Zack, Jenn, and Alex talk about two huge ongoing protest movements: demonstrations against police violence in Nigeria and against monarchical privilege in Thailand. The team breaks down the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), the violent police unit at the heart of the Nigerian protests, and talk about the problems with policing in that country in general and in international context. Then they discuss the student-led protests in Thailand — kicked off by authoritarian repression in the name of Thailand’s very strange king — and put it context of the general struggle for democracy in the Southeast Asian country.

References:

Deutsche Welle has a great video on Nigeria’s protests.

One of the big problems with SARS is that its officers don’t get paid much.

Multiple academic studies point to the lack of community policing as a major problem in Nigeria.

The Conversation has a smart piece on why ending SARS won’t lead to much better policing in Nigeria.

Here’s that Charles Tilley study Zack mentioned.

Amnesty International has a report detailing alleged human rights abuses by SARS.

New Mandala explains the 10 demands Thai protesters have of their government.

Vox profiles Thailand’s playboy king.

The BBC has helpful information on how the protests got started.

A Thai professor explains to Bloomberg what makes these Thai protests so different.

Hosts:

Zack Beauchamp (@zackbeauchamp), senior correspondent, Vox

Jennifer Williams (@jenn_ruth), senior foreign editor, Vox

Alex Ward (@AlexWardVox), national security reporter, Vox

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