Hosni Mubarak, Egyptian Leader Ousted in Arab Spring, Dies at 91  

By: Jordan Beaumont, Lily Colpitts, & Stephanie Camacho

Last month, the former autocratic president of Egypt, Hosni Mubarak, passed away at the age of 91. Mubarak was born in the Nile River Delta in 1929 and began his soon to be a political career as a member of the Egyptian air force. He later became the official president of Egypt in the year 1981 and remained in office for the next 30 years. However, since he was in office for so long, the Mubarak regime was no luxury. For starters, as stated in this New York Times article, “Mr. Mubarak never intended to be president. His rise was described as an accident of history, set in motion when Islamist radicals in the military shot and killed his predecessor, Anwar el-Sadat.” Throughout his reign, Mubarak maintained a strong alliance with the West, which ultimately angered the Egyptian citizens and influenced their disliking of him as president. On February 11th, 2011, Hosni Mubarak was forced to resign after an 18-day protest that had emerged on behalf of his inadequate leadership. After Mubarak’s resignation, the Muslim Brotherhood won almost half of the seats in the People’s Assembly, and later had a member of their organization run in the 2012 presidential election. The Muslim Brotherhood was established a year before Mubarak’s birth, 1928, by a man named Hassan al-Banna. Their teachings and beliefs “has influenced Islamist movements around the world with its model of political activism combined with Islamic charity work,” as said in a BBC news article. Mubarak ultimately viewed the Muslim Brotherhood as a threat to his power, and later ban the organization to ensure his safety and security. But what other components caused the Mubarak regime to fall apart in 2011?

Hosni Mubarak was originally in the military and leader at the time, Sadat, praised him for his leadership. It was in 1972 that he named Mubarak his vice president which pleased the military. In 1981, Sadat was assassinated and Hosni Mubarack was sitting next to him so under emergency laws he became the new leader of Egypt. As a new leader for his country, he focused more on foreign relations instead of domestic laws. He helped bring better relations between Egypt and the other Arab nations, and he also created good connections with the U.S. Despite these foreign successes, it did not help with his domestic problem of establishing a system that would improve many of his impoverished people. Mubarak's loss in power was also influenced “by the shock wave of popular unrest in the Arab world — calls for democracy, the rule of law and an end to corruption — that came to be called the Arab Spring” as stated in the New York Times article. It was under his rule that “The United Nations Children’s Fund said in a 2010 report that the number of poor Egyptian households with children had exceeded 1996 levels and that 23 percent of children under the age of 15 in that country were living in poverty. In Upper Egypt, the report said, 45.3 percent of the children lived in poverty.” He didn't leave his position in power until the Egyptian revolution forced him to step down, but even that did not satisfy the public. In August 2011, he was put on trial, but it did not provide closure for Egyptian society. It wasn't until 2017 that he was released from the Maadi military hospital, and died of ongoing kidney failure this year.   

As president, Mubarak’s main focus was stability and security. However, due to his focus only being on those two aspects, the government remained unchanged for a very long time, causing many citizens to riot against him and influenced his reign to come to an end. Also, as a result of his tight hold on power and belief that his citizens were not ready to be ruled by democracy and rather favored autocracy, there was no other successor or vice president appointed until he decided that it was necessary for support. As a consequence of his belief that he was the father of his nation and that his citizens were his children, he refused to resign from the presidency until a revolution arose demanding his resignation. Additionally, although Mubarak was willing to maintain Egypt’s peace treaty with Israel and have strong connections with the West while in office, he angered the public most when he embraced the idea of not changing or progressing Egypt in any way. Because of Mubarak’s single-minded decisions to have an autocratic government with no vision or noted accomplishment for his nation to solve any crisis, he instead chose to lead Egypt into its downfall after his ruling. 

The course theme that relates to this briefing would be explaining how individualism can be said to have liberated people but also be criticized as alienating. Before Mubarak’s ruling, Egypt was struggling to manage its peace internationally during the Suez Canal Crisis until treaties and stronger alliances were established. Mubarak was elected in 1981 by the public after he proposed his intentions to continue its peace treaty with Israel and have strong relations with the West during his terms in the office with his autocratic government. Although he fulfilled this promise, with his relentless choices to have his country remain the same, he lacked communication with his citizens which eventually led to his resignation. Because he refused to change and his indigent vision for Egypt’s future successes, he eventually led his country on the path to hitting rock bottom.

Discussion Questions 

- How is a sturdy democracy beneficial to a country? In what ways could it disrupt a country or society?

- Should a country be solely run on security and stability? What other components are needed? 

Women's March in Mexico

On February 11, a young girl the age of 7 was picked up by a stranger from school, who claimed to know her mother, and days later, her body was found dead in a plastic bag. She was beaten and sexually abused before she died. Her name was Fatima and her shocking death caused global outrage and fury. Her death alongside the gruesome killing of Ingrid Escamilla, 25, sparked the fury and fire of the women's march.


On March 9th there was a women's march where tens of thousands of women walked out of their houses and jobs. It was considered “a day without women.” Instead of going to work and school, they went to the streets to protest the recent and ongoing femicides, or the killing of a woman or girl, particularly by a man, on account of her gender. Everyday 10 women are killed or disappear in Mexico. This protest has brought up the topic of the ongoing machismo, which is strong or aggressive masculine pride in Mexico. The women’s march has tested the leadership of the current President, Andrés Manuel López Obrador who when asked what he will do against the large amount of femicides replied by going back to his campaign promises that he would “fight social and economic inequality, combat poverty and the disintegration of families.” The ongoing support towards the march has come though the big #MeToo movement online.


This is relevant in that it connects to the course theme of whether history shaped by individual people or by systematic forces beyond any one person's influence? Even though the women's march was a big systematic force it was sparked by the death and killing of both Fatima and Ingrid Escamilla calling for change which will affect all women in Mexico.


Discussion questions: What may be the cause for violence against a person? How can this type of violence be prevented?

Ebola In the Congo

Discussion Question: 

To what extent should political situations make concessions to public health emergencies? Vice versa?

This article from OCHA Services provides an overview of the topic of this post.

With the initial outbreak of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) starting in August of 2018, the disease has plagued the region for sometime. The Ebola outbreak in the DRC peaked in May of 2019, reporting more than 120 new cases per week, and has seen a decline since then.
On March 4, 2020 the Democratic Republic of the Congo discharged its last Ebola patient (Semida Masika) in Beni. This is an important milestone of the outbreak though WHO is continually monitoring the situation, waiting a 42 day incubation period for any more cases as well as expressing going concerns such as lack of funding. The Ebola outbreak is still considered a Public Health Emergency but the discharge of the last patient in the DRC signifies a beginning to the end of the epidemic.
As of now, there have not been any new reported cases of Ebola in the region. Though this may be due to conflict in the Congo making the tracking of cases difficult. The Allied Democratic Forces, an Islamic militia considered a terrorist group by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, launched an attack on the city of Beni which the Congolese government has counterattacked in October of 2019. In February there have been a resurgence of attacks by the Allied Democratic forces that have made it harder for health officials to monitor the possible spread of Ebola. A Washington Post article mentions these concerns:

Harris, the WHO spokeswoman, said that while officials were confident in asserting only one chain of Ebola transmission remains, ongoing violence has made it impossible to reach some areas that have had cases over the past few months.

“Given the lack of access in some areas like Lwemba, it’s possible that there are other areas where there could be cases that we are not aware of, but it’s unlikely,” she said.

     Other diseases affecting the Democratic Republic of the Congo such as measles and the global COVID-19 pandemic introduce other concerns the nation turns focus on now that the Ebola outbreak has de-escalated.

     This event relates to the course theme asking what makes building a success national institution so difficult. In our current global situation, we can see the capabilities of the institutions created to deal with the coronavirus outbreak. Counting in public opinion and considering efficiency of the institutions, many people point how ill-equipped the government is in handling this situation. In the case of the DRC, the Ebola situation highlights how its political dealings can undermine the health of its people and raises the question on how a government chooses its priorities. 

Chinese Demand is Fueling Donkey Theft and Stressing Farmers in Ghana

Kenyan Slaughterhouse

The Washington Post documents how the production of donkeys in Ghana affects the outcome and conflict between having the animal being used as transportation of goods to farmers in Ghana, and a product to merchants in China. In Ghana, farmers used donkeys as a dependable resource as an inexpensive way to transport goods from one village to another. Citizens view donkeys as bulky and cheap animals that rarely fall ill even when being malnourished. When a farmer loses one of their donkeys to either theft or death, it can be very devastating due to their value as a source of transportation. Besides being a great source of transporting goods, these animals can also carry wood and water and are critical sources of income for defenseless villages, especially for women. In China, donkeys were a key ingredient in producing medicines that were appointed abroad by other foreign countries by producers of energy drinks, fertility elixirs, and skin creams from Chinese merchants in the black market. Chinese herbalists perceive a donkey's death as a perfect opportunity to extract gelatine, which is an important ingredient to create ejiao which is found in different types of medicines from their hides. 

Because donkeys are viewed as a vital necessity between these two countries, this mammal production has drastically declined by 76% over the past several decades and existing mammals are being slaughtered at an alerting pace. The donkey population has also declined since 2007 in Brazil by 28%, in Botswana by 37%, and in Kyrgyzstan by 53% because of the amount of these animals being killed every day to meet the demand from the Chinese black market. Awal Ahmed Kariyama, a spokesman in Ghana, said that “If we don’t take care, the animal will go extinct”. Slaughterhouses within Ghana claim that they are legally supposed to dispose of any malnourished or old animals for meat to be sold later at the market. However, because the value of donkeys is high as the population becomes scarce, owners chose to keep the remaining corpse of the dead animal’s body and sell the hides to Chinese merchants in the black market for a higher cost. Furthermore, after the Chinese buyer has purchased the donkey, they do not know how to tame a wild animal, so they choose to mistreat the suffering animals by illegal methods such as dragging, kicking, and the use of spiked sticks. They also chose to not provide any access to food, water, and rest causing the estimated 20% of animals dying while on the bus. 

Since the production of ejiao demands over about five million skins a year, the Chinese industry would consume more than half of the world’s current population of current donkeys in the next five years to meet their needs. With this collapse in population, the livelihoods in Ghana of an estimated 500 million people in the world’s most impoverished communities will suffer in their everyday life with no animal support. Also, as Chinese buyers continue to sell untreated and cleansed skins across the black market, they are at a potentially high risk of spreading contagious diseases from the animal that the skin. To prevent these major risk factors, The Donkey Sanctuary is asking businesses that produce ejiao to stop global skin trade and try other sources for natural materials created by cellular agriculture. They are also proposing that the Chinese Government postpones the trading market of donkeys and their merchandise until further notice that they are both disease-free and safe for humanity. 

The course theme that relates to this briefing would be to explain how the interconnected nature of global problems and their impact on economic development. Over the past several decades, the production of donkeys has majorly impacted both Ghana and China economically; because these two countries are both dependent on this animal, the existence of the donkey population is slowly decaying and soon will no longer exist. With this being said, both countries are competing against each other to gain more profit economically through China’s booming market and Ghana’s transportation system. 

Discussion Questions:

- Which country do you believe will economically thrive through the donkey trade and should gain leverage on the production of this valued animal? 

- If the donkeys are not saved from being slaughtered at an accelerating rate, what may occur between these two countries economically? Will stock markets fall out of balance? 

- Which country will have the worst impact on its economy if these animals become extinct and why? 

The Jamaican Homicide Crisis

Discussion Question 

• How do you think the US is handling gun control? What could they do differently?

Based on a New York Times article, this document provides the basic, yet in-depth information, regarding the violent outbreaks in Jamaica due to the overuse of firearms in society. The Jamaican homicide crisis began in various neighborhoods with small gangs or on behalf of neighborhood disputes. As the violence increased, the U.S. government was sent to the streets of Jamaica as an attempt to ease and hopefully stop these violent outbreaks. It was stated that there are around 45,000 legal firearms currently in Jamaica, and it was estimated that 200 of those guns were brought illegally into Jamaica each month. Tyler Hicks, the author of this article said that “Worldwide, 32 percent of homicides are committed with firearms, according to the Igarapé Institute, a research group. In Jamaica, the figure is higher than 80 percent”. One of the main reasons why the homicide rate in Jamaica is so high is because of the lack of gun control, as well as the loose American gun laws, which influence easy Jamaican access to American firearms. The Jamaican society, including gang members who have witnessed these homicide incidents, voiced their opinions on the crisis and agreed that the violence needs to stop. "Jamaicans say they are dying from it", referring back to the lack of gun control throughout their country. 

The U.S. government has proposed a law to be passed which will require a national registry of gun purchases in order for the government to track the owners if needed. This was further looked into after a large number of Jamaican firearms were traced back to guns sold in North Carolina. Guns were being smuggled in through containers brought on ships from the U.S, some even disguised in broken apart pieces. The A.T.F, a federal law enforcement organization within the United States Department of Justice, spoke out and said that they want to help fight this problem; but the question still remains, what more will they do other than the government enforcing stricter gun laws? 

The course theme that relates to this briefing would be how technological change, including weapons, influences tension and overall conflicts. The use of guns around the world has skyrocketed over the last few years. In the U.S. for example, there have been over 50 mass shootings within the last 5 years. Though firearms are essential for military purposes or are used as hunting gear, the mass production of guns has influenced severe violent outbreaks, such as the crisis happening in Jamaica right now. 

Some Coronavirus Cartoons

Some cartoons selected by Molly Cernicek of Nuclear Diner:

Mike Luckovich

Steve Kelly

Pat Bagley

Arend Van Dam

Clay Jones

J.D. Crowe

Michael Ramirez

Nick Anderson

Steve Breen

In case you don't recognize what the first cartoon was based on, this iconic image was used for the US Marine War Memorial in Washington, across the Potomac river from the Lincoln Memorial and just outside Arlington National Cemetery:


Discussion prompts:
1. Which cartoon is your favorite, and why?
2. Young adults have been portrayed as reckless and selfish recently. Are you seeing any peers disregard the social distancing idea, or is there positive peer pressure to stay home? I predict that the overall maturity level of the country will grow over time, despite conservative media playing down the risk to the public at times. If the virus doesn't spread in the summer months then people will get restless with a long shelter in place, of course, but that won't be limited to young people. Will the nation come together during this crisis?

Learn to S.I.F.T

If any of you have one of those "crazy uncles" who sends you internet conspiracy theories and all form of political cray cray, here's how you can defeat him for once and for all.

How do you sift through the massive amount of information being poured at you online? S.I.F.T. it:
1. Stop
2. Investigate the source
3. Find better coverage
4. Trace claims, quotes, and media to the original context
Here is a link to the article/blog that explains this in full: https://infodemic.blog/
Here's a video introduction from the professor who came up with these steps:

As a complement, here is a nifty resource for determining the legitimacy of an unfamiliar news item. It combines good habits of mind (some stories are too good to be true) with how-tos of tools like reverse image search, which can pretty quickly suss out when someone is using an old picture as evidence of some new (BOGUS) story:

https://firstdraftnews.org/latest/5-tips-ways-we-can-all-covid19-check-coronavirus-information-online-fake-disinformation-misinformation/?emci=cb049f03-d167-ea11-a94c-00155d03b5dd&emdi=c4ea6159-f467-ea11-a94c-00155d03b5dd&ceid=7509032

Mr. Silton

Some Quality Journalism

As a follow up to my prior post, check out some reliable, quality journalism about the Coronavirus outbreak here. While there is a lot of bogus information floating around, it isn't all that hard to find reliable news reporting if you don't let social media algorithms do your research for you.

Mr. Silton

WHO do you believe? The Coronavirus Infodemic

This Buzzfeed article documents an absurd amount of misinformation being spread across the internet as it relates to Coronavirus, and this is just a partial list. Not only have certain government sources turned out to be unreliable -- like China lying about whether the virus spread from person to person on January 14, or Trump lying about the availability of testing in the USA, or calling it a Democratic hoax -- but the internet has become infested with conspiracy theories, phony treatments, and racist paranoia. 

Here are some excerpts from a terrific analysis on the global war on truth from a Canadian newspaper:

In an alarming number of countries, the surge of coronavirus-related misinformation has been used as a pretext to crack down on information-sharing more broadly. In China, the government’s attempt to suppress information about the outbreak may have actually contributed to the spread of the virus, since no one — including healthcare workers — knew how to protect themselves or even that they should be protecting themselves at all…

Similar arrests for spreading “rumours” and “fake news” have been documented in nearly a dozen countries across Asia and the Middle East…

In Thailand, multiple people have been charged with computer crimes for allegedly sharing false information about coronavirus on social media. Similar arrests have been made in Indonesia, where at least two individuals are facing cybercrime charges that could land them in prison for up to five years. 

Just this week, Indonesian authorities arrested six more people for violating laws that prohibit the sharing of “fake news” and carry a prison sentence of up to six years.

“It’s absurd, and wholly disproportionate, that people are facing a potential five-year jail term just for sharing false information online,” said Teddy Baguilat, a former congressman from the Philippines who is now a board member of the advocacy group ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR).

“And think about the chilling impact such measures have on freedom of expression,” Baguilat added. “Keep this up, and people will be too scared to share their opinion about anything.”

Yet as the virus has spread to new countries, so, too, has the crackdown on so-called “fake news.” In Iran, officials have arrested at least two dozen people on suspicions of “spreading rumours” about the virus, and a government spokesperson recently warned that anyone else found to be sharing false information would be sentenced to one-to-three years in prison and flogging…

Besides the potential for abuse, laws that impose criminal penalties for spreading rumours may also scare people into silence and make experts think twice before sharing information.

“Criminalization of speech, even if targeted at falsehoods, is highly likely to stifle the real-time sharing of information that is essential during epidemics,” Matthew Bugher, head of Asia Programme for the advocacy group Article 19, told Reuters in February.

That’s what happened after Chinese authorities detained Li and seven other doctors in early January, said Dr. Wang Guangbao, a surgeon and science writer from eastern China. He told The Washington Post many medical professionals, including himself, stopped speaking openly about the virus after seeing the potential consequences. 

The COVID-19 outbreak and response has been accompanied by a massive ‘infodemic’ — an over-abundance of information, some accurate and some not — that makes it hard for people to find trustworthy sources and reliable guidance when they need it,” Dr. Margaret Harris, a leading WHO physician, told National Observer. 

The course theme about the changing nature of media fits this story. It is much easier to spread misinformation now in the internet era than in the radio/TV era, but it is still better to err on the side of free speech and not allow government censors decide what is true or not. As frustrating as it is, the least bad way to deal with the infodemic is to learn how to spot reliable information and sources for yourself. There's a never ending tsunami of information, so you students really really need to learn how to swim through it all. Media literacy has become the paramount goal for teaching social studies and history over the past 20 years since the internet became the dominant medium of information for humanity. The coronavirus story has bad information coming from certain government sources and bad information coming from randoms who create it and masses of people who mindlessly share it, and is the perfect example for why you have to learn to be critical readers of media.

Discussion prompts: 

1. Do you feel like you have access to reliable information about the risks associated with this virus? How do you determine which sources to trust?
2. Have you ever shared something on social media that you later realized was bogus / stupid / misunderstood / satirical / fake? What tricked you? Did you admit your mistake?
3. What do you think is the best way to combat misinformation in a democratic society that needs to maintain a free an open debate about public issues?

Citations - The News Literacy Project, the Neiman Lab, & Carolyn Orr of the National Observer

Mr. Silton