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September 7, 2025

La franc-maçonnerie est-elle une religion malgré elle ?

Source: The Conversation – France (in French) – By Philippe Ilial, Professeur de Lettres-Histoire. Chargé de cours en Histoire Moderne. Chercheur associé au CMMC, Université Côte d’Azur

« La franc-maçonnerie est une religion pour ceux qui n’en ont pas. » Cette phrase résume parfaitement l’ambiguïté qui entoure cette « société ». Car la franc-maçonnerie est souvent perçue comme une religion – ou du moins comme une spiritualité parallèle. Pourtant, elle s’en défend avec force. Alors pourquoi cette confusion ? Pourquoi, alors que la maçonnerie se veut fondamentalement non dogmatique, voire adogmatique selon les obédiences, continue-t-on à l’assimiler à une religion ?

Apparu dans l’Angleterre du XVII^e siècle, le latitudinarisme est un courant philosophique et théologique qui cherchait à unir les chrétiens au-delà de leurs divisions. Les Constitutions d’Anderson de 1723, texte fondateur de la franc-maçonnerie anglaise, s’inscrit clairement dans cette mouvance, mais elle ne crée pas une religion universelle. Les “Constitutions” établissent une maçonnerie résolument chrétienne, où seuls sont admis ceux qui professent la religion « sur laquelle tous les hommes sont d’accord » – à savoir dans l’esprit de ces Britanniques du début du XVIII^e siècle, le christianisme dans sa version la plus large. Les musulmans, les juifs, les déistes purs en sont explicitement exclus. En effet, nous sommes alors en plein cœur de l’Europe chrétienne, mais divisée entre catholiques, protestants… et anglicans.

Cette approche latitudinaire – chrétienne donc – crée une spiritualité minimale, un cadre suffisamment large pour accueillir anglicans, presbytériens, luthériens, mais pas au-delà. C’est ce qui explique que la maçonnerie des origines ait pu être perçue comme une forme de religion, une religion chrétienne minimaliste.

L’hébraïsme maçonnique, un leurre ?

Le qualificatif de judéo-chrétien est régulièrement usité pour qualifier la franc-maçonnerie. Cette « appellation » participe à la ranger du côté des religions. Alors, cette assertion est-elle véridique ? La référence à l’Ancien Testament dans la symbolique maçonnique ne fait pas de l’Ordre maçonnique une institution judéo-chrétienne. Bien au contraire, d’ailleurs les Juifs furent longtemps exclus de la maçonnerie !

L’utilisation du Temple de Salomon, des colonnes Jakin et Boaz (les deux piliers qui soutiennent le temple de Salomon forment un rappel latitudinaire), ou des références à la Kabbale – en ce qui concerne certains degrés dits de perfection – ne sont en fait qu’un alibi latitudinaire au service d’une vision fondamentalement chrétienne. Pour les rédacteurs des Constitutions d’Anderson, l’Ancien Testament n’est qu’une préfiguration du Nouveau, et son utilisation en loge vise à créer un « plus petit dénominateur commun » selon l’historien Pierre-Yves Beaurepaire. Les chrétiens envisagent l’Ancien Testament comme un texte prophétique qui annonce le Nouveau tandis que le monde juif le considère comme une finalité !

Ainsi, lorsque l’on parle d’hébraïsme maçonnique, il faut comprendre un hébraïsme réinterprété, christianisé, vidé de sa substance juive originelle. Le Delta lumineux avec l’œil divin n’est plus une simple reprise du Tétragramme hébraïque, mais devient la symbolique chrétienne de la Providence !

À ce stade du raisonnement, relisons Pierre-Yves Beaurepaire qui affirme que la franc-maçonnerie n’est pas une religion (Op. cit.) pour deux raisons fondamentales.

Un christianisme minimaliste

En premier lieu, son latitudinarisme originel est en réalité un christianisme minimaliste, loin de l’universalisme qu’on lui prête parfois. Cet universalisme des origines est donc chrétien ; c’est le basculement dans la modernité avec l’aventure coloniale du XIX^e siècle qui va permettre à l’Europe, donc à la franc-maçonnerie de se confronter à l’altérité. La notion de laïcité va aussi participer à ouvrir les portes des temples maçonniques à d’autres religions, comme le montre Daniel Tollet.

Ensuite, son hébraïsme apparent est un vernis symbolique au service d’une vision chrétienne du monde, ce que montre très bien Roger Dachez dans son article Hébraïsme et franc-maçonnerie, heurt et malheur d’une filiation incertaine (La chaîne d’Union n°51, 2010).

Pourtant, la franc-maçonnerie continue d’être perçue comme religieuse parce qu’elle utilise des formes sacrées, des rituels, une symbolique qui parlent à l’inconscient collectif. En cela, elle répond à un besoin de sacré que les religions traditionnelles ne satisfont plus dans nos sociétés actuelles très sécularisées, donc détachée du religieux – un phénomène décrit notamment par Denis Pelletier. La question qui demeure est donc celle-ci : « dans un monde où les grands récits religieux s’effritent, la franc-maçonnerie offre-t-elle une voie pour explorer le sacré sans dogme ? » Sans dogme car la force de la maçonnerie réside dans le fait qu’elle propose sans imposer.

Rites et rituels maçonniques : entre sacralisation et fonction sociale

Si donc la franc-maçonnerie n’est pas une religion, elle en partage certaines caractéristiques fonctionnelles. C’est là que se situe la confusion. Comme l’envisage l’universitaire spécialiste de l’Angleterre des Lumières, Cécile Révauger, on peut envisager la maçonnerie comme une spiritualité sans théologie, des rites sans dogme, une communauté sans Église…

Trois éléments essentiels créent cette ambiguïté : la sacralisation de l’espace, une forme particulière de croyance évolutive, et surtout un système rituel d’une extraordinaire richesse ; car c’est cette mécanique rituelle qui fait de la franc-maçonnerie un système parareligieux si particulier.

Une distinction anthropologique fondamentale

Le rituel constitue le cadre cérémoniel global, ce que les anthropologues appellent le « cérémonial englobant ». L’ouverture des travaux maçonniques se fait toujours autour d’un ouvrage sacré ou sacralisé, souvent l’Ancien Testament, les Constitutions d’Anderson ou le livre de la Constitution de l’obédience dont il est question. C’est ce texte sacralisé qui régit l’ouverture et la fermeture des travaux, comme le missel régit la messe. Les rites sont les actes particuliers, des « unités minimales de sens » selon l’expression de Roger Dachez, comme le comportement du maçon, à savoir la batterie, le signe, la marche, l’agenouillement devant l’autel…

Les rites maçonniques incarnent ce que l’on a coutume d’appeler un « invariant anthropologique » que l’historien des religions Mircea Eliade avait identifié, à savoir que toute société humaine crée du rite pour conjurer le désordre. En loge, le profane entre dans un état de « chaos » symbolique (bandeau sur les yeux…). Les rites successifs qu’il va subir pour renaître à l’état de maçon (purification, serment, lumière) reconstruisent un ordre symbolique, ainsi la loge devient un microcosme organisé, à l’image du Temple de Salomon, dont tout temple maçonnique est l’allégorie.

La Bible comme « objet-frontière »

Concrètement, c’est la place de la Bible sur l’autel des serments dans de nombreuses loges qui laisse place à la confusion entre démarche maçonnique et religion. Contrairement à l’image que la Bible véhicule, l’ouvrage n’est pas ici un vestige religieux. Pierre-Yves Beaurepaire, professeur d’Histoire moderne à l’université Côte d’Azur et grand spécialiste de la franc-maçonnerie, propose de la considérer à la fois comme un outil de travail symbolique (elle sert de support aux serments) (Dictionnaire de la Franc-maçonnerie, Armand Colin, 2014), un objet mémoriel chrétien partagé et un artefact davantage culturel que religieux ; en effet, lorsqu’un athée prête serment sur la Bible, il ne sacralise pas le texte, mais sa propre parole donnée. Nuance essentielle.

Le rituel – constitué par l’addition des rites – est en maçonnerie « consciemment théâtralisés » : le frère sait qu’il joue un rôle, il n’est jamais dans cette posture dans sa vie profane. Ainsi, lorsque les maçons tracent leurs signes, suivent leurs rituels, ils ne pratiquent pas une religion, mais plutôt actualisent une forme de sacralité propre qui s’adapte à la société dans laquelle ils évoluent.

La franc-maçonnerie est-elle une religion sans Dieu ni dogme ? En refermant cette réflexion, une évidence s’impose ; la franc-maçonnerie fascine parce qu’elle brouille les frontières entre sacré et profane, tout en refusant catégoriquement le statut de religion. Ce paradoxe s’éclaire lorsque l’on réalise qu’elle opère une alchimie unique entre trois niveaux : un langage religieux détourné (temples, bibles, rites) qui parle à l’inconscient collectif, comme l’a montré Émile Durkheim ; une spiritualité latitudinaire où chacun projette ses croyances et des fonctions anthropologiques universelles (rites de passage, cohésion sociale).

Si tant de francs-maçons y voient une « religion sans dogme », c’est sans doute parce que la maçonnerie répond à des besoins humains fondamentaux que les religions traditionnelles ont longtemps captés comme le besoin d’appartenance (la chaîne d’union qui a lieu à la fin de chaque tenue peut être l’équivalence d’une communion ou d’une messe), le besoin de transcendance (la quête de connaissance remplace la révélation divine), le besoin de ritualité (les tenues maçonniques structurent le temps comme les offices religieux le faisaient jadis).

Mais la différence est cruciale, car là où les religions imposent, la maçonnerie propose – théorème partagé par Pierre-Yves Beaurepaire et Claude Delbos dans « Les sept devoirs du franc-maçon adogmatique ». Comme le résume le premier dans une conférence publique donnée dans le cadre du laboratoire de recherche CMMC, « la loge est un laboratoire du sacré bien plus qu’un sanctuaire » religieux ! Un laboratoire où se joue une pièce de théâtre chrétienne dans un cadre hébraïsé…

Philippe Ilial ne travaille pas, ne conseille pas, ne possède pas de parts, ne reçoit pas de fonds d’une organisation qui pourrait tirer profit de cet article, et n’a déclaré aucune autre affiliation que son organisme de recherche.

– ref. La franc-maçonnerie est-elle une religion malgré elle ? – https://theconversation.com/la-franc-maconnerie-est-elle-une-religion-malgre-elle-262390

September 7, 2025

Quand la galaxie trumpiste accuse l’Europe de pratiquer la censure

Source: The Conversation – France in French (3) – By Stefania Di Stefano, Chercheuse postdoctorale au sein de la Chaire sur la modération des contenus, Conservatoire national des arts et métiers (CNAM)

Alors même que, aux États-Unis, la liberté d’expression, la liberté des médias ou encore la liberté académique font l’objet d’attaques sans précédent de la part de l’administration Trump, Washington prétend que c’est l’Union européenne qui serait un dangereux censeur. En cause : les mesures visant à modérer les contenus haineux sur les réseaux sociaux.

Comment déterminer la maturité d’une démocratie ? Comment reconnaître qu’elle sombre progressivement vers un régime autoritaire ?

Le début du second mandat présidentiel de Donald Trump incarne sans aucun doute un tel glissement, avec fracas et sans souci pour l’image de bienséance qu’une personne exerçant une telle fonction devrait renvoyer. Depuis le retour du milliardaire new-yorkais à la Maison Blanche le 20 janvier, les attaques contre les libertés sur le territoire états-unien sont nombreuses et variées.

Les universités ont été l’une des premières cibles du président. Gel des fonds fédéraux, instrumentalisation du système d’accréditation universitaire pour influencer les formations, révocation des visas pour les étudiants étrangers… Autant de mesures attaquant frontalement la liberté académique. Des mesures visant surtout à remodeler l’éducation supérieure selon une idéologie définie par le régime trumpiste et restreignant la libre pensée.

La liberté de la presse n’est pas épargnée par la nouvelle version du « free speech » portée par le président. Dernière victime à avoir été « fired » : Stephen Colbert, présentateur du populaire « Late Show » sur CBS. Cette émission satirique s’attaquait régulièrement et sans ménagement à Donald Trump. Elle n’a plus sa place dans les programmes télévisés. Pour dénoncer le silence s’installant progressivement dans les médias, la série humoristique South Park a sorti un nouvel épisode caricaturant le président, laissant cependant un sentiment amer aux spectateurs.

Pourtant, et dans une sorte d’inversement psychologique, Washington accuse l’Union européenne (UE) de mettre en œuvre, sur le Vieux Continent, une censure massive.

Les textes européens dans le viseur de l’administration Trump

Si l’UE est critiquée, c’est en réalité pour les valeurs qu’elle représente et pour les libertés qu’elle protège. En effet, les États-Unis dépeignent l’encadrement juridique des plateformes numériques à l’œuvre au sein de l’UE comme la manifestation d’une censure quasi orwelienne.

Se fondant sur un rapport à charge, la Commission judiciaire de la Chambre des représentants a tenu une audition sur « la menace européenne sur la liberté d’expression et l’innovation américaines », affirmant notamment que le Règlement sur les services numériques (Digital Services Act, DSA) porte atteinte au droit des Américains de s’exprimer librement en ligne aux États-Unis.

Pour rétablir les faits et la correcte interprétation du droit européen, une coalition d’universitaires européens et américains a transmis une lettre expliquant les principales applications du DSA.

Se présentant en « défenseur de la démocratie », l’administation Trump utiliserait même la suspension des enquêtes ouvertes à l’encontre des grandes entreprises technologiques américaines comme monnaie d’échange dans les négociations douanières avec la Commission européenne. Les plateformes ont en effet comparé les sanctions imposées pour violation des dispositions européennes à des « droits de douane », s’appuyant aussi sur la (fausse) affirmation que le cadre juridique de l’Union cible spécifiquement les entreprises états-uniennes.

Trump a ouvertement pris la défense de ces « amazing Tech Companies », menaçant d’imposer des droits de douane supplémentaires aux pays ciblant ces entreprises avec leurs législations.

Message posté par Donald Trump sur son réseau Truth Social le 25 août 2025.

En encadrant l’activité des plateformes numériques, notamment par le biais du fameux règlement général sur la protection des données (RGPD) ou du DSA, l’Europe établit-elle un régime de censure ?

Afin de permettre l’expression de toutes et tous, le droit à la liberté d’expression doit être encadré par la loi. Les contours de cette liberté sont délimités par les droits fondamentaux des tiers et comprennent notamment la protection de la vie privée, la non-discrimination, ou encore la dignité humaine. Ce sont justement ces limites que rappelle le DSA. Le texte vise à s’assurer que les contenus circulant sur les plateformes respectent ces principes cardinaux. Et si la désinformation ou les discours haineux sont des problèmes préoccupants, la critique du pouvoir reste, en Europe, protégée par la liberté d’expression, laquelle est garantie par le DSA.

La modération délaissée par les grandes plateformes

Cet encadrement déplaît fortement au régime trumpiste ainsi qu’à certaines grandes plateformes numériques américaines. Celles-ci estimaient pourtant, il y a quelques années, que des réglementations étaient nécessaires pour un système efficace de gouvernance des contenus en ligne. En suivant désormais la ligne trumpiste, les plateformes ont tendance à fausser délibérément le concept de censure en l’assimilant à celui de modération des contenus. Cette dernière vise toutefois à s’assurer que les contenus circulant sur les plateformes sont conformes aux conditions générales du service mais, aussi, aux lois et droits fondamentaux protégés par les textes fondateurs.

Mais ce n’est pas seulement d’un point de vue théorique que la modération des contenus, mise en place par le DSA, est attaquée. Cela passe aussi par les nombreuses baisses budgétaires au sein des plateformes, entraînant une réduction des ressources humaines consacrées à la sécurité en ligne. Ces mesures sont par ailleurs couplées à une « simplification » des politiques de modération des contenus, qui s’affranchissent des protections sur des sujets considérés comme « woke », notamment la protection de la communauté LGBTQIA+ ou la lutte contre la haine en ligne.

Dernière annonce en date ? Meta déclarant, un vendredi au cœur de l’été, la suspension de ses publicités ciblées à caractère politique. Sans même évoquer le moment de l’annonce, comment interpréter un tel signal ? L’initiative concerne les publicités à caractère politique, électoral ou traitant de « questions sociales ». Raison invoquée : le règlement européen relatif à la transparence et au ciblage de la publicité à caractère politique, qui rendrait le ciblage des usagers trop complexe.

Pourtant, une étude conduite par l’organisation AI Forensics, avant l’entrée en application de ce règlement, avait démontré que Meta laissait la propagande pro-russe envahir les publicités politiques ciblées, avec un système de détection des contenus complètement défaillant.

L’Union européenne, modèle d’anti-trumpisme ?

Certes, l’Europe n’est pas parfaite. Certes, l’Europe vit aussi d’importantes dérives identitaires. Mais l’Europe tente, dans un monde de plus en plus complexe, de garantir à toutes et tous la possibilité de s’exprimer en ligne.

Aujourd’hui, les victimes des attaques visant la liberté académique et la liberté de la presse ne se trouvent pas en Europe, mais aux États-Unis. Dans ces conditions, l’Europe doit porter encore plus haut et encore plus fort ses valeurs. Elle doit offrir un modèle dans lequel les libertés sont protégées par la loi et les institutions, et non par la volonté d’un homme.

Suzanne Vergnolle a reçu des financements de la région Île-de-France.

Stefania Di Stefano ne travaille pas, ne conseille pas, ne possède pas de parts, ne reçoit pas de fonds d’une organisation qui pourrait tirer profit de cet article, et n’a déclaré aucune autre affiliation que son organisme de recherche.

– ref. Quand la galaxie trumpiste accuse l’Europe de pratiquer la censure – https://theconversation.com/quand-la-galaxie-trumpiste-accuse-leurope-de-pratiquer-la-censure-263855

September 7, 2025

New research indicates caribou populations could decline 80 per cent by 2100

Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Elisabetta Canteri, Postdoctoral Researcher, Globe Institute, University of Copenhagen

Caribou will likely face population declines rarely experienced in 21,000 years due to climate change. That’s the main finding from our recently published research on the historical resilience of caribou populations.

Caribou, also called reindeer, are a majestic species with remarkable adaptations to the cold Arctic environments of Eurasia and North America. Despite surviving through large climatic fluctuations in the past, future climate warming may cause a drastic decline in caribou populations. Arctic environments are extremely sensitive to climate change, and they are expected to warm two times more than the global average.

In our research, we simulated how caribou population abundance shifted in response to climate change since the last ice age to the present day, and projected it into the future to 2100. This allowed us to directly compare past and future rates of declines.

We decided to look back 21,000 years because, in the past, Arctic climates have fluctuated abruptly, with temperatures in areas such as Greenland increasing by up to 10 degrees in just a few decades. We figured that if we could identify the traits that helped caribou to survive these past warming events, we would be able to better predict their vulnerability to future climate change.

To do this we combined fossils and historical observations with climate reconstructions to map caribou habitat suitability across regions and time at a high resolution. We then used computer modelling to simulate how populations responded to changes in the suitability of these environments following the last ice age.

What our research shows

We found that caribou were able to survive past climatic fluctuations thanks to their ability to live in diverse environments, move long distances and survive in low numbers.

However, when projecting these models forward in time we discovered that these traits might not be enough to safeguard future populations. If action is not taken to mitigate climate change, we project a 58 per cent decline in population size across the whole geographic distribution of the species by 2100.

Losses in North America are likely to be most severe, with decreases of 84 per cent predicted in response to Arctic warming. This is because North America is projected to be the region losing the largest extents of habitats suitable for caribou due to climate change and other human impacts on the land.

Even under a more optimistic climate change scenario, with less temperature change, we still expect North American caribou populations to experience large losses. This suggests that recent declines observed in large herds of caribou are expected to continue into the future.

Threats not directly included in our models, such as diseases, extreme weather die-offs and unregulated hunting, could further worsen the impacts of climate change on caribou populations.

Broader ecological implications

Dramatic declines in caribou populations might have far-reaching ecological implications. Thanks to their feeding behaviour, caribou help stop the advancement of forests to northern latitudes and maintain the diversity of plants in the tundra.

In doing so, caribou play a key role in maintaining healthy tundra environments. A decrease in tundra plant diversity affects carbon uptake, soil nutrient availability and even how well the landscape reflects light. Therefore, declines in caribou populations will have knock-on effects on tundra ecosystems that will further accelerate climatic warming.

These drastic declines in caribou populations will have impacts that go beyond the Arctic’s natural environment. For many Indigenous Arctic communities, caribou are essential. People in these regions rely on caribou for food and economy, cultural identity and an overall sense of well-being. Population declines will therefore cause profound losses, impacting the livelihoods of many communities.

Our findings suggest a grim future for caribou, and signal an urgent need for governments to increase investments in the conservation and management of the species. This should include protecting and ensuring access to historical pastures and migration routes.

Actions that we take today to reduce our carbon footprint will benefit caribou, nature and Arctic Indigenous communities in the decades to come.

Damien Fordham receives funding from the Australian Research Council

Elisabetta Canteri does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. New research indicates caribou populations could decline 80 per cent by 2100 – https://theconversation.com/new-research-indicates-caribou-populations-could-decline-80-per-cent-by-2100-263696

September 7, 2025

Canada’s response to the war in Gaza raises questions about its commitment to human rights and justice

Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Jeremy Wildeman, Research Fellow at the Human Rights Research and Education Centre, University of Ottawa and Adjunct Assistant Professor, Carleton University

Canada and Canadians have long considered themselves defenders of human rights, democracy, justice and the rule of law. Canada played a significant role in the development of what’s known as the liberal international order, including multilateral institutions like the United Nations, and international law.

Canada was once highly respected for the role it played developing the framework for United Nations peacekeeping, the Mine Ban Treaty, championing the UN’s Responsibility to Protect, supporting Palestinian-Israeli peace negotiations and establishing the International Criminal Court.

Canada has acted as a moral voice denouncing abuses of human rights and violations of international law. It challenged South African apartheid, and passed a parliamentary motion calling China’s treatment of Uyghur Muslims a genocide.

It has advocated for Iranian women’s rights at the United Nations and sanctioned Russia for its 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

In 2023, Canada joined a declaration of intervention against Myanmar at the International Court of Justice over its treatment of the Rohingya people, reaffirming the requirement for states to prevent genocide.

Where is Canada on Gaza?

Prime Minister Mark Carney says Canada intends to recognize a Palestinian state at this week’s UN General Assembly.

Yet Canada’s response to Israel’s war on Gaza since October 2023 and countless well-documented instances of war crimes committed against Palestinians — including allegations of ethnic cleansing and genocide — raises serious questions about Canada’s commitment to its own values and the liberal international order.

Observers have documented countless Israeli violations of international law while turning Gaza into an unliveable wasteland. Seventy-eight per cent of all structures in Gaza have been destroyed, including housing (92 per cent), water and sanitation infrastructure (89 per cent), hospitals (50 per cent), schools (91.8 per cent) and roads (81 per cent).

The health-care system has been systematically dismantled, and Gaza has recorded the highest number of deaths of health-care workers, United Nations staff and journalists of any recent conflict zone.

Israel has denied and attacked humanitarian aid. Since mid-March, it has enforced a total siege on Gaza, blocking entry of food, water, medical supplies, hygiene and dignity kits, and infant and maternal care items, including baby formula.

Famine has been unfolding and starvation is widespread, but now 100 per cent of Gaza’s estimated 2,100,000 people face acute levels of food insecurity.

Aid is scarce

Only four aid distribution sites currently operate in Gaza, down from 400. They were set up in May by the United States/Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. Médecins sans frontières (Doctors Without Borders) say they violate core humanitarian principles.

The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation has been accused of weaponizing aid, engaging in ethnic cleansing and funnelling Palestinians south to displace them. Its contractors and Israeli forces have been accused of firing on starving Palestinians, accounting for many of the 1,838 Palestinians killed and 13,409 wounded while seeking aid since the foundation began operations.

A former Gaza Humanitarian Foundation employee accuses the organization of shooting on starving Palestinians. (Breaking Points YouTube channel)

Gaza’s official death toll now stands at 61,722 people, but is likely much higher. Gaza has recorded more child deaths than any other conflict zone, and Israel’s own military data indicates an almost unheard-of 83 per cent civilian death rate.

Canada’s support for Israel

Canada claims to support a fair-minded approach to Palestine-Israel peacebuilding. It does not recognize permanent Israeli control over the Occupied Palestinian Territory, recognizes Palestinians’ right to self-determination and is committed to the goal of a comprehensive, just, and lasting peace in the Middle East.

But despite Israel’s assault on Gaza, attacks in the West Bank and violations of international law, Canada continues to ship Israel arms, financially supports Israeli settlements on Palestinian land and offers Israel diplomatic support and multilateral cover.

If Canada makes a statement critical of Israeli violations, it rarely follows through with tangible consequences for Israel. Canada has admitted few Palestinian refugees from Gaza and has participated in dangerous humanitarian aid air drops that have been called expensive public relations stunts that don’t help very many people.

Critics of Israel under attack

Meanwhile, critics in Canada of Israeli violations regularly find themselves under assault. Institutions like universities and the media, which should be defenders of core Canadian values, and federal, provincial and municipal governments, regularly spread misinformation and try to silence opposition to Israel’s actions.

Some Canadians have even been fired for speaking out and law enforcement has been deployed against them.

When the United States sanctioned four International Criminal Court prosecutors and judges, including a Canadian judge, for investigations into Israeli and American war crimes, Canada chose to remain silent. Canada had previously criticized the court for bringing charges against Israeli leaders.

What explains Canada’s support?

Between 2021 and 2023, I co-edited three scholarly volumes exploring Canada’s relations with the Palestinians that help explain Canada’s commitment to Israel throughout its genocidal war on Gaza.

Canada as a Settler Colony on the Question of Palestine (2023) argues there’s a strong historical bond between Canada and Israel as two European settler colonies established by the British Empire through the extermination and displacement of Indigenous Peoples.

The volume argues that a close socio-political bond and shared colonial interests cause Canada and Israel to support each other robustly on the international stage.

The suppression of voices critical of Israel is unsurprising when reading Advocating for Palestine in Canada (2022). It documents how this has happened over decades. Nonetheless, Palestine has become central to anti-racist, decolonial and other progressive movements across Canada.

Finally, in What Lies Ahead? Canada’s Engagement with the Middle East Peace Process and the Palestinians (2021), I argued that while there are clearly some elite voices in Canada advocating for a fair approach to Palestine-Israel peace-building, they are always outweighed by pro-Israel considerations.

These books and empirical observations since Oct. 7, 2023 suggest that Canada may be more committed to Israel and their shared colonial interests than Canadians’ own values or the liberal international order.

A defining test

Genocide is considered the most heinous of all crimes, and Gaza is the defining ethical test of the 21st century.

Illiberal measures deployed to silence dissent and support a country accused of genocide represent a grave threat to core liberal-democratic values.

Double standards like Canada’s policies toward Palestine raise serious questions about the fairness of international and domestic law, governance and policy and the Canadian state’s commitment to basic principles of human rights, democracy and justice.

Jeremy Wildeman does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. Canada’s response to the war in Gaza raises questions about its commitment to human rights and justice – https://theconversation.com/canadas-response-to-the-war-in-gaza-raises-questions-about-its-commitment-to-human-rights-and-justice-264001

September 7, 2025

Our understanding of lightning has been driven by fear and shaped by curiosity

Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Peter Watson, Emeritus professor, Physics, Carleton University

Lightning can carry between 100 million to one billion volts of electricity. (Josep Castells/Unsplash), CC BY

Playwright Tom Stoppard, in Rosencrantz and Guildernstern are Dead, provides one of the best definitions of science: “The scientific approach to the examination of phenomena is a defence against the pure emotion of fear.”

Nowhere is this more true than in the study of electricity in the wild; namely, lightning. Primitive humans must have been terrified by lightning, so much so that it is built into many religions. Lightning is almost always associated with the most powerful gods.

In Greco-Roman mythology, Zeus is armed with lightning bolts. In Norse mythology, Thor is the god of thunder and lightning. The Yoruba god Shango is associated with thunder, lightning and justice.

Lighting appears in popular culture as well, and Shakespeare — for once — gets it wrong in Cymbeline:

Fear no more the lightning flash.

Nor th’ all-dreaded Thunderstone.

This refers to the old (and not unreasonable) idea that thunder was caused by immense stones falling from the sky.

The French expression “coupe de foudre” — lightning strike — roughly translates as “love at first sight.” In English, we know that “lightning never strikes twice.” This is untrue: unfortunately, lightning hits the CN Tower in Toronto about 75 times annually.

A billion volts

Our modern understanding of lightning starts with Benjamin Franklin, who proposed flying a kite in a thunderstorm with a metal key attached to the end of the wire. He hypothesized that the current would travel down the line, but he probably had too much sense to actually perform the experiment. French physicist Thomas-François Dalibard conducted the lightning rod experiment in 1752. The same experiment killed German physicist Georg Wilhelm Richmann in 1753.

What do we know about lightning? The basic process that creates thunderclouds is that positive charge, in the form of ionized atoms, is carried to the top by the up-drafts. The top of the cloud is positively charged, the bottom of cloud is negative and a positive charge is induced on the ground. The voltage between the bottom of the cloud and the ground can range between 100 million to one billion volts.

Even though dry air is normally an insulator, it will break down and becomes a conductor if the electric field reaches three million volts per metre. The actual process that goes on is complex: the electric field builds up beyond the maximum, producing ionized, conducting paths developing downwards from the cloud and upwards from the ground.

These branch and bend at random, depending on the local density of the air. When they meet, they form a conducting pathway that discharges the charge imbalance in a few milliseconds. The current can be huge, up to a million amps.

Lightning is not unique to thunderstorms on Earth. Volcanoes provide rapid up-drafts with a lot of friction between the ash particles. The Galileo space-probe has captured images of lightning on the night-side of Jupiter.

Global News looks at the science of volcanic lightning.

Dangerous electricity

Churches were notorious for burning down after being hit by lightning. This is hardly surprising: in most old European cites the church would have been the tallest building and topped by a metallic cross, providing a perfect path for the current.

One dramatic example was a lightning strike on a church in Brescia, Italy. The church was, for some reason, being used to store gunpowder and the resulting explosion resulted in 3,000 deaths.

The human body can be quite a good conductor, so a current produced by lightning prefers to flow through a person. Two to three people are killed by lightning each year in Canada.

People killed by lightning are often found naked: the massive current can cause any liquids to be vaporized and produce a sufficiently strong explosion to tear the clothes from the body.

If you’re ever out on a lake in a canoe and a thunderstorm hits, stay where you are and lie down, or get to shore as fast as possible. The induced charge is on the surface of the lake, so when the bolt hits, there will be a very large current on the surface of the water but you will be protected in the canoe.

Protective measures

In the 1750s, Franklin invented the lightning rod as protection from lightning, a sharply pointed metal rod attached to the top of a building.

The lightning rod would attract lightning by having an electric field that is very strong around the sharp point. This ionizes the air and allows current to flow so that the strike hits the conductor rather than the structure.

These days, many variations on lightning conductors exist, from rods to spheres, reducing the amount of damage caused by lightning strikes.

Funding from NSERC

– ref. Our understanding of lightning has been driven by fear and shaped by curiosity – https://theconversation.com/our-understanding-of-lightning-has-been-driven-by-fear-and-shaped-by-curiosity-230823

September 7, 2025

How universities can become neuro-inclusive — and what can help autistic students thrive

Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Megan Ames, Associate Professor, Psychology, University of Victoria

With the prevalence of autism increasing in recent years, more autistic people are attending college and university. (There are different ways to identify in the autistic community, with some people prefering to call themselves “autistic” rather than “a person with autism;” we’re taking the former approach).

Recent data suggest one in 50 Canadian children and adolescents are diagnosed with autism.

Autistic students bring many strengths, such as creativity, focus and original thought to academic settings, but research shows they’re underrepresented on post-secondary campuses and face diverse barriers and challenges to success.

They also tend to have lower graduation rates than their non-autistic peers. This may be, in part, because autistic students face unique and systemic barriers in the academic setting, including a lack of access to autism-specific supports, sensory challenges and mental health difficulties.

In this analysis, we offer recommendations to best support autistic students on post-secondary campuses, based on our own and others’ research on autism in higher education, and with input from two autistic students.

Katherine (she/her) is a fourth-year undergraduate student completing her honours degree with research interests in autism, psychology and anthropology. Kai (any/all) is a recent graduate who completed their honours degree in psychology and who continues to engage in autism-related research, including as a co-author of our recent review of the research on autism in higher education.

Katherine and Kai were invited to collaborate on this article given their involvement in the lab of Megan Ames (the first author of this story) at the University of Victoria.

The lab pursues youth and community engaged research practices, including around autism in higher education. We interviewed each for approximately half hour with questions related to their experiences in post-secondary and their advice for new students. Both agreed to have their first names included here and have reviewed the article prior to publication.

Disclosing a diagnosis, accommodations

Neurodivergent students, including autistic students, are eligible for academic accommodations such as extra time, note-taking, quiet settings for tests/exams, typically through an institution’s centre for accessible learning or similar resource. Most institutions require a formal diagnosis to access accommodations.

Although awareness of neurodiversity may appear to be growing, a recent Conference Board of Canada report, Advancing Neuroinclusive Policies and Practices in Post-Secondary Education, showed that less than half of the surveyed students disclosed their diagnosis. Yet it also found those who disclosed reported greater student satisfaction.

Especially given that not all students disclose their diagnosis, and there are barriers to accessing a formal diagnosis, including the costs and wait times, additional neuro-inclusive practices and supports are key.

Autism-specific services

Our 2021 environmental scan of Canadian post-secondary institutions revealed just six per cent offer autism-specific services.

Despite a desire to offer support, barriers like funding and faculty and staff training persist. Most research on this topic focuses on the autistic student experience, and less so on how to create neuro-inclusive campuses and practices.

As Katherine noted, centre for accessible learning “accommodations [will only get you] so far.”

Neurodiversity in policies, training

The Conference Board of Canada found almost half of their staff and faculty survey participants reported that neurodiversity was not appropriately addressed in their institutional equity, diversity, inclusion and accessibility (EDIA) policies.

It recommends collaborating with neurodivergent students, faculty and staff, mandatory neurodiversity training and investment in the development and evaluation of “wrap-around” service models to enhance student experience and success — meaning models that create personally and culturally tailored supports.

Post-secondary staff and faculty can avail themselves of open-access and free training to help understand and appreciate autism and the Universal Design of Learning, like the modules created by leadership and education researcher TC Waisman and colleagues.

Expanding services

Encouragingly, since our environmental scan, some Canadian post-secondary institutions are beginning to incorporate wraparound services for neurodivergent students, including autistic students.

For example, the University of Calgary’s neurodiversity support office includes neurodiverse advising, transition supports for neurodivergent students and mentorship groups, and faculty and staff training.

The University of Victoria has the Society for Students with a Disability, which is run through the student union. It provides any student who self-identifies as having one or more disabilities — including those who are neurodivergent — with various resources and supports, including a bookable respite room.

Based on our findings from the 2021 scan, a website was created that holds information about the various autism-specific supports on post-secondary campuses across Canada.

Tips for students

1. Explore on-campus services, supports and extracurricular activities. For many students, a positive university experience is connected to more than academic learning. Both Kai and Katherine suggested checking out the institution’s list of clubs and activities, as “finding community is important” (Kai).

Often, institutions will hold club fair days where students can explore the various clubs, activities and events to meet people with similar interests. Kai noted these clubs may be a place where you can be “more authentic.” However, the fair itself may not be neuro-inclusive (lots of people, loud environment). Exploring the student centre’s website is also an option.

Every autistic student is different. As Katherine notes, finding supports that fit for you is important.

2. Research various types of funding. Some campuses have funds to support students with assistive technology (such as laptops or headphones). The National Educational Association of Disabled Students helps post-secondary students with disabilities search through hundreds of scholarships across Canada and can be a good resource.

3. It’s OK to take it slow. There are many ways to be a post-secondary student. When Kai started university, they felt like they “had to follow a certain path,” but there are ways to be a full-time student and take fewer classes. Katherine agreed, and noted she began with taking fewer classes then worked her way up to a full course load.

4. Build relationships with peers and professors. Peer mentorship programs have been shown to have positive benefits for Autistic students. Kai and Katherine both spoke to the importance of building relationships. Kai described their experience with a campus peer support group for autistic students as it means having “a space to be with other autistic people; they understand what it’s like to exist like I do.” Katherine suggests connecting with professors, as this may help ensure accommodations are adhered to or lead to collaborative approaches to support learning (for example, finding ways to make an assignment more interesting to you).

5. Try to find sensory-friendly spaces on campus. Some campuses are making a concerted effort to create neuro-inclusive and sensory-friendly programs and spaces, like the University of Calgary’s Neuroinclusion Studio, but this type of space may be the exception rather than the norm.

Katherine suggests exploring libraries that may host smaller, cozier and dimmer spaces that provide a place to reprieve and recharge between classes.

The Conference Board of Canada created a guide with additional tips that you can check out here.

Megan Ames’s research is supported by University of Victoria internal and start-up funds, Canadian Institutes of Health Research, and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.

Carly McMorris’s research is supported by the Canadian Research Chairs Program, Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Kids Brain Health Network, Brain Canada, and the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.

– ref. How universities can become neuro-inclusive — and what can help autistic students thrive – https://theconversation.com/how-universities-can-become-neuro-inclusive-and-what-can-help-autistic-students-thrive-261150

September 7, 2025

Transition verte : peut-on vraiment comparer les dépendances aux métaux rares et au pétrole ?

Source: The Conversation – France (in French) – By Lucas Miailhes, Doctorant en Science Politique/Relations Internationales, Institut catholique de Lille (ICL)

Et si la transition énergétique n’était pas le simple glissement d’une dépendance au pétrole vers une dépendance aux métaux critiques ? Les discours politiques empruntent souvent cette analogie séduisante, mais la réalité est plus complexe. Le risque serait que cette comparaison donne un mauvais cadrage aux enjeux de la transition énergétique.

Alors que la transition énergétique accélère en Europe, une idée semble s’être imposée dans le débat public. Notre dépendance aux énergies fossiles aurait glissé vers une nouvelle dépendance, cette fois aux matières premières critiques, comme le lithium ou les terres rares.

Il n’est pas rare que cette comparaison soit faite dans les débats télévisés, mais également à l’occasion de déclarations politiques, tant au niveau national qu’international. Par exemple, lors d’un discours de 2023 traitant de la relation Chine-Union européenne (UE), la présidente de la Commission européenne Ursula von der Leyen traçait un parallèle clair entre la dépendance de l’UE aux énergies fossiles et sa dépendance naissante aux matériaux critiques :

« Les transitions […] seront permises par les matières premières. Le lithium et les terres rares sont déjà en train de remplacer le gaz et le pétrole au cœur de notre économie. […] Nous devons éviter de tomber dans la même dépendance que pour le pétrole et le gaz. »

Si cette analogie alerte, à juste titre, sur la vulnérabilité europénne des approvisionnements en métaux – pour une large part envers la Chine, elle repose sur une vision simpliste et trompeuse des chaînes d’approvisionnement mondiales, de la nature physique de ces ressources et des rapports de force géoéconomiques.

Elle participe à véhiculer de fausses croyances non seulement sur la nature du commerce international de ces matières premières critiques, mais aussi, plus globalement, sur la nature de la transition énergétique.

Peut-on vraiment comparer le lithium au gaz russe ? Le cobalt au baril de Brent ? La réponse est : non. Pour plusieurs raisons.

Matières consommables contre recyclables

À la différence du pétrole ou du gaz, qui sont des consommables détruits par leur usage, les métaux ne disparaissent pas une fois utilisés. Grâce à leurs propriétés physiques, ils peuvent être recyclés indéfiniment sans perte de qualité, contrairement à des matériaux comme le plastique, dont la recyclabilité est limitée.

Cette caractéristique leur permet d’être réinjectés dans des boucles de réutilisation au sein d’une économie circulaire. Si le recyclage des métaux employés dans les technologies bas carbone, comme les batteries lithium-ion, reste aujourd’hui marginal, c’est moins en raison de verrous techniques que du faible volume de produits en fin de vie actuellement disponible.

Mais à mesure que les premiers équipements arriveront en fin de cycle, le recyclage pourra devenir une source majeure d’approvisionnement en métaux dits « secondaires ».

L’Agence internationale de l’énergie (AIE) estime que le recyclage pourrait réduire de 25 à 40 % les besoins en nouvelles extractions. Selon la fédération européenne Transport & Environment, en intégrant les rebuts de production, le recyclage pourrait couvrir jusqu’à 40 % de la demande européenne d’ici 2030 – et près des deux tiers à l’horizon 2040.

Contrairement à ce qu’ont été le pétrole et le gaz pour l’UE, la dépendance actuelle du continent européen pourrait donc bien se réduire rapidement, pour peu que l’Europe investisse dans ce maillon de souveraineté.

Des enjeux de dépendance qui se posent différemment

La question de la sécurité d’approvisionnement en métaux ne se pose pas dans les mêmes termes que celle du gaz ou du pétrole. Alors que les hydrocarbures concernent l’ensemble des consommateurs de façon directe (notamment afin de fournir du carburant pour les transports ou une source d’énergie pour le chauffage), les métaux ne deviennent stratégiques que dans la mesure où un pays développe des capacités industrielles qui en dépendent. Autrement dit, s’ils sont nécessaires à une production nationale d’énergie bas carbone.

Cette distinction est essentielle, car elle permet de hiérarchiser les vulnérabilités : on ne s’inquiète pas de la dépendance en matériaux pour lesquels il n’existe pas de tissu industriel local.

Par exemple, l’industrie de fabrication de panneaux solaires est au point mort en France. Pour l’heure, l’approvisionnement en métaux pour ces derniers n’est pas un sujet prioritaire de sécurité d’approvisionnement.

À l’inverse, les métaux indispensables à la production de batteries pour véhicules électriques – comme le lithium, le nickel, le cobalt, le manganèse ou le graphite – sont devenus des enjeux majeurs pour la France et pour l’Europe, en raison du déploiement local massif de projets de gigafactories.

Carrière de kaolin d’Échassières (Allier), actuellement exploitée par la société Imerys, également à l’initiative du projet de mine de lithum.
TomTooM03/Wikimedia Commonns, CC BY

C’est précisément cette logique industrielle qui a été invoquée pour justifier le projet d’ouverture d’une mine de lithium à Échassières, dans l’Allier, afin d’alimenter les usines de batteries du nord de la France.

Une dépendance chinoise à relativiser

En dépit de sa position dominante sur le marché de nombreux métaux critiques, la Chine ne peut pas « arsenaliser » (c’est-à-dire, instrumentaliser à des fins géopolitiques) aussi facilement la dépendance aux métaux que la Russie a pu le faire avec le gaz.

En effet, les chaînes de valeur des matières premières critiques (lithium, terres rares, etc.) sont beaucoup plus fragmentées et capables de se réorganiser. Certes, Pékin détient une position dominante dans l’extraction des terres rares et dans le raffinage du lithium, mais sa capacité à s’en servir comme levier de coercition est entravée par plusieurs facteurs :

d’abord, son contrôle sur les exportations reste limité par la corruption locale et par l’ampleur du marché noir, comme l’ont montré les difficultés à faire appliquer l’embargo sur les terres rares, en 2010, aux entreprises chinoises exportatrices ;
ensuite, les États importateurs disposent d’une palette d’options de repli : diversification des fournisseurs, constitution de stocks stratégiques, investissements publics dans de nouvelles capacités de raffinage ou développement de technologies de substitution. C’est ce qu’a démontré le Japon, qui, après l’embargo de 2010 sur l’exportation de terres rares par la Chine, a rapidement sécurisé des alternatives via des investissements en Australie et aux États-Unis, affaiblissant mécaniquement l’influence chinoise ;
enfin, la Chine elle-même dépend, par ailleurs, fortement d’importations de matières premières non transformées, notamment en provenance d’Australie et d’Amérique latine pour le lithium, dont elle assure le raffinage à hauteur des deux tiers de la production mondiale. Cette interdépendance réduit la marge de manœuvre stratégique de Pékin : toute tentative de chantage à la restriction d’exportation risquerait de se retourner contre ses propres industries consommatrices de lithium.

Bref, à la différence du gaz russe – centralisé, peu substituable à court terme et distribué par des infrastructures fixes –, les métaux s’échangent sur des marchés mondiaux plus diversifiés, flexibles et adaptables. Ils sont donc moins facilement « arsenalisables ».

Et puis, et c’est probablement ce qui révèle une lecture erronée des rapports de force géoéconomiques, les marchés du lithium et des terres rares sont beaucoup plus petits que ceux du pétrole et du gaz, tant en valeur qu’en volume. En 2024, le marché mondial des hydrocarbures pesait près de 6 000 milliards de dollars, contre seulement environ 28 milliards pour le lithium et de 4 milliards à 12 milliards pour les terres rares.

Depuis la fin des années 2010, l’Agence internationale de l’énergie alerte régulièrement sur l’explosion à venir de la demande pour ces matériaux, portée par l’électrification des usages. Pourtant, même en cumulant leurs pics de production respectifs, les terres rares et le lithium, même s’ils sont centraux pour la transition énergétique, ne représentent qu’une part infime du marché pétrogazier mondial.

Ne pas confondre transition énergétique et accumulation de sources d’énergie

L’idée même de transition énergétique des énergies fossiles vers les métaux tend à dissimuler une réalité bien plus prosaïque : celle de l’accumulation des sources d’énergie plutôt que de leur substitution.

Comme le théorise l’historien Jean-Baptiste Fressoz, l’histoire énergétique ne connaît pas de véritables ruptures où une énergie en remplacerait totalement une autre. Au contraire, les transitions s’effectuent par empilement : chaque nouvelle source vient s’ajouter aux précédentes, sans les faire disparaître. Cette dynamique remet en cause les récits optimistes qui laissent penser que les énergies fossiles seraient bientôt reléguées au passé.

Malgré les scénarios prospectifs et les engagements des grandes économies à atteindre la neutralité carbone, il est probable que l’usage du pétrole et du gaz se maintiendra dans de nombreux secteurs. Les technologies bas carbone ne remplaceront pas tous les usages permis par les hydrocarbures, en particulier dans les domaines où ils restent difficilement substituables, notamment dans l’industrie : il reste difficile de produire de l’acier vert.

Autrement dit, loin d’acter la fin des fossiles de façon nette et précise, la transition énergétique risque de passer par une phase de coexistence prolongée.

En définitive, l’idée d’un transfert de dépendance du pétrole vers les métaux ne résiste pas à l’analyse. Ni leurs propriétés physiques, ni la structure des marchés, ni la géopolitique de leur approvisionnement ne permettent de calquer les logiques de la rente fossile sur celles des matières premières critiques.

Penser la transition énergétique à travers le prisme d’une substitution binaire masque la complexité des interdépendances industrielles et pourrait conduire à de fausses priorités stratégiques. Repenser la dépendance, ce n’est donc pas rejouer la guerre du gaz avec de nouveaux matériaux, mais comprendre les spécificités des chaînes de valeur des technologies bas carbone – et concevoir des réponses politiques à la hauteur de ces réalités.

Lucas Miailhes ne travaille pas, ne conseille pas, ne possède pas de parts, ne reçoit pas de fonds d’une organisation qui pourrait tirer profit de cet article, et n’a déclaré aucune autre affiliation que son organisme de recherche.

– ref. Transition verte : peut-on vraiment comparer les dépendances aux métaux rares et au pétrole ? – https://theconversation.com/transition-verte-peut-on-vraiment-comparer-les-dependances-aux-metaux-rares-et-au-petrole-262752

September 7, 2025

Military force isn’t the solution for Lake Chad Basin conflict: the key is rebuilding local economies

Source: The Conversation – Africa (2) – By Richard Atimniraye Nyelade, Lecturer, Sociological and Anthropological Studies, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of Ottawa

Fatima, a fisherwoman on Lake Chad, sets out at dawn not just to make a living from the shrinking waters, but to pay a “tax”. Before casting her net, she must hand over part of her meagre earnings to armed men claiming allegiance to Boko Haram. If she refuses, her catch, her boat, even her life, could be taken.

Boko Haram is an insurgent network that began in north-east Nigeria in 2002 and later fractured into two main factions: JAS (Jama’atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda’awati wal-Jihad, the original Boko Haram faction) and ISWAP (Islamic State West Africa Province, the Islamic State affiliate in the region). Both operate across Nigeria, Niger, Chad and Cameroon.

Economic shakedowns like this are happening every day throughout the Lake Chad Basin. This is a vast, drought-stricken region spanning the borderlands around Lake Chad in north-eastern Nigeria, south-eastern Niger, western Chad and northern Cameroon. It is home to more than 30 million people whose livelihoods depend on fishing, farming and herding.

I am a researcher of climate-related insecurity and conflict. In a recent paper, I looked at how environmental degradation, regional instability and external geopolitical interests are exacerbating the conflict in the region. The study drew on qualitative analysis of security reports and academic literature. These include the United Nations Development Programme’s 2022 conflict analysis of the Lake Chad Basin and the World Food Programme’s 2024 climate and food-security report.

The paper sets out how Boko Haram has come to operate like a parallel government, imposing taxes on trade, farming and fishing. It offers harsh order in exchange for revenue.

I conclude from my findings that war is no longer driven only by belief. It’s driven by a collapsing economy, ecological ruin and the absence of viable alternatives.

Understanding these factors is crucial for developing comprehensive security strategies. Based on the findings I recommend five interventions: investment in the ecological recovery of the region; the strengthening of cross-border intelligence to choke the illicit trade in fish, cattle, arms and people; transparency from foreign players about their motives; the rebuilding of local economies and support for displaced communities; and lastly the rebuilding of trust with local communities.

Environmental degradation

Lake Chad’s open-water area fell from about 25,000 km² in the early 1960s to lows of a few hundred km² in the 1980s, and has generally remained under one-tenth of its 1960s extent with strong variability. This is documented in satellite analyses by Nasa and the United States Geological Survey.

This isn’t just an ecological crisis. As water recedes and fertile land disappears, fishing, farming and herding collapse. The basin hosts about 30 million people across 10 subnational regions or states.

In 2024, Niger’s floods affected about 1.5 million people nationwide, with Diffa recording around 50,000 affected and authorities on alert along the Komadougou Yobe river. The Red Cross also flagged basin-wide flood emergencies that month.

The basin’s ecological collapse has turned Lake Chad into a recruitment ground. The World Food Programme shows how droughts and erratic rainfall have crushed agricultural yields. The UN Development Programme links these environmental shocks to rising displacement, hunger and extremism.

Across the shared basin, Boko Haram has built a brutal, extractive shadow economy. In Nigeria, the group at one point controlled up to half of the fish trade around Baga. Fishermen were taxed at every stage, from lake to market. Refusal brought violence.

In Cameroon, Chad, and Niger, Boko Haram factions have orchestrated cattle rustling that has decimated pastoralist communities. My research details how armed raids strip herders of their livelihoods overnight. The stolen animals are sold through cross-border smuggling networks, feeding the insurgency. The group also taxes livestock traders at makeshift checkpoints, turning rustling and market levies into steady revenue.

Across the basin, kidnapping has become an industry. The UN reports that kidnapping for ransom remains a key revenue source for Boko Haram/ISWAP, and that a “large ransom” was paid in the 2018 Dapchi schoolgirls case. What began as ideological acts, like the abduction of schoolgirls, has turned into a ruthless business model. Ransoms pay for weapons, logistics and recruitment.

Regional instability

Ecological and economic desperation fuels regional instability. As communities fracture and compete over dwindling resources, the borders of the four Chad Basin countries become highways for insurgents, smugglers and arms.

Since 2014 Boko Haram has spilled from Nigeria into Cameroon, Chad and Niger, where security forces are stretched and coordination is uneven. Arms flow through the Sahel and abuses by security actors erode public trust, which in turn eases recruitment.

The paper details how national armies, often under-equipped and struggling with coordination, have been unable to secure this vast terrain. The Multinational Joint Task Force, a regional military coalition, has had successes but is hampered by these same challenges.

This security vacuum is the space in which Boko Haram’s parallel governance and illicit economy thrive, making the crisis a truly regional one that no single country can solve alone. The result is a conflict system that crosses borders, mixes ideology with profit, and outlasts purely military responses.

Bombs not the answer

Military force alone cannot fix this. It’s necessary to address the root causes, ecological collapse, broken livelihoods, and the economic lifelines that keep the insurgency going.

The Lake Chad Basin Commission is the intergovernmental body that manages the lake’s resources. Created in 1964 by Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria, and later joined by the Central African Republic and Libya, the commission and national governments must lead with urgency and courage. They must:

invest in climate resilience, large-scale water management, drought-resistant crops, restored wetlands and sustainable fishing
disrupt illicit trade and go after the money, not just the militants
demand transparency from foreign actors about their agendas in the region
rebuild local economies and trust.

Fatima’s daily struggle on Lake Chad is not just about fish. It is about the future of the region. The shrinking lake, the abandoned villages, the armed taxmen – these are not side effects. They are the story.

Richard Atimniraye Nyelade does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. Military force isn’t the solution for Lake Chad Basin conflict: the key is rebuilding local economies – https://theconversation.com/military-force-isnt-the-solution-for-lake-chad-basin-conflict-the-key-is-rebuilding-local-economies-262640

September 7, 2025

Joseph Kabila is on trial for treason in the DRC. What the case against the former president is all about

Source: The Conversation – Africa (2) – By Jonathan Beloff, Postdoctoral Research Associate, King’s College London

The Congolese military court has accused former president Joseph Kabila of treason, corruption, war crimes and supporting the March 23 Movement (M23) rebel group. During court proceedings that began in July 2025, arguments were made for utilising the death penalty against Kabila, who was in power from 2001 to 2019. The trial is going on in Kabila’s absence as the threat of arrest led him into exile. The former president had fought against the M23’s first iteration in 2012-2013, as well as its predecessor, the National Congress for the Defence of the People, which fought the DRC government between 2006 and 2009. Jonathan R. Beloff, who has studied the regional and internal political dynamics in the DRC for over a decade, examines the implications of the case.

What is Joseph Kabila’s political history?

Joseph Kabila took over as president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) on 26 January 2001 after the assassination of his father, Laurent-Désiré. He was 29.

Before this, during the First Congo War (1996-1997), he served in the Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo, which aimed to overthrow the Zairean dictator Joseph Mobutu. This war has been labelled “Africa’s World War” by historians like Gérard Prunier because of the large number of foreign actors it involved. These include Angola, Burundi, Uganda and Rwanda.

A significant number of soldiers and commanders in the alliance were Rwandan. Much of the war was conducted by Rwandan General James Kabarebe, who became a de facto father figure for Kabila, training him in military strategy, tactics and politics.

A breakdown in Rwanda’s relationship with the DRC in 1998 led to the bloody Second Congo War (1998-2003). It was between Uganda, Rwanda and to a lesser extent Burundi, who fought against the DRC and its allies like Angola and Zimbabwe. The war was mostly fought by rebels from these nations who had varying interests. During this period, Kabila became the deputy chief of staff for the Congolese military.

After he became president, he successfully applied pressure on Rwanda and Uganda to negotiate peace agreements in 2002.

Overall, his presidential term was marred by the persecution of political rivals, corruption and multiple active rebel forces in the volatile eastern region.

Further, despite the DRC’s constitution forbidding it, Kabila extended his presidency from two five-year terms, only stepping down in 2019. A political deal was struck that saw him relinquish power and hand over to Felix Tshisekedi.

What has happened to Kabila since then?

Kabila and his successor have not seen eye to eye.

Since departing from power, the former president has faced increased accusations of corruption during his presidency. Further, by 2021, many of Kabila’s supporters within the government and military had been removed.

The relationship between the two further soured in 2023 when Kabila spoke out against Tshisekedi’s handling of the M23’s violent campaign in eastern DRC. Kabila has also criticised Tshisekedi’s use of uncontrolled militias, Wazalendo, who have been unsuccessful in combating the M23.

Kabila went into self-exile, reportedly in South Africa and other African nations, that year. He returned to eastern DRC’s regional hub Goma in May 2025, when he met with M23 leaders.

The Congolese government used Kabila’s visit to M23-controlled Goma to justify the charges brought against him. Further, the government suspended Kabila’s political party, Parti du Peuple pour la Reconstruction et la Démocratie. The party represented Kabila’s interest in Congo’s legislative branch.

Soon after the party’s suspension, the senate stripped Kabila of his immunity, allowing charges to be filed against the former president.

Why is the case against Kabila before a military court?

While Kabila doesn’t hold any political or military post – he last served as president and major-general in January 2019 – his past experience in the army led to a military rather than civilian process.

Additionally, the case is before a military court as Kabila is accused of committing treason by meeting with an opposing military force, the M23. The government seized his assets after he met and engaged with leaders of the rebel group.

While it’s not the most significant charge, Kabila also faces accusations of massive corruption during his 18-year presidency. Further, he’s being held accountable for past military decisions that led to war crimes, murder and rape during and after the Second Congo War (1998-2003).

What are the implications of the court case for DRC’s peace process?

In June 2025, Rwanda and the DRC signed a peace agreement following negotiations led by Qatar and the United States.

On the surface, the agreement could lead to regional stability and growth. However, for Tshisekedi, it is a landmine of political risks.

Since the M23’s resurgence in November 2021, Tshisekedi has blamed Rwanda, as well as the Banyarwanda and Banyamulenge, who are historically Rwandan populations resident in eastern DRC, for the return of the rebel group.

The new peace deal significantly complicates Tshisekedi’s relationship with his key political allies and ministers. If they begin to believe he is caving in to Rwanda, Tshisekedi could lose the presidency ahead of next year’s election.

Thus, in my view, based on my research on Congolese instability, Tshisekedi needed to find a political distraction that his supporters could rally behind.

Kabila’s return to Goma and relationship with the M23 provided that opportunity. The court case allows Tshisekedi to highlight his fight against the rebel group and its allies. The Congolese military has been unable to significantly halt the M23’s advances.

The case also allows the president to demonstrate his tough stance on opposition figures.

However, Tshisekedi will need to be careful of the potential implications of the case for himself. Kabila’s remaining loyalists could become even more daring in standing up against Tshisekedi. While a majority were removed, there are still some left.

Jonathan Beloff does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. Joseph Kabila is on trial for treason in the DRC. What the case against the former president is all about – https://theconversation.com/joseph-kabila-is-on-trial-for-treason-in-the-drc-what-the-case-against-the-former-president-is-all-about-264412

September 7, 2025

South Africa’s small-scale rooibos tea growers aren’t getting much from an industry deal – why it’s not fair

Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Rachel Wynberg, Professor and DSTI/NRF SARChI Bio-economy Research Chair, University of Cape Town

A ground-breaking benefit-sharing agreement was signed in 2019 between South Africa’s lucrative rooibos herbal tea industry and two organisations representing Indigenous San and Khoi people.

Indigenous San and Khoi – the oldest known populations of southern Africa – are traditionally hunter-gatherers and pastoralists. Their traditional knowledge also contributed towards the development of the rooibos tea industry.

Today, the commercial rooibos tea industry sells more than 22,000 tons of tea every year and has an annual export value of over US$50 million.

Although apartheid ended in 1994, the rooibos tea industry is still dominated by white-owned companies. These companies benefited from years of subsidies and protection by the apartheid government. Rooibos farmers who were classified as “Coloured” (an apartheid-era race term imposed on indigenous Khoi-San and other ethnically diverse oppressed people of colour) were excluded from the industry during this time.

The 2019 access and benefit-sharing agreement was meant to change that. It is legally binding, and sets out how those who hold traditional knowledge about rooibos will benefit from the industry.

Access and benefit-sharing agreements like this one are governed by global conventions and protocols. The main aim is to stop genetic resources and traditional knowledge from being used in commercial products without consent or compensation for the traditional knowledge holders and resource owners. They also aim to prevent biopiracy. In other words, they aim to strengthen the rights of Indigenous peoples and local communities over their natural resources.

Many national laws now require companies to set up these agreements. In this sense, the 2019 rooibos benefit-sharing agreement was historic because it formally recognised, for the first time, the role of San and Khoi traditional knowledge in the development of the rooibos industry.

We are anthropologists, sociologists, environmental scientists, indigenous heritage practitioners and policy researchers. We’ve carried out decades of participatory action research with small-scale rooibos farmers and other Indigenous groups.

Our research found that the 2019 rooibos agreement has not changed who owns and benefits most from rooibos. Control remains vested in an industry set up during colonialism and apartheid. This is because the white-dominated industry still owns most of the tea lands and cultivates about 93% of rooibos tea today. This allows the same commercial farmers and industry players to continue to dominate the market.

Less than 7% of rooibos tea lands are today controlled by Indigenous farmers. As a result, they’re only able to produce about 2% of South Africa’s rooibos tea.

Our research also found that the rooibos agreement does not grapple with local contexts and struggles over identity. While some small-scale farmers identify as Khoi-San and “first nation”, they do not always recognise the authority of the councils endorsed by the government to represent them. Other small-scale farmers do not feel a connection to a Khoi-San identity at all, instead identifying with a “Coloured” heritage.

These problems need to be solved now because other South African plant industries based on traditional use, such as buchu, an indigenous shrub used widely in the herbal, flavour and fragrance industries, and honeybush tea, have begun adopting the rooibos benefit-sharing model.

For biodiversity-based economies to transform, they must go beyond agreements about sharing access to plants and profits from their sale. Government must recognise local guardians of biodiversity and redistribute land, and along with industry, must embrace economic transformation. If they don’t, they run the risk of securing benefits only for the few who are politically connected and organised.

A flawed process

In 2010, the South African San Council claimed the right to benefit from rooibos and honeybush. They were later joined by the National Khoisan Council, a body initiated by former president Nelson Mandela in 1999 as a way of including Khoi-San historical leadership in post-apartheid South Africa.

Government-commissioned research at the time urged the commercial rooibos tea industry to negotiate benefit-sharing agreements with the two organisations or risk losing its licence to operate.

However, these two groups do not represent all Khoi-San groups. Many small-scale rooibos farmers, who have deep historical connections to the plant and its traditional knowledge, weren’t part of the negotiations for the agreement. Small-scale rooibos farmers are typically ethnically diverse descendants of San, Khoi, former slaves, and European settlers.

They were eventually included in the final agreement as “rooibos indigenous farming communities”, but only through the National Khoisan Council and not in their own right.

The agreement offered some reparation for past injustices by establishing a “traditional knowledge levy” of 1.5% of the price that farmers receive. The levy – about US$700,000 per year – is paid to the South African San Council and National Khoisan Council.

What’s missing

The agreement has been cited as an example of best practice in equitable business. Yet small-scale rooibos farmers receive just 5% of the benefits. And they are also expected to pay towards the levy because they produce rooibos tea. Overall, they benefit little from access and benefit sharing.

The agreement doesn’t include everyone who holds traditional knowledge about rooibos, and therefore not every Indigenous rooibos grower benefits. It assumes that traditional knowledge is confined to specific groups. In contrast, research has found that Indigenous knowledge is shared across groups. It evolves and takes different forms over time.

The effect of the rooibos agreement is that small-scale Indigenous farmers are less empowered. They need to find the resources to organise across large distances and find ways to get legal support if they are to benefit equally.

More widely, our research shows that the agreement has introduced a new, intervening role for the state. In this case, the state rewarded ethnically defined beneficiaries. This raises questions about the power of the state and how it controls who is entitled to receive information, knowledge and benefits.

What next?

The rooibos agreement has given recognition and economic benefits to some Indigenous groupings. It’s been hailed as a transformation milestone, but has not brought about the changes needed to address social and economic inequities. Real change would include equal access to land, a more inclusive industry, and the wider sharing of economic benefits.

Access and benefit sharing is due for radical rethink. It needs an inclusive, bold, caring and imaginative approach that should be co-designed with communities from the outset. It needs an approach that is rooted in local context. Only this will create new possibilities for inclusive economic power, sustainability and recognition.

Rachel Wynberg receives funding from the South African Department of Science, Technology and Innovation and the National Research Foundation which support her Bio-economy Research Chair. She is affiliated with the University of Cape Town. She is a Board member for two non-profit organisatons: Biowatch South Africa and the Union for Ethical Biotrade (UEBT).

June Bam-Hutchison and Sarah Ives do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. South Africa’s small-scale rooibos tea growers aren’t getting much from an industry deal – why it’s not fair – https://theconversation.com/south-africas-small-scale-rooibos-tea-growers-arent-getting-much-from-an-industry-deal-why-its-not-fair-261288