Sir, Michaelmas 2012

7/29/2019 Sir, Michaelmas 2012

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InternatIonal relatIons socIety

S I R ,


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EditorialWelcome to the newest addition to the International Relations Society brand:Sir, a journal. The name is odd. But made you curious enough to open up the

magazine. Plus it has IR in the name, which is a nice nod to the guys that fund

us. Sir, is also the standard opening line of letters written to the Economist, a

slightly more well known publication. You can consider these articles personal

letters written to you by friends, friends who are very concerned about im-

proving your international affairs awareness.

It might take awhile for you to trust us with providing you with your current

affairs knowledge. To build trust Ill let you on to a little secret: this journal al-

most did not happen. Haydon Croker, the current President of IRSoc, originally

wanted to do away with the publication. He originally thought it was nothing

but a money drain. However, being a reasonable man, and even more so after

a good drink, Haydon let me persuade him to keep the publicationprovided

that I do all the work.

I did not do all of the work, not my nature really. My deputy editor, Claire, and

the copy-editors have worked very hard to bringy you this journal and I cannot

thank them enough for their help--and patience.

Here is what you can expect from Sir,. We are different from other Internation-

al Relations journalswere prettier. We are also interesting. There is a lot to

write about within the eld of International Relations, and a lot of it has already

been written about over and over again. Our goal is to bring you a collection

of stimulating ar ticles within the eld of International Relations. We want to re-ward original ideas and unique topics. This edition includes a rst-hand account

of a students visit to North Korea, and interview with a Brahin Moraccan, and

an in-depth look at Russias invovlement with APEC. We hope you learn some-

thing.

MASHA


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President's Address

TeamEditordEputy Editor

Copy Editors

CovEr photo

Masha Gindler

Claire Dumbil

Helen Reid, Iona Richards,

James Horton

Peter M. Hrtanek

Dear Sir,

It's been a busy and exciting term for IRsoc. We had a fantastic start to our

speaker events, with Annie Machon pulling in a crowd that was too large for

the Christchurch lecture theatre. Perhaps the most daunting part of the term

was the U.S. Embassy-organised event on U.S. foreign policy. Due to my lack of

direct contact with the speakers I was unsure of the format the debate would

take. Five minutes before the event was due to start it became apparent that I

was expected to moderate and lead the discussion. I quickly thought up some

questions and spent the next hour umm-ing and ahh-ing about when it

was polite to intervene and move the discussion on. I'll let those who camebe the judge of whether I pulled it off! Of course none of the events this term

would have been possible without a great committee. I cannot thank them

all individually here, but I think it has been a great effort from everyone and I

hope you have all enjoyed it!

Perhaps the biggest innovation of this term is this, the Sir, journal. To be honest,

due to the cost of the journal in previous terms I was considering scrapping

the project. But Masha convinced me to give it one last go, and I am very glad

she did. I think you will agree that Masha, Claire and the other copy-editorshave done a fantastic job and set the journal up to become success for many

future terms.

Best wishes,

Haydon


5/39

Debriefing

Chronicle:Caucasus conflct

Page 15

Israeli airstrikes

on Iran

Page 13

Nigeria: Boko Haram

Page 10

The Great

Persian Firewall

Page 7

Bulletin:The Faulkland

Dispute

Page 5


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B u l l e t i n :The Falklands Dispute

The thirtieth anniversary of the warin the Falkland Islands (Malvinas) was

marked by renewed regional and global

tensions surrounding the proper owner-

ship of the islands, which have been Brit-

ish-administered since1833. In particular, the

Argentine government

of Cristina Kirchner

took the opportunity to

remind the world of its

continuing unhappiness

with the status quo in

the islands, thirty years

after those same feelings

prompted Argentina to

invade and briey annex

them before they were

recaptured by British

special forces. With a

number of other island

disputes also in the

news, it is worth takinga moment to reect on what Argentina

seeks to gain from its present agitation.

The islands themselves are an

unlikely target. Certainly, a renewed mili-

tary struggle looks wholly improbable: the

islands defences are far better now than

they were in 1982, while the range of of-

fensive options available to the Argentine

government is much the same as it was

thirty years ago.

The diplomatic route to Argen-

tine annexation does not seem much eas-

ier; although 61% of Ar-gentine citizens support

their countrys claim, the

forthcoming referendum

in the Falklands them-

selves expected to show

that more than 95% of

the islanders are in favour

of continued union with

Britain. Consequently,forcing Britain to negoti-

ate when it has nothing

to gain but everything to

lose is likely to prove

impossible. This is despite

UN Assembly resolution

37/9, which called on the

UK to negotiate a settle-

ment with Argentina.

Kirchner is aware of these limi-

tations, if one is to believe the frequent

purported leaks from her ofce. By con-

trast, the indications are that Kirchner en-

joys agitating over the Falklands precisely

because she knows it will bcecome a

simple case of being cold-shouldered by

ArgentinaThe first country to adopt finger-printing as a method of identifica-

tion.

CapitalBuenos Aires

Official Language

SpanishMost Popular Religion

Roman Catholic (97%)Military Expenditure

0.8% of GDP (50th lowest in theworld)

Airports

1,149 (UK - 462)

Sir, MT12


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colonialist Britain, with each rejection

boosting poll ratings and relations with

other South American countries, at least

temporarily.

These seem like far more im-

portant ends for the Kirchner govern-

ment, which is struggling with slowing

economic growth and widespread al-

legations of corruption. The rhetoric

not only distracts from these issues, but

it also increases support for the admin-

istration among the many Argentineswho feel that their country should stand

up to Europe more regularly an issue

characterised by the recent forced na-

tionalisation of oil giant YPF from its Ibe-

rian owners, much to the anger of the

Spanish government.

If Argentina is to continue its

hard-line approach on such issues, it

will need local allies, and there too the

Falklands issue seems to be helping. By

highlighting its common ground with

other former colonies in South America,Argentina has bolstered a new array of

political alliances, winning the support of

countries as diverse as Chile, Brazil and

Venezuela over the question of the Falk-

lands.

Consequently, the Kirchner gov-

ernment, however long it may last, will

undoubtedly continue to agitate overthe Falklands on both the regional and

international levels. Britain would do well

to avoid trivialising these feelings, how-

ever articial they appear to an outsider.

If it does not, it risks badly damaging its

relations with the rest of the Americas;

and if there is one lesson from the Falk-

lands it is that when time heals, it does so

only slowly.

6

Sir, MT12

Harry Burt


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the GePesn

Few

Sir, MT12

Two of the ws in the World WideWeb might be concerned with theglobalism of the internet, but recent

events in Iran are a blunt reminder that

state control of electrons is as stringent

as through the physical iron curtains

and closed borders of the past. Ourlives are caught in this enveloping web

of threads that seem impossible to cut.

But on 23 September, Iran turned off

Google.

Internet censorship is a strange

beast where deliberately vague terms

like offensive material can mean a jailsentence. Some are happy for the inter-

net to surge away Estonia is rated as

having the most internet freedom but

virtual walls have gone up particularly

across Asia and South America. Cuba

keeps its populace in the dark by relying

on the fact that though the average sal-

ary is $16 a month, computers routinely

costs $722. There are different sore

points: in Thailand 77% of blocked

content is unattering material about

the King whereas in Pakistan, sites like

Flickr or Facebook are usually bannedfor religious reasons.

The United States of Amer-

icas federal agencies play electronic

cat and mouse with repressive gov-

ernments, deploying free shield-

ing software or moving dissenting

web pages to temporary addresses

where they can hide and stay live

for a few more days. This plays into

Americas self-crafted image as the

shining knight of freedoms. On the

other hand, the Wikileaks scandal

saw the U.S. Air Force ban the web-

sites of prominent media publications

like The Guardian or NY Times; and

Obamas ban on federal employeesreading the documents was like using

chewing gum to ll holes in a dam.

Irans recent blockade has

been tied to Googles failure to de-

lete an online video mocking the

prophet Muhammad. Ofcial state-

ments said their actions were due tothe repeated demands of the people,

but the proposition that this ban was

for the benet of the general popu-

lace is to be viewed with scepticism.

The last major slate of banned inter-

net content was composed of sites

used to rally mass anti-government

protests after the disputed re-elec-

tion of President Ahmadinejad in


9/39

8

Sir, MT12

2009, like Facebook and YouTube. Teh-

ranturned bandwidth into a dribble, mak-ing it almost impossible for the average

citizen to even share a video, and last year

they announced the creation of a cyberpolice force, which banned any content

deemed insulting. In January 2012 the

cyber-police arrested two men and two

women for constructing a Facebook page

where viewers could vote on the attrac-

tiveness of peoples photos.

17 million Iranians still manage

to have Facebook accounts and count-

less newsfeeds have seen comments in

protest over this most recent censorship.

Access to more than 5 million websites is

ltered in Iran, including those of western

media organisations like the BBC, CNN

and the Guardian. Many Iranians access

blocked addresses with help from proxy

servers or VPN services which fool theregulators into thinking the computer is

in another country, and have spent a total

of $4.5 million on proxy services to reach

blocked sites during September 2012.

The recent anti-Muslim videowas the boiling point after a year of heat-

ed exchanges between the state and the

giant search engine, during which the Ira-

nian chief of police derided Google as a

tool of western espionage. Google Maps

found itself in more hot water when they

failed to name the expanse of water that

Iran calls the Persian Gulf. The Iranian

Foreign Minister threatened legal action;

unsurprising, as in 2012 airlines using the

term Arabian Gulf on in-ight monitors

were barred from Iranian airspace. Of-

cials are now saying that the Google block

was a just an unintended consequence of

an attempt to reinforce the block on You-

Tube, despite such a history of animosity

and a public announcement to Iraniansthat Gmail would be blocked.


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Currently, Google is once again

accessible in Iran, but this u-turn aside,the incident suggests that governments

plans to wall off a corner of cyberspace

for a national Internet might be gaining

momentum. Iran announced in 2011 that

it was developing a domestic alternative

to Google, dubbed Yahaq, or Oh Lord

in Farsi. This would push Iranians towards

more closely monitored channels into

the Web, where dissent can be more

easily tracked. With presidential elections

coming up this year, it is unsurprising that

the screws are being tightened.

An Iranian IT expert with close knowl-

edge of this project told the Guardian

that Iran has fears of an outside cyber-

attack like that of Stuxnet, a computer

worm which hit specic nuclear facilitiesin 2010 and was described as a marks-

man job. The knee-jerk response seems

much broader: the plan to build an

internal internet, isolated from the out-

side world and spun as a moral effort to

build a genuinely halal (lawful) network.

The government claimed that 60% of all

Iranian internet users were already using

the system and that it intended the rest

to join within the next two years. The

rst year is nearly up.

The ofcial Islamic Republic

News Agency has said the Internet must

not be given the authority to challenge

national and ethical principles, but oth-

ers have tamped down fears, suggesting

that cutting Iran off would be impossible.

The obvious difculties that Iran would

face might, however, be sidelined by the

temptation to bolster its image as the

Muslim worlds scientic pioneer that

sends satellites into orbit, faces down the

West over its nuclear program and has

claimed advances in cloning and stem-cell

research.

Google CEO Eric Schmidt oncesaid that the decision to engage with

China was based on the idea that once

the Chinese experienced a taste of

Google, the government would never be

able to take it away. The world will watch

to see whether this infamous failure will

repeat itself in countries like Iran, and

whether the World Wide Web is a mis-

leading name.

Elizabeth Culliford

Sir, MT12


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Nge:Bk Hm

Since 2009, Boko Haram, a militantgroup demanding the implementa-tion of extreme sharia law in Nigeria, have

become ever more violent and capable of

destruction against a Nigerian government

they see as lacking legitimacy and promot-

ing Western ideas and lifestyle. More than

1,000 people have been killed this year asa result of their actions, and as the govern-

ment and military struggle to effectively re-

spond, the international community looks

on, fearful of just what Boko Haram could

evolve into as their struggle for supremacy

continues in one of the most powerful na-

tions in Western Africa.

In a US-congressional report in

November 2011, it was warned that Boko

Haram was an emerging threat to the

U.S. and its interests. But this group was not

always the international threat that the U.S.

now perceive.

In 2002, Boko Haram was born as

men in Nigerias northern state of Bornobegan listening to the sermons of Muham-

mad Yusuf, an eccentric and conservative

but non-violent imam who, amongst other

things, demanded strict adherence to the

Koran, rejected the theory of evolution and

taught that the earth is at. As the sermons

grew in popularity, government response

resulted in the death of hundreds of both

Boko Haram members and innocent by-

standers. The expected destruction of a

perceived threat to the governments om-

nipotence transformed instead into a BokoHaram that was quickly radicalising

.

By 2009, the presence of secu-

rity forces had increased. Their actions had

killed hundreds with many more held with-

out trial. Muhammad Yusuf was captured by

government forces and later killed. Yet the

governments violent tactics were failing

to have the desired effect. Yusuf became a

martyr in the transformation of Boko Har-

am into an effective insurgency of Islamic

extremist militants headed by a younger,

more extreme leader, Abubakar Shekau.

Returning from exile in neighbouring coun-

tries came men with links to the grow-

ing extremist sects in Mali and Niger, and

Al-Qaeda in the Maghreb (AQIM). Theirmethods and capabilities developed from

shootings from the back of motorbikes to

suicide attacks and the bombing of the UN

headquarters in Abuja, killing 23 people in

August 2011.

10

Sir, MT12

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12

Sir, MT12

have turned to Boko Haram through

a combination of frustration and des-

peration will not be prepared to forgo

their allegiance unless the government

reforms and the detrimental and arbi-

trary response of security forces ceases.

If the necessary process to ef-

fect these changes at least begins there

is likely to be a decrease in support for

Boko Haram as the negative actions of

the government, which have blinded an

impoverished population to the horrors

of Boko Harams actions, are removed.

In tandem with this vital change mustcome an increased precision in military

response. Although Nigeria has one of

Africas better armies it does not have

the necessary training or experience

to ght an insurgency. In some of the

most conict heavy areas police have

been retrained and intelligence and

army units have nally been brought

under a unied command. However, the

necessary skills Nigerian forces capable of

tackling this growing threat have not yet

fully developed and it may well be that

Western military advisers are required, if

not already present, if the U.S. seriouslyrecognises Boko Haram as a danger to

its interests. When this capability is real-

ised, security forces should hopefully be

able to move away from current arbitrary

actions and build up a useful intelligence

picture to eliminate the leadership and

subsequently lower the threat the group

poses. In many eyes, and rightly so, this plan

seems far more simple in theory than real-ity. However, in spite of its difculty it is the

most plausible and effective strategy the

Nigerian government could implement as

its northern crisis continues to intensify

and becomes very much a national one.

Samuel Rodrigues


14/39

ise askes on in

Countries in the United Nations, forthe sake of order and equality, areordered in English alphabetical order

A to Z. Separating the delegates of Is-

rael and Iran however, is a conveniently

placed Irish diplomat one can only

imagine the tenseness of his position.Iran and Israel are also separated geo-

graphically by thousands of kilometers

Tehran and Tel Aviv are hardly neigh-

bours in the more traditional sense.

So what makes these nations tick, and

why are they positioning themselves

in a war of choice and not necessity?

Well, for starters, it doesnt helpthat Iran uses language of elimination

consistently in the same breath as Israel,

(the Zionist regime is another popular

turn of phrase). The precipitation of con-

frontation has, therefore, been

a long time coming. Every day

the two countries seem to

inch ever closer to war,

with Irans

highest military general describing mili-

tary action as inevitable and Netan-

yahu demanding for a red line to be

drawn even going so far as to pro-

duce a diagram to make his point to

the General Assembly this September.

But with the certainty of some

kind of military action increasing, the ac-

tual chance of ending the Iranian nuclear

programme is diminishing. The rhetoric

of conict has become the main me-

dium of dialogue between these two

diametric states. Regardless of whether

Israel is justied in launching a preemp-

tive strike, the question has to be asked:will it do anything? While such a strike

would perhaps hinder nuclear prolifera-

tion, it would at the same time further

convince Iran of the need for a deter-

rent. The entire purpose of disabling

the nuclear programme becomes

obsolete if the airstrikes are only

going to strengthen Tehrans

resolve to develop the bomb.

So what is Israel thinking? Sen-

What is in Israels Best Interests?

Sir, MT12


15/39

ior military strategists have been debat-

ing and planning for months now, with a

variety of leaks revealing both strategies

and hypothetical casualty counts from

the heart of government. The answer, it

seems, lies not with the attitudes in Je-

rusalem but of those in Washington. Any

Israeli strike on Iran would be redundant

without unilateral American support. Isra-

el certainly has the military might to take

a chunk out of the nuclear project, but

not enough to deliver the fatal blow. For

this, the United States would be needed

to back up military threats and commit

to action to dissuade Tehrans obsession.

But its clear to see that there isbarely any appetite across the Atlantic to

begin to talk about any kind of military

action especially in an election year.

The Obama administration, for now, is

committed to sanctions and tough talk,

but reticent to set down a red line, as

Netanyahu has asked for time after time.

Even if this administration wereas gun-ho as many in the Israeli govern-

ment would like, the actual chances of

succeeding in permanently disabling Irans

nuclear programme looks slim. While Is-

rael has indeed launched similar attacks in

the past, against Syria and Iraq, this time

the logistics are much more complicated.

For instance, Iraqs Osirak reac-

tor in 1981 and Syrias al-Kibar complex

in 2007 were both single-strike missions

within relatively easy range of Israel. At-

tacks on Iran, on the other hand, would

require circumnavigation over a variety of

hostile countries (one of the likely routes

is Saudi Arabia) and even then there are

over a dozen supposedly well-defended

sites involved in nuclear proliferation.

Netanyahu and his government

know that strikes now would only elicit

a half-hearted response. So they wait,

and hope the exigencies of an increas-

ingly belligerent Iran will provoke theWest into another Middle Eastern con-

ict without thinking about the con-

sequences. Certainly Iran must not be

allowed to develop nuclear weapons,

and Israel does indeed have the right

to defend itself. But if war comes at

an even greater cost than the value of

the assigned objective, then it must be

questioned whether conict is indeedin Israels interests, and if another less

confrontational solution can be found.

Tyrone Steele

14


16/39

Chronicle:Caucasus confict

At the southern end of theCaucuses, about two hun-dred kilometres west of the

Caspian Sea, endless mountains

carpeted in dense, dark-green for-

est spread out in every direction.

According to myth, hidden some-

where in these highlands is mountArarat, where Noah set down his

ark and received gods promise

to never again lay waste to the

world. To someone unaware of

its history, this broad and quiet

landscape might appear a tting

setting for this covenant of peace.

However, over the centuries it has

been trampled underfoot by eve-

ryone from the Romans to the

Soviets. Today it is subject to an

on-going and often violent owner-

ship dispute. This region is called

Nagorno-Karabakh.

Karabakh is an enclave in

modern-day Azerbaijan, although

its population is predominantly

Armenian and Orthodox Chris-

tian (Azeris by contrast are almost

exclusively Muslim), and it was

once part of the ancient Kingdom

of Armenia. However, since the

end of an ethnically driven war

from May 1988 to February 1994,

the Nagorno-Karabakh region hasbeen under effective Armenian

control. And it remains a ash-

point for violence.

In September the ten-

sions between Armenia and Azer-

baijan resulting from the disagree-

ments over this territory came to

the attention of the internationalmedia. RamilSafarov, an Azeri lieu-

tenant who had decapitated an

Armenian citizen whilst he slept

at a peace training course in Hun-

gary in 2004 was pardoned, pro-

moted, and treated like a national

hero upon his return to Azerbai-

jan.

The conict is mired in

ancient history. Having both been

subject to intermittent imperial

hegemony for the better part of

two millennia, the borders be-

tween the Azeri and Armenian

lands grew to be very complex.

Karabakh is an enclave

in modern-day Azerbaijan,

once part of the ancientKingdom of Armenia

Sir, MT12


17/39

Since antiquity, many Armenians

have lived in small enclaves within

present-day Azerbaijan and Az-

eris within present day Armenia.

The Azeri-dominated region of

Nakhchivan lies in south-west of

Armenia, bordering Iran and to-

tally separated from Azerbaijan

by the Syunik province. The chaos

of the Russian revolution in 1905

saw outbreaks of ethnic violence

in these areas. And then, whenthe Bolsheviks overthrew Rus-

sias provisional government in the

October revolution, both Armenia

and Azerbaijan were briey freed

from rule by the Russian empire.

It did not take long for the short-

lived republics that emerged to

start ghting over these areas.

The Armenians, with the

tacit support of the Bolsheviks,

began to massacre Azeri Muslims

in the Azerbaijani capital of Baku.

Turkish intervention to defend the

Azeri Muslims quickly followed.

This solidied the Azerbaijani po-

sition, allowing them to capture

Nagorno-Karabakh, although theN-K leadershipdid not recognise

the Azeri rule. By 1920 tensions

had risen again, with a revolt in

Karabakh leading to the outbreak

of war. This time it was the Azer-

baijanis turn to partake in sense-

less slaughter. Vast swathes of men,

women and children were killed

and their homes burnt as Azerbai-

jan proceeded to obliterate the

rebel town of Shusha. However,

a powerful Armenian offensive

pushed back the Azeris and won

Karabakh for the Armenians.

Then in in mid-1920, be-

fore homes could be rebuilt and

tensions relieved, the Bolsheviks

quickly seized control of both

states and removed Nagorno-

Karabakh from Armenian author-

ity. Nakhchivan and Karabakh

were given the status of autono-mous oblasts and the Armenian

and Azerbaijani Soviet Socialist

Republics were put under careful

supervision. This put a lid on ten-

sions that would remain for sixty

years.

Towards 1988 national-

ist sentiments began to rise. Withthe increased freedom of expres-

sion under the late Soviet policy

Glasnost, the N-K Armenians

were free to protest the cultural

suppression in place under Soviet

rule.

This time it was the Azer-

baijanis turn to partake in

senseless slaughter

Sir, MT12

16


18/39

Sir, MT12

Armenian was not taught in

schools, nor was Armenian lan-

guage television allowed in Kara-bakh. When their demands were

not met, the calls got louder and

turned towards independence.

Ethnic clashes sparked up one

again between Armenians and Az-

eris in Karabakh. In February 1988

Azerbaijani media reported that

two Azeri girls had been raped in a

hospital by Armenians. The Azerisresponded with a pogrom against

Armenians in the Azeri capital of

Baku. Waves of ethnic mass mur-

ders spread across Armenia and

Azerbaijan in response to reports

of similar actions by the other side.

An endless tit-for-tat of increasing

severity emerged that the Soviets

were powerless to stop. By this

point head of the USSR Mikhail

Gorbachevs offers to concede to

the original N-K demands were all

but ignored.

The Azerbaijan Popular

Front mixed efforts against Arme-

nia with resistance to Soviet rule.

In 1989 they successfully forced

a rail blockade on Armenia. The

period of escalating violence thatfollowed became known as Black

January.

The Soviets responded

to the crisis with an operation

aimed at disarming the Armenians

in Karabakh. Named Operation

Ring it achieved little success and

served to stir up further angeramongst the Armenians. When

the Soviets nally withdrew in

December of 1991 they left a gi-

gantic cache of heavy weaponry

behind, which fell into the hands

of both Armenians and Azeris.

An all-out war soon fol-

lowed. Armenia pushed to cap-

ture the Lachin Corridor, a stretch

of land linking Armenia with N-K,

whose soldiers left atrocities in

their wake. Eventually as the war

progressed they began to incur

into unambiguously Azerbaijani

territory to the north and south

of the corridor to create a bufferconnecting Armenia with Kara-

bakh, to much international out-

cry.

Eventually, by 1994 ght-

ing had settled down, with N-K

and the Azerbaijani territory to

When the Soviets finally

withdrew, they left a gigan-

tic cache of heavy weap-

onry behind


19/39

Sir, MT12

its west under Armenian control.

After six years of immense suffer-

ing and bloodshed a ceasere was

nally agreed.

The Nagorno-Karabakh

dispute was disastrous for the

populations of both countries. For

Armenia it was utterly devastating.

Azerbaijans trade blockade, which

is still in place, the damage to an

already fragile infrastructure and

a barely affordable war effort left

the Armenian economy in tatters.

The bitterly cold winter of 1992

followed the close of the Met-

samor nuclear plant and brought

urgent power and food shortag-

es in its wake. Meanwhile, as the

war progressed Azerbaijan faced

a growing refugee crisis: count-less displaced Azeris were left in

crowded camps handled by Azer-

baijan and Iran. Civilian massacres

on one side were met with civilian

massacres on the other. The eye-

for-an-eye violence that had prolif-

erated at the wars inception was

leaving both states blind. Armenia

in particular, seemed to be ghtingfor gains that could not possibly

outweigh the tremendous costs

to its suffering population.

But this was not just a war

for territory, nor was it simply a

war for self-determination. It was a

war for pride. Azerbaijan was Tur-

kic and Muslim and, in response to

domestic pressure, the Turks had

begun to aid the Azerbaijani war

effort. Armenia had suffered cen-turies of Ottoman oppression as

well as the periodic suppression

of its proud and ancient strain of

orthodox Christianity. The brutal

and revolting treatment it had re-

ceived at the hands of the Turks in

the late 19th and early 20th cen-

turies had culminated in the mas-

sacre which literally dened the

term genocide. Seen before this

background the intense, pugna-

cious anger of the Armenians no

longer seems surprising.

The murder of at least 32

Armenians (the ofcial estimate,

in reality probably many more)

and the rape and violence against

many others in the Azerbaijaniseaside town of Sumgait during

the ethnic clashes of the late 80s,

had been reminiscent of the Ar-

menian massacre. In the brief pe-

riod before Soviet annexation, the

Azerbaijani leaders in Nagorno-

Karabakh had been accused of

pan-Turkism.

But this was not just a

war for territory, nor was

it simply a war for self-determination. It was a war

for pride.

18


20/39

The Azeris had, in part, become a

proxy for Armenian anger towards

their former Turkish oppressors.

Territorial gain was not

the primary motivational factor

here. The adherence to a strong

national myth; memories of gran-

deur and the once great Kingdom

of Armenia that spread across the

Caucuses; and the ever-present

and seething anger at their treat-

ment under Muslim rule: these

were the root causes of the chaot-

ic ethnic violence that broke out.

Nagorno-Karabakh was the birth-

place of the Armenian alphabet, a

landlocked shrine to a once more

extensive and powerful Arme-

nia. Its return to Armenian hands

meant the restoration of dignity.It meant the wrongs of the past

could be put right. To fail to pro-

tect the rights of its nationals there

would be unthinkable.

And so, like the abused

bully that takes the lessons he has

learnt from his violent upbringing

into the playground, Armenia hasgrown up to commit the atrocities

that it once suffered at the hands

of another state. And then, the Az-

eris met violence with violence.

This was a war built on

hatred and frustration, and one

that emerged from centuries of

oppression. This is the reason for

its brutal character and hence

the reason for the intense enmi-

ty that has remained almost twodecades after the ceasere was

brokered. At present there seems

little reason to presume that the

ceasere will not hold, but as the

conict makes very plain: this is a

region where historical grudges

are seldom forgotten soon. Per-

haps a more stable peace could

be achieved if Azerbaijan nally

agreed to negotiate on the recog-

nition of Nagorno-Karabakhs in-

dependence, but considering the

emotions involved it seems unlike-

ly that this will happen in the near

future. And, given that the west is

slow to condemn Azerbaijan, their

oil-rich and strategically invaluableally in the Middle East, there is lit-

tle hope that international pres-

sure could force such a move. It is

a sad fact that the brutality of the

past continues to fuel the brutality

of the future.

Sir, MT12

Ben Deaner


21/39

INDIA:a perspective


22/39


23/39


24/39


25/39


26/39

India is changing rapidly. Whilst it is the tenth largest economyin the world and is currently developing its own technology forspace travel, India is rife with absolute poverty and still clings onto the infamous caste system. In this series of photos I have triedto convey the variety of perspectives to which India lends itself.

From the black and white photographs of what seems like Indiaunder British rule to the sepia tone of the Keralan man rowing ahouseboat, I have hoped to emphasise the dynamic relationship be-tween past and present, rich and poor and traditional and modern.

Although India may be fast-moving, and slowly Westernising, it is notlosing any of its wonderful idiosyncrasy.

Sir, MT12

Katie Ebner-Landy


27/39

APEC p.30

North Korea p.33

24

Sir, MT12

Russia and APEC p.30

We Arent Arab p.26

FEATURES


28/39

Sir, MT12

We aen abInterview with a Morrocan Activist

Few people nowadays would haveany difculty including Moroccoand indeed the whole of the Maghreb

region as part of the Arab world: these

countries are part of the Arab League,

their ofcial language and religion

shared by every country to the east

as far as Iraq and Saudi Arabia. People

who have studied the country in a littledetail might have heard or read about

the indigenous ethnic group, known as

the Berbers, and are lead to believe

they make up a signicant minority. The

Berber identity can be traced further

back in Moroccan history than that of

the Arabs who (we assume because

this is what most Moroccan guidebooks

tell us) are now in the majority, having

taken over during the Arab conquest in

the 7th century. This Berber minority

is ghting to preserve its culture and

languages in modern day Morocco.

Such was my view

when

Brahim and his Berber colleagues,

who ran the youth hostel I stayed

in, sat me down with a mint tea to

tell me their version of the truth

about the Berbers in Morocco.

Brahim and his collegues are

all originally from Berber villages and

moved to Marrakesh for universityand then work in the tourism industry.

Like most Moroccans, Brahim they are

comfortably multilingual. They grew

up speaking their own Berber dialects,

spoke darija (Moroccan Arabic) to

some of their classmates, studied in

classical Arabic - which is drastically

different from Moroccan darija - went

to university in French and then learnt

English and Spanish to work in the

tourist industry. Like many Moroccans

they are Muslim, but uninterested in

having an Islamic government and

seem repulsed by extremism, telling me

how disconcerted they are about the

rising numbers of women they have

seen wearing burkas in the streets.Political activism is still a risky

business in Morocco but today

Brahim wanted to explain why

the Berber issue

is at the root

of so many

of Moroccos

social and

political


29/39

26

Sir, MT12

problems.

As Braham explained, the

Berbers are a suppressed culture. But I

had to understand that all Moroccans,

though perhaps unwilling to admit it,

are Berber. There are many Moroccans

perhaps %30-20 - who consider

themselves Arab and not Berber,

Brahim explains, But the roots of all

Moroccans are Berber. There are people

who speak Arabic, listen to Arab music

and imitate the traditions of the east inplaces like Syria and Lebanon. They walk

and talk like Arabs - they have become

like a colony of the East! But their roots

are Berber - they have been Arabized.

It was the rst time I had heard this

word used in a negative sense. Normally,

it refers to the anti-colonial efforts of

Arabs to reinstate their language and

culture in their countries after yearsof foreign rule. But to the Berbers

of Morocco it means the imposition

of yet another foreign culture and

language. Genetically speaking, almost

the whole of Morocco is Berber .

Culturally speaking, some Moroccan

consider themselves Arab and speak

Arabic, some claim joint Arab/Berber

heritage and many straightforwardlyconsider themselves Berber.

Brahim makes a point of

emphasising the divide between people

who consider themselves Berber and

those who consider themselves Arab

in terms of culture, language and way

of life. The difference between the

Tamazight, the main Berber dialect, and

Arabic is clear. Tamazight is written from

left to right in the tinagh alphabet which

bears no resemblance to the Arabic

script. Generally, Arabic speakers are

from richer families who have been living

in the cities for generations. The Arab

heritage they claim is a point of pride

it makes them part of a great, ancient

civilization. Brahim is indignant: he sees

no reason to maintain such a pretence

when the Berbers have a civilization

with a fascinating history of its own.Arabization is a subtle ideology based

on the idea of there being one Islamic

homeland from the Gulf to the North

West of Africa, with one united culture,

Brahim counters. It has both secular and

religious undercurrents. The rst issue

in the way of this cultural unity is the

Berbers: if there is to be a united Arab

Islamic homeland the Berber cultureand language must be removed. Many

Moroccans have not spoken Berber for

generations, proudly calling themselves

Arab and refusing to be associated

with Berber culture and language.

This is noticeable if you bring

up the issue of Berber activism among

university students. Student protests arehave been common in Morocco over

the past year but clashes have arisen

between Berber activists and other

groups, who claim they are undermining

Islamic unity and/or Pan-Arabism by

trying to dissociate from the Arab world.

This, Brahim told me, is the effect of

Arabization on the Moroccan population.


30/39

Sir, MT12

We can divide Arabization into two

stages. The rst stage began with

the arrival of Islam in North Africa

via trade with countries further

east. Brahim is again referring to

the spread of Islam in the late 7th

century. Berber traders welcomed

this religion: they and others adopted

it willingly. But Islam came carrying

the Arab culture with it, along with

a mistaken belief that if you want

to be a Muslim, then you must also

become Arab. This is where Brahimtakes issue with the conventional

Moroccan view of their history, that

the Islamization of the Maghreb

would naturally lead to its Arabiza-

tion: Iran is an Islamic Republic, so

are Pakistan and Afghanistan. Do they

speak Arabic or call themselves Arab?

No. The biggest Muslim population in

the world is in Malaysia. If they didntArabize, why then must Moroccans

try to be Arab to prove we are Mus-

lim? But for some reason people feel

this need. They justify themselves by

saying that Arabs came from the East

to North Africa and we are there-

fore their descendents. They do not

seem to realise the Arabs who came

were very few in comparison to the

Berbers already living in Morocco:

they cant have changed the gene

pool much.

This is the rst phase. The

second phase was more deliberate

and started with the foundation of

the modern government in Morocco

after colonisation. After the inde-

pendence from the French the Mo-

roccan government set about Arabiz-

ing administration

and education to

erase the traces of

French inuence

They set up the

media, in schools

and education

in a way that

suppressed theBerber communi-

ties, replacing the

Berber language

and Moroccan cul-

ture with Arabic.

The government

adopted the idea

of pan-Arabism

and Moroccansfelt they were join-

ing the Arab world

in throwing off the

chains of colonisa-

tion. In this phase

separating the

Berber people and

Islam came carrying the

Arab culture with it, along

with a mistaken belief thatif you want to be a Muslim,

then you must also become


31/39

28

Sir, MT12

the Arabization of the country began

the Berber language was banned,

everything was in Arabic.

Brahim assures me thatBerber culture has been affected

signicantly by Arabization: Women,

for example. In Berber culture they

have a great respect for women.

Things vary a bit from tribe to tribe

regarding marriage and whether a

woman or a man is head of the family

but in general in Berber society the

woman is like a man

there is equality.

The word woman

in Berber is tam

art which means a

freewoman: the

woman is her own

judge. But after

Arabization, Ber-bers have begun to

think that women

are just for sex. In

the Arab mind the

woman is thought

about only in terms

of her body and

sex and now this

attitude has gotteninto Berber culture

and this isnt how

things should be.

Berbers should

think of woman as a

person and not as a

body. This is just one

example of the difference between

Berber and Arab cultures.

There are other parts of the

status quo that are heavily inuencedby Arabization. Because being Arab

is so closely associated with being

Muslim, activists who would prefer an

Islamic form of governance are more

inclined to link Morocco with the

rest of the Arab-Muslim world. But

as Pan-Arabism also has signicant

secular and communist movements,

it is also a useful ideology for left

wing groups to associate with. King

Muhammad VI of Morocco legitimises

his rule by claiming that he is a direct

descendent of the Prophet Muham-

mad. If his Berber identity conicted

with this he might lose his legitimacy;

or indeed if the country were to dis-

sociate from the rest of the Muslimworld, then his religious claim to rule

would lose its legitimacy regardless.

Yet the protests of Brahim and hisfellow activists have not gone un-

heard. Didnt Berber become an of-

cial language of Morocco last year?,

I asked. Yes, he replies, Before, it

was written in the constitution that

Arabic was the only ofcial language

and that Morocco was an Arab coun-

try, referred to in Arabic as the Arab

The word woman in Ber-

ber is tam art which means

a freewoman:


32/39

Kingdom of Morocco. It was a racist

constitution that suppressed the Berber

people: the native people of the country

and the majority we arent a minor-

ity, as our Arabized government would

have people believe - the majority of

the people. After many demonstrations

and protests we managed to obtain

our right to have Berber as an ofcial

language next to Arabic. So what is our

next aim? We need Berber in education,

in the media, administration and min-istries and in commerce and advertis-

ing its our mother tongue, we need

it in everything. There are three main

dialects of Berber in Morocco of which

Tamazight is the most widely spoken

and all dialects, I am assured, are mutu-

ally understandable. Making Berber an

ofcial language in practice as well as

in theory is possible, and could be the

next step along the road to freeing Mo-

rocco from the effects of Arabization.

And nally we want to

change outsider perceptions of Mo-

rocco. Morocco is a country of many

cultures; we arent like part of Saudi,

he says with a shudder, as if nothing

could be worse to the liberal Moroc-

can mindset than the Islamic Arab

Monarchy that is Saudi Arabia, We

will never be like Saudi. My message tothe West, to Europe and America who

mistake us for Arabs is this: We arent

Arab and dont want to be viewed

as Arab by the West, or by anyone.

Alice Crocker

Sir, MT12


33/39

aPEC 2012This September, as panic returnedto Europe after a quiet August, theleaders of the Asia-Pacic Economic

Cooperation (APEC) gathered for their

24th annual summit, held on a tiny island

nearly 1,000 km east of Moscow. APEC,

a forum founded in 1989, consists of 21

Pacic Rim countries and, according to

its mission statement, aims to support

sustainable economic growth and

prosperity in the Asia-Pacic region,

promoting policies encouraging freetrade and investment, regional economic

integration and cooperation to achieve

this aim. In many ways APECs creation

was incentivised by globalization,

increasing interdependence of regional

economies and with the image

of European integration in mind

the rise of regional trade blocs.

Russia joined APEC in 1998,

presumably signalling its interest in

reinstating its role in the region. Since the

breakdown of the Soviet Union, Russian

attention has turned away from the East;

its focus has been predominately on the

West. This stood in contrast to Russias

state emblem of a double-headed eagle,

with each heads facing simultaneouslyin opposite directions. Currently, the

European Union (EU) is Russias largest

trading partner accounting for just

over %50 of total trade while Russias

share in APEC members foreign trade

is just %1. Russias domestic situation

reiterates this inequality: most Russians

now live west of the Ural Mountains,

while the east remains sparsely

populated and underdeveloped.

The idea of redirecting Russias

focus towards Asia was picked up by

Putin when he came to power in 2000,

though little progress was made on this

issue until 2007, when a program for the

development of Russias eastern region

was generated. More recently, the

country has reiterated its intention to

refocus on the Asia-Pacic region when

it agreed to host the APEC summit for

the rst time and chose the Far Easterncity of Vladivostok as the venue.

In many ways, moving east is a

necessity for Russia due to mounting

strains in its relations with the West.

The rst of the recent serious tensions

surfaced in 2008: the controversy of

the Russian-Georgian war heightened

criticism of the country abroad, whilethe nancial crisis led to the current

European sovereign-debt crisis which

is impacting Russias exports. More

recently, Putins disputed return to

power, the Pussy Riot affair and the

antitrust investigation of Gazprom

have exacerbated tensions. The

result is that Russia now needs new

partners for trade, developmentand modernization. It needs to open

up new markets for energy export,

and at the same time attract more

investment for its domestic projects.

Heightened engagement with

the Asia-Pacic therefore seems like a

perfect solution to Russias problems.

Indeed, the region has much to offer.

30

Russiaseeksnewfriends

10


34/39

summit, reportedly around 21$ billion

thats 5$ billion more than the price tag

of the London Olympics was spent on

the development of infrastructure and on

construction in and around Vladivostok.

Particularly stunning was what had becomethe symbol of the summit: a bridge linking

Russky Island where the meeting was held,

and mainland Russia. At a cost of 1$ billion, it

is now the longest cable suspension bridge

in the world; yet this structure has faced

much criticism and ridicule. The grandiose

bridge connects mainland to an island

inhabited by just 5,000 people; mockingly,

a Foreign Policy article has dubbed it a

bridge to nowhere. More embarrassingly,

during the construction this bridge actually

caught re, while elsewhere in the region

a newly build road collapsed during severe

rainfall and the construction of two luxury

hotels was not even completed in time for

the summit.

Though these failures may seem

relatively minor, they illustrate the domestic

problems Russia faces which undermine its

position on the international stage. There is

a certain Russian mentality in which foreign

countries are perceived as inherently

hostile, leading people to a conclusion that

in order to full its objectives, it is abroad

that Russia has to work to mend relationsand achieve its goals. Yet the source of

many of Russias problems lies inside, not

outside it. Russia aspires to be perceived

as an advanced, developed country, yet

reality is that Russia has not completed

state building; it is not a consolidated

state. Corruption, mismanagement and a

lack of rule of law have become a part of

life. A director of a local policy think tank

estimates that at least half of Moscows

The geopolitics of energy are moving

east and Asia in particular is showing

promising growth in primary energy

demand, furthering its appeal to Russia.

China is at the moment the primary

customer though there is great potentialin Japan too, especially after an increase

in its energy imports following the

Fukushima disaster of 2011.

Though Russias involvement in

APEC is undoubtedly benecial for the

forum as a whole, the countrys desire

to encourage trade and investment in

the region has undermined the very

purpose of the summit. The priorities

set by Russia for this year were not

particularly extraordinary; in Putins own

words, Russia suggested that the dialogue

should focus on freeing up trade and

investment. Despite an added focus

on food security this agenda seemed

nothing more than standard in that nonew, substantial issues were brought

forward. It does not come as a surprise

that fur thering dialogue was not high on

the countrys list of priorities. For Russia

this meeting had far greater signicance

than previous summits: it was supposed

to be a turning point, one at which the

country would again be recognized as

one of the leading powers in the region;a reminder to the world that two thirds

of Russia is in Asia and that it can act

as a bridge between Europe and this

region. Moreover, the government was

desperate to show the great potential for

development and economic growth in its

far eastern corner.

Russia denitely worked hard in

order to please. In preparation for the

Sir, MT12


35/39

money spent on the preparation for the

summit was stolen . Ironically, Russias

Far East is in fact very representative of

these problems: geographically removed

from the central government, this area

has been practicing independent politics,with numerous instances of corruption

for years. There had been no signicant

development or investment from the

government in this neglected region until

the run-up to the APEC meeting. These

issues of corruption, red tape and bad

infrastructure are likely, if left unresolved,

to result in Russia missing out on the

booming markets of the Pacic Rim.

The outcomes of the summit

itself are not disappointing, but not

impressive either. Russia is not entirely

to blame for this: despite claiming that

APECs initiatives turn policy goals into

concrete results and agreements into

tangible benets, it is a mechanismgoverned by consensus and as a result is

not known for generating any substantial

policy breakthroughs. The outcome

of the summit was predominantly a

reafrmation of previous resolutions for

freer trade, eradication of corruption and

enabling the uctuation of exchange rates.

Food security has also been touched on,

with Putin remarking that it is one ofthe most acute problems of our time;

Anna Brezhneva

once again no revolutionary propositions,

let alone decisions, were made.

On the other hand, in much of Russian

media APEC has been claimed to have been

a great success, at least for Putin himself.

At rst glance, Russia has indeed comethrough, impressing foreign leaders and

businessmen, proving that it can modernise

and develop regions even seven time zones

away from Moscow. Yet pouring billions into

a scarcely populated part of Russia without

much agenda for proper reform does not

constitute sustainable development in the

Far East, nor will it immediately ameliorate

relations with its Eastern neighbours.

Russia is right to turn its attention to

the East: this is something that should have

been done years earlier. Yet it is impor tant

to understand that the very same issues

that are currently causing tensions between

Russia and the West issues that often stem

from domestic factors have the capacityto cause the same tensions for Russias

relations with the Asia-Pacic. Thus in trying

to reposition itself internationally, it is the

domestic situation that most desperately

needs reworking before new partnerships

can be built. In the Asia-Pacic Russia will

face new challenges, particularly in the light

of the re-merging territorial disputes in the

region, but this does not mean that the oldones will not come back to haunt it.

32

Sir, MT12


36/39

Almost everyone (except perhaps

a few nostalgic Russians and East

Germans) agrees that being a North

Korean would not be ideal. For cen-

turies merely the location of the Ko-

rean peninsula was a problem for

those living there; squashed between

the Empires of China and Japan, Ko-

rea has been fought over, occupied,

and systematically plundered morethan almost any other nation, most

recently by Japan who invaded, oc-

cupied, and annexed Korea in 1910.

At the end of the Second World War

the Japanese were forced out of Ko-

rea, but the problems were only just

beginning for those living north of the

38th parallel. As part of the Japanese

Empire, the Korean peninsula was di-vided between the victorious nations

- Soviets in the North and the rest in

the South. Stalin was quick to install

a leader who he ap-

proved of in Korea and

settled on the Korean

nationalist Kim Il-Sung.

This was the start of

North Koreas current

problems. Despite

the fact that almost all

of the industry in the

Korean peninsula was

located in the north

at the time of division,

Kim Il-Sungs national

philosophy of Juche

(self-reliance) and his son Kim Jong-

ils policy of Songun (military rst)

have driven the North Korean econo-

my into the ground. While Seoul has

enough neon-lit signs to make Tokyo

cringe, their neighbours 60km to the

north dont have enough electricity to

light their major city streets at night.

The Democratic PeoplesRepublic of Korea (as they prefer

to call themselves) is now the most

isolated country in the world. I was

lucky enough to visit the country in

April 2012, during the 100th birthday

celebrations for the Eternal President

of the Republic, Kim Il Sung. Visiting

the country is surprisingly easy but

can only be done through the NorthKorean government as there is next

to no private enterprise and certainly

no booming tourist industry. Our tour

group, like all tourists in

the DPRK, was assigned

guides by the govern-

ment who met us be-

fore we even left the

border entry check-

point and were not

more than ten metres

from us until we passed

the border on our way

out; though not before

checking our cameras

to make sure all our

holiday snaps por-

a Vs Nh KeSir, MT12


37/39

trayed Nor th Korea as a socialist par-

adise. Everything that any foreigner

ever sees or does while there is ap-

proved by the government: the clos-

est any tourist can get to the real lifeof a citizen of this country is a quick

look down a street that you arent al-

lowed to walk down, or a glimpse of

a country village as you speed down

the empty motorway to the next site

dedicated to glorifying the Kim family

and their exploits.

For us, like all trips to theDPRK, most nights were spent in one

of the hotels in the capital, Pyongyang,

a city of wide spotless avenues and

impressive Soviet-era architecture;

but we were not allowed to pass the

hotel guards on the door without

our guides. There is a reason for this.

Though Pyongyangs buildings are im-

pressive examples of 1960s construc-

tion, Pyongyang is a mask. While it

serves to house the few visitors to the

country, its primary function seems to

be as propaganda for the Korean peo-

ple. To be a Pyongyanger you must

have shown your allegiance to the rul-

ing party: the Workers Party of Ko-

rea. For the 18 million North Koreanswho dont live in the city, Pyongyang is

the dream, the pinnacle of all that the

great workers of Korea have accom-

plished having thrown off the chains

of the Japanese and US Imperialists.

Pyongyang is full of museums, monu-

ments and bizarre districts such as

the sports district containing nothing

but stadiums and training facilities for

sports from taekwondo to football.

Of all the museums in Pyong-

yang - and we were shepherded through

many during our stay - the VictoriousFatherland Liberation (what the west

would call the Korean war) Museum

deserves a special mention. In all mu-

seums in the country the government

employs someone to take a guided tour

leading you through the endless halls of

weapons, tanks, planes, and maps show-

ing the movement of the Korean Peo-

ples Army. When a woman dressed in

military uniform constantly told us how

the US Imperialists started the Korean

war, how General MacArthurs incred-

ible marine landings at Incheon and

Busan were, in fact, a tactical retreat by

the military genius Kim Il Sung and how

the Korean people alone fought off the

Americans, it was difcult not to notice

that every gun, tank and aeroplane isSoviet made.

The willingness of the guides to lie

constantly and outright was striking.

Upon asking one of our guides - all of

whom are Pyongyangers - how long

the 105-story pyramidal Ryugyong ho-

tel, unmissable from almost anywhere in

Pyongyang, took to build,

Sir, MT12

34

Though Pyongyangs buildingsare impressive examples of

1960s construction, Pyong-

yang is a mask.


38/39

I got an answer of about 5 years. A

quick google search (which of course is

not possible in the only country in the

world with no internet) will show that

construction on the Ryugyong hotel

was started in 1987. Anyone who lived

in Pyongyang during the 1990s would

have frequently seen this iconic struc-

ture on an almost daily basis and yet the

lies keep coming.

Strangely, propaganda is not

based on how fantastic North Korea is,

but on how terrible the rest of the world

is - a best of a bad bunch argument.

According to them, Maoist China is indevastating famine from failed commu-

nism (making sure to add that that they

are socialist, not communist), the Soviet

Union had similar problems which Rus-

sia has inherited and corruption is run-

ning rampant, and Afghanistan is being

attened by the Americans. The other

key part of the brainwashing of the na-

tion is the cult of personality around theKim family. While the population is told

from childhood that they have nothing

to envy about the rest of the world,

everything that makes North Korea the

best country in the world is directly at-

tributed to one of the Kims, or occa-

sionally all three. At one point we were

told that photos of Kim Il Sung, Kim Jong

Il, and Kim Jong Un all have the same

meaning. Later, my guide told me that

as part of the celebrations for the 100th

birthday of Kim Il Sung, that the govern-

ment had given her family two cartons

of juice and some pork, and that she

was grateful to the Supreme Leader forthis. It was evident that these were not

everyday foodstuffs, even for a Pyong-

yanger. In every town that we visited

the statues and murals of the Kim family

were simultaneously spotless and being

cleaned while just a street away children

would be sifting through rubbish lled

rivers just to nd a tiny bit of food or

picking weeds by the roadside just tohave something to stave off the hunger

that is quite literally eating them from

the inside.

As a result of this kind of prop-

aganda, most North Koreans really do

believe that they live in the most pros-

perous country in the world and that

they are justiably grateful to the Kimsfor making the DPRK such a great na-

tion, which needs no assistance and is

always ready to defend itself. The para-

noia and xenophobia are so deeply in-

grained into every North Korean I saw

and met, that they were all very hesitant

to look at me, let alone speak to me.


39/39

Despite their isolationist

mindset, we were taken around the

International Friendship Exhibition, a

vault cut deep into a mountain with

vast marble atriums and lavishly deco-

rated corridors. The exhibition was

supposed to demonstrate how loved

and admired the Kim dynasty was by

other world leaders, but far from im-

prove the respectability of the Kim

family, the halls upon halls of gifts

from the likes of Stalin, Mao, Ceaus-escu, Gadda, Mugabe, and Assad

only made me think even less of the

Kims than before. By far the strangest

room of the museum contained a life-

size, picture-perfect waxwork of Kim

Il Sung which we were instructed to

bow to and not to turn our back on,

even when exiting the room. Bow-

ing to a waxwork of a diminutive longdead Korean man, was so surreal that

many of my group, myself included,

had to stie a laugh which may well

have got us deported.

In the west, we see North

Korea as a breakaway, ultra radical

and hypersensitive nation of brain-

washed masses and mysterious un-known leaders. While these ideas

certainly have an element of truth to

them, we often forget that the peo-

ple who live in this shut off world are

more like us than we would like to

think. Its not all sombre faced mili-

tary groups; people laugh, joke, play

and love despite their unfortunate place

in the world. There are two reasons that

most of us hear about the North Korean

regime, either as a threat to us or as a

threat to its own citizens. Travelling to

the country made me think that brand-

ing them as part of the axis of evil was

unfair; it is not a threat to anyone else,

it is simply a paranoid cult of personal-

ity. However, the regime is extremely

dangerous for those that live under it,

even on an intensely guided tour, they

could not keep from us the reality of life

in this starving Stalinist state. There re-ally is nothing to envy in the Democratic

Peoples Republic of Korea.

Sir, MT12

Propaganda is based

not on how fantasticNorth Korea is, but

on how terrible the

rest of the world is - a

best of a bad bunch

argument.

Documents

Sir, Michaelmas 2012