By Kester Kenn Klomegah* MOSCOW | HELSINKI (IDN) — Further expansion of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) toward Russia’s territorial backyard is nothing new. As a prestigious security alliance, it consistently seeks consolidated development in terms of tasks and membership strength. The collapse of the Soviet Union marked the end of Mikhail Gorbachev and […]
A Staggering Array of US Arms to Ukraine Pales in Comparison with Russia’s Nuclear Weapons
By Thalif Deen NEW YORK (IDN) — As the devastating war in Ukraine continues—with thousands of civilian killings and entire cities reduced to rubble—the United States has accelerated an unprecedented flow of weapons to the besieged nation. If Ukraine loses the ongoing war, battling one of the world’s major military and nuclear powers, it is […]
Ukraine War Hits Russia’s Tourism Industry
By Kester Kenn Klomegah MOSCOW (IDN) — Russia’s tourism, both in-bound and out-bound, is severely hit by the war-ravaged crisis that unfolded in the former Soviet republic of Ukraine late February. For more than two years, the tourism industry was affected due to the widespread Covid-19 that shattered the world. Industry operators say that the […]
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 […]
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 […]
African Students in The Ukraine Plead for Help as Poland Says ‘Ukrainians First’
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK (IDN) — Thousands of African students are among the tens of thousands of Ukrainians seeking shelter from a barrage of Russian airstrikes against its southern neighbour in what has been called an unprovoked and unjustified effort to remove and replace the Ukrainian government by the President of […]