Global Undertones: INTO THE STREETS

CONTENT
summer 2014
CONTRIBUTORS 4
EXTRACTING THE TRUTH 8
Coexisting with black gold in 20th century Colombia
WORLD ALIENATION & OUR LIVES WITH DRONES 16
Arendt and Habermas’ solutions
THE CRIMEAN SUCCESION 24
History before politics
CLIMATE CHANGE 32
The food security dimension
“GET IT DONE!” 36
The Global Climate Justice Movement & the fateful race for a radical
climate treaty
WORKING WITH THREADS 46
Realizing student activists’ clout in the global labor movement
CURVING TOWARDS REVOLUTION 52
Cronyism & deprivation in Syria
SOURCES 60
2 GLOBAL UNDERTONES / globalundertones.com

Executive Editor/Founder
Jamison Crowell
Managing Editor
Emilie Olson
Copy Editor
M.A. Miller
Graphic Designer
Eve Klimova
Issue I: INTO THE STREETS
Our first issue is inspired by the recent
expansion of public political
participations and mobilization that
has dominated foreign politics and
media coverage over the last few
years. This issue covers a range of
topics from labor politics, climate
change, to all out revolution.
All of these movements have similar
bearings- rooted in shared economic,
social, and political realities that
have compelled civilians to act in
the pursuit of change.
The aim of “Into the Streets” is to
expose some of the less commonly
explored narratives that shaped
these ongoing events, as well as
their outcomes and consequences.
About Us
Global Undertones Magazine (GU)
is a peer-reviewed global affairs
publication. Founded in 2013 by
a group of graduate students, our
publication aims to narrow the gap
between popular and academic
narratives of world issues.
GU’s objective of “bringing the local
global” highlights our dedication to
accessibility. The stories we publish
not only help explain developments
around the world, but take seemingly
localized events and emphasize
their importance in a way that
resonates with readers regardless
of their country of origin.
Contact
General:
info@globalundertones.com
Submissions Info:
submissions@globalundertones.com
Summer 2014
3

CONTRIBUTORS
FELICIA GRAHAM
Felicia Graham earned her M.A. in Global & International Studies from
the University of California Santa Barbara where her research explored
the socioeconomic and psychological impacts of resource extraction in Latin
America. She is also the author of various academic articles and has
presented at a series of Global Studies conferences. Ms. Graham has extensive
experience working with low-income youth and refugee children
in the Bay Area and San Diego, both in education and mental health. Ms.
Graham is currently the Department Chair and Lead Teacher of the Global
Studies and Social Science Program at American University Preparatory
School in Los Angeles.
JACOB MARTHALLER
Jacob Marthaller is a graduate student in Religious Studies at the University
of Virginia. His research interests focus primarily in the realm of political
theology and ethics, with a particular bent towards legal theory. Currently
pursuing his master’s degree, he hopes to continue in academia by obtaining
a Ph.D. studying somewhere at the confluence of politics, theology, and
law. Originally from Los Angeles, he is growing accustomed (albeit slowly)
to life in rural Virginia. When not trapped in a university library, he can be
found hiking the Appalachian Trail.
SERGEY SALUSCHEV
Sergey Saluschev was born in Potsdam, Germany. However, following the
tumultuous collapse of the Soviet Union, his family returned to their original
home in Russia’s Caucasus region where he lived until 2005. Sergey completed
his Master in Arts degree in Global & International Studies in 2014
and is currently pursuing a Ph.D. degree in History with an emphasis on
history of Russia and Iran in the XIX century at the University of California,
Santa Barbara.
4 GLOBAL UNDERTONES / globalundertones.com

HILAL ELVER
Hilal Elver is a Research Professor, and co-director of the Project on Global
Climate Change, Human Security, and Democracy housed at the Orfalea
Center for Global & International Studies at the University of California,
Santa Barbara. She has a law degree, a Ph.D. from the University of Ankara
Law School, and SJD from the UCLA Law School. She has written numerous
chapters in books and articles in academic journals on Global Justice, New
Constitutionalism, Secularism, women’s rights, water rights, environmental security,
climate change diplomacy and food security. As of June, she is acting
Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food by the Human Rights Council.
JOHN FORAN
John Foran is professor of Sociology at the University of California, Santa
Barbara, where he is also involved with the programs in Latin American
and Iberian Studies, Global and International Studies, Environmental Studies,
and the Bren School. Professor Foran teaches courses on radical social
change, globalization and resistance, global justice movements, climate activism,
and research methods. He has written on many aspects of revolutions
and movements for radical or deep social change. He is currently working on
a book and is also engaged in a long-term research project on the global
climate justice movement, with Richard Widick. Their work can be followed
at www.iicat.org.
CHRIS WEGEMER
Chris Wegemer specializes in supply chain justice with a research focus on
the Designated Suppliers Program. While working on his Master’s at the
University of California, Santa Barbara, he worked for LaborVoices and
the Worker Rights Consortium; organized campaigns for United Students
Against Sweatshops; and spent time in the Dominican Republic partnering
with student activists from all over the world. Chris previously studied physics
at Providence College and electrical engineering at Columbia University.
Among other things, he has: taught at Idyllwild Arts Academy, helped provide
sustainable energy to rural communities in developing countries, and
assisted with factory investigations.
DANIEL ZORUB
Daniel Zorub earned an M.A. in Global & International Studies from the
University of California Santa Barbara. With strong research interests in
the Middle East, Daniel wrote his thesis on political risk management for
international education using the UC Education Abroad Program in Egypt as
a case study. Previously, Daniel worked as a Communications Intern for the
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace at their Carnegie Middle East
Center in Beirut, and as a Sponsorship & Membership Intern at the Clinton
Global Initiative in Washington, D.C.
Summer 2014
5

EXTRACTING
THE in 21 st Century Colombia
Coexisting with Black Gold
TRUTH
by Felicia Graham
Throughout the world communities are beginning to mobilize in protest of
the expansion of extractive industries (oil, gas, etc.) and the social ills they
produce. In Papua New Guinea, the people of the Hela Province explain their
preparations for war against Exxon Mobil’s Liquefied Natural Gas pipeline [i].
In the U.S., Native American and Midwestern communities are protesting the construction
of the Keystone XL Pipeline from Canada to the Gulf coast [ii]– not to mention oil
rich countries like Nigeria and Sudan which have been mired in ongoing oil-related
conflicts for years [iii].
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Because Colombia’s oil transportation
infrastructure (pipelines) is insufficient to carry
the oil from the southern fields to the refineries
and terminals in the north, oil tank trucks are
recruited. As a result, hundreds of oil tank trucks
pass through Puerto Gaitan on a daily basis.
Photo ourtesy of Felicia Graham
But nowhere has there been more social movement and organization in opposition
to resource extraction than in Latin America, as evidenced by the Gas [iv] and Water
Wars in Bolivia [v], Peru, and Ecuador [vi].
Yet, in Colombia, little to no attention has been paid to the plight of indigenous and
local peoples’ struggles to protect their communities and ancestral territories from the
pitfalls of extractive industries, and the perceived corporate globalization. In fact, the
international community has done the opposite — labeling Colombia a development
success story — in large part thanks to the oil, gas, and coal.
Summer 2014
7

Part I: The ‘success’
story
“At a time of acute doubt over
the future… Colombia provides
a model for hope as well as a
reminder of what is required to
make such progress possible”-
Michael O’Hanlon and David
Petraeus [vii]
Throughout the 20th century,
Colombia’s economic development
and relations with neighboring
countries were strained and
hampered by fifty years of internal
conflict with the leftist FARC
(Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias
de Colombia), leaving Colombia
closed for business both politically
and economically. But the 21st
Century is shaping up quite
differently and the country is
increasingly being described as
a success story.
Indeed, in 2012 Colombia
received an unprecedented
invitation to join the Organization
for Economic Development and
Cooperation (OECD) - a true
landmark in the country’s history
and a marker of its triumph over
systemic violence and a rampant
international drug trade. After
decades of violent conflict
that slowed the economy to a
frighteningly sluggish pace,
Colombia finally appears to be
surfacing and on the fast track
to long hoped-for peace and
development.
But where has this growth
come from? Relative peace in
Colombia has been one part of
Photo Courtesy of OECD/Herve Cortinat
Columbia’s President (right), Juan Manuel Santos, shaking hands with OECD Secretary-General (left), Angel Gurría, in 2011-
one year before Columbia would be invited to join.
the country’s apparent success,
as Colombians and foreigners
alike re-engage in business
activities without the constraint
of bombings, kidnappings, or
homicides. But the other part
is the economic success of the
oil and gas industry, which
has unquestionably driven the
country’s growth in the past
decade.
In 2010 President Juan Manuel
Santos identified oil and gas as
one of Colombia’s five ‘engines
of growth’[viii]. Since then,
there has been consensus among
politicians that the expansion of
the industry benefits the country
as a whole [ix].
The successful expansion
of the oil and gas industry in
Colombia is aptly reflected in
the numbers: in 2013 Colombia
overtook Argentina to become the
third largest economy in Latin
America – worth $369 billion –
behind Brazil and Mexico, while
Colombia’s Gross Domestic
Product (GDP) continues to
steadily grow at an average of
4% per annum [x] - a glaring
achievement in light of U.S. and
Europe’s struggling economies
since the global economic
depression, and implying a rising
standard of living for Colombians
on the whole.
That same year Colombia
registered a total of $16.8 billion
in Foreign Direct Investment
(FDI), more than nine times
greater than a decade prior ($1.7
billion in 2003) [xi]– indicating an
attractive open economy, a “skilled
workforce, and good growth
prospects” – all prerequisites for
a modern functional economy in
a globalizing world [xii].
And while FDI into the country
continues to reach new heights,
hydrocarbons (oil, gas, and coal)
have become a cornerstone of
the Colombian economy, with
FDI into oil and gas multiplying
exponentially since 2010 and
financing almost all of the
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country’s recent progress. In
2012, for example, FDI into
Colombia’s oil and gas sector
totaled only $5.3 billion; one
year later, this number doubled
to $13.3 billion – accounting
for a record 81.6%of total FDI
in 2013 [xiii].
Without a doubt, Colombia is
moving towards an extractive led
development and growth model,
with no intention of stopping any
time soon. But what does this
mean for the people living in
areas where this oil exploration
and production is taking place?
While the influx of wealth
from the oil industry’s expansion
benefits the Colombian economy
overall, there is another story to be
told. The turbulent transformations
to communities and individuals
living adjacent to oil extraction
sites are much more complex,
and thus experience Colombia’s
growth in a completely different
way than the mainstream fairytale
would have us believe. It is these
experiences that persist just below
the surface, which in the end
can be much more influential in
determining Colombia’s future.
Part II: The reality
Many communities that coexist
with the black gold and other
extractive industries have struggled
to maintain their culture and
livelihoods in Colombia, which
is home to some 2.2 billion
barrels of proven oil reserves
[xiv]. The vast majority of oil
extraction, however, takes place
in the Colombian South, in an
Summer 2014
area known as los Llanos, or
the planes. Geographically, los
Llanos also referred to as the
Orinoquia region, makes up
part of the Oronico oil belt that
runs from Venezuela, through
Colombia to Ecuador.
But los Llanos is also cattle
ranching country, similar to
a Colombian Texas. And like
Texas, los Llanos is home to
the country’s most successful
and largest producing oil field
– The Pacific Rubiales block,
which accounts for more than 50
percent of the country’s total oil
production. The Pacific Rubiales
field is housed in the state of
Meta, which itself making up
one of the larger states in the
country [ xv].
Despite its extensive territory,
however, Meta’s population is
relatively small. Yet because
Meta produces the most oil in the
country the state receives the most
royalties. Between 2006-2008,
for example, Meta’s royalties
from oil and gas increased by
270% [ xvi].
But the success of the oil and
gas industry has done far more
than facilitate an influx of plata
(wealth) into the region – it has
also stimulated a wave of migrants
seeking employment, and thus
generated a number of cultural
clashes and social tensions.
While some have benefited from
the arrival of the oil industry,
many more have endured the
negative consequences that the
industry has brought, which,
with little to no management,
has time and again proven its
ability to wreak havoc on local
communities such as Puerto
Gaitan – the oil capital of Meta.
Meta’s ‘resource curse’
The story of Puerto Gaitan,
Meta is not particularly new or
novel, as similar experiences
have been documented by the
Wayyu indigenous community the
Northern state of La Guajira [xvii
], the Bari indigenous community
on the border of Venezuela [ xviii],
and by indigenous communities
in neighboring countries such
as the Cofan in Ecuador and the
Segunda and Cajas in Peru [ xix].
In fact, issues related to resource
extraction are so common that it
has led academics to develop a
number of theories to understand
the problems of resource-rich
countries including Resource
Curse Theory and Resource Wars.
One of the most comprehensive
theories for understanding the
problems afflicting resourcerich
countries and communities,
however, comes from Political
Ecology.
Anthony Bebbington constitutes
one of the most notable thinkers
to fully engage and compile
evidence related to local struggles
related to resource extraction,
particularly in Latin America.
His 2013 work Subterrenean
Struggles illustrates the ‘new
geographies of extraction’ which
explains the intricate ways in
which “extraction bundles
9

nature and society” – in short,
he makes clear the ways in which
communities undergo changes
related to land use, labor, and
social relations, and how people
exist, resist, and adapt to life in
extractive communities [xx].
While Bebbington’s work is
extensive, Colombia is excluded
from the discussion. Drawing on
first-hand field research conducted
in Puerto Gaitan, Meta during
the fall of 2013, through the
University of California, Santa
Barbara, our team discovered how
these changes also apply to the
Colombian context, particularly
in three areas: environmental
degradation, job insecurity, and
superficial development projects.
The stories following illustrate
the negative experiences of
indigenous communities and
mestizos alike since the arrival
of the oil industry to los Llanos
in 2000.
Environmental
degradation
The Sikuani indigenous
community is one of nine small
communities home to Meta,
though they are the largest in
the area. Before the arrival of
the oil industry, Sikuani life was
characterized by a subsistence,
lifestyle. But with the arrival of
the oil industry the community
agreed to sell their ancestral
territory – though with little
understanding of the implications.
With the oil exploration process
in full swing all but a few of the
wildlife have now fled the area
due to noise contamination. Dust
kicked up in the air from the oil
tank trucks has, additionally,
They lost their ways of living,
lost the characteristics that
had allowed them to exist as
something different.
”
clouded the river water where
many used to fish.
Though the oil company says
the river is not chemically
contaminated, the Sikuani no
longer fish from the river for
fear of contamination: “they
dare not eat the fish anymore,
they are afraid to eat them. You
cannot see the physical damages
on the bodies, but they are afraid
of the contamination,” said one
of the Siquani’s community
leaders [xxi].
To the Sikuani this culminates
in the cultural degradation of the
community, who are no longer
able to adhere to their traditional
practices. One member explains it
as such: “The population Sikuani
used to be based on fishing and
hunting, but oil changed this way
of life. Now they are getting used
to white people behavior - they are
entering a consumer and capitalist
lifestyle. [They] lost their ways
of living, lost the characteristics
that had allowed them to exist
as something different” [xxii].
Another Sikuani member
explained similarly, describing
how “since [the exploitation]
started they have been seeing
environmental changes. The
small water ways coming from
the mountain are contaminated by
crude and many fish died. From
this the fishing activities were
affected. [In some areas] there is
also contamination from a crude
explosion that contaminated the
savannah, and from this also
many cows died from lands and
plants polluted by oil. We have
tried to talk to the authorities,
but when someone has the money
they don’t care” [xxiii].
Job insecurity
These environmental changes
have not only disrupted the
lifestyles and livelihoods
of communities, but deeply
affected the sense of security and
stability of indigenous men and
women who are now forced to
conform to a foreign monetarybased
system of consumption
and living: “There has been a
dramatic change in life. Where
the indigenous communities
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used to collect fruit and animals,
now they are not able to. Now
everything is bought. They live
more of a white lifestyle, try to
own a little store, or work with
the oil companies” [xxiv].
This lifestyle also requires
these communities to enter
the workforce whereas many
were previously self-sufficient.
Many of them have only a basic
education and often experience
language and cultural barriers in
their interactions. As such, many
now live in a state of constant
uncertainty, or preocupacion
as they are not able to secure
who are treated unfairly, or who
do not get the benefits they were
promised. Additionally, there are
those who haven’t been hired
at all, but distinctly remember
being promised jobs, but never
received call backs. One woman
explains: “I used to work at one
of the oil companies, and I got
pregnant. When they found out
I was pregnant they fired me. I
know its illegal, but what could
I do” [xvi].
Another woman comments: “I
used to work at one of the oil
companies. When I used to work
there my daughter got shot. She
operating in the south adhere to
the ILO standards.
Additionally, the stories told
by these women are supported by
the findings in a public hearing
against the oil company Pacific
Rubiales, which concluded
that, “To a large extent, PRE
[Pacific Rubiales Energy] avoids
hiring employees directly by
contracting with other companies.
These companies then hire
‘subcontractors’ who are, in all
but name, employees on 28-day
renewable contracts. The result
is a precariously employed
workforce” [xxviii]. Furthermore,
the report finds that Pacific “is
cited for unethical behavior,
including the use of contractors
and employment agencies as a
strategy to avoid liability under
labor laws” [xxix]. The result
has been not only a workforce,
but an entire town that lives in
precariousness on the brink of
poverty.
Photo Courtesy of Felicia Graham
This photo was taken at the entrance of a resguardo or reserve on the outskirts of Puerto Gaitan where members of the
Sikuani residents live. This reserve remains unpaved and without proper water or sanitation facilities
employment to meet their basic
living needs [xxv].
Outside of the indigenous
community, many local mestizo
women and men also look for
work with the oil companies to
no avail as there simply are not
enough jobs. Those who are able
to work for the industry wait for
months, obtaining contracts that
last no longer than 3-4 months.
There are other stories too, of
women working for the companies
Summer 2014
is now handicapped because
of that. I was supposed to get
benefits from the company for
this, but they told me I needed
to write a letter, and then they
fired me” [xxvii].
Though hiring for temporary
contracts is outlawed in the
standards outlined by the
International Labor Organization
(ILO), of which Colombia is
party to, there are no physical
means to ensure that companies
Superficial development
Furthermore, with the selling
of the Sikuani territory, most
indigenous community members
now live in resguardos, or
reserves, as there were no
alternative residences set up
by either the state or the oil
company until 2009. Despite the
influx of plata from the industry,
however, these resguardos are
generally considered to be subpar.
When this field research was
conducted in 2013, the resguardos
were still being constructed, and
it was clear that little effort had
11

een invested in making these
houses livable for the 450 Sikuani
residents.
Most buildings remain unfinished
after 4 years, and most if not
all are built with plastic tarp.
There is also no pavement in the
resguardo, nor proper sanitation
infrastructure or running water
– though much of Puerto Gaitan
enjoys these luxuries, particularly
in the town center where the
mayor’s office resides.
One Sikuani member commented
While that may be true, the use
of walls has a dubious history
throughout the world –whether
gated communities, the Berlin
Wall, the U.S.-Mexican border,
and the various walls dividing
Palestinians and Israelis. Many
Sikuani tend to share this suspicion,
and it would seem likely that the
wall’s true purpose is to hide
the half-constructed indigenous
reservation—in other words: out
of sight, out of mind.
Outside of the wall, however,
for being just that – a medical
center. There are actually no
doctors to serve the town of now
40 to 50,000: “They don’t even
have professional doctors, just
students who go to finish their
residency training. And in the
rural areas they still don’t have
any access to schools, education,
or hospitals” [xxxi]. For real
treatment it’s necessary to make
a three-hour journey northward
to the neighboring city, but, “the
municipality is not prepared for
an emergency” [xxxii].
“Turning a blind eye”
Photo Courtesy of Felicia Graham
The Rio Manacacias or Manacacias River is a main source of fish for the community. With the arrival of the oil industry,
many people now claim that the water is contaminated, not only from chemicals, but from dust. In this picture, a cloud of
on the resguardos as follows: “We
used to be free to travel in the
territory…. With the companies,
now the indigenous communities
feel they are enclosed, they have
little territory, where they view
their ancestral lands from afar
that they no longer have” [xxx].
What is perhaps most interesting,
however, was that in addition to
the lack of care that seems to have
been put into the resguardo’s
construction, the erection of a
cement wall dividing the resguardo
and the residents of Puerto Gaitan
is in the process of being built
for the ‘cultural preservation’ of
the Sikuani community.
life seems notably different.
People bustle amid the dust and
never-ending procession of oil
tank trucks relatively unhindered,
and many express pride in the
newly paved roads and flashy
buildings. Yet, these developments
too are superficial.
For example, much money has
been invested in the local medical
center. They have new equipment,
and another investment is expected
to bring more materials in next
year. The problem is, however,
not the lack of equipment, but
the lack of doctors.
In Puerto Gaitan, people typically
joke about the medical center
Though issues of environmental
degradation, job insecurity, and
superficial development projects
are fairly easy to observe, other
side effects from the oil industry
are not so easy to quantify.
Reflective of many community
member’s opinions, one stated,
“Since the company came there is
much more social disintegration,
and disintegration of the family…
the people now invest much money
in liquor… Fathers don’t have
responsibilities anymore and it
is common to see children on the
street without anyone caring for
them. And prostitution.. It was
not seen before, but since the oil
companies have arrived they are
more open to the outside world”
[xxxiii].
These types of impacts from
resource industries are often
neglected, and hardly if ever
make it into the environmental
and social impacts assessment
12 GLOBAL UNDERTONES / globalundertones.com

surveys that companies operating
in Colombia are required to
produce. Yet they constitute some
of the most structural and deepseated
changes that communities
endure as a result of extraction.
As Anthony Bebbington aptly
remarks in his 2012 book Social
Conflict, Economic Development,
and Extractive Industry, “resource
extraction often leaves footprints
on individual and community
consciousness that are not
easily erased and become deeply
embedded over time. Patterns of
distrust emerge and are awakened
during social movements” [xxxiv].
As of yet, the international
community has yet to pay notice
to these critical changes.
Conclusions
Thus, the economic opening
of 21st century Colombia that is
claiming to bring the country into
‘modernity’ [xxxv] does not resolve
the deeply embedded conflicts
of the previous century, or the
newly arrived social problems.
Patricia Vasquez explains, the
underlying dynamics of conflict,
particular[ly] around oil and gas,
are “old, unresolved grievances…
[which] if not addressed properly
and in a timely fashion… can have
regional – and sometimes even
nationwide – impacts” [xxxvi ].
Given the 21 st century’s global
rush for natural resources and
the consequent expansion of
extractive industries across much
of the developing world, from
Africa to Latin America and Asia,
Summer 2014
many are now starting to take a
closer look at the ways in which
resource extraction transforms
lives, livelihoods, and entire
communities, particularly, but
not solely in Latin America.
The 2009 film “Crude,” for
example, brought international
attention to the struggle in
Ecuador between 30,000 Cofan
”
Ecuadorian Cofan indigenous
membersand Chevron-Texaco.
Chevron-Texaco dumped over
18 billion gallons of extractive
crude waste over the span of
a decade, which seeped into
the foliage and water supply
eventually killing off animals
and causing extreme skin rashes
and cancer in youth as young as
17-18 years old [xxxvii]. A series
of protests rocked the country and
brought international criticism
to the Ecuadorian government’s
commitment to human and
indigenous rights.
Similarly, communities
surrounding Peru’s Rio Blanco
copper project voted unanimously
against the proposal and protested
[xxxviii] the government’s
insistence that the project go
through: “Protests erupted in
2004 and 2005, in which two
people were killed. A report was
later released on the incident
‘accusing the police and mine
company security forces of
illegally holding and torturing 28
protestors… and includes graphic
photos of bound prisoners, with
plastic bags on their heads and
wounds’” [xxxix].
These struggles and many more
like them continue to pop up
throughout Latin America and
the world to this very day, and
“
As of yet, the international community
has yet to pay notice to these critical
changes.
will likely continue as long as
governments embrace the rapid
expansion of extractive industries
for the benefit of the few, at the
subtle expense of the majority
In 2014, Colombia announced
its intention to continue its
extractive development project by
the auction of 22 million hectares
of land for oil exploration and
production [xl]– roughly half the
size of California and home to
numerous indigenous communities,
internally displaced communities,
and rural farmers.
If the Colombian government
wishes to continue this
development, it is essential
that they more closely manage
the changes the industry brings
to communities, especially in
regards to those it overlooks or
excludes. If not, it is likely that
Colombia may witness the same
social conflicts as its extractive
neighbors, but more critically
risking a relapse into the systemic
violence of the previous century.
sources
13

Photo Courtesy of Debra Sweet
Protestors at an anti-war rally in Chicago on March 19, 2012
criticize use of drone warfare in American foreign policy.
14 GLOBAL UNDERTONES / globalundertones.com

World
By Jacob Marthaller
Alienation
and our lives withdrones
Arendt and Habermas’ Solutions
February 2002, a mysterious flying
object killed three Afghani men
looking for scrap metal in the remote
region of Zhawar Kili [i]. To be sure, this
would not be the last mysterious killing,
as the use of unmanned aerial vehicles
(UAVs, more commonly known as drones)
for lethal purposes would signal a new era
of US counterterrorism policy. A little over
a decade later, the United States remains
adamant in their usage of drones in the
War on Terror.
While drones have been the target of
countless protests in the last ten years,
activists have made relatively little
ground in mediating them [ii]. This article
suggests that one of the chief reasons for
this lack of progress is the United States’
strict adherence to secrecy and their
unwillingness to engage with the public
in regards to drone policies.
Before delving any deeper into this topic
an indispensible caveat should be noted. For
the purposes of this paper, only non-military
drones piloted by civilian agencies (such
as the CIA) will be examined at length.
Although they are utilized in much the
same way as non-military drones, military
drones and the policies that regulate them
are appropriately confidential, as American
law and international military conventions
sanction their classified status [iii].
Summer 2014
15

While compelling arguments
have been made against the use of
military drones as well, this essay
cannot undertake such a broad
focus and instead questions only
non-military lethal UAVs used
covertly outside of designated
military zones [iv].
Despite the fact that US
drones and drone strikes seem
to be increasing in number, the
public still possesses relatively
little information about them.
This style of foreign policy—
marked by political secrecy—is
indeed a troubling aspect of the
American drone strategy, as is
the general lack of oversight into
non-military drone programs. If
drones are the future of American
counterterrorism efforts, then
their use should be monitored
and overseen by the general
population.
To work against these notions
of governmental secrecy,
this article examines and
elaborates on how two relatively
contemporary political thinkers—
the philosophers Hannah Arendt
and Jürgen Habermas—would
view drones and what they
would recommend citizens do to
ameliorate the American drone
program.
While neither thinker engages
drones directly in their work, they
both offer ways that citizens can
work with their governments to
“
If drones are the future of
American counterterrorism efforts,
then their use should be monitored
and overseen by the general
population.
”
make political change, ultimately
leading to better policies for all.
Again, the scope of this piece
remains with covert non-military
drone use, as this is where Arendt’s
concerns over political secrecy
become most apparent and where
Habermas’ prescriptions hold
the most weight.
A new kind of warfare
While UAVs have only recently
gained notoriety in the media, their
use (particularly in surveillance)
has been a common feature of
American military campaigns and
foreign policy since the beginning
of the twentieth century [v].
However, this surveillance strategy
would be radically altered after
9/11, when President George W.
Bush began equipping drones for
combat missions, carrying out
the first lethal strike in February
2002 [vi].
After this strike, the US expanded
the drone program into Yemen in
November 2002, conducting their
first strike there on an al-Qaida
member who was thought to
be involved in the USS Cole
bombing; a terrorist attack that
claimed seventeen American lives
in 2000 [vii]. Despite several
UN officials condemning this
drone strike as illegal, the Bush
administration expanded the
US’s drone presence to Pakistan
and Somalia as well, a policy
that remained unchanged when
Barack Obama took office [viii].
Although he initially hoped
to curtail the drone program,
President Obama’s use of
UAVs has in fact exceeded his
predecessor’s. According to one
source, the Bush administration
had been responsible for 45-51
drone strikes [ix], while Barack
Obama’s presidency has (at
the time of writing) authorized
approximately 390 [x].
Drones have become a standard
fixture in both President Bush’s
and Obama’s War on Terror.
With this technology, drones
offer personnel an unprecedented
level of safety, as the possibility
of endangering human lives by
deploying them into combat is
almost completely eliminated.
However, these benefits have
come at the price of public
outcry and international debate
as to whether counterterrorism
measures should be carried out
16 GLOBAL UNDERTONES / globalundertones.com

this remotely, as well as if the
public should have more knowledge
of these measures—themes that
have been examined in various
ways by Hannah Arendt.
Hannah Arendt: World
alienation and political
obscurity
Well known for her work on the
rise of totalitarianism and how it
affects individual citizens within
Image first published by the National Journal
a government, Hannah Arendt is
unquestionably one of the most
highly revered political theorists
of the twentieth century. Although
the subjects she takes up in her
work are vast, two unifying themes
emerge throughout her writings:
violence and the motivation
Summer 2014
behind those who perpetrate it.
In looking at how Arendt would
view American drone policies,
these themes must be a facet of
the conversation, as they help
to direct both how individuals
can view drones and what can
be done to mediate their usage.
Without a doubt, Hannah Arendt
would not have a favorable
outlook on the use of drones in
the War on Terror. Although she
rarely wrote explicitly on military
technology or prohibiting certain
means of warfare [xi], she often
discussed how technology could
alter society as a whole and
how it could change humanity’s
perception of itself.
Using the satellite Sputnik
as an example, Arendt wrote
that modern technology has the
ability to distance humankind
from their own world—what
she called “world alienation”—
subsequently distorting their
conception of physical and
metaphysical reality and with
it their perception of humanity
[xii]. Put another way, Arendt
thought that modern technology,
like drones, could create too
much distance between human
beings, and that the use of this
technology could potentially
erode the “anthropocentric”
worldview prevalent in Western
society [xiii].
Though Arendt wrote this
with mid-twentieth century
technology in mind, its relevance
to the contemporary use of
drones is striking: in utilizing
UAV technology, combatants
are removed from the imminent
danger that is inherent to ground
combat. Birds-eye vision and
bird-eye judgments take the
place of tactical, on-the-ground
decisions, thereby introducing an
unparalleled degree of separation
between aggressor and target that
could lead to countless civilian
deaths. For Arendt, judgments
made through such a panoramic
lens are proof of technology’s
capacity to “decrease the stature
of man” [xiv]; thus, one should
be cautious of decisions made
in this way [xv].
While the US may have legitimate
national security interests in
maintaining the secrecy of the
drone program, Arendt thought
governmental obscurity was
17

problematic as a whole, and she
recognized that the disingenuous
nature of “lying in politics”
can be detrimental to a state’s
relationship with its citizens [xvi].
The obscure nature of the drone
program becomes most apparent
in discussions of noncombatant
deaths and how targets are selected.
In other words, the public lacks
may simply look suspicious—has
received ample negative attention
from many sources [xx].
In addition to never releasing the
criteria for how these signature
strike targets are determined,
the Obama administration has
rarely addressed whether strikes
have been made in this way
at all. While they have been
political leaders, subsequently
allowing those leaders to maintain
a degree of distance from their
work in order that certain actions
could be performed on behalf of
the state without anyone’s ethics
impeding them. Eventually,
those governing become so
dissociated from their actions
that they no longer acknowledge
“
For the United States to begin correcting
these policies, it will have to recognize its
complacency and come out from behind the
bureaucratic veil.
”
knowledge of how drones are
being used strategically [xvii].
Not surprisingly, scholars and
journalists alike have criticized
the US government for their
lack of disclosure in addressing
specific components of drone
strikes, as well as their persistence
in “prevent[ing] journalists or
researchers from consistently
reporting on each individual
strike” [xviii].
Due to either implicit or explicit
government censorship, there
has been significant difficulty
in obtaining accurate death tolls
resulting from drone strikes,
which in turn makes critiquing
the efficacy of the drone program
even more challenging [xix].
Furthermore, America’s alleged
use of “signature strikes”—where
drone targets are selected based on
particular lifestyle behaviors that
dispelled to some degree [xxi],
the continuing lack of sufficient
information regarding signature
strikes suggest, to some, an
underlying atmosphere of secrecy
surrounding American drone
strategy [xxii].
Though this obscurity is
discomforting in and of itself, the
government’s surreptitiousness
seems to be a microcosm of a
problem more clearly stated in
Arendt’s work: the complications
that result from a government’s
overreliance on bureaucracy.
Through her work on the
development of totalitarianism
in the twentieth century, Arendt
would write meticulously on
how governmental bureaucracy
affects a state. For Arendt,
bureaucracy was a form of rule
characterized by a circulation
of orders advocated by obscure
the consequences of their orders,
especially violent ones.
In the bureaucratic state,
violent actions can be performed
to achieve political ends with
limited human interference, as
many within the organization
are viewed as nonentities in an
“intricate system of bureaus in
which no man, neither one nor
the best, neither the few nor the
many, can be held responsible”
for what the state does [xxiii].
A state like this is disconcerting
at best, and such “invisible
governments”, as Arendt calls
them, are deeply troubling [xxiv].
The United States’ drone policy,
as it currently exists, appears to
fall into just this kind of trouble.
While the public possesses slightly
more information concerning
drone practices than they have
in recent years, an overall
18 GLOBAL UNDERTONES / globalundertones.com

understanding of the way drones
have been employed in the War on
Terror by civilian agencies has never
been made public. For the United
States to begin correcting these
policies, it will have to recognize
its complacency and come out from
behind the bureaucratic veil.
First and foremost for Arendt,
it is imperative that a government
encourages its citizens to participate
in the public realm, and she insists
on a political environment where
participants are free to create
a self-conscious understanding
of an issue and/or its need for
improvement [xxv]. For Arendt,
this necessitates what she comes
to call the “space of appearance”,
Photo Courtesy of Arc of Justice
One of the few US anti-drone rallies held on January 30, 2013 in Washington, D.C.
a communal action in which the
public takes an inadequate political
idea and restores it for better use
[xxvi].
Rather than obscuring a political
idea or policy with varying levels
Summer 2014
of bureaucratic ambiguity, Arendt
would argue that introducing
that idea to the general populace
could correct it. Entrenched in
secrecy as they currently exist,
American drone policies diminish
the possibility that the space of
appearance can emerge, therefore
diminishing the possibility that
the space of appearance could
improve them.
While Arendt’s space of
appearance as a way to publicly
mediate governmental policies is
useful, her method is often too
abstract and can lack concrete
prescription at times. To explicitly
address the United States’
non-military drone policies, a
more immersed form of public
deliberation may be necessary, one
in which change comes through
direct interaction of individuals
seeking to find common ground.
For this to take place, citizens must
initiate something more closely
resembling Jürgen Habermas’
deliberative democracy to
engage with and ameliorate
drone policies.
Habermasian
deliberation
Like Arendt, Habermas contends
that a citizen looking to make
political change must be visible
in the public sphere. However,
for Habermas, the best way
for an individual to confront a
governmental policy is with a
method he calls “deliberative
democracy”.
Ideally, Habermas’ method
leads to a rational exchange
between conversation partners
on a particular issue, thereby
producing a reasonable solution
that satisfies both parties’
demands.
For Habermas, deliberative
democracy is the most efficient
way a citizen can interact with
the law in an attempt to change
it, a process that will be useful
in looking for ways the American
citizenry could engage with its
government to obtain a more
moderate drone strategy.
Unlike Arendt, Habermas has
a relatively positive view of the
way democracies can negotiate
agreements for themselves.
For him, this requires first
and foremost that a segment
of the population be involved
with the legal institutions of a
state [xxvii].
Put simply, this type of discourse
resembles an interaction between
19

two individuals: while each
holds to their own rationally
legitimate position, both are
willing to negotiate with each
other to reach an accord. This
“communicative freedom”, as
Habermas calls it, can only take
place when two people hold
competing claims, both of which
are reparable through the process
of communicative action [xxviii].
Although Habermas explains his
theory as a conversation between
individual political interlocutors,
this is not to say that political
action must always be a solitary
endeavor. On the contrary,
Habermas—like Arendt—holds
that one’s communicative power
is enhanced by membership in
a particular group [xxix]. In
this way, Arendt and Habermas
share the belief that political
action is best executed within a
community, a notion that has been
amply explicated by proponents
of civil disobedience and political
obligation [xxx].
In a democratic political society,
potential deliberators are free
to involve themselves with the
legal and political processes
of the state in order to rectify
deficient government institutions.
In looking to how this method
could be applied to drones,
individual citizens and activist
groups could engage with the
legal and political institutions
of the state—such as Congress
or the courts—in order to reform
drone practices.
Immediately one can see how
Habermas modifies Arendt’s
thought: whereas for her the
establishment of a space within
which political actors can engage
with governments is paramount,
Habermas outlines how such an
exchange should work. While
Arendt emphasizes that citizens
must be visible in the public sphere
(more classical conceptions of
political protest come to mind),
Habermas would say that potential
political actors must be engaged
with governmental institutions
through communication, not
merely expressing their dissent
outside of them [xxxi].
For deliberative democracy
to be successful on Habermas’
terms, the representative bodies
of the state must recognize the
“general will” of the people
[xxxii]. Once this general will
“
has been attained and recognized,
the essence of a Habermasian
interactive dialogue can take place
[xxxiii]. Therefore, immersing
oneself with the political order
is the responsibility of every
particular citizen.
This is especially relevant to
the attempted amelioration of
drones; while numerous protests
have been held in the last decade,
the number of activists directly
involved have been few in number,
and greater percentages of the
population may need to include
themselves in the discourse
before significant changes can
be made.
Like Arendt, Habermas contends
that the possibility for engagement
must always be available if this
is to be an effective method; that
is, the government with which the
citizenry is attempting to interact
with must not silence or shut out
potential conversation partners.
Again, both Arendt and Habermas
hold that political action of this
kind should take place in groups,
as this is the most sufficient way
to translate political ideology
into “purposive action” [xxxiv].
Once deliberative democracy
Therefore, immersing oneself
with the political order is the
responsibility of every particular
citizen.
”
takes this form, more tenable
policies can be reached, ones
that appeal to a wider breadth
of the political community.
At this point, the reader may
be skeptical of how Habermas’
vision could translate to practical
reality. Haven’t past attempts
at reforming drone policies—
such as the efforts of Medea
Benjamin and Code Pink, among
20 GLOBAL UNDERTONES / globalundertones.com

many others—been largely
unsuccessful? Furthermore, what
exactly constitutes “successful”
deliberative engagement? Indeed,
these concerns are challenging but
not insurmountable, as there are
many ways in which the American
public could engage with the
US government to mitigate the
latter’s drone policies.
Avenues of change
Beginning with public protest is
a good place to start as it tracks
rather well with the Arendtian-
Habermasian schema outlined
above. In essence, Arendt and
Habermas’ perspectives call
for individuals to immerse
themselves in these issues as
much as possible, as immersion
itself can easily be viewed as a
form of public protest.
For Arendt this means being
visible within a public debate
while for Habermas it means
discussing one’s political
values. In this sense, one can
participate in a political protest
in numerous ways; for example,
Internet activism or writing to a
congressman is potentially just
as effective as picketing on the
National Mall.
The quintessential prescription
that Arendt and Habermas offer to
the everyday citizen is to engage
with these issues. In this way, the
question of how one will engage
is directed back to that individual.
However, for one’s involvement
to be effective it would seem that
Summer 2014
the US government would first
need to “come to the table”, so
to speak, with their own rational
and defensible position on drones.
When something like this takes
place, a more Habermasian form
of deliberation will be possible.
With that, this article suggests
that the Obama administration
openly embrace the American
public as a dialogue partner in
regards to non-military drone
strategy. Doing this would
require, at least to start, increased
transparency of drone policies
and practices. Indeed, President
Obama seems to have taken steps
in this direction [xxxv], but this
can only be the beginning of a
long process to increase openness
of drone use.
In addition, other branches of
the United States government
should publicly deliberate on
drones more frequently. Though
two Congressional hearings were
held on drones in 2010, meetings
of this kind have been conducted
sparingly, and Congress should
hold further hearings on this
subject [xxxvi].
Finally, one of the most effective
public demonstrations took place
in 2012 when a group of twentyseven
high-ranking Congressmen
drafted a letter to the Obama
administration requesting greater
presidential transparency in the
way drones are used [xxxvii].
This letter brought drones to
the attention of many and was
a powerful form of protest, and
more acts of its kind should
be executed to further mediate
drones and drone usage.
With the continued and increased
use of drones, the United States
is currently on a foreign policy
path that could lead to disrupted
international alliances and global
insecurity. This article has shown—
via Hannah Arendt—that opposition
to drone combat extends beyond
merely the fear of robot soldiers,
and questions the very nature of how
citizens interact with technology
and political institutions.
While the use of UAVs can
be seen as questionable on both
technological and political grounds,
neither Arendt nor Habermas would
consider leaving these tactics to
their own devices. Rather, both
thinkers call for a society that
addresses the apparent problems
of their state to promote global
justice—the former arguing that a
visible public sphere is crucial for
change while the latter explains
the ways in which a political
discourse could take place.
With that, it is imperative to
state that this paper can only
serve as an introduction into the
larger conversation about the
legitimacy of non-military drone
use. It is only when a multitude
of individuals commit themselves
to mediating these political ideas
that more agreeable policies will
be found. Therefore, citizens must
step forward into this conversation
for themselves, bringing their own
rational political values to the
public sphere in order to make
substantial change.
sources
21

By Sergey Salushev
Crimea’s Succession
History Before Politics
22 GLOBAL UNDERTONES / globalundertones.com

Ethnic Russians demonstrate
in the Crimean city
of Simferopol with banners
calling for “yes” vote to
join Russia, 2014.
Courtesy of Forbes
After months of impassioned protests and
violent clashes with the riot police on the
Maidan (Independence Square), Ukraine’s
legitimately elected, albeit unpopular,
government of President Viktor Yanukovych
was finally ousted from power in February.
Summer 2014
23

In the weeks following the
overthrowing of the Ukrainian
government, the pro-Russian
political and paramilitary forces
in the Autonomous Republic
of Crimea, which historically
enjoyed very strong ties to
Russia, emulated protests in
the capitol and effectively took
control of the peninsula. Then, in
a hastily organized referendum,
the majority of the peninsula’s
Russia. Ideology and realpolitik
theories have dominated the
discourse on Crimea’s secession
since.
Indeed, an article recently
published in The Economist
magazine, entitled Diplomacy
and Security after Crimea: The
new world order, argued that
Russian President Putin laid
the foundation for a new world
order by annexing Crimea from
Russia’s annexation of Crimea
was a spontaneous and promptly
executed reaction to the political
tumult that gripped Ukraine and
threatened the strategic interests
of Russia in the Black Sea.
Moreover, the crisis in Crimea
has very deep historic roots that
supersede the present political
upheavals. As such, the crisis was
predicted a long time ago and
surely could have been averted
had it not been for the misguided
attempts at ‘Ukrainization’ of the
ethnic Russian community and
the inept political interference
of the United States and the
European Union (EU).
EU negotiations fail
Ethnic Russians in Crimea celebrate the results of a hastily organized referendum on the Ukrainian peninsula’s future. The
majority voted overwhelmingly in favour of seceding from Ukraine and re-uniting with Russia.
Courtesy of AFP-JIJI
ethnic Russians voted to secede
from Ukraine and reunite with
Russia.
Russia, much to dismay of the
United States and the European
Union, obliged the will of the
people and absorbed the territory
into the country’s sovereign
borders. This controversial
decision sparked a storm of
speculations and suppositions
which suggested that Russia’s
actions in Crimea were part of
a premeditated stratagem of a
resurgent and more belligerent
Ukraine [i]. Or, in other words,
Putin set the country on the
course of inevitable confrontation
with American and European
geopolitical and security interests
on the continent.
Of course, Russia’s annexation of
Crimea on March 18 2014, clearly
violated the territorial integrity
of Ukraine and undermined
international norms concerning
principles of national selfdetermination.
However, it did not
represent the strategic move the
Economist article suggests [ii].
Before Ukraine’s uprising
in 2014, the vast majority of
Ukrainians were frustrated by
pervasive state corruption, inept
governance, and widespread
poverty, among other things.
These frustrations reached a
peak of despair when President
Viktor Yanukovych refused to
sign an association agreement
with the EU citing unfair terms of
such an agreement for Ukraine’s
economy. This rejection was
widely interpreted as a veiled
promise of eventual integration
into the Russian economic zone.
Fearing for the economic
future of the country, tens of
thousands of Ukrainians occupied
the Independence Square in the
country’s capital – Kiev, in order to
exert pressure on the government
to sign an association agreement
24 GLOBAL UNDERTONES / globalundertones.com

with the EU. Consequently, the
protests on the Independence
Square in central Kiev were
dubbed Euromaidan.
These protests received an
outpouring of support both
domestically and internationally.
Indeed, according to the poll
published by the Pew Research
Center - Global Attitudes Project,
many people in the Russian
speaking regions of the country
favored unity and eventual
integration into the EU [iii]. .
After all, “the EU is Ukraine’s
largest trading partner”[iv].
Irrespective of linguistic and
ethnic differences, many Ukrainian
citizens understood that in the
long term, association and free
trade with the EU would offer
a broad range of economic and
political advantages, far more
beneficial than forging closer
links with Russia. Indeed,
Ukrainians were wary of reliance
on Russia given its economy’s
structural inefficiency and rampant
corruption in the government.
However, at times explicitly
anti-Russian and nationalistic
undertones of the Maidan protests
have tarnished the credibility of
the uprising and alarmed otherwise
politically apathetic ethnic
Russians living in Ukraine. In
short, the modern revolt against
state corruption had suddenly
unearthed decades-old historic
resentments that divided the
country along the fault-lines of
ethnicity, religion and language.
The West responds
The actions of the American
diplomats and politicians at the
Summer 2014
height of the crisis in Ukraine
confirmed a long held belief among
Russian conservatives that the
West would never recognize or
respect the legitimate economic,
social and cultural ties between
Russia and Ukraine. Thus, the EU
and the US’s clumsy diplomacy
helped to unleash political forces
in Ukraine that the West could
neither fully understand nor
control.
The decision to depose former
Ukrainian President Yanukovych
was adopted by Ukraine’s
Parliament in extraordinary
haste and in violation of the
existing constitutional procedures
[v]. Hence, it is obvious that
Yanukovych’s removal constituted
a political coup d’état. However,
the EU and the US accepted the
coup and immediately recognized
the new government in Kiev as
legitimate. On the other hand,
the Russian government opposed
and condemned the coup.
Particularly notable was the
American diplomats’ lack of
consideration and understanding
of the highly sensitive nature of
the situation in Ukraine. First,
Senator John McCain, a wellestablished
advocate of Russian
containment, made an appearance
at the rallies on Maidan where he
rebuked Yanukovych’s decision not
to sign the association agreement
with the EU and voiced his strong
support for the anti-government
protestors.
On March 24 2014, in a
statement during a televised
interview, Senator McCain
urged the Obama administration
to provide Ukraine with both
lethal and non-lethal military
“...the modern revolt against state corruption
had suddenly unearthed decades-old historic
resentments that divided the country along the
fault-lines of ethnicity, religion and language.
”
assistance in order to counteract
Russia’s actions in Crimea [vi].
He also suggested conducting
urgent military exercises close
to the Russian-Ukrainian border.
Certainly, given Senator McCain’s
status and influence in the U.S.
Congress, his comments did not
go unnoticed in Russia.
Furthermore, in a brazen act
of diplomatic bias, the Assistant
Secretary of the United States
Victoria Nuland, who at the
time was accompanied by the
US Ambassador to Ukraine
Geoffrey Pyatt, embarked on an
ill-conceived and short-sighted
mission to deliver pastries to theantiprotesters
on Maidan [vii].
The actions of Ms. Nuland
were unprecedented and clearly
indicated that postulated policy
of neutrality of the US in the
25

Ukraine’s political crisis was
a myth. Moreover, it is easy
to imagine the uproar and
indignation of the American
political establishment if a
Russian diplomat of any rank
were to join a political rally on
American soil and encourage
continued defiance of the US
government.
In addition, in the days following
the distribution of pastries to
the anti-government protestors,
an apparently leaked phone
conversation between Ambassador
Pyatt and the US Assistant
Secretary Nuland was published
in the public domain. The leaked
script revealed the American
plans for the political future of
Ukraine [vii]. The conversation
was a huge embarrassment
for the Obama administration
and served to unequivocally
confirm Russia’s fear that the
U.S. government was already
planning to preside over the post-
Yanukovych transition in Ukraine
and going as far as deciding
who among the anti-government
opposition leaders should lead the
country after the Yanukovych’s
government is disposed [ix].
In short, imprudent and
provocative displays of support
shown by the Western governments
had undermined Russia’s trust
and exacerbated its suspicions
with regard to the foreign
interference in Ukraine’s internal
political affairs. These inimical
diplomatic overtures created a
vivid perception of the instrumental
role of the West, and the U.S.
in particular, behind the scenes
of the anti-government protests
in Kiev. Ultimately, the West’s
unabashed support of the antigovernment
protestors contributed
to Russia’s willingness to exploit
Crimea’s historic grievances
against Kiev’s rule.
The Crimean exception
Aside from obvious strategic
value, it is hard to explain the
significance of Crimea for Russian
imagination and national selfawareness
to anyone unfamiliar
with the intricate details of the
peninsula’s history. A short
historic introduction, therefore,
seems necessary to grasp the
meaning of Crimea for Russia.
“It was on the peninsula
that the Byzantine [Empire]
passed the mantle of Orthodox
Christianity to Russia… when in
the ancient Greek colonial city
of Chersonesos, the Byzantine
emperor baptized the Kyivan
Rus Prince Vladimir” – hence,
[in 867] Russians became a
Christian nation [x].
The Crimean peninsula officially
became part of the Russian
Empire in 1783 on the orders of
the Catherine the Great (1762-
1796). Since then, Crimea’s sea
ports became the home of the
Russian Black Sea fleet and the
peninsula was regarded as the
most strategically important
outpost for the Russian Navy
in the region.
The peninsula was also the site
US Assistant Secretary of State, Victoria Nuland (left) and US Ambassador to Ukraine Geoffrey Pyatt visit Kiev’s Independence
Square and Euromaidan protestors in December 2013. Nuland and Pyatt were later embroiled in scandal when a
leaked phone call between the two implied derogatory attitudes by top US officials about the situation in Ukraine.
Courtesy of CBS/Wire Services
of 1853 Crimean War in which the
Russian Empire fought against
Britain, France and the Ottoman
Empire. The author of the famous
War and Peace, Leo Tolstoy, also
fought in the Crimean War and
later published several accounts
of his experience in the battles.
The world-renowned Russian
novelist Anton Chekhov, author
of Three Sisters and The Cherry
Orchard, also lived and composed
his brilliant books in Crimea.
26 GLOBAL UNDERTONES / globalundertones.com

Chekhov’s house in Crimea
became “a magnet for other
Russian writers of his day - Ivan
Bunin, Maksim Gorky, Alexander
Kuprin - and for musicians such
as Sergei Rachmaninov and the
great singer Fyodor Chaliapin”
[xi].
Furthermore, Sevastopol,
the chief port of the Russian
Black Sea Navy, entered into
the Russian imagination as the
legendary “City of Heroes” after
it was relentlessly sieged by
the German Nazi army during
the World War II. The accounts
of the city’s heroic defense by
the Soviet soldiers became an
integral part of Russia’s military
traditions and history.
In short, the site of Russia’s
Christian origins and identity,
the land of Russian military
glories and tragedies, a hub of
cultural rejuvenation - Crimea
has a special place in the Russian
heart and enigmatic soul.
Crimea, or the Crimean
Autonomous Republic, became
part of Ukraine in the second
half of the twentieth century.
Jurisdiction and authority over
the territory was transferred to
the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist
Summer 2014
Republic in 1954 at the behest
of Nikita Khrushchev, who was
at the time the First Secretary
of the Communist Party of
the Soviet Union. In 1954, it
was an insignificant event as
even a thought of the Soviet
Union’s eventual implosion
was unthinkable. Khrushchev,
who was himself a Ukrainian,
never explained his decision to
attach the peninsula to Ukraine’s
territory.
“Ukrainization”
Crimea’s secession from
Ukraine was preceded by years
of alienation and feeling of
estrangement of ethnic Russians
living in the peninsula. Having
for centuries been part of Russia,
the peninsula’s Russian residents
grew increasingly frustrated
by attempts of the subsequent
governments in Kiev to erase and
ignore the meaningful historic
“In short, the site of Russia’s Christian origins
and identity, the land of Russian military glories
and tragedies, a hub of cultural rejuvenation -
Crimea has a special place in the Russian heart
and enigmatic soul.
”
and cultural links that united
Crimea with Russia.
Since Ukraine became an
independent state, most of
the country’s political leaders
consistently dismissed the
reality of the country’s ethnic
composition. Ukrainian leaders
were eager to bolster the hegemony
of Ukrainian culture and eschew
Russia’s cultural influences that,
according to many Ukrainian
nationalists, have polluted the
authentic culture of Ukraine
[xii]. As a result, in places
like Crimea, though officially
Ukrainian citizens, many ethnic
Russians did not feel part of the
county’s national fabric. In fact,
when in December 1991 Ukraine
held its national referendum
on the country’s independence,
Crimea registered the lowest
rates of approval in the entire
country [xiii].
Misguided attempts at
‘Ukrainization’ of Crimea, i.e.
discouraging the use of Russian
language, downplaying the history
of the peninsula, and threats to
expel the Russian Black Sea fleet
from the peninsula, shattered
Crimea’s sense of belonging to
Ukraine and further estranged
the ethnic Russians living there
[xiv].
Sadly, Ukrainian nationalism
came to dominate the politics in
the country. Russian language and
culture often became the frequent
targets of political revanchism.
Evidently, many Ukrainian political
leaders failed to understand the
counterproductive effect of such
blind nationalism and linguistic
chauvinism on social cohesion
of the country.
Some so-called ‘Pro-Western’
politicians in Ukraine embraced
the anti-Russian sentiment so
as to secure support from the
27

nationalist constituent groups, as
well as to earn acclaim from the
West [xv]. This tendency came
to light when, immediately after
President Yanukovych’s expulsion,
the Ukrainian parliament voted
to lower the status of Russian
language in the country. More
specifically, the Russian language
was stripped of its status as a
regional language.
Many ethnic Russians and
Russian speaking Ukrainians
in Crimea interpreted this
ill-conceived law as a grim
harbinger of what was to come
in the future. It is important to
note, however, that after being
rebuked by European partners
the acting President of Ukraine,
Oleksandr Turchynov, vetoed the
law a week after the parliament
adopted it. However, by then,
the damage has been done and
the self-appointed government
in Kiev had lost its legitimacy in
the eyes of many ethnic Russians,
especially in Crimea.
The decision to secede
On March 16 2014, in a
hastily organized referendum,
the overwhelming majority of
Crimea’s residents voted in
favor of secession from Ukraine
and admission into the Russian
Federation. It is important to
note that the referendum and
Russia’s annexation of Crimea
was declared illegal by the United
Nations General Assembly on
March 27 2014 [xvi]. Moreover,
the result of the referendum
did not express the views and
opinions of all the people living
in Crimea.
For instance, the majority of
Crimean Tatars, who are rightfully
considered to be the native
population of the peninsula, chose
to boycott the vote and opposed
the peninsula’s reunification
with Russia [xvi]. Further, the
referendum was marred by the
reports of voter intimidation
and inconsistencies relating
to registration and eligibility
of voters. Nevertheless, the
annexation of Crimea by Russia
was bloodless and received a
widespread support from the
majority of the Russian and
some Ukrainian population in
the Republic. In fact, following
the referendum, approximately
“two-thirds of the nearly 19,000
Ukrainian military personnel
and their relatives stationed in
Crimea, have chosen to remain
there; some heading for civilian
life, others transferred to the
Russian military” [xvii].
Indeed, albeit illegal, the
decision of the Crimean authorities
to secede from Ukraine and
become part of the Russian
Federation is not at all surprising
and was predicted a long time
ago [xix].
Conclusion
Russia’s annexation of
Crimea should not be justified,
but it can be explained in a
rational and objective manner.
Undoubtedly, Russia’s actions
on the peninsula were in severe
violation of international law.
Nevertheless, only an informed
analysis of the political coup
and familiarity with Crimea’s
history can illuminate one’s
understanding of the territory’s
decision to secede from Ukraine.
Far from the speculations
of pundits and analysts of
international relations, who claim
the arrival of the new world
order, the events that took place
in Crimea indicate otherwise.
Instead, Crimea’s secession
stands as depressing evidence of
the persistence of the old world
order in which Western interests
are repeatedly prioritized over
intricate regional histories and
delicate political alliances.
Russia’s actions in Crimea
were not part of a strategic
geopolitical stratagem to extend
Russian control over Europe and
elevate its global profile as a
nascent super power.
Russia’s annexation of Crimea
must be understood in the
context of tenacious historic
links of Russian people with
the peninsula and the Ukrainian
nationalist politics that alienated
the country’s ethnic Russian
community.
It is not surprising that the
people of Crimea took advantage
of the coup in Kiev and voted to
be reunified with Russia.
Alas, the economic and political
future of the modern Crimea is
very uncertain. However, the
Republic of Crimea is unlikely
to ever become part of Ukraine
again.
sources
28 GLOBAL UNDERTONES / globalundertones.com

Summer 2014
29

limate Change
and the
Food Secur
imension
OPINION
by Hilal Elver
30 GLOBAL UNDERTONES / globalundertones.com

ity
The world’s most authoritative body on climate change
science recently published a report emphasizing that
climate change is happening even faster, and with
more damaging effects, than previously anticipated.
Oxfam demonstration in
Warsaw, Poland.
Photo Courtesy of Oxfam
Summer 2014
Originally printed by Al-jazeera, 25 April 2014,
Reprinted with permission from Hilal Elver. 31

The United Nations
Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change’s Fifth Assessment
Report made clear that climate
change will be harmful for all
of us - and not only for a few
remote island states or polar
bears - by affecting the world›s
food supply.
Although the Panel has a deserved
reputation for being a conservative
and careful intergovernmental
body, it declared its concern in
this report using bold language.
Even though the report repeated
many of the findings of its Fourth
Assessment Report published
in 2007, some commentators
nevertheless called its conclusions
“alarmist”.
The report has sparked a
discussion as to whether such
alarming assessments are useful
to spur people and governments
to action.
Similarly, a new nine-part
documentary series on American
Showtime TV, “Years of Living
Dangerously”, is attracting lots
of attention - akin to the reaction
to Al Gore’s 2006 movie “An
Inconvenient Truth”, which
introduced the general public
to the threats associated with
climate change.
Polarising or mobilising?
Social scientists continue to
disagree about the effects of
such alarming publications and
films, and debate whether the
message is polarising, rather
than mobilising, the public.
Most people assume that the
effects of climate change will
never affect our daily lives. The
famous picture of a polar bear
precariously floating on a fragment
of a melting iceberg, for instance,
did little to convince people
- especially in the developing
world - that they should divert
resources from economic growth,
increased consumption and an
improved standard of living.
But refusal to heed earlier
warnings about climate change
might be overcome by this
most recent IPCC report, which
reframed climate change as a
food security issue. “Nobody
on this planet is going to be
untouched by the impacts of
climate change,” said Rajendra
Pachauri, an Indian scientist who
serves as the distinguished chair
of the IPCC.
For a long time, environmentalists
exhorted the public to “think of
your children and grandchildren”.
No more. This report warned that
negative impacts on declining
crop yields due to climate change
could become more likely in the
2030s, just around the corner.
Meanwhile, crop yields could
decline by two percent per
decade, at a time when demand
is projected to increase by two
percent each year. Given the
World Bank’s report predicting
temperature increases of four
degrees Celsius by the end of the
century, those gaps would widen
dramatically. We should stop
worrying about the world that
our children and grandchildren
will inherit, but think of how to
protect ourselves!
‘Global implications’
Food security is an immediate
concern for every human being, and
ensuring it calls for fundamental
changes in our daily habits.
Individual and common action
will be required to achieve a
viable global agricultural policy
and trade in a warming world.
In March, Oxfam, a global
non-governmental organisation,
published its own report called:
“Hot and Hungry: How to stop
climate change derailing the
fight against hunger.” In a press
conference, Oxfam’s head of
policy for food and climate
change said: “This is no longer
a picture about poor farmers in
some regions being hit by climate
change. This is a picture about
global agriculture being hit - US,
Russia and Australia - with global
implications for food prices.”
The negative impact of climate
change on food production is no
surprise. Farmers and herders are
the best observers of how changing
climate, drought, flooding and
other extreme weather events
affect their harvesting of crops
or animals. As early as 2008,
the United Nations Food and
Agriculture Organization (FAO)
emphasized that: “Climate change
will affect all four dimensions of
food security: food availability,
food accessibility, food utilisation
and food system stability.”
While many countries are
32 GLOBAL UNDERTONES / globalundertones.com

inadequately prepared for climate
change’s effects on food supply,
it is the world’s poorest and
most food-insecure countries
that will likely be most affected.
Nevertheless, no country’s food
system will be unaffected by
worsening climate change.
Greater food insecurity could
even pose a security threat as
competition intensifies for water
and arable land. The IPCC Report
warns about an “increase in
risks of violent conflicts in the
form of civil war and intergroup
violence”. The decade-long armed
conflict in Sudan, the ongoing
civil war in Syria and unrest in
Egypt are all examples of how
severe drought, internal migration
and economic hardship can lead
to devastating instability.
“Battles over water and food
will erupt within the next five
to 10 years as a result of climate
Summer 2014
change,” said World Bank
President Jim Yong Kim of the
IPCC report.
“The water issue is critically
Photo Courtesy of UNAMID
Juy 25, 2011 UNAMID delivers 40,000 liters of water among the local community in El Srief (North Darfur). Due to the
drought, the community leaders report that the lack of water is severe in the area and it specially affects children and sick
people.
related to climate change. People
say that carbon is the currency
of climate change, water is the
teeth. Fights over water and
food are going to be the most
significant direct impacts of
climate change.”
Diplomats have been trying
since the late 1990s to put in place
legally binding agreements to
reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
But they have not been successful.
Now, disappointed by diplomatic
efforts, many have turned their
eyes towards the world’s major
energy companies, the biggest
contributors to carbon dioxide
emissions. This will be the key
battleground if a coherent plan
to fight climate change is to
emerge.
Regressive politics
If climate change is reframed
as primarily a food security
issue, is it possible some climate
skeptics will lose their influence,
especially the members of the US
congress who have taken them
so seriously? The prospects are
not encouraging. Just after the
IPCC report was published, some
US congressmen outrageously
proposed a bill limiting the research
activities of the National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration
to exclude climate change from
its work and to focus only on
forecasting severe weather events.
These legislators don’t want to
hear about climate change science.
We cannot have much hope,
given the powerful fossil fuel
lobbyists who so generously
support climate deniers. Their
political influence seems sufficient
to block all reasonable efforts
to move towards a post-carbon
economy. Instead, the United States
is ready to become the “Saudi
America” of the 21st century
by pioneering a new energy
revolution based on fracking
technologies and huge deposits
of natural gas.
Can this regressive trend be
stopped? Not a chance - unless
a massive grassroots movement
takes hold and changes the political
climate in the United States and
elsewhere, possibly by saying to
the peoples and governments of
the world: “Enough is enough!”
33

“ Get it
DONE!
[i]
“
Rarer by far than
originality in science or
art is originality in political
action. And rarer still is
original political action
that enlarges, rather than
blights or destroys, human
possibility.
-Jonathan Schell
34 GLOBAL UNDERTONES / globalundertones.com

“
By John Foran
The Global Climate Justice Movement &
the fateful race for a radical climate treaty
Protestor demands Climate Justice and an end to coal on the Capitol. Climate activists and activists
from diverse social movements--including progressive labor, indigenous organizing, and the fledgling
eco-socialist movement--are increasingly embracing the overlap in their demands and desires for a more
socially just future within the Global Climate Justice Movement.
Courtesy of The Nation.
Summer 2014
35

The science is in: climate change is here now, not in the future [ii], and
it is already having devastating effects on people’s lives. [iii] That’s the
bad news. The good news: there’s a global climate justice movement
growing in numbers, reach, strength, and inventiveness. The global
climate justice movement consists of thousands of organizations at every
level –community, city, region, nation, and global –interlinked in a network
of networks. This essay will examine some of what it has accomplished so
far, where the major point of impact lies at the moment, and what strategic
decisions must be faced moving forward.
In December 2015, the United
Nations Framework Convention
on Climate Change [UNFCCC]
convenes the COP 21 meetings
(the Conference of the Parties, in
this case the twenty-first annual
U.N. climate summit) to finalize
the global climate treaty it has
been working on for several
years. The goal is to find ways
to prevent earth from warming
more than two degrees Celsius
since 1800, a target set by climate
scientists and generally accepted
by the governments of the world.
If passed, this threshold will
plunge humanity into increasingly
unlivable conditions.
A climate treaty may represent
the last best chance to contain
disruptive climate change…
and to preserve some dignity
for individuals and societies.
Humanity’s future, then, looks
increasingly set to be a race. On
one hand stands the effects of
climate change and its corporate
and nation-state drivers. On the
other, stands the efforts and
ability of this movement and its
nation-state and popular allies
to check those effects, halt the
rate of increasing greenhouse
gas emissions that cause global
warming, and then rapidly reverse
the trend downward by defeating
the one percent at the ballot box,
in the streets, at places of work
and consumption, and in the
very carbon-saturated culture
and media in which we swim.
I’m going to start with two
observations, which are not selfevident
and which may challenge
some readers’ assumptions and
understandings:
First off, the climate crisis is
far more profound and daunting
than most of us realize;
And secondly, the planet
cannot stay below the bottomline
warming target of 2 degrees
Celsius under capitalism as we
know it.
Let’s take a brief look at each
of these claims.
Climate in crisis
In his powerful essay, “Global
Warming’s Terrifying New
Math,” prominent U.S. climate
activist Bill McKibben argues
that the world’s largest fossilfuel
producing corporations and
countries must be compelled to
leave 80 percent of their proven
reserves (and thus their actual
value) in the ground. This is the
inescapable physical logic of
salvaging a livable planet for
future generations. [iv]
In other words: to have a
‘reasonable’ chance—in this case
meaning “four chances in five,
or somewhat worse odds than
playing Russian Roulette with
a six-shooter”—of averting a
two-degrees Celsius temperature
rise this century, we can only burn
a given amount of fossil fuels.
As of 2012, or the time of
writing his Rolling Stones piece,
McKibben estimated the cap
for maximum atmospheric CO2
emissions at 565 gigatons as the
upper limit for staying at or below
a 2 degrees Celsius temperature
rise. This cap is equal to roughly
36 GLOBAL UNDERTONES / globalundertones.com

a fifteen year supply –till about
2027 –if “business as usual”
trends of economic production
and growth continue.
The terrifying part, of course,
is the estimate that the world’s
already “proven” reserves of
fossil fuels exceed McKibben’s
cap by five times.
What this means, in real terms,
is that the richest corporations
in the history of the world would
have to forego four-fifths of
their future earnings –by some
estimates, an astronomical
$27-28 trillion. Instead, they
are currently spending over
$600 billion a year trying to
discover new sources of fossil
fuels. Each year the amount we
can afford to burn decreases.
Confronting the climate
challenge
Fortunately, radical climate
scientists Kevin Anderson and
Alice Bows of the Tyndall
Centre for Climate Change
Research in Manchester, England,
are trail blazers for their peers
in the scientific community.
Like McKibben, these two are
not only analyzing the climate
problem, but are mobilizing their
knowledge to identify the larger
political problem that underlies
it. [v]
Anderson and Bows
communicated this mission in
the subtitle to their well-attended
side event running parallel to last
November’s COP 19 UN climate
summit in Warsaw, Poland:
“Global Carbon Budget 2013:
Rising emissions and a radical
plan for 2 degrees.” [vi] The
event’s sobering presentation of
numbers, only slightly different
from McKibben’s, would allow
us to emit another 1,000 gigatons
of CO 2
for a 66 percent chance
of staying under two degrees.
According to these assumptions,
we have roughly twenty years
left of business as usual before
we exceed the limit—but now
put two bullets in the gun while
playing Russian Roulette with
the planet.
What makes Anderson and Bows
true heroes within the climate
science community, however,
is their bold articulation of
the policy implications of our
predicament. They argue that
we need to avoid 4 degrees at
all cost (as even the World Bank
now agrees) [vii], and that the
global North needs to cut 70
percent of its emissions over
the next decade
As they noted, “we’re not short
of capital, just the initiative
and courage.” More damning
are the political consequences
that Anderson drew just before
the COP 19 talks: “Today,
after two decades of bluff and
lies, the remaining 2°C budget
Estimated CO2 (in gigatons) in remaining fossil fuel reserves versus estimated maximum CO2 emissions (in gigatons) to keep the planet within a 2 degrees Celsius “carbon budget.” US
climate activist Bill McKibben almost cuts this figure in half, setting the carbon budget at max. CO2 emissions of approx. 565 gigatons, or a small fraction of CO2 in remaining known fossil
fuel reserves.
Summer 2014
37

demands revolutionary change
to the political and economic
hegemony.”[vii]
In another interview during
the COP 19 talks, Anderson
said: “I’m really stunned there
is no sense of urgency here,
“pointing out that leadership,
courage, innovative thinking,
engaged people, and difficult
choices are ultimately needed to
appropriately deal with climate
change. [ix]
Following from this, the global
climate justice movement confronts
several tough questions: What
are the corresponding social and
political implications of this
argument? How do we achieve
this feat, with the might of the
world’s largest corporations
and richest governments united
in suicidal lockstep against us?
How does the global climate
justice movement achieve this
feat, with the might of the world’s
A visual comparison of the gulf between the “business-as-usual” trajectory (the one we’re currently on, marked in red)
and a more climate-conscientious trajectory (marked in blue) involving extreme emissions reductions and even reversal.
According to the blue line, global CO2 emissions would need to peak by 2050. According to the red line, the 2 degrees Celsius
limit will have been long-breached by 2050.
Photo Courtesy of Vox.
largest corporations and richest
governments united in suicidal
lockstep against it?
Capitalism conundrum
The claim that the planet cannot
stay under 2 degrees Celsius
under our current strains of
capitalism results from a long
chain of reasoning: historical,
theoretical, and empirical –in
a word, the sociological. At a
glance, the sociology of climate
change [x] looks something like
this:
Because the economic system
of capitalism is based on literally
endless growth, which requires
ever-rising demands on the
planet’s finite natural resources,
capitalism will become unviable
as resources are increasingly
depleted, overworked, or made
scarce by the impacts of climate
change.
The problem in the mediumterm
future of capitalism
(e.g. the next 25-50 years) is
that the natural resource base
necessary for producing what
humans require to survive
will no longer be dependable.
Some excellent advocates of
sustainable development, notably
British ecological economist and
University of Surrey professor
Tim Jackson [xi], have advanced
the important idea that an
ecologically-guided “degrowth”
economy is a solution to this
contradiction. Their arguments
nevertheless lack a convincing
case this could be delivered
under the political economy of
capitalism as we know it.
Nor does it appear realistic
that capitalism can be radically
reformed, even with all the political
will in the world (currently
conspicuous by its absence) in
the necessary time frame, by
2050--by which point climate
science tells us the vast majority
of emissions must have ended.
No one has put this problematic
scenario more eloquently lately
than Australian journalist Renfrey
Clarke, who asks “What is it
about capitalism that the system
willfully pursues strategies that
look certain to bring about its
own demise?”
The answer lies in the fact that
while an unaddressed climate crisis
will be lethal to capitalism, the
solutions to the crisis also promise
to bring the system down —and
sooner. The capitalists’ dilemma
becomes clearer if we list some
38 GLOBAL UNDERTONES / globalundertones.com

of the key measures required…:
–Material and financial resources
need to be reoriented, in a
concerted way, from the pursuit
of maximum profit toward
achieving rapid declines in
greenhouse gas emissions.
–This reorientation of the economy
will need to include a large
element of direct state spending,
structured around long-term
planning and backed by tightening
regulation. Schemes such as
carbon pricing cannot play more
than a limited, subsidiary role.
–To keep mass living standards
moment is as a triple crisis
consisting of: 1) long-term
economic uncertainty; 2) waning
public confidence in political
parties (the “democratic deficit”),
and 3) an economy and culture
saturated with militarism and
endemic violence. The wild card
of climate chaos now exacerbates
and binds these elements together.
This would seem to auger a
perfect storm of crisis.
Even if capitalism could
somehow overcome the natural
barriers to its continued existence,
capitalism would seem to set the
social and natural worlds on a
collision course—one which even
the elites cannot win on their
own terms without destroying
the basis for all human life.
To put it bluntly, we are face
to face with a “wicked” problem
[xiv]: the climate crisis is perilous,
our 500 year-old economic
system cannot see us through it
safely, the window for resolving
this dilemma is closing, and the
forces arrayed against us are
strong, very strong.
“Ultimately, the massive social, economic,
and political inequalities already generated by
neoliberal capitalism would seem to set the social
”
and natural worlds on a collision course.
at the highest levels consistent
with these measures, and ensure
popular support, the main costs
of the reorientation need to be
levied on the wealthy.
“Can anyone imagine the
world’s capitalist elites agreeing
to such measures, except perhaps
under the most extreme popular
pressure?” [xii]
Quoting Noam Chomsky,
Renfrey succinctly concludes,
“In the moral calculus of
capitalism, greater profits in the
next quarter outweigh the fate
of your grandchildren.”
The present moment: a triple
crisis in the making
One way to think of the present
Summer 2014
the last twenty years of rampant
privatization of public goods and
services referred to as “neoliberal
capitalism” have generated obscene
inequality and unparalleled
concentrations of wealth and
power. Just 90 corporations and
fossil-fuel exporting countries are
responsible for fully two-thirds
of all the carbon emissions that
have been generated since the
dawn of the industrial revolution.
Meanwhile, the richest 85
individuals in the world now
possess as much wealth as the
poorest half of humanity – 3.5
billion people. [xiii]
Ultimately, the massive social,
economic, and political inequalities
already generated by neoliberal
The Global Climate Justice
Movement
This leads to one of surely
many possible hypotheses for
necessary next steps: only a
strong and vigorous climate
justice movement on a global
scale has the capacity to force
governments to stand up to the
economic and political forces of
carbon capitalism to agree to the
treaty needed to keep the planet
under the dangerous threshold
of 2° Celsius.
Let’s consider the historical arc
of this movement so far. One
dividing line straddles the end of
2009, when the COP 15 climate
summit met in Copenhagen
amidst great public fanfare and
media attention in anticipation
of a deal on climate. The global
climate justice movement had
announced its existence two years
before, at the COP 13 meeting in
Bali in 2007, when the radical
network Climate Justice Now!
39

formed up, and attracted to it
some formidable forces.
These included the international
peasant movement Via Campesina,
the youthful young climate justice
radicals who started Camp for
Climate Action in the U.K., Jubilee
South and the intellectuals around
Third World Network and Focus
on the Global South, Friends of
the Earth International [FOEI],
the Durban Group for Climate
Justice, and many others perhaps
just outside it, among them the
indispensable Bill McKibben
and a rising 350.org.
In Copenhagen, climate justice
advocates and activists received
support inside the negotiation
halls, as well as outside on the
streets, where 100,000 people
marched for the planet. Their
allies included Mohamed Nasheed
of the Maldives and much of the
40-plus member strong Alliance
of Small Island States (AOSIS);
Bolivian president Evo Morales;
Venezuela’s Hugo Chávez and
the ALBA (Bolivarian Alliance)
left-of-center countries of Latin
America’s Pink Tide; and a less
radical but important part of the
Global North, most notably the
European Union, led by Germany,
some of the Scandinavian
governments and Gordon Brown
in the UK.
When the United States and
China, the world’s two biggest
emitters of greenhouse gases,
failed to find any common ground,
the talks collapsed. In reality,
neither they nor any of the other
large emitting countries were
willing to significantly curb the
burning of fossil fuels on which
their economies ran.
With the economic collapse that
triggered the Great Recession
in the same year, the balance of
forces shifted decisively away
from the positions of AOSIS and
ALBA, while the EU aligned
itself more and more with the
rest of the global North.
A protracted stalemate has
been playing out ever
since, aptly characterized by the
subtitle of a book by activist
scholar Patrick Bond, published
when COP 17 came to his home
town of Durban in 2011: “Paralysis
Above.”[xv] Meanwhile, the
power of the corporations, so
evident at the November 2013
COP 19 in Warsaw, has become
that much greater. The stubborn
conflict between the interests
of the global North and global
South has become as intractable
as ever in an irreconcilable standoff
that makes the chances of
finding pathways to a less than
2° world look vanishingly small.
But the second part of the subtitle
of Bond’s book was “Movement
Below.” The global climate
justice movement regrouped in
Cochabamba, Bolivia in April
2009 to deliver a magnificent
Representing the Sioux tribe of South Dakota, Shane Red Hawk (pictured center) protests the Keystone XL Pipeline as part of
the April 22nd “Reject and Protect” rally of ranchers, farmers, and tribal communities at the White House.
Photo Courtesy of Politico
manifesto, “The Universal
Declaration of the Rights of
Mother Earth.”Many activists,
from Bond himself to McKibben
and many organizations from
350.org to FOEI have withdrawn
energy from what they see as a
hopelessly compromised process
in the COPs, and put it instead
into local and national-level
campaigns and building networked
global coalitions.
40 GLOBAL UNDERTONES / globalundertones.com

Alongside them a new front
inside and around the COP has
emerged: namely, the global
youth climate justice movement,
which has been blossoming
from one COP to the next. This
movement is also active in
many local campaigns. They’ve
led the fossil free divestment
campaigns in the U.S. and the
UK, are playing an important
role in the epic battle against
the Keystone XL pipeline in
Canada and the U.S., alongside a
revitalized Canadian indigenous
movement in the form of Idle
No More and have energized
the anti-fracking movement in
California and elsewhere. They
have brought to the movement
a new generation influenced by
the moment of Occupy and other
movements with a strong emphasis
on consensus decision-making and
non-hierarchical organizational
structures (a process known as
“horizontalism”). Additionally,
they’ve brought along some
new and not-so-new ways of
organizing that have real promise:
PowerShifts, social media of
all kinds, and vast reserves of
imagination, energy, openness,
and hope. In a word, they are
re-imagining climate justice. [xvi]
Thinking forward
It seems that we will need to
assemble the greatest social
movement the world has ever
seen to achieve these ends. The
global climate justice movement
is growing, but it is still far
too weak to win—at least for
the moment. Yet without such
Summer 2014
Activists gather at anti-Keystone XL Pipeline protest in San Francisco’s Justin Herman Plaza in solidarity with other “Forward
on Climate” rallies taking place simultaneously across the country in February 2013.
Photo Courtesy of Steve Rhodes
a movement, we are literally
cooked. The global climate justice
movement knows this, especially
its youthful component. This
is their agenda. It should also
be the agenda of every scholaractivist
and concerned citizen on
the planet. The movement(s) for
climate justice around the world
need all hands on deck.
2014 must be the year that
we all scale up our efforts
toward the end of mounting
irresistible pressure of all kinds
on our governments and on the
corporations, banks, and all the
institutions of neoliberal capitalism
that they serve, forcing them to
take the decisive steps toward
the treaty we all need and want.
Let’s close with a few
observations that at least point
out some of the efforts under way
to radically reduce emissions.
Staying just on the level of events
and mobilizations, we may note
a number of new developments:
There is the intriguing
Venezuelan proposal to hold two
“Social Pre-COP” gatherings
this year focused on youth,
indigenous peoples, and various
movement capacity building
gatherings. As Venezuela’s lead
negotiator Claudia Salerno put
it in announcing it at the 2013
Warsaw COP 19, “A situation of
madness requires a little craziness,”
adding, “We are not afraid to
fail…. [There is] nothing to lose,
and maybe a lot to gain.” This
is a bold initiative, and a risk
no doubt worth running as long
as the post-Chávez Venezuelan
government of Nicolás Maduro,
revolutionary as its legacy may
be, does not impose itself on
the process [xvii] or as long
as the events are not derailed
by the elite opposition’s street
protests. [xviii] The dates for
the pre-COPs are July 15-18 and
41

November 4-7 in Caracas.
Another major new campaign is
the Global Climate Convergence,
which proclaims “People, Planet,
Peace over Profits” and is seeking
to build “collaboration across
national borders and fronts
of struggle to harness the
transformative power we already
possess as a thousand separate
movements springing up across
the planet.”
The basic idea is to create a
lasting collaboration between
climate activism and other
forms of social justice, including
progressive labor, indigenous
organizing, and the fledgling
eco-socialist movement in the
United States, and ultimately,
no doubt, beyond.
Convened by Jill Stein, 2012
presidential candidate of the Green
Party of the United States, this
call resonates with the formation
of the new U.S. eco-socialist
organization System Change, Not
Climate Change. This organization
aims to shift the momentum of
the climate justice movement in
an anti-capitalist direction, asking
questions such as, “can stopping
climate change be compatible
with an economic system that is
flooded with fossil fuel profits?”
and “can we create a safe and
healthy planet for all human
beings while simultaneously
allowing ever-expanding resource
extraction, endless growth, and
the massive inequalities that
come along with it?”
Meanwhile, the faltering
momentum for a global climate
deal has received a new push. UN
Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon
is convening a special Climate
Summit 2014: Catalyzing Action,
to take place in New York in
September 2014 with the charge:
“This Summit is meant to be a
solutions summit, not a negotiating
session. I have invited all Heads
of State and Government, along
with leaders from business and
finance, local government and
civil society. I am asking all
who come to bring bold and new
announcements and action. I am
asking them to bring their big
ideas.” [xix]
The Secretary-General’s bold
invitation is of course welcome, but
his telling placement of business
and finance ahead of civil society
and local leaders suggests that
the hoped-for breakthrough into
progress on the treaty is rather
unlikely. The summit might be
better titled “Climate Depression
2014: Paralyzing Action.”
On a more promising note,
radical U.S. climate justice
circles have planned a “People’s
Summit” to take place in New
York at the same time, where
rather than a conventional protest
and demonstration against the
UNFCCC governments’ lack of
seriousness on the issues, the
movement will craft and offer
“bold and new announcements
and action” and “big ideas” of its
own. An important agenda item
for this gathering might be the
development of a people’s plan
for radical emissions reductions.
Just as Ban hopes to kickstart
a UN process that is driven by
stalemate from above, the global
climate justice movement will
build fresh momentum from
below as it strives to find the
“The basic idea is to create a lasting
collaboration between climate activism and other
forms of social justice...
” ways to bring into full flowering
the biggest social movement the
world has ever seen.
These two forces will meet again
at COP 20 in Lima in November,
and their unequal struggle over
a treaty that may well shape the
fate of the planet will resume.
As the activists who walked out
of COP 19 in Warsaw said to the
world about their intentions for
Lima: ¡Volveremos!/We will
Return!
sources
42 GLOBAL UNDERTONES / globalundertones.com

TRAVEL THIS
SUMMER?
Pshare your insights
pitch a story for our blog at
submissions@globalundertones.com
Summer 2014
43

Working with
THREADS
Realizing studen
clout in the glob
movement
By Chris Wegemer
This chalk memorial appears on
the anniversary of the New York
Traingle Fire (1911) each year
outside the apartment building
where the deceased once lived.
The author is unknown.
Photo Courtesy of
DennisCrowley
44 GLOBAL UNDERTONES / globalundertones.com

t activists’
al labor
MADE IN CHINA.
Bangladesh. Indonesia. Lesotho.
Dominican Republic.
Consumers have to look no further
than the clothing on their backs to see
globalization at work. Across distant
societies, global production weaves the
lives of millions of apparel workers
together into a single patchwork of
dizzying complexity.
Profit-maximizing economic forces
have only worsened the plight
of these laborers over the past
decade, most vividly in horrific
factory tragedies that have
killed thousands of workers. In
response, activists have pushed
for legally-binding programs
that may be the origins of a
fundamentally new shift in
the global labor movement.
Putting pressure on
the apparel industry’s
collegiate market
continues to have
potential to transform
the lives of workers
around the world.
Summer 2014
45

The global “sweatshop”
epidemic
The term “sweatshop” first
came to American consciousness
during the wave of globalization
in the mid-1990s. As the world
economy became more connected
(or “globalized”), workers in
some sectors paid a steep toll.
Grim factory conditions were
nothing new and in fact had been
around since the beginning of
industrialization. The Triangle
Shirtwaist garment factory fire in
New York killed over one hundred
workers in 1911 and sparked an
outcry that led to the creation of
many the labor protections seen
today in the US [i].
The apparel industry—because
of its labor-intensive processes,
reliance on low-skilled workers,
and relatively little capital
investment—has always been rife
with abuses. As global capital
chases low-wage labor around
the world (aka “outsourcing”),
garment workers have found
themselves at the front lines of
the struggle.
Apparel workers around the
world suffer from a range of
abuses and exploitation. Forced
overtime shifts may be as long
as 36 hours and workers may
only be allowed one day off per
month. Unhealthy workplaces
cause long term physical and
psychological damage, graphically
seen in recent spates of mass
fainting in Cambodian factories,
where hundreds of workers
simultaneously collapsed from
illness and exhaustion. Workers
are typically fired for reporting
violations, attempting to unionize,
and being sick or pregnant [ii].
Sexual abuse and harassment is
all too common in the industry,
where over 85% of the apparel
workforce is comprised of women
between the ages of 14 and 25.
With poverty wages far below a
living wage (as low as 23 cents
an hour), garment workers are
among the lowest paid wage
workers in the world [iii].
The problem of sweatshops
has not improved since the
globalization of the 1990s, but
rather worsened. Three of the four
worst disasters in the history of
the apparel industry happened
over a nine month period during
2012 and 2013. The collapse of
the Rana Plaza factory outside
of Dhaka in Bangladesh killed
over 1,000 workers, the inferno
at the Ali Enterprises factory in
Pakistan consumed nearly 300
workers, and again in Bangladesh,
112 workers were killed in the
blaze at the Tazreen Fashion
factory [iv]. The fourth deadliest
disaster, the Triangle Shirtwaist
fire previously mentioned,
happened over 100 years ago.
According to a paper released
by the Center for American
Progress, prevailing wages for
apparel workers decreased between
2001 and 2011 when adjusted for
inflation (while cost of apparel
goods have plummeted 41% over
Protest after 76 workers were killed in the collapse of the Spectrum garment factory, Dhaka, Bangladesh. 2005
Photo Courtesy of Derek Blackadder
the past twenty years, and while
the labor cost as a percentage
of the apparel prices has also
declined) [v].
Ultimately, sweatshops are a
global problem as poor working
conditions in one country entice
businesses to produce there,
forcing other factories to adopt
equally poor standards in order
to stay competitive. Corporate
self-monitoring has proven
ineffective at accomplishing
the changes needed and has
amounted to little more than
creative advertising and financial
risk management. Because of the
46 GLOBAL UNDERTONES / globalundertones.com

union-crushing dynamics of the
international industry, workers
have not been able to organize or
counterbalance corporate power.
In the absence of a unified
global labor movement, positive
developments have been pushed
forward by negatively pressuring
apparel brands in consumer
nations. Universities, and the
student activists driving the
changes within them, are among
the most promising actors at the
forefront of the battle against
labor abuses.
Small market, global
impact
Thousands of factories around
the world manufacture apparel for
a three billion dollar collegiate
market. According to the Collegiate
Licensing Company, merchandise
bearing university logos (including
apparel) is estimated to generate
$4.6 billion a year. In 2011,
university apparel sales were
valued at $2.8 billion, or 65%
of the total market for university
merchandise [vi].
Though these figures may
sound impressive, they represent
a small portion of the global
apparel industry, which has
revenue (excluding footwear)
of approximately $558 billion
Summer 2014
[vii]. Despite this reality, the
collegiate apparel market is
unique and has dynamics that
allow it to be at the forefront
of global social responsibility.
“
With poverty wages far below a living wage
(as low as 23 cents an hour), garment workers
are among the lowest paid wage workers in the
world.”
Apparel companies associate
their logo with the image of
universities, as the names of
the schools represent a status
symbol. Furthermore, college
students are a valuable consumer
demographic group to companies
because they are still young
enough to develop brand loyalty.
An apparel company’s entry
into the collegiate market is
valuable, bringing in equal or
greater profits than everyday
retail chains. To gain entry, many
companies offer to pay millions
of dollars to represent certain
schools through sponsorship
deals.
Universities ultimately determine
which companies have access
to the profitable collegiate
apparel industry. As with any
brand logo, the insignia which
represents the university is
valuable intellectual property,
which nearly all universities
trademark to protect legally.
Through contractual licensing
agreements, each institution
decides which apparel companies
will have the right to sell clothing
with the name or logo of the
university. Apparel companies
initiate the process by applying
for a license.
Generally, universities have
contracts with many “licensees,”
and large schools may even have
several hundred. In exchange
for use of the university logo,
the apparel producers agree to
give the university “royalties,”
a percentage of the total retail
sales of apparel. Collegiate
licenses for apparel at smaller
universities carry a royalty rate
around 8% while agreements
with larger universities usually
have percentages near 10% [viii].
Apparel companies have been
willing to pay royalty rates as
high as 15% when universities
allow them to be the exclusive
producer of a specific product
category or the supplier of a
specific vendor.
Overall, universities have
emerged as influential global
actors because of a unique
combination of characteristics:
power over contracts prized by
apparel brands, the ability to
make licensing decisions (who
gets to use their logo) based
heavily on moral grounds, and
close proximity with student
anti-sweatshop activists.
Students respond:
Designated Suppliers
Program (DSP)
In the late 1990s, studies
exposed university apparel
production to be rife with labor
violations [ix]. This prompted
a massive wave of nation-wide
student activism [x], unified in
a nationwide coalition
47

called United Students Against
Sweatshops (USAS), resulting in
significant campaign victories by
leveraging valuable university
contracts. Additionally, apparel
companies have been convinced
to make expensive corrections
to labor violations in order to
keep a presence in the university
market.
Recognizing the root causes
of the labor violations abroad,
USAS proposed the Designated
Suppliers Program (DSP) in 2005.
The Worker Rights Consortium
(WRC), the most progressive
and only non-corporate funded
monitoring organization,
immediately supported the
program. [xi]
Under the DSP, legally binding
protocols would constantly ensure
compliance. All workers would
be guaranteed a living wage
and brands would be required
to have two year contracts with
factories to prevent “cutting and
running.” All disputes would be
resolved in arbitration between
the brand, factory management,
and worker representatives [xii].
Universities that wished to make
their apparel “sweat-free” could
add the DSP to their licensing
agreements and require that their
producers participate [xiii].
The supply chains of brands
which source for the university
market would shrink to a small
number of factories that are
certified to meet standards. This
process differs from voluntary
industry-led initiatives which
provide no incentives to comply
other than bad press.
The DSP proposal initially
stalled due to legal concerns, but
has recently been vetted. Many
in the industry had questioned
the viability of living-wage
factories with binding, longterm
obligations. However, in
2009, the first (and only) factory
determined to comply with DSP
standards was created, Alta Gracia
in the Dominican Republic, and
has proven to be successful.
Creation of Alta Gracia
At the time of the initial proposal
of the DSP in 2005, there were
no apparel factories in the world
producing university apparel that
would have met the standards.
(In some factories, workers had
won significant victories, but
were in danger of falling victim
to closure as brands shifted orders
elsewhere; the proposal of the
DSP was partially motivated by
a desire to keep these factories
open).
The Alta Gracia factory was
opened by Knights Apparel,
producing specifically for the
university market. With the
guidance of the WRC, Knights
chose to use the site of a closed
factory that had been the focus
of much attention due to labor
violations in the past (located in
the community of Villa Altagracia,
for which the brand is named).
Alta Gracia is the first and only
factory (and brand) to be certified
by the WRC as having fair labor
conditions and meeting all of
the requirements of university
labor codes. As documented in
their certification, this includes
meeting all of the conditions
of the DSP: compliance with
international labor standards,
“Tejid@s Junt@s / Stitched Together: Workers, Students, and the movement for Alta Gracia” (Will Delphia 2012) is a documentary
film exploring the relationship and shared story of workers and students in the anti-sweatshop movement.
providing a living wage, freedom
of association, and job security.
The wage paid to Alta Gracia
workers is 340% of the minimum
wage [x]. The workers in the
factory have strong representation
48 GLOBAL UNDERTONES / globalundertones.com

through their union, Sitralpro.
The WRC representative in the
Dominican Republic works closely
with the union of the Alta Gracia
workers, regularly inspects the
factory, and follows up on any
issues raised by workers.
College bookstores report that
Alta Gracia “sells as briskly as
competing brands and the margins
on sales are equivalent” [iv].
According to interviews, royalty
rates are the same as other licensing
contracts. Duke, UCLA, NYU,
University of Washington, and
Notre Dame each sell hundreds
of thousands of dollars worth of
Alta Gracia apparel each year.
Although Alta Gracia represents a
business opportunity for Knights
Apparel, all signs indicate that
this is genuine act of social
responsibility.
At present, it is evident that
universities are not motivated to
implement the DSP. The reason
for this absence of motivation is
primarily a lack of awareness of
the program, most notably because
student activists and faculty have
not been demanding the DSP.
Where there is awareness of the
program, administrators may not
be adequately informed. The
fact that the DSP has not been
implemented is not necessarily
due to any flaw in its design, but
because no party has yet taken
initiative to spread awareness
Summer 2014
or provide education about the
program.
In 2005, DSP endorsement
was largely driven by studentactivism.
Student activists have
since been engaged in a number
of other campaigns to pushing
for supply chain reform, workers
rights, and brand accountability.
The DSP remains a long-term
solution favored by activists and
it is reasonable to assume that
the program and its underlying
arguments will re-emerge in the
“
A study of the Alta Gracia factory has found
that the lives of not only the workers, but the entire
community have been transformed.
”
future.
Socially responsible
apparel
In recent decades, socially
responsible versions of products
have emerged in various industries
(notably coffee and chocolate).
The collegiate market is a small
niche sector presumed to be the
most viable outlet for a socially
responsible version of apparel
because of the unique role of
university licensing and strong
student support. If it succeeds,
then the model could spread
beyond the collegiate market to
the mainstream apparel industry.
Knights Apparel CEO, Joe
Bozich, recognized this, saying
that if the success of Alta Gracia
continues, “then we can take the
next steps, including expanding
outside college bookstores and
selling our brand to other retailers”
[xiv].
Undoubtedly, the greatest value
of the DSP would be to apparel
workers. A study of the Alta
Gracia factory has found that
the lives of not only the workers,
but the entire community have
been transformed. Payment of
a living wage enables workers
to break cycles of poverty and
secure a meaningful future for
their families [xv].
In addition to the positive
effects on workers, the DSP
would prevent violations that
have occurred systematically
in the apparel industry. Unsafe
factories have claimed the lives of
thousands of apparel workers in
recent years. The absence of risk,
marginalization, and exploitation
under the DSP would perhaps
carry the most value to workers.
Universities are truly actors
on the global stage. Licensing
contracts can create a small
parallel market with shorter
supply chains where retailers
directly take responsibility for
the conditions of their products’
factories.The DSP is a poignant
example of how institutions
of higher learning can exert a
socially responsible influence
and drive institutional change.
Regardless of whether the
DSP is implemented, university
pressure for the program may
inadvertently convince apparel
brands to establish Alta Gracia-like
brands in mainstream retailers. If
universities do not examine their
role and refuse to take action,
they are implicitly endorsing the
status quo.
sources
49

Curving Towards
REVOLUTION:
Cronyism & Deprivation in SYRIA
by Daniel Zorub
50 GLOBAL UNDERTONES / globalundertones.com

Photo Courtesy of Freedom
House
A portrait of Syrian President
Bashar al-Assad among
the trash in Al-Qsair taken
February 10, 2012.
Since the start of the Syrian
conflict in 2011, millions of
people have become displaced,
800,000 homes have been
destroyed and nearly 90 billion
dollars in material losses have
been incurred [i].
Recently it was announced
that the mounting death toll in
Syria is beyond verifiable, for
the even the United Nations to
count [ii].
With no end in sight, the future
of Syria looks grim and leaves
a myriad of questions. One in
particular that haunts many,
concerns when steps towards
a reconstruction effort in Syria
can be expected? Though such
questions are occupying the
consciousness of many distraught
by the violence and destruction
in Syria, such questions cannot
be answered without first asking
another question - how did we
get here? [iii]
All over the world, global crises
with unprecedented levels of
friction have emerged, threatening
to shock the very foundation
of their civilizations. Such a
scenario is epitomized in the
Syrian conflict. At times it is
hard to think past all the violence
and soberly attempt to find a
reasoning for such catastrophe.
Therefore this article makes a
humble attempt to explore some
aspects of the political economy
in Syria to offer a brief insight
into some of the socioeconomic
conditions that motivated the
initial protest movements which
have evolved into the current
conflict.
Summer 2014
51

Background: Mapping
the conflict’s ensemble
Over the past three years, what
started as a seemingly organic
protest movement in Syria has
evolved into a deterritorialized
conflict involving many actors
both local and global. Mapping
out these actors and gaining
a sense of why certain groups
oppose one another can often be
a confusing process, especially
with ever shifting battle lines
and intervening forces constantly
reorienting.
The complexity and diversity
of Syria’s demographics play in
to this significantly. That said,
in an honest effort to provide a
clear and concise outline, some
major players involved in the
Syrian conflict are as follows:
THE REGTIME
The regime is made up of a
community of historically rural
minorities predominately of the
Alawite religious community.
The Syrian regime as we know
it today came to power following
the 1970 coup d’état which
established the presidency of
Hafez al-Assad. A presidency
which has taken on monarchist
characteristics as Hafez al-Assed’s
son, Bashar, virtually inherited
the presidency following his
father’s death in the year 2000.
The Syrian regime has found
support from a myriad of allies,
none of which are closer than Iran.
Considering the Syrian regime
is predominately an Alawite
minority, Syria has naturally held
close geopolitical ties with Iran,
as the Alawite faith is an offshoot
branch of Shiite Islam. This has
also brought the regime to be
close with groups such as the
predominately Shiite Hizballah
which operates out of Lebanon.
Another strong proponent of the
Syrian regime has been Russia,
which has its only Mediterranean
naval base in the Syrian city
of Tartus. Since the eruption
of the Syrian conflict, Russia,
Iran, and Hizballah have all
provided extensive support for
the Syrian regime in terms of
both economic and military aid.
Hizballah even going so far as
to openly and directly intervene
in the conflict sending in troops
on the ground.
THE REBELS
Mapping out the Syrian
rebels becomes an increasingly
challenging task as new groups
formulate and realign on a regular
basis leaving no particularly
organized or unified movement
in opposition to the regime.
However some of the following
points can offer some insight
into who these groups represent.
Without over generalizing,
it can be fairly agreed upon
that the majority of the Syrian
population comes from a Sunni
52 GLOBAL UNDERTONES / globalundertones.com

Muslim background. Moreover,
the foundations of opposition
movements to the regime have
not only been predominantly
Sunni, but also from an urban
background tied to Syria’s
traditional bourgeoisie business
community.
As this group has been
particularly excluded from
participating in the Syrian
government and economy, they
came to comprise the majority
of the initial protest movements
back in 2011. As the conflict
exploded and has expanded,
various groups fighting in
opposition to the regime made
Summer 2014
up of a predominately Sunni
demographic have emerged.
Often, these groups have ended
up in conflict with one another
and by no means represent a
unified front.
Sponsoring many of these
groups are the regional powers
of the Gulf Cooperation Council
(GCC), made up of predominantly
Sunni countries such as; Saudi
Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar,
the United Arab Emirates, and
Oman. Also finding support
from within Lebanon, Syrian
rebel groups have been assisted
from the predominately Sunni
Hariri led bloc, and the likes of
Salafists such as Sheikh Ahmad
al-Assir.
It is also worth noting that a
number of rebel groups consider
themselves al-Qaida affiliates.
Likewise, with a vested interest
in supporting some rebel groups
is the United States. The United
States, GCC, groups in Lebanon,
and even elements from al-Qaida
have all provided varying degrees
of financial and military support
to the rebels amid this larger
geopolitical conflict.
That all said, the Syrian conflict
can be most simplistically thought
of in terms of geopolitical blocs
made up of a sort of Regime-Iran-
Hizballah-Russian axis in conflict
against more prowestern leaning,
or at least “western” supported,
Rebel-GCC-Hariri-US axis.
LEGACY OF SOCIAL
MISTRUST
The structural context for
this rivalry between the Asad
regime and opposition groups
lies within a legacy of social
mistrust. This mistrust is in
many ways a byproduct of the
regime being made up largely
by Alawi rural minorities and
the opposition with ties to the
business community largely made
up of urban Sunni constituents
[iv, v]. Additionally, the Sunni
urban business class traditionally
made up the pre-Assad era
bourgeoisie. “Historically in
Syria, the ‘Alawis in power do
not trust the Sunni-dominated
53

usiness community... ” [vi].
As a result, tensions were
somewhat exacerbated when a
new class of ruling elites emerged
from within the ranks of the
Assad coup who were formally
rural minorities, such as the
Alawi. Likewise, this resulted in
incredibly unhealthy economic
growth and an obsessively
micromanaged business sector.
Thus a formal economy with a
strong business sector became
antithetical to the Syrian regime.
CAUSE FOR CONFLICT
activity. In many ways, it was
such economic exclusion that
brought many Syrians to feel
deprived and participate in the
extraordinary protest movements
that have erupted into the total
war gripping Syria today.
A helpful theory,
j-curves
In an effort to provide a
sociological understanding for
of objective economic and social
development is followed by a short
period of sharp reversal. People
then subjectively fear that ground
gained with great effort will be
quite lost; their mood becomes
revolutionary. Various statistics
- on rural uprisings, industrial
strikes, unemployment, and cost
of living - may serve as crude
indexes of popular mood” [vii] .
Even more telling, is Davies’
contrast to the Marxist theory that
As a family led regime made up
of a small group of minorities,
Syria’s governance structure
became increasingly authoritarian,
if not paranoid, and preoccupied
with self preservation through a
robust security apparatus. This
was not only very exclusionary in
terms of government participation,
but also affected economic
development in the country. As
the regime sought to mitigate
empowering potential rivals,
much of the Syrian economy
has been either controlled by the
public sector or directly owned
by regime officials and loyalists.
The Syrian business community,
made up of a predominantly
Sunni urban majority was then
increasingly marginalized. This
dynamic ultimately stemmed
from the legacy of social mistrust
between two demographic
groups. In turn, this excluded
average Syrians from being
able to participate in economic
RT’s “The BIg Picture” explains Davies’ J-Curve Theoory in the context of the Arab Spring.
such deprivation, this article
makes an uses the theory of
J-curves to provide an analysis
of such conditions. In survey of
the political economic conditions
of the stability of state systems, a
useful tool of analysis applicable
to the Syrian context is specifically
the J-curve developed by political
sociologist James Chowning
Davies, which can serve as a
model to help explain political
revolutions.
“Revolutions are most likely
to occur when a prolonged period
the working class is degraded
until a point of revolution [viii].
Rather, Davies expands this idea
to account for relative deprivation;
the experience of being deprived
of something one feels entitled
to or believes to be a necessity.
Such dilemmas of entitlement arise
when individuals or communities
compare their situations to that
of others.
The question of entitlements then
creates situations of perceived
inequality, “The common theme
among… these questions is that
people’s reactions to objective
54 GLOBAL UNDERTONES / globalundertones.com

circumstances depend on their
subjective comparisons” [ix]. This
comparative process of relative
deprivation is well articulated
in Marx’s essay, “Wage Labour
and Capital”.
“A house may be large or
small; as long as the neighboring
houses are likewise small, it
satisfies all social requirement
for a residence. But let there arise
next to the little house a palace,
and the little house shrinks to a
hut. The little house now makes
it clear that its inmate has no
social position at all to maintain,
or but a very insignificant one;
and however high it may shoot
up in the course of civilization,
if the neighboring palace rises in
equal or even in greater measure,
the occupant of the relatively
little house will always find
himself more uncomfortable,
more dissatisfied, more cramped
within his four walls” [x].
The inequality crisis of
relative deprivation then becomes
perceived or realized across
classes and professions. It is not
merely the poor man wishing he
had as much as the rich man,
but also the everyman simply
feeling deprived. In Syria a
sense of such deprivation was
increasingly experienced by the
general population as the majority
Sunni urban business class was
systematically excluded and
marginalized from participating
in government or the formal
economy.
Moreover, the relative deprivation
became actual deprivation when
Summer 2014
economic reform policies ushered
in structural adjustments that
diminished important social
welfare policies average Syrians
depended on.
The welfare state &
expectations
For most of its history modern
Syria has been what could be
considered a command economy,
in which virtually all economic
sectors and activity were controlled
by the government and held in
the public sector. Of course this
was a logical system that helped
disempower potential rivals and
supported the regimes command
and control objectives.
Considering this system, the
public sector provided a substantial
portion of goods and services to
the general population by way
of fairly comprehensive welfare
programs. Such programs were
the fundamental cornerstones of
governance in the Middle East
during the eras of post-colonialism,
state formation, and Nasseresq
Arab socialism.
“…States played a major
role in the economy. They did
this to force-march economic
development, expand employment
opportunities, reward favored
elements of the population,
and gain control over strategic
industries. States also provided
a wide array of social benefits
for their populations, including
employment guarantees, health
care, and education. In addition,
The Syrian Conflict has driven many from their homes to mass refugee camps. Aleppo, December 2013.
Photo Courtesy of IHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation.
states subsidized consumer
goods” [xi].
That said, high expectations had
risen and compounded over several
decades. This produced a culture
of expectations of government
care from the cradle to the grave
that public leaders like Hafez
al-Assad made convincing and
plausible. This culture not only
permeated within the general
population but also among policy
makers and perspectives on state
responsibilities to citizenry.
55

Economic liberalization
& crony capitalism
However, such a system was
evidently not static as the regime
began to renege on some of
their social guarantees in favor
of shifting the Syrian economy
towards economic liberalization
and structural adjustments. These
shifts not only resulted in relative
deprivation as Syrians’ needs and
expectations were being met less
and less, but also empowered
a crony capitalism that further
excluded those outside of the
regime from participating in the
economy.
“In most states, the overall
effect of neoliberal policies
was to overlay a jury-rigged
market economy on top of an
inefficient command economy.
And some policies had effects
different from their intentions.
Privatization, for example, did
not lead to capitalism but rather
to crony capitalism, as regime
loyalists took advantage of
their access to the powerful to
gain ownership of sold-off state
assets. Thus it was that in... Syria
the first cousin of the president
gained control over the mobile
communications giant Syriatel,
which, in turn, controlled 55
percent of the market” [xii].
This crony capitalism became
increasingly evident in Syria as
economic liberalization merely
reproduced the winners of the
command economy. In the 1980’s
66% of capital formation was held
within the public sector leaving
only 34% of the economy for
the business class to be active
within.
This appeared to change
somewhat dramatically in the
1990’s as the public sector only
held onto 35% of the economy
while 65% of capital formation
became privatized. And, the
members of the new private sector
that emerged were merely regime
loyalists and, or their kin [xiii].
Thus articulating how
privatization really became
“...the inequality of development
became increasingly obvious as
economic activity and policies were
not collectively beneficial.
”
a strategy for the regime to
maintain an edge by making
sure state officials and allies
ended up capitalizing on these
new opportunities. “The Syrian
economy [might] look different,
but those opportunities are still
capitalized by regime officials who
themselves went into business,
their offspring or their allies.
Opportunities of liberalization
[are] circumscribed by the... policy
of any authoritarian regime that
does not want to spread power
or resources” [xiv].
This issue of desperate intent
to contain the spread of power
and resources within Syria is one
integral to explaining general
economic policy of the Asad
regime. A regime that, forcefully
pursued unequal economic
development policies as well
as curbing economic growth
more generally.The intent was to
ultimately disempower anyone’s
ability to acquire additional
resources they did not already
own.
Moreover, it was intended
that policies which produced
economic inequality would
render the economy as a whole
to remain small and manageable
by regime officials. Policy
which was directly, intended
at dismembering regime rivals
within the Syrian business class,
who would have benefited from
a strong and vital economy.
The tipping point
This all eventually came to a head
as the inequality of development
became increasingly obvious as
economic activity and policies
were clearly not collectively
beneficial, but saturated in non
productive sectors and the Syrian
military industrial complex. This
all climaxed in, “2005 when the
‘social market economy’ policies
stripped citizens from last vestige
of social support, which was
basically welfare.
56 GLOBAL UNDERTONES / globalundertones.com

And, at that point you began
to see a different kind of social
discontent evolving. Not the
kind that was going to produce
uprisings in 2011 automatically or
naturally, but the kind that could
actually be sparked in two other
successful or semi-successful
uprisings next door” [xv].
Clearly, it was this point that
corruption became too high.
Syria became a country with a
nonexistent economy, where people
had little predictable means for a
livelihood, and where there was
widespread uncertainity where,
food, shelter and healthcare
might come from in absence of
government welfare.
This was only further exacerbated
by the food shortage caused by
an ongoing drought which wipedout
an already dilapidated Syrian
agricultural sector [xvi, xvii].
This comes as “Disparity between
rural and urban populations, in
terms of investments, employment,
infrastructure, development,
etcetera… [Moreover] These
two kinds of polarizations were
combined... to produce an explosive
response to the structural changes
over the years” [xviii].
Explosion
Enter, the “Arab Spring.”
Extraordinary protest movements
across the region seemed to
erupt in opposition to similar
conditions of corrupt governance,
socio-economic exclusion, and
depravation that seems to spell
dire futures. It was at this time
Summer 2014
that Syrains too were motivated
over collective action issues and
took to the streets to engage
in civil unrest and air their
grievances in opposition to the
Assad regime.
The regime’s response to this
was a strong military crackdown
that left thousands dead and
wounded. This further enflamed
the situation and escalated
the conflict as the struggle of
opposition forces began to take
shape of an armed insurgency.
All of which only prompted an
escalation of violence to be carried
out by both sides, resulting in
the all out total war that rages
in Syria today.
Conclusion
With that background in mind,
the extrapolation of a clear
endgame for Syria is unlikely in
light of such complexities and
externalities fanning the crisis.
Yet, despite a seemingly infinite
number of risks, moving forward
towards any sort of a resolution
is even more unlikely without
at least a modest understanding
of some of the political and
socioeconomic conditions that
led up to the conflict.
Such structural changes and
the responses to them epitomize
Davies’ J-curves as models that
help to reveal revolutionary
upheaval as not only a catalyst
of unsatisfied needs but even
more specifically a response to
government’s dissatisfaction for,
or outright neglect of people’s
general expectations. This factor
of expectations is integral to
catalyzing protest movements
and motivating groups of people
to surmount collective action
issues.
Moreover, an important
conceptual tool for understanding
these motivations is relative
deprivation, and how not only
needs but expectations not being
met can be a cause for social
conflict.
As structural violence in Syria
was routinely perpetrated against
individuals and communities
deemed rival to the regime, so
was a legacy of social mistrust
between different Syrian
communities perpetuated. As
state capitalism morphed into
crony capitalism, social exclusion
was further exacerbated under
the pressures of corruption and
rentierism. In addition, food
security fanned the potential
for crisis, and the influence of
geopolitical externalities helped
to spark a flashpoint.
Clearly, the political economy in
Syria prior to the “Arab Spring”
incubated enough instability and
weak governance to ultimately
foster conditions ripe for conflict.
And, without understanding some
of the deeper structural issues
that fostered such instability,
weak governances, and conflict,
we will not be able to resolve
them over the course of the
longue durée.
sources
57

SOURCES
EXTRACTING THE TRUTH:
COEXISTING WITH BLACK
GOLD IN 21 ST CENTURY
COLOMBIA:
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[xxii] Cortez. Counselor of la Escuela
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[xxiii] Ferrero-Botero, Esteban.
Experiencing the Wayyu Lucha in
the Context of Uncertainty. Thesis,
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[xxiv]Gonzales. Recipient of financial
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[xxvi] “Hearing on the Canadian oil
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[xxvii] Ibid.
[xxviii] Yepes. Siquani leader and
Advisor at Escuela Unuma. Meta,
Colombia (1 November 2013).
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[xxix] Sossa. Social leader and
cattle rancher. Meta, Colombia (1
November 2013). Personal Interview.
[xxx] Sossa. Social leader and
cattle rancher. Meta, Colombia
(1November 2013). Personal
Interview.
[xxxi] Sossa. Social leader and
cattle rancher. Meta, Colombia. (1
November 2013). Personal Interview.
[xxxii] Bebbington, A. Social Conflict,
Economic Development and Extractive
Industry: Evidence from South America.
(London: Routledge, 2012).
[xxxiii] Crisp, J. “OECD Invitation
‘shows Colombia Is Entering
58 GLOBAL UNDERTONES / globalundertones.com

Modernity,’” Colombia Reports
(2013).
[xxxv] Vasquez 2014.
[xxxvi] Crude. Directed by Joe
Berlinger. Entendre Films, 2009.
Film. Kludt, T. (2013). “Biden Praises
Colombia’s ‘Remarkable Progress’.”
TPM.
[xxxvii] Borum, M. “Rio Blanco:
Massive Copper Project Proposed
for Cloud Forest,” Oxfam America
(2009).
[xxxviii] Graham, Felicia. “Social
Impacts of Resource Extraction in
Latin America: Implications for Rising
Colombia”. Brill, Perspectives on
Global Development and Technology
13 (2014) 209-223.
[xxxix] Murphy, Peter. “Colombia
Prepares Shale Debut with Launch of
2014 Oil round,” Reuters. Thomson
Reuters (19 Feb. 2014).
WORLD ALIENATION:
ARENDT ON DRONES AND
HABERMASIAN SOLUTIONS
[i] International Human Rights and
Conflict Resolution Clinic at Stanford
School of Law and Global Justice
Clinic at NYU School of Law, Living
Under Drones: Death, Injury, and
Trauma to Civilians From US Drone
Practices in
Pakistan (2012), 10.
[ii] For several examples of notable
anti-drone protests, see Global Drone
Watch.
[iii] The main difference between
military and non-military drone use
is the amount of oversight available
in the case of each due to the legal
code the military adheres to (Title
10) as opposed to civilian agencies
like the CIA (Title 50). Due to Title 50
code, the CIA has different oversight
requirements than the military, which
can at times give authority figures
over those organizations (such as the
President or the CIA Director) more
freedom to act with less oversight.
The author is grateful to University
of Virginia Politics Ph.D. candidate
Roger Herbert for these insights.
[iv] For an argument against all
drone usage (both military and
non-military), see Robert Sparrow,
“Killer Robots”, Journal of Applied
Summer 2014
Philosophy 24, no. 1 (2007): 62-77.
For an argument promoting military
drone use, see Bradley Jay Strawser,
“Moral Predators: The Duty to Employ
Uninhabited Aerial Vehicles”, in
Journal of Military Ethics 9, no. 4
(2010): 342-368.
[v] For a brief but detailed history of
drones, see PBS NOVA, “Time Line of
UAVs.”
[vi] Human Rights Watch. Q&A: US
Targeted Killings and International Law
(19 December 2011).
[vii] McManus, Doyle. A US License to
Kill, Los Angeles. Times (11 January
2003).
[viii] Jahangir, Asma. Civil and
Political Rights, Including the Questions
of Disappearances and Summary
Executions,
39, Commission on Human Rights, UN
Doc. E/CN.4/2003/3.
[viv] The Bureau of Investigative
Journalism. The Bush Years: Pakistan
Strikes 2004-2009 (2011).
[x] The Bureau of Investigative
Journalism. Covert War on Terror—
The Data (2014).
[xi] An exception to this comes from
her discussion of nuclear weapons
when she claims their potential for
destruction is “unprecedented and
inconceivable”. See Arendt, Hannah.
On Revolution (New York: Penguin,
1963), 13.
[xii] Arendt, Hannah. The Human
Condition (Chicago: The University
of Chicago Press, 1958), 1; see
also, Arendt, Hannah. Between Past
and Future: Eight Exercises in Political
Thought (New York: Viking, 1968),
266.
[xiii] She says that the “conquest of
space” threatens humanity so that
“the stature of man would not simply
be lowered by all standards we
know of, but have been destroyed”.
See Between Past and Future, 280.
Between Past and Future, 275.
[xiv] The Human Condition, 267.
[xv] Hannah Arendt, “Lying in Politics”
in Crises of the Republic (New York:
Harcourt, 1972), 4.
[xvii] Again, this is due to the
CIA’s adherence to Title 50 code
as opposed to Title 10. For a
more detailed explanation of
the differences between these
legal codes, see Chesney, Robert.
“Military-Intelligence Convergence
and the Law of the Title 10/Title 50
Debate”, Journal of National Security
Law and Policy 5, no. 1 (2011-2012):
539-629.
[xviii] Zenko, Micah. Between Threats
and War: US Discrete Military
Operations in the Post-Cold War
World (Stanford: Stanford University
Press, 2010), 159.
[xviv] Living Under Drones, 44.
[xx] Becker, Jo and Scott Shane.
“Secret ‘Kill List’ Proves a Test of
Obama’s Principles and Will,” N.Y.
Times (29 May 2012).
[xxi] In a press release preceding an
Obama speech on counterterrorism,
a White House official claimed she
would not speak of any “specific”
attacks, but that the “need for these
kind of strikes” was dissipating.
See Hayden, Caitlin. “Background
Briefing by Senior Administration
Officials on the President’s Speech
on Counterterrorism,” Via Conference
Call at the White House (23 May
2013).
[xxii] Arendt wrote that the United
States’ “divergence between facts”
ultimately led to the lack of domestic
support for the Vietnam War. See
Arendt, Hannah. “Lying in Politics” in
Crises of the Republic, 24.
[xxiii] Arendt, Crises of the Republic,
137.
[xxiv] Arendt, Men In Dark Times
(Boston: Mariner, 1970), viii.
[xxv] The Human Condition, 198.
[xxvi] Ibid., 199.
[xxvii] Habermas, Jürgen. Between
Facts and Norms: Contributions
to a Discourse Theory of Law and
Democracy (Cambridge, MA: MIT
Press, 1998), 108-110.
[xxviii] Ibid., 119.
[xxviv] Habermas argues that
communal political “opinion- and willformation”
establishes “relations of
mutual understanding” that empower
communicative action. See Ibid., 151-
152.
59

[xxx] For important perspectives
on political obligation and civil
disobedience, see Childress, James
F. Civil Disobedience and Political
Obligation: Study in Christian
Social Ethics (New Haven, CT: Yale
University, 1971); see also Ramsey,
Paul. Deeds and Rules in Christian
Ethics (New York: Scribner’s, 1967).
[xxxi] Between Facts and Norms, 147.
[xxxii] Ibid., 184.
[xxxiii] Ibid., 296.
[xxxiv] Ibid., 158.
35 GVFJ. (26 April 2013).
VIDEO: Medea Benjamin: Drone
Warfare: Killing by Remote Control,
Part I.
Code Pink is a “women-initiated”
NGO that works to achieve social
justice and “end US-funded wars and
occupations.”
[xxxv] President Obama recently
said this about drone transparency,
“This week, I authorized the
declassification of [the attack on
Anwar al-Awlaki], and the deaths of
three other Americans in drone strikes,
to facilitate transparency and debate
on this issue and to dismiss some of
the more outlandish claims that have
been made.” See Obama, Barack.
“Speech on Drone Policy”. Presented
at Fort Mcnair, Washington, DC. (23
May 2013). Transcript in New York
Times.
[xxxvi] Brunstetter, David and Megan
Braun. “The Implications of Drones on
the Just War Tradition” in Ethics and
International Affairs 25, no. 3 (2011),
356-7.
Former Representative Dennis
Kucinich’s letter to President Obama,
signed by several Congressmembers
in 2012 can be seen here.
[xxxvii] Huma Imtiaz, “Letter
Demands Obama Explain Legal
Justification for Drone Strikes?” The
Express Tribune, June 13, 2012.
CRIMEA’S SECCESSION:
HISTORY BEFORE POLITICS
[i] “Diplomacy and security after
Crimea: The new world Order.” The
Economist (22 March 2014).
[ii] “Putin signs Russia-Crimea Treaty.”
BBC, (18 March 2014).
[iii] “Despite Concerns About
Governance, Ukrainians Want to
Remain One Country,” Pew Research
– Global Attitudes Project (8 May
2014).
[iv] “Ukrainians dream of EU future.”
BBC (28 January 2008).
[v] “Ukrainian MPs vote to oust
President Yanukovych.” BBC, (22
February 2014).
VIDEO: US Senator John McCain
addresses Ukrainian protestors in
Kiev on December 15, 2013.
[vi] “Ukraine Crisis: US Military
needed, says McCain.” BBC (23
March 2014).
“‘Muddling and meddling’? US, EU
politicians plunge deeper into Kiev
protest.” RT, (12 December 2013).
[vii] “US’ Nuland treating Ukrainian
protesters to cookies on Maidan.” The
Voice of Russia, (11 December 2013).
[viii] “Ukraine Crisis: Leaked phone
call embarrasses US,” BBC (7
February 2014). Listen to the Leaked
Phone Call between Victoria Nuland
and Geoffrey Pyatt (6 February
2014).
[ix] Transcript on BBC.
[x] An excellent article written by
Mara Kozelsky, a historian at the
University of South Alabama who
studies Crimea in the Russian Empire,
about the religious significance of
Crimea for the Russian national and
religious identity in the context of the
current conflict with Ukraine. “Don’t
underestimate importance of religion
for understanding Russia’s actions in
Crimea,” The Washington Post (13
March 2014).
[xi] Bartlett, Rosamund.
“Remembering Chekhov in Yalta,”
Open Democracy (19 February
2010).
[xii] Magocsi, Paul. The Roots of
Ukrainian Nationalism. University of
Toronto Press Inc. (2002).
[xiii] Starr, Frederick. The Legacy of
History in Russia and the New States
of Eurasia. Armonk, NY : M.E. Sharpe
Inc. (1994). p. 148.
[xiv] To understand the full scale of
the grievances of ethnic Russians
living in Crimea since Ukraine’s
independence refer to the following
article: “Ukraine-Russia Tension
Evident in Crimea.” The Washington
Post, (6 October 2009).
“Canceled language law in Ukraine
sparks concern among Russian and EU
diplomats.” RT (28 February 2014).
[xv] False and yet very popular idea
of immutable Russian imperialistic
pretensions is well reflected in Philip
Longworth’s book “Russia: The Once
and Future Empire From Pre-History to
Putin”. St. Martin’s Press (2008).
[xvi] “U.N. General Assembly
declares Crimea secession vote
invalid,” Reuters (27 March 2014).
“Crimean Tatar minority to boycott
secession vote,” Turkish Weekly (7
March 2014).
[xvii] “Crimea Exit Poll: About 93%
back Russia Union.” BBC (16 March
2014).
[xviii] “Ukrainian Forces Withdraw
From Crimea,” BBC (24 March 2014).
[xix] “Ukraine’s sharp divisions,” BBC
(23 April 2014).
CLIMATE CHANGE AND THE
FOOD SECURITY DIMENSION
IPCC, 2013: Climate Change
2013: The Physical Science Basis.
Contribution of Working Group I to
the Fifth Assessment Report of the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change [Stocker, T.F., D. Qin, G.-
K. Plattner, M. Tignor, S.K. Allen, J.
Boschung, A. Nauels, Y. Xia, V. Bex
and P.M. Midgley (eds.)]. Cambridge
University Press, Cambridge,
United Kingdom and New York,
NY, USA, 1535 pp, doi:10.1017/
CBO9781107415324.
VIDEO: Official trailer for: “Years of
Living Dangerously” (2014).
World Bank. “Turn Down The Heat:
Why a 4°C Warmer World Must Be
Avoided” (November 2012).
Oxfam. “Hot and Hungry: How to
60 GLOBAL UNDERTONES / globalundertones.com

stop climate change derailing the
fight against hunger,” Oxfam GROW
campaign (25 March 2014).
Goldenberg, Suzanne. “Frame
climate change as a food security
issue, experts say,” The Guardian (1
April 2014).
Food and Agriculture Organization of
the United Nations. “Climate change,
water, and food security” (2011).
Elliott, Larry. “Climate change will
‘lead to battles for food’, says head
of World Bank.” The Guardian (3
April 2014).
‘GET IT DONE!’
THE GLOBAL CLIMATE JUSTICE
MOVEMENT & THE FATEFUL
RACE FOR A RADICAL
CLIMATE TREATY
[i] This was the conclusion to a fiery
speech by young climate activist
Anjali Appadurai at the conclusion of
the Durban COP 17 climate summit
in 2011: ““2020 is too late to
wait! We need an urgent path to a
fair, ambitious, and legally binding
treaty! You must take responsibility
to act now, or you will threaten the
lives of the youth and the world’s
most vulnerable. You must set aside
partisan politics and let science
dictate decisions. You must pledge
ambitious targets to lower emissions,
not expectations. 2020 is too late
to wait! Get it done!” With these
words she brought down the house
and compelled the session chair to
confess: “On a purely personal note,
I wonder why we let not speak half
of the world’s population first in this
conference, but only last.”
[ii] IPCC [Intergovernmental Panel
on Climate Change], “Summary for
Policymakers,”
pp. 1-28 in Climate Change
2013: The Physical Science Basis.
Contribution of Working Group I to
the Fifth Assessment Report of the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change, edited by T.F. Stocker,
D. Qin, G.-K. Plattner, M. Tignor,
S.K. Allen, J. Boschung, A. Nauels,
Y. Xia, V. Bex, and P.M. Midgley
(Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, 2013).
[iii] IPCC, “Summary for
Policymakers,” pp. 1-44 in Climate
Change 2014: Impacts, Adaptation,
Summer 2014
and Vulnerability, Contribution
of Working Group II to the
Fifth Assessment Report of the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change, edited by Christopher B.
Field et al. (Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 2014).
Brief background on the United
Nations Framework Convention on
Climate Change, also known as the
UNFCCC.
Klein, Naomi. “How science is telling
us all to revolt.” NewStatesMan,
October 29, 2013.
[iv] Bill McKibben, “Global Warming’s
Terrifying New Math: Three simple
numbers that add up to global
catastrophe - and that make clear
who the real enemy is,” Rolling Stone
(19 July 2012).
[v] Anderson, Kevin. “Climate Change
Going Beyond Dangerous –Brutal
Numbers and Tenuous Hope,” What
Next? Climate, Development and
Equity, edited by Niclas Hällström,
special issue of Development Dialogue
61 (September 2012): 16-40.
[vi] This account is from my field
notes; on what the Warsaw COP
means for the global climate
justice movement see John Foran,
“‘¡Volveremos!/We Will Return’: The
State of Play for the Global Climate
Justice Movement at the 2013
Warsaw UN Climate Summit COP
19,” Interface: A Journal for and
about Social Movements 6 (1) (May
2014).
VIDEO: ‘“We have to consume less’:
Scientists Call for Radical Economic
Overhaul to Avert Climate Crisis.”
Democracy Now! November 21,
2013.
VIDEO: “World Could Be 4 Degrees
Hotter By End of This Century.” World
Bank, February 25, 2013.
[vii] World Bank, Turn Down the Heat:
Why a 4° World Must Be Avoided,
A Report for the World Bank by the
Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact
Research and Climate Analytics
(November 2012).
[viii] Clarke, Renfrey. “The New
Revolutionaries: Climate Scientists
Demand Radical Change”(9 January
2014).
[ix] Anderson is quoted in Stephen
Leahy, “South Scores 11th-
Hour Win on Climate Loss and
Damage”(November 2013).
[x] Urry, John. Climate Change and
Society (Cambridge: Polity, 2011).
[xi] Jackson, Tim. Prosperity without
Growth: Economics for a Finite Planet
(Oxford: Earthscan, 2011).
IPCC, 2014: Summary for
Policymakers, In: Climate Change
2014, Mitigation of Climate Change.
Contribution of Working Group III
to the Fifth Assessment Report of the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change [Edenhofer, O., R. Pichs-
Madruga, Y. Sokona, E. Farahani, S.
Kadner, K. Seyboth, A. Adler, I. Baum,
S. Brunner, P. Eickemeier, B. Kriemann,
J. Savolainen, S. Schlömer, C. von
Stechow, T. Zwickel and J.C. Minx
(eds.)]. Cambridge University Press,
Cambridge, United Kingdom and
New York, NY, USA.
[xii] Clarke, Renfrey. “Climate
Change: Evidence of the Death-wish
of Capitalism”(26 April 26 2014).
Sethness, Javier. “Noam Chomsky:
Ecology, Ethics, Anarchism.” Truth-out
(3 April 2014).
[xiii] Wearden, Graeme. “Oxfam: 85
richest people as wealthy as poorest
half of the world,” The Guardian (20
January 2014). The original study is
by Oxfam 2014.
[xiv] According to Wikipedia,
“‘Wicked problem’ is a phrase
originally used in social planning to
describe a problem that is difficult
or impossible to solve because
of incomplete, contradictory, and
changing requirements that are
often difficult to recognize. The
term ‘wicked’” is used to denote
resistance to resolution, rather than
evil. Moreover, because of complex
interdependencies, the effort to solve
one aspect of a wicked problem may
reveal or create other problems….
Classic examples of wicked problems
include economic, environmental, and
political issues. A problem whose
solution requires a great number of
people to change their mindsets and
behavior is likely to be a wicked
problem.”
La Via Campesina: an International
Peasant’s Movement.
61

Wiki Background on Camps for
Climate Action.
Jubilee South, a movement against
external debt in the Global South.
Third World Network, an
international NGO that focuses on
“environment, development, the Third
World, and North-South issues.”
Focus on the Global South, an activist
think tank centered around regional
and global analysis, sub-altern
perspectives & problem solving, and
socioeconomic justice.
Friends of the Earth International,
a grassroots environmental network
focused on interlinked environmental
sustainability and socioeconomic
justice issues.
The Durban Group for Climate
Justice, an international network
of independent organizations,
individuals, and people’s movements
united in solidarity for global
grassroots climate solutions (and not,
for example, international trade
“fixes”).
The globally ubiquitous 350.org is a
major grassroots climate movement
that calls on a number of virtual and
direct action strategies to limit the
amount of CO2 in the atmosphere to
350ppm or below.
Alliance of the Small Island States
represents a coalition of forty-four
member states (small island and
low-lying coastal countries) and
observers with shared environmental
and developmental concerns about
climate change.
Formerly the Alianza Bolivariana
para los Pueblos de Nuestra América,
ALBA consists of nine Latin American
and Caribbean countries supporting
“social, political, and economic
integration” regionally.
VIDEO: “Copenhagen: Last Day
of Talks.” Kenya CitizenTV (18
December 2009).
[xv] Patrick Bond, Politics of Climate
Justice: Paralysis Above, Movement
Below (Durban: University of KwaZulu
Natal Press, 2012).
“Universal Declaration of the Rights
of Mother Earth.” April 22, 2010.
Idle No More is a grassroots protest
movement led by the First Nations
focusing on indigenous sovereignty,
environmental protection, and
socioeconomic equality.
Power Shift is a virtual grassroots
community that serves as a global
forum for youth climate activists.
[xvi] “Re-Imagining Climate
Justice” is the name given to a
gathering of the movement in Santa
Barbara, California, in May 2014
in which I played a role (www.
climatejusticeproject.com); see
Summer Gray’s video.
[xvii] Escalante, Maria and Adrian
Fernandez Jauregu. “The Pre-
COP: A Chance We Must Take” (29
December 2013).
[xviii] Edwards, Guy and Michael
Murphy and Paola Eisner.
“Venezuela’s 2014 Climate Summit
Faces Credibility Crisis”(11 March
2014).
The Global Climate Convergence
is an educational and direct action
campaign aimed at linking grassroots
climate justice movements worldwide.
System Change, Not Climate Change
is the grassroots mobilization of a
“multi-racial, multi-ethnic left united
against the ecological destruction
spawned by capitalism.”
The official website for the United
Nations’ special Climate Summit
2014: Catalyzing Action to be held
this September in New York.
[xix] Moon, Ban ki. “Big Idea 2014:
The Year for Climate Action”(11
December 2013).
The official website for the People’s
Climate March on September 21 st
in New York, coinciding with the UN
special summit.
WORKING WITH THREADS:
REALIZING STUDENT
ACTIVISTS’ CLOUT IN THE
GLOBAL LABOR MOVEMENT
[i] “Remembering The 1911 Triangle
Factory Fire: Legislative Reform
at State and Local Level,” Cornell
University ILR School (2011).
[ii] Kolben, Ken. “Trade, Monitoring,
and the ILO: Working to Improve
Conditions in Cambodia’s Garment
Factories,” Yale Human Rights and
Development Journal 7, no. 1 (18
February 2014).
[iii] “Stitched Up: Women workers
in the Bangladeshi garment sector,”
War on Want (2011).
[iv] Henn, Steve. “Factory Audits and
Safety Don’t Always Go Hand in
Hand,” NPR (01 May 2013).
[v] Worker Rights Consortium.
“Global Wage Trends for Apparel
Workers, 2001-2011,” Center for
American Progress (11 July, 2013).
[vi] “Global Apparael Manufacturing:
Market Research Report” (2012).
[vii] “Licensing: Did You Know?
Collegiate,” Strategic Marketing
Affiliates (2010).
[viii] The value for apparel sales was
extrapolated based on percentages
found in Craver’s article:
Craver, Richard. “Collegiate apparel
company draws fire,” Winston-Salem
Journal (2011).
[ix] O’Rourke, Dara. Independent
University Initiative, Final Report,
Business for Social Responsibility
Education Fund, and Investor
Responsibility Research Center
(2000).
[x] Featherstone, Liza and United
Students Against Sweatshops 2002.
Students Against Sweatshops (London:
Verso, 2002).
[xi] Kline, John and Edward Soule.
Alta Gracia: Work with a Salario
Digno. Research report, Georgetown
University (5 December 2011).
[x] Kline, John 2010. Alta Gracia:
Branding Decent Work Conditions.
Research report, Georgetown
University, Kalmanovitz Initiative for
Labor and the Working Poor (30
August 2010).
[xi] Dreier, Peter. “Alta Gracia
Clothing Factory Shows New
Pathways in Fair Trade,” Yes!
Magazine (15 November 2012).
[xiii] Kline, John M. and Edward
Soule. “Alta Gracia: Work with
a Salario Digno,” Reflective
Engagement Initiative, Georgetown
University (5 December 2011).
62 GLOBAL UNDERTONES / globalundertones.com

CURVING TOWARDS
REVOLUTION: CRONYISM &
DEPRIVATION IN SYRIA
[i] Post-Conflict Economic
Reconstruction in Syria II. Roundtable
Synopsis. Beirut: Carnegie Middle
East Centre, 2013.
[ii] Heilprin, John. “UN Decides to
Stop Updating Syria Death Toll,” ABC
News, ABC News Network (January
2014).
[iii] Post-Conflict Economic
Reconstruction in Syria II. Roundtable
Synopsis. Beirut: Carnegie Middle
East Centre, 2013.
[iv] Menicucci, Garay. “Egypt, Syria &
Israel-Palestine.” Middle East Studies
Lecture. North Hall, Santa Barbara (6
Dec. 2012). Lecture.
[v] Haddad, Bassam. “Business
Networks in Syria: The
Political Economy of Authoritarian
Resilience– A Conversation with
Bassam Haddad.” Lecture.
The George Washington University,
Lindner Family Commons, Washington
DC. (24 Apr. 2012). Project On
Middle East Political Science. Elliott
School of International Affairs.
[vi] Haddad, Bassam. Business
Networks in Syria: The Political
Economy of Authoritarian Resilience
(Stanford, CA: Stanford UP, 2012).
Print. 38.
[vii] Davies, James C. “Toward a
Theory of Revolution.” American
Sociological Review 21.1 (1962):
5-19. JSTOR. American Sociological
Association. Web. 9 Dec. 2012. 5.
Uprisings: What Everyone Needs to
Know (New York: Oxford UP, 2012).
Print. 12.
[xii] Gelvin, James L. The Arab
Uprisings: What Everyone Needs to
Know (New York: Oxford UP, 2012).
Print. 18
[xiii] Haddad, Bassam. ““Business
Networks in Syria: The Political
Economy of Authoritarian Resilience”
– A Conversation with Bassam
Haddad.” Lecture. The George
Washington University, Lindner
Family Commons, Washington DC
(24 Apr. 2012). Project On Middle
East Political Science. Elliott School of
International Affairs. Web (24 Oct.
2012).
[xiv] Ibid.
[xv] Ibid.
[xvi] Ibid.
[xvii] Zurayk, Rami. Food, Farming,
and Freedom: Sowing the Arab Spring
(Charlottesville: Just World, 2011).
Print. 62,64.
[xviii] Haddad, Bassam. ““Business
Networks in Syria: The Political
Economy of Authoritarian Resilience”
– A Conversation with Bassam
Haddad.” Lecture. The George
Washington University, Lindner
Family Commons, Washington DC.
(24 Apr. 2012). Project On Middle
East Political Science. Elliott School
of International Affairs. Web (24
October 2012).
[viii] Davies, James C. “Toward a
Theory of Revolution.” American
Sociological Review 21.1 (1962):
5-19. JSTOR. American Sociological
Association. Web. 9 Dec. 2012. 5-6.
[ix] Walker, Iain, and Heather
J. Smith. Relative Deprivation:
Specification, Development, and
Integration (Cambridge: Cambridge
UP, 2002). Print. 1.
[x] Marx, Karl. “Relation of Wage-
Labour to Capital,” Neue Rheinische
Zeitung [Köln] (1849): n. pag.
Marxists Internet Archive. Marxists.
org. Web. 9 Dec. 2012.
[xi] Gelvin, James L. The Arab
Summer 2014
63