"Finals Week is over and 2011 is the single most active year of my life."

To say that 2011 was an active year is actually a huge understatement. It is hard for me to think it has only been a year since I was sitting in my Senior Seminar class and Dr. Brooks put Al Jazeera on the projector to show us the Egypt riots in January. So much has happened this year both good and bad. Revolutions, wars, dead terrorists, protests, economic collapses, and so on. It blows my mind that the year I (finally) become a full fledged adult, the entire world changes. Of course, this post is inspired by the recent announcement of, the 'Dear Leader,' Kim Jong-Il's death. As much good as could come out of all of these occurrences, there are a lot of problems that could arise.

Left to Right: Osama bin Laden, Moummar Gadhafi, and Kim Jong-il. All have passed in the past year.

I picked the 'oh

crap faces.'

In 2011, we have seen three major oppressors pass away, some by normal means, some by not some normal means. The first was Osama bin Laden, who fell victim to SEAL Team 6 on the order of President Obama. He now rests in a watery grave to avoid major issues in relation to what country would take him and to follow his religious beliefs. Following him was Moummar Gadhafi, who was brutally beaten and killed by his own people. And just yesterday, Kim Jong-il was announced dead of a heart attack. He will be buried on December 28th. Each of these men have committed horrendous human rights violations and oppressed their people immensely (if they rule a people).

My personal favorite picture of the Arab Spring Revolutions

The Arab Spring of January is still going on now in December. Every Middle Eastern country has been effected regardless of whether there has been open revolt. Egypt and Tunisia started the chain reaction, but both are still without stable governments. Egypt is still dealing with violent treatment of protestors. A female protestor was recently dragged, partially disrobed, and beaten brutally in Tahrir Square. Does that sound like progress yet? Several other countries have yet to displace the leaders, but have been violently repressed by the leaders instead. For example, President Bashir Assad in Syria, who is even being sanctioned by the Arab League, has been ordering shooting at protestors and other horrible violent acts in his country. The stories are much the same in Yemen and Bahrain. Violent putdowns, but continued protest. I hope that the people continue until they get what they want be that democracy or not.

This is the picture that brought Occupy Wall Street to the forefront of United States news this year. These women had just been pepper sprayed in the face by police officers during their peaceful protest. Occupy Wall Street swept the country and inspired break offs in many of the countries major cities and on many college campuses. The Occupy Movement is the most free and diverse protest movement that has hit the streets in the United States in years and it has shed light on some real problems with the way that the US handles protests. There have been multiple occasions of police brutality like the one pictured. Pepper spraying people who were not threatening them at all, brutal arrests involving the tackling of people to the ground, clearing of tent cities and removal of protestors from the areas they had occupied for reasons like their health and the freedom of other people to use these areas. It is a tell that the United States is not quite as different from all the other countries in the world as it thinks it is.

2011 has been full of natural disasters. More than any year before (in my lifetime). The Japanese Earthquake/Tsunami, the Joplin Tornado, Hurricane Irene, fires, earthquakes on the US East Coast, and many others. People have died and been displaced more than ever this year by Mother Nature. I witnessed the East Coast Earthquake and though it was not of any huge intensity, it was not something that we are used to and it knocked out all the phone lines throughout the area. My roommate was in Japan during the Earthquake/Tsunami and it was terrifying to all involved. It destroyed much of northern Japan and heavily affected the entire country. Emergency crews have been constantly on the move due to these to try to return some normalcy to areas that had it forcibly ripped away. It will be a long haul for many of the people affected by these disasters to get back to a good place.

A couple pictures depicting the economic crises in Europe.

The world economy has been messed up way before this year, but several nations have began to feel the effects and crumble under the stress. The EU has felt it the most though. Recently, both Greece and Italy have fallen into economic collapse. The EU has bailed them out with the stipulation that they restructure their government. So far Greece has done so and Italy will likely follow. Ireland has also felt the stress though its has not yet fully crumbled. Interesting enough, the situation has gotten better in the United States, where jobs have slowly begun to open up and money is moving more than the past few years.

Last, but certainly not least, the end of the War in Iraq is finally here. Though there are still over 3000 troops in Iraq, the war has officially been declared over and military pull out has commenced. After 9 years, the US is no at active war with anyone. This a happy event for many military families in the country and will bring a Merry Christmas, Happy Hannakah, Happy Kwanza, and so forth to all. It is nice to finally see a war that has lasted my entire young adult life end (it started when I was 13 and lasted past my 21st birthday). I hope this is the beginning of some period of peace.

Overall, this has been an eventful year and I hope beyond hope that it all turns out well. I worry so much that things are getting pushed and forced too quickly on people, like democracy in the Middle East, and it will only lead to more instability and violence than peace. I am not going to lie, in the past semester I have been very behind on US and World News because I have been focusing all my time to the Middle East and Lebanon in classes and interest. If there are any discrepancies that is on me and I'm sorry. If I left anything out that is why. These are the problems that stuck out for me this year and I can't say I don't worry for the future because I do, but I have hope and that is all we need for the future to turn out better than the past or present.

Trafficking Victims Treated As Criminals

In the UK, instead of sympathizing with them, the authorities have been treating human trafficking victims like criminals. Human Trafficking has been a problem in the world for centuries and often the victims are not treated with the sympathy and concessions they should to people who have been through such a traumatic experience. Lady Helena Kennedy QC investigated and found that police and immigration authorities fail to see these victims as victims because they are often brought out of the industry through criminal offenses. Trafficked people are typically forced into the work they do and are often unpaid. The authorities often treat them as part of the problem and their needs are put to the side. Obviously, there is something wrong with this picture.

The human rights involved here are security of self and safety from violence. The UK has not been taking these rights into consideration when dealing with the victims. They have already had these rights violated, why hurt them more by treating them as if they did it of their own choice. Their security of self is violated in the process of trafficking and the safety from violence can be violated either by the people trafficking them or the authorities afterwards.

Human trafficking is one of those issues in the world that saddens me more than any other. It is hard for me to understand how people could do things like what is done to these people to other human beings. And then, to treat the victims like they are the problem is just horrible. These people have been traumatized and forced into labor. They did not immigrate on their own terms and yet they are treated as if they have and are automatically deported. These people need sympathy and help once they are brought out of this system of organized crime. It just seems like it is wrong to treat them as they do in UK, and in most other countries, after they have already had such a terrible experience.

What can be done to help the UK and other countries be more understanding of the plight of the victims of human trafficking? Are they part of the problem? Is the UK in the right?

Women's Rights After the Arab Spring

The Arab Spring swept through the Middle East starting in January. Ageless authoritarian rules were toppled one by one. Men and women participated in the same numbers and with the same risk. Now two of these countries, the first two, are moving to create their new governments and women want a part in it. On Human Rights Watch, Nadya Khalife gives her perspective on women's roles in Tunisia and Egypt and what they are doing now to try and make their freedoms a reality in their homes. In Tunisia, there have been some significant steps for women, including the diminishing of the CEDAW, which restricted women's rights. Now women are operatively equal in the family and state. As long as it follows Islam. Tunisia has set a national religion, Islam, and has committed that all rights must be align with Shari'a Law. Tunisia has not seen much in allowance for female leadership in the new government, but they are still trying. In Egypt, women were some of the major pushers for the revolution. It would seem obvious that they would get representation, but it doesn't seem so. Egyptian women have dealt with verbal, physical, and sexual abuse throughout the revolution and some people are even saying that it is not the 'right time' for women's rights and equality. Only one women is part of the interim government and she was a minister under Mubarak, giving her a bad reputation to start with. There seem to be some mixed results on the issue of women's rights in the Post-Arab Spring world.

The human rights violated are pretty straightforward. The right to self determination, the right to safety from violence, and the right to equality between men and women. Women are not being given the opportunity to make their own future and decisions in these new governments. Women also should not have to worry about being harmed by their fellow protestors while marching either.

I am happy that there has been some progress in women's rights in the Middle East. Tunisia is the first to give women equal parity. Tunisian and Egyptian women voted in their elections this year. Many of them for the first time. I worry that these improvements may diminish over time with the election of the new governments. In Egypt, there was an obvious Islamist majority elected. I am not saying that Islam is not compatible with feminism, it is, but Islamists by and large tend to be very conservative in their beliefs and will shut out women entirely if they can. I only hope that I am wrong and women can gain the seat they deserve in the new governments of Tunisia and Egypt. Many of these women are my age and hoping to see their futures in a better light. I can only hope they are lucky enough to see that day.

Do you think that increases in Women's Rights will come upon the heels of the Arab Spring? Do you think that there will be a definite struggle before women will receive equality? Is it not the 'right time' for women?