The World

SACSIS seeks to examine global issues, particularly as they relate to South Africa.

War With Syria and Its Repercussions

Picture: amberpaw2/Flickr Shamus Cooke - A U.S. invasion of Syria could be the first war based on a Youtube video. After a video was released showing victims of an alleged chemical weapons attack, England immediately declared the Syrian government responsible, while Obama began drawing up military plans, saying there was "little doubt" the Syrian Government was at fault (zero evidence currently exists to suggest this). An extra U.S. warship has already been deployed in response. Instead of responsibly waiting for the UN...

Greece: A United Syriza Moves Closer to Power

Picture: Alexis Tsipras of Greece James Elliott - The man who promises to end Greece’s austerity binge and reinvent European socialism for the 21st century has edged closer to power, after the radical left Syriza coalition of 14 parties merged into one unified bloc to fight future elections. Alexis Tsipras, the coalition’s leader, was elected head of the new party with 74% of the votes cast by 3412 delegates. Syriza won 71 seats in last year’s June elections, putting them as the second largest party in the parliament but...

On the Verdict in the Bradley Manning Court-Martial

Picture: Bradley Manning courtesy Saint Iscariot/Flickr. Julian Assange - On Tuesday, 30 July 2013, Bradley Manning, a whistleblower, was convicted by a military court at Fort Meade of 19 offences for supplying the press with information, including five counts of ’espionage’. He now faces a maximum sentence of 136 years. The ’aiding the enemy’ charge has fallen away. It was only included, it seems, to make calling journalism ’espionage’ seem reasonable. It is not. Bradley Manning’s alleged disclosures have exposed war...

Mandela in Miami

Picture: Nelson Mandela and Fidel Castro courtesy Foreign Policy in Focus. Arturo Lopez-Levy - Nelson Mandela has long enjoyed the support of Fidel Castro, and many right-wing Cuban Americans have never forgiven the anti-apartheid leader for it. Ethics has never been a forte of the pro-embargo Cuban-American lobby. But the U.S.-Cuba Democracy PAC has reached a new low. Capitalizing on South African president Nelson Mandela’s health problems, embargo supporters have constructed a false parallel between the multilateral sanctions against South Africa’s apartheid regime...

Let the Light of Mandela Shine on U.S. Injustice

Picture: President Barack Obama and Nelson Mandela in Mandela Amy Goodman - As the world celebrates Nelson Mandela’s 95th birthday, it is timely to reflect on his life, spent fighting for equality for people of color who long suffered under South Africa’s apartheid regime. Mandela was arrested in 1962, a year before Martin Luther King Jr. would give his “I Have a Dream” speech in Washington, D.C. After 27 years in prison, Mandela was released in 1990. Four years later, he would become the first democratically elected president of South Africa....

Snowden: Towards an Endgame

Picture: Edward Snowden courtesy zennie62/Flickr Pepe Escobar - The working title of the Edward Snowden movie is still The Spy Who Remains in the Cold. Here's where we stand: Snowden could only fly out of Hong Kong because China allowed it. Snowden could only arrive in Moscow because Russia knew it - in co-operation with China. This is part of their strategic relationship, which includes the BRICS group (along with Brazil, India and South Africa) and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. No official source though would ever confirm it....