Viewpoint by Tim Westbury This article was issued by the Toda Peace Institute and is being republished with their permission. BRISBANE, Australia (IDN) — The Pacific Islands security narrative is often dominated by voices and interests from outside of the region. At the recent Shangri-La Dialogue, among the hype surrounding geostrategic competition in the Pacific, […]
UN Capable of Negotiating Peace in Russia’s War with Ukraine
Viewpoint by Jonathan Power LUND, Sweden (IDN) — In late 2004 the U.S. was ignoring the UN despite it being obvious to the outside world that it was increasingly bogged down in Iraq following its misconceived war. On November 15, when the Coalition Provisional Authority and the Iraqi Governing Council signed an agreement that set […]
Faith Communities Concerned about Nuclear Weapons
Since 2014, SGI has worked as part of the Faith Communities Concerned about Nuclear Weapons, a group of faith-based organizations and individuals committed to a nuclear-weapon-free world, to issue joint interfaith statements at international fora. Following is the Joint Interfaith Statement to the Tenth Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation […]
Why We Need to Advance SDG 16 More Than Ever
Viewpoint by Dr Márcia Balisciano The writer is the Global Head of Corporate Responsibility, RELX. She is also Chair of the UN Global Compact Network UK; Chair of the Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability Council of the Conference Board; and a founding member of the Board of the Ban Ki-moon Centre for Global Citizens. LONDON (IDN) […]
Nigerian Presidential Elections: Politicians and the Jeopardy of Trial by Ordeal
Viewpoint by Azu Ishiekwene The writer is the Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief of LEADERSHIP newspaper based in Abuja, Nigeria. ABUJA (IDN) — “I’m going to waste my vote,” a friend told me recently. “And don’t argue with me,” he added. “It’s my right to do so.” I defied him. Regrettably, even though I also recruited help nearby […]
Abolish Political Parties in Impending New Sri Lankan Constitution
Viewpoint by P. Soma Palan COLOMBO (IDN) — I have advocated the abolition of political parties from contesting elections to form a government, in previous articles, both in the electronic and print media. In the present unprecedented political, economic, financial and social instability in the country, the need to revive this plea assumes greater relevance […]
The Risk of a Nuclear Attack has Risen to its Highest Level Since the Cold War
By Thalif Deen UNITED NATIONS (IDN) — Speaking during a ceremony marking the 77th anniversary of the devastating atomic bombing of Hiroshima, UN Secretary-General António Guterres remarked on August 6 that it is totally unacceptable for states in possession of nuclear weapons to admit the possibility of nuclear war. “The elimination of nuclear weapons is […]
Beyond First Steps: Phasing out Nuclear Weapons and Energy
By M. V. Ramana* VANCOUVER, Canada (IDN) — The UN Secretary-General António Guterres has called for “all military activities in the immediate vicinity of the [Zaporizhzhia Nuclear] plant [in Ukraine] to cease immediately and not to target its facilities or surroundings” because “any potential damage to Zaporizhzhia or any other nuclear facilities in Ukraine, or […]
The West’s Chickens Are Coming Home to Roost
Mistakes Made Since The 1990s Might End in A Disaster Viewpoint by Jonathan Power LUND, Sweden (IDN) — You can interpret it on any level you like—that the Russians are inherently parochial and out of touch with how most of the world thinks and have it coming to them; that Russia is instinctively and cleverly […]
The Poor Can be Saved from the Coming Depression
Viewpoint by Jonathan Power LUND, Sweden (IDN) — The gathering economic crisis, which the financial papers are sombrely predicting, has too many of the makings of turning into a World Depression and must be a time for mental stock-taking. If we wind back the clock just a few years to the beginning of the century […]