By Thalif Deen STOCKHOLM | 30 April 2025 (IDN) — As the long-drawn-out conflicts in Ukraine, beginning February 2014 and Gaza, since October 2023, continue with no signs of a resolution, there is one significant fall-out: the rise in military spending worldwide. The ongoing conflicts also include civil wars in Syria, Sudan, Myanmar and the […]
Russia-Ukraine Peacemaker: BRICS+ or United States
By Kester Kenn Klomegah* MOSCOW | 30th April 2025 (IDN) – Global leaders have not yet answered Russia’s significant questions around a proposed Ukraine ceasefire. President Vladimir Putin is still searching for the candidates with the right geopolitical mindset and skills for decoding the reasons for the “special military operation” that the Kremlin, with Federation […]
Haiti Situation Report: 35 gang members killed in Pacot clash
Situation in Haiti At least 35 suspected members of the Viv Ansanm gang coalition were killed and 40 injured during clashes with Haitian police (PNH) and military forces in Pacot, Port-au-Prince on 23 April, according to a local human rights organization. The PNH confirmed that six people died, including two soldiers, and said multiple gang […]
How to Avoid Trade Wars – and World War Three
By Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J. S. Davies* NEW YORK | 29 April 2025 (IDN) — Not a day goes by without a new shock to Americans and our neighbors around the world from the Trump administration. On April 22nd, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) downgraded its forecasts for global growth in 2025, from 3.3% […]
It Is Time For Asia’s MAGA – A Non-Military Quad Alliance
By Kalinga Seneviratne* BANGKOK | 29 April 2025 (IDN) — The current international tariff saga based on a notion of “Make America Great Again” (MAGA) ideology promoted by President Donald Trump and supported by millions of Americans should, one would hope, trigger Asia’s own MAGA (Make Asia Great Again). The latter is shaping up more the […]
Top Democrats Have Been Enabling Trump
By Norman Solomon* Original source: Tom Dispatch SAN FRANCISCO | 29 April 2025 (IDN) — America desperately needs a united front to restrain the wrecking ball of the Trump regime. While outraged opposition has been visible and vocal, it remains a far cry from developing a capacity to protect what’s left of democracy in the United States. With the […]
Situation Report Horn of Africa: Drone strike hits displacement camp in River Nile state
Situation in Sudan (per 28 April) A drone strike by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on a displacement camp in River Nile state killed at least 11 people on Friday morning, according to the state governor. The regional power station was also taken out. According to a witness, the strike hit the tents of two […]
Peace Corps: The Third Rail of US Global Development Assistance
By Dr. Yossef Ben-Meir* MARRAKECH, Morocco | 27 April 2025 (IDN) ― Whereas there has been broad consensus that the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is in need of reform, there is also an even wider and more deeply held belief that the value of Peace Corps ― begun in 1961 ― is […]
Rising Global Debt Requires Countries to Put their Fiscal House in Order
By Era Dabla-Norris, Vitor Gaspar, Marcos Poplawski-Ribeiro WASHINGTON, D.C. | 26 April 2025 (IDN) — Major policy shifts underway have heightened global uncertainty. The series of recent tariff announcements by the United States, and countermeasures by other countries have increased financial market volatility, weakened growth prospects, and increased risks. They come in the context of […]
America: The End of Democracy and into the Abyss?
By Seevali Abeysekera* LONDON | 25 April 2025 (IDN) — Before the American presidential election in 2020, I published an article, ”America — the end is nigh”, whose last sentences were: ”A civil war and disintegration of America is thus a real possibility. History has shown us that great empires eventually collapse due to their […]