Young Diplomats

Fleeing War, Fighting for Survival: Chadian Returnees Face New Struggles
Goré— Following the last outbreak of civil wars in the Central African Republic (CAR) in 2013; thousands of Chadians living in the country sought refuge in Chad, mainly in the country’s southern provinces. The Chadians who have returned to their country of origin; they are called “returnees” — Thousands of those returnees lived in CAR for decades and generations, were then forced to return to Chad due to conflict and ethnic cleansing. More than 115,000 of the returnees are currently in Chad; about 80,000 of them are currently living in the poor Southern parts of the country; in the Logon Occidental and Logon Oriental provenances. Goré is one of poorest and most underdeveloped parts of the country; is already hosting more than 43,000 Central African refugees and about 45,000 Chadian returnees from CAR and few other refugees from Democratic Republic of Congo. During a four-week visit to the south parts of the country; Young Diplomats’ Africa regional director, Idriss Zackaria; has paid a visit to several camps in the regions, seeking for an innovative programme to integrate refugees and returnees, and provide peace awareness programme.

When home doesn’t feel like home

For many of the “returnees”; Chad is an unfamiliar place and totally unknown world. Even though some of them are proud to get home safely, however, they face enormous difficulties and challenges; including their lack of belonging, coping with change and facing fear, lack of documentation and subsequent inability to access basic services; almost a total dependence on humanitarian assistance, and having to share meager resources with host communities that are themselves poverty-stricken. In addition to their attachment to a foreign country that some of them call it “home” and relative unfamiliarity with their homeland result in insurmountable obstacles to their ambitions and dreams.
Youssouf Ahmat, 41, a father of eight children, he returned to Chad six years ago with his wife and his children. In CAR – precisely in Bossangoa; the capital of Ouham – he was a cattle trader and broker, but he lost everything including his house and his cows during the civil war. Today he can’t run a new business but he kept working as a broker in Goré and some other villages’ markets around Goré. When we first met him, he sounded to us like a tribal leader – very strong personality and kind.
Ahmat’s story is amazing just like many other returnees we met at Danamadja camps, when he thinks about his life back in CAR; sadness, nostalgia and mixed feelings are inevitable. He told us “It is nostalgic and sometimes it hurts when I think about all the things that I lost just within a few days after years of hard working and achievements.” Ahmat still believes that CAR can be his second home, but said that he considers Chad to be his first home because Chad is where all his family belongs; it is the safest country for him even thought he is facing difficult economic situations for the moment. “I have been struggling so hard to put some bread on the table for my children. It’s been a complex for me and my family for the last six years. It’s almost impossible for the kids to adjust to the new changes, they don’t feel like they belong” Ahmat added
Dahabaye Ahmat, a mother of seven children. She lost her ex-husband during the civil war. She was living in a neighborhood which was heavily hot by violence. When she first arrived in Chad she was resettled in Danamadja camps, a ten-minute drive from Goré – distance doubles during the rainy season – in the deep; Dahabaye reflected some heartfelt emotions – said that the death of her ex-husband had been the most painful emotional period of her life. ‘’CAR is a nightmare for me and my children; I don’t even want to think about it. My ex husband was killed and cut off to pieces by the Anti-Balaka militias, I couldn’t save him. CAR was probably better only for the market. Here, you can hardly sell anything. I’m here with my daughters. WFP is helping us but not as much as before. I receive five USD per month. They sometimes take three months to provide food for us, but I am ok to be here as long as God is taking care of me and my kids” said Dahabaye

 

Should I stay or should I leave?

Perhaps; the life of many of these returnees starts with a single question at Danamadja camps: Should I stay or should I leave? For Oumar Ali; that question was answered when he first arrived to Chad. According to him; getting home safely and finding shelter is not the end of his nightmare. As he tells us his story, we have a sense that there is something terribly wrong in this situation. ‘’we have lost our individuality and humanity in these camps, it is impossible to see a doctor, trader, teacher, mechanics, farmer or anyone that can tell me something about the way forward. I only see mothers, fathers, children and grandparents who share the same struggles and fears with me. We have become homeless in our own home. That’s why, there is no reason for me to stay here anymore, I am leaving.’’ Ali added
The desire to return to CAR varies among Chad’s returnees. In Danamadja, some traders say that they lost everything and do not want to set foot again in CAR. Many of them intend to start businesses in Chad and are confident about finding a place in Chad’s economic and social fabric despite the hardships. According to Ahmat, he is still interested to go back to CAR only when there’s security and peace “If there is security for everybody, we will manage to start again from here. Then we will go back to CAR. Simply; because we know how to make money there” said Ahmat
In their own words, their quest to find safety is coasting them their economic dignity; “I don’t want to go back to CAR even though my economic conditions are difficult here. I don’t want to risk the lives of my children. I am going to stay here for the rest of my life.” Dahabaye replied

Remaining in legal limbo with no way forward

By contrast, most of the Chadian returnees say they do not want to stay in Chad and will return to CAR when it is safer. Many of them emphasize that they do not have connections with their relatives in Chad, having never been to the country. In Danamadja camp, an old man who lost his herd spoke about new job prospects back in CAR: “I have close friends who work in the diamond and gold trade and others in trade in general; I’ll see what I can do to work again”. All of them focus on how, before the crisis, they lived peacefully with their fellow citizens and regret that, as Muslims, they are seen as supporting Seleka group. “They thought we were part of the Seleka because we are Muslims” confides the old man before adding, “If the crisis ends, we’ll definitely go back to Central African Republic and we’ll start again like before. However, I can’t go anywhere else for the moment…transport is too expensive and risky now.” While some returnees remain optimistic, others realize that given the level of violence in CAR, reconciliation will be almost impossible, or a long and difficult process.
It is remarkable to see how a vision shared by all the returnees whom we interviewed, one related to the lack of sense of belonging, which is a critical first step in supporting their recovery journey. However, the Danamadja camps offer a good sample of the diversity for the returnees affected by the crisis: from herders with or without their cattle, to farmers, merchants, gold dealers and students. Many Fulanis – Uda, Sankara, Mbororo and Jaafun – targeted in the bush with their cattle by the anti-balaka are in the camps. Other Arab traders, such as Misseriya, Awlad Rashid or Salamat who lost everything during days of anti-balaka lootings, are also camped with them. Finally, there are, to a lesser extent, some Gbaya people, Manja, Ngbaka and Kaba from farming communities, in addition to a few number of haussa, Borno and Gouran who fled the violence. As the CAR refugees and the “Chadian returnees” rarely have identity cards, and among the latter many claim Central African citizenship or deny Chadian connections, it is still easy to determine who Chadian is and who Central African is.
From these facts one may conclude that, food distribution plan needs to consider beneficiary’s interests. Due to funding constraints, the last food distribution at Danamadja site took place in April. The site has already suffered, what people here call “the village” are shelters built in the neighboring forest with no schools or social initiatives. It is worth mentioning that social and economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic could be worse than its health consequences at these camps in the short and longer term.

The whole world seems to be in a stand still due the Coronavirus outbreak. Hopefully we will win the fight against the invisible enemy.
But believe me, no vaccine or meditations can cure the irreversible damage to  our environment!

The matter is that, we don’t care the subtle changes of carbon-di-oxide concentration on air. We just think how melting ice can affect a man like me. But these glitches are now turning into bigger problems. World temperature is increasing gradually. Sea level is rising and can engulf low lands soon.

I bet, you didn’t know that  half of the increase in world carbon-di-oxide concentrations in last 300 years has occurred since 1980 and a quarter of it since 2000. Reports show a 47% increase in world carbon-di-oxide level since the beginning of industrial age.

Atmosphere carbon-di-oxide concentration in ppm (parts per million)

Source : climate.nasa.gov

In 2014, scientists found retreat of ice in antarctic region can increase the sea level by 4 meter. World ice is decreasing faster than ever before.
And the leatest blow came up when United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released a report in 2012 saying, we need to cut world carbon emission level to 0 by 2030 otherwise it will contribute to 1.5 °C increase in world temperature.

We didn’t respond to that. Rather a huge response all around the world to halt the spread of COVID19 forced all mills and factories to remain shut down. This has so far contributed to the betterment of nature. Month-long lockdown in China, decreased carbon emission level of the country by 25%. Lockdown in different countries has limited our encroachment to the nature.

Every year, more that 4 million people die a  premature death due to the devastating effects of climate change.

NASA October 2019 report showed the ozone layer started recovering dramatically. Now in 2020, the trend continues beacuse we are not encroaching!

Ozone layer saves us from ultra-violate rays of the sun. Greenhouse gases, mainly CO2 and methene destroy the ozone layer gradually, exposing us to the harmful rays of sun. From freeze, air cooler to the small and large industries, all are to hold accountable for carbon-di-oxide emission. As the civilization is developing, these are being largely used pervading the world.

Facts :
If wasted food was a country, it would be 3rd in the list of countries producing highest CO2, right after China and The USA.
 
If you are a meat eater, you should know cattle growing all over the world to be your food produce a significant amount of methene gas.

You may have heard about antartic ozone hole. In 1980, a large hole was found in antartic region which is estimated to fully recover by 2060. But researchers are always saying this time can be extended for more 15 years due the deterioration of environment.

The United Nations brought all it’s members, 197 countries under an agreement to slow down production of green house gases to safe the ozone layer, which saves us from the ultra-violate rays of the sun. UN sees the largest outcome of it during this pandemic. Now, when nearly 4 billion people around the world is in lockdown, the ozone layer is recovering drastically.

By the end of 2020, the carbon-di-oxide emission may decrease by 8%. This pandemic has made this possible!

In 2019, in India there were more than 1000 natural disasters within a week including that subversive Kerala flood. Cities by the sea like Mumbai, New York may be demolished by rising sea level within 2050. Fossils are being exposed as the ice is melting. With fossils of premitive age, deadly pathogens may come out. The world has seen 2 huge epidemics of SERS and MERS and the pandemic of Novel Coronavirus in 21st century. The world may observe more of these in the coming years.

We all know much about the effects of climate change and how to save it. But it high time we care about that. We are more interested in economic welfare than anything else. For our comfort, we subside the nature. But nothing goes unpaid. We get in return of what we do. Save nature, save your existence.

Author: Upal Kundu

Poisons have been a weapon of choice for many since the dawn of mankind. Their subtleness and deadliness provided the perfect mix of stealth and lethality that has market virtually every society’s way of warfare. From the early Middle Ages to the dawn of the Industrial Revolution and the end of the 19th Century, agents like bacteria and viruses were well-known to strategists and widely used by commanders all around the world.

It is only after Louis Pasteur and Robert Koch’s foundation of microbiology that the true power of biological weapons was unleashed. From that point forward, agents have been chosen and designed in rational ways, amplifying enormously the weapons’ potential. The general scare that the prospect caused at the time was embedded in the two international declarations that first banned poisonous weapons: Brussels 1974 and The Hague 1899.

What are Biological Weapons?

Biological weapons, or germ weapons, are disease-producing agents with the potential of being weaponized against humans, animals or plants. The agents are divided into five categories: bacteria, viruses, rickettsiae, fungi and toxins. The majority of them is delivered through aerosols, and suitability for weaponization varies greatly, deriving from a number of factors like lethality, contagiousness, hardiness and stability.

Biological weapons are, along with nuclear, chemical and radio-logical weapons, commonly referred to as ‘weapons of mass destruction’. Unlike some of their counterparts however, biological weapons are not capable of causing damage to infrastructure, buildings, or equipment. Nevertheless, they do store enough power to lead to mass deaths, especially through a pandemic.

The Two Great Wars

WWI was the first great theater where generals and engineers from either side tested the newest warfare technology in large-scale battles. Within this innovation frenzy, little space was left for biological weapons to make a real appearance and their presence was only due to a German clandestine program targeting allied cattle and soldiers on both fronts. The attempt gave poor results, but the horrors of the conflict were enough for the international community to unify behind the signing of the 1925 Geneva Protocol banning the use of both biological and chemical weapons.

During the interwar period Japan was the first state to develop a national bioweapon program at the Tokyo Army Medical School, led by radical nationalist Shiro Ishii. The Japanese experimented with agents such as anthrax, typhus, smallpox, yellow fever, etc. The program is expected to have killed hundreds of thousands of people, many even after the end of the conflict itself. Their discoveries were put to the test, and then employed, between 1937 and 1945 during the Second Sino-Japanese War and WWII against Chinese civilians and allied soldiers in the Pacific theater.

In the US the first private biological weapons research center was established only in 1940 amidst concerns about Japan’s advancements in the field by the Nobel-Prize-winning discoverer of insulin Sir Frederick Banting. Just one years later the US government launched a massive national biological warfare program, which by 1945 employed more than 5,000 people. Many of the Japanese scientists conducting human experiments on Chinese nationals during the war contributed to the US program in exchange for freedom in the aftermath of the conflict.

The Cold War

In the post-war period, the US government started conducting open-air tests exposing animals, volunteers, and unaware civilians to pathogenic, and non-pathogenic microbes. Bacteria released from naval vessels off the coasts of Virginia and San Francisco infected millions in the 1940s, while the 1966 contamination of the New York subway system with Bacillus globigii simulated the potential spread of anthrax in a big city.

Pushed by the fear that enemies like the Viet Cong might put their hands on such weapons, President Nixon signed the 1972 Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC), which prohibited even research on biological weapons. A lack of implementation of the treaty’s parameters still allowed the USSR to establish their own bio-warfare project: Biopreparat.

This program was able to run for thirty years and employ thousands of people before it was detected and caused the BTWC to be scrapped in 2002. Under its guidance, Soviet scientists engineered multi-drug resistant bacteria and worked with hemorrhagic fever viruses, some of the deadliest pathogens ever encountered. Additionally, they experimented with new deliverance methods by using intercontinental ballistic missiles. Despite the mystery surrounding the events inside the Iron Curtain and a general lack of information though, we can still determine the likeliness of incidents happening in the USSR too. From the 1971 smallpox outbreak in Kazakh Aralsk, to strange plague and glanders deaths in the Aral Sea area, and the 1979 anthrax outbreak in Sverdlovsk, swiftly covered up by the secret police. Both superpowers had their fair share of responsibility when it comes to the development and diffusion of biological weapons.

Current State Use of Biological Weapons

After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 and Boris Yeltsin admission to the BTWC’s violations, Biopreparat’s research was officially eliminated. To this day, however, we still do not know how much of the project’s materials and expertise has ended up in Russian hands, and what was instead obtained by individuals and organizations. The US Threat Reduction Program worked with the 15 former Soviet republics to contain the spread of bio-warfare capabilities and put both the material and human capital previously employed to use in other areas.

Moreover, according to US intelligence, at least a dozen states from the 190 UN members are strongly suspected of having covert bioweapons programs. Amongst them are South Africa, Iraq and Israel.

Proliferation has been mainly the result of three factors: the BTWC’s weak controls, the low level of capital required, and the small amount of human capital needed. Public availability of academic research concerning bio-weapons has only compounded the problem.

Biological Terrorism

The ease with which bioweapons can be developed or obtained has led to their diffusion with individuals and terrorist organizations. Religious sects have made use of Salmonella (in the US) or, most famously, Sarin gas (in Japan) to bend the public’s will to their political demands. In the latter event the Japanese religious sect Aum Shinrikyo managed to kill 12 train passengers and injure 5,000 in the 1995 Tokyo subway attack.

In the US, a right-wing laboratory technician was the first individual to attempt to obtain bioweapons illegally. In 2001 then an anthrax attack left 5 people dead and spread panic among the country. Americans have also themselves allegedly employed biological warfare to reach their political goals at the international level on multiple occasions. Allegations of US biological terrorism have come since the Korean War from the Soviets, the Chinese and North Koreans, while there are suspicions of bioweapons use for attempted assassinations against Cuba’s Fidel Castro and the DRC’s Frederik Lumumba.

Al Qaeda also showed an interest in the acquisitions of biological weapons before the American invasion of Afghanistan and their defeat at the hands of US and Afghan Northern Alliance forces in 2001-2002.

MongoDB is one of the globe’s most widely-sought after NoSQL object-oriented databases. However, like all databases, it has specific areas where it booms and others where it falters. Should you use this database for your particular business needs? Read this guide on its pros and cons to decide.

These are some aspects that you may not have a clear knowledge about. In such a case, it makes sense to take the help of a professional. They have the knowledge and understanding of what will suit your business.  Consult with them and they will help you out.

MongoDB- When should you use MongoDB for your business needs?

One of the best ways to determine whether you should use MongoDB or not is to check whether your business participates in several e-commerce products cataloging with large inventories primarily due to horizontal scalability? If yes, this database will work for your business well.

Another area where the MongoDB works well is with social networking and mobile networking websites that use geospatial data and frequently experience dynamically evolving application and data needs. The database works well for companies that rely heavily on content management and produces a vital amount of documentation, in short. MongoDB will come in useful when you are dealing with Big Data.

When should you not use MongoDB for your business needs?

It would help if you did not rely on MongoDB when your company needs strong consistencies across the database boards. However, businesses that are actively involved with billing, SLA management, trade verifications, detection of fraud, and other types of financial data should never consider MongoDB to be the key database for their business.

The best features of the MongoDB for modern businesses today

Experts in database administration say there are many ways to use MongoDB. However, you will find several ways to use this database but not for every business. The database’s specific features have many advantages, which is why it is one of the most popular NoSQL databases across the world today. Given below are some of its unique qualities –

Performance- The query performance of the MongoDB is faster as it stores maximum data in the RAM. This means the data is not taken from the hard disk during query requests. To boost the above, businesses should ensure they have precise indexes and a significant RAM.

 

Simple- Several users of MongoDB find its query syntax to be very simple and easy to understand. This is due to its query language that is more expressive than SQL. Its installation, the setup, and the execution of the database are much simpler than other databases. This is why more businesses and people embrace this NoSQL structure over their SQL counterparts for faster training and quicker learning.

 

Flexibility- The database has no pre-defined schema. This makes it get an architecture that is dynamic for storage and data that is unstructured. You can easily set values for a large number of keys making the database a potential one. This database is popular in modern times for its flexibility. If you see the vast inflow of data changing at a dynamic speed, having a MongoDB database is advantageous.

 

Scalable- One of the biggest features of the MongoDB database is its credible scalability. SQL databases utilize vertical scalability, whereas MongoDB, like NoSQL databases, deploys horizontal scalability that makes it simple to improve storage capacity.

 

Documentation- Experts from credible database administration and support company, Com, say that when you take a look at MongoDB’s resources, you will find an extensive cache of data that is precise documentation. In fact, for each version and edition, MongoDB does not ignore the details. The database offers excellent documentation for helping new and seasoned users understand the technology better.

Cons of the MongoDB database when you compare it to others

If some of the above features of MongoDB are great, other aspects are not entirely favorable for users. Though the pros of the database outweigh its cons in most cases, there are some fields where MongoDB does not perform as well as its other database peers. Let us take a look at them below-

Transactions- One of the biggest disadvantages of MongoDB is that it does not offer support for transactions. In modern days, you will find that fewer applications need transactions. Some still require them for updating collections and multiple documents. If your business operates on transactions that are mandatory for your team, you should not use MongoDB. There is a huge potential of the data becoming corrupted in case you do.

 

Joins- In MongoDB, it is very challenging and tough for you to join documents. Even though the 3.2 version introduced the left-outer joining feature, developers still need to work on the feature as it is not mature. If you need to pull information or data from many collections, you need a large number of queries that will lead to very long turnaround times and messy codes.

 

Indexing- This factor has been covered earlier. If you want to enjoy the database’s fast and optimal performance, you need to have the right indexes. If the indexes you incorporate are shoddy or are out of order, the database will function at an alarmingly slow pace.

 

Duplicates- Some of the above cons will ultimately result in duplicate data. This has taken place for several users back in the past. MongoDB’s relationship has not been defined properly, and the duplicate sets that have resulted are quite challenging to manage. Moreover, if the database is not ACID compliant, this could cause corrupted data. Be careful of this.

When choosing a good database for your business, make sure you ascertain what your individual needs are. In this way, you should place them first before embracing MongoDB for your company. In case you need more clarifications about MongoDB, you should consult good IT professionals or DBAs to get a defined and clearer idea of whether this database is ideal for your business or not.

 

 

On August 13, 2020, Israel and the United Arab Emirates agreed to normalize diplomatic relations. The general agreement was as follows: The United Arab Emirates will formally recognize Israel, in exchange for Israel suspending all plans to annex the West Bank indefinitely. While a formal treaty has yet to be signed, already media restrictions on Israeli television have been lifted in the United Arab Emirates, and discussions for regular flights between David Ben Gurion International Airport and Dubai International Airport.

So, what will the impact be?

Well, nothing immediate. The United Arab Emirates and Israel have never gone to war. In fact, they have for some time been engaging in secret negotiations and alliances, something that was known to everyone who had been following this stuff even casually. This is not unique to the United Arab Emirates. Many Gulf countries have had open-secret relations with Israel for decades, long before the rise of Iran, such as Saudi Arabia and Oman. Good relations with Israel were viewed by the Arab monarchies as a counterbalance to the Pan- Arab governments of Egypt, Syria, Iraq, and others. The governments of Israel an Jordan were engaging in secret dialogue, even as their armies were fighting each other across the battlefield.

However, this may prove to start a cascade impact across the Gulf. Oman has endorsed the Trump peace plan, and has embraced the decision by the United Arab Emirates to recognize the state of Israel, even as Oman herself has never formally recognized the Jewish state. Bahrain and Sudan have also expressed support, and may follow suit.

However, in this gossip and rumor about who will be next in line to gain access to Israeli markets in the Arab World, one country is missing: Saudi Arabia.

There have been secret bilateral talks between Saudi Arabia and Israel in recent years. And Saudi Arabia recognizing Israel with be game, set, match for the Jewish state. And Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are both allies in the civil war in Yemen, of which no outside nation has been more invested in than both Riyadh and Abu Dhabi.

And yet, there is a huge rift between the two countries. Mainly, the United Arab Emirates supports the southern separatist movements, who want to see South Yemen an independent nation again, while Saudi Arabia does not.

Although there is a peace deal between the internationally-recognized government and the Southern separatists, there is no way of knowing whether it will hold. It is quite possible that Saudi-UAE alliance will break down, and the UAE may drop out of the war. Add to this the recognition of Israel by the United Arab Emirates, and you could have a recipe for a fall out. After all, Saudi Arabia would not want to do anything that upsets its status as the protectors of Islam.

But that is not all. The United Arab Emirates is diversifying, looking into a post-oil future. Seeing the attention oil has brought in, and seeing its status as a major airline hub, the UAE is growing its service sector. The UAE is a rising star in the Gulf.

Saudi Arabia, on the other hand, is declining. It is suffering from a lack of young people willing to work in difficult services, a consequence of the Expat economy that has defined the Gulf. It’s international reputation has been severely tarnished. All of its economic reform plans have failed.

Israel and the United Arab Emirates may in the end work to check Saudi Islamist movements as the United Arab Emirates, although an ally of Saudi Arabia in Yemen and have a joint interest in deterring Iran, does not want to fund Islamist movements, unlike it’s neighbors, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Iran. In the end, more and more Gulf nations recognizing Israel May serve as a containment strategy against Saudi Arabia.

But, nowhere is more affected than the Palestinians, who have already rejected the peace agreement. However, they will soon realize that even they have little choice but to change their strategy. As more and more Arab nations open up to Israel, the Palestinians will learn the hard way that they, like the Kurds, have no friends but the mountains.

The Arab league can and use its position to pressure the Palestinians into making concessions. This ultimately must be done in conjunction with the United States putting pressure on the Israelis to end construction of West Bank settlements. Especially considering that West Bank annexation was incredibly unpopular with the Israelis, and the normalization of diplomatic relations with the United Arab Emirates, on the other hand, is incredibly popular.

The agreement can also provide further co-operation between the Israelis and the Palestinians. After all, the agreement was based on the promise that Israel would suspend West Bank annexation. However, Netanyahu has stated that he has no plans to cancel his ambitions of West Bank annexation. Yet, should he decide to go ahead with West Bank annexation, something he planned to do in July, the United Arab Emirates will go ahead with the plan.

This is, in many ways, a continuation of the “land for peace” proposal that began when Israel gave back the Sinai Peninsula to Egypt in exchange for Egyptian recognition of the Jewish state. Followed up by Jordanian recognition of Israel in exchange for the established of the Palestinian authority. Or Israel’s unilateral withdrawal from Gaza in 2005.

If these things can make Arab states recognize Israel, would a settlement freeze make more states recognize Israel? Would Oman, Bahrain, Kuwait, Sudan, Tunisia, Morocco, and Lebanon recognize Israel if Israel agreed to a settlement freeze?

This can ultimately mean the final peace accord between the Israelis and the Palestinians, and with that, the last of the Arab states will have no choice but to recognize Israel.

Since the 1980’s Chili used to keep the same constitution as during the era of Pinochet, and today, is a huge change happening in the country. The 25th of October, the Chilean people voted through a referendum to change constitution with 78%.
This score shows how much people want to get detached from the influence of Pinochet, this part of the History and all it represents. This referendum also shows a rise of the electoral participation which has been called « voluntary voting » and the population  felt concerned by this question. Even though the constitution has been reformed and amended through the years, this is such a step for the state. The actual president Piñera talks about « democratisation of the State ».

This popular decision represents a citizen and democratic transition because this constitution  has for ambition to reunite the nation which has been in trouble and divided for  years now. All of this is an answer since the gouvernment decisions to raise  the price of subway tickets in 2019 which provoked social movements. The question now is to know how the country is about to be organised, in term of ideology, of institutions and which would be the impact of the new constitution.
First of all, the country decided to make a Constituent Assembly, with 155 members who will be elected at April 2021 election, and for the moment there are no members. Feminists have been such a pioneer in the process for change and during social movements, as well, as it must be a good parity in the Assembly with at least 45% of women in it. According to the political expert Julieta Suarez-Cao taking this way, Chili would be the country first to proceed that way to write the constitution.For now, we don’t know when the constitutional text would be ratified and applied, but expert thinks it would be 2022, the year from which any constitutional article would be presented to the population and must be approved by at least 2/3 of citizens in a new vote. In this process, the president Piñera has an important role. In fact, he has to ensure the stability of the country and the well going of writing conditions.
As we know, writing a new constitution involves the international scene, directly or not. As underlined by the Spanish newspaper El País, Chili has a lack of institutions, not only because the country has been through a period of instability but also because none of political parties emerged from this decision. None of them, from the left or the right wing can declare itself as being « the one » which leads to this exit.
Why ? Only because this has not been discussed during debate with the opposition or even born in political polarisation. Moreover, as we noticed for decades now, all new constitutions cause empirical realities. What does it mean ? The country is lead to a paradigmatic change. In this case, is getting detached from the constitution  of 1980 which has been marked by the neoliberal ideology of Pinochet, leading the population to poverty and the country to a huge public debt.
But, this is also a transnational question, because international organisation are called to be part of the process in order to keep an eye in the consideration of the human right, but also to have a scientific approach through comparative methods.
So, we will be able  to notice the presence of organisations part of the United Nations, but also from the Assembly of Venice, the same ones which were here during the process of constitutional writing in Nepal, Kenya and Tunisia.
One of their main role is to verify is the constitution is in complete coordination with human rights, but this scientific approach is linked to the constitutional law which mere ate the end of the cold war making it young and presenting limits in term of methods, instruments and theory. Moreover, we can also say that these expertises are biased because it only takes in consideration what is done in the western world whereas other countries in other areas did it well.
It would be naive from our part to consider that a new constitution can resolve all the ills a society, a nation and a country can go through, but at least, it represents the start of something new. The will to let behind the dark times of the history and here the legacy of Pinochet which haunted the country years after the dictature. According the journal « la tercera, the country is fronting a blank page which is the occasion to include a perspective of  plurality and inclusivity in the text ».

Author: Brenda LEKA

Politics is a pretty inaccurate area. It would certainly be a mistake calling it science, since there are no generally acknowledged and accepted system of facts, or formulas that would give us an instrument to somehow use those facts in order to come to a sought conclusion, just as there is no way to prove that particular facts have direct impact on other particular facts.

It is definitely not sports, seeing there rarely is a clear winner in a competition, if we let ourselves call political disputes this way. So how can we reach a full understanding of such a highly important and influencing field as politics?

Personally I prefer to consider politics as art.

Art doesn’t have clear boundaries to stay within, art doesn’t need to be proven to anybody since its beauty is simply in its out existence and its impact on others, and the best part for us is – we don’t have to understand it! We might observe it, try to influence it, feel a need to join some movement, or we can simply create one of our own, that will be different from others in one way or another.

One could ask: “So how exactly does it help us? I mean, politics is something that has the most global effect on the world surrounding us, our lives basically depend on which decisions will the government make. Wouldn’t it be easier for everybody to imagine it as science and to know exactly what actions to take in one case or another?” Maybe it would be possible lots of years ago, but definitely not today. And I am about to explain to you, what exactly has changed since, let’s say, the transition from a monarchic system to something that we know nowadays as democratic state system.
Leaving politics to educated class
Without a doubt, monarchy as a system has proven to be relatively unstable in most of European countries. French underwent a painful revolution in the second half of the XVIII century, leading to the creation of a so-called Second Republic (1848-1851), when first more or less democratic elections were held, when Napoleon III came to power as first president of France chosen by his own people. Sure, it didn’t take long for him to organize a coup which lead to the reestablishment of the French Empire until its fall in 1871, but still this became a pretty significant phenomenon. Germany, on the other hand, has held its first elections no sooner than 1919, being then Weimar Republic. Those elections were not so democratic, for there was a special committee convened to come up with a candidate to rule the country, Weimar National Assembly. Per contra, we still have The United Kingdom, which can proudly call itself a monarchy that remains successfully operating even nowadays. But it is important to notice that

After you’re doing UK business registration and getting an online bank account UK, one of the most important things for a business is the right accountancy services. For a business to be successful, it must have professional accountants to take care of everything, from bookkeeping to tax preparation. 

Let’s begin to discuss some of the reasons why accountancy services UK are so important and why your company, especially when you’re opening a company in a different country. 
Which Accounting Services UK Do You Need?
First and foremost, you need to know which services you’re hiring accountants for. If you are working with a company formation agent, they’ll most probably cover everything from bank account offers in the UK to online accounting services in the UK. So, you won’t have to pay for additional accountancy charges. Otherwise, you can outsource accounting services while you give all your time and attention to other aspects of the business. 

Here are the common accountancy services that you’ll need for your business:

Tax preparation
Bookkeeping 
Consulting and advising
Audit and assurance

Thus, you need a team of accountants that can provide you all these services so that you don’t have to distribute them about different accounting firms. 
Reasons for Getting Accounting Services UK
Once you are done with UK business registration, it is not the end of your encounter with official documents. Throughout the business operations, you will come across UK laws related to taxation and other things. 

If you’re a non-resident, you won’t have a clue about the regulations of the country and might not be willing to learn a new tax system. Thus, it’s essential to get the most reliable online accountancy services UK to manage your company’s accounts. 
Finding the Business Structure
You have to find the right business structure for your company to get tax benefits and be in compliance with the country’s regulations. An accountant can guide you in this matter, helping you find the business structure from the following:

Corporations
Sole trader
Trust 
Partnership
LLC

Financial Advising and Analysis

Money is one of the most important aspects of every business. When running a company, you need to know how much money you have, where it is being spent, and how you can cut costs while keeping the company’s operations as smooth as possible. 

Accountants analyze the finances of your company and advise you on proper financial management. Having an incredible team of accountants by your side means that you’ll hardly ever find yourself in a financial situation that you cannot get out of. 

Also, accountants give you advice about using the right software. All businesses need accounting software. With no accountancy knowledge, you can’t possibly know which software will be the best for your business structure and specific company needs. An accountant can help make the decision much easier, making your accounting journey smooth. 
Expense Tracking 
Another important part of business management is expense tracking. You have to keep track of everything from employee salaries to business transactions. It’s practically impossible to do this while running other departments of your company. Thus, you should leave this to a reliable accountancy firm, which will keep a record of everything you earn and how it is spent. 
Tax Preparation 
While you can do your own taxes as an individual, doing company taxes is a much harder job. Thus, you need to use tax services UK to help prepare tax returns. Having accountants by your side means that you’ll be able to get the tax benefits that the country offers, without having to do as little as reading the first page of the tax documents. 
Final Verdict 
People from all over the world are coming to the UK to start their businesses as the country offers tax benefits and makes investment easier. From getting a UK business bank account to bank account offer UK, everything is much easier than in most other parts of the world. 

If you are also planning to open a company in the UK, you must use the best accounting services UK to avail tax benefits and strictly track all your expenses. Get started today with the company formation process and take your business forward in the UK. 

Tomorrow
August 30 at 7PM European Central Time (Paris, Berlin time)

David Allouche shall discuss the Role of France in Keeping European Union together.

Join us at the exact time by using the link below:

https://meetingsapac44.webex.com/meetingsapac44/j.php?MTID=m36b1311481a35a257414b524ba587aef

Sino-Iranian relations were officially established in 1971, but the contacts between the two countries actually date back to 200 BC or even earlier. In fact, the Silk Road has been the focal point where Chinese and Iranians carried out their cultural, political and economic exchanges for centuries. Even though this partnership went through fluctuating moments, it seems now to have all the assets to become so strong to the point of being threatening for the West. In 1997, Tehran and Beijing lived a moment of reciprocal disengagement. Bill Clinton, then U.S. President, decided to monitor both nuclear and military cooperation that China had with Iran through the so called Dual Containment Policy. In addition, some major events such as the 1996 Taiwan Strait Crisis led China to look for a less tense climate with Washington, at the expense of its precious connection with Iran. Nowadays the situation is completely reversed, and the collaboration between these states could significantly change geopolitics of both Asia and the Middle East.
The new ‘Comprehensive Strategic Partnership’ aims to reach deeper ties in various fields, including culture, economy, health, security and defense. More specifically, the plan entails massive investments directed to railways, the environment and agriculture, mutual exchange of know-how and the expansion of ports. As clearly showed in Iran’s recent statements, working on these domains is the key to improve areas that contribute to peace and stability in this corner of the globe. While the world is questioning whether the outcomes of this partnership will be positive or not, it is worth considering the factors that brought Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and Xi Jinping closer.
Firstly, since Donald Trump took office at the White House, the tycoon’s administration pursued the idea of ‘maximum pressure’ against Iran relentlessly, which mainly consisted of sanctions and the threats of military attacks. This strategy reached its peak with the U.S. withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in May 2018, which consistently reduced Iran’s capacity to produce nuclear weapons. Regardless of this, the President considered that the agreement failed to protect America’s national security interests. But this aggressive approach resulted in Iran to see China as a shelter. Secondly, the two sides are also related by the same vision regarding integrity and national sovereignty. Iran stands for the One-China policy, and the People’s Republic supports Iran’s increasing role in regional and international affairs. For this reason, Head of States are respectively planning to fight extremism and separatism, as well as illegal border crossing. Moreover, taking into account U.S. sanctions of European trade with Iran, the latter sees China as the one that can challenge the status quo established by the United States in terms of its economic dominance, thus finding protection against U.S. pressure. Similarly, Iran’s position could also favor the Chinese Road Belt Initiative (BRI). In this frame, Iran can gain visibility in the West, since states will inevitably debate their economic ties with China, therefore enabling Iran to be more in the spotlight for future negotiations with Europe.
Despite being promising, China has be to careful with this new 25-years deal. Reinforcing ties with Iran can surely bring benefits but, on the other hand, concerns of Israel, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates, which are notoriously solid economic partners in the Middle East, will be unavoidable. Coupled with the fact that the U.S. don’t want to lost influence in the Middle East, especially in strategic points such as in the Persian Gulf, the consequences of the Iranian-Chinese negotiation appear to be of paramount importance for the future equilibrium in the region. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has already expressed his worries about the Iranian-Chinese agreement, adding that Iran’s proximity to China and potential easy access to its resources could enhance the risk of terrorism. Few details are available right now,  and it is not clear yet when the deal will exactly come into force. But only its implementation will reveal how far D.C. can go in order to maintain its global prestige, despite the fact that the Oval Office will be conquered by a Republican or by a Democrat.