Analysis by Kalinga Seneviratne SINGAPORE | 9 December 2023 (IDN) — After the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to power in 2014, India has accelerated its ‘Act East Policy’ (AEP) to link more closely with its Southeast Asian neighbours to consolidate its geo-political power through trade and infrastructure development that reflects China’s Belt and Road […]
Nigeria: Tudun Biri A Dark Spot in The Military’s Campaign Against Terror
By Kola King* LAGOS, Nigeria | 9 December 2023 (IDN) — Outrage, anger and shock have greeted the killing of 85 persons including women and children in Tudun Biri, Igabi Local Government Area of Kaduna State by Army drone strikes targeting suspected terrorists, but which accidentally hit innocent persons celebrating Maulud, the birth of Prophet […]
US Stands Alone—and Isolated—in its Support for Israel at the UN
By Thalif Deen UNITED NATIONS | 9 December 2023 (IDN) — The US veto against a Security Council resolution for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza was highly predictable. Like the longstanding pro-Israeli foreign policy of successive US administrations, President Joe Biden said last week that he “stands with Israel—right or wrong—prompting one Middle Eastern diplomat […]
US Vetoes UN Resolution as Gaza Faces a Catastrophic Situation
By J Nastranis NEW YORK | 8 December 2023 (IDN) — As intense Israeli bombardment of Gaza and fighting with Palestinian armed groups continued to impede humanitarian aid operations, reports on the ground of children begging for water and people cutting down telephone poles for firewood indicated that “society is about to break down”, the […]
What Kind of World Do We Want to Live In?
By Michael von der Schulenburg* This article is based on a speech at the “Never Again War — lay down your arms” rally in front of Berlin’s historic Brandenburg Gate on 25 November 2023. BERLIN | 8 December 2023 (IDN) — Today, we live in a world that is increasingly caught in the stranglehold of […]
Political Upheaval Haunts Bangladesh Ahead of January Polls
By M. A. Hossain* DHAKA, Bangladesh | 7 December 2023 (IDN) — The political milieu in Bangladesh has been fraught with tension, climaxing in weeks of protests and violent clashes, casting a shadow of apprehension as the scheduled general election on 7 January 2024 approaches. The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), reinvigorated as the main opposition […]
COP28’s Delinquent Emitter: The US Military-Industrial Complex
By Mirabai Venkatesh* OAKLAND, California | 7 December 2023 (IDN) — As the world watches COP28 in Dubai amidst an accelerating climate crisis, a critical blind spot in global climate agreements remains. Despite being the world’s largest institutional emitter of greenhouse gases, the US military is completely exempt from international reporting obligations, significantly undermining global […]
Israel-Hamas War: A Two-State Solution Is Indispensable
By Alon Ben-Meir* NEW YORK | 7 December 2023 (IDN) — Unless Israel establishes an endgame strategy that will lead to a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the war against Hamas will only be another brutal violent episode that will prepare the ground for the next conflagration engulfing the West Bank and potentially set […]
The End of An Era?
The Case for a New UN General Assembly Special Session on Disarmament By Sergio Duarte The writer is an Ambassador, a former High Representative of the United Nations Office of Disarmament Affairs., and President of Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs. BELO HORIZONTE, Brazil | 7 December 2023 (IDN) — Seventy-eight years ago, when […]
Does It Make Sense to Invest Efforts in Reviving OSCE?
By Somar Wijayadasa* NEW YORK | 6 December 2023 (IDN) — With 57 participating States from North America, Europe and Asia (from Vancouver to Vladivostok), the OSCE—the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Euro-Atlantic and Eurasian—is the world’s largest regional security organization. Soon, it will be the fiftieth anniversary of the Helsinki Final Act of […]