The Race to Keep War Under Human Control By Ramesh Jaura This article was first published on https://rjaura.substack.com/ BERLIN | 18 August 2026 (IDN) — As artificial intelligence moves from supporting military operations to becoming a weapon that can choose and launch attacks, governments must now decide, without further delay, whether machines should ever be […]
The Impossible Homecoming: Christopher Nolan’s Odyssey and the Trauma of War
By Sam Ben-Meir* NEW YORK | 17 August 2026 (IDN) — Emily Wilson begins her celebrated translation of Homer’s Odyssey with an imperative that has become almost as famous as the poem itself: “Tell me about a complicated man.” Christopher Nolan has acknowledged the importance of that formulation to his own adaptation of Homer. Yet in […]
EEPA reports on AU delegation visits Khartoum
BRUSSELS | 17 August (IDN | EEPA) — The following are the situation reports on Sudan, Ethiopia, Forced recruitment in Oromia, AU delegation visits Khartoum and Heavy fighting erupts in Baidoa, Somalia. Situation in Sudan (per 17 August) Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, chief of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and Sovereignty Council Chair, called for a […]
The Digital Quarantine: Youth Social Media Bans Undermine Fundamental Rights
By Gina Romero The writer is a UN Special Rapporteur for the rights to freedom of assembly and of association. BOGOTA, Colombia | 17 August 2026 (IDN) — The global trend of imposing blanket social media bans on youth under 16 creates a civic-political vacuum where they can neither assemble nor digitally associate, effectively stripping […]
Are Western Hopes Diving Ukraine Towards Collapse?
The Limits of Drone Warfare and the Growing Urgency of Diplomacy By Michael von der Schulenburg* BRUSSELS | 15 August 2026 (IDN) — As recently as 26 July this year, Ursula von der Leyen appeared full of confidence in victory during her visit to Kyiv: she claimed the tide of the war had turned, that […]
Wars, Inequality, And Poverty No Longer Confined To Faraway Places
By Alon Ben-Meir* NEW YORK | 16 August 2026 (IDN) — Fragmented power, deepening inequality, climate stress, dying democracies, and weaponized information have fused into one global crisis; we can break the cycle if we only summon the will We are living through a moment in time of cascading disorder. Wars, inequality, and poverty are […]
EEPA reports on Severe drought in Central Tigray
BRUSSELS | 13 August (IDN | EEPA) — The following are the situation reports on Ethiopia, Sudan, Rwanda and EU countries discuss “return hubs”, RSF-aligned coalition captures Sudan’s Geisan, Severe drought in Central Tigray. Migration and refugee situation (per 13 August) Preliminary discussions took place between Rwanda and EU countries on the establishing of possible […]
Paper Tiger: The Failure of America’s Trillion Dollar War Machine
By Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J. S. Davies* NEW YORK | 13 August 2026 (IDN) — According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), the United States spent $21 trillion on its military between 2001 and 2024 (in constant 2024 dollars), equal to the combined military spending of the next eighteen countries. Iran barely […]
Thailand and Myanmar Sign Agreement To Tackle Transboundary River Pollution, But Can They Do It Alone?
By Kalinga Seneviratne* BANGKOK, Thailand | 12 August 2026 (IDN) — Witnessed by the visiting Myanmar President Min Aung Hlaing and Thailand’s Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, the two ASEAN members signed a Terms of Reference (TOR) on 7th August for the establishment of a joint working group on water quality management for transboundary rivers, such […]
The Battle for Believability
Why Trust Has Become the World’s Most Valuable Strategic Resource By Ramesh Jaura This article was first published on https://rjaura.substack.com/ BERLIN | 10 August 2026 (IDN) — The most serious problem of the AI age might not lie in the ease with which lies can be produced, but in the increasing difficulty of believing in […]