Radical militant Islamists in Nigeria

Nigeria is a country rich in natural resources, but beset by chronic political instability and separatist movements. Today, the Nigerian radical Islamist group Boko Haram bombed a bus station killing at least 71 people and injuring 141 people. US declared Boko Haram a foreign terrorist group last year. Their goal is to establish Shariah law in which they believe will end the corruption and poverty in the region, but their means is through violence.


Boko Haram is not the only problem of Nigeria. Corruption and pollution plague the country. Government officials have a stake on the oil refineries in the country and collaborate with multinational companies that plunder the country's resources. The oil spill in the Niger Delta has caused major environmental degradation that has immensely affected the ecosystem.

Asian Economic Race: India and China

The complicated relationship of India and China is highlighted by their economic ties with each other. Both countries are considered as Newly Industrialized Economies marked with their large economic growth rate and booming population. Although both countries are competitors in the global free market, they share the same interests that serve their individual needs. India and China have a historical strenuous relationship over Tibet and Pakistan.

India condemned China for its military takeover of Tibet and its support for the nuclear program of Pakistan. But inside global capitalism, the market economy dictates their cooperation both economically and militarily. Despite international policy friction between the two regions, both countries have no other choice but to cooperate in order to compete and gain an edge over their Western counterparts.

Corruption abound in a single-party state

The most crippling aspect of Chinese economic growth and liberalization is the corruption of politicians. This short 30 minute documentary discusses this corruption and how deep it runs in the bureaucratic system of the single-party state and a centrally-planned economy.

Corruption is so bad that the current president Xi Jinping is launching the largest anti-corruption campaign the country has seen.

Footage you will never see on the news

With the recent developments during the protests and political instability in Ukraine, Russia decided to take a step in imposing its political will on the Crimean Peninsula. Russia sent troops to Crimea in order to restore political stability. The issue at hand is that Russia is interfering with the sovereignty of Ukraine over the region. The Crimean Peninsula has a lot of ethnic Russians because it used to be a part of the Soviet Union until it the area was given to Ukraine as a gift in 1953. Now with Russian troops in the region, the Russians are planning on annexing the region through a referendum.

Now, check out this short documentary from VICE about Ukraine:


And about the Russian invasion:

Labor Unions in Germany and Co-determination

In the United States, labor unions are at a gradual decline due to laws such as Right to Work laws and the curtailing of collective bargaining rights which are all legislated by Republicans in office. In Germany however, labor unions are much more influential in politics and in the management of companies. This is called co-determination, in which work councils that represent workers in large companies are given a seat in the Board of Directors of a company. It gives workers representation in the decision-making process of a company. It also gives labor unions a significant amount of power in German politics.

This kind of labor organizing has now reached Tennessee where Volkswagen factory workers who are members of the United Auto Workers (UAW) are trying to create their own work council just like their German counterparts. The state government opposes the move because the GOP opposes any kind of labor union organizing even though Volkswagen as a company welcomes the proposal. VW wants the workers to have a work council, but the state of Tennessee doesn't.

Should VW workers be allowed to create their own work council? According to Tennessee, NO! They are now threatening to withhold tax incentives to VW if they allowed UAW to create work councils.

According to the linked article: “Our works councils are key to our success and productivity. It is a business model that helped to make Volkswagen the second largest car company in the world,” Frank Fischer, chairman and CEO of Volkswagen Chattanooga said in a statement.

Conservatives in France are just like the ones in the United States

French conservatives are taking cues from American conservatives in their stances regarding social issues. By galvanizing the religious right, French conservatives are able to consolidate and mobilize their party members in pushing for conservative policies. This puts the French conservatives, the Union for a Popular Movement (UMP), in a position in which they are following the American Republican intolerance. In this particular blog post, French conservatives are marching in Paris yelling "Jews, get out." The UMP is not only known as anti-Semitic, but also anti-gay marriage. The UMP is very influential in a sense that they were able to become the main conservative party in France in the past few years. Their influence has moved French politics to the far right, just like the Tea Party takeover in 2010 in the US.