Tin-pot Despots, Spiteful Insurgent's & Confused Activists' Compulsive Political Agency: Need for Policies for Transforming Activism for Social Good - RL Vol XIII No 508 MMIX

Africa’s Boko Haram, Tuareg, al-Sunna wa’a Jama’a, al-Shabaab

Tin-pot Despots, Spiteful Insurgent’s &

 Confused Activists’ Compulsive Political Agency:

Need for Policies for Transforming Activism for Social Good

Public lecture – Respublica Litereria - RL Vol XIII No 508 MMIX

Costantinos Berhutesfa Costantinos, PhD

Former Chairperson of the African Union Anti-corruption Advisory Board

Professor of Public Policy and Sustainable Institutional Reforms

https://addisababa.academia.edu/CostyCostantinos

Abstract

People who consume more news media have a greater probability of being engaged civically and politically across a variety of measures. Advocacy and activism consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct, or intervene in social, political, economic, or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society, but it was an unfortunate day for two scholars who went to their hometown to conduct a medical research. However, their humanitarian mission, effort and aspiration was cut short with a tragedy that claimed their lives. They were beaten to death by an angry mob and it is all because of fake news in the virtual world. The research enquiry augurs on, if the views and perspectives of activists have a legitimate place in igniting democratic processes. Is good faith criticism of a particular activist strategy construed as negation of freedom of speech as such?

 African insurgencies include Boko Haram, Cameroon’s Anglophone Crisis, Mali Tuareg, the stagnating 2015 Algiers Peace Accord, ‘al-Sunna wa’a Jama’a viciousness in Mozambique, and al-Shabaab in Somalia. African activists have advocated the West to parachute democratic institutions, human rights and good governance in Africa, denying aid to poor Africans that were marginalised by despotic states. Activists refrain the spirit of tolerance when, in realty, political and policy differences are resolved in a courage to respect the views of others, more specifically, citizens. African activists in general take their task as a lifetime work even when the issue that elevated it, has vanished - a compulsive behaviour that a person feels “compelled” or driven to do over and over again. While these compulsive actions may appear to be irrational, and may even result in negative consequences, such activists feel unable to stop themselves – ‘obsessive-compulsive disorder’

Source SM Madrid

When it comes to Ethiopia, activism kicked off on issues such as ‘land to the tiller’ and the issue of ‘nations and nationalities’. As the Dergue started to kill tens of thousands of citizens, diasporisation started in earnest and activism took organised mould. Much of the recent activism and militancy was against the human right abuses, one party rule and corruption under the Wéyanné. The ethics of activism is based on the answer to how should and how do democratic citizens behave when governments act unjustly? Do they respond aggressively, armed with universal concern for the rights of all citizens or are they acting from narrow concerns based on special interests and sectarian loyalties? The answer challenges the strong moral role attributed to responsible citizens and emphasises the competitive and parochial nature of morally inspired activism.

Keywords: activism, advocacy, militancy, Africa, Ethiopia, human rights, despotism, peace, popular participation, alternative conflict management, inclusive development

The World Braces for 2019-2020 Global Recession RL Vol XIII No 583 MMXIX

The World Braces for 2019-2020 Global Recession

Macro-Policy Chokehold for a Global Recession unlike any other amid a World Polarised by the US and China trade war

Public lecture – Respublica Litereria - RL Vol XIII No 583 MMXIX

Costantinos Berhutesfa Costantinos, PhD

Former Chairperson of the African Union Anti-corruption Advisory Board &

Professor of Public Policy and Sustainable Institutional Reforms

https://addisababa.academia.edu/CostyCostantinos

Abstract

A recession is a period of declining economic performance across an entire economy, frequently measured as two consecutive quarters. Businesses, investors and government officials track various economic indicators that can help predict or confirm the onset of recessions. Recessions are visible in industrial production, employment, real income, and wholesale-retail trade. The working definition of a recession is two consecutive quarters of negative economic growth as measured by a country's GDP. On August 14, recession warning came from the bond and stock markets. Stocks fell about 3% a day on bad economic news from Germany, China and the bond markets. Europe's largest economy shrank by 0.1% in the second quarter as exports fell amid trade and Brexit uncertainty. Chinese measurements of factory production, consumption and employment also revealed a declining economy. China's 4.8% increase in industrial production was a low period of 17 years. Investors saw all of this and headed for the tall grass of US Treasury. The yield on the 10-year note was 1.58%, dipping a period below the two-year bond yield. The 30-year Treasury reached a record low of 2.018% and closed at 2.02%. Returns at this low show that investors are moving out of risk weights, signalling slower growth ahead – perhaps even a recession with smaller events and better policies fostering more optimism (WSJ, 2019). Contemporary supporters of Marx argue most generally that Marx was correct that human behaviour reflects historical and social conditions. More specifically, they argue his analysis of social class and commodities is still very useful, that his critique of capitalism can easily be applied to the current global situation, and that alienation is still a problem

Since the 2008 crisis, policymakers are even more keenly aware of the relevance of global factors to policies. The global nature of the financial crisis and the channels through which it spread sharply highlight the interconnectedness of economic, financial, and policy environments. An important feature is the tools central bankers now have to fight recessions. In the face of the dramatic economic and financial collapse during the crisis, policymakers quickly exhausted conventional monetary policy tools and employed a range of unconventional measures to support their economies. The Great Recession brought into stark relief the need for transpar­ency and accountability for central banks. Central bank communication is increasingly important and increasingly challenging. Moreover, the audience has become more varied, more attuned to our actions, and less trusting of public institutions. Central banks must speak to Main Street, as well as Wall Street, in ways we have not in the past, and Main Street is listening and engaged. Where does this leave us, and how should policymakers adapt to this new environment? Recognizing challenges posed by the changing structure of the economy, the need for effective policy responses and the importance of clear communication, central banks are taking a closer look at their strategies and the range of tools currently at their disposal (FP Editors, 2019). When European and North American banks teetered on the brink of meltdown in 2008, requiring bailouts and extraordinary central bank intervention, Canadian banks escaped relatively unscathed (Beisie, 2019).

Keywords: Great Recession, policymakers, recession, trade, U.S.-China trade war, Inverted Yield Curve, free and fair trade, accumulation of legitimate grievances 

See paper here or https://www.academia.edu/40400126/Macro-Policy_Chokehold_-_The_World_Braces_for_2019-2020_Global_Recession_RL_Vol_XIII_No_583_MMXIX

see the presentation here or https://prezi.com/uprao4secskk/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy

The Afro-Arab Enclave – A Cataclysmic Adventure in the Making RL Vol XIII No 579 MMIX

The Afro-Arab Enclave Conflicts -

A Cataclysmic Armageddon in the Making

Balochistan, Egypt, Emirates, Iran, Qatar, Saudi, Sudan, Turkey, Yemen

Sustainable Peace in the Middle East will come not because of a

Martial Confrontation, but good old Diplomacy that will bring Détente amongst the “Shia-Sunni family” and “Arab-Israel Proxy” Hostilities

Public lecture – Respublica Litereria - RL Vol XIII No 579 MMXIX

Costantinos Berhutesfa Costantinos, PhD

Former Chairperson of the African Union Anti-corruption Advisory Board &

Professor of Public Policy and Sustainable Institutional Reforms

https://addisababa.academia.edu/CostyCostantinos

Abstract

Contemporary geopolitical episodes in the Middle East have, once more, made it the centre of global attention with the rising tensions turning The Gulf into a maritime powder keg. Recent events leading to the tension are marked by downing of a US drone, seizure of ships in the Gibraltar straight and Gulf of Hormuz and tanker Kokuka Courageous bombed. The roots of all tis conflicts stem from the cancellation of the Iran nuclear deal, the Iran- Saudi (Shia-Sunni) standoff, the Yemen Armageddon and the omnipresent Israeli-Palestinian quest for peace. Baloch National Movement’s, recent militant attacks on Iranian, Chinese and Pakistani targets and air raids in Syria in the country's last rebel-held enclave have killed and displaced thousands. The roots of the Shia-Sunni animosity goes to the Battle of Karbala was fought in central Iraq in 680 AD, with violent clash that went a long way to settling the question of The Prophet Mohammed's succession. Until recently, the two groups seemed to co-exist within an awkward kind of avoidance, but, when it comes to operational matters, especially against Israel, these groups have no qualms about tactical cooperation. Iran, whose 1979 revolution put political Islam on the modern map, vows to destroy Israel, a sequel to The Great Arab Revolt of 1936, a nationalist uprising by Arabs in Mandate Palestine.

The UN & US have proposed close to a dozen Israeli-Palestinians peace plans since the seventies. The two state solution has been the centrepiece of U.S. Middle East policy but efforts to implement it have so far miscarried. President Trump’s new Middle East Plan, according to Jared Kushner, senior advisor, is based on four basic principles: freedom of religion, freedom in life and professional opportunities, freedom of movement and freedom of political opinions, as well as Safety and Security, but dead on arrival by the Palestinians. Hence a unilateral solution by Israel to operationalise this along the lines of the Oslo Accords, has been proposed if Israel is comfortable with it, since the US and Israel have an upper hand in all this which the Palestinians and the UN must endorse to clear the stalemate. Sudan has appointed a new prime minister as the country embarks on a three-year transition to civilian rule, but the Middle East has become more violent and more radicalised by asymmetric conflicts. The paper proposes détente in the Saudi-UAE-Egypt axis vs. the Iran-Qatar- Turkey axis, because détente saved the world form a nuclear war between the US and USSR that began tentatively in 1971 and took decisive form in Moscow, May 1972. The late 1960s and early 1970s would see the most productive period of détente. An immediate détente in the Middle East will go a long way to sustain its prosperity and the Gulf Monarchies.

Key words:  détente, Saudi-UAE-Egypt axis vs. the Iran-Qatar- Turkey axis, Israel, Palestine,

"Global Powers have thrown a monkey wrench into a schisms-laden constituency with callous intensity. They continue to stock the inferno with weapons of mass destruction, fuelling the schisms and asymmetric conflicts with thermobaric incendiaries that have converted the cradle of civilisation into phantom polities. An immediate détente will go a long way to sustain the prosperity of the oil rich nations and the Gulf Monarchies".

See paper here or copy this link to your browser  https://www.academia.edu/40175009/The_Afro-Arab_Enclave_A_Cataclysmic_Adventure_in_the_Making_RL_Vol_XIII_No_579_MMIX