Government of China MOFCOM Scholarships for Developing Countries (Masters & PhD) 2017

Application Deadline: 30th April 2017

Offered annually? Yes

Eligible Field of Study: Each applicant can choose one same major in three universities out of the 26 designated universities as their desired option.

About Scholarship: MOFCOM Scholarship is set up by Ministry of Commerce of People’s Republic of China to further strengthen the communication and cooperation between China and other countries as well as to develop talents for developing countries. Starting from 2015, MOFCOM Scholarship mainly sponsors the young and the middle-aged talents from recipient countries to pursue their postgraduate degree education in China and entrusts China Scholarship Council to administer the Scholarship.

Offered Since: 2015

Type: Masters and PhD Scholarships

Selection Criteria and Eligibility: To be eligible, applicants must:

• be a citizen of a country other than the People’s Republic of China, and be in good health;
• be a bachelor’s degree holder when applying for master’s program;
• be a master’s degree holder when applying for doctoral program;
• be under the age of 45 when applying;
• have sufficient English or Chinese proficiency which meets the academic requirements of the program.

Number of Scholarships: several

Value of Scholarship:

• -tuition waiver;
• -teaching material fee waiver;
• -research and survey fee waiver;
• -dissertation guidance fee waiver;
• -one-off resettlement fee:
• 3000RMB per master student,
• 3000RMB per PhD student;
• -on-campus accommodation;
• -stipend:
• 3000RMB per month per master student,
• 3500RMB per month per PhD student;
• -medical insurance
• -one-time round-trip international airfare for all the students （First time fly to China after enrollment, and Fly back to home country while graduation）, and a maximum of “n-1” （“n” is for the length of schooling year which is set while the student was enrolled by the program） round-trip international airfares for home visits （one time per year set at the end of an academic year）.

Duration of Scholarship: Master’s program for 2-3 years or PhD program for 3-4 years.

Eligible Countries: developing countries

To be taken at (country): Each applicant can choose one same major in three universities out of the 26 designated universities as their desired option. CSC will place each applicant in one university only based on their desired option and universities’ requirements.

Application Requirement (in Chinese or English)

1. Application Form for MOFCOM Scholarship;
2. Photocopy of highest diploma;
3. Photocopy of academic transcripts;
4. A Study Plan or Research Proposal with a minimum of 400 words;
5. Photocopy of Foreigner Physical Examination Form;

How to Apply

• Step 1: Visit csc.edu.cn/laihua or www.campuschina.org  and click “Application Online for International Students”.
• Step 2: Read “Tips for online application” carefully before clicking “NEXT” to the registration page.
• Step 3: After registration, log in with your user name and password. Click “Application Forms”and choose “MOFCOM Scholarship”.
• Step 4:  Put 00010 as your Agency Number.
• Step 5: Please fill all the required information truly, correctly and completely following the navigation bars on the left of the page.
• Step 6: After completing the application form, please click “Preview” and check your Application Form carefully before submitting it.
• Step 7: Download the completed Application Form by clicking “Download Application”and print two hard copies.
• Step 8: Prepare other supporting documents as required and send the full package of application documents (two sets of hardcopies) to the Economic and Commercial Counsellor’s Office (ECCO) of the Chinese Embassy.
• Step 9: You can make changes to your application by clicking Retrieve Application on the left of the page. But you have to make sure to submit it again by clicking Confirmation of Submit after finishing all the changes. Otherwise, the retrieved application will become invalid and your new application will not be accepted either.

Visit Scholarship Webpage for details to apply

Sponsors: Ministry of Commerce of People’s Republic of China

Important Notes: Scholarship winners must register for English-taught program if such program is available. When only Chinese-taught program is available, students should take Chinese language training courses for one to two years before moving on to their degree study.

Scholarship winners will get the admission package from ECCO of the Chinese Embassy by the end of August, 2016, and must register at the host university before the deadline which is usually September, 2016.

David Oyedepo Foundation Scholarships in Nigeria – for African Students 2017

Application Deadline: 17th May 2017

Offered annually? Yes

Eligible Countries: Scholarship program is open to Young Africans (Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Ivory Coast, Djibouti, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Western Sahara, Zambia and  Zimbabwe).

To be taken at (country): Covenant University and Landmark University, Nigeria

Eligible Field of Study: Programs covered by the DOF Scholars Program at:

Covenant University are Accounting, Banking and Finance, Mass Communication, Economics, International Relations, Chemical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Computer Engineering, Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Information & Comm. Tech, Mechanical Engineering, Petroleum Engineering, Architecture, Applied Biology and Biotechnology, Microbiology, Computer Science, Industrial Physics-Renewable Energy

Landmark University are Animal Science, Soil Science, Crop Science, Agricultural and Biosystem Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Electrical And Information Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Biochemistry, Microbiology, Computer Science, Accounting/Banking & Finance, Economics and International Relations.

Candidates can apply to their choice course of study. However, special consideration would be given to candidates whose courses fall under the following categories:

• Agriculture and allied courses
• Medicine
• Para Medical science
• Political science
• Education and allied courses

About Scholarship

The David Oyedepo Foundation scholarship program is our major platform for promoting  the Foundation’s vision and goals. The scholarship program awards full ride scholarships to qualified individuals who are indigenes and residents of African countries.  The scholarship seeks to develop youth leaders who are ready to put their learned skills to work in leading organizations, communities and their local countries. The scholarship grants students the opportunity to study at Covenant and Landmark University, Nigeria.

Offered Since: 2015

Type: Scholarship is available for pursuing undergraduate program at the Covenant University and Landmark University.

Selection Criteria

• Superior Scholastic Ability
• Outstanding Character
• Evidence of Leadership & Involvement
• Service to Community and School

Eligibility: The David Oyedepo  Foundation Scholarship program is open to Young Africans who meet the following criteria:

• Are citizens and permanent residents of any African Nation
• Are between the ages of 18 and 25 at the time of application submission
• Are eligible to receive a Nigerian student visa
• Are proficient in reading, writing and speaking English

Have a record of exceptional performance at the secondary school level which is benchmarked by:
1. At least 20 points above JAMB cut off points (for Nigerians only)
2. 80% recorded average or 4.0GPA/5.0 in Secondary/High School Transcript
3. Already have begun admission applications to Covenant or Landmark University

Number of Scholarships: Not specified

Value of Scholarship: Full Academic fees for a maximum of 5 years. (In accordance to the University stipulated
time for duration of chosen course).
The scholarship does not cover;

• Travel allowances
• Feeding allowances
• Medical/Health Insurance or allowance
• Any other fees outside University generated Academic fees for a course at any level.

Duration of Scholarship: The scholarship is for 4 or 5 years, this is subject to university stipulated time for course completion. The maximum duration of scholarship award is 5 years for undergraduate programs.

How to Apply: Applicants should visit the foundation’s website, read the application instructions and complete the online applications. Applicants must submit the application form and all required documents stated on the webpage.

Visit scholarship webpage for details

Sponsors: The David Oyedepo Foundation

Notes: Proof of Admission to Landmark and Covenant University is required only at the point of award. Hence applicants can apply for scholarships before admission letters have been received.

University of Dundee School of Medicine Postgraduate Scholarship for International Students 2017

Application Deadline: 30th September 2017

Offered annually? Yes

Eligible Countries: International. See list of countries below

To be taken at (country): Scotland, UK

Field of Study: Medicine

Type: PhD

Eligibility: 

• Scholarships will be awarded by the Research Postgraduate Committee
• Scholarships are for PhD degrees only, not for MSc
• Applicants must be of strong academic calibre, and must meet English language requirements
• Applicants must provide evidence they are self-funding; this should be submitted with the application form and supporting documents (references, CV, project proposal), this will be reviewed by the RPC
• Scholarships will run with the academic year (Sept – Aug)
• If other funding is put in place during the student’s studies the scholarship will be withdrawn
• Scholarships cannot be awarded retrospectively

Number of Awardees: 10

Value of Scholarship: Up to 50% tuition free reduction

Eligible Countries: Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Andorra, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belize, Benin, Bhutan, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Brunei, Burkina Faso, Burma, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Chile, China, Colombia, Comoros, Congo, Congo (Democratic Republic), Costa Rica, Cuba, Djibouti, Dominica, Dominican Republic, East Timor, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Fiji, Gabon, Georgia, Ghana, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Hong Kong, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Ivory Coast, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kiribati, Kosovo, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Liechtenstein, Macedonia, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Marshall Islands, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico, Micronesia, Moldova, Monaco, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Nauru, Nepal, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, North Korea, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Palau, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Qatar, Russia, Rwanda, Samoa, San Marino, Sao Tome and Principe, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Africa, South Korea, South Sudan, Sri Lanka, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent, Sudan, Suriname, Swaziland, Switzerland, Syria, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Thailand, The Bahamas, The Gambia, Togo, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Tuvalu, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United States, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Vatican City, Venezuela, Vietnam, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe

How to Apply: Apply through UKPASS https://pgapp.ukpass.ac.uk/ukpasspgapp/login.jsp?institution=D65&course=60239&source=www.dundee.ac.uk

Visit Scholarship Webpage for details

Award Provider: University of Dundee

AMIDEAST Fulbright Foreign Student Program for Students in the MENA Region 2018-2020: USA

Application Deadline: 30th May 2017

Eligible Countries: MENA countries

To be taken at (country): USA

About the Award: The Fulbright Program, sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, is the flagship international educational exchange program designed to foster mutual understanding among nations through educational and cultural exchange.

The Fulbright Foreign Student Program is administered by binational Fulbright Commissions and U.S. Embassies. All Foreign Student Program applications are processed by these offices. AMIDEAST is one of the cooperating agencies contracted by the U.S. Department of state to administer the Fulbright program. AMIDEAST administers the Fulbright Foreign Student Program for the Middle East and North Africa on behalf of ECA.

The scholarship is a merit-based grant that provides up to two-years of funding for graduate-level study at a U.S. university.  For over four decades AMIDEAST has been placing students from across the MENA region into universities throughout the United States. It has been integral to the success of the Fulbright Program, serving as a convener of academic and cultural exchange and dialogue. AMIDEAST continues today to support countless Fulbrighters to experience the opportunity of exchange and successfully complete their grants in the United States.

Type: Applications in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) are highly encouraged.

Eligibility: 

• This is not a program exclusive for students. This program is for students who are about to graduate, recent graduates and professionals from diverse social, economic, academic and professional backgrounds.
• A competitive applicant should have an excellent academic record, strong English language skills, and the commitment to return to their home country for at least two years upon completion or termination of the scholarship upon completion of the program. They will be ineligible for an U.S.-immigrant visa until the two-year home residency requirement has been fulfilled.
• Preference will be given to applicants who have not previously studied in the United States.
• Applications in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) are highly encouraged.

Number of Awardees: Limited.

Value of Scholarship: The scholarships cover expenses incurred for travel to and from the United States, tuition, books, health insurance, and room and board. Funding is NOT available to meet expenses related to Fulbright grantees dependents (husbands, wives, children, parents, etc).

Duration of Scholarship: 2 years

How to Apply: Applicants can apply via online mode.

• Please make sure to choose 2018-2020 Cycle and answer all questions accurately and completely.
• Carefully write the essays, which are key components of the application. Each essay must be a minimum of 250 to a maximum of 600 words. The selection committee will review these essays closely.
• Deliver hard copies of the following supporting documents to the AMIDEAST office by May 30, 2017.
• Confirmation receipt of submission of the online application;
• A signed Signature form;
• TOEFL iBT, ITP, or IELTS score report;
• A certified true copy of each original post-secondary transcript and diploma starting from and INCLUDING the Baccalaureate;
• An updated Curriculum vitae or résumé;
• Copy of the biodata information page from the applicant’s passport (if available);
• Three recent passport-sized photos with applicant’s name written on the back.

Visit Scholarship Webpage for details

Award Provider: U.S. Department of State

Government of Mauritius Scholarships for African Students 2017/2018

Application Deadline: 31st May 2017

Eligible Countries: Countries in the African Union

To be taken at (country): Mauritius

Fields of Study: Scholarships shall NOT be awarded for:

•  Top-up degree programmes;
•  Foundation programmes;
•  Part-time courses;
•  Distance Education programmes;
•  Mixed modes (distance and on-campus learning);
•  Non accredited courses; or
•  Postgraduate programmes.

Type: Undergraduate

Eligibility: 

• Applicants should be above 18 years of age and should not have reached their 26th birthday at the closing date of application;
• Applicants must have applied for full-time on-campus undergraduate studies at any public Tertiary Education Institution in Mauritius for academic year starting in 2017;
• The scholarship will be for a maximum of four (4) years or the minimum course duration whichever is lesser.
• Nationality Candidates must be resident citizens of member states of the African Union. Mauritian nationals and foreign residents in Mauritius are NOT eligible under this Scheme.
• Qualification entry requirements
  • Candidates should have successfully completed end of secondary school to be eligible and should satisfy the minimum grade requirements as indicated below: : (i) 24 points at GCE A – Level which will be computed on the basis of the following grades obtained in three Principal subjects: A+=10, A=9, B=8, C=7, D=6 & E=5; OR (ii) at least an overall average of 70% or an overall average of, 14/20; OR (iii) criteria equivalent to (i) or (ii) above.
  • In case the language of instruction is not English in the qualifying examination, the candidate will have to provide a valid TOEFL or IELTS test results with a minimum score not less than 550 or 5.5 respectively, or an appropriate proof of English Language proficiency.
• Candidates who are already holders of an undergraduate degree will NOT be eligible under this scholarship scheme.
• Self-financing candidates already studying in Mauritius in an undergraduate programme will NOT be eligible under this Scholarship scheme.

Number of Awardees: Not specified

Value of Scholarship: The Scholarship will support successful candidates in meeting tuition fees and contribute to their living expenses during their studies in Mauritius. Furthermore, the airfare, by the most economical route, from the country of origin at the beginning of studies and back to the country of origin at the end of the studies will be covered.

Duration of Scholarship: 4 years maximum

How to Apply: Application Form

It is important to go through the Scholarship Webpage for application instructions before applying.

Visit Scholarship Webpage for details

Award Provider: Mauritius Government

Isis’s 17-Suicide Car Bomb Attack in Mosul

Patrick Cockburn

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of Isis and self-declared Caliph, escaped from the siege of Mosul two months ago when the road to the west was briefly re-opened by a fierce counter attack by Isis fighters, according to a senior Kurdish official.

“Isis used 17 suicide car bombs from Mosul and some of their units from Syria to clear the road leading out of Mosul for a few hours,” said Fuad Hussein, chief of staff to Kurdish President Masoud Barzani, in an interview with The Independent. He says that he and other Kurdish leaders believe that Isis would only carry out such an elaborate operation, in which they suffered heavy casualties, in order to bring al-Baghdadi to safety.

The escape took place after the fall of east Mosul and before the Iraqi security forces began their final attack on Isis-held west Mosul on 19 February. Mr Hussein says that Isis “brought 300 of their fighters from Syria and it was a very fierce fight.” The only possible escape route out of Mosul for Isis is to the west, through territory held by the Hashd al-Shaabi Shia militia who were forced to retreat, enabling Isis briefly to gain control of the road.

“I believe myself that they freed al-Baghdadi,” says Mr Hussein saying that the Isis unit from Syria returned there immediately and monitoring of Isis radio traffic showed that they were jubilant that they had carried out a successful operation. Al-Baghdadi, who became leader of Isis in 2010, is the movement’s iconic leader who led it to a series of spectacular victories including the seizure of Mosul in 2014. His death or capture would be a further body blow to the movement, which has lost much of its territory in Iraq and Syria.

Mr Hussein said that he expected Isis to survive after the fall of Mosul, where its fighters still hold the Old City which the UN says has a population of 400,000. “But I don’t think they will survive as a state,” he said. He expects Isis will revert to being a guerrilla-type organisation carrying out terror attacks but without its previous resources. Despite its current implosion, it still has sanctuaries in different parts of Iraq and Syria where it can try to regenerate itself.

A serious problem in Iraq is that there is no political plan for sharing power or running the regained territory after the fall of Mosul and the defeat of Isis. Mr Hussein said that Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser, is expected in Irbil on Tuesday to see the status of the anti-Isis campaign for himself. Mr Kushner arrived in Baghdad on Monday, accompanying the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff General Joseph Dunford, and saw the Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi.

When Mr Kushner does arrive in Irbil, he will find a situation which is bewilderingly complex even by the standards of Iraqi politics, and poses questions that may prove insoluble. When the offensive against Isis started on 17 October last year, it followed a military agreement between the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and the Iraqi central government whereby the Kurdish Peshmerga would play only a limited military role, taking part of the Nineveh Plain east of Mosul. But there was no political agreement on how long term security can be provided to the mosaic of different parties, militias, sects and ethnic communities living in and around Mosul.

Mr Hussein says that there was no political plan for post-Isis Mosul put forward last year, because it would have raised divisive issues that might have prevented a military campaign against Isis. It is unclear who will hold power in Mosul in the long term or what will happen to Kurds and Christians who were forced out of the city. A short drive across the Nineveh Plain reveals political and sectarian rivalries and hatreds stopping any return to normality. There is not much sign of the Iraqi army and most checkpoints are manned by the Hashd al-Shaabi, often recruited from the Kurdish speaking Shia minority known as the Shabak.

The Sunni Arab population of Mosul has been traumatised by the six month siege, which is far from ended and is destroying a large part of the city. Mr Hussein says that it was a serious mistake in the planning of the Mosul operation to believe that Isis would be defeated quickly or the population might rise up against the jihadis. “There was an idea in Baghdad that there would be an uprising against Isis,” says Mr Hussein. The optimistic conviction that this would happen, and over-confidence about how quickly Isis could be defeated, led to the government telling people in the city to stay in their houses, a miscalculation that is leading to heavy civilian loss of life.

Mr Hussein does not doubt that Isis will eventually be defeated in Mosul. But, unless there is an agreement about what to do next, he says the “logic of war” will take over and everybody will hold onto territory they have already taken. Driving around government-held east Mosul there is a noticeable lack of local police or any other security forces to replace elite military detachments. like the Counter-Terrorism Service, that have moved into west Mosul to fight Isis there.

In the plains around Mosul, insecurity is even greater with many towns and villages, recaptured from Isis last year, still deserted. The Christian town of Qaraqosh, for example, retaken from Isis at that time, remains empty and without electricity or fresh water. Yohanna Towaya, a local Christian leader, says the community “will not go back unless they are guaranteed protection by the KRG and the Baghdad government.” He says that “two or three Christian families are leaving KRG each day for Lebanon or Australia.” Everywhere there are predatory militias on the payroll of different masters staking their claim to power, money or land , something which exacerbates the deep distrust felt by all communities in northern Iraq towards each other.

Carbon Levels Could Hit Pre-Human State By Mid-Century

Nadia Prupis

Current carbon dioxide levels are unprecedented in human history and could reach a level unseen in millennia if their rates continue at this pace, a new report out Tuesday warns.

Research published in Nature Communications finds that if fossil fuel use continues unabated, the atmosphere could revert “to values of CO2 not seen since the early Eocene (50 million years ago),” a time when humans did not exist, by the middle of the 21st century.

Dana L. Royer, a paleoclimate researcher at Wesleyan University and co-author of the study, told Climate Central, “The early Eocene was much warmer than today: global mean surface temperature was at least 10°C (18°F) warmer than today. There was little-to-no permanent ice. Palms and crocodiles inhabited the Canadian Arctic.”

Because carbon dioxide stays in the atmosphere for centuries, climate change would continue to impact the planet even if humans miraculously dropped emissions to zero after hitting that mid-century peak, Royer said.

Indeed, global warming may have already locked in the Antarctic ice sheet for unstoppable melting—driving sea level rise and threatening coastal communities worldwide.

The authors continue, “If CO2 continues to rise further into the twenty-third century, then the associated large increase in radiative forcing, and how the Earth system would respond, would likely be without geological precedent in the last half a billion years.”

The report comes as the Trump administration turns its back on climate regulations, issuing an executive order last week that aims to undo Obama-era policies keeping a lid on greenhouse gas emissions.

“Aside from provoking a large-scale nuclear war, it is hard to imagine an American president taking an action more harmful to the U.S. than [President Donald] Trump’s effort to accelerate greenhouse gas emissions,” David J. Arkush, managing director of Public Citizen’s Climate Program, said at the time.

“This day may be remembered as a low point in human history—a time when the world’s preeminent power could have led the world to a better future but instead moved decisively toward catastrophe,” Arkush added.

Civil engineers’ report details decrepit state of US infrastructure

Matthew Taylor 

The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) released its quadrennial “Report Card” last month on the condition of infrastructure in the United States. Once again, the association gave the country an overall failing grade of D-, the same as in 2013.

The report is a damning appraisal of the state of American society under capitalism, and the Obama years, which saw essential social needs starved of funding while the stock market tripled in value and vast public resources were squandered on war. This will only accelerate under Trump.

The ASCE report assesses the state of sixteen different categories of infrastructure: aviation, bridges, dams, drinking water, energy, hazardous waste, inland waterways, levees, parks and recreation, ports, rail, roads, schools, solid waste, transit and wastewater.

Twelve of the sixteen sections evaluated earned a D grade. The report defines a D grade as “The infrastructure is in poor to fair condition and mostly below standard, with many elements approaching the end of their service life. A large portion of the system exhibits significant deterioration. Condition and capacity are of serious concern with strong risk of failure.”

According to ASCE, the total costs to bring all US infrastructure into an adequate condition would exceed two trillion dollars.

The highest grade for any section of the report was earned by rail, which got a B. The reports notes that the nation’s railways are largely privately owned and that major companies generally invest significant resources for rail maintenance. The lowest grade was earned by transit, a D-. This includes buses, subway, and light rail systems. The report estimates the backlog maintenance costs to be $90 billion.

In the categories of dams and levees, upon whose maintenance millions of lives depend, the report states that an estimated $125 billion will be required to upgrade them to a safe standard. The average age for all dams in the US is 56 years. There are 15,500 dams classified as “high hazard potential” with 2,170 of those considered “deficient high hazard potential.” In other words, there are over two thousand dams in the US ready to burst.

Last month in California 188,000 people were evacuated due to the threat of flooding from the damaged spillway of the 770-foot Oroville dam, the nation’s tallest. State officials are currently scrambling to complete necessary repairs before the next storm season begins.

The nation’s drinking water systems—whose woeful state has been exposed by lead contamination in Flint, Michigan; Fresno, California; and other cities over the past several years—require an estimated $1 trillion over the next 25 years to maintain and expand a safe and adequate supply for the country’s growing population. Many of the over one million pipes that carry the nation’s fresh water were laid in the early and mid-twentieth century, with an operational lifespan of 75-100 years. The report estimates that there are 240,000 water main breaks in the US each year.

The section of the report on bridges and roads, which earned grades of C+ and D respectively, details the frightening state of decay American commuters face daily. The average age of bridges in the US is 56 years. An estimated 9.1 percent of the nation’s bridges—56,007 total—are deemed to be structurally deficient. Some 188 million trips are made across dangerous bridges daily in the US. Since 2000, there have been bridge collapses in a dozen different states, the most recent of which occurred in Atlanta on March 30 when a section of I-85 failed due to fire. There have been over 200 casualties due to the bridge collapses since 2000, with 40 killed and 163 injured. The report assesses an estimated cost of $123 billion to rehabilitate the nation’s bridges.

One out of every five miles of highway pavement is deemed to be in poor condition in the US. Accidents claimed the lives of 35,092 people on America’s roads in 2015. This represents an increase of seven percent over the previous year, after having consistently been in decline for previous years.

Public schools, which have been targeted for defunding by both Democrats and Republicans for decades, are given a grade of D+. The report estimates schools are underfunded by approximately $38 billion. Of the nearly 100,000 public school buildings in the US, 24 percent were classified as being in a state of “ fair to poor” condition.

This will only worsen as the Trump administration starves the public schools of desperately needed funds and diverts public money towards private, parochial and charter schools.

In the containment and disposal of hazardous waste, which can impact the health of tens of millions, the report gives a grade of D+. With more than half of the population of the US living within three miles of a hazardous waste site, the potential for disaster is enormous.

ASCE’s answer to this crisis is not only inadequate but downright reactionary. Accepting as given the squandering of trillions of dollars on war, corporate tax cuts and other subsidies to the super-rich, the report proposes a series of measures to make working people foot the bill for decaying infrastructure.

In the section of the report titled “solutions to raise the grade” the authors suggest that “Infrastructure owners and operators must charge, and Americans must be willing to pay, rates and fees that reflect the true cost of using, maintaining, and improving infrastructure.” Other sections advocate “user generated fees,” hiking the gasoline tax, and other regressive proposals that would disproportionately affect the country’s poorest citizens. The report also calls for more “public-private” partnerships, along with the streamlining of approval for private investment in public infrastructure projects.

Such free-market measures would only create an ever-greater class-based infrastructure system, where only those who could afford to will be able to drive on high toll expressways and bridges, send their children to quality schools, drink clean water and live in areas not threatened with constant flooding or environmental disasters.

The further privatization of public resources is one of the main tenets of President Trump’s fraudulent infrastructure plan. Under the plan proposed by Trump, hundreds of billions of dollars would be channeled into the pockets of the construction industry, banks and real estate speculators through a series of tax breaks and incentives. With substantial support from both the Democratic Party and the leaders of the trade unions, Trump’s plan would be a boondoggle for the ruling class.

The $2 trillion price tag, which ASCE estimates would bring all infrastructure to an adequate condition, must be viewed in the context of overall US spending.

Since 2001, the US has spent over $2.2 trillion prosecuting the imperialist wars in Iraq and Afghanistan combined. When adjusted to include the cost of ongoing health care for injured veterans, debt payments and other factors that figure rises to an estimated $4.4 trillion. In 2015, the US spent over $600 billion on Pentagon spending, more than the next seven largest militaries combined. Trump has pledged to increase this figure by tens of billions more to finance Washington’s predatory wars and enrich defense contractors.

At the outset of the 2008 financial crisis, the government spent $700 billion bailing out the big Wall Street banks under the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). In subsequent years, that figure has grown dramatically. A 2015 report from the inspector general for the TARP program states that the government’s total cost to keep the banks afloat was $16.8 trillion, with $4.6 trillion of that sum already spent.

At the same time that Washington spends trillions on the military and Wall Street, social programs are being slashed. Trump’s proposed budget for 2018 would cut the Environmental Protection Agency’s budget by 31 percent, spending on Health and Human Services would be reduced by 16 percent while Housing and Urban Development would see its budget reduced by 12 percent.

There exist ample resources, both human and material, to rebuild the nation’s infrastructure and create millions of new good-paying jobs. But these resources cannot be marshaled under a system that subordinates social needs and human life itself to the ever-greater enrichment of a modern-day aristocracy.

Serbia: Right-wing nationalist wins presidential election

Markus Salzmann 

Aleksandar Vučić has won the presidential election in Serbia with 55 percent of the vote. He achieved an absolute majority in the first round making a second round of voting unnecessary. Vučić is chair of the right-wing nationalist Serbian Progress Party (SNS) and had previously been prime minister. He becomes head of state replacing SNS founder Tomislav Nikolić, who narrowly won the presidency in the second round five years ago.

Vučić's election means a major turn to the right in Serbia. Moreover, it intensifies conflicts in the highly unstable Balkans, heightening the danger of new war.

The European Union, and above all Germany, has long relied on the right-wing politician, which even newsweekly Der Spiegel has criticised for his “autocratic methods of rule, harsh neo-liberal economic reforms, half nationalist, half pro-European rhetoric and his seesaw politics between Moscow and Brussels.”

In fact, this characterization is quite understated. Vučić stems from the ultra-nationalist Serbian Radical Party (SNR), of which he was a member from 1993 to 2008, and for whom he sought to whip the press into line as Minister of Information.

In the 1990s, the SNR recruited nationalists for the Croatian and Bosnian wars, forming paramilitary units which were infamous for their atrocities. In 2006 in Belgrade, several SNR members were found guilty of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity for their actions during and after the battle of Vukovar in 1991, as well as the massacre at Vukovar in which 200 defenseless and mainly wounded men were taken from a hospital and murdered.

In 2008, there was a split in the SNR. While a wing around Vojislav Šešelj continued to call for a Greater Serbia, the wing around Nikolić and Vučić regarded rapprochement with the EU as advantageous for Serbia's narrow ruling elite. In fact, however, Vučić held fast to his nationalist politics. For example, he has never distanced himself publicly from his 1995 statements, when he said for every Serb that was killed, 100 Muslims had to die.

In recent months, Belgrade has once again been inciting the conflict with Kosovo, which Serbia does not recognise as an independent state. The government organised a train emblazoned with the slogan “Kosovo is Serbia” to head towards the northern part of this former Serbian province, in which many ethnic Serbs still live. An elite Kosovan police unit was put on standby, ready to halt the train. As a result, President Nikolić threatened to deploy the army, and Prime Minister Vučić directed a “final warning” at the Kosovars. In the end, he halted the train in Raška, the last Serbian town before the border.

Vučić's electoral success is due to the absence of any political alternative. According the Ipsos Institute, turnout was around 50 percent—even lower than in the 2012 presidential elections. Ten other candidates polled far behind. In second place, with 16 percent, was the former ombudsman and independent candidate Saša Janković. The satirist Luka Maksimović achieved around 9 percent. Opposition parties either did not stand their own candidate, or achieved only a low vote.

The majority of the population in Serbia face an insecure future. Unemployment has fallen slightly, but this is because younger, educated people are leaving the country in droves. The current unemployment rate stands at 20 percent, and is twice as high among young people. The average wage stands at just over 300 euros a month, although prices have reached a level similar to Western Europe.

Vladimir Gligorov of the Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies paints a bleak picture of the Serbian economy, declaring “Serbia has shown the worst performance after Croatia. The increase in exports can largely be put down to sinking domestic consumption as a result of the recession. Growing employment is a consequence of falling wages, making labour cheaper.” Many work part-time jobs or are self-employed, according to the economist.

Vučić and the SNS control considerable sections of the security apparatus, the judiciary and the media. Vučić denies he is seeking to control the press. In the days running up to the election, however, seven of Serbia's largest circulation newspapers printed a poster of Vučić on their front pages.

The organization Reporters Without Borders reported that critical journalists in Serbia are put under severe pressure, while government media are subsidized by the state. The SNS will use the presidency and its majority in parliament to establish authoritarian structures.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel recently praised Vučić for his “reform efforts.” Vučić's authoritarian policies are welcomed in the EU. During the refugee crisis, countries such as Germany and Austria relied on the brutal closing off of the so-called “Balkan route” by Serbia. The Financial Times recently quoted a Western official saying: “You need a man like that in Belgrade.”

Vučić's close relations with Moscow, however, are regarded critically. Recently, Belgrade and Moscow have agreed on defence deals and several energy projects. Immediately following his election victory, Vučić thanked both German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The strategic significance of the Balkan region, the conflicts between Europe and Russia, and the extreme nationalism Vučić embodies in the states of the former Yugoslavia all heighten the danger of war.

The Austrian EU Commissioner Johannes Hahn recently warned on broadcaster Deutsche Welle of the “risk that something will happen in the Balkans.” And the Hamburger Abendblatt remarked, “What Europe cannot afford is the outbreak of a war fired by nationalist hate. But this is precisely what threatens in the Balkans, the very place where in 1914, the First World War, Europe's seminal catastrophe, broke out.”

In Focus magazine, a former adviser to Merkel, Werner Weidenfeld, also warned of a new Balkan war. There was a “considerable potential for conflict,” he declared, demanding the European Union act more decisively against Serbia.

World teeters on the brink of war

Andre Damon

US officials made a series of extraordinary and provocative statements directed against North Korea Tuesday, underscoring the growing danger of the eruption of a major war in the Pacific.

“The clock has now run out, and all options are on the table” in dealing with North Korea, one US official told reporters. After North Korea test-fired another ballistic missile into the Sea of Japan Tuesday evening, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson issued an ominous statement, declaring, “The United States has spoken enough about North Korea. We have no further comment.”

The implications of these cryptic and threatening statements were further elucidated by retired General John “Jack” Keane, a top advisor to the Hillary Clinton campaign who declined an offer to be Trump’s Secretary of Defense in November.

“A preemptive strike against launch facilities, underground nuclear sites, artillery and rocket response forces and regime leadership targets may be the only option left on the table,” Keane told the Times of London on Tuesday. “We are rapidly and dangerously moving towards a military option.”

On Saturday, US President Donald Trump declared that he is prepared to go to war against North Korea “unilaterally.”

Former US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter, a supporter of US military escalation against China and North Korea, said over the weekend that a US military operation against North Korea would “have an intensity of violence associated with it that we haven’t seen since the last Korean War,” which killed nearly three million people.

Even as the White House threatens to initiate a major military conflict in the Pacific, the US media has been braying for a further escalation in Syria in response to what it claims to be a chemical weapons attack by the government of Bashar Al-Assad.

The United States, Britain and France proposed a United Nations Security Council resolution condemning the attack, which is set for a vote on Wednesday. Trump in a statement condemned the “heinous actions by the Bashar al-Assad regime,” which he blamed on the “weakness” of his predecessor, Barack Obama.

The US is in the process of funneling hundreds of additional troops into Iraq and Syria, all with no public discussion or debate. Last week, a Pentagon spokesman told the Los Angeles Times, “The coalition will not routinely announce or confirm information about the capabilities, force numbers, locations, or movement of forces in or out of Iraq and Syria.”

Trump reiterated this point in an interview with the Financial Times this weekend, saying, “I am not the United States of the past where we tell you where we are going to hit in the Middle East… why are they talking? There is no reason to talk.”

The raging conflict in Syria and the potential for a “preemptive strike” against North Korea are in fact proxy fights in the US’s conflict with its larger geopolitical adversaries: China and Russia, against whom the US is likewise directly ramping up its military posture.

Over the weekend, a further 1,350 troops from NATO’s Enhanced Forward Presence in Eastern Europe arrived in Orzysz in northeastern Poland. These troops, together with thousands of other NATO forces deployed in Poland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, have been deployed to counter “violent Russian agitation and Russian aggression,” according to Tillerson.

Within days, Trump is expected to announce the US response to alleged Russian violations of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, which media outlets like the New York Times are clamoring should become the occasion for the escalation of tensions with Russia.

On Friday, Trump also signed two executive orders furthering his administration’s trade war agenda against China, while making clear that his meeting this week with Chinese Premiere Xi Jinping will be “difficult.”

The administration has likewise escalated tensions with its NATO ally Germany, demanding Friday that NATO members increase their defense spending. That day, German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel accused the United States of engaging in “trade war” and called for the EU to launch a complaint against the US at the World Trade Organization.

While the US is at the center of global war preparations, the deepening crisis of the US-dominated world order is fueling military tensions all over the globe.

Just days after the United Kingdom officially initiated its exit from the European Union under Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, the UK and Spain have become embroiled in a dispute over the strategic territory of Gibraltar. Former Tory leader Michael Howard strongly implied Sunday that Britain would be prepared to go to war to defend its claim to the territory. British Rear Admiral Chris Parry added, “Spain should learn from history that it is never worth taking us on and that we could still singe the King of Spain’s beard.”

Meanwhile Japan is rapidly rearming itself, having this month launched its second helicopter carrier. Last week, the governing Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) issued a proposal for Japan to acquire “counterattack” weapons, such as aircraft carriers and long-range missiles, that are banned under its constitution.

At the same time India, according to press accounts, has been quietly revising its nuclear doctrine, with the New York Times carrying a report last week that the country “is considering allowing for preemptive nuclear strikes against Pakistan in the event of a war.”

As was the case a century ago with the outbreak of World War I, the whole world has been transformed into one great powder keg. Any one of these myriad conflicts and flashpoints risks setting off a chain of events that could lead to war between nuclear-armed powers, resulting in the deaths of hundreds of thousands, if not millions of people, within hours.

The immense danger of a new world war is an expression of the deepening crisis of the nation-state system, which is breaking down under the weight of a profound crisis of the entire capitalist order.

The world’s capitalist ruling classes have only one solution to this deepening and insoluble crisis: a new world war, with all the horrors that it entails. The international working class must oppose the drive to war with its own program: the abolition of the nation-state system and private ownership of production, and the reorganization of world economy into a worldwide socialist federation.