German defence minister resigns as government prepares to triple special fund for the military

Peter Schwarz

On Monday, Germany’s Defence Minister Christine Lambrecht officially resigned. Chancellor Olaf Scholz (both SPD) reportedly will announce a successor today.

German Defence Minister Christine Lambrecht meets with her U.S. counterpart Lloyd Austin at NATO headquarters in Belgium [Photo by US Secretary of Defense / CC BY 2.0]

The reason for Lambrecht’s resignation is not the trifles she has been publicly accused of for weeks—a botched New Year’s Eve video, taking her son on a government service flight, etc. The real reason is that despite her best intentions, the Social Democrat politician has been insufficiently assertive in advancing Germany’s militarization quickly enough and ensuring the generals get everything they want.

In its Saturday edition, Der Spiegel published a long cover story that could be described as a “manifesto of the generals.” Partly anonymous, partly naming names, it lists one demand after another that amount to a massive rearmament and enhancement of the military. Chancellor Scholz’s “turn of the times” announced in the spring is modest in comparison.

Below a cover picture showing a soldier with a wooden rifle sitting on a green toy car complete with a tank barrel, the article paints a picture of an ailing army that has lost “its core competence: fighting.”

This is underscored with vulgar barrack room jokes, such as the claim that the Defence Ministry’s procurement office prescribes air quality values for tank crews that “strictly rule out the threat of ‘amniotic fluid damage among female Puma crew,’” and that passageways in frigates must be so wide that “two people using walkers can easily pass each other.”

This crude propaganda serves to justify a massive rearmament campaign in the tradition of Hitler and the Nazis. The most important goals raised in Der Spiegel are:

• Tripling the special fund for modernizing the Bundeswehr (Armed Forces) from €100 to €300 billion

• Increasing the annual arms budget from the targeted 2 to 3 percent of GDP, which would correspond to an increase from the current level of €50 to €120 billion

• Introducing a general staff and eliminating civilian control over the Bundeswehr

• Increasing troop strength and reactivating conscription

• Strengthening the arms industry, which is to supply weapons directly to the Bundeswehr without tendering, ministerial control and approval by the Bundestag.

The Spiegel article is part of a broad campaign. Over the weekend, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) published an interview with Eva Högl (Social Democrat, SPD), the parliamentary defence commissioner, who is being talked about as a possible successor to Lambrecht and is making similar demands to Spiegel.

Högl, too, is calling for a tripling of the special fund for rearming the Bundeswehr: “You would need €300 billion to make significant changes in the Bundeswehr.” Adding, “That doesn’t seem to me to be pulled out of thin air. At least €20 billion are needed to procure ammunition alone. New frigates, tanks or F-35 fighter jets also cost billions, and we haven’t talked about personnel costs, energy-efficient building renovation, the necessary €50 billion of investment in infrastructure, or even inflation.”

Referring to the former chairman of the Munich Security Conference, Wolfgang Ischinger, who calls for the introduction of a “war economy” in Germany, Högl makes the case for “fundamentally rethinking the legal provisions covering the Bundeswehr.”

“We need even more far-reaching special rights for the Bundeswehr,” she demands. “We cannot respond adequately to war and the new challenges for German defence and security policy without changing the legal basis, at least temporarily.” Procurement law must be “streamlined” and the planning process “shortened” through special laws, she said.

The highest-ranking general in the Bundeswehr has also spoken out. Der Spiegel quotes from Inspector General Eberhard Zorn’s report on the operational readiness of the armed forces, which is classified but immediately circulated throughout the capital.

Except for deployments to Mali, Kosovo and, in some cases, Lithuania, the traffic light is set to yellow or red everywhere, Spiegel reports. This is followed by a long list of ammunition, weapons and spare parts that the Bundeswehr urgently needs. The report only refers to “the more than 20,000 men and women who are currently scheduled for missions and NATO, EU and UN obligations.” The situation was much worse for the 163,000 soldiers not currently scheduled for deployments, he said.

“For the core mission of the Bundeswehr ‘national and alliance defence,’ operational readiness must be restored for the entire armed forces,” the inspector general’s report states. Above all, “the shortage of necessary materiel (for example, modern large-scale equipment, command and control equipment, ammunition, spare and replacement parts) must be made up.” Only fully equipped and manned forces are “cold-start capable” and thus “key to credible deterrence by the Alliance because of their short-term response capability.”

The “full materiel equipment” of the force requires a huge amount of funding, Spiegel concludes. “The €100 billion from the special fund will not be enough for this. If the Bundeswehr’s ‘capability profile,’ which is still valid but already four years old, were fully implemented, about three times that amount would be needed.”

Der Spiegel considers the generals’ lack of influence in the Defence Ministry to be a central problem. “Germany may now be the only country in the world that has armed forces that are not led by a general staff or comparable military body,” the article says.

Thomas de Maizière (Christian Democrat, CDU), defence minister from 2011 to 2013, had disbanded the Armed Forces Command and Planning Staff, “ousted” the inspectors (the senior commanders of the branches of the armed forces) from the ministry, and created “three central monster authorities.” To the outside world, “the inspector general is still the face of the force,” but his domain now includes only three of the ministry’s ten departments, the news magazine says.

Lambrecht refused to change this, “She categorically rejects major reforms,” complained Der Spiegel. She preferred “to turn ‘small adjusting screws’ rather than the big wheel.” Even the goal agreed in 2018 of increasing troop strength from the current 183,000 to 203,000 by 2031 will not be achieved, it complains. “Because the Bundeswehr is not growing, it is stagnating.”

To replace the 20,000 men and women who leave military service each year and increase troop strength by 18,000, the Bundeswehr would have to recruit 22,000 new recruits each year, a “Mission Impossible,” according to Der Spiegel. In addition, “the Bundeswehr is finding no means to depress the stubbornly high dropout rate among regular soldiers and voluntary conscripts.”

Even though Der Spiegel does not explicitly mention it, preparations are obviously underway to reactivate compulsory military service, which was suspended in 2011, but not abolished.

These are apparently the real reasons why Lambrecht had to go. Under her, “the Ministry of Defence and the Bundeswehr leadership have fallen into a deep lethargy,” complained Der Spiegel. The money from the “turn of the times” was slowly arriving at the troops, but its spirit was not. Now “nothing less than a revolution is called for.”

New Zealand’s COVID wave continues as XBB.1.5 variant found

Tom Peters

New Zealand’s third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic continues, with dozens of deaths and hundreds of people being hospitalised each week due to the virus.

Medical staff test shoppers who volunteered at a pop-up community COVID-19 testing station at a supermarket carpark in Christchurch, New Zealand, 2022. [AP Photo/Mark Baker]

In the week ending January 15, another 57 people were reported to have died within 28 days of contracting the coronavirus, and 333 people were in hospital due to the virus at the end of the week. A total of 19,215 new cases were recorded, but the real toll is undoubtedly far higher. The Labour Party-led government is deliberately limiting testing in order to keep people at work, if they have COVID but no symptoms.

Since Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced an end to New Zealand’s elimination strategy in October 2021, and her government proceeded to abandon lockdowns and other public health measures, the country’s COVID death toll has shot up from around 30 to more than 3,000. In fact, the health ministry reports that 3,766 people have died within 28 days of contracting COVID, but claims that 699 of these deaths were not COVID-related, providing no further details.

More than 2.1 million infections have been recorded for the whole pandemic, in a population of 5 million, and 25,427 people have been hospitalised for COVID, including over 3,000 children.

With no steps taken to stop or even slow the spread, the toll of illness and death will continue to rise sharply in the coming months. The new Omicron variant XBB.1.5, also known as Kraken, was detected in New Zealand during the first week of January. This variant, the most transmissible and immune-evasive so far, is fueling a surge in several countries, including the United States where it is estimated to account for over 40 percent of COVID cases.

In the face of this new threat, the government is promoting maximum complacency. A ministry of health statement on January 9 declared: “The detection of XBB.1.5 is not unexpected.” Despite clear evidence of Kraken’s heightened transmissibility, it said: “It remains unknown how XBB.1.5 will compete against other variants in a New Zealand context, and whether this could affect the level of COVID-19 circulating in the community in the coming months.”

Portraying the mass infection of the population as a positive, the ministry said: “New Zealand currently has a high level of immunity based on high vaccine uptake, combined with a recent wave of infections (so-called ‘hybrid immunity’).”

This is totally misleading. In fact, more than a third of COVID cases reported in recent weeks are repeat infections. Every time someone gets the virus, it increases the risks that they will become seriously ill and develop long-term conditions, or Long COVID.

Vaccines provide some protection against serious illness but their efficacy is limited. Nearly half the population has still not received a third dose (or first booster) of the vaccine, and only 14 percent have received a fourth dose (second booster), which is needed to remain up-to-date.

In contrast to the government, experts issued blunt warnings about the new variant.

Speaking to NewstalkZB, epidemiologist Michael Baker warned that XBB.1.5 is “better at infecting people and quite likely to cause a new wave of infections.” He added: “People often say ‘we have to wait and see if it’s more severe or less than other sub-variants’ ... but actually sub-variants that affect a lot more people is much worse in some ways because it just means a lot more people will get sick, in some cases dying.”

Microbiologist Siouxsie Wiles wrote in Stuff that the proliferation of new variants including XBB.1.5 was “really worrying,” adding that “it looks like monoclonal antibody treatments are no longer able to protect immunosuppressed people from some of the Omicron sub-variants.” She expressed concern “that we are no longer working collectively to reduce the spread of Covid.”

On January 8, epidemiologist Amanda Kvalsvig wrote on Twitter: “Unless the NZ Govt changes their Covid strategy in 2023, this is the certainty we now have: of ongoing, cumulative, inequitable damage to population health and wellbeing, including (unforgivably) our children.”

The corporate media, meanwhile, continues to report as little as possible on the pandemic. Writing in the New Zealand Herald on January 14, former opposition National Party MP Steven Joyce noted, approvingly, that politicians have “quickly moved on to playing down the virus and normalising it.” News bulletins, he said, are now reporting COVID deaths in “just a thirty-second summary” before the weather report.

Joyce, a former transport minister, complained that the Ardern government didn’t remove public health measures earlier, and that the shutdown of transport projects during lockdowns had “likely cost billions of dollars and years in delays.”

He called for the cost to business to be investigated by the royal commission into the government’s pandemic response. This inquiry, announced by Ardern last month, will start in February and is expected to finish its work in mid-2024.

The commission’s terms of reference say it will investigate “the overall response, including the economic response, identify what we can learn from it and how that can be applied to any future pandemic.” The purpose of the inquiry is to ensure that there is no return to any policy of elimination, or even mitigation measures, which are deemed an unacceptable impost on big business’ profits.

The inquiry will be chaired by University of Melbourne epidemiologist Tony Blakely, a prominent minimiser of COVID-19. When Omicron emerged, Blakely echoed false claims that the variant was “mild” and advocated a policy of mass infection in Australia and New Zealand. In February 2022, he told Radio NZ that New Zealand was being “too cautious,” and urged the Ardern government to work faster at dismantling public health measures in order to “let Omicron wash through in a timely manner.”

Assisting Blakely with the inquiry are two seasoned representatives of the capitalist state: former National Party education minister Hekia Parata and ex-Treasury secretary John Whitehead.

Oxfam report documents “explosion of inequality” during pandemic

Jacob Crosse

In the face of an unending pandemic, war and inflation, the wealthiest people and multinational corporations on the planet became “dramatically richer,” driving an “explosion of inequality,” according to the latest report from the UK-based charity Oxfam.

In the report, titled “Survival of the Richest” and delivered ahead of the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, Switzerland, the charity documents an enormous concentration of wealth in the hands of a tiny corporate and financial oligarchy.

The report refers to what it calls a “global polycrisis” developing throughout the world: 

Tens of millions more people are facing hunger. Hundreds of millions more face impossible rises in the cost of basic goods or heating their homes. Climate breakdown is crippling economies and seeing droughts, cyclones and floods force people from their homes. Millions are still reeling from the continuing impact of COVID-19, which has already killed over 20 million people. Poverty has increased for the first time in 25 years.

In the midst of this social catastrophe, the report notes, “the very richest have become dramatically richer and corporate profits have hit record highs.”

In the first page of its executive summary, Oxfam lays out the following staggering facts:

• Since 2020, the richest 1 percent have captured almost two-thirds of all new wealth—nearly twice as much money as the bottom 99 percent of the world’s population.

• Billionaire fortunes are increasing by $2.7 billion a day, even as inflation outpaces the wages of at least 1.7 billion workers, more than the population of India.

• Food and energy companies more than doubled their profits in 2022, paying out $257 billion to wealthy shareholders, while over 800 million people went to bed hungry.

• Only 4 cents out of every dollar of tax revenue comes from wealth taxes, and half the world’s billionaires live in countries with no inheritance tax on money they give to their children.

• A tax of up to 5 percent on the world’s multimillionaires and billionaires could raise $1.7 trillion a year, enough to lift 2 billion people out of poverty, and fund a global plan to end hunger.

The extreme growth of social inequality continued through the pandemic, though there was a slight dip in the wealth of the oligarchy last year, due to the increase in interest rates by central banks aimed at beating back demands for higher wages by workers. 

In a stunning graph, Oxfam showed that the top 1 percent siphoned 63 percent of all new wealth created, more than $26 trillion between 2020-2021. The top nine percent below them gobbled up 27 percent of all new wealth, a bit more than $11 trillion, leaving only 10 percent, or about $5 trillion for the bottom 90 percent, or 7.2 billion people.

[Photo: Oxfam]

Based on these figures, one can only conclude that the pandemic, which is a massive catastrophe for hundreds of millions of people, has been a miracle for the rich.

This concentration of wealth has been facilitated by capitalist governments. Citing a study conducted by the Research School of International Taxation (RSIT), which covers 142 countries, Oxfam noted that states throughout the world have reduced taxes on corporations, while increasing Value Added Tax (VAT) or consumption taxes, which disproportionately affect the incomes of workers and the poor.

For every $1 of tax revenue, 44 percent of it was generated via VAT or consumption taxes, in 75 countries measured by RSIT from 2007 through 2019. Corporate income taxes meanwhile only accounted for 14 percent of tax revenue, four percentage points less than payroll taxes.

Notably, for the first time in 25 years, Oxfam reported an increase in wealth inequality and poverty, “simultaneously.” In another “first,” the United Nations’ Human Development Index—which measures life expectancy, expected years of schooling and inequality within a country—fell in nine out of every 10 countries in either 2020 or 2021.

No matter where they live, workers around the world have had to contend with skyrocketing inflation, which Oxfam, using data from the International Labor Organization, estimated wiped out “$337 billion” in wages from workers last year. Revealing the global character of the crisis, Oxfam conducted an analysis of wage data from 96 countries in 2022 and found that at least 1.7 billion workers, nearly a quarter of humanity, live in countries where inflation is outpacing wage growth, driving up inequality and poverty.

In contrast to claims of US President Joe Biden and other leaders of the major capitalist countries, the authors of the report squarely place the blame for once-in-a-generation inflation on corporate profiteering. Noting that this began well before the pandemic, Oxfam wrote that Global Fortune 500 firms increased their profits by 156 percent, from $820 billion in 2009, to $2.1 trillion in 2019, and that this trend has only accelerated.

The report revealed that these price increases were the result of a small number of corporations which have “effective oligopolies” allowing them to “maintain high prices” while passing on savings when the costs fall to “shareholders rather than consumers.”

The charity analyzed the profits of the largest 95 food and energy companies in the world, and found that “Corporate price profiteering is driving at least 50 percent of inflation in Australia, the US, and Europe, in what is as much a ‘cost-of-profit’ crisis as a cost-of-living one.”

Oxfam noted that in response to widening inequality, the vast majority of governments around the world, 95 percent, did not increase taxes on the rich; instead they, “either did not increase, or even lowered, taxes on rich people and corporations.”

That is, instead of enacting hugely popular policies to lessen inequality, capitalist governments the world over have foisted the “polycrisis” onto the back of the working class, while enriching a tiny parasitic few.

Beyond starving society of resources, the Oxfam report states that the corporate and financial oligarchy is a massive factor in the crisis. It notes that “the richest are key contributors to climate breakdown: a billionaire emits a million times more carbon than the average person…” It adds that “the very existence of booming billionaires and record profits, while most people face austerity, rising poverty and a cost-of-living crisis, is evidence of an economic system that fails to deliver for humanity.”

The facts and details presented in the report should be studied by every worker. However, as liberal reformists, they evade the fundamental issues. Oxfam presents as a panacea a “one-off solidarity wealth tax” which would eventually lead to “permanent tax increases” with the goal of eventually eliminating “billionaires.”

Such a proposal evades two fundamental facts: 1) Those who have used their power to accumulate their wealth, and who control capitalist governments throughout the world, are not going to just give it up; and 2) The massive concentration of wealth is rooted in the capitalist relations of production, based on the exploitation of the working class for corporate profit.

Heinrich Boll Foundation Scholarships 2023/2024

Application Deadlines:

• 1st March 2023

Offered annually? Yes

Eligible Countries: International

To be taken at (country): Universities, Universities of Applied Sciences, or Universities of the Arts in Germany

Accepted Subject Areas: Any subject area is applicable

About Heinrich Böll Foundation Scholarships: The Heinrich Böll Foundation grants scholarships to approximately 1,000 undergraduates, graduates, and doctoral students of all subjects and nationalities per year, who are pursuing their degree at universities, universities of applied sciences (‘Fachhochschulen’), or universities of the arts (‘Kunsthochschulen’) in Germany.

The special focus regions for international students are Central and Eastern Europe; EU neighborhood countries and the CIS; the Middle East and North Africa; transition and newly industrialized countries; and conflict regions worldwide.

Selection Criteria: Heinrich Böll Foundation Scholarship recipients are expected to have excellent academic records, to be socially and politically engaged, and to have an active interest in the basic values of the foundation: ecology and sustainability, democracy and human rights, self determination and justice.

Eligibility: The following general requirements apply to international student applicants (except EU citizens) who wish to study in Germany:

• You must be enrolled at a state-recognized university or college (e.g. Fachhochschule) in Germany at the time the scholarship payments begin.
• You should provide proof that you have already graduated with an initial professional qualification. This programme mainly supports students aiming for a Masters degree.
• You need a good knowledge of German, and require you provide proof of your proficiency. Please note that the selection workshop (interviews, group discussions) will normally be in German. Exceptions (interview in English) are, however, possible.
• Unfortunately, the current guidelines specify that the foundation cannot support foreign scholarship holders for stays abroad in third countries for more than four weeks.
• You should definitely apply for a scholarship before the start of your studies, in order to ensure long-term support and cooperation.
• The Heinrich Böll Foundation cannot award you a scholarship, if you are studying for a one-year Masters degree and were not previously supported by the foundation.
• Applications are possible before you begin your study programme or within the first three semesters.
• Applicants must provide proof that they have been accepted as a doctoral student by an institution of higher education in Germany or an EU country (for doctoral scholarship).

Number of Scholarships: Approximately 1000

Duration of Heinrich Böll Foundation Scholarships: Scholarship will be offered for the duration of the undergraduate, Masters or Doctoral programme

How to Apply: The application form will be completed online; additional application documents will be submitted as PDF.

Visit Scholarship Webpage for Details

HFG Foundation Young African Scholars Program 2023

Application Deadline: 1st March 2023

Eligible Countries: African countries

Eligible Fields: Applicants’ projects are expected to highlight the issues of violence and aggression.

About the HFG Foundation Young African Scholars Program: Harry Guggenheim established this foundation to support research on violence, aggression, and dominance because he was convinced that solid, thoughtful, scholarly and scientific research, experimentation, and analysis would in the end accomplish more than the usual solutions impelled by urgency rather than understanding. We do not yet hold the solution to violence, but better analyses, more acute predictions, constructive criticisms, and new, effective ideas will come in time from investigations such as those supported by our grants.

The foundation places a priority on the study of urgent problems of violence and aggression in the modern world and also encourages related research projects in neuroscience, genetics, animal behavior, the social sciences, history, criminology, and the humanities which illuminate modern human problems. Grants have been made to study aspects of violence related to youth, family relationships, media effects, crime, biological factors, intergroup conflict related to religion, ethnicity, and nationalism, and political violence deployed in war and sub-state terrorism, as well as processes of peace and the control of aggression.

Type: Grants

Eligibility: Applicants must be aged 40 or younger, currently enrolled in a Ph.D. program at an African higher education institution, and living on the continent.

Number of Awardees: 10

Value of HFG Foundation Young African Scholars Program: The program includes:

• a methods workshop
• fieldwork research grants of $10,000 USD each,
• editorial and publication assistance,
• and sponsorship at an international conference to present research findings.

How to Apply: The March 1 application deadline occurs every other year, in accordance with the program application cycle. Applicants must create an account to access the application. The guidelines are also available through the second link below.

Online Application (Login required)

Application Guidelines (PDF)

Visit Programme Webpage for details

Government of Austria ITH Fully-funded Masters Scholarships 2023/2024

Application Deadline: 31st March, 2023

Offered annually? Yes

Eligible Countries: Scholarships are offered to i) ADC Priority countries (See list below) and ii) Other Developing countries

To be taken at (country): The Institute of Tourism and Hotel Management in Salzburg Klessheim, Austria.

About the Government of Austria ITH Fully-funded Masters Scholarships: The Austrian Development Cooperation through the Institute of Tourism and Hotel Management offers about 30 scholarships to applicants from priority countries as well as other developing countries. The Tourism School in Salzburg has an outstanding international reputation and a long tradition. They train future entrepreneurs and employees according to the needs of the international tourism and leisure industry.

Type: Postgraduate

Eligibility: To apply for the Government of Austria ITH Fully-funded Masters Scholarships at ITH, candidate must meet the following criteria:

• Be between 18 – 35 years of age
• Have a secondary school leaving certificate (high school diploma)
• Have a minimum of one year‘s experience within the tourism and hospitality industry
• Non-native English speakers must have an English qualification e.g. TOEFL, Cambridge 1st Certificate, IELTS or equivalent

Successful candidates should be ambitious and open-minded with good organisational and time management skills

Number of Awardees: up to 30

Value of Scholarships: Scholarship for Priority countries include:

• tuition fee
• accommodation
• flight tickets (from home country to Salzburg and back)
• health insurance
• food from Monday – Sunday
• excursions (except field trip to ITB Berlin)
• € 205.- pocket money per month

Not included in this scholarship are:

• transfer from the Airport to the hostel and back to the Airport when leaving
• visa fee: the visa fees have to be paid by the applicants. The entry visa is approximately $ 110, – and the 8 months residence permit, which will be issued in Salzburg, costs approximately € 120.

Scholarship for Developing countries include:

• tuition fee
• health insurance
• food from Monday – Friday
• excursions (except field trip to ITB Berlin)
• € 205.- pocket money per month

Not included in the Scholarship are:

• accommodation: accommodation costs have to be covered by students who are awarded this scholarship. It is € 247, – per month. (€ 1976, – in total). The total accommodation fee of € 1.976, – has to be remitted in advance before admission letter can be issued.
• flight ticket: Students who are on this scholarship have to cover their own travel expenses from their countries to Salzburg and back.
• visa fee: the visa fees have to be paid by the applicants. The entry visa is approximately $ 110, – and the 8 months residence permit, which will be issued in Salzburg, costs approximately € 120.

Eligible Countries: 

ADC Priority countries include: Ethiopia, Uganda, Burkina Faso, Mozambique, Bhutan, Palestinian Territories, Georgia, Armenia

Other Developing countries include: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Benin, Burundi, Cambodia, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Congo, Dem. Rep., Eritrea, Gambia, The, Guinea, Guinea-Bisau, Haiti, Kenya, Korea, Dem Rep., Kyrgyz Republic, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Myanmar, Nepal, Niger, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Sudan, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Togo, Zimbabwe, Bolivia, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Congo, Rep., Côte d’Ivoire, Djibouti, Egypt, Arab Rep., El Salvador, Ghana, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Kiribati, Kosovo, Lao PDR, Lesotho, Mauritania, Micronesia, Fed. Sts., Moldova, Mongolia, Morocco, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Philippines, Samoa, São Tomé and Principe, Senegal, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Swaziland, Syrian Arab Republic, Timor-Leste, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Vietnam, West Bank and Gaza, Yemen, Rep., Zambia, Albania, Algeria, American Samoa, Angola, Argentina, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belize, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Bulgaria, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Fiji, Gabon, Grenada, Hungry, Iran, Islamic Rep., Iraq, Jamaica, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Lebanon, Libya, Macedonia, FYR, Malaysia, Maldives, Marshall Islands, Mauritius, Mexico, Montenegro, Namibia, Palau, Panama, Peru, Romania, Serbia,  Seychelles, South Africa, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Thailand, Tonga, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Tuvalu and Venezuela

How to Apply: Students may attend ITH by private means or through scholarships given by the Austrian Development Cooperation.

Procedure: 

1. Get information about ITH from an Austrian consulate or embassy
2. Download ITH application form by clicking here. Austrian embassies and consulates have this form as well.
3. Application Process – all applications should be sent directly to the Institute via post.
   Submission deadline is the 31st of March 2023 (all applications have to be received by the ITH office the latest by 31st March 2023)
4. You will receive a confirmation by email that you application has been received
5. Confirmation – You will be informed about the result of your application in May 2023. If you were awarded a scholarship you will receive a letter of acceptance.

Visit Scholarship Webpage for details

Aga Khan Foundation Scholarship 2023/2024

Application Deadline: 17th March 2023. 

In certain countries, internal deadlines may be earlier.

Offered annually? Yes

Eligible Countries: The Foundation accepts applications from nationals of the following countries: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Canada*, Egypt, France*, India, Kenya, Kyrgyz Republic, Madagascar, Mozambique, Pakistan, Portugal*, Syria, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Uganda and the USA*. [*Note: in Canada, France, Portugal and the USA, applications are accepted from those who are originally from one of the above developing countries, are interested in development-related studies and who have no other means of financing their education.]

Accepted Subject Areas? Masters and PhD focused areas are Architecture, Health, Civil Society, Planning & Building, Culture, Rural Development, Economic Development, Humanitarian Assistance, Education, Music etc

About Aga Khan Foundation Scholarship: The Aga Khan Foundation provides a limited number of scholarships each year for postgraduate studies to outstanding students from select developing countries who have no other means of financing their studies, to develop effective scholars and leaders and to prepare them for employment, primarily within the AKDN. Scholarships are awarded on a 50% grant : 50% loan basis through a competitive application process once a year in June or July.

The Foundation gives priority to requests for Master’s level courses. Still, it is willing to consider applications for PhD programmes, only in the case of outstanding students who are highly recommended for doctoral studies by their professors and who need a PhD for the fulfillment of their career objectives (academic or research-oriented).

Type: Masters, PhD

Selection Criteria and Eligibility: The main criteria for selecting award winners are:

1. excellent academic records,
2. genuine financial need,
3. admission to a reputable institution of higher learning and
4. thoughtful and coherent educational and career plans.

Candidates are also evaluated on their extra-curricular interests and achievements, potential to achieve their goals and likelihood to succeed in a foreign academic environment. Applicants are expected to have some years of work experience in their field of interest.

Preference is given to students under 30 years of age.

Number of Scholarships: A limited number of scholarship will be available

Value of Aga Khan Foundation Scholarship: The Foundation assists students with tuition fees and living expenses only. The cost of travel is not included in AKF scholarships. Applicants are requested to make every effort to obtain funding from other sources as well, so that the amount requested from the Foundation can be reduced to a minimum. Preference is given to those who have secured some funding from alternative sources.

Loan Conditions: Half of the scholarship amount is considered as a loan, which must be reimbursed with an annual service charge of 5%. A guarantor is required to co-sign the loan agreement. The payback period is five years, starting six months after the study period funded by the Aga Khan Foundation.

How long will sponsorship last? For the duration of the degree programme

How to Apply for Aga Khan Foundation Scholarship:

• Application forms can be obtained from the Aga Khan Foundation or Aga Khan Education Board/Service office in the applicant’s country of current residence
• Completed applications should be returned to the agency from which the form was obtained, or to the address indicated on the front of the form. They should not be sent to Geneva.

Visit Scholarship Webpage for Details

Government of Mauritius Africa Scholarships 2023/2024

Application Deadlines:

Deadline for electronic submission-19th May 2023

Deadline for submission of hard copy-26th May 2023

Eligible Countries: Countries in the African Union

To be taken at (country): Mauritius

Type: Undergraduate, Masters, PhD

Eligibility: 

• Applicants for Mauritius Africa Scholarships should be above 18 years of age and should not have reached their 26th birthday at the closing date of application;
• For Master’s programmes, applicants should not have reached 35 years and,
• for PhD programmes, applicants should not have reached 45 years by the closing date of application
• Applicants must have applied for full-time on-campus studies at any public Tertiary Education Institution in Mauritius for academic year starting in 2023;
• The scholarship will be for a maximum of four (4) years or the minimum course duration whichever is lesser.
• Qualification entry requirements
  • Mauritius Africa Scholarships’ 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 will NOT be eligible under this Scholarship scheme.

Number of Awardees: Not specified

Value of Mauritius Africa Scholarships: 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. This will be valid for travel from the country of origin at the beginning of the studies and back to the country of origin upon successful completion of studies.

Duration of Scholarship: 

• Undergraduate Diploma Three (3) years
• Undergraduate Degree Four (4) years
• Master’s Two (2) years
• PhD Three (3) years

How to Apply for Mauritius Africa Scholarships: 

Applications, together with supporting documents as required should be forwarded to the Ministry of Education, Tertiary Education, Science and Technology of the Republic of Mauritius at the address mentioned below, for a final selection.

The Senior Chief Executive,
Ministry of Education, Tertiary Education, Science and Technology
(Attn: Tertiary Education and Scientific Research Division)
Level 2, MITD House, Pont Fer, Phoenix 73544.
Republic of Mauritius (Email: studymauritius@govmu.org)

It is important to go through all Application Requirements for application instructions before applying.

Visit Scholarship Webpage for details

Romania Government Scholarships 2023/2024

Application Deadline: 1st March 2023

This is the date whereby Foreign diplomatic missions accredited to Bucharest must send the application files with a Verbal Note to Ministry of Foreign Affairs – Public, Cultural and Scientific Diplomacy Directorate.

However, the candidate should enquire at the diplomatic mission where he intends to submit the application file about the enrolment calendar. Each diplomatic mission establishes the deadline for submitting the application files.

Offered annually? Yes

Eligible Countries: Any non-EU country

To be taken at (country): Romanian Universities

Eligible Field of Study: priority will be given to the candidates applying for: political and administrative sciences, education studies, Romanian culture and civilization, journalism, technical studies, oil and gas, agricultural studies, veterinary medicine, architecture, music, arts.

About Romanian Government Scholarships: The scholarships are granted for three levels of study:

1.  for the first cycle (licenta): This scheme is dedicated to graduates of high schools or of equivalent pre-university systems, as well as to candidates who require the equivalent of partial studies and the continuation of their studies in Romania. The complete cycle of university studies lasts for 3 to 6 years, according to the specific requirements of the chosen faculty, and ends with a final examination (licenta);
2.  for the 2nd cycle (master): This scheme is dedicated to graduates of university/post-graduate studies; it lasts for 1,5 to 2 years and ends with a dissertation;
3.  for the 3rd cycle (doctorate) the scheme is dedicated to the graduates of university/postgraduate studies (i.e. master); it lasts for 3-4 years, in keeping with the specific requirements of the chosen faculty, and ends with a doctor’s thesis.

Type: Undergraduate, Masters and Doctoral degrees

Eligibility: Citizens of non-EU countries (irrespective of their residence) are eligible to apply. Priority is given to citizens from non-EU states with which Romania does not have cultural and education cooperation agreements.

Number of Scholarships: 85 scholarships for undergraduate and postgraduate studies in Romania

Value of Romanian Government Scholarships:

• Free-of-charge tuition
• Free-of-charge accommodation (depending on availability, accommodation will be offered free-of-charge in students hostels, in keeping with the higher education regulations and within the limits of the sums available for this purpose),
• Financial support – a monthly amount representing :
  •  the equivalent in Romanian currency of 65 EURO per month, for undergraduate students (1st cycle),
  • the equivalent in Romanian currency of 75 EURO per month, for post-graduate students (master degrees and specialization) 2nd cycle.
  • the equivalent in Romanian currency of 85 EURO per month, for postgraduate students (doctor’s degree) 3rd cycle.

These scholarships do not cover food, international and local transport. The candidates must be prepared to support personally any other additional expenses.

Duration of Scholarship: For the period of study, subject to academic performance.

How to Apply for Romanian Government Scholarships: To get all the necessary information about the scholarships (conditions, necessary documents, enrolment calendar) and to submit their application files, the candidates should apply directly to:

• the Romanian diplomatic missions accredited to the candidate’s country of origin or of residence or to
• the diplomatic mission of the candidate’s state of origin accredited to Bucharest

Visit scholarship webpage for Details

Important Notes: Language of Study: To promote the Romanian language and culture, the Ministry of National Education has decided that the beneficiaries of the scholarships should study only in the Romanian language. The candidates who do not know Romanian are offered one supplementary preparatory year to study the language. Students who declare they know the Romanian language will have to pass a language test organized by competent higher education institutions.

100,000 protest Israel’s far-right government plans to politically control judiciary

Jean Shaoul

One hundred thousand Israelis braved the rain to rally in Tel Aviv’s Habima Square to protest Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plans to change the country’s legal system and weaken the Supreme Court. With thousands more rallying in Jerusalem, Haifa and the northern town of Rosh Pina, the demonstrations were by far the largest anti-government protests in recent years.

Israelis protest against the government's plans to overhaul the country's legal system, in Tel Aviv, Israel, January 14, 2023. [AP Photo/Oded Balilty]

While many protesters carried Israeli flags, others held homemade placards warning against “Fascism,” a “Coup d’état,” “Criminal Government, “The End of Democracy,” attacks on democratic and social rights, and corruption and voiced their opposition to Netanyahu’s return to power. One poster read, “We will die before giving up on democracy.”

Others carried Palestinian flags, in defiance of the new Minister of National Security and Jewish Power leader Itamar Ben-Gvir’s call for the police to crackdown on people carrying Palestinian flags in public spaces. His order came after a few protesters waved Palestinian flags in last Saturday’s anti-government demonstration in Tel Aviv, prompting furious criticism from Netanyahu and his far-right allies.

Saturday’s demonstrations were far larger than last week’s protest, testifying to the increasing concerns and anger on the part of Israelis, Jewish and Palestinian, over the political programme of Netanyahu’s far-right coalition government that includes his Likud, three fascistic and racist parties—Religious Zionism, Jewish Power and Noam—and two right-wing religious parties, Shas and United Torah Judaism.

Their agenda is Jewish supremacy and apartheid rule, the annexation of large swathes of the West Bank, the expansion of illegal settlements, Jewish prayer at al-Aqsa Mosque and the rollback of a swathe of anti-discriminatory measures. This can only be accomplished by sweeping changes to Israel’s legal system and stepping up the police and military crackdown on all political dissent, be it from the Palestinians in the territories occupied illegally since the 1967 Arab Israeli war, or workers, Jewish and Palestinian, in Israel.

Under the new government’s signature legislation announced by Justice Minister Yariv Levin, the High Court’s ability to strike down laws or sections of a law will be severely limited and a simple majority in Israel’s single chamber parliament will be able to override any such rulings. The High Court would be stripped of its power to use “reasonableness” as a criterion for determining whether or not government decisions are lawful. The government would take control over the appointment of judges, while ministers would be free to appoint their own legal advisors whose advice will not be legally binding.

A second phase of the legislation is being drafted and is expected to split the role of the Attorney General in two—one for the government’s legal adviser and the other for the state prosecutor. This would allow Netanyahu to replace Attorney General Baharav-Miara with a prosecutor of his choosing, who would either revise or revoke the corruption charges against him. Currently in court facing charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust in three separate cases, bound up with his efforts to control the media, Netanyahu claims to be the victim of a witch-hunt by a hostile media, police and left-wing prosecutors. He poured fuel on the fire by offering two cabinet post to Aryeh Deri, leader of the Shas religious party, who served a jail sentence in 1999 for taking bribes and was convicted last year for tax fraud. Deri’s appointment is now being challenged in the High Court using the criterion of the “reasonableness” of appointing a twice convicted criminal.

In the two weeks since the most right-wing government in Israel’s history, with its majority of just four in the 120-seat Knesset was sworn in:

* 13 Palestinians, including three children, have been killed by Israeli soldiers. It follows a record year of violence by security forces and settlers under the previous “government of change” headed by Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid when at least 167 were killed in the West Bank, the highest death toll since 2005.

* Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, leader of the Religious Zionist party and advocate of annexing the entire West Bank, who is now in charge of settlement construction, seized $40 million funds held by Israel that belong to the Palestinian Authority.

* National Security Minister and Jewish Power leader Itamar Ben-Gvir staged a provocative visit to the al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem’s Old City as part of his campaign to enable Jews to pray at the site.

* Ben-Gvir ordered police to use water cannon against anti-government demonstrators and arrest protesters blocking roads, saying that last week’s Saturday evening demonstration in Tel Aviv caused “serious harm to democracy.”

* Jewish Power legislator Zvika Fogel accused opposition leader and former prime minister Yair Lapid and former Defence Minister Benny Gantz of “treason against the homeland” for supporting the demonstration.

On Thursday, the president of the Supreme Court, Chief Justice Esther Hayut, said the proposals were designed to “deal a mortal blow to the independence of the judiciary and silence it.” Levin, speaking on television, accused her of having joined activists in their call “to set the streets alight.”

Israel’s former attorney generals and almost all the former state prosecutors published a letter warning that without significant changes the plans could lead to an unprecedented constitutional crisis, with a confrontation between the judiciary and the government.

On Thursday, hundreds of lawyers, former judges and legal professionals staged a one-hour strike outside major courts.

Speaking at this week’s rally in Tel Aviv were former defense minister Benny Gantz, Labor Party chairwoman Merav Michaeli, leaders of the Arab Ra'am party Mansour Abbas and of Hadash-Ta'al Ayman Odeh, and politicians from Yesh Atid and the other opposition parties. Formerly touted as a “government of change”, they instead adopted the policies of the former Netanyahu-led coalition government, paving the way for his return to power.

Netanyahu said he had no intention of backtracking on his plans, insisting that November’s election gave him a mandate to “comprehensively reform the judicial system. More than that, they demanded it.”

President Isaac Herzog has sought to mediate between the government and its opposition critics, holding “intense conversations” with Levin, Netanyahu and Hayut in a bid to reach a compromise.

As the World Socialist Web Site wrote in its New Year’s perspective pointing to developments in the US and Europe, “The breakdown of democracy and the growing political influence of far-right and fascistic movements is a global phenomenon.”

Netanyahu’s plans are a direct assault on Israel’s very limited checks on the government’s power. Israel has no constitution or second legislative chamber. They flow inexorably from the acute crisis of the Zionist state, one of the most socially unequal countries among the OECD group of rich nations, and the Zionist project of establishing a Jewish state through the violent dispossession of the indigenous Arab population.