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So, here’s a question.

Which member of the OECD “rich countries club” allowed slavery until 1969?

Here’ s another. In which genocide in the last 200 years was an entire ethnicity wiped out?

Here’s one you might just know. In which country did it used to be common to go hunting for people – and there’s evidence that this carried on until these people were finally given the legal status “human” in 1967?

OK, here’s an easier one – this country had a “whites only” policy until 1973…

Got it?

The answer to these harrowing questions is, of course, Australia. When white Europeans landed on it’s shores, the continent had hundreds of thousands of inhabitants, yet was declared “terra nullius ” – land without people. The arriving Europeans spend the next couple of centuries persecuting and killing these Aborigines  – and succeeded in wiping out all of the population of Tasmania by 1879. The ensuing “lost generation”,  and “White Australia” policy saw continued systematic oppression until the late 1960s and early 1970s, and the marginalization of the community continues to this day.

While no one has ever gone to court for these crimes in Australia – that doesn’t happen to Anglophones – and while there is still much segregation and oppression of Aborigonal communities, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has at least apologized for their treatment. This does seem to have begun to open up some national discussion of the history.

In Serbia, Australia’s opponents today, the use of the International Criminal Court after is now famed, with more than 1000 staff employed by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. And while Europeans seem strangely unaware of much of what happened to Aborigonies in Australia, Serbia is known for it’s ethnic cleansing more than for anything else. What is perhaps remarkable is the speed with which Serbia has, with the help of a legal process, transformed from a state suffering brutal civil war, to one which is likely to join the EU within 5 years – having formally applied for membership in late 2009.

The history of the Balkans is, though, famously, a bloody one, and peace can’t be taken for granted. The most recent war in Serbia is a part of a long string of violence. And while it’s causes are complex, it is hard not to point some of the blame at the Ottoman empire – who ruled the region for centuries – for, as both stories tell us, death and imperialism march side by side – and death often carries on long after it’s comrade has retired.

So what we see on the pitch are two countries struggling to come to terms with the bloody consequences of our species’ colonial history – with what happens when one group of people tries to impose it’s will on another. And while the ethnic violence has played out differently in each of these examples, both countries may, just, be beginning to come to terms with their histories.

Posted in: Australia, Australia-Serbia, Serbia

Views expressed here are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect those of the World Development Movement.

In one of his rare articulate moments, Gary Lineker once declared that “Football is a simple game – you play for 120 minutes and then the Germans win on penalties”. Ethical comparison may also well be a simple game – you line up the statistics and then the Germans win on low levels of income inequality, progressive attitudes to gender and forward thinking on the environment.

Sunday’s evening game sees perennial World Cup overachievers Germany take on the great sporting nation of Australia. They may not have the Ballacks this time around, and they were comprehensively outclassed by Spain in the final of their last major tournament, but few would bet against Deutschland progressing once again to the latter stages in South Africa. Australia have had their own injury problems in the run up to the tournament, with Brett Emerton, Tim Cahill and, in surprise news, Harry Kewell, all struggling with various ailments.

As the science wars rumble on in Britain between proponents of alternative medicine and the cause of rational scientific enquiry, Australia appear to be taking a punt on quackery after Harry Kewell’s recent visit to a South African ‘witch doctor’. Despite 15 years of doctors telling him that his body is made of chocolate, it apparently turns out that he has been infected by malign spirits, and is only a message of well wishes from the Australian PM away from full health. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t incredibly excited about this development. If it works out, the NHS could be in line to save a hell of a lot of money. Though Kevin Rudd’s workload may suffer.

Germany sit in 10th place in the Who Should I Cheer For? rankings, behind only the Netherlands and (surprisingly) Spain in the developed world. Australia, mirroring their position in the football world, lie comprehensively towards the bottom in 25th. I was surprised to note Australia’s national income is actually higher than Germany’s, though it’s not exactly a battle of rags versus riches in that regard. However, despite their higher income, Australia has twice the level of inequality as Germany, with the richest 10% earning over 12 times as much as the poorest 10%. Given their somewhat macho national culture, Australia also lag behind Germany in the gender stakes, with less than half the number of sheilas in government. The Germans even showboat to victory in that category with a sheila for a prime minister.

The most significant disparity between the two countries is probably in carbon emissions, with Australia posting the highest emissions of any competing nation apart from perennial front-runner in that category, the United States. While Germany’s is not particularly low for a European country, the strength of the Green movement there means there was only ever going to be one winner. While the extent of Australia’s emissions (16.2 tons per person) is disturbing, it is at least partly explicable by the geography of the country, and it is not without its own progressive policies in that area. Kevin Rudd has applied himself to fixing their environmental policy as much as Harry Kewell’s dodgy groin. He belatedly signed the Kyoto Protocol immediately after entering office in 2007 and Australia were the first country in the world to impose an outright ban on traditional lightbulbs later that year. While they are on track to fulfil their Kyoto obligations, despite being such a late signatory, it is clear they still have much work to do to escape their position as one of the world’s climate villains. In the meantime though, Deutschland über Aussies…

Posted in: Australia, Germany, Germany-Australia

Views expressed here are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect those of the World Development Movement.

Group C

Algeria

An overdue return for the Desert Foxes, whose best-known World Cup moment was as victims of the notorious Austro-West German stitch-up in 1982. Armchair psychologists looking for wider significance in this campaign see them as the Arab world’s only representatives – and drawn against the USA. But Algerians consider their greatest rivalries with neighbours Egypt (whom they defeated in a spectacularly ill-tempered qualifying showdown) and former colonial masters France (who are potential quarter-final opponents). We rank Algeria 22nd, a distant fifth of six African countries, not least due to high military spending.

England

The Three Lions have perhaps their weakest squad since failing to qualify in 1994. But in that time they have had nine managers and Fabio Capello has won more honours than the rest put together. Much depends on the pragmatic Italian, who is on record as an admirer of Francisco Franco and Silvio Berlusconi. Certainly he will envy their media control if his men bow out early and the tabloids go rabid. England is as low as 27th in our rankings thanks to high carbon emissions, military spending and inequality.

Slovenia

Slovenia are at their third major tournament in eight years, a remarkable achievement for a nation of just two million, after defeating Russia in a David-and-Goliath play-off. Among the most prosperous and stable of all post-Soviet states, there is marked inequality across such a small country from the wealthy north west, which borders Austria and Italy, to the poor south east, next to Croatia and Hungary.

USA

One of only seven teams at their sixth successive World Cup, the US are overdue to make serious progress. To this end they may benefit from familiarity with altitude after regular trips to Mexico and last year’s Confederations Cup. The Obama effect may be enough for the Nobel committee but it has no effect on the Who Should I Cheer For? rankings, which rates the US as the least supportable of all 32 nations due to their combination of wealth, high military spending and rampant inequality.

Group D

Australia

A second successive World Cup appearance for the Socceroos but without the guidance of former coach Guus Hiddink they are expected to struggle. Australia’s famously sport-centric culture extends to immigration policy, where the citizenship test asks ‘Who was the greatest cricketer of the 1930s?’. In 2008 the new left-centre government reasoned that the question was biased against many new immigrants and moved to scratch it – only for a populist outcry to force a climb-down. (It’s Donald Bradman, FYI)

Ghana

‘They are good, these Africans!’ hollered a startled John Motson in 2006 as the Black Stars progressed at the expense of more fancied Czech Republic and USA. Runners-up in January’s Africa Cup of Nations, they look likely to invite more European condescension although the magnificent Michael Essien has withdrawn injured. Ghana tops our rankings as the most supportable team. It’s a poor country with a lot of hunger, and across all factors only scores badly on maternal mortality.

Germany

‘This is not a great German team’ is the pundit’s biennial refrain and that has probably been true back to their last World Cup win at Italia ’90 (or, to a certain anti-German mindset, their first in 1954). But in the noughties ungreat German teams have managed two major finals and a further semi-. That other ubiquitous cliché – ‘Never write off the Germans’ – is probably more apt even without their captain Michael Ballack. Our rankings place them 9th overall, reflecting their commitment to equality both in income distribution and opportunities for women.

Serbia

Serbia qualified comfortably ahead of France under veteran coach Raddy Antic, formerly of Barcelona, Real Madrid and Luton Town. This is their first World Cup as an independent nation after regular appearances within Yugoslavia before 2002 and as Serbia & Montenegro in 2006. Battling high unemployment in the wake of the global recession and overcoming turbulent internal politics, 6% of the Serbian population is chronically hungry despite its upper-middle global income and advantageous trading position between Europe and Russia.

Posted in: Algeria, Australia, England, Germany, Ghana, Group previews, Serbia, Slovenia, USA

Views expressed here are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect those of the World Development Movement.