By: Toby Martin-Kohls

In an era such as now, geopolitics are becoming more and more important and in the spotlight. An easy example of current events is the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

China has, and does, use its money and resources to influence global politics.

What is global politics? The United Nations. The United Nations is an organization founded after WWII, and per their website: “The one place on Earth where all the world’s nations can gather together, discuss common problems, and find shared solutions that benefit all of humanity.” Each of the 193 member states has a representative that has a vote in any resolutions that are brought forward.

Today, only 15 countries recognize the Republic of China, which is also known as Taiwan. Both countries claim that they are the rightful owner of all of China. Since there can only be one representative per member state, the U.N. held a vote in 1971 to decide which country would be given a representative. At the time, the U.S. officially recognized Taiwan, so for the vote, it was essentially the United States’ sphere of influence against the world.

Now we can relate this back to Africa. China ended up winning the resolution vote, but what we are looking at is which African countries voted for who in 1971. The Central African Republic, Chad, Gabon, Liberia, Niger, South Africa, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Madagascar, and Ivory Coast all voted with the United States for Taiwan to represent both the mainland and the island at the United Nations.

Fast forward to 2007 and the U.N. is holding a vote on whether to condemn human rights violations in North Korea. North Korea has few allies, but China is a big supporter because they share some of the same values. Again, like the previous vote mentioned earlier, this time it was China’s sphere of influence against the world.

The only African countries that voted to condemn North Korea were: Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea: Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Burundi, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritania, and Tanzania. The rest of the 43 African countries voted with China or abstained.

This is a product of China using its power to build infrastructure in low developed African countries.

China’s GDP (Gross Domestic Product) has grown rapidly since the 1960s and 70s. It has made the shift from an industrializing country to an industrialized country.

Africa, however, has some of the world’s fastest-growing economies. In April 2021, Nasdaq predicted Libya to be the fastest growing economy of 2021.

In Africa, there are around 10,000 Chinese-owned businesses and construction companies worth over $2 trillion. In 2017, Chinese companies obtained roughly half of all engineering, construction, and procurement contracts on the African continent.

China has used its resources to foster relationships with the countries of Africa and make them allies. Given the current events of Ukraine and Russia, these decisions could make a difference in the years to come. Hopefully, China does not decide to forcefully take over Taiwan. Based on the relationships they’ve fostered in Africa, they could have access to any number of resources outside the country.

By: Abi Hernandez Castillo & Thalia Pliego

The people of Canada have been demanding to put an end to the COVID-19 vaccine mandates. These protests have been going on since late January of this year. According to ‘Fortune’, Canadas “Freedom Convoy” began when the protestors, many of which were truckers, drove from the west coast of Canada to the national capital of Ottawa. They are protesting the COVID-19 mandate for truckers.

Besides truckers, ordinary Canadians were also fed up with the restrictions that the pandemic has placed upon them. Some claim that the mandates cost them their jobs and have affected their families, and because of their frustration, they have also joined the protests. These protesters were spreading to the border crossing between Canada and the United States and interrupting trade. 

Because of these protests, truckers have cost half of a billion dollars worth of daily trade with the United States. Since the protestors have left Ottawa paralyzed, the mayor has declared a state of emergency. The mayor of Windsor, Ontario, where the protesters have closed down the Ambassador Bridge border that crosses to the United States, said that the police were preparing to physically remove any protesters if it was necessary. Even with this subtle warning, the protesters did not let that stop them. According to ‘Fortune’, they continued to fight until officials decided to remove all COVID restrictions nationwide. 

How do these protests in another country affect us here in the United States? According to ‘Deseret News’, Jeff Schuster, president of the LMC Automotive consulting firm in Troy, Michigan said, “We’re dealing with part shortages in general and supply chain issues. This is just another wrench in the industry that we’re dealing with right now.” Schuster mentions the lack of parts and this is not just him experiencing it. Any business in the United States that relies on Canadian trade is being impacted at a high level right now.

According to ‘Newsweek’, the Ottowa City Council has voted to “redo” Valentine’s Day on March 14th, 2022 because as a result of the protest, restaurants, and businesses that would usually be open on Valentine’s Day and get more sales were forced to close. The city council and development staff would work with local businesses to promote shopping and dining on March 14th, 2022.  Susan Murray told CTV News, “I think it’s great that the city has thought about small businesses and what impact the last February 14th might have had on them”. Many businesses are losing money due to the protests and having to close down. The Rideau Center, which is a shopping mall, lost approximately $20 million CAD in the week of these protests.

The very few police officers, that were seen, were swallowed up by the enormous crowds of people. Scott Spenser, 36, said in the ‘New York Times’, “They don’t have an easy job, hopefully, this all ends peacefully and they lift the mandates and we all get back to living.”

Many who supported the protests wanted the “Freedom Convoy” to continue until vaccine mandates and other COVID-19 measures in the country were dissolved. The police said that they may arrest anyone who is blocking the streets or helping anyone else do it. They also mentioned that anyone going into Ottawa to join the protests may have their vehicles seized, face fines, or have their licenses suspended. 

According to ‘ABC News’, A judge has denied bail to one of the leading organizers behind the Ottawa protests on Tuesday. Ottawa police have made 196 arrests, with over 100 facing more than one charge. 115 vehicles were also towed that were connected to the protest.

By: Toby Martin-Kohls

You may have heard in the media about the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. You might have heard eye-catching headlines such as NBC New’s “Biden warns Americans to leave, says sending troops to evacuate to be a ‘world war’”. But what is this conflict even about?

In short, Russia has currently amassed 130,000 troops at various points along their shared border with Ukraine, complete with other war aids such as field hospitals. Putin has a list of demands for the West or more commonly referred to as NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization). Negotiations are ongoing, but Russia has enough troops positioned to launch a full-scale invasion.

His demands include that NATO stop expanding, for NATO to remove troops out of Eastern Europe, and assurances that the US won’t protect Eastern European allies. He knows that these demands are far-fetched, but then he could claim he went the diplomatic way before an invasion.

To fully understand this conflict, you need to understand what NATO is and also take a step back into the past.

NATO was formed in 1949 by the US to provide collective security against the Soviet Union. Before Russia became the Russia that it is today, it was the USSR, or also known as the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union was a socialist republic and tried to build a communist society.

After the fall of the Soviet Union in December 1991, former Soviet republics declared some forms of independence, and today they are recognized as sovereign states. These countries are now known as: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.

Since modern-day Ukraine was once part of the Soviet Union, there were, and still are, many deep cultural ties to the region. For example, the leader of the Soviet Union when it fell, Mikhail Gorbachev, had a Ukrainian mother and a Russian father. To people like him, and Vladimir Putin, Ukraine, and Russia share similar interests and objectives.

Putin became President of Russia in 2012, but he was a high-ranking government official for years prior. In a 2005 speech, Putin said, “The collapse of the Soviet Union was the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the century,” and “As for the Russian people, it became a genuine tragedy. Tens of millions of our fellow countrymen found themselves beyond the fringes of Russian territory.”

In his mind, all the new territories from the old regime were essentially still Russian. When the West shows up to these former republics offering their ideological beliefs such as democracies and inviting them to join their military alliance (NATO), which again, was first started to provide security against the Soviet Union, he felt threatened, because of this belief that Ukraine is Russia.

Ukraine has been flirting with becoming more allied with the West, which has Putin on edge. After Russian annexed Crimea, a southern region of Ukraine, in 2014, Ukrainians elected a pro-West president. The current president, elected in 2019, is also a closer ally of NATO countries, and has talked about the country joining NATO. A Unian poll asked Ukrainians if they were in favor to join the European Union which 58% of respondents said yes. It also asked if they were in favor of Ukraine joining NATO, of which 64% said yes.

Further emphasizing his position, on his blog, Putin wrote, “…Of what is essentially the same historical and spiritual space, to my mind is our great common misfortune and tragedy…But these are also the result of deliberate efforts by those forces that have always sought to undermine our unity. The formula they apply has been known from time immemorial – divide and rule.”

He truly believes that Ukraine has aligned itself with the West to thwart Russia.

Perhaps his most effective argument is, “Just have a look at how Austria and Germany, the USA and Canada live next to each other. Close in ethnic composition, culture, in fact sharing one language, they remain sovereign states with their own interests, with their own foreign policy. But this does not prevent them from the closest integration or allied relations. They have very conditional, transparent borders. And when crossing them the citizens feel at home. They create families, study, work, do business. Incidentally, so do millions of those born in Ukraine who now live in Russia. We see them as our own close people.”

That does not excuse using force to take over a sovereign state. If Putin ends up invading Russia, this will give NATO a new purpose, albeit similar to why it was formed. Putin and his legacy all seem to rest on gaining land back that he deems as part of Russia.