Week in Review

2 November 2018

EUROPE’S IRON LADY. German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the political survivor and Europe's Iron Lady, announced Monday that she will make way for a new leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). The move comes after the CDU and their sister party the CSU suffered significant losses in regional elections in Hesse and Bavaria. She has said she will continue on as Chancellor until her term expires in 2021, but internal party politics may hasten this process. Merkel has captained the country through the great recession, the Eurozone crisis, and the recent the refugee crisis. Her departure is meant to put new life into the increasingly unpopular party, yet in the short term it will undoubtedly destabilize Germany's already fractured party system. Such instability may curtail Germany's leadership potential within Europe, signaling a potential shift in the balance of power.

NORTH KOREA NEEDS A #MeToo MOMENT. Human Rights Watch published a report Thursday that details the sexual violence experienced regularly by North Korean women. As market restrictions have eased in the country over the course of Kim Jong-un's rule, more women have become the primary earners in their households as traders. Consequentially, they are more frequently exposed to male officials, who are taking advantage of their positions of power to engage in coerced or forced sex acts. The number of people convicted of rape annually, however, still sits in the single digits. This lack of justice silences the voices of North Korean women, and represents yet another mark against the country's disastrous human rights record.

IT’S BOLSONARO’S BRAZIL. Brazil’s presidential campaign came to its conclusion last Sunday with the victory of its far-right candidate Jair Bolsonaro, winning with 55 percent of the vote. His campaign was highly controversial and garnered the attention of the world as a result of his shocking political rhetoric. Bolsonaro has openly admired the former Brazilian military dictatorship for its violent tactics and proudly proclaimed his support for the use of torture. In addition, he has been upfront about his sexist and homophobic views and has expressed his intention to abolish environmental protections. Bolsonaro’s rise can be attributed to multiple factors that have caused Brazilian citizens to lose faith in their government, including the recent uncovering of widespread corruption, resulting from Operation Car-Wash, and rising crime rates, which have left Brazilians fearful for their safety. Under these turbulent conditions, Bolsonaro has capitalized on his position as a political outsider, without ties to the corruption perpetrated by his opponents, and has presented himself as the strong law-and-order candidate that many Brazilians are looking for. However, if his campaign is any indication, Bolsonaro’s presidency should make Brazilians fearful for the fate of their democracy.

WHAT MIGHT HAPPEN TO THE AMAZON? Brazil’s far-right President-elect Jair Bolsonaro has announced plans to merge the ministries of the Environment and Agriculture, a move likely to result in the regulatory capture of the state’s environmental protection administration by industry, as Bolsonaro is backed by the agribusiness lobby. The Amazon region contains the world’s largest tropical rainforest, which in addition to being home to a vast array of rare and endangered plant and animal life, plays a vital role in planetary thermoregulation through the absorption of CO2. Vice President-elect Mourao’s claims that the “government would act responsibly by managing the spread of agriculture in the region” provide little reassurance, given that President-elect Bolsonaro has already floated the idea of withdrawing Brazil from the 2015 Paris Climate Accords because of the treaty’s impact on Brazil’s capacity to pursue economic development in the Amazon region. If Bolsonaro, a former paratrooper who has expressed admiration for the country’s prior dictatorial military regimes, follows through on ratcheting up development in the Amazon and on pulling out of the Paris Accords, it could set a dangerous precedent that may impact the global community’s attempts to reach C02 emission reduction targets.

SINO-JAPANESE DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS STRENGTHEN. Japan and China historically have had strained relations, given their economic rivalry, geopolitical dispute over the Senkaku Islands, and unresolved tensions from World War II. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visited President Xi for a summit in Beijing this week, a historic turning point potential improved relations with China. This rapprochement can be seen in context of the US President Donald Trump’s decreased cooperation with and threats toward both China and Japan, drawing concern from both nations. During the summit, Abe and Xi met to explore a potential alliance that will be mutually beneficial for their economies, trade, and infrastructure. Although this does not mean that the nations will become close allies, this is the first step towards future cooperation between the two Asian superpowers.

BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP. Earlier this week Trump expressed the desire to end birthright citizenship. Birthright citizenship is guaranteed by the the 14th amendment of the U.S. constitution, ensuring citizenship to anyone born on American soil. Although this has long been the legal interpretation of the document, Trump has disagreed and argued that the process isn’t actually covered by the constitution. Trump’s desire to dismantle birthright citizenship stems from his belief that it incentivizes people to immigrate illegally in order to have children in the United States. This action would alter immigration policy as well as complicating the issue of citizenship. Children born in the United States after their parents have been settled for a long period of time will sometimes have no citizenship to their parent’s origin country, which would leave many without any citizenship at all.