The Middle East: Changing the Meaning of “Nationalism”

By Samantha Riley

As protests continue to sweep across the Middle East, including namely countries such as Libya, Tunisia, Egypt, Algeria, Yemen, Iran, and up to fifteen others, questions regarding civil wars and political repercussions are stirring all around the globe. Even though it is impossible to predict what these protests will do to the world’s borders and national resource supply, the effects these have on world ideologies regarding nationalism can already be seen.

These protests have changed what it means to be a nationalist.

Gunman in Tripoli Demand Liberation From Their Own Leader. Photo credit: AP

Previously, nationalism was formulaic around empirical rule and suppression from outside powers within a “subordinate” country’s borders. “There was empire, the people gained their strength, kicked out empirical forces, and kicked them out,” explains David Ludden, professor of Empire and Globalizations at New York University. This can be seen in examples all through out history, especially in examples of British rule, like India and the United States. Empire highlighted what it meant to be an outsider, and nationalism emerged as a result of wanting to keep what was “pure” within a country’s borders.

Now, there is still what New York Times writer, David Brooks calls “a universal hunger for liberty,” but the difference is that with the latest protests, nationalism has shifted from the outside, in.  Rather than defending their countries against exterior threats, the source of discontent comes from within. “In the past, people have said, ‘this is our country and we deserve to rule our own country’,” said Ludden, “but now they’re saying it to their own leaders.”

This is significant, especially considering where the protests are occurring. Previously, Samuel Huntington classified religion as being the basic formation of national ideologies, specifically in this region. The events that have occurred within the past few months, however, have proved this wrong. “In some circumstances, one set of identities manifests itself,” Brooks continues, “but when those circumstances change, other equally authentic identities and desires get activated.” A desire for democracy, for representation, for abolishment of corruption has replaced religious ties, to a degree.

This shift could be the result of numerous events. First, empirical control is arguably less influential currently. Citizens may always need someone to blame for their discontents and whoever has the strongest hand in a country is the easiest outlet. Next, the internet and social media have created a new sort of connectivity and awareness that has previously not existed. This makes the wrongdoings within government easier to broadcast and creates a more aware citizenry. It could, finally, be a result of an actual decline in the attachment to religion in the face of political suppression.

For now, the world can only watch as these factors play out into the fate of the Middle East and the world’s unrest.

The Heart of the Matter in North Korea

Photographs and Interviews by K

Human rights issues in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, better known as North Korea, are one of the hardest to tackle by the global community as it is also one of the most egregious yet to exist. But this is a fact that has lost all its urgency. People don’t know quite exactly where to even begin resolving the problems. Everything about the nation, starting from a deceptive totalitarian government to a starving population of adults and children alike, cries for justice.

Individuals today who have the financial means, democratic upbringing, and sense of humane responsibility find themselves stopped just outside the line of demarcation which secludes North Korea from the rest of the breathing world. Many who have heard of, studied, and seen the atrocities which threaten the livelihood of North Korean citizens desire to uncover the regime’s blatant lies and acts of violence against its people. Pyongyang, capital of North Korea, projects an image of prosperity, happiness, and independence to foreigners. Clearly, however, these do not truthfully portray the harrowing reality of life for the average North Korean person.

Rice trucks from China cross the Tumen River Bridge into North Korea.

Findings in Nothing to Envy, an investigative reporting by Barbara Demick, show that “[b]y 1998, an estimated 600,000 to 2 million North Koreans had died as a result of the famine, as much as 10 percent of the population.” This statistic stands highly problematic on its own, but additionally raises serious doubts as to whether the North Korean government properly and rightfully uses the flood of aid it receives from neighboring nations to actually alleviate the deathly hunger of its people.

“If that help goes to the people who really need it, that’s great, but just pouring foreign aid into North Korea is not going to work,” said Harry Lee, a Junior at NYU involved in Freedoms 4 North Korea, a club on campus which raises basic awareness of human rights abuses. “It’s hard for any external source to dramatically change what’s going on. It needs to happen from inside.”

So what is the solution? The question has been asked relentlessly to no avail. The knowledge, or at least that which we have access to, about North Korea’s situation should suffice to invoke a strong reaction, and to a considerable extent, it has. But the heart of the matter still resides in North Korea, and has grown roots which have become deeply historical and ever so political that it takes more than the surface level of conviction spawned by human rights issues to penetrate.

Raising a fist to symbolize the fight for freedom over Hamgyong Province, North Korea. (June 2010)

Talks about Kim Jong Il’s imminent death, speculation about his son Kim Jong Un as the successor, as well as the apparent economical instability triggered by last year’s currency devaluation hints at the collapse of the regime altogether. There are so many factors at play, but even so, what then?

“I think reunification is practical. For both countries, reunification is unquestionably the ultimate goal. It’s just that there’s too much difference in the way to go about it. And it’s not just about the North and South. It involves East Asian politics,” said Darline Kim, a Senior at NYU.

“But I have this vague feeling that someday, something will happen.”

What to Look for in an Internship

By Caterina Andreano

 

The recession has created a hard job market for recent college graduates to enter. With jobs harder to find, graduates need every advantage that they can get in order to make them stand out in the applicant pool. That advantage is increasingly becoming internships.

 

But what kind of internships are the most valuable? “You need an internship that is going to be related to your industry of choice and that will open the door for you to develop experience and knowledge base within that industry,” said Denise Meadows, who works for the James Madison University Career and Academic Planning Office. “Also, the other thing that you’re hopefully going to gain from that internship experience is that you are going to come away with some substantive experience. You have to have a deliverable, like a project or clips,” she said.

Some internships, though, don’t give you a deliverable at the end. Though all internships provide you with experience in the field, some provide more than others. Internships where you’re stuck getting coffee all day doesn’t supply the opportunity for true experience in the industry, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t worthy in themselves. When asked whether internships with well-known companies, where you might be the go-to coffee guy, are more or less important than internships with small companies, where you get hands-on experience, Amey Stone, the deputy managing editor at MSN Money, said, “I think both are important. I think getting those internships where you’re just schlepping coffee can give you some great connections, but it’s also great to work with editors and to get that experience. Any internship experience is a good experience,” she continued. 

Nicole Mastrangelo sitting on a bench in London.

But Rachel Frank and Nicole Mastrangelo believe that working at start-ups and small companies present an opportunity for hands-on experience that working at big name companies often do not. Nicole Mastrangelo, a sophomore at St. John’s University, currently works for the marketing communications company Likeable Media. She started out as an intern over a year ago, and has since been promoted to the Buzz Builder coordinator, where she interviews all interns wishing to join the company. “I feel like I’m watching the company grow,” she said. “I was here when there were only 15 interns, now there are 75. It’s great being able to have an intimate relationship with the people I work with, and working at a small company, there’s no such thing as a typical day. You have to help everyone and everyday is different. I’m getting real experience in the field that I want to go into one day,” she said.

 

Rachel Frank leaning against a wall at Ramapo College. Photo Credit: Ashley Long

Rachel Frank, a sophomore at Ramapo College, also interns for a start-up company. She started out as an intern at the new inspirational media company, AIMbitious, and is now an Associate Editor. “I had an integral part of making the company become a functioning news site. I got to do all of the things that a regular journalist would get to do if they started working in a newsroom,” Frank said. “It also gave me a lot of experience that other interns might not have in the work force until they graduate. I was able to actually learn what the career I was going to school for is actually like,” she said. 

So, as the summer internship season quickly approaches and you go and hand out your applications, think about what you want to take away from the internship your applying for. Nearly all internships look great on a resume, but each experience is different. Like anything else, it’s what you make out of it, but an internship with a start-up company might end up making something out of you.

Girls Learn Rosier Self-Perceptions

Just months before Glamour magazine reported that “97% of women will be cruel to their bodies today,” eighteen-year-old Lauren Berninger was working to prevent this statistic from spreading to another generation.

As the founder of the organization Finding the Fabulous, Berninger saw an opportunity to help today’s youth in attacking body image hate and self-loathing.

“I worked with young girls in the kids department of my local church,” she explained, “just listening to the way that they talked was a little shocking and upsetting hearing all the reasons they hated themselves.” Stationed in Lincoln Park, New Jersey, the Finding the Fabulous Camp held a pilot program last summer, and saw immediate success.

Fabulous Counselors, posing at the summer camp pilot

Youth need plenty of reassurance and positive attention to achieve healthy attitudes, and negative body image can be a contagious deterrent from this. A study published in December, in the Journal of Health and Social Behavior, reported that girls directly and indirectly influence each other to conform to an ideal weight image. Emphasizing this shared identity as a common goal creates great pressure amongst young girls to achieve the “culturally-rewarded underweight” status. It can become an epidemic so much that even underweight girls, when enveloped by negative influence from their peers, will strive to lose weight or take up unhealthy habits, if those around them are doing so.

And it can happen at any age.

“I did not speak like that when I was 12,” Berninger said of some of the young girls who inspired her to begin her work, “technology has totally transformed everything these kids are like ten and they have laptops, they have cell phones, they’re on Facebook.” Being so connected all the time solidifies an image of the paramount physical goal that many young girls are hoping to achieve.

Counselors at Finding the Fabulous offer support to young girls looking for direction and advice. “I think we are doing an excellent job with the girls regarding self-esteem,” said counselor Sarah Orsita “There were girls that I heard constantly saying they were fat or ugly at the ages of 8 and 9, and now I never hear that from them, so we are effecting them in some way.”

Berninger and Orsita with North Haledon Girl Scout Troop 177 during an outreach program

Berninger cites the “Average suburban girl” as an individual with whom they are making a lasting impact. “Everyone thinks they have it all given to them already,” she explained.

“With the group of girls that we work with I feel like their issues are pushed to the side, because they aren’t from bad parents or having finical struggles, they are from regular homes,” added Orsita, “But they are the girls that you hear it from the most that have body image problems or self-esteem issues.”

The Fabulous counselors have received great reception and seen immense progress in their protégés. One twelve-year old girl wrote to Berninger, “I sometimes forget to love myself cause there’s no one here reminding me. I’ll always remember to be Fabulous!”