Caravans, Cranes and War Without End, Part 3

As with so many situations today, thinking about the country of Afghanistan - and how it has changed from my initial romantically sweeping impressions and not for the better as a result of the military invasion spearheaded by the US in late 2001 - is, at the very least, depressing. Thus, before getting too far into this post, I would like first to post these words from someone I greatly admire, the late noted historian and author, Howard Zinn. His words serve as a touchstone to remind us that even during some of our darkest hours, the best qualities of our shared humanity have - so far - managed to transcend the worst of situations.

"To be hopeful in bad times is not just foolishly romantic; it is based on the fact that human history is a history not only of cruelty, but also of compassion, sacrifice, courage, kindness.
What we choose to emphasize in this complex history will determine our lives. If we see only the worst, it destroys our ability to do something. If we remember those times and places - and there are so many - where people have behaved magnificently, this gives us the energy to act, and at least the possibility of sending this spinning top of a world in a different direction. And if we do act, in however small a way, we don't have to wait for a grand utopian future.
The future is an infinite succession of presents, and to live now as we think human beings should live, in defiance of all that is bad around us, is itself a marvelous victory." [Emphasis mine.]

In October 2001, ostensibly due to the refusal of the then-Government in power in Afghanistan, the Taliban, to hand over Osama Bin Laden to US authorities and to disband Al Qaeda bases in Afghanistan following the catastrophic 9-11 bombings, the US launched "Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF)." As pathetically and hopelessly misnamed as other US military ventures occurring during the 2001-2008 period, the only thing enduring about OEF is its length. So far at least, "freedom" in any meaningful sense for the Afghani people has been an impossible dream. OEF's US and NATO fatalities appear comparatively minimal in relation to military operations on a similar scale. But the human toll - both physical and mental - on the Afghani people and all combattants and the continuing deterioration and destabilization of the entire region, to say nothing of the extravagant sums of money literally poured into a bottomless Black Hole that have enriched unscrupulous people of all nationalities with little benefit to the ordinary Afghan together with the area's strongly resurgent trade in opium poppies, make this ill-advised, ill-conceived and ill-implemented measure one of the greatest military stalemates, if not in history, certainly in recent times.

It didn't have to be this way. Yes, my country was greatly traumatized - and remains so today - by the events of 9-11. I myself am still traumatized by them. But I remain even more traumatized by their aftermath. Unscrupulous, indolent and short-term opportunistic politicians and their Machiavellian puppeteers - in the name of a "War on Terror" - seized upon the occasion to curtail US civil rights and liberties to an unprecedented extent (see the so-called "Patriot Act"). They also implemented agendas that had very little to do with "freeing" anyone, but very much to do with gaining complete access to strategic geopolitical locales  and to the enormous reserves of natural resources located therein, as well as personal enrichment.

The US had itself laid the groundwork for Al Qaeda in the 1980s by arming and training the most rabid opposition groups to fight against the Soviets. As Edward Girardet states from his first-hand observations, "Despite endless opportunities to support moderate factions during the Soviet-Afghan war, the CIA - prompted by Pakistan - insisted on working closely with the most fanatical Islamic factions." Girardet notes further that, even before the infamous August briefing (that then-President Bush apparently never read that warned that attacks were being planned in the US), that the US was warned in 2001 by credible, less fanatic, Afghan leaders that there would be an attack in the US and that there should be no intervention - particularly a military intervention - in Afghanistan, but rather that pressure should be put on Pakistan. This was because Pakistan, particularly through its military intelligence, was supporting the Taliban. As we have seen since, Pakistan still supports Taliban factions today. In fact, Girardet asserts that, had the US not rushed into Afghanistan in 2001, the Taliban, who were already on the point of implosion, would have defeated themselves. There were simply too many different voices and factions - an endemic Afghan situation. What a lot of anguish the entire world might have been spared, had cooler heads and more informed, less selfish and less short-sighted individuals been in power in the US in 2001! If only.

There is universal consensus - save for armchair military "experts" - that a military solution in Afghanistan imposed by outside powers is improbable, if not impossible. Centuries of military history in the region would seem to bear out that consensus. "Justice" cannot be imposed by military means. Any viable solution must involve Afghans in their own destiny. They must include not simply those Afghans selected by or acceptable to Western power-brokers, but every group of Afghans that has a stake in their own nation. Afghans - not simply those at the highest levels -  must be consulted and involved in their own destiny. Plenty of people are needed with full measure of our best human qualities: compassion, sacrifice, courage, kindness - much of which has been demonstrated by selfless countless aid workers on the ground before, during and continuing even now under extremely difficult circumstances.

The current plans for US "drawdown" rely too much on our continuing military presence in Afghanistan. This is perceived as an occupation - with some few soldiers inevitably either deliberately insulting Afghans or committing atrocities - even though the majority of military personnel are simply trying to do their best in extremely difficult circumstances, with an undefined and nebulous "mission" to boot.

As one veteran of the US war in Iraq puts it, "War doesn't just rob the occupied of their humanity; it robs the occupier of theirs too. And this is why humankind cannot continue to wage senseless wars that accomplish nothing but death and destruction." Well said, IMO, from one who has "been there, done that."

Humankind is incredibly resilient. It survived the world's arguably worst Holocaust ever in the 20th century, after all. While there is much harm from the past decade that can never be undone, if we can all learn lessons from it and do as much as we can to mitigate its lasting effects to assist in building new foundations and new bridges among cultures, there is reason to be optimistic. While some of us may never be able to travel with the caravans as did the characters in Michener's novel nor will we ever behold unscathed relics of former civilizations in Afghanistan such as the Buddhas of Bamiyan that HWMBO visited in the late 1970s, perhaps we will one day see the cranes return to fly over Kabul in the spring. Or, better yet, Afghans themselves who are living in harmony among their fellows and with their environment will see these lovely emissaries of spring and wonder at their passage.    

Caravans, Cranes and War Without End, Part 2

James Michener's 1963 novel "Caravans" was one of his characteristically sweeping sagas, this time set in Afghanistan and neighboring countries in the period immediately following World War II. The movie based on this book was filmed in Iran and released in 1978, the year that HWMBO returned to the US after four years living and working in Iran. HWMBO departed barely ahead of the revolution that would transform Iran from 1979 on.

The story deals with a protagonist who is stationed at the American Embassy in Kabul who is given the assignment to discover the whereabouts and condition of an American woman who had married an Afghani exchange student several months previously and then seemingly disappeared. Given the time (mid to late 1940s) and the state of race relations generally in the US, any white American woman who married a foreigner, particularly one whose skin color was darker than lily-white, was already in the extreme avant-garde. Interestingly, nearly 20 years later, another avant-garde white American woman married another even more dusky-hued exchange student although she did not follow him when he returned to his native country. The current US President, whom I am very proud to support wholeheartedly, was born of that union in Hawaii, another Michener novel locale. Unfortunately, it does not seem that race relations in certain parts of the US have progressed much beyond the post WWII-period. To our eternal shame.

As anyone who reads the novel discovers, no harm has befallen the American woman, who is supremely independent and very much the mistress of her own destiny. But the scenario does provide Michener with the excuse to explore the extremely interesting complexes and nuances of the primarily nomadic cultures that he describes. In fact, even with that arguably sketchy and fictional background about Afghanistan paired with my own experiences as a Peace Corps Volunteer in an Islamic culture, I likely understood much more about the region than the majority of those in the Reagan Administration who hated anything Russian with fanatical zeal. Thus, as soon as they possibly could, and in defiance of any long-term logic, they hastened to arm the most fundamentalist Islamic Afghan groups and extensively trained in military tactics anyone who was willing, Afghan or not, to fight the Russians who invaded Afghanistan in 1979. Of course, as we have all seen since, many of those who were armed and trained by the short-sighted Reagan-era fanatics were the same people who would later conspire successfully to bring down the Twin Towers on 9-11. Many of those trained and their successors continue to fight - successfully - against our own troops today.

So, I was delighted when in late January I had an opportunity to meet with and hear some of the first-hand experiences of the Swiss-American journalist, Edward Girardet. Girardet, who has a home in Geneva and who wrote principally for the Christian Science Monitor during the 30-year period from 1979-2009, published a book, "Killing the Cranes," in 2011 about his experiences during three decades of war in Afghanistan. Here is one book review. It is my fervent hope that those in the Obama Administration will read it and take heed. In fact, I think that every American should read it. After our extremely ill-advised commencement of war there in 2001, we seem caught there in a morass that destroyed empires long before our own was even a gleam in the eye of civilization.

As Girardet tells it, the title comes from an experience in March 2004 when Girardet was spending the evening with an Afghan friend in Kabul. His friend remarked, "For me, the end of March has always been the time when you cannot hear your voice for the sound of the migrating cranes." He meant the Siberian cranes that every spring have flown northward from the southern wetlands of Iran and Afghanistan to the Russian Arctic and northern Siberia. The friend continued, "You know, I have not heard a single crane since being here." Shaking his head wearily, he asked, "Have we even killed all the cranes?"

In September 2001, Girardet was in Afghanistan hoping to interview Ahmad Shah Massoud, the Afghan leader who likely presented the main challenge to the then-Taliban government and thus a counter to the growing influence of Al Qaeda. As it would happen, Girardet had a commitment to return to Switzerland for his wife's birthday and could not stay later than 8 September. Because weather conditions were such that Massoud's helicopter could not land at his command post until after Girardet's departure, Girardet missed getting his interview. Fortunately for him, he also likely just missed being killed along with Massoud on 9 September. In the book, Girardet describes how all the journalists waiting to interview Massoud were staying in the same guesthouse. Staying in the room next to his were two Arabs posing as journalists who turned out to be Massoud's assassins.  Here is a link to a YouTube video of Girardet's conversation with Thom Hartmann.

Afghanistan has been in the headlines recently, but neither in the romantically exciting sense of "Caravans," nor in the vanished cranes symbolizing a similarly lost past. Now it is in the context of War Without End and commensurate atrocities. Thus, to tomorrow's post.

Osama Been ... !

Having retired early on the evening of 1 May in order to arise in time for the aforementioned godawful early train to Stresa the following morning, and not having checked the news before my departure, I was blissfully unaware of the biggest event to hit the airwaves since 9/11.  In fact, the first news I heard was wholly inaccurate.

After meeting up with HWMBO and the jet-lagged group of weary travellers in Stresa, it wasn't until we reached our room that HWMBO relayed the news to me.  "Qaddafi's been killed," he said.  I was somewhat surprised at that; I had heard the sad news that his grandson had apparently been killed during a NATO strike in Libya's ongoing war between pro-Qaddafi forces and rebels supported by the West.  To me, it is always tragic and senseless when any innocent - especially a child - caught up in power struggles is injured or killed.  And much as I personally abhor Qaddafi, I did feel sorrow for him on the loss of his grandson.  But there had been nothing in the reports that I had heard to indicate that Qaddafi himself had been injured.  So we turned on the tiny TV set provided in our room to see whether we could discover more details.

Even though all the news reports were in Italian, it was clear from the scrolling headlines that the Victim of the Day was not Qaddafi, but the seemingly all-but-forgotten - at least by most in the US news media - Osama Bin Laden.  Bin Laden - founder of Al-Qaeda, admitted architect of the US Embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania, admitted architect of the indescribably horrific 9/11 attacks among numerous others, catalyst for two major wars (although the second war was a real stretch because Saddam Hussein, for all his many grievous faults, was certainly no admirer of Bin Laden), and - too little remembered, IMO - former CIA asset from the cockmamie days when the Reagan Administration thought it would be such a great idea to arm, assist and train fundamentalist zealots to drive the Russians out of Afghanistan - was dead.  Yes, those ideas certainly worked out well for us all, didn't they?

"Bin Laden uscita ..." kept scrolling across the TV screen while visibly excited newscasters reviewed the Archfiend's bloody past and the events leading to his death in Pakistan.   Those early details were very sketchy and some have since proved inaccurate.  Of course, because we heard everything in Italian, our versions were even spottier.  Believe me, there was a rush to purchase all available International Herald Tribune issues that day and the next few!  Copies of the IHT were passed around until their pages were worn through.

It has been an open secret for years that Bin Laden was living in Pakistan.  The question was: with all the saber-rattling against lesser targets, why wasn't anything being done about Bin Laden?  What patronage from high-ups in various governments and institutions allowed him to live, literally in plain sight, for so long?  Hopefully, at least some of these questions will be answered in investigations to come.

I am very uncomfortable with the specific targeting of any individual for death - no matter how much of a fiend that person may be - and quite ambivalent about whether the actions of US Navy SEALs in shooting down an unarmed man in front of his family, especially his young children, were justified.  But, try as I might, I cannot find it in my heart to condemn those actions.  The man's ideas and actions were toxic, nothing short of virulently poisonous.  Left alive and imprisoned for life, as would surely have been the case had he not been killed, he would have sought and used any opportunity to justify himself and glorify the odious causes that he stood for.  I am glad that I did not have to make the call and I commend President Obama for having the courage to decide, even though I have serious qualms about that decision.  It has been nearly 10 years since 9/11.  Too many have been needlessly sacrified since that time.  Hopefully, we can begin to move on.

Whether Bin Laden will be an even stronger symbol in death than he was and would continued to have been in life is a big question!  There are simply too many disenfranchised, powerless, frustrated, voiceless and mistreated people in the world.  Bin Laden did not really care for any of these people except insofar as they were a means to an end.  Had he cared in any meaningful way, he would have used his patently persuasive talents, charisma, money and influence for good, not for evil, and certainly not to promote religious zealotry.   But so long as the rest of us continue to turn a blind eye to the suffering of others, vicious manipulators like Bin Laden and his ilk - whatever their so-called religion - will find fertile ground for the promotion of hatred, chaos and violence.

May the death of Bin Laden begin to heal rather than to exacerbate the many wounds he opened during his life!

Bargaining Versus Begging

Last Sunday afternoon, I took the train to nearby Nyon to attend a meeting with a group of expatriate Americans who are greatly concerned, among other things, about the radical right-wing's well-funded and concerted onslaughts on public employees in various states in the United States.

If you live in the United States and have not heard much about these occurrences, you are not alone.  What passes for mainstream media in the US has largely been deafeningly silent about them.  For the most part, good factual coverage of the Wisconsin demonstrations in support of bargaining and other human rights, as well as similar events around the nation, can be found on-line on sites such as Daily Kos and The Huffington Post.  Some regular columnists at mainstream print media sources such as the New York Times and the Washington Post have also published excellent opinion pieces. 

Among events that have received a tiny bit of exposure in the US press - the news has been covered much better abroad by the Guardian and the Independent than by US newspapers generally, I'm sorry to note - have been the ongoing demonstrations, at times numbering well over 100,000 participants, in the state of Wisconsin throughout the month of February.  What is fascinating is that these events have attracted a worldwide audience and a feeling of global solidarity that surely were not intended by the radical righties!

Because anti-union (public employees' unions are the current targets) and anti-collective bargaining actions have been taken by legislators and governors in thrall to radical ideologues who were voted into office in November 2010 and these disturbing actions have seemed to be so well organized, William Kronon, professor of history at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, prepared an interesting and well-researched historical context for these actions and published them here.  For performing this true public service, the Republican Party of Wisconsin has literally launched a modern-day witch hunt against Professor Kronon.  The historical context must have hit too close to home, methinks.

Some in our expatriate group have connections to UNI (Union Network International), the global union for skills and services that represents 900 trade unions and 20 million workers worldwide, including those in the United States.  UNI is headquartered in Nyon and occupies a modern building there with well-appointed conference rooms.

The meeting had many - of all ages - in attendance.  Discussion was lively and it was a very interesting afternoon.  The gentleman seated in front of me proudly sported a sweatshirt with the logo, "United We Bargain, Divided We Beg."  These are sobering sentiments indeed.  More sobering is the fact that we Americans should have to be standing firm for such  - again - and in the 21st century! 

Among other actions, to show our own solidarity with and support of Wisconsin's public sector employees, we approved a resolution that denounces the unprecedented attacks against public sector workers.   The text of the resolution, entitled "We Are All Wisconsin," can be found here.  On 4 April, we, together with other like-minded Americans and supporters, will rally at the Place des Nations in Geneva in support of collective bargaining rights.

The 4th April timing is significant, as it represents the 43rd anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., in Memphis, Tennessee, where he had traveled to stand in solidarity with striking sanitation workers demanding their chance to attain the American Dream.  We keep having to fight the same battles - over and over again.  As the saying goes, "The more things change, the more they stay the same."

How to Remove a Dictator

Well, we have seen quite graphically how NOT to remove one.  That example occurred in 2003, with the unleashing of "shock and awe" - more shocking and awful than anything else.  Yes, the dictator in question was toppled.  But his country, Iraq, has since become a disaster area, being propped up by foreign military while basic services that used to function still don't, historical treasures of mankind have been looted apace, and bloated contractors have grown even richer with untold millions.  All this and yet eight years later, we still have not been able to put Humpty back together again after pouring billions into the effort.  More than 100,000 Iraqis have paid the ultimate price and hundreds of thousands remain refugees.  Iraq, with a long secular tradition, has now virtually become a Shia theocracy, more similar to Iran than to more open Sunni traditions.   By all reasonable measures, Iraq did not turn out well for the people who have to live there now.  "Shock and awe" simply are not ways to promote democracy and democratic ideals.  They never have been.  Genuine efforts have been made in recent years to improve the situation in Iraq, but the outlook remains dire for the foreseeable future.

More recently, and more encouragingly in both Tunisia and Egypt, we have all witnessed genuinely popular uprisings of, by and for the people in those countries.  Both of those uprisings resulted in the removal of long-term repressive leadership: Ben Ali in Tunisia and Mubarak in Egypt.    Both removals were accomplished for the most part peaceably, with a minimum of bloodshed and destruction, but with a LOT of determination, perseverance and courage on the part of those who protested. 

Dawn broke today with Mubarak gone from Cairo, having finally acceded to protesters' demands that he step down.  Several sources have photographic depictions of events, such as the slideshow here.  Others, such as Tariq Ali, prefer to express their joy in written form.  He writes:

"A joyous night in Cairo. What bliss to be alive, to be an Egyptian and an Arab. In Tahrir Square they're chanting, 'Egypt is free' and 'We won!'"

But Ali also mentions some sobering considerations, especially problems with Mubarak's successor, and wonders about the true extent, scope and nature of the change.

"Omar Suleiman, an old western favourite, was selected as vice-president by Washington, endorsed by the EU, to supervise an "orderly transition". Suleiman was always viewed by the people as a brutal and corrupt torturer, a man who not only gives orders, but participates in the process. A WikiLeaks document had a former US ambassador praising him for not being 'squeamish'. The new vice president had warned the protesting crowds last Tuesday that if they did not demobilise themselves voluntarily, the army was standing by: a coup might be the only option left. It was, but against the dictator they had backed for 30 years. It was the only way to stabilise the country. There could be no return to 'normality'."

Notable scholar Juan Cole posits three major scenarios for post-Mubarak Egypt: 

1. The old elite of officers and businessmen around Mubarak survives him to remain more or less in power, and further protests over time are repressed.

2. There are new presidential and parliamentary elections, but the Mubarak cronies take advantage of their experience in organizing and the wealth they have gained from their crony status to dominate these institutions, while the officer corps remains a power behind the scenes.

3. There is a genuine social and political revolution, wherein substantial amounts of wealth and power are redistributed to new actors.

What will happen now will depend largely on whichever of the three scenarios comes to pass.  While either of the first two scenarios is likely to occur because of the power and control still remaining in the hands of Mubarak allies (viz. Suleiman in power now, for example), those of us who truly believe in democracy and freedom should be rooting for the last.

The Turmoil in Egypt Continues ...

as does official US tone-deafness, at least from what we are hearing.  Let us sincerely hope that more informed decision-making is going on behind the scenes.

One wonders exactly what the US Administration was thinking in sending someone with such close business ties to the Mubarak administration that his objectivity is suspect to "negotiate" a "transition" with TPTB in Egypt.  This practically negates a long and admirable diplomatic career, especially when this envoy then makes the following statement: 

"President Mubarak's continued leadership is critical: it's his opportunity to write his own legacy ..."

One literally gasps in disbelief.  The reaction among the protesters and those who support democratic movements can at best be described as shocked astonishment, as explained more fully here. 

Yesterday was the scene of the largest protest march ever against Mubarak's 30-year dictatorship.  Robert Fisk of the Independent (UK) describes the event, complete with video, here.

"The soldiers of Egypt's Third Army must have been outnumbered 40,000 to one and they sat meekly on their tanks and armoured personnel carriers, smiling nervously as old men and youths and young women sat around their tank tracks, sleeping on the armour, heads on the great steel wheels; a military force turned to impotence by an army of dissent. Many said they had come because they were frightened; because they feared the world was losing interest in their struggle, because Mubarak had not yet left his palace, because the crowds had grown smaller in recent days, because some of the camera crews had left for other tragedies and other dictatorships, because the smell of betrayal was in the air. If the Republic of Tahrir dries up, then the national awakening is over. But yesterday proved that the revolution is alive."

Because so much of what we see on US media is filtered, or presented by pundits with agendas, or by self-styled experts with biases, it is interesting to see what informed academic experts on the Middle East such as Juan Cole, or what Egyptians themselves who are on the spot have to say.  In addition to live Twitter feeds and live streaming of events, Al Jazeera English provides a live blog.  The Guardian (UK, again) identifies other blogs that its staff believe provide some of the best information and insights (Juan Cole's "Informed Comment," among them) about the situation in Egypt, such as The Arabist and Jadaliyya.

One hopes that the Administration is paying close attention!  Unfortunately, we have not seen much evidence of this so far.

Tahrir, the New Tiananmen?

I have travelled to Egypt twice, each time being thoroughly awestruck by its history and civilization and the wonderful cultural witnesses to those times.  I also have many Egyptian friends.  Today's Egyptian people are its current wonders.  Their activities in recent days have shown exceptional courage and dedication to change - even to the extent of putting their lives on the line.

Having been inspired by events in Tunisia, Egyptian citizens, male and female, rich and poor, Muslim and Christian - indeed citizens from all walks of life - have come together to protest the autocratic regime that has ruled them for 30 years.  They want the leader of this regime, Hosni Mubarak, to leave.  He, on the other hand, has attempted to placate the protesters with the meaningless pledge that he will not run for office again.  He says that he "wants to go," but cannot because the country will descend into chaos.

Chaos, however, has been caused primarily by pro-Mubarak supporters, whose behavior has resembled that of thugs.  Until yesterday, the protesters, although numerous, were peaceful.  Yesterday, they were attacked in Tahrir Square in Cairo by pro-Mubarak forces.  Who are these "pro-Mubarak forces?"  According to one recorder of events, Ahdaf Soueif:

"So who are these people? In support of the president, they throw Molotov bottles and plant pots from the tops of buildings onto the heads of women and children. To establish stability and order, they break heads with rocks and legs with bicycle chains. To have their say in the debate they slash faces with knives. Who are they? Well, every time one of them is captured his ID says he's a member of the security forces. ..."

Another individual, Robert Fisk, who is actually on site, reports as follows:

"'This is Mubarak's work,' one wounded stone-thrower said to me. 'He has managed to turn Egyptian against Egyptian for just nine more months of power. He is mad. Are you in the West mad, too?' I can't remember how I replied to this question. But how could I forget watching – just a few hours earlier – as the Middle East 'expert' Mitt Romney, former governor of Massachusetts, was asked if Mubarak was a dictator. No, he said, he was 'a monarch-type figure'.

The face of this monarch was carried on giant posters, a printed provocation, to the barricades. Newly distributed by officers of the National Democratic Party – they must have taken a while to produce after the party's headquarters was reduced to a smouldering shell after Friday's battles – many were held in the air by men carrying cudgels and police batons. There is no doubt about this because I had driven into Cairo from the desert as they formed up outside the foreign ministry and the state radio building on the east bank of the Nile. There were loudspeaker songs and calls for Mubarak's eternal life (a very long presidency indeed) and many were sitting on brand-new motorcycles, as if they had been inspired by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's thugs after the 2009 Iranian elections. Come to think of it, Mubarak and Ahmadinejad do actually have the same respect for elections."

The EU is demanding that Mubarak begin an immediate "democratic transition" and respect the rights of journalists, several of whom have been beaten severely by pro-Mubarak forces, such that they have required hospitalization.  Two US Senators have sponsored a resolution urging Mubarak to transition out immediately.  It appears that US President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton are also urging him to leave.  Up to now, these demands and appeals appear to have fallen on deaf ears.

Will Tahrir Square become Egypt's Tiananmen Square?  The protesters remember that lesson well.  If they give in now, they will likely be subject to severe repercussions.  They have simply gone too far and risked too much to give in now.  Right now, we who value liberty, freedom of speech, expression, assembly and the freedom to choose our leadership in free and fair elections should all be Egyptians!

Winds of Change

World-changing events during December 2010 and January 2011 began in Tunisia.  Their effects are now being felt across much of North Africa and the Middle East.  Can we hope that the time of the autocratic ruler in the Arab World, or throughout most of it, is finished?  Let us fervently hope so.

The little country of Tunisia, the "roaring mouse" of recent events, received its independence in 1957 as part of the break-up of the former extensive French colonial empire.  The French were only its most recent conquerors, however.  Its indigenous people were an agricultural people who utilized farming methods that had originated in the Fertile Crescent regions and arrived in northwest Africa (the Maghreb) via the Nile Valley.  They were ancestors of Berber tribes whose descendants today live in Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Mauritania, Mali and Niger.

Tunisia's first identifiable foreign occupiers were Phoenicians who settled its coastal areas around the 10th century BC.  They founded the city of Carthage, which became the predominant civilization in the Western Mediterranean, until it was conquered by Rome in 149 BC.  The Romans controlled most of what is modern Tunisia from then until the area was conquered by the Vandals in the 5th century AD.   It was reconquered by Rome in the 6th century AD.  But, around the end of the 7th century and the beginning of the 8th century AD, the region was conquered by Arab Muslims, who continued their sweep westward to encompass current-day Algeria and Morocco and definitively established Islam as the dominant religion.  In the late 16th century, Tunisia's coast was among the pirate strongholds known as the Barbary States.   Around the same time, Tunisia, like the rest of North Africa, fell under the domination of the Turkish Ottoman Empire.  From that time until the 19th-century French invasion, even under its Turkish governors, the Beys, Tunisia was virtually independent.  But France invaded Tunisia in 1881, using the pretext of a Tunisian incursion into Algeria, which the French had already invaded and conquered in 1830, using as pretext a slight to the French consul in Algiers.  Post-Napoleonic 19th-century France was certainly not averse to using specious pretexts to expand its influence and control, just as in the 21st century, powerful nations continue to "justify" their invasions of others on equally specious pretexts.

Tunisia's struggle for independence was led by Habib Bourguiba, who then became its first first President.  After being virtually unchallenged in that role for 30 years, Bourguiba was ousted in a bloodless coup in November 1987 by being declared unfit to rule by his doctors.  His Prime Minister Zine El Abedine Ben Ali assumed the Presidency and ruled until what the West is calling the Jasmine Revolution, a continuing series of street revolutions that constitute the most dramatic wave of social and political unrest in Tunisia in three decades.  As result, Ben Ali stepped down and left the country.  A caretaker government has been created, with elections scheduled to take place within 60 days.  The situation will remain unresolved until then, at least.

Tunisia's seemingly successful protests against corruption in government, autocracy and looting of public assets have sparked similar protests in other Arab countries.  They have been compared to the Velvet Revolution in the former Czechoslovakia because they have created a domino effect in the Arab bloc, much as the Velvet Revolution did in the Communist bloc.  Most prominently in the press these days are the demonstrations in Egypt, which are being covered most comprehensively by non-US networks and print media.  Here, for example, is a link to Al Jazeera English, which provides live on-line streaming of events as they occur.

Unlike the actions in the Communist bloc, which were universally cheered on and hailed with great glee by the leadership of Western nations, these actions that so far have shown basically peaceful demonstrations in support of political rights and against corruption by too-long entrenched powers are, at best, being very cautiously welcomed by the Western powers.  Those of us who are unhappy with leaders who profess to believe in democratic rights only when the voting results ensure the comfortable status quo for the ruling classes that has been carefully maintained over the years are equally unhappy with these cautious pronouncements.  It's understandable that our Western leaders - not just those here in the US - are nervous.  After all, it is our combined policies - too often short-sighted, unfair and imbalanced generally - and funding that have helped to prop up and keep the corrupt ones in power.  And everyone knows it.  At least, everyone outside the United States knows it.  We here have been so dumbed-down in our knowledge and understanding of international events that too many here haven't even the slightest idea of how our actions resonate badly and are perceived abroad.

Fortunately, there are sources that do attempt to let the people involved speak for themselves instead of being interpreted by essentially no-nothing US pundits or those with a particular political agenda.  Al Jazeera's coverage is one.  There are admirable others.  One such is the Guardian (UK).  Here, for example, is an interactive link from the Guardian that shows the very thoughtful responses and unanimous support of the peaceful demonstrations and movements for change by several writers, both male and female, throughout the Arab world.  If that link is somewhat challenging (arguably some of the click-on balloons make it difficult to read the actual words of the writer in question), here is another.   These responses are well worth reading.  They provide unfiltered views of those who have all too often been poorly - and unfairly - portrayed in US media, in particular.

These winds of change should not be considered frightening.  They should be welcomed wholeheartedly.  Let us all take heart from the courage that is being shown by the millions who are in the streets.  If their actions do ultimately result in the kinds of beneficial changes that will make these societies more open and more equitable for all their citizens, then we will all be winners.  How could we not?  This is not naivety.  It is common sense.

Swiss watch

Switzerland is in the headlines this morning - and not for a good reason.  The Swiss Embassy in Rome, together with the Chilean Embassy in the same city, fell victim to bomb attacks, at least one of them delivered by mail, yesterday afternoon.  Two employees, one in each embassy, received hand injuries.  It is likely that the Swiss national will need to have one hand, if not both, amputated.  Police in Rome are on high terror alert as a result and several embassies there are taking special precautions.  There was initial speculation that the Swiss bomb attack might be connected to the April arrest in Switzerland of two Italians and one Swiss national from Italian-speaking Switzerland allegedly for planning an attack on an IBM office in Switzerland.  No speculation has been reported to rationalize the Chilean bomb attack.  More details can be found here.

There have been several bomb-related incidents in Rome recently, but there does not seem to be any common thread that links them.   I simply cannot fathom - or approve - any mindset or rationale that would justify any such actions.  They actually harm the causes - some otherwise worthy, although certainly not in this case as speculated - that the bombers profess to champion.  In view of the general antipathy and abhorrence shown towards such actions, at least by those who are sane, I have often wondered whether at least some bomb attacks are actually instigated by agents provacateurs in order to discredit both the causes and those who work for them.  There is certainly historical precedent for such.

I do not know which action that I personally find more reprehensible: bombing for a cause or instigating bombing in order to discredit a cause.  I heartily condemn both actions.  But, in the sense that the latter generally involves the deliberate participation of an institution to which we would ordinarily look for protection in an effort to incite individuals to commit crimes, it would seem logically to fall on the more reprehensible side of the scale.  Just MO.

******

Airports in Switzerland appear to be managing the snow and cold weather better than some of their counterparts.  This is in part due to Switzerland's having less snow and the airports being smaller air traffic hubs.  Zurich Airport prides itself on never having had to close for snow even once during its 62-year history.  It credits this to its strategy of keeping 350 stand-by personnel to deal with bad weather conditions from mid-October to mid-April, with almost 100 machines - snow plows, snow blowers and other equipment - as well as to its stockpiling of de-icing chemicals before the bad weather arrives.

Smaller airports at Basel and Geneva have not been so fortunate.  Geneva, for instance, was closed for a day on December 1 and was closed temporarily last Friday morning.  Most Swiss air traffic problems have involved stranded travellers whose flights to London Heathrow, Paris, Frankfurt and Brussels were cancelled.  Having ourselves recently travelled through London Heathrow from Geneva, HWMBO and I are very thankful that our flights were uneventful.  We do hope that all travellers are able to be with their loved ones for the holidays.  Working in one of these airports at such times must provide at least a glimpse of Hell on Earth.  I know that travelling through them can.  But we travellers can relax once we reach our destinations safely.  The personnel who have to keep working and providing courteous services in the worst of times are candidates for battle pay - at the very least, IMO.

*****

A Swiss magistrate who has been conducting a six-year investigation of three Swiss engineers, Urs Tinner, his brother Marco and their father Friedrich, has recommended that the three be charged for allegedly supplying the Pakistan-based network of Abdul Qadeer Khan, creator of Pakistan’s atomic bomb, with technical know-how and equipment that was used to make gas centrifuges and thus violating Swiss nuclear proliferation laws.  While the three do not deny that they worked for Khan, their defense is that they were actually spies working for the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and were not aware of Khan's nuclear aims.  If that is truly so, then they must be among the most dim-witted of spies and should be charged with sheer stupidity, if nothing else.

The magistrate's investigation was hampered throughout by the Swiss Government which shredded documents with the justification that they involved national security concerns.  This seems to be a common justification for not releasing information these days.  The magistrate blasted the government for interfering in the legal process by destroying nearly all the evidence.  The charges, however, were found to be justified when copies of some of the shredded documents turned up.  In the magistrate's words,

“And beginning where they should have known that Khan produced atomic weapons, in May 1998, until they started to collaborate with the secret services, in June 2003, they in their specific roles were part of this network, and delivered parts to the network that the network then itself delivered to other countries, such as Libya.”

Marco Tinner was described as the accountant, producer and supplier of the components used for uranium enrichment and should also face charges of money laundering of some CHF12 million ($12.5 million).  Friedrich Tinner brought technical know-how to the family operation and Urs was the “workshop manager” in Khan’s factories in Dubai and Malaysia, according to Müller.  Khan’s network also supplied Libya, Iran and North Korea with parts and plans for building a nuclear bomb before it collapsed in 2003 and 2004.  The Tinners say that their spying helped the network to collapse.

It's clearly the "stuff" of spy novels, however unsavory these people may be. 

Angels or Demons?

Today's Tribune de Genève has an article announcing that Julian Assange, editor-in-chief and spokesperson of the whistleblower site Wikileaks, is awaited in Geneva today on the eve of a review of US-sanctioned actions in Afghanistan and Iraq by the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights.  

Assange is an Australian-born internet activist, who is literally being hounded from country to country - reserving hotel rooms under false names, never sleeping in the same bed twice, paying cash instead of by credit card, and only utilizing encrypted cellphones.  This is because Wikileaks has disseminated, among other things: documents about the Icelandic Kaupthing Bank and its doubtful lending practices; the corruption of the family of the ex-President of Kenya, Daniel Arap Moi; obscure practices of Scientology; and email from the private account of the almost one-half term former governor of Alaska, professional political grifter and anointee of the US Tea Party, Sarah Palin.  As one Internet guru, Clay Shirky, puts it, "Wikileaks has without a doubt produced more scoops in three years than the Washington Post in thirty."

Despite the transparency provided by Wikileaks about issues that should indeed be presented truthfully to the public, the Guardian newpaper points out that Assange is "force-feeding truth to a world that has no stomach for it."  Unlike the sixties and seventies when there was an active counterculture, Assange is an anomaly in the world today.  There is a real contrast between the way that Assange's revelations have been received today compared to those revealed in the Pentagon Papers by Daniel Ellsberg in 1971.

The Guardian notes further:

In the 1970s - when hippies were alive and kicking - there was 'a generation that valued integrity and the principle of truth.' People were concerned about the substance of the leaks, the discovery that the US president had lied to the people.

By contrast, even though the Wikileaks revelations tell of killings and torture in Iraq that are more shocking than those exposed by the Pentagon Papers, 'all anyone seems to talk about is what a jerk the guy [Assange] is.' ...

In Ellsberg's time, Assange's revelations would have incited mass protests and indignant calls for accountability. The government was the target. Now, we seem to be unsurprised by the substance of the leaks and instead of protesting about that, we appear to accept that Assange is a fair target.

Yes, the world has changed.  A large part of that change is due to formerly trusted news sources being less interested in investigating facts and reporting the news than they are simply in repeating what their corporate masters tell them to.  Even when major rallies and protests result, unless those rallies are the news "flavor of the day" such as anything to do with Tea Party antics, many print and broadcast networks don't cover them at all.  For example, more than 215,000 people flocked to Washington, DC last weekend to attend Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert's "Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear."  US media sources did not even send reporters to cover the rally even though Stewart and Colbert, both of whom are comedians, not journalists, emphasized the nonpartisan nature of the rally and made a plea that we try to have political discourse rather than the shouting that all too often passes for it.  More seriously, many anti-war protests in 2003 were not covered at all.  But let 300 Tea Baggers gather somewhere - anywhere - and the US media report the event ad nauseam as if it meant something other than ignorance and confusion reinforcing ignorance and confusion.

We are being "dumbed-down" to an amazing degree and kept distracted enough about our jobs, our families and our economic futures  - or fear of the "other" - so that we don't even realize how we are being returned to an era of general serfdom.  How much of this is deliberate and how much is merely incidental is beside the point.  It is happening right before our eyes.

People like Assange are trying to open our eyes and present the truths that we should all be paying attention to.  Assange was charged with rape in Sweden last summer after presenting some patently harsh truths about US conduct.  Those charges seemed to be conveniently timed and have primarily been discredited, although they keep being persistently revived.  Some of us remember how others who tried to speak truth were subsequently smeared and/or even conveniently eliminated.  I remember how the late Senator Paul Wellstone courageously spoke out against and opposed the Iraq War Resolution in 2002.  He was branded as "crazy." Shortly after that, his small airplane crashed mysteriously, killing him and several family members.  During his memorial celebration in Minnesota, the news networks called those who were giving speeches "partisan politicians."   That meme was repeated until his political opponent was elected - and even for years thereafter. 

To governments and institutions that lie and continue to mislead - all the while acting for the benefit and interest of a few, primarily those who are already powerful and wealthy - Julian Assange and those like him are demons.  To those of us who value truth, they are angels.

Geneva - Heart of International Arbitration and International Law

During our exploration of la Vieille Ville of Geneva a few weeks back, HWMBO and I spent a  few brief moments in the courtyard of the building known as the Hôtel-de-Ville (City Hall), where one could see different styles of architecture dating from the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries.

Also in the courtyard, we noticed a modest engraved stone indicating the location of the "Alabama Room."  The room takes its name from a series of damage claims arising in the 19th century around the CSS Alabama, one of several warships built in Great Britain that were used as commerce raiders by the Confederate States during the US Civil War to do significant damage to the US merchant marine fleet.  After the war, the Government of the United States brought a series of claims against Great Britain for direct and collateral damages, alleging that Britain's knowledge that the ships would be used by the Confederacy against the US was a violation of Britain's official position of neutrality.  Ultimately, international arbitration endorsed the US position in 1872.  To settle the disputes and ensure friendly relations, Britain ultimately paid USD 15.5 million dollars in damages to the US.

The Alabama Arbitration set historical precedent for peacefully resolving disputes between States.  As such, it was a precursor to the Hague Conventions, the League of Nations, the United Nations and the World Court.  These precedents, agreements and treaties, together with the various Geneva Conventions, form the official bases for what is now known as "public international law" or law between States and International Organizations (IOs).   The room where the arbitration was finally negotiated is thus known as the "Alabama Room" although the room itself had already gained significance.  It was previously where the very first Geneva Convention establishing the rules of humanitarian warfare -which certainly sounds like an oxymoron to me - was signed by 16 nations in 1864.

In addition to its historical significance for the world, the Hôtel-de-Ville houses Geneva canton's seven-member Conseil d'État (Council of State) and a legislature of 100 deputies so it is not simply a public monument.  But the seedbed of international law is indeed within the heart of this warm-hearted city.  It is a reminder to us all that ruthless and unwarranted warmongering will not go unpunished - even though, like the fabled Mills of God, it will take time, patience and a lot of diplomacy and negotiation for the international rules that have been broken to earn their due toll of redress for those who have been harmed.  It may take even longer for all those who have seriously transgressed to be brought to justice.  This is especially so when nations that have traditionally taken the lead in ensuring that such legal precedents be created and enforced appear to be among the more recent transgressors.

But it will - inexorably and finally - happen.

Geneva - Crossroads of Intrigue

During our literary tour of Geneva a couple weeks back, we learned about many writers known to and influential in history who lived and wrote here, or who were inspired by events or scenery here.   The attraction has not yet worn off.  People still come here for a variety of reasons.  Many often write about their experiences here as memoirs.  Some of the more contemporaneous writers, however, especially those who came during the early third and mid-20th century, also found Geneva to be a wonderful setting or inspiration for novels featuring diplomatic intrigue, aka spying.  In fact, there are often glimpses of Geneva and/or Switzerland in some of the great spy flicks featuring James Bond or, more recently, Jason Bourne.   Part of this is due to Geneva's role in international diplomacy and as a neutral ground where East and West have traditionally been able to meet, both officially and unofficially.

Among others, our guide mentioned two authors well-known for their novels of intrigue who had spent time in Geneva, specifically, Graham Greene and Eric Ambler.  One of the latter's titles mentioned by our guide was "The Light of Day" which features - as is often typical of Ambler's novels - a protagonist who is a bumbling sort of anti-hero who manages to surprise himself - and the professional spies - by his decisive actions in a given situation.

Interestingly, soon after our tour, the 1964 film "Topkapi" - which was based on "The Light of Day" - was featured on the Turner Classic Movie (TCM) cable channel here.  For some reason, although I had read the novel in the 60s, I had never seen the film.  So I was thoroughly enchanted to see Peter Ustinov cast as Ambler's bumbling anti-hero, together with luminaries such as Melina Mercouri and Maximilian Schell. 

But our guide also whetted our curiosity by speaking about a real-life intrigue that took place in Geneva in the waning days of the Cold War: the so-called "suicide" of a West German politician named Uwe Barschel in a Geneva hotel in 1987.  The incident has resonated with her especially because her husband was at that time employed as a journalist (he is now retired) and had received word in the middle of the night that he should get to the hotel before the room could be "cleaned up."  Reports state that Barschel was found, fully clothed and lying in a bathtub in his hotel room.  His family has always insisted that his death was not a suicide.  Interestingly, this case (l'Affaire Barschel) was also featured as part of a documentary report on Zone d'Ombre ("Murky Area"), as recently as 27 October 2010 on the French-speaking Swiss channel TSR.  The truth of what happened is still not known but there is reason to believe that his death was linked to  his refusal to allow Israeli arms for Iran to be shipped from ports in Schleswig-Holstein. During the Iran-Iraq war, Israel and the United States secretly armed both sides.  When will we ever learn?

The guide's personal link to this true mystery reminded me of another, also related to Geneva, that also has had many strange links to my own life throughout the years.  This mystery, which has always been a personal quest of mine, relates to the mysterious disappearance - and presumed death - of Moroccan left-wing politician Mehdi Ben Barka.  Ben Barka "disappeared" 45 years ago today in Paris, having travelled there from Geneva.  Why I have cause to remember that date is because on or about 29 October 1965, I myself was passing through Paris - my first visit to the "City of Light" - from Rabat, Morocco on my way home to give birth to No 1 Son some months later.  I was horrified by Ben Barka's disappearance at about the same time - ships passing and all that.

Ben Barka was someone whom many young Moroccans who came of age in the 1950s and 1960s admired.  When he was forced into exile in 1963, shortly after the accession to power of King Hassan II, after the unexpected death of his father, King Mohammed V who was considered more friendly to liberal causes, many of these young Moroccans felt that their vision of an independent country based on a parliamentary monarchy had been betrayed.  Hassan II was indeed more repressive than his father had ever dreamed of being.

As an exile, Ben Barka met with and knew several of the great revolutionary rebels of the period.  After meeting Che Guevara, Malcom X and others in Algiers, he travelled to Cairo, Rome, Geneva and Havana, trying to unite revolutionary movements of the Third World.  He was lured to Paris for a meeting, and there was abducted.  Although there is still no one clear theory of what happened to him, most have concluded that he died at the hands of General Mohamed Oufkir, who was the Moroccan Interior Minister at the time.  There have been recurring but so far unverified reports of both US and Israeli complicity in this death as well.

This story has always fascinated me.  Its aftermath has had a tangential influence on my own life.  In 1972, just after I left Moroccan airspace after a brief visit there, the same General Oufkir led an assassination attempt on King Hassan II, unsuccessfully attempting to shoot down the King's private jet.  The King, known for his incredible luck at escaping such attempts, managed to escape yet again.  Oufkir "committed suicide" although the wound was in the back of his head.  Oufkir's family was held prisoner for some 17 years afterwards - a gross travesty of human rights.  The pilot who flew the King's plane and saved his life was thereafter named the Head of the Moroccan Air Forces.  Many years later, I would return to Morocco yet again to meet HWMBO there, at the time working on a commercial US contract under the direction of the Head of the Moroccan Air Forces.

And now we have come full circle.

After the hullabaloo ...

Whew - the past couple weeks have been Busy and yes, the capital "B" is meant!  But now the events celebrating my former boss's retirement are complete and I also seem to be recovering enough from the follow-up cold to begin picking up the pieces of my scattered psyche.

This morning at 8:15, the postman also delivered the Snapfish album that was the culmination of at least one million emails and photo dumps and CDs that I received from far parts of the globe.  It appears that a good time was had by all in the doings!  I have also been acquainted with "top-of-the-line" Rimowa luggage as it was decided by consensus that a blue-black Rimowa cabin trolley would be ideal as a group gift.  So off HWMBO and I trekked to the Balexert shopping center in Geneva, which is in the throes of its gala new opening celebrations this month after a massive makeover.  While the Buzzano shop at Balexert did not have the case we wanted, they offered to have it sent over from their Rive shop.  The case duly arrived two hours later, providing us with the excuse we needed to check out the new shops and facilities at Balexert, which has now "officially" become the largest shopping center in Geneva.   Best of all, Buzzano let us have the ten percent discount that the Balexert shop was offering even though the case actually came from the Rive shop, where the discount was not operative.  Who says that one can't bargain in Swiss shops?

It was good to see so many wonderful people and remember shared good times.  It is true that some of the shared times were also very stressful.  But the fact is that those times were unique, so special in that they involved nationals representing every continent on the globe joined together to accomplish common goals where individual human beings around the globe actually received tangible benefits.  It is unfortunate that circumstances existed where individuals had been harmed in the first place, in large part due to conflicts over which they had no control whatsoever.  But it is equally fortunate that at least some small restitution and, most of all, acknowledgement of the harms suffered by those individuals became international precedent.  We are all proud to have been a part those efforts, even though we have now all moved on to different phases of our lives.

Obtaining internships in international affairs, relations and development

In line with the recent inquiry I received about relocating to Geneva, Switzerland and what professional employment possibilities would be available there, I also receive requests for information from much younger individuals, usually about the availability of internships with international organizations. Usually, these individuals are on the threshold of entering the workforce and thus do not yet have much of a professional track record or experience. Still, I can provide some general information about finding internships in international fields relevant to one's academic background, life experience, interests and aptitudes.

I immediately caveat any advice by saying that my suggestions are only a point of departure.  In many ways, they also are primarily common sense.  As a general rule, one must research all possibilities available, including those that may be available through the academic institutions with which the prospective intern is or has been associated, in order to find what opportunities are available, where those opportunities exist, what the desired qualifications for those positions are, what the application deadlines are and even, if it is still possible, how best to prepare oneself academically to ensure consideration. One should also explore all available networks - formal and informal - to which one already has access. One's chances of success improve exponentially the sooner one sets any international area as a career goal and actively begins working towards a specific area of needed expertise in that area.  After that, it is all a matter of opportunity, timing and sheer luck.

Another caveat: while internships provide individuals with excellent opportunities to experience different types of employment before settling with a specific employer, not all internships are equal. Occasionally, an internship - regardless of how glamorous the institution itself may sound - can consist, at least at first, of nothing more than administrative office tasks, some of which may be quite menial, such as filing or photocopying or performing basic data entry, among others.  This tends to discourage some who are accustomed, often deservedly so, to receiving more significant responsibility and attention from the outset.  I maintain, however, that even if one's internship begins in what appears to be a discouraging manner, it is more a matter of how one conducts oneself and attempts to make even such a seemingly menial experience meaningful that can, and often does, lead to more demanding or interesting tasks.  Even the most menial administrative tasks need to be accomplished, after all, and they are a starting point for understanding the more meaningful tasks, especially in specialized areas.  But it is true that internships should not consist completely of menial tasks; they are also intended to stimulate and encourage the intern's interest in the work done by the organization.  That is indeed their main function.  More efforts have been undertaken within individual organizations recently to ensure that this will be the case.

A third caveat: often internships in international organizations pay only a minimum stipend that will barely allow an intern to scrape by or they pay nothing at all.  An intern who wishes to come to Geneva, for example, which is one of the most expensive cities in the world to live, will be very hard pressed to find basic housing at all and should be prepared to supplement any stipend in order to cover living expenses.  Finding basic housing that would not exhaust the stipend in and of itself is almost impossible.  If a prospective intern is still associated with an institution of higher learning, that institution may have a program that coordinates with the needs of the UN and IOs in such a way that it may provide a higher stipend than the intern would receive from the UN/IO in question alone, or would at least help to cover some of the living expenses.

As a final general item, a prospective intern should also explore internship opportunities available with non-governmental organizations (NGOs) as well as those with IOs.   These also provide excellent learning opportunities and can also lead to international employment later.

Geneva is literally a mother lode area for international relations and commerce.   International organizations (IOs) are listed here.  Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are listed here.  National missions or other authorities are listed here.  Opportunities in the private sector are listed here.   One could literally spend weeks or months researching opportunities with the entities listed on these pages.  Because my experience is primarily with the international organization sector, this post will concentrate on a few selected organizations in order to provide an idea of what internship opportunities are available with them.

The largest IO employing entity in Geneva, of course, is the United Nations Organization (UNOG).   In order to be considered for an internship at UNOG, one must either be enrolled in a program leading to a graduate degree or already have completed at least four-years of full-time study towards the completion of a degree at a university or equivalent institution.  One must also be 30 years of age or younger and have an excellent command of English or French.  UNOG generally does not pay interns but they may be sponsored by universities or foundations to help defray part of their costs.   General conditions, forms and instructions on how to apply for internships with UNOG are described here.  Geneva, of course, is only one of four UN headquarter cities.  The main office is in New York City.  Two other major UN sites are Vienna and Nairobi.  Individuals interested in obtaining internships with the United Nations in New York should consult this site.   The United Nations in Vienna (UNOV) provides information about internships here.  The United Nations Office in Nairobi (UNON) provides information about internships here.

Another major IO with headquarters in Geneva is the International Labour Organization (ILO).  The ILO is among those IOs that pay a stipend to Geneva-based interns who are not sponsored by a university or other institution.  This stipend is currently CHF 1,500.  Interns who are selected to work in one of the ILO's field locations will receive a stipend in an amount established in line with other similar organisations engaging interns at local level and taking account of local circumstances.  The ILO will consider students who are enrolled in undergraduate, graduate and postgraduate courses of study or work in fields related to the ILO's mandate and activities.  Individuals should have a working knowledge (both oral and written) of one of the ILO's official languages:  English, French or Spanish.  Information about internship opportunities with the ILO can be found here.

For those individuals who are interested in a career in public health, the World Health Organization (WHO) also provides significant internship opportunities, as described here.  In order to be considered for an internship with WHO, one must be enrolled in a degree program in a graduate school, both at the time of application and during the internship or have completed at least three years of full-time studies at a university or equivalent institution towards the completion of a degree in a public health, medical or social field related to the technical work of WHO.  Applicants must be 20 years of age, at a minimum and also be fluent in the working language of the office of their assignment.  Both Summer and Winter internships are available. 

One Geneva-based IO that generally requires a legal background or a law degree in order to be considered for an internship is the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).   WIPO is a specialized agency of the UN that "is dedicated to developing a balanced and accessible international intellectual property (IP) system, which rewards creativity, stimulates innovation and contributes to economic development while safeguarding the public interest."  The IP system includes patent, trademark and copyright law, among others.  Currently, WIPO has no internships available, but an application form can be found here.

For those who are interested in the law and relationships governing global trade, the World Trade Organization (WTO) provides a variety of training programs and internship possibilities, but information about regular internships can be found here.  The WTO is the only global international organization dealing with the rules of trade between nations.  It enforces the various WTO agreements, negotiated and signed by the bulk of the world’s trading nations and ratified in their parliaments.  The WTO's goal is to help producers of goods and services, exporters, and importers conduct their business in a global marketplace.  Applicants for regular internships should have completed their undergraduate studies in a relevant discipline (e.g., economics, law, political science, or international relations) and also have completed at least one year of their graduate studies.  Interns must be at least 21 but no older than 30.  The WTO pays interns a daily allowance of CHF 60 (including week-ends and official holidays falling within the selected period).  All internships take place in Geneva, Switzerland only.  As is typical, an intern's travel expenses to and from Geneva will not be paid by the WTO, and such travel is not covered by the WTO's insurance.  Interns, as is also typical, are also responsible for their own insurance coverage for illness and accidents while they are working at the WTO.  The WTO may also employ unpaid interns who are funded from external sources.

For those who are interested in working on refugee issues, there are two Geneva-based organizations that work specifically in these areas.  One, the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), is part of the UN system and also has an major office presence in Budapest.  Some UNHCR duty stations located elsewhere also accept interns.  The internship duration generally lasts from two to six months.  The kind of work interns are offered depends on UNHCR requirements as well as the qualifications and interests of the applicant.  Most interns work on a project which will benefit both them and UNHCR, in fields such as refugee protection (legal), international relations, administration and public affairs.  UNHCR provides no financial support for its interns.  Information about such internships can be found here.

The other organization working with refugee and immigration issues is the International Organization for Migration (IOM).   IOM is not part of the UN system, but coordinates its activities closely with the UN and with other IOs and NGOs.   Interns tend to be students approaching the end of their study programme or graduates between 19 and 32 years of age (the average age for IOM interns is 26).  Interns are given assignments and responsibility commensurate with their education and experience and they are referred to a supervisor/tutor, who is responsible for mentoring and coaching.  They can be given short assignments either designed within on-going programmes or on an ad-hoc basis.  Interns are not considered to be staff members but Terms of Reference, tasks, duration of assignment and supervisors are clearly determined. During their assignment, interns attend monthly briefings on the different services of IOM and visit other Geneva-based IOs.  More information can be found here.
 
To give students who are interested in international careers an idea of what skills, background and experience are desirable, one can get a general overview of what the UN and the various IOs do and what job opportunities are available within those systems by consulting the UNJobs website.   Information about jobs related to international relations and development generally, including opportunities with NGOs, can be found here. 

This information is only a tiny tip of the iceberg of information available.  If one is serious about a professional career in international relations, sincere dedication and effort will reap rewards in the long run.

From the Roman era to particle physics

After a very busy day visiting the UN and Geneva's Vieille Ville, there was still an early wake-up call the next morning so that we could drive to Meyrin (a commune in Geneva canton) for our scheduled visit to the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN).  Although the tour itself would not begin until 10 a.m., we had been advised to view the Microcosm, CERN's interactive museum of particle physics, prior to the tour in order to have a better idea of what we would be seeing.  Had our visit been scheduled in July, we would have been among the first visitors to view the displays in the new visitor center which opened 1 July and is now housed in this building.

As someone who attended schools in an area of the US during an era where females were, if not actively discouraged from studying classes in higher mathematics or sciences, generally not encouraged to do so, my background in particle physics is virtually non-existent.  So I am extremely happy to see that the Double Cs find higher mathematics and science fascinating, as indeed they are.  With HWMBO as a grandfather, I would expect nothing less from them. 

In any event, they appeared to enjoy the interactive displays.

They even had some fun with the mock-up of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), where scientists are accelerating two beams of particles in opposite directions to more than 99.9% the speed of light to produce head-on collisions in order to create the kinds of conditions that scientists believe existed after the "Big Bang."  Nice try, Prince C, but no cigar, I'm afraid.

Our tour began with a short bus trip to one of the CERN facilities located in France.  The LHC itself is installed in a tunnel 27 kilometers in circumference, buried from 50 to 150 meters underground between the Jura mountain range in France and Lake Geneva in Switzerland.  Because the LHC is now in operation, visitors are no longer allowed underground.  So we had to visualize what was happening there from our experience with the Microcosm, the various models on the tour and the explanations given by the guide.

The facility that we visited is the location where the superconductor magnets used in the LHC to accelerate the particles are tested.

There are thousands of different magnets of different sizes and varieties inside the LHC.  They include 1,232 dipole magnets of 15 meters in length which are used to bend the beams,

and 392 quadrupole magnets, each 5–7 meters long, to focus the beams.   Here is a model showing the interior of the LHC.

And here is one of our last looks at superconductor magnets that are destined to be used in the LHC.

More than 10,000 scientists and engineers from around 500 academic institutes and industrial companies worldwide are contributing to the LHC project.  Equipment has been built in many European countries, as well as in Canada, India, Japan, Russia and the United States.  CERN's projects and experiments are encouraging examples of what international cooperation and collegiality can accomplish.