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june 2012.international organizations

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_editorial

To close this first semester of 2012, Libertas presents the June issue on international organizations. Be them military agreements, economic or non-profit organizations, if one of our contributors sees that it plays an important role in their life, and possibly in yours, it is included in these next pages.These organizations are playing an increasingly important role in our lives in this globalized world, but did we learn how to deal with them already? And do we fully understand how they work? We should keep these questions in mind as we explore this topic that is changing the dynamics of the world we’re living in, and each of you should think of the organizations you know and check out what and why they were really created for.At Libertas headquarters we also want to announce that we have very special plans for the upcoming semester, exciting topics we will explore and share with you all and new endeavors and challenges we are taking upon ourselves to make this experience a lot better for all of us.We hope you all enjoy reading this issue!

Daniel

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Libertas 33 “international organizations”

published june 2012

_contents

the bottom billion: role of international organizations

skopje film festival

europe is our playground

poetry: memories

movie review: habemus papam

travel destination: terezin

book review: dance with the devil

pigs in maputo

an organization people know but don’t understand

european youth parliament

music review: “valtari” by sigur rós

events

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The Bottom Billion:Role of International

Organ i sat i onsJack Shaka

Who needs whom?Prof. Paul Collier in his book, ‘The Bottom Billion,’ creates an understanding of the bottom billion. These are the five or so billion people (80% of the world’s population) that live in the ‘developing countries’ or ‘emerging economies’ or what was referred to as the ‘3rd world.’ The developing countries are rising fast and many of the International organisations are feeling the impact since their current roles are being questioned. Majority of these International Organisations have or implement majority of their core mandates in the bottom billion countries. The United Nations, World Bank, International Committee of the Red Cross, Care, Amnesty International, and the list is endless. All of them championing different causes. It is vital to make a distinction between Intergovernmental Organisations e.g. the UN, World Bank, IMF (IGOs) and International Non Governmental Organisations (INGOs) e.g. Amnesty International and Greenpeace.IGOs have states, as members while INGOs do not. The main role of IGO’s like the UN, World Bank, World Trade Organisation, International Monetary Fund and others is to promote the development and welfare of the member states. The states realised that there is need to promote trade, world peace, environmental

protection and many other sectors hence the need to create such organisations. The World Bank has played an integral role in assisting a lot of countries in the bottom billion who have just emerged out of conflict and are in the process of reconstruction. The UN has the biggest mandate of them all. With different arms dealing with so many issues around the world, the UN has tried to set the benchmark for IGOs/INGOs operating in the developing nations. The bottom billion needs these International Organisations to help in solving the myriad problems that they are facing. Haiti earthquake, Sri Lankan Tsunami, Sudan vs. South Sudan conflict -the list goes on. These organisations are needed to provide services and solutions that are essential to the development of the bottom billion economies. For these organisations to continue operating, they need the countries in the bottom in order for them to justify their continued existence. Since famine hit the East and West African region in 2011 organisations like the ICRC and MSF have been on the forefront to make sure that the people in the affected areas receive food and medical aid. They have also continued to support the hundreds of thousands of refugees arriving in Daadab refugee camp in Kenya from Somalia.

Article.

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Dictating Terms Many governments have created International Development agencies or Departments that operate internationally in scope thereby joining the list of many International Organisations operating in the bottom billion. These governments don’t create these agencies because they feel charitable (maybe some do?); they create them because they have strategic interests in those regions or areas. The worry that has been rife over the years is the global power of these International Organisations to an extent that they control governments in the bottom billion. They decide what democracy is-what constitution a country should have-fly in expats to do the work... Are countries losing sovereignty to the very organisations that are supposed to promote sovereignty? The UK has DFID, USA has USAID, Sweden has SIDA, Denmark has DANIDA and Japan has JICA. The US is clear about her interests and the organisations in the developing countries receiving funding must uphold and promote her interests. In a document by the Congressional Research Service titled, ‘U.S. Foreign Assistance to Sub-Saharan Africa: The FY2012 Request,’ the authors mention that since the Obama administration took over the bilateral aid to Africa has gone up by 10% as compared to 2010.They also mention the interests of the US in their funding criteria. ‘Significant aid increases since 2001 reflect, in part, changing perceptions of Africa’s importance to U.S. national interests and security.’ This is better explained in a document by USAID tiled,

‘USAID Policy Framework for Bilateral Foreign Aid Mandatory Reference for ADS Chapter 101 and 201,’ that was published in April 2011 which states that; ‘3. Support strategic states: Help achieve major U.S. foreign policy goals in specific countries of especially high priority as key allies from a strategic standpoint.’

Controversies DFID has had strained diplomatic relations with Malawi (Under the late President Bingu wa Mutharika) and Uganda over some of their foreign policies regarding development aid. UK made it clear the countries that do not respect gay rights-do not respect human rights thereby not worthy of their money. In India-DFID was informed that India does not need its money. This was ‘because of the negative publicity of Indian poverty promoted by DFID’. International organisations marred with controversies include Amnesty International over payments to two former senior employees while the organisation was struggling to raise money even from school going children. The UN faced huge criticism over its failures in Somalia and lack of action in Rwanda among other failures. It has also been accused of human rights violations like the case of Haiti where some UN Peace Keepers accused of rape have been charged and sentenced. Another case is that of the Global Fund, which has been supporting some of the BRICS countries yet, they are among the largest economies in the world therefore able to support healthcare in their respective countries.

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Latent criticism and freezing of funds from countries like Sweden and Germany led to the Global fund to re-strategise and focus on countries that actually need the funds. Many of these entities fighting poverty, hunger, conflicts and other world’s problems spend huge amounts of money on administration and high salaries for their expats. Whatever trickles down to the programme beneficiaries, is very little. Who are the real beneficiaries then? The focus areas of these entities should reflect both need and urgency. Some of them are locked in bureaucratic structures that make them seem

like corrupt government entities in the bottom billion thereby rendering them ineffective in times of urgent need since the yoke of bureaucracy is more evident at such times. They have a long way to go in order to become fully transparent and accountable. They must learn to accept criticism.

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where

when

Albuquerque, USA

7th to 16th

http://www.itsatrip.org/

savorabq/

Savor albuquerque

For ten days every year Savor Albuquerque uses art exhibits, concerts, theatre productions and more to provide a taste of the city’s diverse art scene. The festival sees over 100 events spread out across the 50 of the city’s venues. website

where

when

Florence, Italy

22nd of May to 20th of June

http://www.preziosa.org/

Firenze Preziosa

Firenze Preziosa, or precious Florence, is an art exhibition dedicated to contemporary research jewellery. Hosted in a different city every year, the event is also previewed at locations around the world, expanding its success and gathering international recognition.

website

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Skopje film festival is festival held in Skopje, Macedonia. It’s a film festival that takes part every year in March/April. The festival was founded in 1998 in the capital of Macedonia and it has earned an enormous popularity. This year the festival took part from 19th to 27th of April. The U.S. film “Restless” of director Gus Van Sant opened the 15th Skopje Film Festival in the Metropolis cinema in Skopje. The program was divided in four sections, main program, author program, gala screenings and documentary program.From the main program the most popular movies were: “The raid”; “We need to talk about Kevin”; “Superclasico”; “Hara-Kiri: Death of a samurai”; “The fairy”… From the author and gala program were: “Blue bird”; “Jess + Moss”; “Wild over lake”; “Jane Eyre”; “The rum diary”; “J. Edgar” and many more. In addition from the

documentary program were: “George Harrison: Living in a material world”; “Marina Abramovic: The artist is present”; “Chemical brothers: Don’t think”.As the years before there was a contest for one minute films. The winner was “Carwash cabaret” of the director Jordan Dukov. After every movie the audience had chance to vote for the movies they’ve been watching. So this year the audience pronounced the documentary of the director Matthew Akers as a winner, “Marina Abramovic: The artist is present”.The festival was closed with a premier of the movie The woman who brushed off her tears of the director Teona Strugar Mitevska. We’ve seen one great film festival with more than 50 screenings. So this year the organization did a great job. Hopefully we’ll see another great festival next year.

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text and imageKristijan Nikodinoviki

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Europe is our

playground

I believe that a lot of youth activists could say the same words about themselves and their organizations, and I believe that all of us could be right. So what is the difference between you and me, between your organizations and mine – AEGEE, European Students’ Forum?When people ask me this question, I always think about other international youth organizations and always conclude – although being similar, we are also different. AEGEE is working in different fields, trying to educate youth in different fields, from human rights to project management and more. However, the most important thing is the first word in its name – European. As European as you can imagine, forgetting about the borders of European Union (EU) and sometimes even forgetting about other continents in the world.Behind the official numbers – more than 10 000 members, around 200 member organizations, 40 countries and more than 25 years of experience – stands Europe. While AEGEE members are getting their first experience in fundraising, human resources, promotion and other parts of project management, they are getting more and more acquainted with the real world where they are living.In the 21st century the national borders are slowly disappearing, on daily basis more and more people commute from living in one country to working in another and speaking English (and other foreign languages) no longer is a choice, but a necessity.

It might sound banal, but I do not remember the life before AEGEE. It not only seems so far away, but it also seems so empty, undiscovered and flat. The year 2006 truly changed my life…

Anita Kalmanephotos by Michael Makowiecki

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Students from AEGEE Network often do not realize that it could have been otherwise as their daily life consists of speaking with friends from the other part of Europe, checking flight or train tickets to another international event and discussing the cultural differences.How do I know it all? As said before, for the last six years AEGEE has been not a part of my life, but truly and fully – almost all my life. I have experienced it all and I still remember my first international event which happened to be in Ukraine. Me, who never dared to speak Russian despite 10 years of studying it, now uses every possibility to practice my rusty Russian skills as only in Ukraine I understood the beauty and necessity of speaking other languages.I have also experienced living in so called “AEGEE bubble” after being elected in the international board of AEGEE-Europe and therefore moving to Brussels where our headoffice is located. Imagine one year, where your only aim and occupation is to improve your organization and take care of it. Imagine working for it days and nights for 365 days a year without a salary. You get it, the world out of AEGEE seemed not to exist anymore.To sum it up, AEGEE members often say – they are Europeans, not citizens of some specific countries. French know the current happenings in Caucasus, Estonians know about the life in the Netherlands, Germans have experienced the Spanish way of partying and celebrating the life, and Turkish can tell you five differences between Russians and Czech. Some call it Europe, we call it home.

“AEGEE is a student organisation that promotes co-operation, communication and integration amongst young people in Europe. As a non-governmental, politically independent, secular and non-profit organisation AEGEE is open to students and young people from all faculties and disciplines – today it counts 13.000 members, active in more than 200 university cities in 40 European countries, making it the biggest interdisciplinary student association in Europe.”

More information: www.aegee.org

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Memories

When the love is dead the feelings are gone,but the shadows, the dust the little pieces of pictures, of memories stay inside and hunting you.

I shall not feel I shall not hope I shall not try to make it better.

But no matter what I shall dothat colors, those returns, those flashbacks shall not disappear for they are not written in the clouds and the wind itself can not blow them away.

They shall not disappear becouse they were not written on something that can be erased.

They are written deep downin my soul, in my heart who is still bleeding and still healing.

Poetry.

Katerina Kostadinova

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After the huge success that Dan Brown made with his “Da Vinci Code” and “Angels and Demons” (especially the last one), it was hard to believe that anyone would try to represent the Vatican or the conclave (the period in which a new pope is elected and during which the contact of the cardinals with the exterior world is strictly forbidden) in a down-to-earth way. Even though, “Habemus Papam” does it in a amazingly funny way.The movie begins with the cardinals reuniting at the Vatican to start the conclave. The ceremony begins as usual and, during the elections, you can see and listen to the apprehension of every cardinal in the room: none of them wanted to be selected the new pope. But, someone has to do it, because it’s His wish. Cardinal Melville is finally elected. Buuuut...The conclave only ends as soon as the new pope is presented to the society (that moment when the new pope appears dressed as a pope on the window). And, when Cardinal

Melville is just about to step up for the whole world to see, he panics. And breaks down.The movie is about the fear of Cardinal Melville to become the new pope: it’s a hell of a burden! A few days go by during which psychiatries and the cardinal himself try to understand and overcome the fear. But the movie is about what one wants to be contrasted with what one is.The whole subject is treated with a great amount of sarcasm and a lot of jokes, but this movie may make you cry (if not externally, internally).The movie may not be so cool and funny for all kinds of watchers, though: it may hurt those who are strongly bounded to the church or the Catholic religion. But it does shine a new light under the matter of what happens inside the conclave or what happens inside our head: what is it that we let the others see? Is it what we really are? Everyone has a weakness.

Habemus Papam(We have a pope) Júlia Tessler

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review.

movie!

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Terezina town with a past

As I was planning my trip to the Czech Republic I was in no way considering visiting this place for the simple reason that I found out about it only later, as I was already in the land, - I read about it in the guide-book. It says it was a former ghetto in the World War II and I felt I wanted to visit it. For some reason I have always wanted to visit a concentration camp: one of the questions that puzzled me has always been – how could all this horror, all this inhuman treatment be made possible?

Evgenia Kostyanaya

image: http://www.fotopedia.com/items/picasaweb-5389276175567072210

travel destination.

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Terezin was a ghetto for the Jews and a prison; it was a transit camp from which people would be transported further to the East, to concentration camps and/or extermination camps like Auschwitz in Poland (Oświęcim in Polish). The town, then called Theresienstadt (it is translated from German as “Theresa’s city”), was built by Joseph II of the Austrian Empire, who named it after his mother, the Empress Maria Theresa. It was meant to be a military garrison for protection against Prussians. On the other side of the river there was built a smaller fortress as a prison that had always served this purpose.

When the Sudetenland with its majority of the German population was given over to Germany under Hitler, Terezin found itself right at the border between Germany and the remaining part of Czechoslovakia. In March 1939 Slovakia declared itself independent under a pro-Nazi Father Jozef Tiso; the remaining part of the Czechoslovakia became a German protectorate as Hitler proclaimed it upon his arrival in Prague.

Terezin started to function as a ghetto from November 1941. By mid-1942 the local population of the town had been moved out and all civilian buildings were used to place there the Jews. Not only Jews from the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia were brought here but also from Germany, Austria, Holland and Denmark, and later from Slovakia and Hungary.

In about 4 years there were more than 140,000 people brought to Terezin. Altogether, about 87,000 people were taken to the East to concentration or extermination camps; of them only 3800 survived till the liberation. In total, 63 transports left Terezin for camps in the East, mainly to Auschwitz-Birkenau1. There were not only older people, as there were initially in the ghetto, or adult people – there were also children; on the 9th of May 1945, when the Soviet Army liberated the camp,

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there were in total about 17,000 survivors.

One of the dark sides of the history of Terezin was the so-called “beautification program” – a plan of preparations for the visit of the Red Cross representatives. The aim of the Nazis was to fool them and the rest of the world which was already anxious about the situation in the concentration camps and inhuman conditions in which the prisoners and the Jews were kept. Nazis wanted to show everyone that Terezin was a normal town where people were able to send and receive letters and postcards to their friends and relatives, where they could freely socialize, go to cafes, listen to music etc. For that purpose the names of the streets were changed to usual ones like The Station Street, The Lake Street etc, instead of a mere combination of letters and numbers. A bank was established and a separate ghetto currency was introduced; though it didn’t seem to be enough. Terezin was very much overcrowded by that time so Nazis decided to send some prisoners to the East, to Auschwitz-Birkenau.

Another interesting thing was that in October 1943 Terezin saw 456 Danish Jews2; the Danish Red Cross asked to be allowed to visit them. Despite the constant pressure of the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs Germans fixed the date of the visit only for the following year – they needed time for setting up the great masquerade. Facades were repaired, pavements were made nicer, - but of course, only in those places where the inspection was supposed to take place.

The visit by Dr. Rossel of the Red Cross and two Danish delegates did take place in June 1944. Rossel wrote a report where he described with content what he had seen in the ghetto – or, rather, what had been so professionally set up for him to be seen. There were pictures of the children playing that he took during his visit – most of them died soon afterwards.

What I cannot understand is how the delegates failed to notice what the real situation in the camp was? It is all clear that sick people were forced to stay indoors and only healthy ones were to be seen outside; I can imagine that the inmates themselves were instructed to play their roles perfectly not revealing the real state of affairs for the fear of death; but nevertheless…was the set-up so perfect that there were no hints left?

The situation at the very end of the war was worsened by the transports from the camps in the East that were now coming to the West. Hitler was believed to have given an order to kill all inmates before the arrival of the liberation armies. A gas chamber was built in Terezin just before the end of the war but luckily was never put in action.

Camps in the East were being closed as the Soviet Army was coming nearer; all the prisoners who could walk were forced to leave the place in those infamous death marches. Evacuation transports were arriving in Terezin between the 20th of April and 6th of May 1945 bringing with them typhus which resulted in a severe epidemic that claimed a lot of victims. The Soviet military provided medical assistance and together with Czech doctors, former prisoners and volunteers from the neighborhood they managed to save a lot of lives.

That is the history. Despite the feeling that the town itself – the main square, its streets – is grim, I can admit that one wouldn’t say that something happened here. But at the same time something is weird. To me it had a feeling of a “dead” town. However there are cars and people on the streets – yes, people still live there; there are shops where you can buy food. People do normally live there. And that was what surprised me – how does it feel to live in a place like this? Doesn’t it drive you mad to live in this

travel destination.

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town and know its past – such a past?

I visited the museum which was extremely informative. Museums can be boring overloaded with lots of information that you kind of have to read because it was supposedly the aim of your visit. But this one was really very interesting. There was a lot of carefully structured information on stands, with lots of photos, in different languages, and when I left the place I really had the feeling that I learnt a lot.

Then I went to the so-called “Little Fortress”, the garrison itself, which was used as a prison. There was this infamous phrase over the gate into the blocks – “Arbeit macht frei” – which is translated from German as “Labor makes free”. There were several “blocks”, one-floor long buildings with rooms where prisoners slept, where they ate or where they could take a shower, etc. I also saw solitary confinements and apparently the cell where Gavrilo Princip was held – the man who assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife Sophie in 1914 which is considered to have led to the First World War.

But going through the cells or seeing the Jewish and Christian cemeteries was not even the hardest part. The moment I realized it was time to leave Terezin was when I visited the crematorium – the place where bodies were burnt when there were already too many bodies to bury them in the cemetery. The crematorium was a big hall with 4 ovens. It was the place where I felt that enough is enough. It was not that I was hysteric about the whole place – I was not; but there in the crematorium I felt more sharply than anywhere else in Terezin what it was all about. That was the place where I actually perceived what had

been happening there. Not that I didn’t know it before – of course I did. But I only knew – now I perceived it with all its completeness. It was a place where I didn’t want to talk, I just gazed at these 4 ovens. I couldn’t even take any photos – I just felt it was inappropriate there; I simply couldn’t do it. Then there was a room at one side of this big hall with the ovens – that was a room where bodies were washed before burning. Just berths with sinks at one side. For me it was the last drop. Even solitary confinements didn’t leave such an impression.

I am not describing these details in order to make people cry. Far from it, I just think that one should know about this so that it could never be repeated. I heard a lot of stories about the Second World War and the Great Patriotic War in particular since I am from Russia but only when you visit personally places like this one you can really grasp the tragedy of it. It speaks better than hundreds of books. One can argue that it is a terrible place to go, still full of pain, sorrow and sufferings. It is all true; and it is also a reminder for all of us that this should never happen again and that it is in our hands to do all our best to prevent such things in the future. I think that stories of prisoners of Terezin (as well as of any of other such places) is an example of enormous human strength and determination to survive, to come home, driven by the desire to see the ones they loved and cared for, to accomplish what they haven’t done yet. Even knowing that they perhaps would never come home again they taught children in these horrible conditions, they had lectures, they shared with each other what they knew; and thus they fought. And even those who didn’t survive till the day of liberation – they also won, because they managed to keep their human dignity.

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1 http://www.pamatnik-terezin.cz/en/history-collection-research/historical-overview/the-concentration-camp-for-jews-the-terezin-ghetto?lang=en

2 http://www.porges.net/Terezin/GenocideOfCzechJews.html

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Sherrilyn Kenyon (born in 1965) is a bestselling US writer. Kenyon’s novels have an “international following” with over twenty million copies in print in over thirty countries. Under her names, her books have appeared at the top of the New York Times, Publishers Weekly and etc. She writes urban fantasy, and is best known for her Dark-Hunter vampire series.The Dark-Hunters are immortal warriors pledged to the Greek goddess Artemis and dedicated to defending mankind against Daemons (vampires) and other assorted enemies including a couple of rogue gods and goddesses. Dance with the Devil is 4th book from this series and is a sequel of the book Night Embrace and Night Pleasures. This is fantasy roman involving demons, vampires, and Gods of Mount Olympus. The main character is the Dark- Hunter, Zerek who is an immortal being and hunts down Demons, which are evil creatures similar to vampires. His powers were given by the goddess Artemis after his earthly life as a Roman slave boy. He was guarding a village that ended up being destroyed. Because everyone blamed him, he was banished to the frozen North (Alaska) as a punishment. The goddess who gave him the powers Artemis wants Zerek dead, and plans to send an evil being named Thanotos to kill him. Acheron who is head of the Dark – Hunters and Artemis lover, insists he be given a trial. Artemis reluctantly agrees, because she knows that the one who will judge him is Astrid, and she has never judged anyone to be innocent. Astrid is afraid that she is losing her sense of compassion and fairness. Zarek’s trial will be a test for Astrid, as well. Zarek believes that he has no soul and can’t love anyone and Astrid is a puzzle to him. And she is equally intrigued by Zarek, in whom she senses a world of hurt. Zarek has friends as well, but he does not trust them. He has an emotional baggage that hangs over him like a cloud, that he can’t see because he doesn’t remember his past. Astrid will begin exploring his mind seeing what is hiding behind his crude personality. This is definitely an action-driven romance, with the threat of destruction hanging over the story almost from the first page. It’s also a challenging read if you haven’t read the previous books, though Kenyon’s style is breezy and enjoyable. Dance with the Devil is definitely out of the ordinary. If your taste runs to fantasy with a touch of the supernatural, it will likely engross you.

review.

book!

Dance with the Devilby Sherrilyn KenyonKaterina Kostadinova

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Pigs in Maputoby Iris Yan

Pig cartoons of life in Mozambique

for more, every day:pigsinmaputo.blogspot.com/

pigs in maputo.

Move the heads around

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An Organization people know but don’t understand

Claire

Significant global events like the “Arab Spring” bring rise to the influence and power of various international organizations. No matter the extent of their responsibilities or the age of their alliance, a multitude of global organizations are merely a vague concept in the minds of the masses, until their involvement in current events brings widespread awareness.

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization, also known as NATO, is one organization that gained attention as the 28-member alliance intervened militarily in the battle between civilians and their repressive regime in Libya.

The North Atlantic Treaty of 1949 created NATO as a response to the Soviet Union’s expanding influence in Western Europe. The alliance – originally Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, the United Kingdom and the United States- was created as a mutual defense mechanism. According

to their mutual defense clause, If a NATO member is attacked by another country, other NATO countries agree to defend their fellow members. NATO is a military alliance, so although military intervention is not required, it is considered a likely method of defense.

The overarching goal of alliance is to maintain security and protect citizens in the North Atlantic region. Though the group was formed with the Soviety Union’s aggressive militarism in mind, the mutual defense clause was not used until 52 years later, when Al Qaeda terrorists attacked the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11, 2011 in New York City, New York. The UN Security Council, following the September 11 attacks, established NATO’s International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). The ISAF was deployed to Afghanistan and acts as a security mission.

Though this was the first and only instance in which NATO acted on their mutual defense agreement, the first dramatic events

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surrounding NATO’s alliance occurred during the Cold War. West Germany’s entrance into the alliance and the members’ refusal to allow the Soviet Union signified the lines drawn on both sides of the Cold War.

One of the earliest, high-profile uses of a “no-fly zone” by NATO was with the Bosnian war in the early 1990’s. NATO’s involvement consisted of bomb airstrikes and sending peacekeeping troops.

Today, the 28-member alliance continues to grab headlines after intervening in Libya’s anti-government protests. NATO extended their reach in Libya in March 2011 by enforcing a “no-fly zone” in the embattled country after the UN security council approved the measure.

During the height of the “Arab Spring,” NATO became a topic more widely discussed in the mainstream media. Libya became the hub for NATO-led operations against an aggressive regime, including the much-discussed bomb airstrikes. However, some Libyan citizens supported the intervention, saying a few innocent deaths were worth disposing a regime that was likely to continue killing thousands more. Those who backed the airstrikes believed Libyan rebels needed strategic military support from other countries in order to overthrow Colonel Muammar Gadhafi, the country’s embattled leader. Rumors of heavy-handed Western involvement through NATO temporarily dissipated when Arab states like the UAE, Jordan and Qatar joined the military intervention of Libya. Membership in the alliance does not require every country to militarily intervene when action is taken, which was beneficial for those in NATO would did not want to be involved in the operation. Only eight NATO countries were involved in the military operations in Libya.

The implications of NATO’s involvement grew into a controversial topic after it was reported that Libyan civilians were killed by NATO bombs. A Human Rights Watch report released this May says at least 72 civilians, 24 of whom are under the age of 18, were killed in eight airstrikes led by NATO. However, the report adds that, with 9,600 strikes against approximately 5,900 military targets, the civilian death count was relatively low. The advocacy group calls on NATO to release information about Libyan airstrikes that killed civilians. Following the report, NATO spokeswoman Oana Lungescu released a statement, saying, “NATO did everything possible to minimize risks to civilians, but in a complex military campaign, that risk can never be zero. We have reviewed all the information we hold as an organization and confirmed that the specific targets struck by NATO were legitimate military targets.”

Critics say the alliance acts as a collective warmonger by responding to aggression with further aggression. Some Western critics are showing up in Chicago, Illinois this month to protest NATO as the alliance holds their periodic NATO Summit.

NATO exists to defend national security and protect civilians, but liberating a nation can come at a cost. Even NATO itself admits that strategic bombing campaigns leave open the possibility for innocent civilians to die in the aftermath. In his new book on the recent protests in the Middle East and North Africa, professor Vijay Prashad describes NATO’s military efforts against repressive regimes as primarily “boots in the air” rather than “boots on the ground.” Humanitarian efforts gained through military intervention will undoubtedly spur anger and contestation.

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European Youth

Parliament

Waiting for the professor, on a quiet Monday morning, you can always somehow differentiate two groups of people – the one who had tons of fun during the weekend, going out and partying and the ones who can’t wait for the class to start because they’ve just finished an extra-credit project. Then you start to wonder: ‘Why isn’t there anyone who belongs to both groups?’ Is the day really too short or are the people just not willing to experience both lifestyles?I’m proud to say that I have found the answer to these questions, I have found young people ready to discuss serious and demanding topics and have fun in the process, throw some great parties and somehow make the day longer. I have found people who are able to do great things and make great memories in just 24 hours. The answer is European Youth Parliament!I’ve tried to put my impression of EYP on paper a number of times, but with little success. I started my story with thoughts about our weekend activities for a simple reason, this versatility and determination to ‘make the day longer’ of people who attend EYP sessions remains the biggest impression EYP made on me. I found on EYP sessions what I look for during these quiet Monday mornings and for that I am happier.So, to get to the point – what is EYP? Since December 2010, my first session, I’ve learned that EYP is many things and that for everyone EYP is something different. Wait, maybe that’s why it is so hard to put it on paper…

Foremost, European Youth Parliament is a non-governmental, non-partisan educational project that encourages independent thinking and socio-political initiative in young people all over Europe. Currently, it is one of the largest European platforms for political debate, intercultural dialogue and exchange of ideas between young people. It consists of organizations which currently exist in 35 European countries. For me, this describes a place where you can express your opinion on pressing matters and compare it to those of young people all over Europe, a place where you can improve your personal skills, and maybe even find your place on this continent and in society – as I believe I did. In short – EYP is non-formal education at its best. It is interesting how many of us join EYP for different reasons, some for the academic aspect and self-development, some to establish new international friendships, some to give politics a go, and some just because they want something new… But, the thing is, whatever the reason for coming was, your expectations and needs are met. I simply wanted to explore EYP and its potential back in December 2010 and what an exploration it was. This article made me think what EYP did to me personally, and I can say I am writing today as a more positive, socially active and developed person who is happy to have met many local and international friends through EYP.

So, what have you been up to lately?

] ! [

Danilo Laban

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“Valtari” by Sigur Rós

After almost four years without releasing a new album (the last one, “Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust” first came out on 2008), the Icelandic band Sigur Rós came to live, finally! “Valtari” is an eight-track album, supposed to be release on May 28th, but the album leaked on the internet by April 14th.

Sigur Rós is well-known because one of their music is featured in the soundtrack from “Vanilla Sky”. They got so much attention because it’s unique sounds in music, using a lot of different instruments in which even the voice is another instrument (even though some of their songs are purely instrumental, some of them are sung, but not in English nor in Icelandic: in Volenska, which, translated, should be something like Hopelandic – a name used to describe the unintelligible lyrics sung by Jónsi. The idea behind this is that every person listening to the music can get a different lyric for it). Sigur Rós’ works are very intimate and minimalist, not pleasing every kind of listener.

Following the band’s latest tendencies, “Valtari” isn’t as depressive as Sigur Rós’ first works, but without losing the great sounds. This time, the band used a lot more electronic sounds, which follow the mood of the songs (which are not dance, by the way), but it isn’t like “( )” or “Takk...” - those never failed to impress. It makes those who know the band’s early works fell the small taste of Sigur Rós because it sounds like it, but not exactly (it’s easy to recognize the bands characteristics, but it fails to impress, leaving a bit to desire). It’s a great album, but not one of Sigur Rós’ best.

Júlia Tessler

review.

music!

22

events!

wherewhen

Riga, Latvia

5th to 17th

http://www.opera.lv/en/

riga-opera-festival/

riga Opera Festival

First held in 1998, the annual Riga

Opera Festival closes the Latvian

National Opera season in style.

In two weeks each June it offers

a microcosm of the company’s

full season, including one opera

by perhaps its most famous

incumbent: Richard Wagner.website

St Petersburg’s tatoo festival

St Petersburg’s Tattoo Festival offers art to carry around with you everywhere. A worldwide gathering of tattoo enthusiasts at the Manege of the Cadet Corps, the festival showcases some very artistic, innovative designs.

Tel Aviv Pride

Israel’s biggest gay and lesbian celebration attracts thousands of people each year for hot parties in bars, restaurants and on the beach. The rainbow flag-dotted Tel Aviv Pride parade winds through the city, accompanied by local DJs and live music.

wherewhen

St. Petersburg, Russia5th to 17thhttp://www.tatoo-festival.ru/

website

wherewhen

Tel Aviv

7th to 11th

Cape Town Book Fair

The annual Cape Town Book Fair

draws thousands of publishers,

writers and readers to the city’s

International Convention Centre.

Visit to find rare editions, get

books signed by authors or attend

launches.

where

when

Cape Town, South Africa

15th to 17th

http://www.

capetownbookfair.com/website

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designed by Carolina Santana

Contributors for this issue:anita kalmane

ClaireDanilo Laban

evgenia kostyanayajack shakaIris Yan

júlia tesslerkaterina kostadinova

Kristijan Nikodinovski

Libertas Team:Daniel NunesVladimíra BrávkováDragan AtanasovKristijan NikodinovskiScott PinksterChristine MooreIvana GalapcevaCarolina SantanaEvgenia KostyanayaMarija GavrilovMarina Danic Rjasnoj

about us:Youth Magazine Libertas was founded in September 2009 as a project of Youth

Association creACTive.Youth Magazine Libertas aims to be a place where young people from all over the world can share their thoughts and views on topics that matter for them, in this way starting discussions and working as a means of change for the

future.Every month, Libertas is published on the 5th, featuring articles about a different main topic and other kinds of articles such as movie, book and music reviews, travel destination, interview

and brainstorm.

All texts published in Libertas represent solely the opinions of their authors, not of the magazine or of its publishers. Libertas and creACTive are not responsible in any way for the contents of the articles, or for the photos published with them.

Have you signed up? Send an empty mes-sage to hello@magazinelibertas.com and receive your personal copy of Libertas by e-mail every 5th in the month!Have something to say? Contact us at hello@magazinelibertas.com and read your article in the next edition!

credits

COver, editorial and back

cover images by carolina

santana.

24

Youth Association Creactive