Author

Tala Ahmadi

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Africa Featured Globalization International Trade

China’s Strategic African Exploitation

The minibus violently jostled left and right as we hit a road under construction. Awoken from my nap, I looked out the window half asleep. I figured I must still be dreaming as we passed Chinese signs, Chinese workers and Chinese machinery– wasn’t I in the West African country of Ghana? While accustomed to encountering diversity in Africa’s globalized metropolises, I was surprised to find a Chinese presence at a construction project en route to a small village in rural Ghana. As I traveled to more African countries, the image of Chinese investments against the continent’s cities and landscapes was a frequent recurrence.

Since the beginning of the 21st century, China has aggressively positioned itself in Africa through a host of economic activities ranging from infrastructure projects, construction, mining, social services, restaurants, retail and more. In what President Xi Jinping has deemed a “win-win” relationship, China extracts natural resources from the continent to fuel its economic development in exchange for cheap manufactured goods, roads, schools, hospitals, railways and more. A testament to its foreign policy commitment of “Go Global,” China surpassed the United States (US) as Africa’s largest trading partner in 2009.

China’s appetite to forge international partnerships comes at a time when rising populism has forced many Western countries to look inward, with President Donald Trump notably proposing to cut foreign aid by one-third. The economic powerhouse is also ramping up its activities in Latin America in light of a diminishing US presence, doling out more development finance than the World Bank, Inter-American Development Bank and the Andean Development Corporation combined. China has also set its eye on the Middle East, releasing its first Arab Policy Paper which describes how the country hopes to increase trade with the region mostly in exchange for oil.

By pouring $2.25 billion into Africa annually, China has positioned itself as a viable, and often more attractive, alternative to traditional Western aid and development organizations. Chinese money is accompanied by a policy of no interference, meaning few strings are attached for the recipient country besides access to natural resources or a local market. Unlike Western money that often comes with conditionalities like enforcing good governance, human rights or environmental protection, Chinese aid is doled out efficiently and projects are often completed on schedule or earlier. Their non-interference policy also means that the Chinese are willing to indulge African despots that many Western development organizations dare not. One such dictator includes Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe’s dictator that is purportedly using Chinese funds to increase surveillance capacities rather than assisting the 72% of Zimbabweans who live in poverty (national poverty line).

China has been criticized by many Western countries and media outlets as a neo-colonial force that disregards local labor regulations, funds dictatorial leaders, destroys local markets and invests in construction projects that lack quality and lifetime in the name of profit. While these accusations are valid, China is providing desperately needed infrastructure to a continent that still struggles to achieve fundamental levels of development even after the $30 billion in aid Africa has received since the 1970s. Western development agencies are known for their bureaucratic and top down approach to development that often imposes, unsuccessfully for the most part, western cultural norms and institutions on a continent that frequently does not share the same values. The Chinese have been able to successfully execute projects that Africans can make use of like roads, schools and hospitals.

China’s African foreign policy strategy is deeper than the superficial goal of economic exploitation or neo-colonialism. In light of shifting global paradigms, where the US seems more and more like a decaying empire, China is seeking to build strategic partnerships across the continent that result in international signs of support like at the United Nations. In fact, one of China’s first projects in Africa was the construction of the Tazara railway in the 1970s, connecting Tanzania to Zambia. In exchange for the railway, China required support at the UN to be reinstated in the Security Council. AidData reveals that for every 10% increase in voting support at the UN, China increases aid by 86%. Another bargaining chip for access to Chinese money is often international recognition of China over Taiwan, which most recently occurred with the small, African island country of Sao Tome and Principe.

Another indication that China seeks strategic alliances rather than a form of pure exploitation is China’s establishment of the tri-annual Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in 2000. During the most recent FOCAC in 2015, where 50 African leaders attended compared to four in the first forum, President Xi promised $60 billion investment in Africa. In 2013, President Xi also revealed his One Belt, One Road initiative, an ambitious vision with a $1.6 trillion price tag, linking Asia, Africa and the Middle East’s trade routes to create a stronger Eastern trade bloc. Perhaps a flex of its geopolitical muscle and a wink to the West, China started building its first African military base in Djibouti— only about ten miles from the US’ largest African military base.

China is presenting itself as a champion of the East and an alternative option for financing the development of emerging economies. While characteristics of China’s foreign policy are accurately likened to economic exploitation, it appears China’s deeper goal in Africa is to forge lasting partnerships in exchange for political loyalty. This may also be influenced by the fact that the longevity of the Sino-African “win, win” relationship is contingent on the Chinese economy’s success. With Chinese economic growth consistently slowing and commodity prices fluctuating, a purely economic agenda may not be sustainable. China presents itself to African nations as an example of an alternative model for climbing out of poverty, an easier and more efficient financing partner and a global leader rivaling the Western hegemonic power structure. A testament to their attempt at cultivating an international image of partnership and leadership, the Chinese Ambassador to Ghana recently commented on the One Belt, One Road initiative, “The belt and road initiative comes from China, yet it belongs to the world.”

August 6, 2017 0 comment

Balme Library, University of Ghana, Legon. By Tala Ahmadi.

Africa Education Featured

Failing the Test: The University of Ghana

written by Tala Ahmadi

Writer’s note: Every statement in this article and any reference to the University of Ghana or its staff and administration is strictly from the perspective of an undergraduate, international third-year social sciences and humanities student. This means that any reference to professors, administrators or students are those that I directly encountered during my studies at Legon, I understand that many factions of the university can be vastly different than the experience I had. (This was edited for clarity).

I spent the past year studying and living in Ghana. As a foreign exchange student at the University of Ghana, Legon (UG or Legon) in Accra, I experienced an academic world entirely foreign to my previous lifestyle at UCLA. UG, founded in 1948 and home to over 40,000 students, is Ghana’s premier university. It is located in Accra, Ghana’s modern, international capital. Many parts of the city boast skyscrapers housing multinational corporations, Mercedes-Benzs and Range Rovers dot the highways and western style malls cater to the large expat population and upper class.The city is visibly ripe with resources and houses a rapidly expanding elite. Despite its close proximity to this wealth of resources and an impressive alumni network, including the former Ghanaian president John Mahama, Legon lacks the fundamental levels of modernity and academic integrity needed to qualify as an advanced institution of higher education. The university is Africa’s seventh best, yet it currently does not rank in the top 600 universities in the world.

It is easy, and many of my fellow international students at UG held this mentality, to dismiss Legon’s issues as what is to be expected in a “developing” country and continent. This mindset is problematic because it reinforces the generalizing Western narrative of Africa as a continent of violence, corruption and poverty. Excluding widespread violence, Ghana does experience these issues and in many regards is crippled by them. However, fundamental resources critical to an advanced academic institution—like generators that work and reliable WiFi—have been available in Accra for too long to justify their absence from many parts of campus. UG’s subpar institutional quality is rooted in heavy administrative bureaucracy which hampers the university’s systemic effectiveness as well as faculty and administrators who are apathetic about the quality of education students receive.

Ghana is no stranger to systemic inefficiency. When you pay for a service in Ghana, there is never a guarantee that you will accurately receive that service. The country also struggles with a 24% poverty rate, high inequality, youth unemployment and corruption. However, the issues the country faces do not explain Legon’s current state. Monetary shortages and their effects are understandable, but UG demonstrated last year that it has access to funds. The university chose to neglect its pressing needs and instead allocated that money to trivial beautification projects.

During my last few days as a Legon student, I noticed new, impressively large black signs on the campus roundabouts. A new fountain was placed in the middle of the most congested roundabout on campus. After construction all year, a pond spouting water into the sky with extensive landscaping and flamingo statues by the main gate entrance was completed. To someone driving through UG, the updates make the campus look professional and legitimate. The fountain is definitely more aesthetically appealing than the previous dead grass and dirt, but—as a Ghanaian friend pointed out to me—how can the University justify displaying water flowing freely when students do not have reliable running water in their dorms?

Student housing conditions are cramped; many dorms house four to a room meant for two and some students even rent half of their bed to squatters for extra cash. Friends told me that they were often assigned rooms with doors that did not lock properly or were not given keys. The university should have directed the funds used towards landscaping to improve student housing or towards new chalkboards and white boards, replacing the irrevocably cloudy, old ones. Also worthy of budget allocation is improving the slow, inaccessible and unreliable WiFi on campus—even in the library. Why not consider replacing broken generators so when the power goes out, classes that use PowerPoints are not cancelled? Allocating these funds, regardless of their source, to trivial beautification projects is negligent. The apathy of administrators to raising the academic quality and resources students receive is unfortunately not unique to budgetary allocations.

Ghana’s culture of respect for elders has particular consequences for UG students who are culturally barred from holding their professors and administrators accountable. Like many places around the world, anyone significantly older than you demands non-objectionable respect regardless of the situation. This reinforces faculty indifference. Many of my professors seemed to genuinely not care about teaching. One professor showed up for only six or seven classes out of 13 weeks. In too many of my courses, professors cited data and assigned readings three to four decades old. My geography professor attempted to argue that the cause of homosexuality in Ghana was globalization. His PowerPoint slide read, “Globalization Indeed!” with an image of a newspaper clipping showing mug shots of four Ghanaian men with the headline, “Four homosexuals jailed 2 years each.” This type of thinking is not surprising in the West African country, where LGBT stigma is high and discussing the topic is taboo. But this is shocking information to be teaching a class at the supposedly premier higher education institute in Ghana considering homosexuality has existed in numerous cultures since antiquity.

Faculty and administrative indifference trickles down to affect student integrity. During a meeting for a group essay, I spent half an hour watching a group member look up an article on her phone and type it verbatim on the computer. I had a similar experience with another group project due the same day. As I compiled the paper I noticed a student’s’ contribution seemed out of place and random in the context of our topic. I google searched one of her paragraphs and a thesis came up at the top of the search. Plagiarism is widespread across campus because faculty and administration simply do not care enough to make the University of Ghana a campus of academic integrity. While there does exist a code that explicitly prohibits plagiarism, it clearly has no weight behind it. How can Africa’s seventh best university ever be taken seriously if its staff neglects to enforce one of the fundamental tenants of academia?

The University of Cape Town (UCT) ranks as Africa’s best university mainly because its research is taken seriously and cited globally. UCT is a leading global research institution because it emphasizes a strong international perspective (about 18% of UCT students are international) and secures donations from multinational corporations like Ford and MasterCard. Integrating a global framework at UG may attract the interest of foreign investors who could direct funds specifically for modern academic necessities instead of fountains and landscaping. While on campus last year, I heard murmurs of Chinese corporations potentially developing a high speed WiFi infrastructure on UG’s campus—this is a good start. To compete internationally like UCT, Legon professors, many of whom are knowledgeable and intelligent, must reevaluate their courses and practices to ensure data cited and required readings are up to date, enhance student engagement by emphasizing analysis rather than regurgitation and view their students as clients rather than their social inferiors. This applies to administrators as well, whose cultural respect accords them power over students. While the suggestion that students should be considered clients may be an American concept incompatible with West Africa’s culture generally, in the educational setting I believe it is necessary to ensure students receive the best quality services.

The apathy of many faculty and administrators should not exist in Ghana’s premier educational institute. The economic and urban advancement of African countries is often overlooked by the world in favor of their issues. While the problems the continent faces are defining features of many African nations, their successes are as well. The University of Ghana is located in one of the world’s most globalized cities with access to the resources necessary for a modern academic institution. Africa’s seventh best university is in a position to deliver a high quality university education and student experience. As Ghana continues to advance, it must deliver on that promise to the generation that will lead it into the future.

January 16, 2017 51 comments

Violence Against Women Source

Africa Featured Society and Culture Women's Rights

Domestic Violence in Ghana: Socially Accepted and Judicially Trivialized

written by Tala Ahmadi

The West African country of Ghana’s deeply entrenched patriarchal culture, where the husband’s exclusive rights to his wife trump her own, condones domestic violence. Most Ghanaian women are told that to be successful in life, they must find a husband and serve him adequately by fulfilling gender roles and continuing his lineage. Wives are told to be socially smaller than their husbands, who are their superiors, breadwinners and protectors. Across all the hundreds of ethnic groups in Ghana, women are viewed as inferior to men. One of the many social dimensions arising from this gendered culture includes an acceptance of domestic violence. The few women that legally report their instances of abuse are supposed to be supported by Ghana’s Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit (DOVVSU), a branch of the Ghana Police Services. However, Ghanaian women still face extreme obstacles in preventing and reporting domestic violence as well as seeking and receiving justice from the Ghanaian criminal system. Despite the normal inefficiencies that plague most of Ghana’s institutions (the DOVVSU does not even have a website), the root of the Unit’s ineffectiveness remains Ghana’s deeply entrenched gendered culture.

Traditionally, when women are born they belong to their fathers. Once married, their cultural property title moves to their husband and his family— a sister-in-law can refer to her husband’s wife as, “my wife.” If a wife is disobedient, which includes failing to fulfill her traditional obligations like cooking, cleaning, taking care of children and being sexually available whenever her husband desires, domestic violence is often socially accepted by both men and women. According to Ghana’s 2003 Demographic and Health Survey,19.8% of men and 34% of women found it socially acceptable for a husband to beat his wife if she went out without telling him. The survey also showed that 10.1% of men and 19.9% of women considered it acceptable for a husband to beat his wife for refusing to have sex with him. These statistics are unfortunately not unique to Ghana and are part of an international and regional epidemic.

Within West Africa, domestic violence is widespread and often legally allowed. Globally, 30% of women experience violence from intimate partners and 36.6% of African women experience lifetime intimate partner violence. Section 55(1)(d) of Nigeria’s Penal Code legally condones an assault by a husband on his wife for, “the purpose of correcting his wife, such husband and wife being subject to any native law or custom in which such correction is recognized as lawful.” Spousal rape is also not criminalized in Togo, Ghana’s neighbor. In Benin, 68.6% of women experience violence at the hands of men, and 69.5% of those perpetrators are spouses or partners. One in four women in Senegal are victims of domestic abuse. These high statistics are the consequence of deeply gendered cultures where domestic abuse is socially accepted and frequently legal.

These embedded cultural norms were challenged in the past four decades by a global wave of women’s rights advocacy. Several international and regional treaties, bills, covenants and conventions geared towards women’s rights were adopted, including the UN’s notable Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. One of Ghana’s responses to this push included establishing the DOVVSU in February 2007. However, women who seek the DOVVSU’s support are often discouraged to report their claims and rarely see their spouses brought to justice. The DOVVSU fails in its mission to provide victims with adequate support services because it remains shackled to Ghana’s patriarchal culture.

Many Ghanaians traditionally believe that domestic abuse should be resolved within the household rather than externally via the justice system. This mindset causes judges to trivialize domestic violence cases or pressure women to drop their claims. Often times, Ghanaian women are too embarrassed, disheartened or discouraged to even report their cases of abuse—95% of Ghanaian women who have been raped do not report the incident. Even when women do pursue criminal charges many of their claims never get sent to court, they experience societal shaming and hardly any cases lead to convictions. A statistic from 2010 found that out of 12,706 cases in the country, only 954 were sent to court and of those only 118 convictions were obtained. These numbers are unacceptable given that the DOVVSU’s intent is to provide victims with the support necessary to seek justice. In actuality, those who are entrusted with the power to help victims find justice convince and encourage women to drop their claims and return to their abusive relationships to avoid disturbing the peace of their communities.

Another traditional belief contributing to the DOVVSU’s ineffectiveness and the prevalence of domestic violence is the cultural mindset that marriage equals consent. A 2007 survey found that 20.6% of Ghanaian women have experienced intimate partner violence in their lifetime and 44.5% have experienced physical and/or sexual abuse from intimate partners and/or non-partners in their lifetime. These high numbers are not surprising considering until 2007, Ghanaian Criminal Code section 42 (g) explicitly allowed marital rape by stating, “the consent given by a husband or wife at marriage, for the purposes of marriage, cannot be revoked until the parties are divorced or separated by a judgment or decree of a competent Court.” After the DOVVSU was established, section 42 (g) was revised to state, “The use of violence in the domestic setting is not justified on the basis of consent.” While the changes imply husbands can be criminally prosecuted for marital rape, there is no direct prohibition of marital rape statutorily in the Ghanaian Criminal Code. In addition, the revision in the law has yet to change cultural and patriarchal mindsets that contribute to the extent of marital rape and the attitudes of law enforcement officers who trivialize domestic violence cases.

The DOVVSU’s establishment marked a significant first step in improving the Ghanaian domestic violence landscape, however its effectiveness is marred by prevailing cultural norms. How can Ghana create an effective DOVVSU when major sources of its inadequacy are beliefs that can only be changed with time? This is a difficult question to answer, but the solution must include more rigorous sensitivity training for judges, police officers and leaders of communities, national emphasis on the issue and increased marketing about the DOVVSU. Queen mothers, who are the female leaders of many Ghanaian communities and dedicated advocates for women and children, and DOVVSU representatives should organize community discussions about gender roles and domestic violence. Similar conversations should be conducted in classrooms so from a young age children can start a normally nonexistent discussion regarding domestic abuse. Queen mothers should also spearhead female support groups as forums for women to talk freely about sexism and gender roles. Female focused NGOs must also work with Queen mothers and take advantage of their unique position with women and children. These open conversations regarding gender constructs and their societal influence will work to challenge the prevailing norms and change the mindsets that leave many Ghanaian women disentitled to their own bodies.

May 26, 2016 4 comments

Featured LGBT Religion

The Crossroads: The Modernization of the Roman Catholic Church

written by Tala Ahmadi

As one of the world’s oldest institutions still alive today, the Roman Catholic Church has been at the intersection of traditional versus contemporary many times before. The most recent example of this occurred in October, when Pope Francis called on leading clergy to discuss the Church’s approach on family values.

Among the topics discussed at the synod, a meeting of bishops to discuss or determine changes in doctrine, were some of the most controversial issues facing the Church today. These included gay marriage and whether divorced and remarried Catholics can receive Communion. Halfway through the two-week discussion, the Vatican released a preliminary report that caused shockwaves within the Catholic community. The section that prompted the most debate was titled, “Providing for homosexual persons,” and included unprecedented language like, “Homosexuals have gifts and qualities to offer to the Christian community.”

The ensuing response from conservative bishops and Catholics was overwhelmingly negative. American Cardinal Raymond Burke claimed the Church was manipulating information and misrepresenting the discussions going on behind closed doors. The Vatican responded by stating that this was only a preliminary document serving simply as a summary of the topics being discussed. On the last day of the synod, the bishops voted on the final document that had a less welcoming approach than the previous one. The final version no longer contained the “gifts and qualities” sentence and the title of the section was changed to “Pastoral attention to people of homosexual orientation.” Even this watered down version did not get the two-thirds majority vote required to be included in the document. However, per Pope Francis’ request, the paragraphs were inserted in the final document along with the vote count. The Vatican stated this was because the synod will reconvene in a year’s time to discuss the topics once more, and thus the paragraphs can act as a framework for future discussions. This give and take between conservative Catholics and more liberal ones may resemble the internal conflict among Catholic leaders in steering the future of the religion.

To understand why the topics discussed and the actions of Pope Francis are unconventionally progressive, it is helpful to take a closer look at the steps Pope Francis took during the synod in the context of traditional Catholic doctrine. Last year, when asked about his beliefs on gay priests, Francis replied, “If someone is gay and he searches for the Lord and has good will, who am I to judge?” To put this quote in context, Pope Benedict XVI called homosexuality “an intrinsic moral evil.” Additionally, Pope Francis convened the synod to discuss the ways in which the Catholic Church can be more welcoming to the LGBT community. For a religion that deems homosexuality as “intrinsically disordered,” even discussing these topics is unprecedented.

However, convening the synod was not enough for Pope Francis. Halfway through, per Pope Francis’ request, the revolutionary preliminary document containing never before seen language in the history of the Catholic Church was released. Even when the controversial language was then watered down and did not pass, Pope Francis still included it in the final document. In his final speech at the synod, Francis said that bishops were becoming too attached to doctrine, were guided by “hostile rigidity,” and demonstrated a “destructive goody-goodiness.”

Pope Francis’ actions raise two questions that are closely related and are worth considering: Is the Pope too progressive for the current Catholic climate? or Is his progressivism exactly what the Catholic Church needs to reshape its image in the 21st century? I believe the latter.

The Catholic Church is no stranger to controversy. The recent sex abuse scandals, the abrupt resignation of Pope Benedict XVI, and harsh doctrinal language about homosexuality and female leadership roles have tainted the Church’s public image in an increasingly liberal global population. The world has become more receptive to empowering historically marginalized communities. 17 countries have legalized gay marriage and 22 countries have women as President or Prime Minister. Yet, the Catholic Church still does not allow women to become priests and views homosexual activities as sinful. If the Catholic Church wants to remain relevant to the youngest generation and cultivate a sustainable base of support, they must adapt, and this is what Pope Francis is attempting to do.

The last time there were substantial changes to the Catholic Church was during the Second Vatican Council from 1962 to 1965 where institutional modifications, like changing the language used in Holy Mass from Latin to the vernacular, helped ease the Church’s transition into the modern world. Vatican II was called because the Pope at the time (Pope John XXIII) was receptive to the cultural changes ushered in from the aftermath of WWII and wanted to ensure the Church could adapt. The similarities between the Catholic Church’s efforts in the 1960s and Pope Francis’ efforts today are evident, and perhaps Vatican III could be around the corner.

The bishops who convened at October’s synod will be outlived by a generation far more receptive to the needs and desires of communities that have been suppressed. The Catholic Church needs to ensure that it not only has enough support to remain relevant, but also promotes ideologies that are compatible with what it means to be Catholic in the 21st century. However, there is a flipside to this argument. The region with the fastest-growing Catholic population is Sub-Saharan Africa. The Catholics from this region also tend to be the most conservative. Out of the 47 countries on the African continent,36 have outlawed homosexuality and 4 have the death penalty for homosexual acts. Sub-Saharan Africans could become the next major Catholic population, and the future of Catholic doctrine could be heavily influenced by their beliefs.

For the moment however, Pope Francis is doing nearly everything in his power to help usher in a new age for the Catholic Church. His controversial and progressive tactics are causing ripples through an institution that has traditionally clung to its centuries old doctrines and beliefs. Pope Francis is getting senior clerics to talk about some of the most contentious issues that have remained taboo in the Church for quite some time. He could be exactly what the ancient institution needs to mature into the 21st century without losing its relevance and legitimacy.

December 12, 2014 3 comments

Europe Featured Security and Conflict

European Elections: A Step Backwards?

written by Tala Ahmadi

As Europe’s economic condition remains stagnant, racism is increasing to a frightening degree reminiscent of the continent’s darkest period in modern history. While the Nazi era is long gone, there has been a considerable resurgence of anti-Semitism and intolerance that seems to be fueling the success of some European political parties. The outcomes of the recent European Parliament elections only solidify this trend.

The conversations revolving around the elections focused on three main concepts: job creation / economic growth, euroskepticism, and immigration. For many Europeans, these three are inextricably related. Some European Union (EU) citizens blame immigrants and the apparent ineffectiveness of EU integration for the high unemployment rates that have devastated EU countries. In states where unemployment is the highest, like Greece and Spain, dissatisfaction with the EU is also the strongest.

Many argue that Greece’s unstable economy and unbelievably high unemployment rate have led to the success of a mob-like political party called Golden Dawn. Golden Dawn is a neo-Nazi group that currently has more than two dozen members in jail and several members under investigation for allegedly assassinating the anti-Fascist rapper Pavlos Fyssas. The political group also has a swastika-like flag, deems homosexuality a “sickness,” and reveres Hitler as a great man. The party won three out of Greece’s 21 seats in the European Parliament Elections . One in six Athenians also voted for its leader, Ilias Kasidiaris, to become mayor of Athens. The Grecian response and apparent resonance with the ideologies of the neo-Nazi group are the most extreme across Europe, and are intensifying racial divisions across the country.

Unfortunately, these terrifying figures are only part of a much larger trend in the EU, spanning all the way from France to Hungary. For example, the Movement for a Better Hungary, commonly referred to as Jobbik, is a neo-Nazi political group similar to Golden Dawn that also secured victories during the European Parliament elections. Jobbik is known as an anti-Semitic, pro-Christian political group that wants to expand its influence across the continent to create a far-right political coalition. Jobbik maintained their previous three out of the 21 seats Hungary holds in the European Parliament and is now the country’s second largest political party.

While Jobbik and Golden Dawn represent some of the more extreme political organizations in Europe, more moderate ones with similar agendas have distanced themselves to capture a larger European audience. This includes France’s National Front, led by Marine Le Pen ( the daughter of Jean-Marie Le Pen who founded the party in the early 1970s) . The National Front was included in a group of nonaffiliated lawmakers in the Elections—these are politicians that do not belong to any of the parties from the last European Parliament. Many groups included under the umbrella of nonaffiliated lawmakers have attempted to form a far-right coalition to increase their political power. However, those efforts have been met with marginal success and are likely to continue to do so. Many of the nonaffiliated lawmakers were from right-wing, anti-EU parties. This group saw the greatest increase of all the parties during the elections—gaining 72 seats for a total of 105 out of the 751 seats in the Parliament.

The National Front defeated many of France’s established parties to gain the majority of votes in France. Much of their success has been attributed to the efforts of Marine Le Pen, whose biggest challenge has remained rebranding the party away from an anti-Semitic history. Marine Le Pen’s father, Jean-Marie Le Pen, created the party as a refuge for neo-Nazis. The party was previously known as a highly racist and elitist group of people who hold anti-Semitic beliefs. Jean-Marie Le Pen has an extensive history of making anti-Semitic remarks. Most recently, in an interview he was asked to share his thoughts on some of his critics like Jewish actor and singer Patrick Bruel. Jean-Marie Le Pen responded, “we’ll make a batch of them next time” using the French word “fournee,” a reference to the ovens of the Nazi death camps.

While Marine Le Pen has done a fairly good job of distancing the party from its history and her father’s remarks by refusing to associate with Jobbik and Golden Dawn and focusing her platform solely on euroskepticism- a philosophy that disputes any benefits of EU integration-she has not done enough. She must fully isolate her party from her father instead of merely citing his racist remarks as “political error” and removing his recent interview from her party’s website. This tide of electoral opinion is striking in a country like France where revolutionaries sought to instill social equality in the not too distant past.

It is evident that racism is increasing across Europe, however the cause of this intolerance still remains blurry. It seems that this resurgence of Nazi sentiments and the rise of political groups that praise anti-Semitism stems from the economic downturn Europeans are experiencing. Immigration reform has been at the forefront of several European party campaigns, due in large part to the effects of the Syrian civil war and the Arab Spring. The number of people fleeing tumultuous situations at home for refuge in Europe has increased dramatically, prompting politicians to adopt strict anti-immigration beliefs.

Political leaders, like Nigel Farage who heads the UK Independence Party and has made racist remarks about Romanians, is another example of the success of extremist, anti-immigrant views (UKIP). UKIP received the greatest votes of any British party, winning 24 out of the UK’s 73 seats in the European Parliament. UKIP’s 2010 manifesto included policies such as ending the active promotion of multiculturalism and increasing defense spending by 40%. Farage has since openly condemned the manifesto and claims it no longer represents the beliefs of UKIP. The UKIP’s 2014 manifesto is simpler and focuses mainly on UK separation from the EU and controlling immigration to prioritize “local people”, however the apparent softening of its position does not mask its continued anti-immigrant beliefs.

The increased intolerance and racism among some Europeans is perpetuated by a political climate that has deemed these ideologies acceptable. While Greece’s government has imprisoned members of the Golden Dawn, it is clear those efforts have not impacted the growing popularity of the dangerous neo-Nazi group. In France, besides simply disassociating with Golden Dawn and Jobbik, Marine Le Pen must stand up to her father and emphasize her party’s total intolerance for anyone who holds anti-Semitic beliefs.

While it is clear we are past the Nazi era, these pockets of intolerance are creating serious fears among the targeted minorities that live in areas where groups like Golden Dawn have strong ties. Although these groups do not share a majority in Parliament and many Europeans condemn them as unjust, their increasing popularity is a serious cause for concern. The majority of citizens in two major European countries, France and the UK, voted for two political groups that have histories of racism and promote exclusionary policies. The idea that the criminals that constitute Golden Dawn now have political power in the affairs of the EU, however minor it may be, is not only disappointing but frightening. While some of this burgeoning racism must stem from many of the anti-immigration movements gaining ground in Europe, economic duress should never allow a return to the politics of racism.

July 27, 2014 3 comments