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Here is our weekly survey of news stories to round out the week of March 21-28, 2016.
Analysis: Five ways to devastate ISIL https://t.co/mmbqwvRad6 Via @POLITICOMag | Getty pic.twitter.com/Ib6QpuzUfU
— POLITICO (@politico) March 25, 2016
Belgian ministers say they”ll resign over bomb suspect failure https://t.co/5rGMU7BnXL
— Newsweek (@Newsweek) March 25, 2016
Another Pentagon gender barrier falls as Air Force general makes history https://t.co/G15xH85YBB pic.twitter.com/oTqxJtw0oz
— CS Monitor (@csmonitor) March 25, 2016
The European migrant crisis was arguably the biggest international news story of 2015. More than a million migrants poured into Europe last year, fleeing violence in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Libya. At first, European leaders such as German Chancellor Angela Merkel were welcoming of refugees, but the sheer number of new arrivals overwhelmed countries such as Greece and triggered a backlash, especially among conservatives that feared that the flood would radically alter Europe’s demographics and culture. The Parisian terror attacks in November, as well as accusations that refugees attacked women in Cologne, Germany, bolstered the case for limiting new arrivals and it appears that the European Union (EU) has reached a deal with Turkey to do just that. The deal calls for Turkey to take in refugees that fail to acquire asylum in Europe, while Europe will provide billions in aid for Turkey to deal with refugees. Also, Turkey’s aspirations of joining the EU have been revived, with the EU pledging to open new chapters in those delayed negotiations and promising that Turkish nationals will have access to the organization’s visa-free travel zone by June. However, skeptics say that this deal is unworkable from a logistics and legal point-of-view. They argue that Turkey is not safe for migrants and that the EU is absconding of its responsibility to help the world’s less fortunate.
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Since the war on terrorism began in 2001, the federal government’s surveillance capabilities have come under scrutiny by civil libertarians, groups such as the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), and the national media. On the one hand, advocates of increased surveillance argue that it is necessary to keep Americans safe, while the other side counters that the loss of civil liberties for security is a dangerous precedent that could gradually erode all freedoms. Recently, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is attempting to make Apple break its iOS9 operating system so that it can unlock the phone of Syed Farook, one of the two individuals that killed fourteen people in the San Bernardino shootings last year. Federal authorities believe that the phone would reveal Farook’s motivations for the attack and give them a detailed profile of how much contact Farook was having with the Islamic State, but these are mere guesses as to the phone’s contents. Apple has thus far refused to cooperate, arguing that the government has no legal authority to make it to crack its own software. It will likely take years for federal courts to adjudicate this case, but it could have significant ramifications for technology firms in the United States and elsewhere. As such, extempers should be prepared to discuss the implications of this ongoing legal struggle as it will be fodder for questions in technology, terrorism, and constitutional issues rounds.
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