2022 Year in Review

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PHOTO: PATRICK BAZ / AFPLEBANON IN CRISISAbby WellingtonLabelled a “deliberate depression” by the World Bank, the situation in Lebanoncontinues to progress from bad to worse. In July earlier this year, the nation wasredefined as a lower-middle income country, a condemning fall from its uppermiddle-income status. The reclassification is emblematic of the reality forLebanon, a nation in the midst of one of the three worst economic collapses inthe past two centuries. What’s worse? It was all avoidable.P A G E 1 4 2
T H E S I T U A T I O NWhere there was once a bustling middle class population, the UN now estimates that 80%of Lebanon is living at or below the poverty line. At the same time, their currency, the Lira,has lost 95% of its value since 2019, greatly reducing purchasing power while fuellinghyperinflation. The World Food Programme estimates that food prices have increased by550% leaving 46% of the nation facing food insecurity. Following a period of capital flightduring the onset of the crisis in 2019, banks placed strict limits on what people couldwithdraw. Many are now barred from withdrawing their deposits due to banks facingbankruptcy.Lebanese citizens can expect to queue for hours to buy only small amounts of food. Someare sleeping overnight just to put fuel in their car. Blackouts have become a regularoccurrence, often lasting days. Medical supplies are hard to come by and mostlyunaffordable. Just a few months ago, Bassam Al Sheikh Hussein broke into his local bankbranch with a machine gun threatening to set himself on fire. His father had fallen sick andhe needed to access his savings account holding $210,000 to afford the treatment. Thebank refused to allow him to withdraw. Eventually, after hours of holding up the bank, theyagreed to allow him to withdraw $35,000 (of his own money) and stated they wouldfacilitate $400 daily withdrawals. The latter they have failed to provide.H O W D I D S U C H A D I R E S I T U A T I O NO C C U R ?W H Y I S I T “ D E L I B E R A T E ” ?Although the crisis began in 2019, the root of the tragedy can be traced back to theend of the Lebanese civil war in 1990. Under the Taif Agreement, the end of the warsaw the government split evenly between Christians and Muslims. Under theseconditions, the President must be a Maronite Christian, the Prime Minister a SunniMuslim, and the House Speaker a Shia Muslim. Despite the Taif Accords intending thisstructure to only be temporary, with a more democratic government as the aim, thisstructure still has not changed. What has resulted from it is a dysfunctional sectariangovernment that rules a patronage-based system.Immediately after the war, the government embarked on a major spending spreeaimed at rebuilding infrastructure destroyed by the civil war. Most of this howeverwas funded through internal loans and supported by a huge trade deficit. A tradedeficit fuelled by imports made possible by the pegging of the Lira against the USdollar. Investments were also enticed through the lowering of internal tax rates.Although the scheme was successful and much of the nation was rebuilt it was at thecost of the development of extensive debt. In 2019, debt was 170% of GDP. In 2021their debt was estimated to be 183% of GDP, the 4th highest ratio in the world.Naturally, such a high level of debt left the nation extremely vulnerable to even just aslight sneeze in global trade.P A G E 1 4 3
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Y E A R I N R E V I E WI S S U E N
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While the events of 2022 are testin
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1CONTENTSTHE END OF PUTIN? EXPLORIN
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8 4LEGALISATION OF MARIJUANA IN THA
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P H O T O B Y E V O N U N S P L A S
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Russia's second invasion into Ukrai
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For the Russians, this is an existe
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P H O T O : K L A U S W R I G H T /
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P H O T O : J O S H C H R I S T E N
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A 2003 report from the Guttmacher I
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P A G E 1 2Calvin Lu and Patrick He
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Common ProsperityThe concept of ‘
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Wang HuningWang Huning’s promotio
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P A G E 1 8P H O T O : M A R K U S
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Korea are women — one of thehighe
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P A G E 2 3P H O T O : T E D D Y O
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shied away from angering China by s
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P A G E 2 7
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ABE’S FAMILY INFLUENCETwo synonym
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P H O T O : K Y O D A / A P I M A G
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YDS TeamP A G E 3 3
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led calls for an investigation into
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B O O K R E V I E WT I D E S T H A
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W H A T I S T H E F I R S TN A T I
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HOW DID THE VOICE COME ABOUT?The Vo
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With the victory of the Australian
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P A G E 4 6P H O T O : I R E N E S
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Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukra
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"FOR BISHKEK AND TASHKENT,THE CKU E
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The CKU’s touted benefits have be
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Lacking the capacity to self-financ
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T H E R E N E W E DD I P L O M A T
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Azerbaijan, which received substant
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SRI LANKA'SECONOMICCRISISP H O T O
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China’s investment in Sri Lanka d
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P A G E 6 4P H O T O : Z A C H A R
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BALI G20 EASES WORLDTENSIONS AS IND
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But the unanimous condemnation of t
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MYANMAR IN2022P H O T O : G A Y A T
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SANCTIONS AND CHINA IMPLICATIONSThe
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AUSTRALIA'S RESPONSEAs mentioned by
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P H O T O : P A N G X I N G L E I /
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2Secondly,some of the areas through
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should make an effort to effectivel
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BBM continuously reframed historica
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Neha DaymaCannabis sativa, usually
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The reasons behind legalisation can
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Bella Baker and Shantelle O'Riordan
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INFRASTRUCTURE BILL - THEINFRUSTRUC
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Page 104 and 105: The possibility of the Americans le
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Page 108 and 109: P A G E 1 0 0Shajara KhanP H O T O
Page 110 and 111: and Quebec were officially proclaim
Page 112 and 113: THE PATH FORWARDAs it stands, recon
Page 114 and 115: Samuel NgLeaping from crisis to cri
Page 116 and 117: Former US President Donald Trumpand
Page 118 and 119: SUNAK'S HMSBRITANNIA INTOOBLIVIONTh
Page 120 and 121: T H E N U C L E A RR E N A I S S A
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Page 124 and 125: Diane Maria LangelohGERMANY'S INTER
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Page 128 and 129: Evangelia WichmannP A G E 1 2 0P H
Page 130 and 131: FIRES IN THE AMAZONThis blatant ign
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Page 134 and 135: The Enduring Influence of Peronism:
Page 136 and 137: and political sovereignty. Since th
Page 138 and 139: However, it is clear that for manyA
Page 140 and 141: IIngrid Escamilla, a 25-year-old, w
Page 142 and 143: Any legal recognition of femicide i
Page 144 and 145: OUT WITH THE OLD, IN WITH THENEW: A
Page 146 and 147: However, an LNG supply deal struck
Page 148 and 149: spaces, the complete shutdown of li
Page 152 and 153: The first hit came from the Global
Page 154 and 155: W H A T W E R E T H E C I R C U M S
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Page 158 and 159: A C O N T R O V E R S I A L R I G H
Page 160 and 161: HUMAN INSECURITY IN TALIBAN-RULEDAF
Page 162 and 163: WOMEN'S RIGHTSAlthough child marria
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Page 166 and 167: Let us take a look at the Ethiopian
Page 168 and 169: History plays a vital role in a cou
Page 170 and 171: P A G E 1 6 2PHOTO: CHINA MERCHANTS
Page 172 and 173: In 2015, Chinese leader Xi Jinping
Page 174 and 175: In Tanzania and Kenya, StarTimes ha
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Page 178 and 179: The role of the US and the EU in pr
Page 180 and 181: Isha DesaiP A G E 1 7 2PHOTO: BADA
Page 182 and 183: SUDANPHOTO: THE INDEPENDENTDemocrac
Page 184: STABILITY IN THE REGIONThe union’
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2022 Year in Review

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