AlandMizell.com

According to a recent article in The Economist, foreign affairs are often “a zero-sum game in which global interests compete with national ones.” Our world, however, is not the world of a decade ago. We live in an unstable world, so matters are not so black and white. Different nationalities no longer sing together as in the Coca Cola ad, “I’d like to teach the world to sing in perfect harmony.” The song of globalization has become muted. Our world is going through a new transformation and is striving to have a new world order and system. Every nation is competing for power, including the Philippines. President Dutterte understands the rise of world politics with discordant identity-based attitudes and with new ethnic nationalisms.With the rise of nationalism and racism, political leaders are now becoming the representatives of these attitudes. Defining President Duterte’s political vision, one widely acclaimed in the Philippines, is a civic nationalism and a corruption free campaign. This civic nationalism signals an energy that takes a more conciliatory position in calling for common ground and for structural changes in society and politics. Given the complex defeat of the war on drugs in the Philippines and now the broad political engagement, we see not an "exclusionary nationalism" that the article in The Economist speaks of, but rather an "encompassing discourse of nation.” Continue reading →

Americans chose their new President on Tuesday. When this article went to print, the voting process was not yet over. Regardless of whether Republican Donald Trump or Democrat Hillary Clinton has been elected, the American leadership is in crisis and has been for a long time and especially in a very crucial time when our world faces so many challenges from terrorism, violence, poverty, injustice, wars in the Middle East, a resurgence of the Taliban in Afghanistan, and the rise of China and Russia. Neither Presidential candidate is very different from each other in terms of qualification to take the leadership. Most Americans are averse both to Hillary Clinton and to Donald Trump as candidates to lead America. This is why the U.S. witnessed one of the most toxic campaigns in its history, unfortunately during this crucial time.The outcome of this election will have the most significant consequences of any election cycle in recent American history. With 70 percent of the American electorate disenchanted with the direction the country is moving, Americans are frustrated by their economic marginalization, by liberal trade deals and economic polices, by traditional political elites, by the role of American leadership around the world, and by liberal politics. For the American voters fear of immigration, terrorism, Obama‘s failed foreign policy, especially with the rise of Russian and Iranian influence in the Middle East, China’s growing power in Southeast Asia, economic disempowerment, and political disentrancement—all have accelerated under President Obama. Continue reading →

The Middle East is strategically important for the Western powers. The issue there was, and still it is, all about oil and the strategic influence to find new markets. Western powers continue to clash over who will obtain the oil and the accompanying strategic position and interest. The current wars in Syria and Iraq are undergird by a historical struggle over access to oil and gas, not in entirety about liberating people from authoritarian leaders such as Assad or about bringing democracy to the region.The history of the modern Middle East begins with the discovery of oil, and now the same Allied powers are trying to draw a new map of the region. After World War I and the ensuing fall of the Ottoman Empire, many Middle Eastern states were Western made: Iraq, Israel, Palestine, Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon. Prior to the Ottoman collapse these regions were divided into vilayets and had a fair amount of autonomy. It is difficult for Westerners, whose main exposure to information about the Middle East is through their own media, to have a clear understanding of what is transpiring in that region. Continue reading →

The General Assembly of the United Nations was held in New York with world leaders participating in a Summit for Refugees and Migrants.  Leaders traveled to the United States to represent their countries at the Summit. While addressing the assembly, leaders had a number of key messages to the international community, particularly related to the rights of refugees, the war in the Middle East, climate change, Syria, and the war on terrorism with the North Korean nuclear testing being at the top of the agenda.The problem is that there is no single global institution in place to help solve these problems. The United Nations is absolutely a useless organization. It formed to prevent wars and to protect human rights, global peace, and security. The fight against terrorism, however, must be based on principles, not on double standards. There should not be good terrorists and bad terrorists. Also, terror should not be a means of countries intervening in the domestic affairs of other countries. Because terrorism is a fire that burns everyone who plays with it, terrorism must be contained sincerely. The system of the U.N is corrupt, making the functioning of the U.N biased. Consequently, the entire U.N system should be changed for the common good of all human beings. The Untied Nations was founded during one of the most heinous conflicts in human history, so it was forged as an idealistic dream to maintain global peace and security. Continue reading →

In the past few years, the Philippines have emerged as one of the greatest critics of China. Under the Aquino administration, the Southeast Asian countries tried security alliances with America and Japan, sought to mobilize ASEAN against China, and made the unprecedented decision to take Beijing to international court in order to settle the maritime disputes. However, with the Duterte administration rapidly consolidating its position at the center of the Philippine political system, President Duterte is also introducing a significant foreign policy shift, especially with the United States and China. Unlike the previous administration of Aquino, he has deployed former president Fidel Ramos to conduct negotitiations with China. There is reason to expect a big reset in the Philippines’ foreign policy under this President’s administration because he had a history of good relations with the Chinese community when he was in mayor of Davao. In fact, one of Duterte‘s right-hand men is a Chinese himself.With respect to relations with the United States President Duterte did not have a very good history especially when it comes to fighting insurgents in the Mindanao region or to the war on terrorists. The President welcomed massive Chinese investments in the realm of public infrastructure and downplayed territorial disputes in the South China Sea, emphasizing the necessity of separating areas of conflict from zones of convergence in mutual interest. Continue reading →

For decades Turkey was a dutiful ally that mostly followed America’s lead, but the nations today does not much like its 20^th. That is because Turkish President Erdogan and his government, led by the governing Islamic AKP, has asserted a more independent foreign policy in the Middle East, which often puts it at odds with the EU and in Washington. The crisis in the Turkish and U.S relationship goes much deeper than the issue of the cult leader Gulen’s alleged role in the recent coup and the demand for his extradition. Turkey and America sharply disagree over the strategy for how to bring peace in Syria and to stop ISIS. President Erdogan argues that the United States has allied with a Syrian Kurdish group known as the YPG or People’s Protection Units, which Turkey wrongly accuses of being a terrorist group. For its part Turkey has been shelling both Kurdish fighters of the popular protection units (YPG) and ISIS. The YPG is one of the most effective forces in the fight against ISIS. Turkey is wrongfully accusing the YPG of being an extension of the Kurdish Worker Party (PKK), a Kurdish rebel group that has been fighting for basic rights for more than four decades. The ceasefire between Turkey and the PKK ended last year and clashes have since claimed hundreds of lives on both sides. Turkey is fighting against the Kurds inside Turkey, as Syrian Kurds continue to try to have a self-declared autonomous region known as Rojava. There have been disagreements over the Israeli- Palestinian conflict, Turkey’s relations with Iran and, among other things. Critics of Turkey have questioned Turkey’s sincerity as a NATO ally including its refusal to fight against ISIS in the past. Continue reading →

President Rodrigo Duterte harshly criticized the United Nations after it demanded an end to the wave of killings unleashed by his war on drugs, saying he might leave the organization. The UN human rights experts last week urged Duterte to stop the extra-judicial executions and slayings that have escalated since Duterte won the presidency by promising a drug free Philippines. Speaking of the UN, Duterte retorted, “I will prove to the world that you are a very stupid expert,” urging it to count not just the number of drug-related deaths but also the innocent lives lost to drugs.Dealing with the drug users and protecting human rights are two aspects of one problem. His dealing with drug dealers safeguards human rights. The UN human rights expert failed to understand that the Philippine Constitution and laws clearly stipulate that citizens enjoy freedom of speech, assembly, and belief, and they are protected while exercising these rights, but Philippine law also stipulates that when citizens are enjoying their rights of freedom, they must not harm society or the rights of other citizens. Freedom cannot undermine Philippine public security, safety, order, health, or morality. Continue reading →