The Reason Review — November 2017
N ovember is a month of rebellion—think not only of Guy Fawkes, but also the Bolshevik Revolution, which had its 100 year anniversary this month, despite being inaccurately named after October. Mr Putin chose not to make merry.
True to type, revolution and reform marked November 2017, with Robert Mugabe stepping down — eventually — from over three decades of rule in Zimbabwe, and the new Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia purging those accused of corruption in the extended royal family.
Meanwhile, proving that rebellion takes many forms, we look at Solar XL’s opposition to the building of an oil pipeline in Canada, via (in)conveniently placed solar arrays. If all that doesn’t bring out the revolutionary in you, then the Paradise Papers might just light the fuse…
Mugabe: The Rule, in Brief
“Zimbabwe’s founding father, Robert Mugabe, ushered his country into independence, then established a tyrannical regime and presided over the destruction of the economy. He was ousted in a November palace coup.”
In the wake of the soft coup that ousted Zimbabwe’s leader from power, John Campbell — a Ralph Bunche Senior Research Fellow for Africa Policy Studies — provides us with an expert brief on Robert Mugabe as “Icon and Kleptocrat”. Charting his ascent to power, the ideals that underpinned his increasingly despotic rule, and the key turning points in his political career, this snapshot article is essential reading for those looking to understand the story of Zimbabwe as the world waits to see what happens next.
Paradise Lost
“The ultra-rich, people whose net worth is more than $45 million, are ten times more likely to evade taxes than the average citizen…That means the ultra-rich have worked out how to avoid paying about 30 percent of their personal income and wealth taxes.”
With a global network of 95 media partners behind it, the leak of the Paradise Papers — 13.4m files detailing tax evasion by the rich and famous in 19 tax havens — was one of the most talked-about scandals of the year. As with the previous, and larger, leak of the ‘Panama Papers’, the initial furore boiled down to little in the way of meaningful change as very few people had broken the law, leaving the fundamental issue one of politics and morals. These seven illuminating charts provide a closer look at precisely how the ultra-rich hide their cash.
Justice Delayed
“General Ratko Mladić, the most bloodthirsty warlord to strut European soil since the Third Reich, will die in jail. Any other outcome after today’s verdict in The Hague would have been preposterous.”
More than 20 years after he was first indicted for war crimes, Ratko Mladic, the ‘Butcher of Bosnia’ was finally found guilty at The Hague. So much time has passed since the Balkan wars that an entire generation has been born since the conflict added ‘ethnic cleansing’ to the lexicon. In itself, the verdict was a victory for international law. That aside, there was very little to celebrate as media outlets dusted off archive footage of the Srebrenica massacre and siege of Sarajevo. The subsequent suicide of ex-general Slobodan Praljak in the dock, further added to the sense that justice for victims of the conflict is nebulous. Ed Vulliamy, who testified against Mladic, wrote in The Guardian, ‘Ratko Mladić will die in jail. But go to Bosnia: you’ll see that he won’.
Nix on Neonics?
“Neonics have long been linked with declining bee populations, but the issue has been subject to significant debate, with manufacturers insisting their products do not harm bees when used correctly.”
In the wake of British Environmental secretary Michael Gove’s outspoken support of a ban on neonicotinoid pesticides, and the increased likelihood that the EU parliament will outlaw them by the end of the year, Unearthed’s Joe Sandler Clarke explores the flaws in Bayer and Syngenta’s research into these harmful chemicals as they battle to keep their products on the market. The report reveals risible manipulation of test conditions and statistics to cover up the effect of neonics on bee and other pollinator species’.
‘Saudi Spring’
In Saudi Arabia, the new Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman, or ‘MBS’, has been introducing reforms: revoking the ban on women driving, criticising Islamism, and undertaking an ‘anti-corruption’ drive which has included detaining 201 people, including 11 princes held in the Riyadh Ritz-Carlton.
In an interview with triple-Pulitzer veteran reporter Thomas L. Friedman for the New York Times, MBS explained the new approach to dealing with corruption: ‘“We show them all the files that we have and as soon as they see those about 95 percent agree to a settlement,” which means signing over cash or shares of their business to the Saudi state treasury. One such Prince, Miteb bin Abdullah, reportedly paid $1bn to be freed.
Miteb — as with other imprisoned princes — was a leading contender for the throne, fuelling suspicions that the purpose of the purge is instead to consolidate MBS’s power base, something MBS describes in Friedman’s interview as “ludicrous”. Friedman gives a light touch to Saudi military action in Yemen and the bizarre resignation and then un-resignation of the PM minister of Lebanon on a visit to Riyadh. Action in Syria, and the ongoing detainment of human rights activists, aren’t mentioned at all.
Abdullah Al-Arian, Assistant Professor of History at Georgetown University in Qatar, responded to Friedman’s piece with a Twitter thread detailing “70 Years of the New York Times Describing Saudi Royals Leading Reform”, the implication being Friedman’s piece is part of a long history of Western tactical blindness, overlooking ongoing abuses by an absolute monarch, which would be condemned anywhere else.
Saudi Arabia has long been a cash cow for Western industry — notably arms. Since 2015, Saudi Arabia has agreed orders for more than £3.75bn worth of British defence equipment — mainly bombs and fighter aircraft — up from £160m in the 22 months leading up to the election. That Saudi liberalisation under MBS will encourage further trade was proven in October when Richard Branson announced an investment in luxury tourism in Saudi, and this month announced a $1bn investment from the Saudi government in Virgin Space.
But relations with Saudi Arabia have long been about leverage as well as lucre, and that regional influence has taken on global importance as a result of Islamic Terrorism. Wahhabism — the purist Quranic doctrine long advocated by the ruling House of Saud — is seen as a major contributor to the growth of Islamic Extremism, as is Saudi money. That had resulted in growing suspicion of the Saudi regime amongst Western powers, though arms deals continued to be signed.
The consensus is that historic rivalry with Iran is the main driver behind Saudi foreign policy, as the BBC explained in this handy pointer. With Trump firmly aligning the U.S. against Iran, and UK/Iranian relations strained by the detention of charity worker Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Boris Johnson’s cack-handedness, Saudi Arabia looks likely to increasingly be the West’s regional ally par excellence.
Friedman’s optimism about a “Saudi Spring” is hence a neat expression of Western hopes for decades: “If it succeeds, it will not only change the character of Saudi Arabia but the tone and tenor of Islam across the globe. Only a fool would predict its success — but only a fool would not root for it.”
See Something
“Deep in the wilderness of British Columbia’s Purcell Mountains is a valley with cherished alpine landscapes and a vibrant environment that needs permanent protection.”
On November 2, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that building a ski resort on land considered sacred by its First Nations people did not breach religious rights, paving the way for the development of land that has been fiercely contested for the past 26 years. But the fight to save the land continues, and needs even more outsider support. Jumbo Wild explains the history of the struggle of the Ktunaxa Nation to protect one of the world’s last wilderness frontiers.
Read Something
“What concerns me is that this is just one aspect of a kind of infrastructural violence being done to all of us, all of the time, and we’re still struggling to find a way to even talk about it, to describe its mechanisms and its actions and its effects.”
Disturbingly, this quote is taken from a long and detailed article, not about any particular newsworthy atrocity, but about the mechanisms that guide our navigation of the internet. Artist, writer, and cultural theorist James Bridle — a keen proponent of a free internet — is increasingly concerned that there are sinister forces at play in our online environments, and they may not all be human.
Do Something
“Solar XL is a wave of renewable energy resistance that’s building solar arrays directly in the route of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline — putting clean energy solutions in the path of the problem.”
In November, TransCanada’s Keystone 1 pipeline spilled 210,000 gallons of oil onto the plains of South Dakota just days before Nebraskan state authorities granted a permit to expand the network across state land as part of the Keystone XL project. To stop the project in its tracks, campaigners are engaging in in a powerful act of defiance, building solar arrays in the proposed path of the new network. Should the pipeline ever be built, developers will be forced to destroy hundreds of renewable projects — an act that Solar XL hopes nobody will have the audacity to perform.
Weapons of Reason issue #4: Power, is available to order now.
