2021
August
26
Thursday

Monitor Daily Podcast

August 26, 2021
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Mark Sappenfield
Senior global correspondent

Today’s issue is all about adaptation. We all know the world is going through seismic changes, whether that’s the pandemic, climate change, or the Taliban victory in Afghanistan. But as my 10th grade biology teacher always said, species have three choices: adapt, migrate, or die, and today’s issue is full of a world trying to adapt.

There are the Taliban, who now must adapt if they wish to be anything more than oppressors and terrorists. That could open possibilities for new relationships, Howard LaFranchi writes. Then there are the fishing communities of Indonesia, which are struggling to adapt to the magnitude of the challenge in front of them without outside help.

Colleges and universities are adapting to the post-pandemic world by stressing community connections more – leaning in on the power of being together. And columnist Jacqueline Adams talks about how she’s seen friendships adapt to thrive amid pandemic isolation.

And our last story, about Salt, Jordan, leaps off the page. Its entire history is adaptation – adjusting to its position as a crossroads for trade and religious pilgrimages. That adaptation has created a unique sense of community that embraces all faiths and backgrounds. There are Muslims named for beloved Christian neighbors, and for centuries there were no hotels – residents offered lodging to visitors, no questions asked.

The most common thing our Taylor Luck heard from strangers on his visit? “Please have lunch with me.”


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Today’s stories

And why we wrote them

The fallen Afghan government was deeply dependent on the world community. If the Taliban want a measure of national prosperity, they must do the same, which could open windows of opportunity.

A deeper look

Fieni Aprilia/IWMF/Special to The Christian Science Monitor
Djafar, a fisherman in Asilulu, Indonesia, pulls up a traditional fishing trap with help from two other fishermen on June 24, 2021. Declining catches of tuna fish have disrupted the community's maritime economy.

Climate change means communities must adapt in order to sustain their livelihoods. But there are limits to what small fishing villages can do by themselves.

Courtesy of Otterbein University
Otterbein University cheerleaders lead the class of 2025 on a march to their first convocation on Aug. 19, 2021, in Westerville, Ohio. President John Comerford expects the resumption of normal campus activities this year to help rebuild a sense of community.

As colleges prepare for a new academic year, they’re finding that the pandemic has given them a new focus: They are seeking to rebuild campus community.

#TeamUp

Karen Norris/Staff

Pandemic restrictions have urged distance from others. But some friendships have thrived within that distance – and maybe even because of it, our columnist suggests. 

Taylor Luck
Shoppers mill through the Souk Hammam, unchanged since Ottoman times, in Salt, Jordan, Aug. 14, 2021.

In Salt, Jordan, the world’s newest UNESCO World Heritage Site, building practices and lived history have created a showcase for interfaith and communal harmony – and hospitality.


The Monitor's View

Reuters
Laura Codruta Kovesi, Romania's former chief anti-corruption prosecutor, is now the European Union's first chief prosecutor.

In the last two months, both the European Union and the United States have tried a novel idea in transnational justice. They have each set up a capacity to investigate corruption across borders. Their goals are quite different. The EU wants to plug an estimated $73 billion hole in its budget from fraud in its 27 member states. The U.S. seeks to curb corruption in Central America, a prime source of migration. Yet they are both setting a precedent for supranational honesty in governance.

In June, the Biden White House declared the fight against corruption to be a “core” national security interest. To show that it is serious, it struck an agreement with Guatemala that would allow U.S. prosecutors and law enforcement to “advise” and “mentor” Guatemalan prosecutors in specific corruption cases, such as human trafficking or transnational drug deals.

The U.S. would like to do the same in El Salvador and Honduras in hopes that cleaner government will be an incentive for citizens in those countries to stay put. “We will not make significant progress if corruption in the region persists,” says Vice President Kamala Harris, who is in charge of stemming cross-border migration.

The EU is further along. Its first chief prosecutor, Laura Codruța Kövesi from Romania, has launched more than 1,000 cases since June against criminals in member states that cheat the EU of revenue or misuse its funds. The new European Public Prosecutor’s Office, EPPO, is especially needed as the EU plans to spend about €2 trillion to boost its pandemic-hit economy.

EU leaders know that the wealthier states in the union do not want that money stolen, which would add to other tensions within the bloc. A poll in June found a third of people in the EU say corruption has gotten worse over the previous year. EPPO was set up as an independent agency to work within member states – in case those states fail in their anti-corruption efforts.

Ms. Kövesi gained fame in Europe for sending thousands of Romanian officials to prison for corruption. She sees EPPO as “the first really sharp tool” to defend rule of law in the EU and to remind citizens of equality before the law. Such universal precepts make it easier – and necessary – for anti-graft prosecutors to sometimes operate across borders.


A Christian Science Perspective

About this feature

Jesus’ command to love our enemies can seem a tall order. But when we honestly seek God’s help in doing it, anger and frustration give way to solutions and harmony.


A message of love

Valentin Flauraud/Keystone/AP
An aerial view shows a giant land-art fresco by French Swiss artist Saype next to the Moléson summit in Moléson-sur-Gruyères, Switzerland, Aug. 25, 2021. The art piece, entitled “Un nouveau souffle” (a new breath), depicts a child blowing clouds toward the horizon. It covers 1,500 square meters (more than 4,900 square feet) and was created using biodegradable pigments made out of charcoal, chalk, water, and milk proteins.
( The illustrations in today’s Monitor Daily are by Jacob Turcotte. )

A look ahead

Thank you for joining us today. Please come back tomorrow when our Ann Scott Tyson looks at the signs of how the Taliban have – and haven’t – changed.

More issues

2021
August
26
Thursday
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