By Bashir Mobasher and Zakira Rasooli* Toda Peace Institute issued this article, which is being republished with their permission. INDIANA, USA | DOHAN, Qatar | 12 December 2023 (IDN) — Edward Said defines Orientalism as a series of representations of the ‘East,’ in the form of ‘knowledge’ (and beyond), which does not reflect the intrinsic […]
Exposing the Emerging Orientalist Narrative of Peace and Security for Afghanistan — Part I
By Bashir Mobasher and Zakira Rasooli* Toda Peace Institute issued this article, which is being republished with their permission. INDIANA, USA | DOHAN, Qatar | 11 December 2023 (IDN) — In July 2023, Tobias Ellwood, a UK parliamentarian and former Government Minister in the Ministry of Defense, released a video of himself stating that “security […]
The Future of Human Civilization Is at Stake
By Franz Baumann This article was issued by Meer and is being republished with the author’s permission. NEW YORK | 11 December 2023 (IDN) — A Freudian Slip is a revealing blunder: saying what one really thinks rather than what is expected, polite, or politically correct. A textbook example is Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber’s claim, […]
COP29 Will Explore the Negatives of Eating Meat
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK | 10 December 2023 (IDN) — As the Dubai conference on climate winds up, some difficult issues may remain on the table for future debates—namely fossil fuel controversies and geopolitical tensions. The central debate among countries is whether to “phase out” or “phase down” fossil fuels. Despite […]
Myanmar’s Civil War Blowing Up India’s Act East Policy
Analysis by Kalinga Seneviratne SINGAPORE | 9 December 2023 (IDN) — After the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to power in 2014, India has accelerated its ‘Act East Policy’ (AEP) to link more closely with its Southeast Asian neighbours to consolidate its geo-political power through trade and infrastructure development that reflects China’s Belt and Road […]
US Stands Alone—and Isolated—in its Support for Israel at the UN
By Thalif Deen UNITED NATIONS | 9 December 2023 (IDN) — The US veto against a Security Council resolution for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza was highly predictable. Like the longstanding pro-Israeli foreign policy of successive US administrations, President Joe Biden said last week that he “stands with Israel—right or wrong—prompting one Middle Eastern diplomat […]
Political Upheaval Haunts Bangladesh Ahead of January Polls
By M. A. Hossain* DHAKA, Bangladesh | 7 December 2023 (IDN) — The political milieu in Bangladesh has been fraught with tension, climaxing in weeks of protests and violent clashes, casting a shadow of apprehension as the scheduled general election on 7 January 2024 approaches. The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), reinvigorated as the main opposition […]
COP28’s Delinquent Emitter: The US Military-Industrial Complex
By Mirabai Venkatesh* OAKLAND, California | 7 December 2023 (IDN) — As the world watches COP28 in Dubai amidst an accelerating climate crisis, a critical blind spot in global climate agreements remains. Despite being the world’s largest institutional emitter of greenhouse gases, the US military is completely exempt from international reporting obligations, significantly undermining global […]
The End of An Era?
The Case for a New UN General Assembly Special Session on Disarmament By Sergio Duarte The writer is an Ambassador, a former High Representative of the United Nations Office of Disarmament Affairs., and President of Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs. BELO HORIZONTE, Brazil | 7 December 2023 (IDN) — Seventy-eight years ago, when […]
Does It Make Sense to Invest Efforts in Reviving OSCE?
By Somar Wijayadasa* NEW YORK | 6 December 2023 (IDN) — With 57 participating States from North America, Europe and Asia (from Vancouver to Vladivostok), the OSCE—the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Euro-Atlantic and Eurasian—is the world’s largest regional security organization. Soon, it will be the fiftieth anniversary of the Helsinki Final Act of […]