The U.S. Must Take Immediate Action to Aid the Sudanese Healthcare Crisis

By: Anna Douglas Piper

Sudan is experiencing a rapidly deteriorating humanitarian crisis. The International Rescue Committee cites the escalating fighting, an economic crisis, and a near collapse of health care services, among other causes. 

The healthcare crisis presents the most urgent problem, and the United States must do more to help.

In April of 2023, conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) erupted into civil war. Though fighting has been concentrated in the capital city of Khartoum, reports of ethnic cleansing exist in other regions. More than 61,000 people have died. 26,000 deaths were a direct result of the violence, while the majority resulted from largely preventable diseases and starvation. 

The Sudanese conflict is the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. According to the World Health Organization, 11 million are in urgent need of life-saving health care. 

The healthcare crisis precedes the conflict, driven by long-term political and economic instability. The problem is compounded by lack of access to food, a key driver of disease. Millions are experiencing malnutrition, and famine was officially declared in the Darfur region in August of 2024. Exacerbated by the fighting, 25.6 million, over half of the population, are in desperate need of aid.

Over 70% of health facilities are currently non-functional. Sudan faces a complete lack of funding, supplies, and staff. Hospitals suffer from targeted attacks as well as repeated looting and occupation from both sides of the conflict.

"The situation in health clinics is beyond words," said Amelie Chbat, who oversees the International Committee of the Red Cross in Sudan. "The injured lack medicines, food, and water, and the elderly, women, and children are without essential treatments like dialysis or diabetes medications. And the situation is deteriorating."

Sudan’s health care system has virtually collapsed. 

The consequences are immeasurable. There is a severe strain on resources, including water, sanitation and hygiene services. Measles has killed more than 1,000 children, while a severe cholera outbreak has led to 8,000 cases and 299 deaths. Malnutrition is rampant, immunization levels are low, and care is nonexistent. Outbreaks will continue to have devastating effects, particularly for the youth. 

Humanitarian organizations have attempted to help, including the IRC, Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), The Red Cross, and more. However, access to the Sudanese has been difficult. Violence and movement restrictions on organizations have constrained aid delivery, especially in the south–where need is highest. The Assessment Capacities Project (ACAPS) rated aid constraints a 5 out of 5 (extreme). 

“The cost of inaction is already unbearable,” said Dr. Tammam Aloudat, president of the MSF Netherlands board. “It can be measured in the tens of thousands of lives lost and the millions of lives that are on the line as we speak.”

The U.S. has contributed financial assistance, food, and medical services to Sudan and neighboring countries. The most recent $424 million package was announced in September 2024, bringing US aid since April 2023 to over $2 billion. However, as diplomacy fails to reduce the conflict, the capacity to target rising needs will continue to fall.

The United States must do more. 

Though U.S. officials claim to be “steadfast in [their] support for the people of Sudan,” they must do more than call on the RSP and SAF to cease hostilities and allow in aid. Existing support is not enough–America must use its global influence to end the crisis. 

International pressure must be increased on the Sudanese forces, and the U.S. can play a major role. Unobstructed aid flow into the country is vital, and solutions are necessary to allow delivery of medical support. The United States can increase support for humanitarian organizations to bolster their presence and create a reliable supply movement into Sudan.

“Sudan and its suffering people have slipped down the world's list of priorities—forgotten by the media, neglected by political will, and overlooked by the humanitarian donor institutions that should be putting this catastrophe front and center,” says Dr. Mohamed Bashir, Sudanese medical staff member.

“Amid all this, I plead with the world: Do not let Sudan slip from your attention. At times, it feels as though no one cares, as if Sudan has been deliberately deprioritized by the global decision makers, pushed aside for other crises.”

“How much longer can we tolerate this inaction?”

Engagement With China: Lessons From United States-Japan Relations

By: Anna Douglas Piper

Today, the United States and China compete across almost every facet of the global market. Whether surrounding nuclear weapons, Taiwan, or economic relations, nearly every conversation has grown tense. Cooperation has broken down since 2018, largely due to various administrations’ trade wars, specifically the Trump administration’s strategies of hostile engagement.

Attitudes coming from China reflect much of the same hostility. Advocates of aggression have grown stronger – one of the only things Democrats and Republicans agree on today is a tough stance against China. This won’t change on its own, even with the upcoming election. 

We must not fall into this trap. A pre-Trump engagement strategy is not only possible, but necessary.

The U.S. must aspire to stabilize the tense relationship and allow conflict resolution. Mutual benefits include addressing shared challenges, like climate change and nuclear proliferation. An engagement strategy aligns with U.S. principles of international cooperation and diplomacy and ensures peace and stability are supported globally. 

To examine the effectiveness of engagement in promoting a liberal world order, we can turn to historical experiences with Japan. 

The U.S. saw confidence grow under the Bretton Woods System as trade barriers were reduced and Japan experienced rapid growth. As this growth continued into the 1980s, the U.S. began to worry about Japan’s rising influence. Economists warned Congress that Japan would surpass the U.S. in economic size. By 1995, Clinton was taking relations to the brink of a trade war – the U.S. even briefly imposed 25 percent tariffs on luxury vehicles.

A breakdown in cooperation was clear. 

Many argue this supports the realist prediction that engagement will fail in the long run. However, U.S.-Japan cooperation in the 1990s continued, countering the realist theory. A 1988 bilateral deal opened Japan’s beef, orange, and cigarette markets to imports, and the collision over automobiles was averted when the U.S. withdrew luxury car tariffs a month later. 

Though the end of the twentieth century witnessed international tensions that arguably undermined liberal institutionalism, this tension did not produce a collapse of the international system. Despite tensions with Japan, cooperation remained.

The realist perspective that increasing tensions inevitably lead to trade wars does not always explain how countries will interact. To better understand U.S.-China relations, we can consider the neoliberal institutionalist prediction that countries continue to move to a liberal world order.

Moves like trade restrictions are only a partial solution to combat a rising China. Export controls by the U.S. are unlikely to succeed unless other participating countries do the same, which they won’t do for fear of Chinese retaliation. It seems to be unavoidable that restrictions will either stagnate and dissipate or the two economies will forever be separated — the latter being unrealistic. 

The conflict between China and the United States is not inevitable, but depends entirely on the next moves from both sides. It is clear, then, that the U.S. must return to increased engagement with China.

Responses may vary. Countries with close economic relationships with China, including South Korea and Japan, may view engagement positively. However, others with competitive concerns may profit from a limited U.S.-China trade flow. Additionally, regions like Taiwan may not react positively to an apparent U.S. acceptance of China’s policies. While countries may be wary of China’s growing regional influence, increased engagement is more effective than trying to convince them to confront China through other means, given fears of retaliation.

The urgency for renewed engagement is clear. Rising tensions threaten global stability and undermine U.S. efforts to pursue cooperation. Both nations have the opportunity to address pressing challenges, though it remains to be seen how China would respond to such a move. We cannot rely on the upcoming election for a change. The stakes are high, but the attitude that the U.S. adopts creates impacts far beyond the borders of Washington and Beijing.

*Pakistan: A Democracy In Danger

By:

History is repeating itself in the most dangerous fashion in Pakistan.  In an eerie parallel with Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq’s ascent to power in the 1970s, Pakistan’s current Chief of the Army Staff Asim Munir appears to have taken a few pages from his predecessor’s book. The military has established itself once again as the most powerful institution in the nation. 

The state of civil military relations in Pakistan is troubling for a myriad of reasons. For starters, in a healthy democracy the military should subordinate itself to civilian control. However, since Pakistan’s inception, the military has a long standing history of political intervention credited to weak political institutions, inadequate political leadership, and entrenchment of civil military bureaucracy. Such issues with Pakistan’s civil military relations can be traced back to British colonial policies. British generals continued to head Pakistan's military until 1951, when the authority was transferred to General Ayub Khan, who became Pakistan’s second president through a military coup. 

While the nation has always had a strong military presence, it has had weak political institutions that have failed to establish an effective political and constitutional system. This has seriously handicapped the government’s ability to properly respond to the multitude of external and internal challenges that the country faces. In this power vacuum, the bureaucratic military elite have been able to increase their authority and power over the country’s political elite. They have been able to garner so much influence, that despite the civilian government’s inability to control them, the country’s army stands out as the most trusted institution - with more than 80 percent public approval.

Recent examples of the military’s dominant role in the Pakistani political and economic sphere include the previous Prime Minister Imran Khan granting General Bajwa a position as a member of the government’s National Development Council in 2020. Additionally, Bajwa met privately with top business leaders to discuss ways to aid the failing economy, increasing the military’s role in the economic and political issues that were plaguing the nation. The then Prime Minister Imran Khan’s desire to work with the military through political concessions shows the inherent tension in civil-military relations in Pakistan. 

The true show of the overly politically involved Pakistani military happened in April 2023, when former Prime Minister Imran Khan was ousted from power after a vote of no confidence from the General Assembly. His removal from office was clear to all that it was not a matter of his incompetence or supposed corruption, but rather because the army felt threatened by his brazen imperative to disagree with them. At this point, tensions between Bajwa and Khan were at an all time high due to an ongoing dispute following Khan’s refusal to endorse the appointment of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) chief that Bajwa wanted. In May 2023, Imran Khan was arrested, despite his protests that the Army was behind threats against his life and that prominent military leaders were behind ongoing plots against him. Khan’s arrest is not unusual in Pakistan’s political history - with the past five prime ministers having been either indicted or imprisoned after leaving office. In an ironic twist, Khan rose to power in 2018 due to the military’s support and saw himself removed from office in 2022 when he lost their approval. As the Carnegie Endowment For International Peace put it, “where the Pakistan Army’s will exists, it carries, and typically persists no matter the consequences.” 

Since Khan’s arrest, protests have shaken the country and the military has cracked down in terrifying ways. In June 2023, the new Chief of Staff Asim Munir fired three high ranked commanders and punished another fifteen for their conduct during pro-Imran Khan protests. Additionally, protestors from Khan’s party PTI have accused the military of human rights violations while being held in custody. Most recently, in March 2024 protests erupted once again over what many believe to have been a rigged election. The police have been accused of launching brutal retaliations to these protests and arresting over one hundred protestors in the process. 

The precarious state of Pakistan’s democracy is concerning for the future of the nation. Without healthy civil-military relations and a stable democracy, the country can never implement much needed policy reforms. Pakistan can never be a nation that serves its citizens if it remains in the clutches of a corrupt military that chooses its own power over the best interests of the people.

A Pandemic in 2024

By: Avery Sigler

In January 2020, Haiti was declared two-years cholera free, after a decade-long struggle to eliminate the disease, which was not native to the island. While left unacknowledged until 2016, cholera was introduced by UN volunteers who came from Nepal to help Haiti after the devastating 2010 earthquake. Only ten months later, in November of 2020, there were 600 confirmed cholera cases, and another 6,500 suspected. Haiti was no longer cholera-free, and a new pandemic was about to begin.

As of April 11, there have been a total of 31,705 cholera cases worldwide, with a case fatality rate of 2.2 across the global south, including Africa and the Caribbean. The UK, where the largest outbreak of cholera occurred in the mid-19th century, has not had a case since 1893. These cases are primarily concentrated in former colonies, with twenty-five of the twenty-seven countries with recent reported cases fitting this descriptor. The World Health Organization classified the cholera pandemic as a grade three emergency in January 2023, its highest internal level for emergencies. And yet, it has barely made the news.

You would be hard-pressed to find someone who does not understand the implications of pandemic in 2024. However, in the case of a disease such as cholera, which has been eliminated for so many years, those in global north countries tend to overlook it likely due to the fact that it is a disease that is relatively isolated to low-income countries. Cholera is caused by the ingestion of food or water contaminated with the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. Severe forms of the disease without immediate treatment can kill in hours. There are many strains of the bacterium but only two - O1 and O139 - can cause outbreaks, though O1 has caused all recent outbreaks. The spread of the disease is easy to avoid if a country has proper infrastructure, such as sewer systems. In modern times, the disease only affects countries that can’t afford proper sanitation in the water-supply. There also is a vaccine, known as the Oral Cholera Vaccine (OCV), but countries that lack the infrastructure for its development don’t have the means to vaccinate against it causing higher infection rates. In 2023, fourteen countries requested a total of 78 million OCV from the World Health Organization, but only 38 million were available. As of March 8th, only previous requests for vaccinations can be filled. Though this deadline has recently passed, a spike of cholera cases in another country that does not have the technology to replicate these vaccines, would be left completely vulnerable.

The othering of countries, from developed to developing, is likely the link between the high CFR and the underreporting in the media. From the perspective of global north nations, cholera is not a threat due to development on the backs of the countries suffering today. Those in the countries currently facing a cholera pandemic have to live with that constant fear, the same way that countries like the United States did during COVID-19, but without the infrastructure and the governmental influence to help to improve public health. Cholera may seem to the people in Western countries a disease of medieval times, but it is a very real threat to millions of  people worldwide.

The Worldwide Responsibility to End Hostilities in Sudan

By: Brooke Blosser

Since April 2023, the Sudanese Civil War has been creating a humanitarian disaster. Sudan is currently facing “one of the worst humanitarian nightmares in recent history”, while much of the focus of the rest of the world is on other geopolitical issues. Due to dwindling global aid, The United States and other world leaders should take a more decisive stand on the war in Sudan, and commit to ending the humanitarian crisis and promoting democracy within the country.

The Sudanese Civil War is a consequence of political regime changes in Sudan over the past thirty years, most of which have come through violent military coups. Thus, political violence has been the norm in Sudan, and the country has had a difficult time achieving democratic stability. These trends set the stage for the power struggle between two factions of the Sudanese military: the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a paramilitary group. These two groups worked together in 2019 and 2021 to carry out a coup and consolidate their power. However, questions of how the groups would work together led to a power struggle, and ultimately, the outbreak of the Civil War. The difference between this conflict and past conflicts in Sudan is that both groups are recognized by the government - neither of them can be considered rebels. With the fighting not expected to end anytime soon, the humanitarian situation can only grow worse.

The UN reports that 12,000 Sudanese have been killed and eight million have been displaced. It is difficult for children to attend school and hunger is widespread, with 90 percent of the population facing food insecurity. Additionally, the Civil War has internally and externally displaced millions, adding to the instability both within Sudan and the Horn of Africa region. Refugees in surrounding countries like Chad and South Sudan are straining the already precarious economic systems, and compounding upon existing infrastructure issues in those countries. This crisis is currently one of the worst humanitarian issues in the world, and international organizations and world leaders need to step up to assist with ensuring humanitarian assistance reaches the people of Sudan.

Aside from assisting with humanitarian needs, organizations like the United Nations and world leaders, like the United States, must assist with brokering a peace, or, at the very least, a ceasefire to ensure protections. Aside from the obvious need to end the war for humanitarian reasons, the United States has a strategic interest in ending hostilities. If Sudan fails to return to peace, the country will become a breeding ground and safe haven for terrorist organizations. Additionally, when more migrants are forced to resettle in neighboring states, instability could spread and incite greater violence in the region and create even more space for terrorism to grow. However, even with these high stakes, no country or organization has been able to foster productive peace talks. One set of talks, organized by Saudi Arabia and the United States, fell apart due to disagreements between the Saudis and Americans. This is unacceptable, both for the citizens of Sudan stuck in a humanitarian crisis, and the world at large under the threat of terrorism.

However, it would be beneficial for both sides to explore peace: the RSF remains unpopular with the Sudanese people, while the SAF struggles to maintain order in an increasingly disorganized military structure. The incentives to pursue peace exist, both for actors in Sudan and around the world. The United Nations and other influential world leaders need to step up and provide areas for mediation to end the hostilities and protect the people in Sudan from a terrible humanitarian crisis. Additionally, the world must be committed to continuing this support through assisting with peaceful transitions of power and other democratizing measures in Sudan. Creating a culture of a peaceful democracy, which is a popular idea with the Sudanese, should not be undertaken with a goal of creating a “Western” democracy. Rather, the world should work with Sudan to create a peaceful democracy on their terms, not ours. By taking into account Sudanese culture, the world can assist with creating a lasting democracy that protects the Sudanese people from humanitarian crises, and the world from terrorists growing within their borders.

India’s Ram Mandir Consecration Is Not to Be Celebrated, But Mourned

By : Vaidehi Bhardwaj

The Ram Mandir has revealed the Modi government as an authoritarian monstrosity, yet we remain blissfully blind. 

Young men pelting passing cars with sticks and stones- going so far as to slash tires. People being dragged out of buildings and beaten in the streets. Homes bulldozed, women groped and harassed, cemeteries set ablaze by violent mobs. Could this be Germany in the thirties? A scene from Rwanda in the mid-nineties?

This is India in 2024.

Days after the consecration of the sacred Ram Mandir (Temple of Ram) in Ayodhya, violent mobs of young men trawled the streets in seven different states, chanting “Jai Sri Ram” (Praise Lord Ram) and attacking Muslim minority communities. According to supporters of the temple, Ayodhya is the “janmabhoomi,” or birthplace, of Lord Ram, one of the most prominent gods in Hindu polytheistic tradition. Some historians claim to have pinpointed the exact spot upon which Lord Ram was born- a place where, coincidentally, a Muslim mosque erected during the Mughal occupation of India stood. Evidence for this claim is scant and disputed, but the BJP government has claimed a temple built on the site will mend historical grievances from the Mughal occupation, and pave a new era of cooperation between Hindus and Muslims in the country.

Maybe the mobs wreaking havoc across India didn’t get the memo- they tore down storefronts without saffron-colored flags, a symbol of Hinduism, and those hosting Muslim symbols or Arabic writing. They cornered women and men alike on the streets and asked them to chant Hindu hymns, beating them if they refused. Mobs pasted banners with Hindu symbols onto Christian and Catholic churches. Opposition leaders from minority communities and parties received threats in-person and on social media. Amidst the chaos, Prime Minister Narendra Modi lauded the temple as a beacon for a brighter future and the end of a “historical knot” of contention between Hindus and Muslims. Ironically, neither Modi nor his party, the Bharatiya Janata (BJP) addressed the clearly religiously-motivated violence- in fact, several key BJP politicians stoked it, saying they “very well know what needs to be done.” 

This is not the Modi government’s first foray into authoritative fascism. In fact, discriminatory and divisive actions have slowly but surely become the norm in India since 2002, with the Gujarat Riots under Modi, then Chief Minister. It has continued to a crescendo in recent years- in 2019, the BJP introduced a law allowing Indian asylum for all citizens except Muslim ones of neighboring countries- a law that is set to go into effect this year, preceding elections. Anti-conversion laws in several BJP-ruled states prevent religious conversion without prior approval from the government. Education is not spared either: chapters on minority and lower-caste struggles for rights, and diversity in democracy, have been quietly removed from high school textbooks. The government has replaced mentions of Jawaharlal Nehru, India’s first prime minister and famous secularist, with those of V.D. Savarkar, the creator of militant Hindutva (Hindu supremacy). Periodic crackdowns on the Internet, healthcare, and public gatherings have also become terrifyingly commonplace. Free speech and expression no longer exist- the Modi government used a series of peaceful protests in January 2020 to impose draconian restrictions on news agencies.Furthermore, the government deleted over a thousand Twitter accounts, ordered a complete Internet shutdown, and imprisoned activists on baseless charges for extended periods of time. Activists and academics are consistently harassed and threatened by authorities and laypeople both. Any kind of dissent is instantly painted as anti-Indian: Modi himself deemed Punjabi farmers peacefully protesting new agriculture laws as Khalistani separatists and “parasites.” Is it any surprise, then, that Hindu militant nationalists feel comfortable visiting such open violence upon minority communities? After all, Modi and the BJP clearly built the foundations- signaling that minority religious and political groups are somehow dangerous, un-Indian, and undeserving of rights and respect.

And yet, Hindus around the world rejoice at another supposed “win” for their religion and their country through the consecration of the Ram Mandir. They take to the streets and celebrate in parties, in parades, or in Tesla caravans. They choose to forget that the Ram Mandir is built precisely on top of the ruins of the Babri Masjid, a Muslim mosque abandoned by the local Muslim population after Hindutva sentiments made it too dangerous to worship there. The mosque was eventually torn down in 1992 by militant Hindu nationalists. They choose not to hear the leading Hindu scholars of the country decrying the temple as a politicized sham. They turn a blind eye to the civil rights and liberties disappearing as a result of their actions. They are perfectly content labeling those who raise concerns about their glee as “not Hindu enough,” “playing appeasement politics,” “separatist,” “Marxist”- as other. 

“The NRI population that is supporting that majoritarian project…basically they’re supporting a coming genocide,” says UVA Professor of History Indrani Chatterjee. “In every riot since 2002, Muslim middle classes have lost their business, shops and properties and are either killed- as in the Gulbarg Society Massacre- or completely and permanently displaced. So that’s what’s effectively happening. That’s terrifying. That same kind of violence is being visited by means of bulldozers that are sent to demolish shrines, mosques and hutments of the working poor among Muslims living in Delhi suburbs. It’s a clear step-by-step ethnic cleansing that’s happening. Nobody is going to call it that.”

After all, this is the true genius of Modi and his ilk- not their success at governing (which has been minimal), but their fearsome ability to exploit religious, ethnic, and caste differences that have existed in India from time immemorial. With one hand, they point to the sky and proclaim unity and progress for all Indians- while with the other, they quietly continue to tear apart the seams that hold an immensely diverse and populous India together.

The Ram Mandir is not cause for celebration. It is not a success for “historically marginalized” Hindus, nor is it a step in reclaiming Indian heritage. It is no pushback against Mughal colonization, or a new era of “Ram Rajya” (just and ethical governance). We must recognize the Ram Mandir for what it is- another discreet, devastating attack against one of the minority groups Modi and the BJP have demonized, and an inexcusably unapologetic marriage of religion and the political state. We must mourn the Ram Mandir project- it is nothing but another death knell for Indian democracy.

A Return to Cold War Nuclear Deterrence?

By: Alexander Macturk

Early this month, Chief National Security Correspondent for CNN Jim Sciutto reported that senior Biden administration officials began “prepping rigorously” for a potential Russian nuclear strike in Ukraine. Sciutto’s report mirrors the unsettling trend of states with nuclear arsenals levying similar threats. North Korea’s Kim Jong Un welcomed the New Year with an order to “thoroughly annihilate” the United States and South Korea if attacked. Iran’s technological advancements have lowered the development time required to weaponize its nuclear research. Coupled with the instability in the region, prompted by the October 7 Hamas terrorist attack, Iran is worryingly poised to build its nuclear stockpile. 

Despite this, the validity of such threats and likelihood of nuclear proliferation remain unclear. Nonetheless, the U.S has exited its post-Cold War bliss and reentered a new period where  nuclear deterrence is no longer a theoretical strategic issue. In fact, the risk of use of nuclear weapons in combat is rising. Therefore, the national security community requires a strict reexamination of the doctrine of nuclear deterrence, its application in the post-Cold War world, and a path forward.

For the U.S, the way to address nuclear deterrence varies between military and political leaders. Admiral Charles Richard, former Commander of U.S. Strategic Command, has stressed American policymakers’ retreat from their myopia and sober realization that nuclear deterrence has always been integral to strategic deterrence. He emphasizes that nuclear deterrence itself has never been a universal deterrent. In fact, leaders such as Richard Nixon and Leonid Brezhnev vigorously competed with each other for unilateral gain under the umbrella of nuclear deterrence. 

Failure to fully understand nuclear deterrence may lead to dangerous consequences. Nuclear weapons can inflict “uncontestable costs,” including an all-out nuclear assault. Nevertheless, nuclear deterrence does not exist separately from conventional deterrence. On a similar note, Sciutto also reported executive branch officials’ concerns that Russia may employ a “tactical or battlefield nuclear weapon.” The possibility of Vladimir Putin deploying tactical nuclear arms underlines the important duty of policymakers to prepare for any battlefield possibility and disregard the practice of solely relying on nuclear deterrence for international stability.

The poor application and stunted understanding of nuclear deterrence has evolved from the bipolar power struggle between the U.S. and Soviet Union. Admiral Richard has saliently warned that the twenty-first century authoritarian nuclear regimes may now stake their legitimacy on the ability to wage nuclear war. For example, North Korea passed a law in 2022 that explicitly states its status as a nuclear power. Authoritarian regimes do not employ traditional nuclear deterrence to persuade a potential adversary that the costs of a retaliatory nuclear attack far outweigh the benefits of an initial strike. In fact—and reflected in the language of the 2022 North Korea law—these authoritarian regimes misconstrue their nuclear arsenals not as a deterrent but as a strategic tool for “taking the initiative in war” and securing the continued viability of their regimes. 

To address this uncomfortable and present reality posed by the nuclear proliferation since the end of the Cold War, the U.S. must remain committed to international diplomacy aimed at limiting the development of nuclear arsenals. The U.S. must also push reduction treaties, like New START between the U.S. and Russia, as better alternatives to nuclear deterrence. Looking ahead, the U.S. should also work to lower tensions on the Korean Peninsula to ensure that Kim’s 2022 nuclear declaratory law has no chance of being practiced. If committed to pursuing renewed and reinvigorated commitment to nuclear proliferation and reducing tensions in conflicts involving nuclear powers, the U.S. would bring stability and international security and help make nuclear displays irrelevant on the global stage.

Indonesia’s Nickel Empire at the Expense of Human Rights

By: Apal Upadhyaya

Indonesia has more than quadrupled its nickel production in less than ten years, positioning the island nation to dominate the international nickel market. Nickel is necessary for the production of stainless steel and lithium-ion batteries found in essential everyday items like electric toothbrushes, laptops, computers, and cellphones. These batteries increasingly find use in next-generation technologies to power electric vehicles and e-bikes. Further, the demand for nickel is expected to increase 6-fold by 2030 fueled by growing demand for electric vehicles, a climate-friendly alternative form of transportation. Indonesia’s islands of Halmera and Sulawesi are home to the most identified nickel reserves in the country, making land there extremely lucrative for potential nickel mining companies. 

However, because of the land’s overwhelming value, thousands of Indonesian pepper farmers and other landowners have reported their land being seized by mining companies. Police intimidate locals and sell private lands well below market value with little negotiation. Furthermore, while the Indonesian government paints its nickel mining initiatives as green and energy friendly, the seizing and excavating of lands has resulted in thousands of acres of deforestation. The little regard and respect the Indonesian government and mining companies have for the Indonesian people whose ancestral lands have been seized blatantly violates property and human rights. While Indonesia has made it its goal to disrupt the international nickel market, it has lost its sense to protect the rights of its people. 

In Indonesia, formal land titles are difficult to acquire, especially for ancestral lands. In 2021, local governments began transferring land deeds to mining companies without the consent of the land’s residents. In one case, a widow and her family was given around $50 million Indonesian rupiah ($3,223) in exchange for the land. With the farm, the widow could make up to 6 million rupiah ($386) in one month from her harvests, and without her farm-based income, the widow has resorted to to selling cooked food at a stall to make a fraction of that income she would have made if she still had her land. Notably, these land deals and disputes are predatory and disproportionately affect Indonesia’s poorest populations. This exploitative approach to nickel mining is not going away. The number of land disputes increased from 1,520 conflicts between 2005-2015 to 2,939 conflicts between 2015-2023 under President Joko Widodo. This has affected 135,608 households, or close to one million people. 

On the island of Gelam, which is part of the Kendawangan conservation area zone, local government officials claim that land deeds were only given to mining companies because of residents’ requests. Residents refute this claim and argue that they never willingly gave up their lands to mining companies. Local Indonesian governments and officials have abused the lack of land deeds among their poorest populations to better position themselves for success in future nickel mining operations. The Indonesian government has recently become a controlling shareholder of  PT Vale Indonesia, one of the mining companies seizing land in Sulawesi. Thus, the government of Indonesia is complicit in this seizing of land affecting almost a million citizens. The government’s gross disregard of its own citizens violates the property rights and threatens the livelihoods of the millions of people who live off their land to gain a reliable income. 

The Indonesian government frames this focus on nickel as a push towards clean energy, but massive deforestation and pollution undermines the government of President Joko Widodo’s goals. Over 13,173 acres (5,331 hectares) of forest have been cleared on Halmahera, driving away deer and boars and polluting the water of local rivers. PT Weda Bay Nickel, the largest nickel miner on Halmahera, has deforested 3,600 acres of forest as of 2022. Widodo has sought to support developing industries, hasten recognition of land ownership, and slow deforestation. However, based on the actions of mining groups backed by the Indonesian government, deforestation in Indonesia still continues. 

While Indonesian nickel mining can make the nation a key player in the international nickel market, the violation of property and human rights to undertake such a project cannot be understated. Seizing and evicting people from ancestral lands for the sake of mine development is wrong. Excavating such lands in a way that pollutes key water sources and destabilizes the surrounding environment is wrong. Indonesian policymakers must stop issuing permits to mine and hold leaders accountable for violations of community members’ rights. If safeguards and restrictions do not materialize, the people of these islands will be displaced and the environment will be destroyed, both reduced to an afterthought of innovation.