By Thalif Deen UNITED NATIONS (IDN) — As the global economy came to a virtual standstill during the height of the 2020-2021 Covid-19 pandemic, the world’s arms trade remained relatively unscathed. Sales of arms and military services by the 100 largest companies in the industry reached $592 billion in 2021, a 1.9 per cent increase […]
“Most People Have No Idea What’s Going On” – Jeffrey Sachs
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India Urged to Join the Nuclear Weapon Ban Treaty
By Ramesh Jaura BERLIN | NEW DELHI (IDN) — India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi is confronted with an increasing demand to join the landmark Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), which was adopted in January 2021 by 122 members of the UN General Assembly—a clear majority. The Treaty entered into force after ratification by 50 member-States […]
A Nuclear-Weapons-Free Zone in Middle East Remains a Fantasy
By Thalif Deen UNITED NATIONS (IDN) — A longstanding proposal for a nuclear-weapons-free-zone (NWFZ) in the politically and militarily volatile Middle East has been kicked around the corridors—and committee rooms—of the UN since the 1960s. A joint declaration by Egypt and Iran in 1974 resulted in a General Assembly resolution. But it never reached the […]
Ukraine War Should Prompt Us to Abolish Nuclear Weapons
Viewpoint by Jonathan Power LUND, Sweden (IDN) — In the year 2000 President Vladimir Putin made his own contribution to solving the nuclear weapons imbroglio. Moscow, he said in a speech, was prepared to drastically reduce its stockpile of nuclear missiles. Putin’s call was not just for further cuts than the U.S. suggested ceiling of […]
Geopolitical Interests Dictate China’s Global Aid Exports
By Kiel Institute for the World Economy BERLIN | KIEL, Germany (IDN) — China has been exporting aid goods worth around USD 835 million annually since 2017. These material resources are distributed by China primarily according to geopolitical interests and increasingly to Asia and Africa. The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 meant that […]
Building Security in the Korean Peninsula
Pursue Fresh Diplomatic Approaches Not Military-Nuclear Posturing Viewpoint by Dr Rebecca Johnson LONDON (IDN) — Nuclear fears have been increasing in North-East Asia in recent months. From early November, North Korea ratcheted up its usual sabre rattling with more direct threats, ‘tactical nuclear drills’, apparent preparations for more nuclear tests, and by firing around 25 […]
North Korea Abandons US and Aligns with China and Russia
Viewpoint by Jackie Cabasso The writer is the Executive Director of the Western States Legal Foundation, based in Oakland, California. OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA, USA (IDN) — If our attention wasn’t riveted on the midterm election results and Russia’s continuing nuclear threats in Ukraine, we would be rightly alarmed about rising nuclear tensions on the Korean Peninsula. […]
No First Use of Nuclear Weapons Policies: A Path to Risk Reduction
Viewpoint by Tomohiko Aishima The writer is the Executive Director of Peace and Global Issues, Soka Gakkai International TOKYO (IDN) — While the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference held this past summer failed to adopt a final document, the fact that the conference saw a repeated debate on reducing the risk of nuclear weapon […]
Biden Made It Harder for Democrats to Win
He’d Be an Albatross on the 2024 Ticket Viewpoint by Norman Solomon* SAN FRANCISCO (IDN) — No amount of post-election puffery about Joe Biden can change a key political reality: His approval ratings are far below the public’s positivity toward the Democratic Party. Overall, the Democrats who won the midterm elections did so despite Biden, […]