Headlines

• International Conspiracy in Yemen

• China's ‘Social' Failure

• The Liberation of Idlib

• China Challenges US Hegemony

Details

International Conspiracy in Yemen

Saudi Arabia began airstrikes on Wednesday 25 March against Houthi positions in Yemen, vowing that the kingdom will do "anything necessary" to restore a deposed government that has been routed by the Iranian-backed group. Yemen erupted alongside Tunisia and Egypt when the Arab Spring was in full swing back in 2011. But regional and international rivalries have led to the real change the people have demanded to be hijacked by foreign agendas. Yemen's strategic location on the major sea line of communication and a border with Saudi Arabia has always made it a key prize for both Britain and the US. Iran has long utilized the Shi'ah population across the region to further its own strategic objectives of regional domination. The Houthis, who make up around 40% of Yemen's population, have long been supported by Iran with elements being trained by Iran's IRGC. Saudi fearing this has long backed the Government - which for three decades was dominated by Ali Abdullah Saleh, in Sanaa in order to push back at any Houthi expansion. Britain has supported Saleh since he came to power and protected him during the Arab Spring uprisings. But with pressure mounting on his by the US, he was replaced by his own crony, Abd Mansur al-Hadi. The US has used the demand for change by the Houthis to pressure Saleh and weaken Britain's hold over the country. Whilst Palestine, Syria and Iraq burns both Iran and Saudi do nothing, but they send in their militaries when international powers need them to.

China's ‘Social' Failure

A Muslim couple have been sentenced to prison for carrying out Islamic practices. The state-owned newspaper China Youth Daily reported that a court in the Xinjiang city of Kashgar sentenced a 38-year-old Uighur man to six years in jail for growing a beard, while his wife was given two years for veiling herself. The man "had started growing his beard in 2010" and his wife "wore a veil hiding her face and a burqa," the paper said. The couple were found guilty of "picking quarrels and provoking trouble," a vague accusation regularly used in the Chinese judicial system against dissidents. Whilst much of the world looks at China's economic growth and its rapidly developing military and role in the world, it very rarely sees how China deals with its domestic population of 1.5 billion. Whilst China has made rapid advances in technology and created immense wealth, this has not been on the back of domestic development and an increase in prosperity for its own people. The communist party dominates the political system, and any opposition to its polices is dealt with brutally. But the country's biggest failure has been dealing with people who are not ethnically Chinese. The Muslim Uighurs are one of the largest ethnic groups in China and have for long been discriminated in order to control them. China's method of maintaining social cohesion is through oppression and strict control. This shows it is in not technology that brings stability, but the ability to blend people into one nation through policies that recognises their beliefs.

The Liberation of Idlib

As the uprising in Syria reached 4 years, news continues to come out of the country of the liberation of Idlib. Multiple groups came together for this operation, putting aside their differences. They established an operations room, established a cohesive plan of attack, and ultimately executed the plan. The leadership of the Jaysh Al Fath's operation was handed to Dr. Abdullah Muhaysinee, the Saudi born and educated cleric who has been involved with most of the major battle in Syria. His leadership was respected and this is something that has been long in the coming in Syria. Rarely is the leadership of the different groups in the hands of Islamically educated fighters. Many of the town population that decided to stay during the fighting have been reported to have provided assistance to the Mujahideen forces. Jaysh Al Fath immediately announced that Christians will not be asked to pay Jizya (a tax that is paid by non-Muslims just as Muslims pay Zakat), as the Mujahideen leadership could not currently guarantee the security of their Christian residents. This is in direct contrast from reports of ISIS demanding Jizya immediately from their residents, detaining the women, taking some as slaves from amongst the people they have conquered, and making a slaughter in the town square on the heels of their successes and broadcasting it on youtube. The pictures emerging from the town are of the mujhadeen making sujood for this victory. Even Syrians living in Turkey as refugees were photographed celebrating this victory.

China Challenges US Hegemony

The US rebuked the UK and a raft of countries who announced they would join China's development bank. The US cited it was worried that the institution will not meet high governance standards, despite its domestic banks causing the global economic crisis. The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), will be a rival to the World Bank and Asian Development Bank, institutions founded and controlled by the US. The bank will be a like the World Bank, providing loans to developing countries in Asia for infrastructure projects. The AIIB is a part of the wider "new Silk Road" initiative by China to deepen trade and investment both in the rest of Asia and the wider world. The US has already endured a series of embarrassments over the bank. It might have been expected that some European countries with few ties with the US would join, which they did. India and Singapore, however, were quick to sign up despite having close relationships with the US. And several other countries have started joining, leaving the US almost completely isolated in its position. The Brookings Institute confirmed in 1994, "The United States has viewed all multilateral organisations including the World Bank, as instruments of foreign policy to be used in support of specific US aims and objectives... US views regarding how the world economy should be organised, how resources should be allocated and how investment decisions should be reached were enshrined in the Charter and the operational policies of the bank." This would explain America's opposition to China's development bank, as it would challenge a key tool the US has used to maintain its hegemony in the world.