By Alon Ben-Meir* When a president confuses personal loyalty with public duty and self-glorification with leadership, democracy pays the price. Trump’s conduct reveals a disgusting and disturbing pattern: he put the presidency in service of his ego rather than the nation. NEW YORK | 17 October 2026 (IDN) — The damage Trump has inflicted on this […]
Will a Nobel Solve the World’s Trump Problem? The President Thinks So
By Azu Ishiekwene The writer is the Editor-In-Chief of LEADERSHIP and the author of the new book Writing for Media and Monetising It. ABUJA, Nigeria | 16 October 2026 (IDN) — US President Donald Trump doesn’t just think a Nobel will solve the world’s Trump-inflicted problems. He believes it. He has said, quite clearly, that he […]
30 Months After Uproar Over Jonathan Glazer’s Oscar Speech, What Do His Pro-Israel Denouncers Say Now?
By Norman Solomon* SAN FRANCISCO, 15 October 2026 (IDN) — If you understand that Israel has committed genocide in Gaza, why read an article focusing on the viewpoints of people who vehemently deny it? I wasn’t sure how to explain why, until I remembered something that screenwriter Frédéric Krivine said when I interviewed him in Paris eight […]
A Cultural Turning Point for American Democracy
What artists and religious leaders reveal about the health and future of democracy By Azza Karam NEW YORK, 12 OCTOBER 2026 (IDN) — A concert can tell us more about a country than an election poll can. It can reveal whose suffering people are prepared to acknowledge, what powerful institutions will permit them to say, […]
USA: Is the DNC Giving Kamala Harris a Boost for 2028?
By Norman Solomon* SAN FRANCISCO, USA | 2 May 2026 (IDN) — More than four months after Democratic National Committee (DNC) chair Ken Martin announced that he was breaking his promise to release the autopsy report on the 2024 election, the decision remains highly controversial. Arguments swirl around whether it’s wise to proceed without public […]
IRAN: Sustainable Peace Takes Time
By David L. Phillips* OXFORD, UK | 29 April 2026 (IDN) — I spent hours with Ambassador Javad Zarif, Iran’s Permanent Representative to the UN and Foreign Minister in 2015. Rather convincingly, he maintained that Iran was not seeking a nuclear weapon but merely insisting on its right to enrichment. He called Iran’s nuclear program a […]
USA: The Winner at the DNC’s Latest Meeting? Israel, Ethnic Cleansing and Genocide
By Norman Solomon* SAN FRANCISCO, USA, 17 April 2026 (IDN) —In the aftermath of last week’s major meeting of the Democratic National Committee in New Orleans, supporters of the U.S.-Israel alliance have been quite content. “We’re pleased that the DNC Resolutions Committee rejected a set of divisive, anti-Israel resolutions,” the president of Democratic Majority for […]
Bringing Together China and America
By Jonathan Power LUND, Sweden | 16 April 2026 (IDN) — The widespread perception that China is, or soon will become, an aggressive and expansionist power is simply wrong. It is propaganda rather than fact—a kind of right-wing agitprop. Far from being an aggressive power, China is fundamentally a defensive one, and long has been […]
A Fool Threw a Stone into a Well…
By James E. Jennings* ATLANTA, Georgia, USA | 15 April 2026 (IDN) — An Arab proverb says, “A fool threw a stone into a well—a hundred wise men could not get it out.” By thumbing his nose at the Constitution, bypassing Congress, and zeroing out 349 million US citizens kept in the dark about launching […]
Trump and Netanyahu: Twin Autocrats Leading the War on Iran
By Alon Ben-Meir* Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu—mirror images of arrogance and deceit—have subverted democratic norms in pursuit of personal power. Their malignant narcissism, contempt for law, and appetite for conflict led to the horrific war with Iran NEW YORK | 14 April 2026 (IDN) — Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu are criminal leaders whose […]