. The latter would mean nothing short

organisation? This and other issues were up

least an indirect interest in new NATO “peace

of the establishment of an alternative to the

for discussion at the annual “Security

missions”. France’s President Nicolas Sarkozy

UNO, and thus a direct declaration of war

Conference” in Munich.

summed it up nicely at the Munich

against the existing role of the UN. Whatever

conference: “We need more arms and more

the case, NATO is keen to define a new

There has been talk of the defence alliance

money for defence, even if the population

foundation from which to legitimise its global

needing new aims and tasks for almost a

doesn't see it that way.”

ambitions.

There was no official guest list to be found

Of course, a globalised NATO which goes “out

decade. The financial crisis is also affecting the alliance’s coming strategic options, since

US vice-president Biden (left) and French president Sarkozy (right) at the Munich conference.

GLOBALIA | Issue 05 | March 2009

GLOBAL

of area” will be suspected of trying to secure

– “neo-conservatism with a human face” –

access to the world’s energy resources. This

of a handful of industrial states.

geopolitical aim has a long tradition – at least in the USA. The USA’s strategy in the Middle

Through all of this, the word “security” has

East has been defined for three decades by

acquired a dominant, almost magical

what is termed the ‘Carter Doctrine’. In

meaning in domestic and foreign policy.

The situation in the Hindu Kush could quickly

January 1980, President Jimmy Carter made

What is certain is that both versions of the

become one of a key issue for the new NATO.

the following statement: “Let our position be

new security doctrine will bring losses of

Canada’s Prime Minister Stephan Harper

absolutely clear: An attempt by any outside

freedom. The real meaning of “security” as

commenting on the menacing contradictions

force to gain control of the Persian Gulf region

a geopolitical objective is intentionally left

recently; said he expects neither democracy

[and thereby endanger oil transport] will be

open and relatively undefined in NATO

in Afghanistan nor military success: “NATO

regarded as an assault on the vital interests

circles. American Vice President Biden links

cannot win against the Taliban.”

of the United States of America, and such

“physical

an assault will be repelled by any means

security”. Therefore in Biden’s view, free

At the same time public opinion threatens to

necessary, including military force.”

access to the world’s energy resources is

tip the scales. Acceptance of the military

also a matter of security.

campaign is declining rapidly because of the

security”

with

“economic

high number of civilian casualties. But then

What connects the Carter Doctrine and the current President Barack Obama? Carter’s

In this respect the new NATO theory seeks a

again, in spite of the increased number of

security advisor, who basically formulated the

way of legitimising the obvious limits it impos-

troops, some kind of change in strategy is

doctrine back then, was Zbigniew Brzezinski,

es on the sovereignty of states that own cru-

supposed to be imminent. More civic projects

and this Brzezinski is today one of Obama’s

cial energy reserves. The alliance is increas-

are to be launched to increase the popularity

most influential advisors; during the election

ingly concerned with the securing of trans-

of the Allies, and democratic institutions are

campaign he was the main authority for his

port routes and pipelines as well.

to follow later, once the population has been educated. The latest opinion polls, however,

position on foreign policy.

The role of Western military policy in

show that the majority of the population

In the end, the idea of a global NATO

Afghanistan and Iraq will of course go a long

want neither Taliban nor occupying forces in

demonstrates continuity in American foreign

way towards defining the future relationship

their country.

policy thinking. In the USA, Republican John

between the West and the Islamic world.

McCain canvassed for a new league of

People are hoping that the new American

The first casualty of the policy of “change”

democracies, and advisors of the new

administration will pursue new diplomatic

and a results-based understanding of

president have also long been arguing for a

initiatives, instead of giving the US army free

democracy could be Afghanistan’s President

new global role for NATO. In the medium

reign.

Karzai. At the conference, Karzai brought up the high number of civilian casualties. He

term a kind of “NATO common law” could well displace the old international law which

A clear strategy has not yet emerged. The

also intimated that he could build up his

is bound up with the UN.

Afghan strategy remains a mixture of “War

army with Russian help. This statement

On Terror” objectives with the interests of the

alarmed the USA, which is eyeing Russia and

According to the Princeton Project, a work-

arms companies involved, and mundane

China’s heightened military engagement in

group led by the new Obama advisor Anthony

geopolitical interests. The fact that Russia

Central Asia with suspicion. The Shanghai

Lake, the new democratic alliance should also

and China are not included in the task

Cooperation Organization (SCO) is already

be able to decide – over the head of the UN –

demonstrates that the USA is not concerned

one powerful alliance standing against the

on the legitimacy of military missions. Critics

only with peace in the region, but also with

interests of NATO in the region.

already consider NATO a “club of the rich”,

its own dominance of this important Central

engaged in securing the geopolitical interests

Asian country.

Text By Abu Bakr Rieger

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AFRICA

Text By F. William Engdahl

Training African soldiers within the framework of America’s AFRICOM.

Ocean. The legitimate question is whether it

THE SILENT CONFLICT

is mere coincidence that Africa is emerging

AFRICOM, CHINA AND CONGO RESOURCE WARS

as a new geopolitical ‘hot spot’ or whether it has a direct link to the formal creation of AFRICOM.

The scavenging for resources in the region now known as the Democatic Republic of Congo and its neighbours like Rwanda and Burundi is a long

What is striking is the timing. No sooner had AFRICOM become operational than major new crises broke out in both the Indian Ocean-

and bloody process. It was portrayed by the

Gulf of Aden involving spectacular incidents

english novelist Joseph Conrad in his famous

of alleged Somali piracy, as well as the

“Heart of Darkness.” Several wars which have

eruption of bloody new wars in Kivu Province in the Republic of Congo. The common thread

barely been noticed by a wider public, more

connecting both is their importance, as with

obsessed by the Middle East, are being waged for

Darfur in southern Sudan, for China’s future

the resources of this region.

strategic raw materials flow.

The latest fighting in the eastern part of the

Just weeks after President George W. Bush

the son of a black Kenyan to focus US

Congo (DRC) broke out in late August when

signed the Order creating a new US military

resources, military and other, on dealing with

Tutsi militiamen belonging to the Congrès

command dedicated to Africa, AFRICOM,

the Republic of Congo, the oil-rich Gulf of

National pour la Défense du Peuple (CNDP,

events on the mineral-rich continent have

Guinea, the oil-rich Darfur region of southern

National Congress for the Defense of the

erupted which suggest a major agenda of

Sudan and increasingly the Somali ‘pirate

People) of General Laurent Nkunda forced

the incoming Obama Presidency will be for

threat’ to sea lanes in the Red Sea and Indian

loyalist troops of the Forces armées de la

GLOBALIA | Issue 05 | March 2009

AFRICA

République démocratique du Congo (FARDC,

gobernment in Washington is clearly not

The USA role and AFRICOM

Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of

happy about.

Evidence which was presented in a French

Congo) to retreat from their positions near

court in a ruling made public in 2006 claimed

Lake Kivu, sending hundreds of thousands of

Nkunda is a long-standing henchman of

that Kagame was responsible for organizing

displaced civilians fleeing in the process and

Rwandan President and US-trained, Kagame.

the shooting down of a plane carrying the

prompting the French foreign minister, Dr.

All signs point to a heavy, if covert, USA role

Hutu President of Rwanda, Juvénal Habyar-

Bernard Kouchner, to warn of the imminent

in the latest Congo killings by Nkunda’s men.

imana, in April 1994, the event that set off

risk of ‘huge massacres.’

Nkunda himself is a former Congolese Army

the indiscriminate killing of hundreds of

officer, teacher and Seventh Day Adventist

thousands of people both Hutu and Tutsi.

Nkunda, like

his

mentor, Rwanda’s

Washington-backed dictator, Paul Kagame, is

pastor. But killing seems to be what he is best at.

an ethnic Tutsi who alleges that he is

The end result of the gruesome killings, in which perhaps as many as a million Africans

protecting the minority Tutsi ethnic group

Much of Nkunda’s well-equipped and

perished was that US- and UK-backed Paul

against remnants of the Rwandan Hutu army

relatively disciplined forces are from the

Kagame – trained at the US Army Command-

that fled to Congo after the Rwandan

bordering country of Rwanda and the rest

General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth

genocide in 1994. MONUC UN peacekeepers

have been recruited from the minority Tutsi

Kansas – was firmly in control as dictator of

reported no such atrocities against the

population of the Congolese province of North

Rwanda. Since then he has covertly backed

minority Tutsi in the northeast, mineral rich

Kivu. Supplies, finance and political support

repeated military incursions by General

Kivu region. Congolese sources report that

for this Congolese rebel army come from

Nkunda into the mineral-rich Kivu region on

attacks against Congolese of all ethnic groups

Rwanda. According to the American Spectator

the pretext it was to defend a small Tutsi

are a daily occurrence in the region. Laurent

magazine, “President Paul Kagame of Rwanda

minority there. Kagame had repeatedly

Nkunda’s troops are responsible for most of

has long been a supporter of Nkunda, who

rejected attempts to repatriate those Tutsi

these attacks, they claim.

was an intelligence officer during the Rwanda

refugees back to Rwanda, evidently fearing

leader’s overthrow of the despotic Hutu rule

he might lose his pretext to occupy the mineral

in his country.”

riches of Kivu.

was set in September when the Democratic

As the Congo News Agency reported on Octo-

Since as early as 2001, according to reports

Republic of Congo’s 83-year-old Prime

ber 30, “Some have bought the pretext of an

from Congo sources, the US military has also

Minister, Antoine Gizenga, resigned after two

endangered Tutsi minority in Congo. They

had a base at Cyangugu in Rwanda, built of

years. Then, at end of October, with quite a

never fail to mention that Laurent Nkunda is

course by Dick Cheney’s old firm, Halliburton,

dubious timing, the commander of the United

supposedly fighting to protect ‘his people.’

conveniently near to the border of Congo’s

Nations peacekeeping operation, the Mission

They have failed to question his true motives

mineral-rich Kivu region.

de l’Organisation des Nations-Unies au Congo

which are to occupy the mineral-rich North-

(MONUC, Mission of the United Nations

Kivu province, pillage its resources, and act

The 1994 massacre of Tutsi and Hutu civilians

Organization in the Congo), the Spanish

as a proxy army in eastern Congo for the

was, as Canadian researcher, Michel

Lieutenant General Vicente Diaz de Villegas,

Tutsi-led Rwandan government in Kigali.

Chossudovsky described it, “an undeclared

resigned after less than two months on the

Kagame wants a foothold in eastern Congo

war between France and America. By

job, citing, ‘lack of confidence’ in the

so his country can continue to benefit from

supporting the build up of Ugandan and

leadership of DRC President Joseph Kabila.

the pillaging and exporting of minerals such

Rwandan forces and by directly intervening

Kabila, the Congo’s first democratically elected

as coltan. Many experts on the region agree

in the Congolese civil war, Washington also

President, was involved in negotiating a major

today that resources are the true reason why

bears a direct responsibility for the ethnic

9 billion US-Dollars trade agreement between

Laurent Nkunda continues to create chaos in

massacres committed in the Eastern Congo

the DRC and China, something which the US-

the region with the help of Paul Kagame.”

including several hundred thousand people

Strange resignations The stage for further political chaos in Congo

38

39

AFRICA

who died in refugee camps.” He adds, “Major

or ‘coltan’ – a primary component of computer

the entire population in abysmal poverty. They

General Paul Kagame was an instrument of

microchips and printed circuit boards,

precluded from the outset a meaningful,

Washington. The loss of African lives did not

essential for mobile telephones, laptops and

post-war economic reconstruction, thereby

matter. The civil war in Rwanda and the ethnic

other modern electronic devices.

contributing to fuelling the continuation of the

massacres were an integral part of US foreign

Congolese civil war in which close to 2 million

policy, carefully staged in accordance with

America Minerals Fields, Inc., a company

precise strategic and economic objectives.”

heavily involved in promoting the 1996

people have died.

accession to power of Laurent Kabila, was,

Laurent Kabila was succeeded by his son,

Now Kagame’s former intelligence officer,

at the time of its involvement in the Congo’s

Joseph Kabila who went on to become the

Nkunda, has leads his well-equipped forces

civil war, headquartered in Hope, Arkansas.

Congo’s

towards Goma in the eastern Congo as part

Major stockholders included long-time

President, and appears to have kept a closer

of an apparent scheme to break the richest

associates of former President Clinton from

eye to the welfare of his countrymen than

minerals region away from Kinshasha. With

his days as Governor of Arkansas.

did his father.

Africa under AFRICOM since 2007, the stage

Several months before the downfall of Zaire’s

At this point, in comes the new US AFRICOM.

is apparently set for the latest round of

French-backed dictator, Mobutu, Laurent

Speaking to the International Peace

resources grabing.

Desiré Kabila, based in Goma, Eastern Zaire,

Operations Association in Washington, D.C.

had renegotiated the mining contracts with

on Oct. 27, General Kip Ward, Commander of

Today the target is China

several US and British mining companies

AFRICOM, defined the command’s mission

If France was the covert target of US ’surrogate

including American Mineral Fields. Mobutu’s

as, “in concert with other US government

warfare’ in 1994, today it is clearly China,

corrupt rule was brought to a bloody end

agencies and international partners, [to

which is the real threat to US control of

with the help of the US-directed International

conduct] sustained security engagements

Central Africa’s vast mineral riches. The

Monetary Fund.

through

first

democratically

elected

the US military beefing up its presence across

Republic of Zaire was renamed Democratic

military-to-military

programs,

military-sponsored activities, and other

Republic of Congo in 1997 when the forces

Washington was not entirely comfortable

military operations as directed to promote a

of Laurent Désiré Kabila brought Mobutu’s 32

with Laurent Kabila, who was finally

stable and secure African environment in

year reign to an end. Locals call the country

assassinated in 2001. In a study released in

support of US foreign policy.”

Congo-Kinshasa.

April 1997 barely a month before President Mobutu fled the country, the IMF had

The “military operations as directed to

The Kivu region of the Congo is the geological

recommended “halting currency issue

promote a stable and secure African

repository of some of the world’s greatest

completely and abruptly” as part of an

environment in support of US foreign policy,”

strategic minerals. The eastern border

economic recovery programme. A few months

are today, clearly aimed at blocking China’s

straddling Rwanda and Uganda, runs on the

later upon assuming power in Kinshasa, the

growing economic presence in the region.

eastern edge of the Great African Rift Valley,

new government of Laurent Kabila was

believed by geologists to be one of the richest

ordered by the IMF to freeze civil service

In fact, as various Washington sources state

repositories of minerals on the face of the

wages with a view to “restoring macro-

openly, AFRICOM was created to counter the

earth.

economic stability.” Eroded by hyperinflation,

growing presence of China in Africa, not least

the average public sector wage had fallen to

the DRC, to secure long-term economic

The Democratic Republic of the Congo

30,000 new Zaires (NZ) a month, the

agreements for raw materials from Africa in

contains more than half the world’s cobalt.

equivalent of one US dollar.

exchange for Chinese aid and production-

It holds one third of its diamonds, and,

sharing agreements and royalties. By all

extremely significantly, fully three-quarters

According to Chossudovsky, the IMF’s

accounts, the Chinese have been far shrewder.

of the world’s resources of columbite-tantalite

demands were tantamount to maintaining

Instead of offering only savage, IMF-dictated,

GLOBALIA | Issue 05 | March 2009

AFRICA

austerity and economic chaos, China is offering large credits and soft loans to build roads and schools in order to create good will.

Dr. J. Peter Pham, a leading Washington insider who is an advisor to the US State and Defence Departments, states openly that among the aims of the new AFRICOM, is the objective of “protecting access to hydrocarbons and other strategic resources which Africa has in abundance [...] a task which includes ensuring against the vulnerability of those natural riches and ensuring that no other interested third parties, such as China, India, Japan, or Russia, obtain monopolies or preferential treatment.”

In testimony before the US Congress supported creation of AFRICOM in 2007, Pham, who is closely associated with the neoconservative Foundation for Defence of Democracies, stated: “This natural wealth makes Africa an inviting target for the attentions of the People’s Republic of China, whose dynamic economy, averaging 9 percent growth per annum over the last two decades, has an almost insatiable thirst for oil as well as a need for other natural resources to sustain it.

China is currently importing approximately 2.6 million barrels of crude per day, about half of its consumption; more than 765,000 of those barrels – roughly a third of its imports – come from African sources, especially Sudan, Angola, and Congo (Brazzaville). Is it any wonder, then, that […] perhaps no other foreign region rivals Africa as the object of Beijing’s sustained strategic interest in recent years. Last year the Chinese regime published the first ever official white paper elaborating the basis of its policy toward Africa.

40

41

AFRICA

Last year, ahead of his twelve-day, eight-

oil-rich western coastline – will increasingly

construction, two hydroelectric dams,

nation tour of Africa – the third such journey

becoming a theatre for strategic competition

hospitals, schools and railway links to

since he took office in 2003 – Chinese Presi-

between the United States and its only real

southern Africa, also to Katanga and to the

dent Hu Jintao announced a three-year, 3 bil-

near-peer competitor on the global stage,

Congo Atlantic port at Matadi. The other 3

lion US-Dollars program in preferential loans

China, as both countries seek to expand their

billion US-Dollars is to be invested by China

and expanded aid for Africa. These funds come

influence and secure access to resources.”

in development of new mining areas.

and 2 billion US-Dollars in export credits that

In late October Nkunda’s well-armed troops

Curiously, US and European media neglected

Hu announced in October 2006 at the opening

surrounded Goma in North Kivu and

to report that small detail. It seems AFRICOM

of the historic Beijing summit of the Forum

demanded that Congo President Joseph

is off to a strong start as the opponent to

on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) which

Kabila negotiate with him. Among Nkunda’s

China in Africa. The litmus test will be to see

brought nearly fifty African heads of state

demands was that Kabila cancel the 9 billion

who President Obama selects as his Africa

and ministers to the Chinese capital.

US-Dollars joint Congo-China venture in which

person and whether he tries to weaken Congo

China gets rights to the vast copper and cobalt

President Joseph Kabila in favour of backing

Intentionally or not, many analysts expect

resources of the region in exchange for

Nkunda’s death squads – naturally in the

that Africa – especially the states along its

providing 6 billion US-Dollars worth of road

name of ‘restoring democracy.’.

on top of the 3 billion US-Dollars in loans

The mineral coltan – used in modern telecommunications – is one of the elements fuelling the ongoing wars in Africa.

GLOBALIA | Issue 05 | March 2009

AFRICA

GENOCIDE AND HIDDEN CONFLICTS AFRICA’S FORGOTTEN WARS SHAME THE MEDIA

After three weeks of violence and a shock-

22 days when a thousand cameras focused

cared. It was a story for a few days, not more

ing numbers of casualties, the world was

on the Israel-Gaza border, human tragedies

than that.”

holding its breath, hoping that the cease-

were unfolding on another continent. Many

fire between Israel and Hamas held.

thousands were killed in the Democratic

Genocide in Africa rarely makes breaking-

However, the casualties pale in comparison

Republic of Congo as rebel fighting

news headlines. Many agree that the

to the numbers killed in Africa’s many wars

continued. In Darfur, 3,461 people died in

decision from where to report and what to

– many of which go unreported.

the same time; while in Zimbabwe, 1,500

report has nothing to do with the journalists

alone died from cholera. However, very few

but about money and politics. “Nobody

cameras were recording these tragedies.

wants to touch Africa. People just want to

The UN Secretary-General had travelled to Gaza beore Israel completed the pull-out

make money in Africa, that’s it. No country

of its troops. Ban Ki-Moon was the high-

Yossi Meuller, an NBC producer, has covered

wants to be there. France ran away, Italy

est-ranking visitor to the region when 22

news around the world. He has filmed

ran away, everybody ran away from Africa,”

days of fighting ended with separately

Palestinian intifadas, the Yugoslavian civil

said Meuller.

declared ceasefires by Israel and Hamas.

war and has spent a few weeks in Africa.

He says that Africa remains of little interest.

After the conflict in Gaza, the world’s cam-

Leaving with the soldiers was an army of

“Most of the time it was really a small

eras were all turned on Washington to

journalists – about 1,500 had been report-

story. Somalia was a story just because

record, for the first time in history, a black

ing on Israel’s war, mostly from the same

there was starvation and the interests of

man become the leader of a superpower.

spot on the Israeli-Gaza border. The ques-

the USA were at stake. Nobody cares about

It remains to be seen whether Barack

tion is: where would they be heading next?

what happens there,” he said. “In Rwanda,

Obama’s policies can alter the media’s

we arrived after 30,000 or 60,000 people

agenda - turning cameras onto Africa and

were killed. And we didn’t care, nobody

keeping them there. (Russia Today)

Not to Africa, for sure. Although in the same

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43

ASIA

GLOBALIA | Issue 05 | March 2009

ASIA

Sherzai. Analysts think that the White House

“STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP” KARZAI SCARES OBAMA, WITH RUSSIA

will withdraw support for Karzai because it blames him for the drug-based economy, corruption, and embezzlement of donors’ funds.

It is likely that the re-organisation of American

In principle, Karzai’s plan is correct. At one

strategy in Afghanistan will come too late.

time, the Soviet-trained Afghan army was

According to a poll, conducted by international news channels, the Afghans are losing any remaining confidence in the present course of

considered one of the most powerful in the region. It was also well-armed in comparison to other regional forces.

However, little has been achieved in recent

affairs. People are frustrated by the consistently

years. From 2002 to 2005, Russia rendered the

bad security. More than a half of all Afghans

Afghan army 200 million US-Dollar in aid,

want the foreign troops to leave their country.

but this cooperation was later curtailed.

Neither the United States nor NATO as a

58 per cent view the Taliban as the “biggest

whole has made much progress in building

threat”. Just four per cent favour their return.

an Afghan army during the last seven years.

There is no aviation or heavy armament, and the army itself is far from ready to guarantee

Russia may become a major factor in the

has declared “strategic partnership” with the

presidential ambitions of the leading Afghan

United States and the rest of the democratic

politicians during the country’s presidential

world, whereas Russia has been allotted a

In Afghanistan, the army has been tradi-

elections next summer. Speaking to the

modest place among regional countries, after

tionally allotted a leading role in politics, and

graduates of the Kabul Military Academy,

India and China.

a stake in the army has always been failsafe,

domestic stability.

which is why Karzai has appealed to Russia

Afghan President Hamid Karzai said that if Americans did not speed up the imple-

This intrigue is easy to understand. New U.S.

for aid. Whether this will help him during the

mentation of the program to supply armed

President Barack Obama has declared

election or not is another matter. (RIAN)

forces, this task would be carried out by

Afghanistan to be the main U.S. counter-

other countries. Last week, the press service

terrorist front, and is bent on doubling U.S.

of the Afghan President published Dmitry

troops from 30,000 to 60,000. Moreover, he

Medvedev’s reply to Karzai. The Russian

intends to streamline the Afghan political

President expressed readiness to help the

elite.

Text By Pyotr Goncharov

Afghan armed forces. An Afghan delegation consisting of high-level civil and military

While Karzai was scaring the West with “other

officials will visit Moscow in the near future.

countries” in the above-mentioned speech,

Expansion of bilateral military-technical

Obama was holding talks with influential

cooperation will be the main subject of the

Afghan leaders and potential hopefuls at the

talks.

forthcoming presidential elections, including ex-Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah,

What has compelled Karzai to turn to Russia,

ex-Interior Minister Ali Ahmad Jalali, former

a country he did not much care for until

Finance Minister Ashraf Ghani, and current

recently? In its foreign policy concept, Kabul

Nangarhar Province Governor Agha Gul

44

45

EUROPE

divided northern city, people say the past year

ONE YEAR AFTER

has not brought positive change to their lives.

KOSOVO: CELEBRATING LIMITED INDEPENDENCE

Most Kosovars would perhaps have liked to have celebrated the country’s first anniversary, but many feel little cause for festivities.

Although Kosovo is now a partially independent country

Ramadan Fejza, an Albanian from Mitrovica,

with an absolute majority of Muslim citizens, Arab

drives a blue ‘Nori’ cab for eight hours a day,

states are still hesitating to recognise the new nation.

month. In his family of four he is the only one

There are many problems, especially Kosovo’s economic crisis and rampant organised crime, both part of the sobering legacy of recent years.

for which he earns about 90 to 100 euros a bringing any money home, and he finds it hard to think of any positive developments in Kosovo’s northern city since the declaration of independence. “There are just a few more new buildings around,” he says.

On 17 February 2009, Kosovo Albanians held

called the first anniversary of Kosovo’s

In the Serb-run north it is much the same. As

events to mark the first year of their unilateral

independence, “the anniversary of an illegal

one local cab driver said, there are more new

declaration of independence from Serbia. The

act,” words echoed by the Serbian minister

buildings around, especially in Bosnjacka

main ceremony took place in the Republic’s

for Kosovo, Goran Bogdanovic, who re-

Mahala (Bosnian District), one of a few multi-

parliament in Pristina and was attended

affirmed Belgrade’s position that Kosovo is

ethnic neighbourhoods in the north, where

by Kosovan President Fatmir Sejdiu and

an “indivisible part of Serbia.”

Belgrade’s government is financing the

Prime Minister Hashim Thaci. Parades and

erection of new apartments for Serbs – acts

processions also moved through the capital,

The republic may have rejoiced on 17

and other cities. “We have waited for this

February 2009, but unemployment is around

day for a very long time,” Thaci told a packed

40 per cent and although there have been

The Albanian mayor, Bajram Rexhepi, says he

parliament at the start of an emergency

no major outbreaks of violence, tensions

never expected rapid change, but he hoped

session a year ago to the day. Shortly

remain high in and around Kosovo’s ethnic

the rule of law would be seen to prevail more

afterwards, after the declaration of inde-

Serbian enclaves. Two bombs exploded and

than it had done in the north.

pendence had been approved unanimously

injured six people in early January in

by a show of hands, Kosovo Albanians took

Kosovska-Mitrovica, the last divided city in

to the streets to celebrate what the world’s

Europe and the largest Serbian enclave in

media was soon calling “the world’s newest

Kosovo. NATO troops and the recently

state”. Serbia and its ally Russia reacted

deployed European Union police (EULEX)

angrily to the declaration, with Belgrade

have since increased their presence and

stating that “Kosovo will forever remain a part

patrols in the area. A year on from its

of Serbia.” Moscow immediately called for

unilateral declaration, Kosovo has been

emergency UN Security Council consultations

recognised by most Western states. Yet

on the issue.

globally, only 54 countries have acknowledged its independence.

Tension at the time of inception crowds attacking and setting fire to the US

Divided Mitrovica – symbol of the new freedom?

embassy. The Serbian President Tadic recently

On both sides of the ethnic border in this

The declaration saw riots in Belgrade, with

GLOBALIA | Issue 05 | March 2009

Pristina views as illegal.

The city of Prizren.

EUROPE

Unfortunately, he says, things have moved

Nedzad Ugljanin, an inhabitant of Bosnjacka

about reason for delay on the side of the

slowly, possibly because of the delayed

Mahala and a member of the Bosniak Party

Arab member states of the OIC to officially

reconfiguration of Kosovo’s former UN

of Democratic Action in Kosovo, commenting

recognise an independent Kosovo, is their

administration, UNMIK. On the municipal

on how little the town has changed makes

own internal politics. Many of those who

level, says Rexhepi, there have been improve-

him very frustrated; “It’s getting even worse,”

sided in the past with the Yugoslavian regime

ments in infrastructure. Central government

he maintains, with obvious frustration. “We

in Belgrade have multi-ethnic situations in

has donated more than 10 million euros for

don’t experience the independence, or the

their own territories, and are therefore afraid

upgrading roads in Mitrovica. The municipality

constitution. And Bosnjacka Mahala is like

of the precedent set by Kosovan indepen-

is also trying to solve its water supply problem

an Indian reservation.” He explains how

dence. This reluctance has been noticed by

and rebuild the houses destroyed during the

many Albanians and even some Bosniak fam-

many Muslims, not just inside Kosovo but in

1999 conflict.

ilies have sold their homes and moved south,

South Eastern Europe generally.

though he himself plans to stay together with People in Mitrovica, like people throughout

other Bosniaks no matter what. Maja Ficovic,

Kosovo, are also facing the same old problems

a Serbian journalist living just outside of

Were Russia’s warnings proven by events?

of joblessness and poverty which they

Mitrovica, believes both Albanians and

On the Friday before Kosovo made the split

struggled with before independence. Mayor

Serbians in Kosovo are essentially pawns in

from Serbia official, Russia’s Foreign Ministry

Rexhepi used to meet local citizens in his

the hands of others. “This is all a game for

said that any declaration of independence

office every other Monday. He stopped this,

the great leaders and this generation is paying

would be “taken into account in [Russia’s]

he says, because 97 per cent of the visitors

for it,” she states.

relations with Abkhazia and South Ossetia,”

only came to ask for a job or a place to live.

both of which split from Georgia in bloody

“I saw this as very counter-productive because

A reluctant Muslim world

post-Soviet conflicts and whose residents

I wasn’t able to help those people,” Rexhepi

While Islam is by far the dominant faith

have enjoyed Russian citizenship for many

says. “I am not the kind of person to try to

among Kosovo Albanians, only one Arab state,

years. The Russian Federation subsequently

please people when I know I can’t.”

the United Arab Emirates, has so far

stepped up support for the two republics,

recognised Pristina. “Kosovo will only be

and recognised both South Ossetia and

Valdete Idrizi, an Albanian from Mitrovica

recognized by the Arab world in the event of

Abkhazia as independent states two weeks

and director of Community Building Mitrovica,

a fundamental change in the nature of US

after the end of a five-day war last August

a local NGO, spends a lot of her time talking

foreign policy,” Vyacheslav Matuzov, the

that began when Georgian forces attacked

to Albanians and Serbians and as well as

President of the Russian Society for Friendship

South Ossetia in a bid to bring it back under

visiting ethnic enclaves, to find out what those

and Business Cooperation with Palestine, told

central control.

people need. She too has seen few signs of

RIA Novosti on 17 February 2009.

change since the declaration of independ-

Kosovo has refused to recognise Abkhazia

ence. “Albanian people were in a dream,”

“Leading political analysts in the Arab world

and South Ossetia, saying it is on the side of

Idrizi claims. “We were brought up on the idea

saw the event as an attempt by pro-NATO

“the leading world powers” on the issue.

of being independent, but since then noth-

forces to strengthen NATO’s position to the

Russia has said that its decision to recognise

ing has changed in our lives and nothing has

detriment of the Russian Federation. They

the two republics has no parallels with the

changed in Mitrovica either. Everyone is to

consider this to be an American-Russian

West’s recognition of Kosovo. “Drawing

blame: the international community, EULEX

confrontation, rather than an attempt by

parallels is irrelevant here, and the difference

– which is still not in the north – and our

Orthodox Christians in Serbia [...] to prevent

is evident between Belgrade’s policy towards

leaders for not having a plan for Mitrovica.

the creation of a new Islamic state in Europe,”

Kosovo and how Saakashvili’s regime

People are very tired of all this and this is why

he added.

behaved towards South Ossetia and

we have to use this momentum and do something,” she says.

Abkhazia,” Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov Another fairly obvious, yet seldom talked-

said last August. (gm/RIAN/BIRN)

46

47

TURKEY

telling Ignatius: “You gave him 23 minutes

THE END OF AN ALLIANCE?

and only 13 to me”and stormed out.

ANALYSIS OF TURKISH-ISRAELI RELATIONS In a reported telephone call to Erdogan after the incident, Peres praised longstanding

Turkey and Israel once considered building a

Turkish-Israel ties, and expressed the hope

pipeline or a tanker route to ship fresh water from

they would continue unhindered. But for the

Turkey to Israel, but the project was found too

time being, and for some time to come, gone are any major joint Israeli-Turkish projects in

costly. From his second term of office as prime

many fields, certainly the military one. “There

minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey has been

is a storm, but it will blow over,” said Istanbulbased French author Jerome Bastion. “Turkey

determined to play a larger and more independ-

and Israel are too important to each other,

ent role in the region of the Greater Middle East.

and Turkey is too important for the Middle East.”

For decades, Israel could count on Turkey as

Peres defended Israeli strikes as a response

its only Muslim friend, if not ally, in the Middle

to rocket attacks by Hamas. Erdogan

East. After Israel’s assault on Gaza, that

denounced Israeli raids and the death and

repair,” said Ilter Turan, political science

friendship is in doubt. And Turkey, a bridge

destruction among civilians, many women

professor and a former vice-president of the

between East and West, was seen as a credible

and children among them, and on UN

International Political Scientists Association.

broker in mediating a settlement in the region.

compounds.

Turkey is now seen as taking sides in the

That, too, is now in doubt.

Some consider that view too optimistic.

“There is damage and it will take time to

Israel-Palestine quagmire to a degree that its The fine print of the confrontation was that

potential as an ‘honest broker’ has been

The ties between Turkey and Israel that had

Erdogan, despite reports in most media, did

questioned. Until a few weeks before Israel’s

been simmering for a few weeks suddenly hit

not storm out of the meeting because of

Gaza onslaught, Turkey was acting as go-

boiling point at the usually sedate World

Peres. He had said his bit to Peres in no

between in negotiations between Israel and

Economic Forum in Davos. Israeli President

uncertain terms (“Israel knows how to kill

Syria over the Golan Heights.

Peres and Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan got

well”) and was elaborating when moderator

into a public showdown over Gaza; Erdogan

David Ignatius of The Washington Post said

Following his walkout, Erdogan has become

stormed out of a discussion with UN

that the panel discussion was running over

a folk hero to the Arabs, particularly in Gaza,

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Arab

the allocated time, and persistently attempted

unlike other “conservative and cautiuns”

League Secretary-General Moussa.

to cut Erdogan off. He collected his notes,

leaders in the region, writes chief editor of the daily Sabah, Mehmet Barlas. The opposite,

More cordial times: Turkish and Israeli officers at a NATO conference.

inevitably, is the response among Jews. David Harris, executive director of the American Jewish Committee was quoted as saying in Turkey’s English language Daily News. “There has been a worrying surge of anti-Semitism in Turkey in recent weeks.”

Through the assault, the Turkish public sided squarely with Palestinians in Gaza,

GLOBALIA

| Issue 05 | March 2009

TURKEY

denouncing Israel at demonstrations and collecting funds. There was little in the protests that could be construed as anti-Semitic.

Normally, as a token of sympathy with the Jews, Turks point out that their forbearers, the Osmanlis, accepted Jews into the Empire after they were expelled from Spain in the 15th century. Turkey, which now has a thriving Jewish community of some 20,000, recognised Israel long before Egypt did. Turkey and Israel once considered building a pipeline or establishing a tanker route to ship fresh water from Turkey to Israel, but the project was found to be too costly.

The Davos spat has suddenly called into question such assumed ties. Through his outburst, Erdogan has certainly raised his stature at home. He was welcomed home with signs of ‘World Leader’ and ‘Conqueror of Davos’.

The flap may have a little to do with personality, and not just politics. Erdogan is known to be a firebrand – with impulsive mood swings from charming to damning. As he said after Davos, he does not belong to the ‘Mon Cher’ (‘My Dear’) crowd of affable and cautious diplomats trained in the best tradition of the French diplomatic lexicon.

Rather he comes “from the seeds of politics,” telling it as it is.

In a sharp break from the past, Palestinian flags were hoisted at the boisterous postmidnight welcome for Erdogan at Istanbul airport, and Turkish flags fluttered in Gaza in gratitude. It will be a long time before Turkish and Israeli flags adorn each other’s countries.

The “Mon Cher” diplomatic world has its work cut out. (IPS) Text By Hilmi Toros

48

49

HISTORY

Emperor’s affinity to Islam lay in his childhood.

THE MAN WHO MOVED THE WORLD

The Italian Muslim historian Dr. Ali Azzali

FREDERICK II, ONE OF THE WONDERS OF HIS TIME

agrees: “Certainly, yes; You have to remember that Frederick not only grew up among Muslims, they looked after him in the various

The legends surrounding Frederick II von

districts of Palermo and protected him from

Hohenstaufen are many and various. Some even

those who wanted to prevent him from ascending the throne. It was there that he

say he and his son secretly became Muslims.

learned to speak fluent Arabic and acquired

What is certain is that he was very close to Islam.

his taste for Arab culture, and also where he

He was a man of impressive stature and

probably obtained an objective basic knowledge of Islam itself. The Palermo of the time

capabilities, from his rational politics, his

was full of markets, mosques, madrassas and

extensive building work, to his deep knowledge

other institutions in which the Deen could still be exercised, largely under protection.”

of falconry. Today, many centuries on, the Emperor remains an inspiring example of leadership.

The Muslims of Sicily had lived in mixed areas before Frederick’s rise to power, but since the Norman conquest they had had no political

“That was the year in which Emperor

than any other Christian ruler. Frederick II

power. Neverthless a succession of Norman

Frederick died ... It is said that the Emperor

was known as “stupor mundi” or Wonder of

and Staufen leaders had allowed them to

was secretly a Muslim.” Ibn Al-Furat

the World. He was highly educated and

practise their religion. When Frederick

mastered several languages: Italian, French,

ascended the throne in Palermo the majority

“(...) all of those peoples who belonged

Latin, Greek, Middle High German and Arabic

of the population of his capital were Muslim.

to Emperor Frederick II, whom he claimed

among others.

“There were Muslims among the great men

1

as his (...) still boast about him to this day.

of his court who did much to cultivate the

In the memory of the Germans he long

The Swiss cultural historian Burckhardt called

royal environment. The Emperor himself spoke

remained the man whose death in 1250

the inheritor of the Hohenstaufen and Norman

fluent Arabic. When he came to power he

people did not want to accept and did

Dynasties “the first modern person to ascend

formed his bodyguard from Muslim soldiers

not want to believe (...).” Dr. Reimund

a throne,” while philosopher Nietzsche wrote

who were to protect him throughout his life,”

Scheuermann

about Frederick II’s relations with Islam: “‘War

explains Dr. Azzali. He later re-settled these

to the Knife with Rome! Peace, friendship

Muslims and their families – around 25,000

“I have been the anvil long enough,

with Islam’: thus that great free-spirit, that

people – in the Apulian town of Lucera.

now I want to be the hammer.” Emperor

great genius amongst German emperors,

Frederick II after his frustrating experiences

Frederick the Second.”2 It remains debatable

with papal claims to power.

whether the Emperor was a “modern person”

At war with the Popes: Frederick’s role as leader

as Burckhardt claimed, but as far as his

The Hohenstaufen Emperor’s greatest

Emperor Frederick II, of the House of

political and legislative decisions go, Frederick

challenges, in brief, were to establish a stable

Hohenstaufen, grew up in Sicily during a time

II was certainly, for his time, a remarkably

state in Southern Italy and Sicily, to extend

in which the Roman Catholic, Byzantine and

rational and far-sighted man.

and secure the power of the House of

Islamic worlds were engaged in a dynamic

Hohenstaufen in the German kingdom, and

encounter. He had direct contact with Islam

Formative influences

to pursue a life-long and often frustrating

and the Muslims, to an extent perhaps greater

It is likely that one of the roots of the

struggle with various Popes for ultimate rule

GLOBALIA | Issue 05 | March 2009

HISTORY

50

51

HISTORY

Apulia’s Castel del Monte, one of the Emperor’s most remarkable legacies.

over the Empire. Fredrick 11 had a majority

took on great importance under Emperor

In Sicily and Apulia he organised the first

of German princes confirm him as German

Frederick II – especially when it came to his

modern bureaucratic state. Frederick II funded

king on 5 December 1212. His decisive

rights as ruler. He founded towns and

and reformed the world-famous Medical

assumption of power in Germany and in

established trade routes in order to de-

School of Salerno, and founded the University

Norman-Staufian Sicily drew in other Euro-

populate neighbouring principalities and

of Naples, which was given the task of

pean centres of power – the Hohenstaufen

extract customs duties from princes. The

training civil servants.

regions of Germany, Sicily and Apulia, the

Assizes of Capua in 1220 and the

Papal States, England and France.

Constitutions of Melfi in 1231 helped to

The most defining and also the most dramatic

establish positive norms in law and state

aspect of his rule was his struggle for power

The struggle for power between him and the

order, setting an example for the rest of

with the totalitarian papacy of the time, a

rival dynasty of the Guelphs was decided in

Europe. Frederick II passed strict laws

deadly conflict over revolving around which

1214 by the Battle of Bouvines at which a

preserving the countryside and protecting

had the higher authority vested in it by God:

Guelphic-English army was defeated by the

women and minorities.

the papacy or the office of Emperor. Towards the end of his life, after numerous campaigns

French allied to the Staufens. Frederick II was crowned Roman-German King in Aachen in

Frederick may have been known as ‘King of

of different magnitudes – in Northern Italy

1215, and annointed Emperor by the Pope in

the Romans’ and ‘Roman and German

against allies of the Pope and in Germany

Rome on 22 November 1220. According to tra-

Emperor’, but in fact he spent most of his life

against his opponents there – Frederick’s

dition he wore a red coronation robe for the

in Apulia and Sicily, including the periods

prospects were looking dismal, when in early

occasion.

from 1221 to 1235 and 1237 to 1250, during

1250 the situation changed quite suddenly.

which these times he had his sons represent

In Germany, his son Conrad held off an

him in Germany.

offensive by the rival king William, and a

3

Legislation and the dispensation of justice

GLOBALIA | Issue 05 | March 2009

HISTORY

string of Northern Italian towns changed over

artistic and creative abilities. None of his

his book on Frederick II. However, historians

to the Emperor’s side.

numerous construction projects was done

specialising in the field argue about the

without his personal input. It was in

intention behind the castle.

But on 13 December 1250, at the age of 55,

architecture that he sought and found respite

Emperor Frederick II died during peace

from state affairs and campaigns, and

Goldmann disputes David Abulafia’s historical

negotiations with the Pope in his home region

wherever he found himself, be it in Sicily or

theory that the Castel del Monte was a mere

of Apulia. As with other great leaders, an

in the north, he always kept himself up to date

hunting lodge. Neither its considerable

epoch ended with the end of his personal

on the progress of building work. The Maniace

dimensions nor its comparatively luxurious

rule.

in Syracus, a bridge-fort at Capua and the

furnishings fit the image. To Goldmann, the

incomparable Castel del Monte all flowed

Crown of Apulia was neither a place of

Emperor and architect

from his own pen. Many of the great

relaxation nor an esoteric symbol as some

Much to the exasperation of his treasurers,

Renaissance structures would be unthinkable

people claim, rather it was a “testimony in

the Emperor designed and had built countless

without Frederick and his architecture.

stone to the credo of the great medieval ruler.”4

castles which have since vanished in the storms of time. His Castel del Monte, however,

The various references to Islam that can be

still exists today and is considered the ‘Crown

found in the Castel del Monte could, if viewed

of Apulia’. In it can be seen the influence of

in isolation, be considered purely coincidental.

Echos of Arabia: Frederick’s love of falcons

major Christian churches, such as the Charle-

But to this date, few if any to have attempted

When he was not busy with the affairs of his

magne’s Palace Chapel, Arab architectural

to link them together with other aspects of

empire, Frederick enjoyed watching birds; an

influences - There are clear similarities with

Frederick’s relationship with Islam. The

erudite scholar of them, he had a particular

the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem.

octagonal footprint of the Castel del Monte,

love of falconry. His life-long observations

as stated, points to the Muslim cultural world,

culminated in a book on falconry which has

Frederick II made his mark not only as a

where the octagon was already known and

since been considered a unique classic of the

statesman and politician, but also as the

used in architecture – examples including the

genre: De arte venandi cum avibus (The Art

initiator and founder of a new artistic style –

Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem, the Qubbat

arte sueva: Swabian Art, or Staufen Art. In

As-Sulaibiya in Samarra, the tomb of Shah

Southern Italy, Frederick II’s initiatives lay very

Rukn-e-Alam in Multan and the Taj Mahal in

much in the political and military realm. He

India. Indeed, the Emperor knew the Dome

had castles, towns and fortifications built on

of the Rock from his own time in Jerusalem.

mountains, passes and river-crossings so as

There are also numerous buildings based on

to dominate the surrounding areas and secure

octagons in the North African regions lying

his military roads; he built dams and

across the Mediterranean from Sicily.

The empire under Frederick II.

hermitages in Sicily, fortified river-crossings, reinforced the ports, and constructed lakeside

The impressive, pale limestone structure

forts to protect his borders with the Papal

which, beginning in 1240, Frederick had built

States. His letters and certificates document

in Apulia incorporates a whole series of

these far-reaching defensive measures in

octagons. The eight-sided ground-plan

detail. The Staufen Kastell or fort, which

encloses an octagonal interior courtyard, and

emerged within a very specifically intended

octagonal towers stand at each of its eight

style of architecture, is a reflection of the

corners. “The similarity between its structural

chivalrous Hohenstaufen world.

form and visual effect on the observer and that of the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem is

Frederick himself was possessed of great

remarkable,” writes Gerhard Goldmann in

52

53

HISTORY

of Hunting with Birds), which he wrote

realistic view of objects, is the fact that the

well as Arab and Muslim officials – especially

between 1245 and 1248 on the insistence of

highest philosophical authorities, such as

in Palermo. It is certainly almost inconceivable

his favourite son Manfred, after decades of

Aristotle, opposed such methodology. Seeing

that Frederick could have acquired his deep

birdwatching. The book has been described

things the way they really are, without

knowledge of all things Arabian – the

as one of the summits of occidental thought,

speculating, without drawing conclusions,

language, the philosophy, the culture and the

marking as it does the genesis of empirical

and leaving questions unanswered, was

spiritual world – without having been

science. “Our intention is to make visible the

reminiscent of the clinical exactitude with

systematically introduced to them and

things that are, the way they are.”

which the Arab physicians of the same period

instructed in them. His contemporaries,

described diseases.

especially his avid critics, were no less quick

5

The book goes far beyond mere falconry. In

to note the “unfolding of his Oriental

its first part it contains a general treatise on

Exchange with the Muslim world

ornithology, dividing birds up into land-based,

Sources do not allow us to say anything really

aquatic and marsh-dwelling; it describing the

conclusive about the Emperor’s innermost

Another counter-argument raised is that

anatomy of birds and their technique of flight

religious preferences. Some modern (and

Frederick, as ruler of an enormous entity

before discussing hunting with birds. As a

somewhat dry) German historiographers cast

stretching from the Mediterranean to the

book of falconry it superseded all its prede-

doubt on his proximity to Islam. They argue

North Sea, relied on Catholicism as the

cessors, and remained authoritiative in its

among other things that he actively waged

mutually binding factor. Any form of public

field until into the 18 Century.

war against Muslim factions in Sicily and

acceptance of or even sympathy towards

that his claim to universal rule was strongly

Islam would have certainly meant political and

characterised by Christian concepts of power.

even personal suicide.8 The Italian historian

th

The Arab influences in De arte venandi cum

6

7

avibus are inescapable. The Emperor intro-

tendencies” and his “Arab” outlook on life.

Dr. Azzali concurs: “His greatest struggle was

duces and describes in his book the falcon

This viewpoint, however, does not quite

with the Catholic Church with which he was

hood, which until then had been used only

explain why the Emperor surrounded himself

constantly at war. Had the Church got its

by Arabs; but of greater significance is his

so thoroughly with an Oriental way of life as

hands on such a declaration it would have completely destroyed him and his whole

The noble art of falconry has not lost its fascination.

dynasty. I believe that the Emperor was in the same position as the Byzantine emperor Heraclius, who was called to Islam by legates sent by the Prophet Muhammad.”

Frederick drew the best Muslims in his country into the innermost circles of his court, entrusting them with issues of financial administration and naval matters. He also maintained a regular exchange with their scholars, who were able to answer many of his pressing questions.

According to Dr Azzali, special attention is due by the exchange of letters between Frederick and the scholar and Sufi Ibn Sabi’un. In these letters the Emperor poses the same questions he had previously put to his Empire’s Latin

GLOBALIA | Issue 05 | March 2009

HISTORY

and Greek scholars. When they failed to

the prayer call of the Muslims and their

Anjou could quite extinguish the memory of

provide satisfactory answers, he sent a letter

worthy God.”

this brief blossoming. When visiting Luceras in 1998, the author unexpectedly met a town

to the court of the Muwahid Khalif Abdul Wahid in Andalusia, who forwarded it to the

Another aspect of Frederick II’s dealings with

planner who not only showed him traces of

Sufi Ibn Sabi’un in 1217.

Muslims was the settlement of Muslim

the Muslims presence, but also declared his

soldiers and their families in the Apulian

conviction that both the Emperor and one of

The Emperor’s letters discuss fundamental

town of Lucera. Goldmann says this re-sett-

his sons had died as Muslims.

matters of philosophy and the natural

lement was “a stroke of luck” for the Muslim

sciences, and, even more importantly, ques-

community; the new settlement was under

The winds of destiny may soon have swept

tions about a hadith of the Prophet and the

the direct protection of the Emperor. Luceria

away Frederick II’s life-work – a modern-

immortality of the soul. This reference to a

Saracenorum was granted its town charter in

style state with rational rule of law and an

Prophetic tradition is further proof of

1234 and the Muslims were able to live by

economically flourishing Southern Italy. The

Frederick’s intimate knowledge of Islam. “The

their own laws and practise their religion.

House of Anjou may have ended Staufen

series of letters is one of the most fascinating

Frederick had the Norman state treasury of

power with the active assistance of the

documents in European intellectual history.

his forefathers moved to the town, indicating

Church, yet Emperor Frederick II remains an

He begins his letters to Shaykh Ibn Sabi’un

just how close the place was to his heart.

inspiration to this day – especially for those who does not accept the artificial distinction

with the Basmala, and ends them with greetings of Salam for his teacher. Another

The chronicler Jemal Ad-Din, who was part

between Islam and Europe which is erected

indicator is Ibn Sabi’un’s comment that Allah

of the entourage of the Egyptian emissary

on a daily basis.

had guided the Emperor on the Straight

Fakhr Ad-Din, described Luceras as follows:

Path,” says Dr. Azzali.

“The town’s population is Muslim through

Text By Sulaiman Wilms

and through. Friday is celebrated just as other Despite excommunication by the Pope,

Muslim customs are upheld.” For his own

Frederick set off on the Fifth Crusade in 1228,

Muslim retinue, the Emperor selected Muslim

whereupon the Pope reinforced the order by

soldiers for his bodyguard as well as a number

releasing the nobility in Sicily and his empire

of scholars and treasurers. The craftsmen in

from their oath of loyalty to the Emperor.

Luceras were expert in producing the

Frederick found little support in the Holy Land,

renowned Damascene blades as well as

but he did not seem particularly bent on

armaments and the notorious ‘Greek fire’.

Footnotes: Arab Chronist, quoted in Gerhard Goldmann, Deutscher Kaiser und Muslim?, Books on Demand GmbH, 2006 1

fighting the Muslims. Instead he quickly

2

Friedrich Nietzsche, The Antichrist

The cloak shows a date tree and two camels being held down beneath the paws of tigers. It is said to bear an Arabic benediction on its hem.

3

opened diplomatic relations with Sultan

In addition to the town’s own rules, the

Al-Kamil of Cairo.

Constitutions of Melfi granted the Muslims and also the Jews of the Empire the

Frederick achieved a peace accord, the Peace

Emperor’s general legal protection. The

of Jaffa, not by force of arms but by

Constitutions stated: “We do not wish them

negotiating with the Sultan, and this resulted

to be persecuted when innocent, just

in Christian sovereignty over large parts of

because they are Jews or Saracens.”9

Gerhard Goldmann, Deutscher Kaiser und Muslim?, Books on Demand GmbH, 2006

4

Intentio vero nostra est manifestare ea quae sunt sicut sunt, quoted from Kantorowicz, p. 332 5

6

the city. During the negotiatons, the Sultan

Schaller and Leder, for example

“Furthermore, the re-settlement should not be considered an arbitrary act, but a political necessity,” interview with Gerhard Goldmann

7

invited him to Jerusalem. When the muezzin

In 1300, after the death of Frederick and his

refrained from the morning call to prayer

descendents, the Muslims of Luceras were

out of consideration for Frederick, the

killed. A church which still stands to this day

Emperor is said to have declared: “I stayed

was erected on the ruins of the mosque there.

8

ibid.

overnight in Jerusalem in order to listen to

But neither the Church nor the House of

9

Abulafia, p. 218

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