By Lawrence Wittner*
IDN-InDepth NewsViewpoint
BASEL (IDN) – In the midst of the current stampede to slash federal spending, Congress might want to take a look at two unnecessary (and dangerous) “national security” programs that, if cut, would save the United States over a quarter of a trillion dollars over the next decade.
The first of these is the Obama administration’s plan to spend at least $185 billion in the next ten years to “modernize” the U.S. government’s nuclear weapons arsenal. At present, the U.S. government possesses approximately 8,500 nuclear warheads, and it is hard to imagine that this country would be safer from attack if it built more nuclear weapons or “improved” those it already possesses.
India’s New Top Diplomat Has Promises to Keep
By Shastri Ramachandaran*
IDN-InDepth NewsPortrait
NEW DELHI (IDN) – Ranjan Mathai has got off to a good start as Foreign Secretary (the top diplomat for the country’s external relations) and enjoys a lot of goodwill. His seniority being generallyaccepted, his ascent to the top diplomatic post washardly contentious. He is well regardedby seniors, respectedby his peers and admired by more than a few in the service for his leadershipand people skills. “He is a team player, not egocentric,” commented a seasoned diplomat.
According to former Foreign SecretaryLalit Mansingh, he has therequisite professional experience as he has servedin the neighbourhood and incapitals such as Tehran,Tel Aviv, Vienna, Brussels, London and Washington. In his very first statement, Mansinghpointed out, Mathai rightly emphasized the importance of the neighbourhood. The region has not receivedenough attention althoughthe present government gave it the importance it deserveswith the Prime Minister speaking of “asymmetrical relations”.
Libya Treading a New But Heavily Mined Road
By Ramesh Jaura
IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis
BERLIN (IDN) – While a frantic search is on for Muammar al-Gaddafi’s whereabouts, the NATO-backed Battle for Libya is far from over. Not only because a scramble for the North African state’s opulent resources has just started, but also because the Benghazi ‘revolutionaries’ are confronted with tough battles on several fronts.
How Zenawi ‘Weaponizes’ Famine in Ethiopia
By Alemayehu G. Mariam*
IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis
“Why are Ethiopians starving again? What should the world do and not do?” These are the two enduring questions Time Magazine of December 21, 1987 asked in a cover story. The reply in short was couched as a question: “Is the latest famine wholly the result of cruel nature, or are other, man-made forces at work that worsen the catastrophe?” Something that should strike as déjà vu 24 years later.
Scramble for Power Persists in Nepal
By Shastri Ramachandaran*
IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis
KATHMANDU (IDN) – The sham that multiparty democracy has become in Nepal is turning into a cruel joke on the people. The resignation of Prime Minister Jhalanath Khanal of the Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninist (CPN-UML) underscores how voters are stuck with a self-serving elected elite, no less privileged and protected than the ousted monarchy.
The resignation of Khanal, as much as his continuation since May 29 (when he had promised to step down, but did not), exemplifies the collective opportunism of Nepal’s three major parties.
Weapons Seem to Weigh Heavily Against Hunger
By Badriya Khan
IDN-InDepth NewsViewpoint*
Think of 1,630 billion dollars being spent on weapons that are designed to kill, and 1,002 million human beings who either do not eat at all or are always hungry. Shouldn’t this atrocious fact make the United States and western European countries, who account for 90 per cent of world’s arms sales, prompt to rethink? Considering that they are the freedom champions proud of imposing their models on the willing or unwilling, through means fair or foul, shouldn’t they turn their focus on ending hunger that robs human beings of their fundamental right to freedom?
Why Nukes Cast No Shadow on Indian Psyche
By Jayita Sarkar*
IDN-InDepth NewsViewpoint
NEW DELHI (IDN) – In the wake of the Indo-U.S. nuclear deal of 2008 allowing India to engage in civilian nuclear trade, protest movements have emerged in several sites chosen for the construction of new nuclear power plants. India is aiming to establish at least thirty nuclear reactors and derive a quarter of its electricity needs from nuclear energy by 2050.
With the establishment of the Atomic Energy Research Committee in 1946 and adoption of the Atomic Energy Act in 1948, India had proceeded rather early on the path of atomic energy.
Urban Rebellions Can Trigger Social Change
By Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor*
IDN-InDepth NewsViewpoint
Riots in the streets of London and across Britain are part of a global revolt – from Cairo to Lisbon, to Santiago, to Madison – against a resurgent neoliberal agenda that advocates the destruction of the remnants of a weakened public sector. A look back at the urban rebellions in the U.S. in 1960s would help to put things in perspective.
Poor Judgement and Partisan Attacks Trump Sound Policy
By Ernest Corea*
IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis
WASHINGTON DC (IDN) – Reports of stocks plummeting and investor confidence diminishing dominated news cycles even as President Barack Obama attempted to reassure fellow-Americans – and the world – that their confidence in the country’s continuing strength would endure.
Speaking directly to the White House press corps and projecting his remarks to broader publics, Obama asserted that “markets will rise and fall, but this is the United States of America, and no matter what some agency may say, we always have been and always will be a triple-A country.”
Poor Judgement and Partisan Attacks Trump Sound Policy
By Ernest Corea*
IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis
WASHINGTON DC (IDN) – Reports of stocks plummeting and investor confidence diminishing dominated news cycles even as President Barack Obama attempted to reassure fellow-Americans – and the world – that their confidence in the country’s continuing strength would endure.
Speaking directly to the White House press corps and projecting his remarks to broader publics, Obama asserted that “markets will rise and fall, but this is the United States of America, and no matter what some agency may say, we always have been and always will be a triple-A country.”