By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK (IDN) — As the US prepares to welcome tens of thousands of Ukrainians fleeing war, scores of African and Caribbean refugees are being sent back to unstable and violent homelands where they face rape, torture, arbitrary arrest and other abuses. Racial bias? An African refugee thinks so.
EU and US Allocate Funds to Assist Refugees in Moldova
By Kester Kenn Klomegah* MOSCOW | CHISINAU (IDN) — The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Geneva, Switzerland, has documented almost five million refugees streamlining from the war-ravaged Ukraine crossing borders, most often with difficulties, especially into neighbouring Poland, Baltic republics, Moldova, Romania, and Hungary.
The MADness of the Resurgent U.S. Cold War With Russia
Viewpoint by Nicolas J.S. Davies* NEW YORK (IDN) — The war in Ukraine has placed U.S. and NATO policy toward Russia under a spotlight, highlighting how the United States and its allies have expanded NATO right up to Russia’s borders, backed a coup and now a proxy war in Ukraine, imposed waves of economic sanctions, […]
Does Russia No Longer Qualify as a Member of the Global Trade Group WTO?
By Kester Kenn Klomegah* MOSCOW | PARIS (IDN) — Russia joined the World Trade Organization (WTO) in April 2011 after almost 18 years of persistent efforts and multiple negotiations, to fulfil stringent membership requirements, apparently because the Soviet Union had ceased to exist and replaced by the Russian Federation. Average accession period is five to […]
Putin’s War of Aggression: A Post-Soviet ‘Irredentist’ Pipedream in Ukraine
Viewpoint by Purnaka L. de Silva* “Anyone who falls into the habit of thinking and expecting the best of his subordinates at all times is, for that reason alone, unsuited to command an army”—Carl von Clausewitz (1780-1831) in Vom Kriege (1832) NEW YORK (IDN) — The Kremlin confirmed in September 2014 that Russia’s current President […]
Russia’s Exit from Western Dominated Organizations—Consequences Far from Certain
By Kester Kenn Klomegah* MOSCOW (IDN) — After the historic fall of the Soviet era, all the 16 former Soviet republics including Russia and Ukraine dreamed of raising their status by joining international organizations. Over the past three decades, Russia became a member of many global bodies, participating actively at the United Nations. It joined […]
Ukraine-Russia Conflict: India Re-Asserts Strategic Autonomy
Viewpoint by Shastri Ramachandaran * NEW DELHI (IDN) — Washington has failed to push India into taking a stand against Moscow in the ongoing US-Russia confrontation, where Ukraine is a victim of both the superpowers. The Russian invasion of Ukraine is indefensible, as war or the use of military force is unacceptable as a means […]
How the U.S. Has Empowered and Armed ‘Neo-Nazis’ in Ukraine
Viewpoint by Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J.S. Davies* NEW YORK (IDN) — Russian President Putin has claimed that he ordered the invasion of Ukraine to “denazify” its government, while Western officials, such as former U.S. Ambassador to Moscow Michael McFaul, have called this pure propaganda, insisting, “There are no Nazis in Ukraine.”
Traditional Ties Earn Russia African Countries’ Silence in Critical UN Vote
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK (IDN) — “If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor.” Those were the prophetic words of the late Archbishop Desmond Tutu, recalled now by influencers on social media pressing South Africa to cut or reduce old “friendly ties” with […]
University of Central Asia: Going Online and Quarantine Upsets Students
By Sharofat Shafieva* NARYN, Kyrgyzstan (IDN) — The University of Central Asia (UCA) is a unique institution that brings together students from across Central Asia and Afghanistan building bonds between young people in the region. But, the pandemic has disturbed this process and disappointed many new students who were looking forward to this unique experience.