‘Coercive Diplomacy’ With Iran is Questionable

By Jeremy R. Hammond* | IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis

TAIPEI (IDN | Foreign Policy Journal) – The January/February issue of Foreign Affairs features an article titled ‘Getting to Yes With Iran: The Challenges of Coercive Diplomacy‘ by Robert Jervis. By ‘Getting to Yes’, of course, Jervis means compelling Iran to obey Washington, and by the Orwellian phrase “Coercive Diplomacy”, of course, means issuing ultimatums and threats of criminal violence.

US-Israel: Peace Needs More Than Handshakes and Photo-Ops

By Ernest Corea* | IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis

WASHINGTON DC (IDN) – Hear those sounds? They are probably the echoes of Israel’s fervent supporters in the US erupting in hosannas when the White House recently confirmed that President Barack Obama is due to visit Israel in March 2013. On the same safari, he will stop over in Jordan and in the Palestinian territory universally known as the West Bank.

The visits are of regional and international significance because they raise the possibility that Obama intends to be directly engaged in the Middle East peace process and that this time around he will be more focused, and supported by more decisive aides, than he was during his administration’s previous attempt to support effective peace negotiations. That effort now lies as inert as road-kill on a highway.

Obama Urges Middle Class-Based Prosperity

By Ernest Corea* | IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis

WASHINGTON DC (IDN) – A 19-year-old single mother captured the spirit of hope and change that animated candidate Barack Hussein Obama’s first presidential election campaign with this text message: “Rosa sat, so Martin could walk; Martin walked so Obama could run; Obama is running so our children can fly.” Khari Mosley, a leader of the Democratic Party in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania cited the comment in a newspaper article and it re-surfaced in 2013, reaffirming the sentiments of “hope and change” that helped to propel Obama to the pinnacle of political power in the US.

‘Drone War Will Trigger New Arms Race’

By Jaya Ramachandran | IDN-InDepth NewsReport

LONDON (IDN) – The increasing resort to drones by President Barack Obama will over the long term usher in “a new arms race and lay the foundations for an international system that is increasingly violent, destabilized and polarized between those who have drones and those who are victims of them”, a leading terrorism expert has warned.

One of the distinctive elements of President Obama’s approach to counterterrorism has been his embrace of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), or drones, to target terrorist operatives abroad, says Michael J Boyle in an article for International Affairs, a British journal published every two months.

Daunting Development Challenges Ahead

By Richard Johnson | IDN-InDepth NewsReport

PARIS (IDN) – Despite development successes over the past 20 years and the progress of many emerging economies, inequality is increasing in all countries and 1.4 billion people still live in absolute poverty. This gloomy situation was acknowledged by development ministers from industrial and emerging economies, who met in London on December 4 and 5 for the High Level Meeting (HLM) of the Development Assistance Committee (DAC), which comprises 24 of the 34-nation Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

The Tragic Paradox of the Doha Conference

By Martin Khor* | IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis

GENEVA (IDN) – The annual UN climate conference concluded in Doha on December 8 with “low ambition” both in emission cuts by developed countries and funding for developing countries. Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) adopted many decisions, including on the Kyoto Protocol’s second commitment period in which developed countries committed to cut their emissions of greenhouse gases.

The Obama Second Term: Business as Usual or a 21ST Century Lincoln?

By Jayantha Dhanapala*
IDN-InDepth NewsViewpoint

WASHINGTON DC (IDN) – The US Presidential Inauguration ceremony will be held in Washington DC on Monday, January 21, 2013.The official theme for the 2013 inauguration is “Faith in America’s Future”. For many Americans, and indeed for many international observers, that faith is in desperate need of reaffirmation not only because of the domestic economic crisis, and the political paralysis in the US Congress over its solution, but also because of the decline of the US’s political power and influence internationally.

At the Crossroads for Climate Change Regime

By Vicente Paolo Yu III*
IDN-InDepth NewsViewpoint

BRUSELS (IDN) – Developing countries have long been at the frontlines of climate change and bearing the brunt of its impacts on sustainable development prospects and even, in many cases, physical survival and territorial integrity. The impacts of Hurricane Sandy in the Caribbean, the droughts that are afflicting Africa, the cyclones and typhoons that lash South and South East Asia and the Pacific islands, are all harbingers of what could become worse if no action is taken quickly and effectively by the global community with respect to climate change.

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