By Thalif Deen UNITED NATIONS, 29 June 2023 (IDN) — As geopolitics in the militarily-volatile Middle East are undergoing radical changes, including a rapprochement between two former bitter enemies, Iran and Saudi Arabia, the United States is trying to broker a deal described as ground-breaking: diplomatic ties between Saudi Arabia and Israel. But how realistic […]
Thailand’s ‘Sufficiency Economy’ Philosophy Bears Fruits in Laos
By Pattama Vilailert VIENTIANE, Laos. 28 June 2023 (IDN) — It was at the height of the Thai Economic Crisis in 1997 that the term “sufficiency economics” came into prominence when the late King of Thailand Bhumibol Adulyadej told his people that rather than building factories to become another Asian Tiger, the important thing for […]
A Viable Path for Moving Back to Nuclear Arms Control
By Daryl G. Kimball The writer is the Executive Director of the Arms Control Association (ACA). The following text was published in the organization’s monthly journal, Arms Control Today. WASHINGTON, D.C., 28 June 2023 (IDN) — Deteriorating relations between the major nuclear powers have stymied progress on nuclear arms control and disarmament for more than […]
Russia Willing to Discuss Arms Control Proposal with the US
By Shannon Bugos The author is senior policy analyst at the Arms Control Association (ACA). The following text was published in their Nuclear Disarmament Monitor newsletter of 22 June 2023. WASHINGTON, DC, 24 June 2023 (IDN) — Russia expressed a willingness to consider the proposal by U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan in June to […]
US President Walks Back on Ukraine’s NATO Accession
By M.K. Bhadrakumar The writer is a former Indian diplomat. This article was published by Indian Punchline. NEW DELHI, 23 June 2023 (IDN) — If only the US President Joe Biden had a time machine as in the post-apocalyptic science fiction novella by H. G. Wells, he should have used that vehicle or device to […]
200 Million Migrant Workers Sent $647 Billion to over 800 Million Families
By Thalif Deen UNITED NATIONS, 15 June 2023 (IDN) – In Asia, some of the countries dependent on remittances from migrant workers overseas include India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, China, Bangladesh and the Philippines. At the international airport in one of the Southeast Asian capitals, there is a sign at the “arrivals” terminal for a special […]
African Plan to End Ukraine War Turns Out to be a Non-Starter
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK, 19 June 2023 (IDN) — South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, among a group of seven African leaders meeting on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum in St. Petersburg, Russia, presented an African plan to end the ruinous war between Russia and the Ukraine.
Ukraine’s Counteroffensive with the Youth on Suicide Mission
By Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J. S. Davies NEW YORK, 19 June 2023 (IDN) — As Ukraine prepared to launch its much heralded but long delayed counteroffensive, the media published a photograph of a Ukrainian soldier with his finger on his lips, symbolizing the need for secrecy to retain some element of surprise for this […]
India’s Vibrant New Relationship with US—Political, Economic & Military
By Thalif Deen UNITED NATIONS, 18 June 2023 (IDN) — When India, the world’s largest democracy, was on the verge of taking a dictatorial path in the mid-1970s, the United States expressed its usual anxieties—and held out its usual threats. Back in June 1975, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had not only declared emergency rule, suspended […]
A Pakistani University Employs Artificial Intelligence to Boost Agriculture
By J Nastranis NEW YORK | KARACHI, Pakistan, 18 June 2023 (IDN) — A member institution of the United Nations Academic Impact (UNAI) in Pakistan, the Iqra University, appears to have spared the South Asian country of an impending food crisis, predicted within two years.