USA and Canada Archives - Page 19 of 22

USA and Canada2016-08-092023-07-10

Strategic Dialogue Needed to Avert New Cold War

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power

LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) – Nearly everyone I talk politics to says the world is in a mess. But I live in a student town and most of them have nothing to measure their opinions against. They know not much about the Cold War, the Cuban missile crisis, Watergate or the great famines in Africa and India.

In many ways most of us live in the best of times, on better incomes than our parents, with longevity increasing all over the world, not least in the poorer countries and helped by inventions that our parents never dreamt were possible.

USA and Canada2016-08-022023-07-10

Young African Leaders Trained at State Department Programme

WASHINGTON (IDN | GIN) – With media attention glued to the salacious details of the U.S. election, a signature program of President Obama is flying under the radar, preparing young African leaders with advanced leadership skills to bring home to their countries.

Participants in the Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders are enrolled in an intensive, six-week program on academic excellence and leadership focused on business and entrepreneurship, civic leadership, public management, and renewable energy at U.S. colleges and universities.

USA and Canada2016-07-282023-07-10

Montreal World Social Forum to Focus on Nuclear Disarmament

By J C Suresh

TORONO (IDN) – The World Social Forum (WSF), the largest civil society gathering to find solutions to the problems of our time, will convene for the first time in a northern country – in Canada – from August 9 to 14.

Montreal will host the 12th World Social Forum that was launched in 2001 in Porto Alegre, the capital and largest city of the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. One of the key issues in focus will be: “Once a nuclear war starts, there’s no way to limit it.”

Radio Canada International (RCI) quoted Gordon Edwards, president of the Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility (CCNR) saying, the “world is teetering back towards the cold war syndrome and towards an escalation of the nuclear threat”.

USA and Canada2016-03-282023-07-10

A Belated Rapprochement with Cuba

Viewpoint by Somar Wijayadasa*

NEW YORK (IDN) – On March 20, 2016, President Barack Obama became the first sitting United States President to visit Cuba since Calvin Coolidge visited the island in 1928, marking a historic moment in the diplomatic relations between the two countries.

Referring to a fragment of one of the best known “Simple Verses” of Cuba’s national hero José Martí, “I Have A White Rose To Tend”, Obama said: “I’ve come to Havana to extend the hand of friendship to the Cuban people. I’m here to bury the last vestige of the Cold War in the Americas and to forge a new era of understanding to help improve the daily lives of the Cuban people.”

Obama came to office in 2009 promising to review the U.S. policy on Cuba but made only a few modest changes on travel restrictions and allow remittances under certain conditions – because the U.S- Congress refuses to rescind the trade embargo on Cuba.

USA and Canada2016-03-172023-07-10

18 Elephants Jetted Out of Swaziland to U.S. Zoos Despite Protest

NEW YORK (INPS | GIN) – If moving one elephant and escaping notice sounds like a challenge, imagine moving 18. Yet three American zoos quietly moved 18 elephants out of Swaziland and into U.S. zoos.

Animal rights activists, who had a court date to block the action, condemned the transfer. Removing elephants from the wild for display in zoos is cruel and outdated, they said.

The operation involved sedating three males and 15 females, crating and hoisting them aboard a cargo plane in Swaziland. They range in age from 6 to 25 years.

USA and Canada2016-02-292023-07-10

Police Shooting of Kenyan Teen in Salt Lake City Triggers Protests

SALT LAKE CITY (INPS | GIN) – A near-fatal encounter between a Kenyan-born youth and police in Salt Lake City, Utah, prompted an angry reaction from bystanders who challenged the official version of the incident given by police.

Seventeen-year-old Abdi Mohammed reportedly was in an altercation with other youths on Saturday night, February 27, and had picked up a broomstick as police arrived. In seconds, according to witnesses, police started firing shots at the teen without giving him a chance to surrender.

USA and Canada2016-02-102023-07-10

Remaking the Future of America

NEW YORK (IDN) – In the richest and strongest country on earth – the Land of Opportunity – only a few wealthy persons can aspire to be the President of the United States of America, the most powerful and envious job in today’s menacing world.

The Presidential candidates – with lofty words and unrealistic promises – are clamouring to get into the White House. Among the catchy slogans are: “Repeal Obamacare”, “Tear up the Iranian Nuclear Deal”, “Carpet bomb ISIS” and “Punch the Russians in the nose”. Americans love this brash talk but ignore reality.

USA and Canada2014-09-222023-07-12

U. S. Military Three Years After ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’

By Chas Henry* | IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis

WASHINGTON DC (IDN) – On a recent summer morning in Northern Virginia, about 100 very fit 20-somethings in camouflaged uniforms marched onto a large asphalt parade field in Quantico, Virginia – elated after ten weeks of tough physical and mental screening to have been selected as officers in the U. S. Marine Corps.

Among their ranks: Joseph Rocha, who many would have imagined the last person who would want to be part of that formation.

USA and Canada2014-04-042023-07-12

Shale Oil Gas Pitches US Against Saudi Arabia

By Joergen Oerstroem Moeller*

SINGAPORE (IDN | YaleGlobal) – Shale oil and gas has been labeled a game changer. Statistics would suggest that, yes, the new technologies and discoveries associated with hydraulic fracking change the energy picture and economic outlook, in particular for the United States, but less so than predictions would have it a year or two go.

The greater impact won’t be on the US economy, but rather US-Saudi relations and stability for the Middle East. President Barack Obama met King Abdullah March 28, and both leaders recognize that the geopolitical ground shaped by their common interest in stable oil prices has shifted, creating a new imbalance that could spill over into Mideast security policy.

USA and Canada2014-04-022023-07-12

And Now The Obama Doctrine

An Analysis by Gary Sick*

WASHINGTON D.C. (IDN | POMEPS) – Over the past quarter century, the most accurate single factor to explain security developments in the Gulf, as well as the best predictor of the future, has been and is U.S. policy in the region. Since it began to be a significant force, U.S. policy has undergone at least five major shifts. The current policy, which I will call the Obama Doctrine, represents the latest, and possibly one of the most important, iterations.

The United States has become the dominant military, diplomatic, and economic presence in the Gulf. It is, in effect, a leading Gulf power. This has become such an accepted condition that it is easy to forget just how recent and exceptional it is.