Who’s leading the charge?

Though the United States participated in the air strikes, it has been Europe that has led the war against Muammar Gaddafi. In early March, French President Nicolas Sarkozy surprised the rest of the European Union by recognizing the Libyan rebels as the country’s “new representatives.” Other EU nations joined France, forming an alliance against Gaddafi, with NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen stating that more ships would be sent to the Mediterranean to closely monitor the situation.

Future of the Libyan War

The United States finally agreed to air strikes, but only after The United Nations Security Council approved a resolution authorizing a no-fly zone over Libya. President Obama has said that the US will support “efforts” in the region, but will not lead them. Obama has not divulged an exit strategy for American troops, but aides said that the US would likely cede control to the NATO alliance.

Mad Dog of the Middle East

Muammar Gaddafi was born in Libya in 1942. He came to power in 1969 after overthrowing King Idris I. This is not Gaddafi’s first time to run afoul of the United Nations. In 1988 he refused to extradite to Britain or the United States, two Libyan terrorists suspected of bombing Pan Am Flight 103 which exploded over Lockerbie, Scotland. This refusal to extradite led to drastic U.N. sanctions. Gaddafi has been in power for 40 years. He is the longest serving ruler in the Arab world and the third longest serving ruler in the world.

First, we should have a look at some goals pursued by the Bologna accords:

• accepted standards all over Europe concerning academic degrees
• comparable and compatible academic degrees throughout Europe
• lower University drope-out rates
• higher student mobility

Given these four important aspects of that Bologna declaration we have to realize that the Bologna process has failed. Most universities are occupied in Germany where the education system seems to have many defects – according to thousands of students.

Many German universities decided to transform their traditional degrees “Magister” and “diploma” into a bachelor-/ master system which respectively consists of six and four semesters. The courses of study were effectively tranformed from a four year course to a three year course. Consequences are: students would have to learn more in a shorter period of time.

Given the fact that in some German Federal States tuition fees of up to 500 Euros per semester were introduced some years ago, the pressure on many students has grown. Surveys showed that tuition fees would prevent some high-school graduates from studying at universities. Critical voices stated a social selection caused by the fees.

Further points of criticism are:

• democratic participation for students at schools and universities is too low
• the influence of the economy on education is too strong
• courses at university are too inflexible

Most  students, professors and politicians  agree on the last point: university seems to turn into another place of  “teaching like in school”.  The question is: how could that Bologna process be modified? Neither politicians, nor professors or anybody else appears to be responsible for the developments during the last years – as usual.

But this time the student protests probably won´t stop too early: they have become a strong movement and are fighting for real improvements – for their human right to education.