Court orders UK to suspend Saudi Arabia arms sales over Yemen war

Jean Shaoul

The UK Court of Appeal has ordered the Conservative government to suspend the issuance of new licences for arms sales to Saudi Arabia.

The court found last month that the government had failed to assess whether British-supplied weapons would be used in Riyadh’s murderous war in Yemen, now in its fifth year, in breach of both international humanitarian law and Britain’s own laws.

The case confirmed that the British government had sought to evade international law, including a 2014 European treaty on arms sales, by selling arms knowing they would be used in war crimes.

Air strikes and other combat operations in Yemen have caused the deaths of an estimated 80,000 people, including at least 17,700 civilians, while at least 3.2 million people now need treatment for acute malnutrition, including 2 million children under the age of five. The charity Save the Children reported at the end of last year that as many as 85,000 children under the age of five have died from hunger and disease since the beginning of the Saudi-led slaughter in 2015.

A spokesperson for the Department of International Trade (DIT), which grants licences for arms sales, downplayed the significance of the judgement, saying that only its decision-making process and not the sales of arms was unlawful, and that the government would appeal to the Supreme Court to overturn the ruling.

The Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT), a British-based NGO, had sought to overturn a previous High Court ruling permitting the export of arms to Saudi Arabia. It argued that the arms sales breach international humanitarian law (IHL) because of the disproportionate harm the military equipment causes to civilians. Moreover, British-built aircraft, bombs and missiles were being used to target civilians in breach of UK arms export law that bans the sale of arms or munitions to a state that is at “clear risk” of committing serious violations of international humanitarian law.

According to the Ministry of Defence’s own data, the number of alleged IHL violations had reached a staggering 350 by March 2018.

Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have both warned that cluster bombs “made in Great Britain”—proscribed under international law—have been used against civilian targets such as farms in the north of the country. Despite this, the government maintains that it has received assurances from the Saudi-led coalition that the bombing campaign adheres to international law.

While the court rejected the CAAT’s argument, it found that the DIT, in approving the sales, had failed to consider the Saudi-led coalition’s attitude to previous breaches of humanitarian law. It thereby shot to pieces the government’s claim that it has “one of the most robust arms export control regimes in the world.”

According to evidence heard in secret but referred to in an open judgement, the DIT decided to change its methodology for approving arms sales in early 2016. This was at a time of growing international concern about civilian casualties caused by the coalition’s aerial bombing campaign that had destroyed a hospital in Saada province and a mobile clinic run by the charity Médecins Sans Frontières.

The government argued in the earlier High Court case in 2017, opposing the CAAT’s request for a judicial review of Saudi arms sales, that hospitals and schools could serve as “arms dumps” and could therefore be considered as “dual-use” targets, making them legitimate targets. It also claimed that sales were approved after taking expert advice from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and Ministry of Defence, both of which are staffed or “advised” by former defence industry personnel.

The department’s counsel, James Eadie QC, even had the gall to say said the evidence showed that Saudi Arabia is “not a state flagrantly and wantonly violating IHL [international humanitarian law]. It knows the eyes of the world are on it.”

The DIT simply stopped recording whether or not suspected violations had occurred. It amended the database used to keep track of air strikes “to remove the relevant column or box” in which any suspected violation would be recorded. “Hence there is no document or documents...setting out the rationale by which it was thought right that no assessment of past violations should be made or even attempted.”

The case testifies firstly, to the government’s deliberate disregard for the evidence that the barbaric House of Saud—its close ally—was violating the law; secondly, to the evasion and subversion of its own rules; and thirdly, to its shameless lying to the public that it had a rigorous arms control mechanism in place.

Such lies, deceit and obfuscation are necessary because only a tiny minority of the British public—a mere 6 percent, according to a survey carried out last year—support arms sales to Saudi Arabia. The government knows full well there is mass opposition in the working class to militarism and war, as well as to social inequality and poverty.

The British government has adamantly opposed any arms embargo against its ally, claiming there is no conclusive proof of human rights violations. It has also opposed an investigation by an impartial tribunal. In October 2016, the UK blocked a proposal by the Netherlands that the EU should ask the UN Human Rights Council to set up an independent inquiry into war crimes in Yemen.

The Court of Appeal’s ruling argued that even if it was impossible to ascertain whether there had been a potential breach of international humanitarian law by the coalition and Saudi Arabia in particular, “at least the attempt had to be made.”

The British government has licensed the sale of at least £4.7 billion (US$6.1billion) worth of arms to Saudi Arabia since the start of the Saudi-led war in March 2015, after Houthi rebels drove out the corrupt government of President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi, a puppet of Riyadh and Washington. It has created the worst humanitarian crisis on the planet in what was already the poorest country in the Arab world.

The licence includes £2.7 billion (US$3.4 billion) worth of aircraft and £1.9 billion (US$2.4 billion) worth of missiles, bombs and grenades. But the real level of arms sales is probably much higher, as many are transferred under the opaque system of “Open Licences” that is used to sanction arms sales to blood-soaked regimes in the Middle East, such as el-Sisi’s Egypt and Saudi Arabia. According to Middle East Eye, there has been a 22 percent rise in the use of secretive open licences since ministers pledged to increase Britain’s arms exports after the Brexit vote.

In addition, there are more than 80 Royal Air Force personnel serving in Saudi Arabia, some within the command and control centre that selects targets in Yemen for bombing, while others are training the Saudi air force, according to the Independent. There are believed to be 6,200 British contractors working at Saudi military bases, training pilots and maintaining aircraft.

As well as supporting the slaughter in Yemen, there have been reports that British troops have a combat role on the ground, with the Mail on Sunday reporting in March that at least five British Special Forces commandos were wounded in gun battles as part of a top-secret UK military campaign in Yemen.

The troops from the elite Special Boat Service (SBS), whose activities are never reported to parliament, suffered gunshot injuries in fierce clashes with Houthi forces in the Sa’dah area of northern Yemen, where up to 30 British troops are based. British Special Forces are thus fighting on the same side as jihadis and militia linked to al-Qaeda that are part of the Saudi-led coalition and use child soldiers as young as 13 and 14 years old.

17,000 Walmart workers strike in Chile

Andrea Lobo

More than 17,000 workers at Walmart Chile began the largest private-sector strike in the country’s history Wednesday.

The walkout is in response to mass firings and the expansion of a “multifunctional” work regime for the remaining workers. A total of 124 of the company’s stores will be closed indefinitely, while intermittent strike action will take place in the other 276.

The introduction of automated cashiers and other equipment by Walmart has already left at least 2,000 families in Chile this year without a living, while delivering major profits for the company’s wealthy investors. With the thuggery that characterizes the American financial and corporate aristocracy, the company immediately and openly offered “a major contribution to the union for the investment in the training of its associates.”

Keep up the struggle for decent salaries. They make millions, we get crumbs. [credit Chillan Viejo]

This bought the company a temporary reprieve. Since June 25-27, workers had voted overwhelmingly—91.75 percent—to strike, but the Inter-company Leader Union (SIL) agreed to prolong the legally mandated five-day “conciliation period” until the strike began yesterday.

Amid growing outrage among workers, with many online charging that the union would “keep all the money,” the president of the SIL, Juan Moreno, felt compelled to initiate the strike and note, “when we speak of training, it has to guarantee actual employment,” on top of the union’s demand for a meager 4 percent raise.

Despite the enormous support for the strike, the workers’ chief concern is the role of the union, which is seen as subservient to the company. The SIL had already cancelled a strike after a similar vote in 2017 and imposed a miserable 7 percent raise over two years.

Workers have also correctly expressed little to no trust that the union will prevent retaliation from a company that infamously hands its managers US-written scripts for the summary firings of strikers that begin, “Thank you for visiting with us.”

Marco, a warehouse worker who spoke with the WSWS, noted that he distrusts the intentions of Juan Moreno and the union because he thinks that they “have political interests in mind.”

Lorena, a former Walmart worker in the center-south province of Bío Bío, told the WSWS that she had to quit six months ago after falling ill and receiving no compensation or help from the union. “I’ll only tell you this: the company as much as the union disappointed me. I lost almost five years of my life,” she said.

These are concerns and experiences shared by countless workers on social media, some of whom charged Moreno with only seeking to rise up the hierarchy of the Stalinist Communist Party-led Chilean Workers’ Union Central (CUT), to which the SIL belongs. Several other workers charged that Moreno makes 4 million pesos (US$5,847) monthly, a figure that couldn’t be confirmed independently but would place him comfortably in the top 1 percent in Chile.

Striking Walmart workers outside of an Acuenta supermarket in Valdivia

Walmart is the largest private employer and the largest company by revenue on the planet. Operating 11,368 stores in 27 countries, Walmart has 2.3 million employees—1.5 million in the US alone—and had a record revenue last year of US$500 billion. This figure compares to Chile’s annual GDP of US$298 billion and is nearly 10 times its tax revenue.

The Walton family, heirs of the multinational, have a net worth of $175 billion, according to a February report by Bloomberg that found that the company had made $14 billion dollars in profit since the beginning of the year. This is the result of an increasingly aggressive quest for cash by finance capital that seeks to extract profits by further destroying the living standards of workers everywhere.

Anthony, who works at a Walmart supermarket named Acuenta in southern Chile, described to the WSWS the labor conditions of “multifunctionality” that are being imposed under the threat of firings. “A worker who is a cashier is taken from her post to work in restocking on the floor, picking up boxes of products, working under pressure because of the lack of existing personnel. Many young workers end up asking for leave due to stress.

“The people assigned to cleaning have to work as cashiers and leave the cleaning undone, being forced to cover areas without personnel. Sometimes the store and the bathrooms are left in unusable conditions.

“Workers have to move shopping carts from the parking lots, to clean the floor because there is no cleaning personnel, which goes against the law. There are currently three workers with medical leaves due to stress and back and muscle injuries from overwork. The appropriate clothing is not offered, and we have to buy it ourselves in order not to get sick from the cold.”

Walmart, get it, Acuenta doesn't sell out [Credit La Unión Informa]

Among other conditions, Anthony said that “the half hour for shift changes doesn’t even finish and they are already calling on the speaker for workers to be in their place. We have to eat in a rush since there is only one person in charge of the cafeteria and sometimes there is a line of workers waiting for food.”

He explained, “Of course, what happens is that the firings in the stores force those left to do twice or three times the work. The worst thing is that if you don’t do what they ask, they threaten to fire you. In terms of the negotiation, we get WhatsApp messages on some results with empty warrantees…

“I’ve been working there for almost one year and lately with the firings and little personnel things, the stores are in chaos because of the influx of customers. Sadly, it seems Walmart is only interested in numbers and not much in the workers. Being an international company with so much money, their workers should have excellent conditions. Where I live, it’s a small town, but daily profits surpass 10 million pesos [$14,575].”

His monthly income is 360,000 pesos ($525). “It’s not enough,” he says, “for light bills, water, rent, food; I have an eight-year-old daughter on top of the bus passes.” The median salary in the commercial sector is 300,000 pesos ($437), while the official poverty line for a household in 2012, which has not been updated since, was 368,000 pesos ($536).

When the interviewer pointed out that conditions of Walmart employees and workers internationally are the same, Anthony said: “That is right…the struggle must be one because Walmart is a huge company. … At every company, all the money that they make is only thanks to the workers, and a worker needs good pay to be able to work at least without having to worry about costs that he will not be able to afford at the end of the month!”

The Walmart workers have walked out as 80,000 teachers are continuing a six-week strike across Chile. On Wednesday, the union Colegio de Profesores (CdP—Teachers’ Association) had striking teachers vote on the same rotten contract that they had rejected a week earlier, while pleading with them to “end the strike.” Last month, the unions at the state-owned Chuquicamata mine sent about 6,000 workers back to work after a 14-day fruitless strike using the same strategy as the CdP.

Workers at Walmart face the same fate if their strike remains isolated from the growing resurgence of militancy in the working class in Chile and internationally.

As one of the most exploited layers of the working class, grocery workers internationally are standing up in larger numbers. Last week, 10,000 workers at several supermarket chains in Portland, Oregon, voted in favor of a strike, while another 31,000 Stop & Shop workers struck in April in New England. Among Walmart workers across the US, there is growing anger toward the company.

Antonia, with 10 years’ experience at Walmart in the US described to Eater that due to cuts in personnel she is ordered to unload 11 pallets by herself. She explained: “I have three kids and I have to take whatever I have. Almost everybody, if they pay the rent, they don’t have money to buy groceries. If they have car problems, they have to borrow money from everybody.”

The globalization of production, finance and distribution since the 1990s has resulted in an enormous concentration of wealth by a handful of oligarchs in every country, but it has also merged the standard of living and levels of exploitation of workers across the world, increasingly by the same employers.

The global character of the class struggle constitutes the single greatest advantage for workers, especially in a time of Internet, social media and smartphones, to fight against the continued attacks against their social rights by the ruling financial aristocracy.

However, this objective unity must be organized consciously and independently of every nationalist and pro-capitalist organization and party, including the trade unions and their pseudo-left apologists and operators.

The crucial and immediate task for Walmart workers, teachers, miners and every sector entering struggle in Chile and internationally is to democratically elect rank-and-file committees to take each of these struggles into their own hands, to formulate both (1) their own demands, which must include workers’ control over the workplace, and (2) the path to win them, including an immediate appeal to mobilize the most powerful social force on the planet, their working-class brothers and sisters internationally.

The Spectacle and Substance of the Trump-Kim Meeting

Sandip Kumar Mishra

US President Donald Trump walked into North Korean territory alongside North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on 30 June 2019. The summit meet between the two leaders in the southern side of the DMZ followed. In this episode of spectacle, several historic firsts were achieved: it was the first time a sitting US president entered North Korean territory, a US president crossed the DMZ, and finally, the first time top leaders from the US, North Korea, and South Korea met trilaterally.

The frequency and fanfare of US-North Korea exchanges in the past few years may give the impression of a similar movement in bilateral relations and North Korea's denuclearisation. On the contrary, there has been little to no movement on the ground. In fact, many critics allege that these theatrics distracts from the real issue and creates the false premise of forward movement. Working level official meetings held in good faith as a replacement for summit meets, in order to work towards substantially ironing out differences and lay the foundation for eventual denuclearisation, have been suggested as an alternative. Observers have argued that some important changes were visible in the first half of 2018, until the first US-North Korea summit in Singapore when both countries finally agreed to talk to each other. However, there has been no real progress since, including during their second summit in Hano, both on the bilateral front as well as nuclear talks. In this backdrop, Trump and Kim's recent hour-long meeting has been evaluated in a negative light.

Indeed, it is true that Trump and Kim are both prone to pomp and spectacle. It is not quite accurate, however, to suggest that these displays are completely devoid of substance. The US-North Korea relationship and the issue of North Korea’s denuclearisation are complicated and multifaceted. They will not be resolved in a linear manner, or overnight, and several rounds of back and forth must be expected along with phases of impasse. The Singapore meeting was followed by talks between officials from both countries at various levels and locations. These officials offered their redlines and points of view, which were not acceptable to the other side. In fact, the attempt to cinch a deal during the Hanoi Summit failed because the US reportedly asked for more than the denuclearisation of the Yongbyon nuclear facility. In return, North Korea demanded the removal of all sanctions imposed on it.

The end of the Hanoi meeting was prophesied by many as the end of US-North Korea engagement. It is encouraging that at least the top leaders of both countries have apparently maintained some hope despite the Hanoi episode. The recent meeting is important as it is a clear indication from both the sides of their interest in working towards a deal, although at present they are not in agreement on the content. Another important step is that both the US and North Korea have instituted negotiating teams consisting of officials to go over, in greater detail, the technicalities of their respective positions. While it is true that the US and North Korean negotiating teams both contain some hardline officials, they are being deployed strategically by the leadership of the two countries. For example, US National Defense Advisor Jonh Bolton was with Trump in South Korea a few hours before his meeting. However, when Trump finally met Kim at the DMZ, Bolton was nowhere to be seen.

On this basis, it would be premature to write-off the Trump-Kim meeting as just spectacle. It may not appear sufficient at this point, but it still forward movement after the Hanoi Summit. It is now up to the two leaders to demonstrate a degree of compromise and generosity towards each other. They should also be aware, at all times, that these meetings are only the means to the final goals, that is, a better calibrated US-North Korea relationship, and North Korean denuclearisation.  

Westerwelle Young Founders Program 2019 for Young Entrepreneurs in Developing Countries (Fully-funded to Germany)

Application Deadline: 31st July 2019 11pm CEST

Eligible Countries: All African and Developing countries

To be taken at (country): Berlin, Germany/Applicant’s Home Country

About the Award: The Westerwelle Young Founders Programme Autumn 2019 will start with the Young Founders Conference from 22^nd to 26^th of October, 2019 in Berlin. During this time, the 25 participants have the unique opportunity to meet and interact with successful entrepreneurs, investors and political decision makers. Throughout the programme, the Young Founders will have the chance to develop their businesses and discuss challenges with a personal mentor as well as with fellow Young Founders in a peer mentoring group. Moreover, Young Founders will receive further support through regular expert webinars that cater to their needs.

Type: Entrepreneurship; Career Fellowship

Eligibility: Applicants should:

• Have recently (in the last 5 years) started a for-profit company with a scalable business model
• Be based in a developing or emerging country or have a strong business focus on developing and emerging economies
• Possess a good working knowledge of English
• Foreign applicants must possess valid travel documents (including a visa, if necessary) to enter Germany, and valid travel medical insurance.

Selection: Applicants will first be shortlisted according to their written application. The shortlisted candidates will then be invited for a Skype interview. Results of written application and Skype interview will be discussed by a jury and the selected candidates will be invited to participate at the Young Founders Programme.

Value of Program: During the year-long programme, all fellows will get access to:

• Westerwelle Young Founders Conference in Berlin taking place from 22 to 26 October 2019.
• A mentoring programme: monthly mentoring calls with an experienced entrepreneur and with the group of Westerwelle Young Founders
• Invitations and scholarships for entrepreneurship conferences
• An international alumni network

Travel and accommodation for the Young Founders Conference will be covered by the Westerwelle Foundation. All fellows are expected to actively participate in the Young Founders Conference as well as in the scheduled mentoring calls.

Duration of Programme:

1. Application deadline (31st of July 2019, 11pm CEST)
2. Skype interviews with shortlisted candidates (14th of August to 9th of September 2019)
3. Jury decision and selection of participants (10th of September 2019)
4. Notification of all applicants (11th of September 2019)

How to Apply: Applications are open via the online form.

Visit Programme Webpage for details

CAA-Getty International Program 2019 for Art Historians (Fully funded to Conference at Chicago, USA)

Application Deadline: 23rd August 2019

Eligible Countries: International

To be taken at (country): Chicago, USA

About the Award: The 2020 CAA-Getty International Program will support fifteen art historians, museum curators, and artists who teach art history to attend the 108th CAA Annual Conference in Chicago from February 12-15, 2020.
Since it began in 2012, the program has brought 120 scholars to the conferences, from forty-six countries located in Central and Eastern Europe, Russia, Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa, the Caribbean, and South America. Each year, a preconference colloquium on international topics in art history inaugurates the week, kicking off four days of conference sessions, meetings with new colleagues, and visits to museums and galleries. Subsequent to these events, the program has generated many scholarly collaborations, including publications, conferences, and exhibitions.

Type: Conference

Eligibility:

• Applicants must be practicing art historians who teach at a university or work as a curator in a museum, or artists who teach art history.
• They must have a good working knowledge of English, be able to obtain a visa to travel to the United States, and be available to participate in CAA events.
• Only professionals who have not attended a CAA conference previously, and who are from countries underrepresented in CAA’s membership are eligible to apply.  
• The grant excludes scholars from North America, Western Europe, Israel, and Australia, whose countries are well represented in CAA. It further excludes scholars who have received funds from American foundations or research institutes to participate in conferences or residencies in the United States.
• Applicants do not need to be CAA members.
• This grant program is not open to graduate students or to those participating in the CAA conference as chairs, speakers, or discussants.

Number of Awards: 15-20

Value of Award:

• The program includes a one-day preconference colloquium on international issues in art history on February 11, at which grant recipients will present and discuss their common professional interests and issues.
• The grant will also fund five alumni from the CAA-Getty International Program to participate in the preconference colloquium and speak at a session during the conference. As they have in previous years, representatives from CAA’s hosted program participants during the conference week.

Duration of Award:  February 12-15, 2020
How to Apply: Please review the application specifications and complete the application form. PLEASE NOTE: In order to apply, you need a temporary Member Number, which you get by contacting Member Services. In your email, please indicate that you need this temporary number in order to apply for the CAA-Getty International Program. No payment is necessary. If you have questions about the process or are unsure of your eligibility, please email Janet Landay, project director of the CAA-Getty International Program.

Applications should include:

• A completed application form
• A two-page version of the applicant’s CV
• A letter of recommendation from the chair, dean, or director of the applicant’s school, department, or museum

2020 APPLICATION FORM

Visit Award Webpage for Details

BlackBird Books Writer’s Residency 2019 for Young African Women

Application Deadline: 31st August 2019 

Eligible Countries: African countries

To be Taken at (Country): Pretoria, South Africa

Type: Short course

Eligibility:

• Young black womxn from any African country who are starting their careers as writers and are between 18 and 40 years old.
• The residency is open to writers of all literary genres: novel, poetry, essay, storytelling, narration, theatre, etc.

Number of Awards: Not specified

Value of Award:

• Accommodation during up to 4 weeks in Brooklyn, Pretoria, during October (2019) or February (2020). Breakfast and basic expenses included (toiletries, unlimited wi-fi).
• The residency does not include transport costs to Pretoria, but it does include R5,000.00 (five thousand) for basic expenses during your stay.
• Private bedroom and private bathroom inside Casa Lorde, a collective working space.
• Meeting and working sessions with professional writers from South Africa.
• Production of a text is mandatory, although BlackBird Books is not obligated to publish it.

Duration of Award: up to 4 weeks

How to Apply:

• A letter of motivation specifying how you would benefit from your stay at Casa Lorde
• A description of the project you plan to develop during the residency
• Your Curriculum Vitae and a short biography (500 words)
• A sample of your writing (this can be something that has been published or not)
• Please indicate if you would be available during October 2019 or February 2020 (or either).

Send your application to the two following addresses with the subject line Casa Lorde Writer’s Residency application:

1. info@everapublishing.co.za
2. na.floresga@gmail.com

Visit Award Webpage for Details

International Society for the Performing Arts (ISPA) Global Fellowship Programme 2020

Application Deadline: 12th July, 2019

Eligible Countries: All (with particular attention paid to applicants from developing economies)

To be taken at (country): Home country and New York, USA.

About the Award: The International Society for the Performing Arts’ (ISPA) Global Fellowship Program provides one-year access to ISPA’s extensive international network of arts professionals to emerging and mid-career leaders from the global performing arts community, with particular attention paid to applicants from developing economies.
Participants join the ISPA membership and attend the New York ISPA Congress where they engage in the development and exchange of ideas with leaders from some of the world’s most significant presenting
organizations, performing arts organizations, artist management agencies, cultural policy groups, foundations, festivals and related professionals.
In considering applying, please be aware that the ISPA Congress is not a traditional arts market and opportunities for self-promotion are limited. This opportunity is intended for those working in the management of the performing arts. Performing arts professionals who are deeply committed to increasing the global connectivity of the performing arts industry, as well as those who take initiative in their own professional development, are most likely to benefit.

Type: Fellowship

Eligibility: ISPA accepts applicants from all regions of the world, with priority given to applicants from developing economies.
Applicants must:

• Be currently employed/working in the professional performing arts
• Have a minimum of 5 years professional experience in the performing arts field
• Demonstrate a need for financial assistance
• Ability to attend and fully participate in the 2020 ISPA Congress, including the one-day Fellows-only Seminar.
• Have received no more than two ISPA Fellowships in the past

Number of Awardees: Not specified

Value of Fellowship: Fellows receive:

• One-year ISPA membership with access to all member benefits
• Full Pass registration to the New York 2020 Congress
• One-day Fellows-only Seminar prior to the New York Congress (January, 2020)
• Subsidy to assist with travel and accommodation expenses related to attending the Congress (subsidies do not generally exceed 2,500 USD)
• Introduction to a current ISPA member who will welcome the Fellow to the Congress and help facilitate their participation as part of ISPA’s Community Building Program

Duration of Fellowship: 1  year.

How to Apply: To apply to the Global Fellowship Program, please download and review the application instructions and submit the online application form. Applications are reviewed and selected by the Fellowship Review Committee which consists of ISPA members and staff.

Visit Fellowship Webpage for details

Deutsches Museum Scholar-in-Residence Scholarship Programme 2020 for International Researchers

Application Deadline: 11th October 2019

Eligible Countries: International

To Be Taken At (Country): Germany

About the Award: Applicants are invited to base their projects on the collections of the Deutsches Museum and to cooperate closely with museum staff on site when formulating their research proposals. Projects involving innovative approaches to artefact-oriented research are especially welcome.
During their stay, visiting scholars will have daily contact with the museum´s curators, archivists and librarians (approx. 50 staff members) as well as members of the Münchner Zentrum für Wissenschafts- und Technikgeschichte (Munich Center for the History of Science and Technology; approx. 50 staff members).
Scholarship holders will have their own workplace with a desktop computer and telephone, and the opportunity to reside temporarily in subsidized apartments of the museum complex insofar as these are available. They will present their research projects to colleagues at the beginning of their stay and will be expected to participate regularly in the museum’s and the Munich Centre’s Monday colloquium series and workshops.

Type: Research

Eligibility:

• Scholars at any level of seniority are eligible to apply, provided they have at least one university degree.
• There are no restrictions regarding nationality.
• All scholars are requested to make their own provisions for health insurance.
• The ability to read German is a prerequisite for the application (passive language skills).

Number of Awards: Not specified

Value of Award: Pre-doctoral stipends: € 7,500 (six months) / € 15,000 (full year). Post-doctoral stipends: € 15,000 (six months) / € 30,000 (full year).

Duration of Program: 6 or 12 months

How to Apply: Please send applications, including:

• completed application form (pdf-file, 20 kB or rtf-file 60 kB)
• curriculum vitae
• project description (3 to 5 pages)
• two confidential references (can be sent directly by the referees)

to the following address:
Andrea Walther
Coordinator of the Research Institute
Deutsches Museum
80306 Munich
Tel.: 00 49 (0) 89 2179-280
Fax: 00 49 (0) 89 2179-239
E-Mail: a.waltherdeutsches-museum.de

Visit Programme Webpage for Details


Award Providers: Deutsches Museum

The Dilemma of the American Economy

Elias Akleh

After the destruction of the European as well as many Asian industrial infrastructures and economies due to WWII, the American industry and technology dominated the world. The US became the strongest global economy. Yet, with the rebuilding of European and especially of Asian economy with relatively cheaper labor force, competition against the American economy became tougher. To maintain its unique position the US; since George W. Bush’s administration, started to outsource its industrial and technological infrastructures to cheaper countries.

This outsourcing had eventually devastated the American middle class, who started losing their businesses, their jobs, their homes, and many became homeless. The US Department of Housing and Urban Development’s report of 2017 gave a conservative number of around 554,000 homeless people. Homelessness has become a national crisis.

With the slogan of “Make America great again” the Trump administration launched a mafia style economic terror wars against the world in order to force other countries to buy American goods. Trump’s administration withdrew from international agreements and imposed trade tariffs and sanctions against other countries including its own European allies.

After becoming president, Trump started pressuring the EU to pay more for NATO complaining that member countries are paying only small fractions of the cost, and that the US should not have to bear the larger financial and military burdens of defending Europe. To raise the threat against Europe, Trump’s administration decided to withdraw from the INF Treaty (Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty) that bars US and Russia from having long-range ground-launched cruise missiles. Recently Russia declared it’s willing to do the same. Such withdrawal could jeopardize the START (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty) and could trigger a new nuclear arms race between the two countries.

Trump had also demanded protection money from Japan, South Korea and Persian Gulf Arab countries; Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar and UAE. Trump claimed that the US is protecting Japan and South Korea from the communist Chinese and North Korean threats. Trump’s administration keeps claiming that the entire South East Asia is under threat from Chinses colonization; overfishing, dredging, island building and clam harvesting. They also claim that North Korean ballistic missile system that could carry nuclear bombs is also a major threat to the region as well as to the US.

Soon after becoming President, Trump kept threatening to withdraw from Iran Nuclear Dear (JCPOA) demanding Iran to renegotiate the deal to include its ballistic missile system. The JCPOA was the result of months of preparations and negotiations after almost 40 year of ineffective sanctions, which serve only to push Iran to develop its own internal independent economy. The American administration also needed to contain Iran, who had helped Syria fight the terrorist groups created by US/Israel/Saudi Arabia to destroy and divide Syria. Iran has been also supporting Lebanese Hezbollah and the Palestinian resistance against Israeli occupation, and Yemeni Houthis against Saudi/Emirati war.

Beginning of May 2018 Trump announced US withdrawal from JCPOA and imposed economic sanctions against Iran aiming to kill off Iran’s oil export. These withdrawal and sanctions violate UN resolution 2231, undermine international organizations, negatively impact global economy especially those of America’s European allies, and increase conflict within the Persian Gulf region. When the US failed to garner international support for its illegal sanctions, false flag attacks against oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman were perpetrated in order to portray Iran as a threat to the critical oil industry in the region.

Under the justification of protecting the region the US has sent more troops, USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group and Patriot missile defense battery to the region, raising the prospect of war. Sale of all kinds of weapons to Saudi Arabia and UAE was also justified. Trump had also demanded more protection money from Saudi Arabia.

All these expenses and the projected threat will raise the price of crude oil even higher than what the market had witnessed lately. The high price of Gulf oil will match, and may even exceed in the future, the price of the expensively produced American shale oil, making it more marketable.

Iranian economy is not the only target of American sanctions. The competing Russian and Chinese economies have also been targets of American sanctions. Chines economy is considered the second global economy after the US. It is expanding and imposing a threat to the American economy. The Chinese Belt and Road Action Plan; a revival and expansion of the old Silk Road, is a land and maritime trade routes from China to Europe passing through Central Asia and the Middle East particularly through Iran. It will allow China to deliver its relatively cheaper goods, compared to American goods, to all these regions. Chinese Huawei 5G technology is faster, more reliable and more secure than the American 4G internet technology. China had also acquired the Russian SU-35 fighter planes and the S-400 defensive missile system making Chinese military a dangerous adversary to the Americans in the South East Sea.

Trump had accused China of unfair trade and of theft of American proprietary technologies. He announced his plans to raise tariffs on Chinese goods by $300 billion a year. He also banned the purchase and spread of Huawei’s technologies within the US and urged European allies to do the same. The American media went even further by falsely claiming that the Chinese 5G network pauses danger to the public and causes cancer among other types of diseases.

On the other side, Russia has been a major cheaper energy (gas and crude oil) supplier to Europe for a long time. Europe is one of the main markets for Russian gas in the form of Liquid Natural Gas (LNG) given its strict regulation for clean energy for domestic and industrial needs. For this reason, Germany has been for many years engaged in the Nord Stream 2 Pipeline, aimed to double the Russian gas from 55 to 110 billion cubic meter per year.

In order to reduce the trade deficit and benefit American companies the Trump’s administration has forced the EU to dump the Russian LNG and to export the gas from American exporters despite the fact that American LNG costs about 20% more than the Russian gas received through pipelines. Besides the 20% extra cost Europe is forced to build expensive offshore re-gasifiers on the Atlantic in order to process the American gas for their own safe usage. The US is also increasing pressure on Germany to derail Nord Stream 2 and to stop the construction of this important energy gas pipeline.

The Russian military industry has recently proved its superiority over the American’s as demonstrated in the Syrian theater. Russian S-400 missile system is highly advanced, capable of engaging a wider array of targets at long ranges and against multiple simultaneous threats. It is generally considered less expensive than the American weapons, and is sold without the expensive extensive maintenance support. American military old customers, such as Turkey, India and even Saudi Arabia are seeking to acquire the Russian S-400 missile system.

Rather than purchasing the American Patriot missile system Turkey made a deal with Russia to acquire its S-400 missile system instead. The US warned Turkey that acquiring the S-400 would force the US to impose sanctions on Turkey, and could prompt a re-evaluation of Turkey’s membership of NATO. The House of Representative passed resolution 372 (Engel & McCaul Resolution) calling on Turkey to cancel its acquisition of the S-400 system. Washington has also threatened to remove Turkey from its F-35 fighter program if the deal is not dropped. Russia is reported to deliver the S-400 missiles to Turkey during this month of July.

India, too, had signed in October 2018 a $5.43 billion deal with Russia buying S-400 missile system, whose delivery will commence on October 2020 and will be completed by April 2023. Trump’s administration is pressuring India to cancel the deal and is offering Lockheed Martin’s THAAD & Raytheon’s Patriot missiles and the fifth-generation F-35 fighter planes for India’s air force and navy instead. It also offered to exempt India on Iranian oil imports. India is not budging.

Saudi Arabia; America’s weapons number one customer, signed in May 2017 a deal with Russia to acquire the S-400 system. Russia and Saudi Arabia are currently negotiating mutually acceptable terms of the deal. A November 2018 CNBC’s report indicated that Saudi Arabia is among 13 other countries such as Qatar, Algeria, Morocco, Egypt, Iraq and Vietnam, who are interested in buying the Russian S-400 missile systems despite the threat of American economic sanctions. In August 2017 President Trump signed the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act to impose economic or political penalties against such countries.

Trump’s economic wars against the world produced only the opposite results. They are pushing other countries to unite and to isolate the US. They are also impacting many American companies. Many American companies, who had built its own infrastructures in China, and whose businesses had been meshed with other Chinese companies, had been negatively impacted by these American sanctions. Many may be forced to close their businesses.

Yet some large American corporations will defy these sanctions and keep doing business with China. Apple Corp is just one example. The company had decided to move its assembly of Mac Pro computers from Austin, Texas to Shanghai, China.

Many other tech companies cannot stand idle while the rest of the world is taking advantage of the 5G network technology. Despite Trump’s sanctions against Huawei and its 5G network, many countries such as Russia, India, Turkey, Japan, South Korea and even the EU are implementing and using 5G network. Many American computing companies such as Ericsson, HPE, Intel, Nokia and QUALCOMM, as well as communication companies such Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile and Sprint are investing in, and building 5G networks within the US.

The American $300 billion tariffs against Chinese goods, and the Chinese $100 billion counter tariffs against American goods had impacted the global economy and not just the economy of the two countries. This trade war seemed to overshadow other subjects during the G20 summit last week. Many leaders including the European Commission President; Jean-Claude Juncker, Russian President Putin and Indian Prime Minister Modi, expressed great concern and called on Trump and Chinese president Xi Jinping to come to an agreement rather than risk global economic disaster.

Chinese Xi Jinping, Indian Narendra Modi, Russian Vladimir Putin and Iranian Hassan Rowhani seem to cozy their relationship together to counter American trade war and sanctions. During last month’s meeting in Saint Petersburg, Russia, Putin and Xi discussed a new bilateral economic strategy to use local currencies rather than American Dollar for their $108 billion worth trade payments.

Similarly, the deputy Iranian Foreign Minister; Abbas Araqchi, urged the international community to stand up to the American use of the Petrodollar as a weapon against independent countries. Such a strategy is being welcomed by many African, Asian, Latin American, as well as the EU countries besides Russia and China, in order to confront and to nullify the effects of the American economic sanctions, and to end the American hegemony over the global financial order.

Trump’s anti-Russia and anti-Iran hysteria had impacted the economy of America’s EU ally harshly. European countries have now to contribute more money to NATO, have to pay more for American NLG and for the building of regasification ports, and corporations, especially oil companies, who partnered with and invested in Iran’s economy after the signing of the JCPOA in 2015, are losing their investments.

The American sanctions on the EU would not continue without any reaction. Although the EU admits that maintaining Iran’s nuclear deal without the US is difficult and will create economic hardship to European countries, they keep stressing their willingness to maintain the deal. European Council President; Donald Tusk expressed that maintaining Iran’s nuclear deal is in the regional and international security interest, and that the EU is committed to the deal as long as Iran keeps upholding it.

Iran had recently exceeded the limit on the amount of enriched uranium in its stockpile set out in the 2015 nuclear deal to pressure the EU to live up to the agreement. The EU finally had finalized the INSTEX financial tool that will allow Europe to bypass the American Dollar in order to continue trading with Iran. INSTEX (Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges) is a payment system allowing companies to trade with Iran despite harsh American sanctions, through the exchange of goods without requiring direct transfers of money between Iran and EU companies. This instrument bypasses the American Dollar, thus leading to the weakening of the Doller and in turn to American economy.

As for the NATO allies, some are described as free-loaders and delinquents by Trump, the Secretary General; Jens Stoltenberg, contrary to Trump, does not see any threat to any NATO ally from Russia, especially after NATO had increased its presence into the eastern parts of the alliance. He advocates for building better relationships with Russia and spending 2% of the GDP of each member on defense. Yet there is a rumor reported by BBC’s defense correspondent Jonathan Marcus that there has been growing talk among some allies of building a more autonomous European defense system.

It is obvious for the keen observer that the US is faced with possible future threats of economic depression/isolation and the devaluation of its mighty Dollar if Trump keeps up his belligerent rhetoric and economic sanctions against other countries. This explains the relatively softer and compromising demeanor of President Trump during the last week’s G20 summit.

In his meeting with Chinese Xi Jinping Trump declared that the two countries have agreed to resume trade talks, that the US would not add tariffs on $300 billion worth of Chinese imports, and that he decided to allow US companies to continue doing business with the Chinese tech giant Huawei.

Trump’s meeting with Putin did not seem to be that productive. Neither leader elaborated on the meeting. What is known is that the talks included armament reduction, return to the START agreement, and unelaborated discussions about the situations in Iran, Syria, Venezuela and Ukraine. The media concentrated on Trump asking Putin not to interfere in 2020 election, and Trump telling a reporter “none of your business’ when asked what did he talk to Putin about.

Trump had also provided Turkey a justification for acquiring the Russian S-400 blaming Obama’s administration for not selling Patriot missiles to Turkey. Turkish President Erdogan stated that Trump informed him that the US would not impose sanction on Turkey and would deliver US-made F-35 fighter planes in July.

Trump did not have any success talking to Indian Prime Minister Modi, who shrugged him off when he tried to engage him into conversation.

Trump had a successful working breakfast with Saudi Prince MBS though. They both ignored the Khashoggi’s murder, while Trump showered MBS with praise stating it is a great honor to meet him, and he has done a really spectacular job opening up Saudi Arabia who is “a good purchaser of American products.” Trump seems to insist that MBS stands next to him while taking G20 photos.

Trump exhibited a gesture to improve relationship with North Korea by sending a letter to leader Kim Jong Un suggesting to meet him at the demilitarized zone (DMZ) to consider negotiating a nuclear freeze by North Korea, rather than complete denuclearization. Trump became the first sitting American president to set foot into North Korea.

Trump showed his willingness to ease sanctions and to improve relationships with other countries except with Iran. Iran is Israel’s issue and Trump does not dare to cross this red line, for America’s Middle Eastern foreign policy is dictated by Zionists.

Is Idea of ‘New India’ Hunting the Minorities and Secularism?

Zulafqar Ahmed

India has been epitome of pluralism, tolerance, and diversity since ages. Religious, cultural, and ethnic diversity of India has left inerasable imprints all over the world. Varieties of social groups and ideological differences among the communities could not shake the unity of India. The India which was imagined by the Gandhi, Nehru, Ambedkar, Patel, Azad, Ashfaqullah, and Baghat Singh was that India, where love ruled over hatred, mutual-coexistence ruled over exclusion. Diversity, inclusiveness, and tolerance of India remained intact even during the successive governments. Unfortunately, after the rise of BJP in power in 2014, they successfully arrested the idea of ‘Old India’ which was imagined by our forefathers. Narendra Modi led BJP government has given new shift to the Indian politics. This government has made majority to believe that their pride has been hurt and their identity is under threat. Intermittently, saying this lie made people to believe that it is time to reclaim lost pride and identity under the patronage of Narendra Modi. Opposition has almost failed to counter this narrative of Modi led BJP government. They don’t have any clear vision and agenda which can mobilize the masses whereas BJP and RSS have clear vision of making ‘New India’ which would be more centralized, strong, masculine and technocratic.

Demonisation of Minorities

After the emergence of BJP in power, minorities are feeling more vulnerable under this regime than any other regime. They were made first target of vilification in order to project them as fictitious enemy which further unified the majority community. Certainly, there were several fault-lines which were exist in India before the rise of BJP but they hardly erupted into violence.  It was BJP which battered these fault-lines for electoral gains. BJP has invoked hatred, fear, intimidation and extra-judicial methods to suppress minorities. Lynching has become new norm of the day and ‘Jai Shree Ram’ has become national chant to heckle, thrash, and killed Muslims. This has been instilled in social psyche that Muslims are the foreign invaders and they are the real threat for India’s unity. A social consensus and consent is being generated for the performance of this violence against the Muslims, Dalits and Christians. Street violence and lynching is being done with the help of well framed organizational structure that goes by the name ‘Gau rakshaks. They are the vigilante mob, backed by the ruling government to beat and kill the Muslims. The most horrific part of this violence is ‘deliberate silence’ of the top leadership of the ruling party which further encourages lynch mob.

Demise of Nehruvian Left/Liberal Secularism.

Indeed, secularism has been most debatable concept in India and it has created many confusions. But what is true is that Secularism in India was clearly Nehruvian vision. It was essentially about state policy towards all religions. It was meant that state will keep distance from all religions. Nehruvian secularism is social philosophy which has wider canvas. It not only aspires for tolerance but it also seeks mutual-respect among all caste, regional, ethnic and linguistic groups. Nehruvian left/liberal secularism indeed expects generosity of majority community towards the minority community. This narrative to a greater extent remained continue even during successive government. But after the rise of BJP in power, they got succeed in projecting that secularism is ‘Pro-minorities’. It was also argued that progressive/liberal intellectuals are hypocrites; they remained silent on the bigotry of minorities’ community which helped BJP to mobilize the majority community under their patronage. Selective outrage of progressive/ liberals intellectuals made people to believe that secularism is prejudicial.  Regarding Nehruvian Left/Liberal secularism Avijit Pathak rightly agued “Today, we find ourselves in a strange situation. It is a world where there is neither Nehruvian Left-centric secularism nor Gandhian spiritualized religions co-exists.”

In the regime of BJP government, where minorities are under the grave threat and where democratic values like inclusiveness, tolerance, and secularism are on deathbed; onus goes to opposition to counter the narratives which have been created by BJP. It is also high time for opposition to reclaim these democratic values which kept Indian democracy alive for many years. Here, it is also pertinent to mention that if Modi led BJP government is really desperate for making ‘New India’ then they should work for more digitalized, industrialized, tolerant and inclusive India.

Iran And The West: Travelling Back in Time

Soraya Sepahpour-Ulrich

This article was written 10 years ago.  Nothing has changed!

It appears President Trump is fond of time travel.  In his July 4th speech he talked about taking over airports in America in 1775.  There was no air travel in 1775.  Facts don’t matter.   Except this time, travelling back in time in our Iran dealings has very dangerous and unforeseen consequences.

More than a year has passed since Washington and European allies failed to uphold their commitment to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) or the Iran Nuclear Deal.  Trump categorically pulled out of the Deal while the Europeans continue to insult Iran by insisting that it abide by a Deal that no longer exits, and tolerate sanctions.  They add insult to their injury by offering the all too tolerant Iranian nation a “food for oil” program, or INSTEX in a fancier terminology.

Moreover, Western media, the mouthpiece of neoconservatives in Washington   is asking: “Why does Iran need enriched uranium?”, or “Why do they need enriched uranium if not for a bomb?”.  The answer is in this article first published 10 years ago when the Lobby was pushing for war as it is today.   Plus ça change!

The Lobby versus Science

Tragic as war is,  it has often led to scientific and medical discoveries.  Today in Washington, the Lobby is using science as a pretext for war — scientific and medical discoveries that may help not only developing nations, but advance healthcare in America and elsewhere.

Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights clearly includes the right to medical care — yet it appears that the pro-Israel lobbyists in Washington have persuaded policy makers that the developing world is excluded from this right, and Iran’s significant scientific achievements are a global threat designed to do ill and not the means to heal.  Dissemination of such misinformation is akin to the very cancer that the Iranian scientists have been attempting to cure and stem out.

In 1972, a joint research project (French-Iranian scholars) on esophageal cancer in the Caspian Littoral of Iran was  released.  The findings indicated that the region had among the highest recorded incidences of esophageal cancer in the world.  The utility of the research was that given its location, it was not unique to Iran and represented the Middle East, China, Afghanistan, and former Soviet  central Asia, parts of Siberia, Mongolia, and northern and western China.

Perhaps it is with this in mind that almost four decades later and with “health diplomacy” in mind, Iran and the United States, with foresight and fortitude by the National Institute of Health’s mission of Science for Health  launched on three areas of cooperation: 1)  Esophageal Cancer; 2) Mustard Gas Exposure and Lung Carcinogenesis; 3) HIV and drug use. It is not without irony that Iran’s research and expertise in mustard gas should be the result of America’s policies during the 8-year Iran-Iraq war when the U.S. decided to arm Saddam Hossein with CBTW (chemical, biological, toxin warfare).

Today, in order to wage another war against Iranians and to ensure that Iran shares Iraq’s fate, the argument presented by the Lobby and trumpeted by the neoconservative-dominated media is why does Iran  not need to enrich uranium.  Before one responds that it is Iran’s right under the NPT, it would be more simple to demand of the  neoconservatives to explain why America and her allies should place such a high demand on radioisotopes?

In 1959, Science reported that radioisotopes have always been a source for “scientific research, and their application to such activities as agriculture, industry, and medicine is now steadily increasing”. Today, there is a dire shortage .  On July 26, 2009, The Houston Chronicle reported that a drug crucial to medical tests was in short supply.  This was due to the loss of the 51-year-old reactor in Ontario, Canada that produces much of this drug, a radioisotope.  In the same issue,  Dr. Einstein mentions the numerous uses of radioisotopes.

In “Blood Weekly”, (July 2, 2009, p603), Cotara R, a radioisotope being developed as a potential new treatment for glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), a deadly form of brain cancer.  In October,  Iran announced it had produced two new radio medicines called “Samarion 153” and “Renium 186” which were able to reduce pains of cancer patients.   Furthermore, these medicines could be used for defining of cancer and reducing bone disease.   Iran also informed that the results of a new anti-cancer medicine would be publicly announced in 2010.

However, the Iranian-derived radio medicine differs vastly from the Canadian product.

The U.S. supplies weapon-grade uranium (HEU, 90-percent 235U) to the Canadian radioisotope producers while Iran uses low enriched uranium (LEU, containing less than 20 percent 235U) for its isotopes.   Given the danger of HEU (HEU is capable of making a bomb), the 1992 Schumer Amendment to the U.S. Atomic Energy Act requires that a foreign producer cooperate with the United States in converting to LEU.  These have resisted.  MDS-Nordion of Canada as an example, continues to import bomb-grade uranium thanks to a 2005 lobbying campaign which resulted in the Burr Amendment in the National Energy Policy Act of 2005.

The Department of Energy’s findings indicate not only a coming shortage in medical isotopes, but a promise of new treatments such as ‘ isotopes for cancer therapy and pain control’.   Given the feat of overcoming HEU to LEU conversion — and overcoming the lobby’s influence, Iran’s extraordinary achievement is to be commended, not blasted – literally.   Even in isolation Iran’s remarkable strides in medicine can serve as a bridge, not as a crevice.   Medicine is not the only common threat between the two nations.  Science and engineering has always bonded the two nations (2007).  Seismic Science has its unique and special place in research.

It is incomprehensible that even though Washington has full knowledge that Iran’s pursuit of nuclear program is for civilian purposes, and the two countries have cooperated in medical research, the lobby had demanded that Iran be hauled to the UNSC, and it is now calling for further sanctions to be imposed on Iran.  Is there any doubt that they are pushing for an eventual war?   It is tragic that a benign program that has the potential to cure and alleviate human suffering should be the lobby’s weapon for destruction – at home and abroad.  Perhaps the real tragedy is the realization that Americans are sovereign no more.