Viewpoint by Michele Nobile* This is the second of a four-part article looking at the approach to Russia and China in the national security strategy of the United States under the administration of President Donald Trump. The article is a follow-up to the five-part article by the same author on ‘US Foreign Policy and Trump’s […]
Back to the Past with Trump’s National Security Strategy – Part 1
Viewpoint by Michele Nobile* This is the first of a four-part article looking at the approach to Russia and China in the national security strategy of the United States under the administration of President Donald Trump. The article is a follow-up to the five-part article by the same author on ‘US Foreign Policy and Trump’s […]
Pressure Mounts on Japan to Join the Nuclear Ban Treaty
By Katsuhiro Asagiri TOKYO (IDN) – Japan is coming under pressure from within to sign and ratify the UN Nuclear Ban Treaty, which acknowledges the “unacceptable suffering” of the hibakusha – survivors of hitherto the first ever atomic bombings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945. 122 member nations of the United Nations adopted what […]
Air Strikes in Syria Perturb Host of Astana Peace Process
By Santo D. Banerjee NEW YORK (IDN) – Kazakhstan, host to eight rounds of Syria peace talks in its capital city of Astana until December 2017, has warned against further military escalation in the wake of air strikes conducted by the United States, France and UK, adding that “whatever action taken under whatever good pretext […]
Experts Slam Syria, Slate Trump and Favour a UN Mechanism
By J C Suresh WASHINGTON, D.C. (IDN) – The Trump administration’s latest missile strikes in response to Syrian chemical weapons use is not embedded within a broader U.S. strategy to deter further chemical weapons use, protect Syrian civilians caught in the horrible Syrian civil war, and bring a political resolution to the seven-year misery of […]
UN Agency Adopts Climate Change Strategy for Shipping
By J Nastranis NEW YORK (IDN) – More than 100 member states of the United Nations International Maritime Organization (IMO) have adopted an initial strategy to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from international shipping and, as a matter of urgency, phasing them out. The plan adopted by IMO’s Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) during its […]
Campaign For Moving ‘Nuclear Weapons Money’ to Boost Peace
By J Nastranis NEW YORK (IDN) – While governments meet in New York for the first ever United Nations High-Level Conference on Nuclear Disarmament from May 14-16, 2018 campaigners for ‘zero nuclear weapons’ will be busy counting one million specially designed notes each of $1 million value, adding up to $1 trillion. The amount of […]
Donors Spend Less on Refugees, More on Poorest Countries
By Rita Joshi PARIS (IDN) – Foreign aid from 30 opulent nations, designated as “official donors”, totalled USD 146.6 billion in 2017, signifying a small decrease of 0.6% from the previous year in real terms because they spent less money on refugees hosted by them. But countries most in need of aid received more funds. […]
Reflection on Today’s World and Our Era
Viewpoint by Michele Nobile* The author wrote this as a reaction to the article by Roberto Savio entitled ‘Ten Reflections on the Crisis‘ which was published by IDN on 8 April 2018. – The Editor ROME (IDN) – The reflections of Roberto Savio touch problems which have roots that are not recent and have become […]
Lula da Silva – Condemned by the Courts, Absolved by History
Viewpoint by Boaventura de Sousa Santos* COIMBRA, Portugal (IDN) – The Lula da Silva case blatantly shows that something is rotten in the Brazilian judicial system. It brings to the fore procedures and practices that are incompatible with the basic principles and guarantees of democracy and the rule of law, in a way that needs to […]