Carving Up The Ivory

Mon, 03 Jan 2011 05:58:14 +0100

Carving up the Ivory

The Ivory Coast has become known for two things, being the world’s biggest exporter of cocoa and its political instability. The Ivory Coast is a nation split in two that is in danger of an invasion and outbreak of civil war. The Situation in the IC is most recently from the disputed election that was held in November. The election originally saw Ouattara the former Prime Minister and Muslim opposition leader elected with a 54% majority which was supervised by the Electoral Commission and the UN. The current President Gbagbo, came in second with 46%.

The Ivory Coast has been divided for nearly a decade, in 2000 a Popular uprising usurped a coup and elected Gbagbo as the President. The previous tension between the North and South of the country had lead to strong xenophobia. The North has had a stronger Muslim presence and has been accused of being ‘not Ivorian’. This came to a head in 2002 when a troop mutiny escalated into Rebellion. This was then stopped by French troops and over the last eight years several Peace Treaties and ten thousand UN troops later and we yet again have a relatively stable government. Fast-forward to the present day and Ouattara the opposition leader is from the Muslim North and Gbagbo is from the West and fighting on ethnic lines. The North to this day is still held by ‘the new forces’ the rebel forces that dominate the North, however they were embraced in the election, its this control that lead to controversy. Gbagbo leaned on his allies in the Constitutional Court and accused the North of being unjust and corrupt in the elections and the Court struck down seven of the Northern regions, swinging the victory to Gbagbo with 51%

The way that things are going is an amazing example of international politics, the dichotomy of domestic and foreign policy has been essentially busted as the situation in the Ivory Coast escalates. The domestic election was at first moderated by the international body of the UN, and now as things escalate and Gbagbo refuses to step down the international community is becoming increasingly more involved. In a very swift movement Ouattara was able to get the international community to recognise his victory over that of Gbagbo, this may have been easy as most western states and other countries will not go against the judgment of the UN peacekeepers and Election officials. Ouattara for his behalf has fortified a Gold hotel in the biggest city and is currently under the protection on 800 UN soldiers. Ouattara has been able to already, in less than a month have several nations expel diplomats under Gbagbo and instead recognise ones appointed by Ouattara. The World Bank followed suit by recognising his victory and cut off loans to what they claim as Gbagbo’s illegitimate regime, this has been followed by the Central African Bank and banks in neighbouring nations, the head of the Ivory Coast Bank is also under pressure to cut off funds to Gbagbo. They hope that by doing this they will be able to starve out his regime, as he would be unable to pay for the armed forces and the civil service.

Most of the world now has recognised Ouattara over Gbagbo including the African Union and the partnership of West African States, the leaders of whom visited Gbagbo recently in order to encourage him to back down with dignity. This carrot method failed to work as the man reiterated his lack of desire to do so. That leaves in turn the stick, The West African group has on other occasions launched a military intervention into states in order to ensure security. The West African forces, for example, are in Somalia, Darfur and Sierra Leone. The African Union has also set aside a Brigade to aid in the operation. The UN also has a ten thousand strong force that will also ‘fire if fired upon’ however have no official mandate to enforce the election results.

Things are coming down to the wire in the Ivory Coast, if the ECOWAS the West African union of states decide to use the military intervention option it will be taken to the African Union for approval and support, which is expected to happen swiftly, it may, also be taken to the UN as they have a large presence in the nation. As the UN has already declared its support of Ouattara it is doubtful they would not support an intervention. The Ivory Coast has had a domestic election that has engulfed the political scene of the African Continent and brought in the entire world via the UN. If you don’t believe me, within six months the price of chocolate is projected to increase above the rate of inflation, your mars bar, just got a little pricier because of Gbagbo…

Students Told to take a Hike

Wed, 22 Dec 2010 00:49:09 +0100

Students told to take a Hike

On December 9^th 2010 most students in the UK were doing two things, worrying about their school work and then also worrying how much their going to pay for it. The government was working in parliament to pass a bill on University tuition fees. As the night fell and the Vote was passed with 323 to 302 against the streets of London around Parliament turned into a battleground.

Some of the victims of the descending chaos was not only the protestors charged by mounted officers or the police ground units under a rain of missiles but even Prince Charles fell victim as his car was attacked as he passed through the protest zone.

The protest that was rallied by the University and Collage Union, and National Union of Students saw thousands of protests from all ages descend on London against the hike in the Tuition fees. The main point of contention was the scrapping of the tuition cap, previously set at 3290 Pounds ($5198 approx) to 9000 pounds ($14220). The actual changes however are a little more complicated.

Inspired by the Browne Report (Former BP chief Lord Browne) on Higher Education he advocated completely removing caps on tuition fees. The Bill however sets the cap at 9000 and any University wanting to charge over 6000 will have to offer bursaries etc to encourage lower incomes to attend. The Loan threshold where grads have to begin paying back the loan will be raised to 21 thousand from 15 (Grads paying %9 of income above threshold) however and if it isn’t paid after 30 years will be scrapped. The Office for Fair Access what NUS called ‘toothless’ is to be giver oversight of the Universities charging over 6000. Grants will increase however the income cut off will be dropped by 8000 and tapered at the end. Over all the changes are expected to save the bottom quarter of students a little but the top earning graduates paying nearly double current numbers, this is coupled with almost 10% more paid back than originally owed under the new Interest system.

The system would come into affect in September 2012, which may explain why so many highschoolers made it out to the protest in London. The capital protests were met up and down the nation in every major city, Cambridge has seen significant trouble with protests and sit-ins occurring, there has also been condemnation by Labour Unions and international Student Unions. In Canada the CFS (Canadian Federation of Students) has been following it closely with the “F**k Fees Campaign” co-operation. The Vote has had a distinct cost however, 21 Liberal Democrat MP rebelled against their party leaders, two of them resigning Ministerial Aid posts in protest. The Conservatives also saw six rebellious votes and one resignation. In what Ed Milliband from the Labour party called a “Sad day for Democracy” that has ruined the trust and faith in not only the Liberal Democrats (Who had pledged to all vote against increases) but in politicians as a whole.

The Tuition fee increases has caused a viscous divide in the already fragmented Lib-Dem’s who are already seen as the fall guys for the Tory party. But the wide spread reneging on the pre-election pledge but numerous Lib-Dem MP’s has lead to harsh criticism and a promised retaliation by the Student Unions. Needless to say things are just beginning. The next stage is further protests as the Bill moves onto the House of Lords.

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Carving Up The Ivory

Students Told to take a Hike