By Jamshed Baruah GENEVA (IDN) – A diverse network of national and international peace and nuclear disarmament non-governmental organisations has in a joint statement urged government leaders, particularly from the nuclear-armed states and their allies, to act with greater urgency and cooperation to meet unfulfilled promises to reduce nuclear risks and advance progress on disarmament, […]
Russia’s Victory in WWII Changed the World but War Drums Continue
Viewpoint by Somar Wijayadasa* NEW YORK (IDN) – On May 9, 1945, after four years of violent battles inside Russia, recorded as the bloodiest and most destructive military conflict in the whole history of humanity, the Russians defeated Nazi Germany in World War II. It is the single most important day in Russian history that […]
Remembering Ludwig van Beethoven – A Genius with a Disability
By Heike Kuhn The writer, Dr Heike Kuhn, is Head of the “Human Rights Gender Equality, Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities” of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) in Bonn, the capital of divided Germany. The other part of the BMZ is in Berlin, the capital city of unified Germany since 3 […]
Why Russia Is Slow to Unlock Media Potential with Africa
Viewpoint by Kester Kenn Klomegah MOSCOW (IDN) – Researchers and experts have identified a lack of interest and a well-coordinated mechanism as being behind the absence of effective Russian media cooperation with Africa. European and Western media brands, such as British Broadcasting Corporation, Cable News Network, Associated Press, Reuters, Agence France Press, Quartz and Bloomberg, […]
World Conference Calls for Abolition of Nuclear Weapons and Reversing Climate Change
By Santo D. Banerjee NEW YORK (IDN) -– In a dramatic warning from 13 Nobel Prize winners about the existential dangers of nuclear weapons and climate crisis, the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists on January 23 set the hands of its iconic ‘Doomsday Clock’ to 100 seconds to midnight, On April 25, during the Covid-19 crisis, […]
America Should Not Be Number One Because It’s A Spent Star
Viewpoint by Jonathan Power The US needs first and foremost to look after itself-– its often counterproductive foreign policy, its poverty, its third rate health services, its misdistribution of income, to save the economy and to save those most hurt by the Coronavirus crisis. LUND, Sweden (IDN) – It might seem that the world is […]
CENTRAL ASIA: Turning COVID-19 Calamity into an Opportunity
By Hamid Ali Khan Eusafzai BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan (IDN) – The University of Central Asia (UCA), along with many other universities across the globe, suffered the effects of COVID-19. Being forced to close the campus and send students back home, for the health and safety of both students and staff, it also opened a new opportunity […]
The Pandemic of Fear Haunts Moscow
Viewpoint by Lyubov Sharkova* MOSCOW (IDN) – In just a short period of time, the world in Russia has changed for everyone. I’ve started to notice how people around me are going mad. They’ve started blaming and avoiding other people, making social distance the priority of their lives. These people are well-educated, well-off, with flexible […]
Behind North Korea’s New Missile Launches in the Midst of Coronavirus Pandemic
By Santo D. Banerjee NEW YORK (IDN) – While the international community has been engrossed in combating the global COVID-19 pandemic, it has been constrained to respond to North Korea’s first missile launches this year. The United Nations Security Council convened behind closed doors on March 5 but failed to agree on a resolution. However, […]
Iran Should Demonstrate That Its Nuclear Program Is Peaceful
By Kelsey Davenport and Julia Masterson This article first appeared on Arms Control Association Website. Kelsey Davenport is director for nonproliferation policy, and Julia Masterson research assistant WASHINGTON, DC (IDN) – International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director-General Rafael Grossi raised concerns earlier in March about Tehran’s failure to cooperate with an agency investigation into possible […]