UNREST MAGAZINE

I recently came across an article titled “ A faith-based aid revolution in the Muslim world” on Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN) website, which pointed out the massive scale of charitable giving among Muslims around the world. As the article points out: “Every year, somewhere between US$200 billion and $1 trillion are spent in “mandatory” alms and voluntary charity across the Muslim world, Islamic financial analysts estimate.” While the western world is riling in recession, this money from the Arab countries and Muslim populations in the West can be a potential source of humanitarian assistance and aid. Given this “revolution“ in Aid and the massive economic slump that the global economy has witnessed since 2008, I believe that we need to re-look at the discourse around faith-based giving and “Global War on Terror,” (GWOT)as it has in many cases impeded the flow of money and resources to humanitarian relief projects. This discourse has created a fear complex, even among individuals, who donate out of piety and not any ideological inclination.
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Occupy Wall St., also known as the Occupy Movement or, simply, Occupy, began as a call to action from the anti-consumerist magazine Adbusters to “occupy” Wall St. on Sept. 17, 2011. What happened next is the subject of many books — most of which extol the movement — along with newspaper articles, television news segments, and public chatter from all sides of the political spectrum. Nonetheless, it is self-evident that the movement did not achieve its major, although mostly implicit, goals: to abolish corporate-elite governance and restore democracy for the so-called “99 percent.” [1]  If this had been achieved, it would have been to the delight of millions of people in the United States and billions around the world, for there is no question that popular opinion was on the side of the movement — at least in the beginning.
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For those new to contemporary, post-Seattle/WTO anarchism, CrimethInc. may not be a term all too familiar.  For the rest of us, these folks are seen as a prominent voice in the modern radical milieu, publishing a series of widely ready books, pamphlets, magazines, films, websites, etc.  CrimethInc. manages to mix lifestyleist politics with highbrow theory, and wrap it all in a well designed package of allure and militancy, masked with a bit of clandestine conspiring.  Call them escapist provocateurs or the modern day Situationists, they are a force to be reckoned with.
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With North Korea threatening to carry out nuclear strikes aimed at South Korea and the United States, the question of safe uranium enrichment has re-emerged in political debate.   Common sense would argue that for the good of our species, regimes should not be able to stockpile Weapons of Mass Destruction.  International controls such as the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), or rigorous inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), have been put in place to help prevent abuses.  While North Korea’s actions capture the spotlight due to a verbalized willingness to use their missiles, the current meetings between the West and Iran beg us to consider another aspect of the nuclear question.  Should the two states be treated the same when it comes to uranium enrichment?  Why should a country that has not explicitly violated these safeguards, nor invaded another country for two centuries, be subject to Western antagonism?
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What are the differences among the three?
How can they work together where there is chaos to restore order?

To achieve the best results after a natural disaster or violent conflict, organizations involved in humanitarian assistance, development, and peacebuilding need to work together, in a symbiotic relationship, building off of their combined strengths and helping each other where there are weaknesses. To work well together, individuals and organizations need to understand not only the strengths and limitations of their own field, but of the other two fields as well. Unfortunately, many who work in one of those fields do not know much about the other two or where the three fields should intersect and where they separate.  
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Never as an option is redundant, says one of the students looking at my questionnaire, there isn’t a single person in Kashmir who has not had his house searched.

The extremity and pervasiveness of the violence that ripped apart this picturesque valley becomes evident through many such honest passing remarks. These are sometimes deliberate intentions at disclosure, but more often, they are innocent matter-of-fact expressions. The latter is what is so disturbing about present day Kashmir, a society marked by more than two decades of armed conflict and centuries of oppression. The Kashmir witnessed the rise and fall of an armed rebellion, and suffers the causalities of a disintegrating political system. It is removed from the rest of the world not just in terms of geography, but in terms of its suffering, which continues to be misunderstood, understated, and ignored. Keeping aside the many facets of this narrative that fascinate political scholars, historians and peace activists alike, the primary objective of this essay is to try and understand where Kashmir as a collective of people stands today with respect to their aim for self-determination. What happens when a people’s struggle is unable to meet its desired end, when they are consistently frustrated in their attempts to establish their identities and aspirations? What happens, when frustration has to be compromised and veiled under the surface of regular life?  
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