Viewpoint by Azu Ishiekwene The writer is the Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief of LEADERSHIP newspaper based in Abuja, Nigeria. ABUJA (IDN) — There’s a severe, earth-baking drought in the Horn of Africa. About 13 million people in Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia and Djibouti are in the grip of acute hunger. The rains have failed in three consecutive years, […]
Ukraine Conflict: Need to Re-Evaluate NATO’s Role
Viewpoint by Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J.S. Davies* NEW YORK (IDN) — Every day brings new noise and fury in the crisis over Ukraine, mostly from Washington. But what is really likely to happen? There are three possible scenarios: The first is that Russia will suddenly launch an unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.
Two Sides of The Same Coin — The Legal Controversy of China’s Naturalisation Practice in Sport
Viewpoint by Dr Yiyong Liang The writer is a Sport business consultant and an independent researcher. HEBEI (IDN) — Athletes’ naturalisation has been common practice in international sports, many countries have turned to foreign nations for success. It is not until recent years the Chinese government adopted such an approach in order to shine on […]
Russia On the Warpath? Or Is Peace at Hand?
Viewpoint by Jonathan Power MOSCOW (IDN) — Just before former Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev made his stunning criticism of the West that, since the fall of the Berlin Wall, it had engaged in “triumphalism”, I was in Moscow. Everyone I talked to say the West had set out to humiliate Russia (not to help rebuild […]
Understanding Russia
Viewpoint by John Scales Avery* COPENHAGEN (IDN) — Both Russia’s President, Vladimir Putin and its Foreign Secretary, Sergey Laverov, have repeatedly stated that Russia does not intend to invade Ukraine. Logic also tells us that if they had wished to do so, they would have done it long ago. The threat of a Russian invasion […]
Diplomacy for Ukraine Is Spelled M-i-n-s-k
A Memo to Congress Viewpoint by Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J. S. Davies NEW YORK (IDN) — While the Biden administration is sending more troops and weapons to inflame the Ukraine conflict and Congress is pouring more fuel on the fire, the American people are on a totally different track. A December 2021 poll found […]
UN Sanctions “A Vital Tool” Available to the Security Council
By Rosemary A. DiCarlo Ms DiCarlo is the UN Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs. NEW YORK (IDN) — United Nations Security Council sanctions are no longer the “blunt instrument” they once were, having transformed since the 1990s into “a vital tool” that minimizes negative consequences for civilians, and States that are not directly being […]
Are Democracies Slowly Dying in The Age of Authoritarianism and Populism?
Viewpoint by Jan Servaes * BRUSSELS (IDN) — Military coups d’état posed the greatest threat to democracies during the Cold War, until about 1990, and were responsible for nearly three out of every four democratic collapses. Democracies in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, the Dominican Republic, Ghana, Greece, Guatemala, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru, Thailand, Turkey and Uruguay all […]
As Threats of War Loom Over Ukraine, the Illegality of NATO Is Laid Bare
Viewpoint by John Scales Avery* COPENHAGEN (IDN) — Russia understandably fears the eastward expansion of NATO. Recently NATO countries, led by the United States, have supplied arms to Ukraine. There is a threat that the tensions building up in the region will lead to war. Such a development would be catastrophic for the entire world. […]
China’s Olympic Battle for Legitimacy: The Prehistory of Beijing 2022
Viewpoint by Charles Xu This article was first published on Qiao Collective and was adapted in partnership with Globetrotter. Charles Xu is a member of the Qiao Collective and of the No Cold War collective. Source: Globetrotter NEW YORK (IDN) — Much has been made of the “diplomatic boycott” by the United States and its […]