By Sam Ben-Meir NEW YORK | 6 August 2026 (IDN) — John le Carré’s Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy endures not simply as the anti–James Bond film but as something rarer: a diagnosis of Western civilization at the moment it began losing faith in itself. Where the James Bond franchise offered a fantasy of Western vitality—technological mastery, […]
Forestalling Future Viruses Must Be Done — And It Can Be Done Inexpensively
By Jonathan Power LUND, Sweden | 5 August 2026 (IDN) — Almost forgotten in the story about the Coronavirus is the story of AIDS. The drive to deal with it, the search to find medicine to cure it, and the self-discipline by homosexuals only began in 1981, when the disease was discovered and its causes understood. […]
The Challenges Facing African Candidates for the Top Job at the United Nations
By Rev. Gabriel Odima The writer is President & Director of Political Affairs, Africa Centre for Peace & Democracy. MINNESOTA, USA | 31 July 2026 (IDN) — President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda’s decision to nominate Ambassador Olara Otunnu for the top job at the United Nations is, in my view, a mockery of the international […]
The Oppenheimer and Odyssey Films, the Nuclear Bombing of Japan and the Lies Told
By Jonathan Power Editor’s Note: This commentary was first published three years ago. It is being republished because British-American filmmaker Christopher Nolan has recently released The Odyssey to widespread acclaim, while also attracting criticism over its historical inaccuracies. In this essay, Jonathan Power revisits what he believes Nolan missed—or chose to avoid—in his Oscar-winning film Oppenheimer, which chronicles […]
How Hakeem Jeffries and J Street Teamed Up for Arming Genocide
By Norman Solomon* SAN FRANCISCO, USA | 28 July 2026 (IDN) — When House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries sent out a recent “Dear Colleague” letter, its second sentence cited “the position articulated by…pro-peace organisations like J Street.” The congressman and J Street were opposing an amendment to block $3.3 billion in military shipments and other aid […]
Trump’s Authoritarian Play Against Foreign Journalists
By Alon Ben-Meir* For nearly a century, foreign correspondents have come to the United States precisely because this country prided itself on welcoming scrutiny. Now, the Trump administration proposes to turn that legacy on its head—by transforming visas for international journalists into instruments of control. NEW YORK | 26 July 2026 (IDN) — Under a […]
Genocides Are No Bargaining Chips
By Benoit Lannoo* ANTWERP, Belgium | 25 July 2026 (IDN) — The relations of the State of Israel with Türkiye and Azerbaijan have been under great tension since the Israeli government submitted a bill recognising the Armenian Genocide to the parliament, the Knesset, at the end of June. The government of Benjamin Netanyahu did not […]
War-War and Jaw-Jaw
By Jonathan Power LUND, Sweden | 22 July 2026 (IDN) –Donald Trump will find out the hard way in Iran that, as Winston Churchill famously observed, “Jaw-Jaw is better than War-War.” If war can be avoided through a warm, lengthy, private conversation—without advisers, accompanied by generous gestures and promises of international recognition when his opponent, […]
The New UN Resident Coordinator System Still Needs to Prove Itself
A Rushed Restructuring May Make Things Worse By Mohammed Chiraz Baly The writer is a staff representative and former General Secretary of the CCISUA staff union federation. He is also a data analyst at UNCTAD focusing on investment financing in developing countries. GENEVA, Switzerland | 20 July 2026 (IDN) — Resident coordinators represent the UN […]
Politicians Should Stop Hiding Behind the “Two-State Solution” Fantasy
By Norman Solomon* SAN FRANCISCO | 18 July 2026 (IDN) — Creation of a Palestinian state next to Israel seemed feasible when President Bill Clinton hosted the signing of the Oslo Accords at the White House in September 1993. The goal was reaffirmed in 2011 when 90 per cent of the Senate co-sponsored a resolution […]