Trump reverses himself on Syria pullout order

Patrick Martin

After a reportedly heated meeting of the US National Security Council on Wednesday, the Trump White House announced that there was no change in US policy toward Syria, despite a volley of comments and tweets by President Trump demanding an immediate pullout of the 2,000 US troops now deployed in the country.

The meeting with the National Security Council was essentially a conference between Trump and his generals, since he has no current top-level civilian foreign policy advisers.

Trump fired Secretary of State Rex Tillerson last month, and his successor, CIA Director Mike Pompeo, has not yet been confirmed. National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster, an Army general, is a lame duck, and his replacement, former Bush administration UN Ambassador John Bolton, does not begin work until next week.

As a consequence, the meeting Wednesday involved Trump and Secretary of Defense James Mattis (a retired Marine Corps general); the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Joseph Dunsford; and the head of the Pentagon’s Central Command, General Joseph Votel, to discuss Syria policy.

The White House issued a brief statement after the meeting, declaring, “The military mission to eradicate ISIS in Syria is coming to a rapid end,” but adding that it would continue. At the same time, Washington appealed to “countries in the region and beyond, plus the United Nations, to work toward peace and ensure that ISIS never re-emerges.”

Press reports suggested that Trump had told the military brass that he wanted a complete pullout within six months, an indication that the wrangling over Syria is largely motivated by domestic political considerations. Trump wants to have the option of announcing a supposedly triumphant end to the Syrian intervention on the eve of the November 6 congressional election, now seven months away.

The Republican Party is trailing badly in the polls and has suffered a series of recent reverses in key industrial states, including Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

Significantly, Trump made his initial announcement about withdrawing all US troops from Syria at a campaign-style rally in Ohio, another key industrial state in the Midwest. He is acutely aware—and the audience response at the rally demonstrated it—that the American public is deeply hostile to military interventions in the Middle East.

There is an enormous gulf between this popular antiwar sentiment and the demands of the military-intelligence apparatus, the Democratic and Republican parties, and the corporate media, where there has been near-universal denunciation of Trump’s suggestion of a pullout from Syria.

Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, who plays a major role on national security policy in the Republican caucus, warned on Fox News Sunday that a withdrawal from Syria was the worst decision Trump could make.

On Tuesday, there was a revealing split-screen moment, when Trump was declaring his support for withdrawal from Syria at a White House press briefing, at the very time that two top US officials, General Votel of Central Command, and Brett McGurk, the State Department coordinator of the campaign against ISIS, were a few blocks away addressing the US Institute for Peace, a think tank devoted, of course, to imperialist war, about the necessity to stay the course.

“We are in Syria to fight ISIS. That is our mission, and our mission isn’t over,” McGurk told the audience, citing two large pockets of ISIS fighters numbering several thousand men, and including ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. “We have to work through some very difficult issues as we speak,” he said. “We are going to complete that mission.”

General Votel was even more categorical, saying, “The hard part, I think, is in front of us, and that is stabilizing these areas, consolidating our gains, getting people back into their homes.” He added, “There is a military role in this, certainly in the stabilization phase.”

Wednesday’s NSC meeting was only the latest demonstration of the sway that the generals exercise in all Trump administration policy matters. Besides the generals on the other side of the table, briefing Trump, his own chief of staff, John Kelly, is a retired Marine Corps general implacably opposed to any “premature” withdrawal of US forces from Syria, Iraq or Afghanistan.

The NSC meeting coincided with the meeting in the Turkish capital of Ankara between Russian President Vladimir Putin, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to discuss the political situation in Syria in the wake of the destruction of ISIS and the military advances of forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The three presidents agreed on maintaining the territorial integrity of Syria, an implicit rejection of Kurdish aspirations in the region.

At the same time, the Associated Press reported Wednesday that United States troops were building new positions near the front line close to the Syrian-Turkish border, with outposts flying the American flag. According to this report, “The structures look much like the fighting positions once seen in Iraq and Afghanistan, which projected a clear message: ‘We’re here for a while.’”

A top US general Thursday emphasized that Trump had not set a deadline for withdrawing US troops from Syria, despite his statement to that effect at a campaign rally last week, several tweets, and his comments to the press Tuesday during an appearance with visiting leaders of the three Baltic states.

Lt. Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, the director of the Joint Staff, told a Pentagon press briefing, “One of the things that we haven’t been given is a timeline,” and he went on to praise Trump, saying, “The President has actually been very good in not giving us a specific timeline.”

In a transparent effort to flatter Trump, General McKenzie contrasted the current posture in Syria with timelines like those set by the Obama administration in Afghanistan, where, he said, US forces “operated against a timeline that was known to the enemy.”

The real attitude towards Trump’s vacillations about Syria was spelled out in a scathing editorial published Thursday night by the Washington Post, which has been aligned with the Democratic Party efforts to push Trump towards a more confrontational policy against Russia.

Under the headline, “Trump’s mind-boggling gift to America’s enemies,” the Post took note of Trump’s belated climb-down before the demands of his “national security team,” and then warned of the devastating consequences that a pullout from Syria would have for the interests of US imperialism.

Brushing aside the question of ISIS, which has always been a pretext, calling it “only one of the major US interests at stake,” the Post spelled out the main US war aims: “preventing Iran and Russia from entrenching in the country at the expense of U.S. allies including Israel and Jordan;” as well as “preserving Turkey’s place as a NATO ally” and preventing “destabilizing waves of refugees headed for Europe.”

The editorial continued, making a sinister connection between US policy in Syria and the ongoing anti-Russian campaign by the Democrats and their media mouthpieces like the Post and the New York Times: “That Mr. Trump’s intended retreat is a gift to Vladimir Putin perhaps should not be surprising, given Mr. Trump’s curious eagerness to accommodate the Russian ruler.”

Capitalism and the artificial intelligence revolution

Andre Damon

Last month, over 3,000 Google employees signed a letter taking a stand against Google’s collusion with the United States’ drone assassination program, which has killed and maimed tens of thousands of people throughout the Middle East and North Africa.

Google employees demanded that the company end its participation in “Project Maven,” a system of mass drone surveillance integrated with the US drone warfare program, declaring, “We believe that Google should not be in the business of war.” It called for the adoption of a policy stating that “neither Google nor its contractors will ever build warfare technology.”

Google’s collusion with the drone assassination program highlights the growing integration of the major technology companies with the US military, which, having declared a new era of “great-power competition” with Russia and China, sees pressing Silicon Valley into its war plans as the only way to regain its military power on the world stage.

Just as ominous is Google’s role in mass domestic surveillance and censorship. In April of 2017, Google announced changes in its search algorithms—implemented through the use of “deep learning” and artificial intelligence technologies—to promote “authoritative content” over “alternative viewpoints.” These changes led to a sharp fall in search referrals to left-wing web sites by as much as 75 percent—with the World Socialist Web Site a central target.

More broadly, Google, Facebook and Twitter have hired tens of thousands of professional censors, many with backgrounds in the military, police and intelligence agencies, to train and augment their artificial intelligence systems to censor and police what people say and read online.

Central to both the military’s recruitment of the technology companies and the partnership of these firms with the intelligence agencies is the rapid development of artificial intelligence technology. Using the power of artificial intelligence, Google is helping the US military to mesh together drone footage to identify individuals and objects in a targeted area.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg declared earlier this year that its “goal with AI [artificial intelligence] is to understand the meaning of all the content on Facebook,” as part of manipulations to the social media giant’s News Feed.

The object of the military and intelligence agencies’ use of artificial intelligence is the holy grail of every totalitarian regime: what the National Security Agency called “total information awareness,” or, as its unofficial mission statement put it, “Collect It All, Know It All… Exploit It All.”

This mission statement, which in another context would seem to be an unhinged dictator’s megalomaniacal fantasy, is fast becoming an imminent reality through the power of artificial intelligence.

In his statement to the World Socialist Web Site's January 16 online webinar, "Organizing Resistance to Internet Censorship," Wikileaks founder Julian Assange warned of the immense dangers posed to humanity by the misuse of artificial intelligence.

“The future of humanity is the struggle between humans that control machines and machines that control humans. Between the democratization of communication and usurpation of communication by artificial intelligence,” Assange warned. “Undetectable mass social influence powered by artificial intelligence is an existential threat to humanity. The phenomena differs in traditional attempts to shape cultural and political phenomena by operating at scale, speed and increasingly at a subtlety that eclipses human capacities.”

The use of artificial intelligence for mass surveillance and war-making is only one of the destructive purposes to which this transformative technology is being used under capitalism.

Already, artificial intelligence is being used at Amazon warehouses to track every move employees make. Amazon’s systems count how many times workers go to the bathroom and alert foremen if workers stop to catch their breath in the up to 15 miles they are forced to walk during a single shift. At companies such as Uber and Lyft, artificial intelligence is used to push drivers to work longer and harder, often to the detriment of their health and well-being.

But even more radical changes are on the horizon. As ride-sharing companies and shipping lines rush to implement driverless cars, trucks and boats, tens of thousands of jobs will be eliminated. The integration of AI with robotics will extend the wave of mass automation that has already displaced countless thousands of industrial workers into every single field, from the building trades to food preparation, to custodial work and retail.

According to a 2013 survey by Oxford University, nearly half of US jobs will be destroyed by AI and robotics in the next two decades alone.

Since the industrial revolution, capitalism has managed to transform every development in technology into an instrument of human oppression and butchery. The introduction of the  spinning jenny ushered in the horrendous social misery of 19th century slums of London and Manchester. The cotton gin brought a resurgence of American slavery. The airplane was converted—through the doctrine of “strategic bombing”—into a method for killing civilians by the tens of thousands. And the nearly limitless energy created by nuclear fusion was turned into a means of destroying entire societies, and perhaps humanity itself.

But why should these technologies, which objectively create the conditions for a massive expansion of the standard of living for billions of people, be put to such horrendous uses? As the Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky wrote in 1926:

Technique and science have their own logic—the logic of the cognition of nature and the mastering of it in the interests of man. But technique and science develop not in a vacuum but in human society, which consists of classes. The ruling class, the possessing class, controls technique and through it controls nature. Technique in itself cannot be called either militaristic or pacifistic. In a society in which the ruling class is militaristic, technique is in the service of militarism. (“Radio, Science, Technique and Society”)

In the hands of the ruling elites that control society under capitalism, every technological innovation becomes a cudgel: against the working class and against countries they seek to conquer and suppress through military violence.

In different hands, the same technology will produce different results. In a socialist society, the artificial intelligence and robotics revolution will create the circumstances for a massive elevation of not only the economic well-being of the population, but also its cultural life. The replacement of tedious and back-breaking occupations will mean not mass unemployment and destitution, but rather greater leisure and an expansion of workers’ opportunities for education, family life and cultural enrichment.

The automation of the building trades and the expansion of additive manufacturing (3D printing) to construction will vastly reduce the amount of labor required to build homes, schools and hospitals and ensure excellent housing for all. The leveraging of artificial intelligence in gene sequencing, drug development and analysis of medical studies will result in unprecedented breakthroughs in human health for the whole of humanity, not just the few who can pay soaring drug prices.

The roboticization of both farming and transportation will vastly reduce the cost of food, ending malnutrition and ensuring a high-quality diet for all—not the ruin of small farmers by agriculture conglomerates.

In holding out this prospect for humanity, Marxists base themselves on the traditions of the Enlightenment, which drew a connection between human progress in science and society. Just as men like Isaac Newton were unlocking the secrets of nature, so too society could be rationally understood, and, once understood, changed for the better.

This view stands in direct contrast to the middle-class pessimists of the Frankfurt School, who, in rejecting the Enlightenment, claimed that the theory of gravity paved the way to the gas chambers of Auschwitz. What demoralized intellectuals such as Herbert Marcuse and Max Horkheimer—who falsely claimed to be students of Karl Marx and whose theories are still palmed off as Marxism at universities—ignored was precisely Trotsky’s point: that “technique and science develop not in a vacuum but in human society, which consists of classes.”

The question is: Who controls the means of production, and thus society?

Two roads are open to humanity. The capitalist road offers a relentless escalation of war, poverty, mass repression and totalitarian dictatorship. The road of socialism offers not just freedom from all those horrors, but the liberation of all mankind from oppression and want.

Which road humanity takes will be decided through the class struggle. Amid a growing strike wave throughout the United States, Europe and the whole world, the most critical question is the unification of the disparate struggles by workers in different industries and countries into a common political movement for the socialist transformation of society. Only then will the vast technological revolution on the horizon be transformed into a revolution for human liberation, not human enslavement.

Regional Stability and Japan's Irresponsible Political Gambit

Sandip Kumar Mishra 


It is a critical time for the North Korean nuclear and missile issue, and South Korea, the US and other stakeholder states have accorded it their highest priority. Japan, however, is focusing its primary attention on the abduction of its citizens by North Korea, and has asked for the issue to be raised during the South Korea-North Korea and US-North Korea summit meets scheduled for April and May 2018, respectively. On 16 March, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe raised his concerns with over a telephonic conversation with the South Korean President Moon Jae-in. On 17 March, the Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kano raised the issue again with his South Korean counterpart, Kang Kyung-wha. On 2 April, Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga reiterated that during the April summit meet between Japan and the US, Japan would request President Donald Trump to explore the possibility of a Japan-North Korea summit. Japan emphasised the abduction issue as the “most important task” in dealing with North Korea.
It is unfortunate that Abe is more concerned about domestic politics and is deliberately trying to deflect focus from the North Korean nuclear issue. Japan’s priority also emanates from a sense of being left out in dealing with North Korea, a trend referred to as ‘Japan passing’. 

According to Japan, 17 of its citizens were abducted by North Korea between 1977 and 1983 (North Korea claims that 13 were abducted). Five of them have already come back to Japan. While the abduction of these individuals is highly condemnable and entirely North Korea's fault, it is not appropriate to continue raising an issue that happened more than 35 years ago, part of which has been already resolved. The deliberate use of it, time and again, to derail efforts aimed at North Korea's denuclearisation is imprudent. In fact, North Korea has abducted more than 3,800 South Koreans, and it is estimated that 485 are still alive in North Korea. However, the South Korean leadership has focused on the larger issues in dealing with North Korea. Seoul's approach - that the future should be not be kept hostage to the past - does not imply a lack of concern for their citizens. Their interest in securing long-term regional stability in fact means quite the opposite. 

The Japanese attempt to raise the abductee issue is irresponsible. It will not contribute in any positive way to international attempts to deal with North Korea's nuclear weapons - in fact, Japan's moves may play spoiler to the positive momentum established in recent months. Shinzo Abe has resorted to playing this card for two important reasons. First, he feels that the current dynamics around the North Korean nuclear issue have moved towards negotiation and engagement, and Japan has no role in it. He sees ‘Japan passing’ as detrimental to Japan's regional standing. Perhaps it is believed that the ends will justify the means if the country is able to find an entry into the process. Japan is also concerned that if relative peace arrives with the amelioration of the nuclear threat and establishment of a US-China modus vivendi in dealing with the issue in a consensual framework, Japan would lose its aggressive posture's raison d'etre. Two, Japan’s behaviour could also be linked with the Liberal Democratic Party’s presidential election in autumn this year. Abe’s approval ratings have dropped after the finance ministry’s document-alteration scandal and he may feel apprehensive about a third straight victory in the presidential election.

Japan appears desperate, and from the very announcement of an important breakthrough during the South Korean envoys' visit to North Korea in early March, Japan has strategically and recurrently expressed its apprehensions. When the potential for summit meets between the US, South Korea and North Korea were announced, Abe hurriedly fixed up a summit meet with the US ahead of both. Japan has not asked for the inclusion of any positive content in these meetings and the deliberations are more likely to sow doubt at a time when the US is on board with South Korea's engagement efforts towards North Korea. 

Japan may be able to persuade Trump against a give-and-take deal with North Korea since there is a history of mistrust when it comes to North Korean peace offers, and there may also be doubt regarding South Korea's capacity to achieve anything substantial. However, Abe must realise that his political gambit will cause significant damage to Japan as a responsible stakeholder, and it is time to re-focus attention away from smaller past issues, to the most pressing threat to East Asian regional stability today. 

New Zealand Government LEARN Postdoctoral Fellowships for Developing Countries 2018

Application Deadline: 30th June 2018

Eligible Countries: Developing Countries

To Be Taken At (Country): New Zealand.

About the Award: The Livestock Emissions Abatement Research Network or LEARN is an awards scheme sponsored by the New Zealand Government, through the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) to build international capability in livestock emissions research.
LEARN is part of New Zealand’s support for the Global Research Alliance on Agricultural Greenhouse Gases (or GRA (www.globalresearchalliance.org)). The GRA aims to increase international cooperation and investment in research to help reduce the emissions intensity of agriculture and increase its potential for soil carbon sequestration.

Type: Postdoctoral, Fellowship

Eligibility: To be eligible for the Postdoctoral Fellowship, you must:

• Have gained a PhD in the last 5 years.
• Be a high achieving researcher (supported by academic transcripts, letters of recommendation and publishing record).
• Be employed in an area of research aligned with livestock greenhouse gas mitigation in your home country.
• Have the support of your employer to apply for the Fellowship.
• Have a mentor in a New Zealand research organisation (host).
• Be resident in a developing country as defined by the OECD list of Overseas Development Assistance (ODA) recipients: http://www.oecd.org/dac/stats/daclist.htm
• Satisfy New Zealand Government requirements for international entry into New Zealand.
• Be able to speak and understand English to a level sufficient to function in a research role.

Selection Criteria: The assessment panel considers:

• The science quality and feasibility of the proposed research project.
• Alignment with known scientific priorities and profile of the applicant’s home organisationand the New Zealand host organisation.
• The extent to which the project will create enduring collaborations between New Zealand and the home country.
• The extent to which the project will contribute to building capability in livestock greenhouse gas research in the home organisation and country.

Taking into account the panel’s recommendations, the Ministry for Primary Industries then assesses the application’s ‘fit’ with the objectives of the GRA and other Ministry for Primary Industries objectives and priorities before making its funding decision.
The contract will be signed by the applicant, New Zealand host organisation, the applicant’s home organisation and the NZAGRC.

Number of Awards: Not specified

Value of Award: Funding is available for:

• Up to NZD$50,000 per year for a maximum of two years to cover living expenses while inNew Zealand (pro rata to be calculated on time spent in New Zealand).
• Up to NZD$5,000 will be provided for return economy class airfares and travel/medicalinsurance.
• Up to NZD$5,000 will be provided to assist with research costs associated with the project.

Duration of Program:  It is for a minimum of 12 months and a maximum of two years and must be started within one year of the award being granted.

How to Apply: 

• There is a two-stage application process. The New Zealand Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Research Centre (NZAGRC) administers the LEARN awards on behalf of the Ministry for Primary Industries.
• Applicants must first submit an Expression Of Interest (EOI) to to determine eligibility. Forms can be downloaded from here. If eligibility is confirmed, the applicant will be invited to submit a full application to be considered by an assessment panel and Ministry for Primary Industries.
• An EOI for a Postdoctoral Fellowship can be submitted at any time during the year, however full applications must be submitted by 30 June (New Zealand time).

Visit the Program Webpage for Details

Award Providers: New Zealand Government

Important Notes: All applications must be developed in close collaboration with a New Zealand research institution.

Institute of Culinary Education (ICE) Scholarship Challenge for International Students (Full Scholarship to USA) 2018

Application Deadline: 15th April, 2018
Voting Begins on the 26th of March.

Offered annually? Yes

Eligible Countries: All

To be taken at (country): New York City, USA

About the Award: You will upload a (1) minute video explaining why you deserve to win 1 of 4 full tuition scholarships. You will be randomly assigned to one of four teams, each led by a celebrity chef, and your video will be posted to the contest website when public voting begins. The twenty-five (25) videos on each team with the most public votes will become semifinalists and scored by a panel of judges to determine the top five (5) videos per team, for a total of twenty (20) finalists. Finalists will compete in New York City in two skills challenges that will be shown on ABC’s The Chew, and as a result, there will be four (4) Grand Prize winners, who will each receive a full tuition scholarship to either the Culinary Arts program or Pastry & Baking Arts program at The Institute of Culinary Education in New York, New York or Los Angeles, California.
 After completing the Entry Information, you will be asked to upload a Video up to one (1) minute in length from your phone, computer or other applicable electronic device. You must appear in the Video. Video submissions may depict cooking, baking, or a passion for service in the culinary or hospitality industry. Video submissions can be comical or serious, depict a sense of accomplishment, or overcoming an obstacle/adversity. They can include testimonials from others, with prior written consent from each such individual. The goal is to demonstrate to ICE your passion for food, service, entrepreneurial flair and/or creativity, and convey why you would be a suitable candidate for a full tuition scholarship to ICE’s Culinary Arts program or Pastry & Baking Arts program. The Video should be well thought-out, represent a positive addition to the ICE community and last, and demonstrate that you are eager to learn and will never stop learning.

Type: Training

Eligibility: 

• You don’t have to be an actor or movie director—just be yourself! Show your creativity!
• Film your video horizontally to look best on screen.
• Videos should be no longer than one minute (60 seconds) in length.
• The sooner you upload, the more chances your video has to gain votes.

MAKE SURE YOUR VIDEO

• Is filmed horizontally to look best on screen.
• Is no longer than one minute in length.
• Does not include music.
• Is creative, shows your passion for food and features you.
• Is shared on your social networks to encourage friends and family every day to vote—spread the word!

Selection: The public will vote to determine the top 100 scholarship semifinalists between March 26, 2018 – April 15, 2018. Once public voting is closed, a panel of judges from ICE will review the semifinalists to determine the 20 scholarship finalists, who will be announced May 10, 2018. The finalists will be flown to NYC to compete in a series of challenges on ABC’s The Chew to determine the ultimate winners, who will be announced on air on June 15, 2018.

Number of Awardees: 4

Value of Scholarship: Successful candidates will each receive a full tuition scholarship to either the Culinary Arts program or Pastry & Baking Arts program at The Institute of Culinary Education in New York or Los Angeles, California.

How to Apply: Upload your Video

Visit Scholarship Webpage for details

Award Provider: Institute of Culinary Education (ICE)

Government of Azerbaijan ADA University International Fellowship 2018

Application Deadlines: 

• Early application deadline for international students: 5th April, 2018
• Late application deadline for international students: 1st August, 2018

Eligible Countries: International

To Be Taken At (Country): Azerbaijan

About the Award: The ADA University is committed to grooming world class leaders. Their research focuses on diplomacy, public and international affairs, business, humanities and sciences, information technologies and system engineering. The programme aims to attract bright minds.
ADA University is located in Baku, the capital city of the Republic of Azerbaijan, which is the cultural and commercial centre of the country.

Type: Undergraduate, Masters

Eligibility: 

• Applicants should first be admitted into ADA University.
• Previous work experience in public sector and/or commitment to serve in public sector is valued most.
• Incoming undergraduate fellows are eligible to receive a 100 percent tuition waiver for the first year of their studies.
• Incoming graduate fellows are eligible to receive a 100 percent tuition waiver for the first semester of their studies.

Number of Awards: Not specified

Value of Award: Alimardan Bay Topchubashov Fellowship covers the tuition fee and rent of housing only. Fellowship recipients are expected to cover all other expenses, including books, student fees and utilities.
The following expenses will be from the student’s own account:
Flight ticket
Monthly stipend
Medical insurance
Books

Duration of Program: Not stated

How to Apply: To apply, visit Link below

Visit the Program Webpage for Details

Award Providers: ADA University

Johnson & Johnson One Young World Scholarship Program to attend One Young World Summit 2018

Application Deadline: 8th May 2018

To Be Taken At (Country): The Hague, The Netherlands

About the Award: If you are a young leader (aged 18-30) working within health and/or care-giving, then this scholarship is for you. You may be a social entrepreneur or working for a social enterprise, medical facility and/or an NGO, or you may be a birth attendant, nurse, doctor or an individual dedicated to health and care giving to underserved communities.
As well as attending the upcoming One Young World Summit, scholarship recipients will receive individual coaching from senior Johnson & Johnson leaders to further develop their aspiration, strategy and/or initiatives.

Type: Conferences

Eligibility: 

• Candidates must be aged between 18 and 30 at the time of the 2018 OYW Summit
• You must be working on the front lines of delivering care (i.e. you may be a social entrepreneur or working for a social enterprise, medical facility and/or an NGO, or you may be a birth attendant, nurse, doctor or an individual dedicated to health and care giving to underserved communities)
• If selected, Health Care Professionals classified as Government Officials within their home country will need approval from their employer, and will undergo an additional health care compliance approval process by Johnson & Johnson before their scholarship can be confirmed

Selection Criteria: 

• Passion for global and local health/care issues
• Leadership and innovation on the front lines of care
• Willingness to share and learn from others
• Commitment to invest 10% of their time to the Program

Number of Awards: 12

Value of Award: 

• Access to the One Young World Summit 2018 in The Hague, The Netherlands
  • The cost of travel to and from The Hague, The Netherlands (economy flights only)
  • Hotel accommodation in a single room from 16-20 October inclusive
  • Catering which includes breakfast, lunch and dinner, during these days
  • Transport between the Summit accommodation and the Summit venue
  • Summit hand-outs and support materials​​
• Participation in the 2018 Johnson & Johnson One Young World Program
  • Individual coaching with senior Johnson & Johnson leaders
  • Buddying with 2018 Johnson & Johnson delegates prior, during and post Summit
  • Participation in webinars and conference calls throughout the duration of the Program​

Duration of Program: July 2018 – January 2019.

How to Apply: Apply here

Visit the Program Webpage for Details

Award Providers: Johnson & Johnson

Mastercard Start Path Global Accelerator Program for Innovative Startups 2018

Application Timeline:

• Application deadline: Ongoing
• Global Pitch Day: In Sept (tbc) Virtual
• Immersion Day: Btw Nov – Dec (tbc)

Offered annually? Yes

Eligible Countries: Global

To be taken at (country): Dublin, Ireland

About the Programme: Mastercard works with an ever growing portfolio of later stage startups with unique solutions across fintech and commerce. Start Path Global is based on what has worked best for our portfolio of startups: more flexibility, more customization, and no distractions from your current business.

Offered Since: 2014

Type: Entrepreneurship

Eligibility: Start Path Global is designed for later stage startups:
* That have raised investment
* That are looking for support to scale
* That are targeting the fintech and broader commerce space
* That can benefit from partnering with MasterCard and accessing our ecosystem

Number of Awardees: Not specified

Value of Programme: 
* Six month virtual programme tailored to the individual needs of your company
* No need to move from your home location
* No equity taken up front (but an option to participate in your next round)
* Immediate access to 60+ MasterCard experts
* Connections to potential customers – global corporate brands spanning banking, retail, tech and telecoms
* Funds provided so that you have no out of pocket expenses

How to Apply: Apply here

Visit Programme Webpage for details

Award Provider: Mastercard Foundation

School Enterprise Challenge for Schools, Teachers & Students ($50,000 in Prize) 2018

Application Timeline: runs from March–October 2018

Offered annually? Yes

Eligible Countries: for school around the world

To be taken at (country): where the school is resident

About the Challenge: The School Enterprise Challenge is a global business planning awards programme run by the educational charity ‘Teach A Man To Fish.’ It aims to create globally aware, socially responsible, young entrepreneurs.

This free programme guides and supports teachers and students to plan and set up real school businesses. Students develop essential skills in business and entrepreneurship in a practical, fun and innovative way. The Challenge also helps schools generate extra income for their school, or a social cause of their choice.
Schools have set up an amazing variety of businesses. In 2016, 5265 schools from 106 countries participated in the Challenge and their businesses ranged from fly fishing in Belize, to an inter-schools newspaper in India and a car wash in South Africa.
The programme is FREE and it helps students plan and set up school-based enterprises that:

1. Generate real profits to help support their educational activities.
2. Give students the chance to gain hands-on experience of running a real business.
3. Are sustainable, and will grow and develop every year.

How does it work?
The School Enterprise Challenge awards programme runs from March–October 2017 with $50,000 in prizes on offer!
It is divided into three stages.

• In Stage 1, Students have 4 weeks to develop and submit a business idea for a school enterprise.
• In Stage 2, Students have 6 weeks to develop and submit a business plan for a school enterprise.
• In Stage 3: Students launch a school enterprise, get hands on business experience, and generate income to support either their school or a charitable cause of their choice! This stage lasts up to 4 months.

Students then submit a Final Report.
School businesses can be run in many different ways. Your school can decide which one suit you best, whether as an after-school club, at lunchtime, during lessons or at any other time that works for you. If you would like to incorporate the School Enterprise Challenge into your lessons, our guides and curriculum will help you to do it.

What is a School Enterprise?
A school enterprise is a business that is owned by a school but that is staffed and operated by the students that attend it. Enterprises should be sustainable, selling products or services on a consistent basis (i.e. not just at a one-off event) and at least part of the profits should be reinvested in the school’s educational activities or growing the business further.

What support does the School Enterprise Challenge Team provide?
The School Enterprise Challenge Team provides support to schools throughout the whole programme, from coming up with a business idea, to writing a business plan, all the way through to successfully running a school business!

Why should you participate?
It is FREE to join and this year the program is giving away approximately USD $50,000 worth of prizes, including:

• A top prize of $5,000 for the overall global winner.
• Three prizes of $2,000 for the People, Profit and Planet categories
• Multiple prizes of up to $2,000 for the Regional Winners.
• Business Growth and Primary school prizes up to $2000 each.
• Multiple smaller prizes for the best business idea!
• $2,000 for the ’Inspirational Teacher’ Award, with $1,000 for two runners up.
• A laptop for the ‘Enterprising Student’ Award and cameras for two runners up.
• Fully-funded places to our regional education conference.

Benefits of Participating
Schools

• Win great prizes including places at our international conference and cash prizes worth over $50,000.
• Gain global recognition as an entrepreneurial school.
• Raise extra income for your school.
• Become part of a global community of enterprising schools.

Teachers

• Teach your students 21^st Century skills-take learning out of the classroom and into the real world.
• Access easy to follow lesson plans and educational resources including our enterprise curriculum.
• Get great skills for your CV.
• Win one of our inspirational teacher prizes worth up to $2000.

Students

• Experience running a real business.
• Learn workplace skills like problem-solving, communication and teamwork.
• Win one of our enterprising student prizes including laptops and cameras.
• Get great experience for your CV and university applications.

Deadline: runs from March–October 2018. From the date you register you will have one month to submit a business idea and get started with the programme. Please consider this schedule when you register formally online and register at a time that will best fit with the school calendar in your country.

How to Apply

• Register: Register online here
• Download resources
• Create your business idea
• Launch your business
• Participate in our extra opportunities
• Write your business plan
• Submit your final report
• Finally celebrate your achievements and earn a school enterprise certificate

Register today and be part of this network of enterprising schools across the world!
If you would like to learn more about the School Enterprise Challenge, download this Information Pack

Visit challenge Webpage for details

Scholarship Provider: Teach A Man To Fish educational charity

Important Notes: If you still have questions about the School Enterprise Challenge, please visit the Frequently Asked Questions or email info[at]schoolenterprisechallenge.org.

Teach for Nigeria Fellowship for University Graduates and Young Professionals 2018

Application Deadline: Ongoing

Eligible Countries: Nigeria

To be taken at (country): Nigeria

About the Award: The Teach for Nigeria Fellowship program is a 2 year full-time paid commitment in which we place the most outstanding graduates and professionals to teach in Nigeria’s underserved schools in low- income communities.The Teach For Nigeria fellowship is a transformational leadership program that equips Fellows with transferable leadership skills to effect change beyond the classrooms in the communities we serve.
Teach For Nigeria ensures that all Fellows have the knowledge and skills necessary to lead their students towards achievement. The Teach For Nigeria Fellowship begins with a six-week residential training program. Here, Fellows are exposed to curriculum, lesson planning, and classroom facilitation and student assessments among other modules, sessions, and keys to successful teaching.
After the Fellowship, alumni of Teach For Nigeria build on their classroom teaching experience to drive long-term systemic changes in the educational sector in Nigeria as they progress into leadership roles in their varied professions. The Teach For Nigeria model is based on the proven success of 40 country organizations including Teach For America, Teach First UK, Teach For Ghana, Teach For Bangladesh, Teach For Nepal and Teach For India, who are all part of the Teach For All network.

Type: Fellowship (Career)

Eligibility: 

• Teach for Nigeria is open to Nigerians who after the program can be a contributing change to education in Nigeria.
• Candidate must be a Nigerian citizen, hold a minimum of a Bachelor’s degree and be younger than 35.

Number of Awardees: Not specified

Value of Fellowship: As a Teach For Nigeria Fellow, you are a part of movement of young leaders working to eliminate educational inequity. In addition, these are some of the benefits of being a Fellow:

1. Opportunity to be part of a movement that is changing lives and that will change society
2. Extensive leadership development training
3. Intensive teacher training leading to a Postgraduate Diploma in Education
4. Real responsibility from day one
5. Job and internship opportunities during and post Fellowship
6. Opportunity to be a part of a global network of change agents from across 42 countries
7. Access to a 9 month Mentoring Programme, offering a unique opportunity to achieve professional and personal development
8. Access to professional development and network of supporters
9. Ongoing leadership development, coaching, business training and skills workshops
10. Opportunity to design and implement a social change project
11. A stipend for two years including during the school holidays.
12. About 9-10 weeks of holiday

Duration of Fellowship: 2 years

How to Apply: The Application process is in three stages.

1. In stage one, you submit an application HERE. When your application is received, you will be invited to write an online test for numeracy and literacy.
2. If you are successful, you will be invited for a pre-assessment interview either in person or online. Based on your performance, you will be invited for a final assessment day at the Teach for Nigeria office in Lagos.
3. If successful at the assessment centre, you will be made an offer to the Teach for Nigeria Fellowship for September 2018.

Visit Fellowship Webpage for details

Award Provider: Teach for Nigeria

The Coming Crisis with Iran

Mel Gurtov

With the appointments of Mike Pompeo as secretary of state and John Bolton as national security adviser, Donald Trump has signaled his preparedness by the May 12 deadline to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal and ramp up pressure on North Korea if it refuses to denuclearize.  The two moves would have interactive consequences: casting aside the Iran nuclear deal is likely to be read in Pyongyang as indicating that the US cannot be trusted to keep its commitments. It might also be read as a signal that should nuclear talks with Trump fail, a US attack on North Korea’s missile and nuclear sites could be in the offing.

The always precarious state of US relations with Iran, and with the Middle East as a whole, will be blown apart should Trump nix the nuclear deal.  Iran is likely to immediately resume production of nuclear-weapon grade materials. US relations with its European allies will be deeply unsettled, another bitter pill will be added to relations with Russia and China (both of which endorsed the nuclear deal), the Israeli far right will be emboldened to join in pressuring (and perhaps attacking) Iran, and the Saudis and others will be encouraged to produce their own nuclear weapons.

Most important of all, ending US participation in the nuclear agreement will bring it closer to war with Iran.  In John Bolton we already have a top official who is on record as favoring an attack on Iran’s, as well as North Korea’s, nuclear facilities.  That record is consistently wrong in its predictions about Iran; Bolton made it appear that war was inevitable and negotiations with Iran a fruitless alternative.  Especially worrisome is his obliviousness to international law and to the human consequences of belligerent actions.  Bolton can therefore be expected to push for a preventive war (not preemptive war, as he maintains) on Iran just as he argued after 9/11 for invading Iraq.  To some observers, only defense secretary James Mattis stands between Trump and war with Iran, a slim reed indeed.

We should keep in mind that the nuclear deal is working.  The International Atomic Energy Agency has several times judged Iran to be in compliance with the agreement.  Rex Tillerson and H.R. McMaster apparently agreed and argued for continuing to certify it—perhaps one reason they are gone.  Numerous scientists and military professionals argued during the Obama years that the agreement was a breakthrough in keeping Iran denuclearized.  In short, the agreement is in the national security interest of the US. Withdrawing from it would be a gross, and dangerous, disservice to that interest.

In my new book, Engaging Adversaries, I suggest that the nuclear deal with Iran could be the basis for a normal relationship with Iran that might work in favor of other US policy objectives in the Middle East.  These would include resolving the conflict in Yemen, loosening of Iran’s ties to Hezbollah and its support of the Syrian regime, and undercutting Israel’s and Saudi Arabia’s confrontational strategy with Iran.

China Pledges To Protect Freedom Of Religion Amid Reports Of Religious Repression

Abdus Sattar Ghazali 

China pledged to continue to respect and protect its citizens’ freedom of religious belief in a white paper published Tuesday (April 3).

As a socialist country under the leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC), China adopts policies on freedom of religious belief based on national and religious conditions to protect citizens’ right to freedom of religious belief, build active and healthy religious relationships, and maintain religious and social harmony, said the white paper published by the State Council Information Office, titled “China’s Policies and Practices on Protecting Freedom of Religious Belief.”

Protecting freedom of religious belief, properly handling religious relations and adapting them to the times, and curbing religious extremism are common tasks facing all countries around the world, said the white paper.

China will uphold the principle that religions in China must be Chinese in orientation and provide active guidance to religions so that they can adapt themselves to the socialist society, it said.

The major religions practiced in China, which are Buddhism, Taoism, Islam, Catholicism and Protestantism, have a total of nearly 200 million believers and more than 380,000 clerical personnel, according to Xinhua news agency.

The Chinese government supports all religions in upholding the principle of independence and self-management, according to the document.

The religious activities of foreigners in China are protected in accordance with the law, the white paper said.

Foreigners may attend religious activities at temples, mosques, churches, and other sites for religious activities, but shall conduct religious activities in line with law, it stressed.

Religious extremism and violent terrorist activities are dealt with in accordance with the law, the document noted. China opposes all extremism that seeks to instigate hatred, incite discrimination and advocate violence by distorting religious doctrines or through other means, it said.

“China takes measures against the propagation and spread of religious extremism, and at the same time, carefully avoids linking violent terrorism and religious extremism with any particular ethnic group or religion,” the white paper said.

There are about 5,500 religious groups in China, including seven national organizations, and about 144,000 places of worship registered for religious activities in China, including 33,500 Buddhist temples of different schools, 9,000 Taoist temples, 35,000 Islamic mosques, 6,000 Catholic churches and places of assembly spread across 98 dioceses, and 60,000 Protestant churches and places of assembly, according to the white paper.

About 20,000 prominent religious figures are serving as deputies and members at all levels of people’s congresses and committees of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, according to the document.

Council on Foreign Relations Report

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is officially atheist, but it has grown more tolerant of religious activity over the past forty years following extensive efforts to eradicate religion under Mao Zedong, according to the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR).

Amid China’s economic boom and rapid modernization, experts point to the emergence of a spiritual vacuum as a trigger for the growing number of religious believers, particularly adherents of Christianity and traditional Chinese religious groups, the CFR reported on March 15, 2018, and added: “While China’s constitution allows religious belief, adherents across all religious organizations, from state-sanctioned to underground and banned groups, face intensifying persecution and repression.”

Article 36 of the Chinese constitution says that citizens “enjoy freedom of religious belief.” It bans discrimination based on religion and it forbids state organs, public organizations, or individuals from compelling citizens to believe in—or not believe in—any particular faith. The State Council, the government’s administrative authority, passed new regulations on religious affairs, which took effect in February 2018, to allow state-registered religious organizations to possess property, publish literature, train and approve clergy, and collect donations. Yet alongside these rights come heightened government controls. The revised rules include restrictions on religious schooling and the times and locations of religious celebrations, as well as monitoring of online religious activity and reporting donations that exceed 100,000 yuan (around $15,900).

The FCR quoted Human Rights Watch’s China director, Sophie Richardson, as saying that while religious belief in China is protected by the constitution, the measures “do not guarantee the right to practice or worship.” Religious practices are limited to “normal religious activities,” though “normal” is left undefined and can be broadly interpreted. The state recognizes five religions—Buddhism, Catholicism, Daoism, Islam, and Protestantism. The practice of any other faith is formally prohibited, although often tolerated, especially in the case of traditional Chinese beliefs. Religious organizations must register with one of five state-sanctioned patriotic religious associations, which are supervised by the State Administration for Religious Affairs (SARA).

The government’s tally of registered religious believers is around one hundred million (less than 10 percent of the population), according to several sources including the United Nations Human Rights Council’s 2013 Universal Periodic Review. Yet some independent reports suggest the number of religious adherents in China is far larger and is steadily increasing. The research and advocacy group Freedom House estimates there are more than 350 million religious believers in China, primarily made up of Chinese Buddhists, followed by Protestants, Muslims, Falun Gong practitioners, Catholics, and Tibetan Buddhists. Many believers do not follow organized religion and are said to practice traditional folk religion. These practitioners, along with members of underground house churches and banned religious groups, account for many of the country’s unregistered believers. One of the higher estimates comes from the U.S. State Department’s 2016 International Religious Freedom Report, which says there are about 650 million Chinese religious believers.

Waves of Extremism in North Eastern States in India Against Christians

Punsara Amarasinghe

When Indian constitution was drafted by Amedkar, his visionary mind understood the importance of placing specific emphasis on the religious freedom as India shelters for dozens of religions and faiths with its vast cultural homogeneity. The religious freedom of Indian constitution has been verified by Article 25 and secularism in Indian constitution is predominant factor which is accepted by the preamble in 1976 Amendment. Having such a fervent protection towards ensuring the religious liberty India faces number of religious ethnic animosities regularly.

Many have seen the role of Christianity in India as a legacy of its colonial past, but this myth is refuted in studying the growth of Christianity in North Eastern states in India. North Eastern India refers to Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura and Sikkim. The historiography of North Western states in India gas particularly shown that those states were partially aloof from the common Indian culture and especially the cultural roots which are intrinsic to these states have not impacts from the either North Indian Hindu culture or Darvidian routines in India. Nevertheless the spread of Christianity in North Eastern India was mainly attributed to the Christian educational policy. After the annexation of Assam in 1829 to British Raj, British missionaries started their missionary activities in Assam.

The Barrister Pakem in his study of the interaction between Christianity and the people of Northeast India believes that “the prospects which Christian education has offered to the peopleof Northeast “compensates for any of its shortcomings”. The establishment of education through Christian schools laid a foundation to nourish knowledge among the backward tribal communities in North East states.

Before the establishment of Christian educational institutions in Northeast India, there might have been some general awareness that the people living in a particular geographical area are related to each other. Nevertheless, such awareness was definitely nonfunctional at the interactive level. Each village was self-sufficient and remained as an isolated unit. There was hardly any interaction between villages, even among the villages of the same tribe. Christian educational institutions played a positive role in providing a basis for establishing a new relationship at the intra tribal; inter-tribal and extra tribal levels. The Christian education was the first agent of tribal solidarity.

Another way the Christian educational institutions nurtured tribal identity within the same group was through the standardization of their language. Often it was the Christian missionaries who gave the script to many of these languages and wrote their first dictionary and grammar. Gradually the same method was applied to different tribes by introducing English as a common medium of instruction in the schools. Thus the Christian educational institutions were able to expand the relationships among the people of the Northeast from village to tribe, tribe to different tribes and finally to the nation at large. No wonder then, today many people from the region are prominent on the national scene, both in politics and in the bureaucracy.

However the peaceful existence of Christianity and Missionary activities in North Eastern states in India has begun to envisage severe existential threats from the rise of far right Hindu extremism in the recent past. The fallacy propagated by some Hindu extremist activists in North Eastern states in India by portraying Christianity as a diabolical force to destroy Hindu native culture or convert Hindus to Christianity has agitated the people to be hostile towards Missionary activities in some North Eastern states. As an example the communal unrest occurred in state of Manipur in India in 2011 shows the consequences of manipulating public under religious extremism. Technically state of Manipur’s majority belongs to Hindu community representing 60% of the state population, but the propagandas led by hardcore Hindu nationalist groups misguided even moderate Hindus in Manipur to boycott trades and businesses belonged to Christians in 2011. The infiltration of far right Hindu nationalist organization named RSS into the state politics in North Eastern states mainly created the platform for religious hostilities towards Christians. The recently conclude election  in Tripura gave a massive land side victory for BharatiyaJantha Party which is current ruling party of India and RSS has known for its ideological affinity with BJP for many years. The current ideological waves of Hindu extremism spreading over North Eastern states have gutted Christians in those states considerably. Many right wing Hindu historians have a tendency of scorning Christianity in India as a mere colonial heritage introduced by Western invaders. In tracing country’s colonial past, such an accusation has a rationale as British rulers granted special privilege for those native who converted to Christianity, but surprisingly the expansion of Christianity is attributed to the great social welfare campaign led by Christian missionaries from American Baptist , Jesuits. The backward tribes who were trampled and isolated for centuries gained a greater strength from the missionaries and Christian schools in those states. For instance the Italian born missionary Fr. Porcu Mario was known for his bonhomie in state of Assam, where he founded a vocational school that trained many unemployed young people in the state. On the other hand the Christianity’s service to unify the scattered and weak tribal people in North Eastern India cannot be forgotten. The tribes like Kuki’s and Naga’s in North Eastern India were suppressed and their voice was unheard during the epoch of British Raj, but the arrival Christian Missionaries drastically changed their position into more productive in many way. Instead of following the British modeled “ Macaulay “ style Western liberal education, the Christian Missions in North Eastern states in India  established  more vocational based educational institutes, which helped backward tribes to seek many opportunities for come out of their impoverished status.

The recent hostile environment towards Christians has not yet tuned to a Christian persecution like Pakistan ad some Middle Eastern countries, but if this unrest continues to exist in North Eastern states in India could possibly create havoc in the sub-continent. The waving flag politics practiced by India’s ruling party BharatiyaJanatha Party and its ideological wing RSS has plunged the sword into Christian hearts in many of ways. According to local reports from Nagaland six Pentecostal churches were burnet by Hindu extremists between years 2015 to 2017 and threating and assaults on Christian community in Nagaland have been often reported. Throughout the history India has been a homogenous multi ethnic state and country’s complex past has shown the severe repercussions of raising religious extremism. North Eastern states in India have known for their mystic charm and silence from rest of the other India states, moreover the growth of education and other enterprises in this states under Christian missionary influence have provided a stable for entire North Eastern Indian states, but its peaceful stability can be shattered by recent religious hostilities.