Analysis by Somar Wijayadasa* NEW YORK | 5 March 2024 (IDN) — Russia’s President Vladimir Putin delivered his 19th State of the Nation address, on February 29, to a large audience including members of both houses of parliament, state officials, military commanders and soldiers. This year’s speech holds special significance as the presidential election is […]
US-Funded Mission of Kenyan Forces Prepares For Battle With Gun-Toting Haitian Gangs
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK | 4 March 2024 (IDN) — Some 1,000 Kenyan police officers are preparing to head out on a controversial mission to end deadly gang violence in Haiti. The last obstacle to the mission was reportedly lifted by a Kenyan court, which had ruled the deployment illegal because […]
Life on an American Campus: From a Hoodlum to a Dean
By Thalif Deen NEW YORK | 29 February 2024 (IDN) — The crisis in Gaza has triggered a negative fallout on some of the prestigious Ivy League universities in the US, including Harvard, Columbia and the University of Pennsylvania, where philanthropists who doled out multi-million-dollar donations are now threatening to reduce or cut off funding […]
Peace Negotiations Alone Can Save Ukraine
By Michael von der Schulenburg* The Ukrainian war must not go into a third year. BERLIN | 28 February 2024 (IDN) — Recently, the majority of members of the German Bundestag (federal parliament) declared their unrestricted support to Ukraine’s war aims: “Regaining full territorial integrity within the borders recognized in 1991“. With it, the Bundestag […]
The US Should Negotiate with China in Better Faith Than in Recent Past
By Jonathan Power LUND, Sweden | 27 February 2024 (IDN) — In Munich, recently, at the important annual Security Conference, we heard yet again that the West must not allow itself to be penetrated by Huawei’s 5G phone technology (which is cheaper than any Western counterpart). But there was no intelligent response to a former […]
Earthquake Recovery in Morocco: All “Phases” at Once
By Yossef Ben-Meir* MARRAKECH, Morocco | 27 February 2024 (IDN) — It has been more than six months since that calamitous night in the High Atlas Mountains in the Kingdom of Morocco. Devastating earthquakes are nightmarish realities, and it is only by waking and doing day after day where we slowly, but surely, hopefully recover. […]
Gaza War: Europe, Israel and the US Form the Triangle of Guilt
By Boaventura de Sousa Santos* ‘Z’ originally published this article under the Creative Commons licence. COIMBRA, Portugal | 26 February 2023 (IDN) — In 1947, Karl Jaspers published a short book entitled The Question of German Guilt (Die Schuldfrage)[1]. It was the time of a Germany devastated in body and soul, a pariah people, disgraced […]
Cautious Hope for African Economies in 2024
By Franck Kuwonu This article appeared in the January 2024 issue of Africa Renewal E-Magazine. NEW YORK | 24 February 2024 (IDN) — As African economies look to the new year, countries are poised to make moderate economic gains but must navigate the maze of domestic and international challenges. According to the UN World Economic […]
The Missing Nexus between Foreign Policy and Domestic Policy: Overseas Sri Lankans
By A.L.A. Azeez* COLOMBO | 21 February 2024 (IDN) — During my recent visit to Australia I took a keen interest in engaging with several young persons of Sri Lankan origin in different cities. They were among the second and third generation youths from Sri Lanka’s migrant communities resident in Down Under. For me, this […]
Middle-Income Countries, Hit by Debt Burdens and Rising Inflation, Fight for Survival
By Thalif Deen UNITED NATIONS | 16 February 2024 (IDN) — The Group of 77 (G77) is the largest single coalition of developing countries comprising over two-thirds of the 193-member United Nations. Besides protecting and promoting the economic interests of 134 nations, the G77 is also home to several sub categories, including the world’s least […]