Rays of Hope

This year, we saw a series of crises and misadventures rattle the entire world’s peace of mind, be it the continuing global economic malaise or the steady disintegration of order in Europe and Central and Western Asia. However, throughout this period of global hardship and struggle, we also witnessed harbingers of happier economic times and a safer, less turbulent world.

Europe, in particular, has faced difficulties this year. Caught in the rising tide of anti-Muslim hysteria—a product of a dysfunctional immigration system and a chronic failure to assimilate new immigrants—normally mild-mannered Switzerland passed a measure banning minarets, a law we passionately decried. We feel that this legislation is discriminatory against an embattled minority and only further alienates, and thus radicalizes, European Muslims.

Another small European country—Greece—also found itself on the brink of disaster. We held that it would be wrong for the people of France and Germany, two of the only European nations with fiscal houses in comparative order, to devote their own tax dollars to reward the Greek government’s gross profligacy and egregious irresponsibility. Instead, we advocated for a bailout of Greece by the International Monetary Fund, as the stigma associated with such a bailout was well-deserved in this case. Additionally, members of the European Union should not have had to further surrender their political sovereignty to unelected bureaucrats in hopes of resolving the EU’s economic and fiscal difficulties, as the people of those states have time and again rejected further centralization.

The Ukraine also faced crisis, in the realm of health rather than economics. We condemned the country for adopting a policy of banning public gatherings to combat the H1N1 “pandemic,” because such a measure would compromise democracy, especially in an election year.

In a controversy that plagued not just Europe, but also the entire world, a sex-abuse scandal arose in the Catholic Church. We appreciate Pope Benedict XVI’s letter of apology, but note that he was misguided in invoking faith as a solution to the crisis. We advocate treating the occurrence of abuse by priests foremost as a law-enforcement issue because we feel that no one, not even the clergy, should be above the law. We also believe that the Church could do more to handle the epidemic of pedophilic priests from a management perspective, decentralizing authority to local dioceses and providing instructional courses about how to report incidents of abuse.

Moving east to Afghanistan, we bemoaned the withdrawal of presidential candidate Abdullah Abdullah, the chief opponent of President Hamid Karzai, from a hotly contested race plagued by allegations of fraud, terming the decision premature. Abdullah’s concession to Karzai dispossessed the Afghan government of any democratic legitimacy, thus depriving the country of much-needed stability. The implication of this politically expedient maneuver, we concluded, was that the United States could not afford to factor in the chimerical prospect of a stable democracy in Afghanistan as it considers its policy toward the region.

In spite of these setbacks, however, we see some signs of progress manifest around the world. In India, a country long dogged by misogyny, we took heart in a bill that promises to establish quotas for the number of women in Parliament. However, in spite of its positive sentiments, we did voice concern about the possibility that the bill could further marginalize minorities, such as Muslims.

Uruguay also made strides this year. We found much to praise about a program handing out free laptops to every child there, which promises to enhance technological literacy and proliferate access to information, thereby helping lift these children out of poverty.

We also were pleased to see the arrest of Hollywood director and part-time child rapist Roman Polanski by the Swiss police. We expressed disgust at the arguments made by some in Hollywood that Polanski deserved clemency due to being an artist, as if artists were above the law. We reject this hypocritical position and asserted firmly that the law is the law.

Finally, we are heartened by the new approach to foreign policy adopted by President Obama. We brushed aside criticisms of the president’s chronic bowing habit, as bowing, to the Japanese emperor in particular, is nothing more than a harmless gesture that cultivates trust and respect.

We praise the president’s approach to China, applauding his decision to meet with the Dalai Lama like all presidents before him, as we believe attention ought to be paid to China’s human rights abuses and unconscionable occupation of Tibet. We were also thrilled at his successful attempt to reach a pact with the Chinese on climate change, although we noted that the speeches offered by Obama and Chinese President Hu Jintao were little more than words until they yield actions. On the subject of China, we were also pleased by Google’s decision to pull out of the country to protest its censorship laws.

Still, courting the Chinese is important, we feel, for China’s cooperation is crucial in establishing a united global front against Iranian nuclear intransigence. Russia is another such crucial ally, hence our praise for Obama’s decision to scale back the U.S. missile defense program in Poland as a sign of goodwill toward the Russians. This choice was particularly sensible given the expensiveness and relative uselessness of such missile-defense programs. Obama’s efforts to please Russia ostensibly paid off when Russian President Dmitry Medvedev verbally backed the concept of sanctions against Iran, a sea change in Russian policy regarding Iran. Nevertheless, in spite of our commitment to diplomacy and reconciliation, we took a tough line against Iran, firmly calling for the U.S. to condemn the nation’s uranium enrichment, crack down on domestic corporations doing business there, and aggressively forge an international coalition against the rogue regime.

Obama’s approach to Israel also pleases us. We reiterated our hope for a peace agreement regarding the conflict over Gaza but established that any compromise must not come at the expense of human rights. Finally, we determined that it was best for the U.S. to end its rubber-stamp approval of all of Israel’s policies and for the two nations to scale down their alliance.

As countries struggled to cope with the changing circumstances ushered in this year, their responses leave us largely concerned. However, Obama’s leadership gives us hope that the U.S.’s presence on the international stage will continue to be a positive one in the year to come.