By Marie Terracol and Ida Nowers BERLIN (IDN | Transparency International) — Whistleblowing is one of the most effective ways to detect and prevent harm. Still, only 47 per cent of European citizens feel they can safely report corruption, with 45 per cent fearing reprisals for speaking up. Far too often, those who witness malpractice […]
Mayors for Peace Say the Danger of Nuclear War Is Real and Growing
By Mayors for Peace The following is the text of an Open Letter Issued by Mayors for Peace to NPT States Parties. HIROSHIMA (IDN) — On behalf of Mayors for Peace, a global non-governmental organization with 8,059 member cities, we are writing to express our views prior to the NPT Review Conference that will open […]
Nigeria’s Slot War with UAE at the Cost of Travellers
Viewpoint by Azu Ishiekwene The writer is the Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief of LEADERSHIP newspaper based in Abuja, Nigeria. ABUJA (IDN) — It’s not been a merry run-up to Christmas for many Nigerian travellers. It all started with Canada, Saudi Arabia, and then the UK, red-listing Nigeria (and 10 other African countries) for the Omicron variant of […]
Elimination of ICBMs Would Greatly Reduce the Chances of a Global Nuclear Holocaust
Viewpoint by Norman Solomon* SAN FRANCISCO, USA (IDN) — Nuclear weapons are at the pinnacle of what Martin Luther King Jr. called “the madness of militarism.” If you’d rather not think about them, that’s understandable. But such a coping strategy has limited value. And those who are making vast profits from preparations for global annihilation […]
Glasgow Climate Change Conference: A Glass Half Empty
Viewpoint by Ian Fry This article was issued by Toda Peace Institute and is being republished with their permission. CANBERRA, Australia (IDN) — For many, the Glasgow Climate Change Conference, known as COP26, was a significant disappointment. Much had been promised by the UK Government, but last-minute ructions over the reference to the phase-out of […]
Cold War Warriors Are Gaining the Upper Hand Again
Viewpoint by Jonathan Power LUND, Sweden (IDN) — Oh, to be a Cold War warrior again! I always felt a bit sorry for those politicians, academics, soldiers and journalists who had hitched their careers to the onward march of the Cold War. It was satisfying. There was a clear enemy. The complex arithmetic on which […]
Time For Reforms in Latin America and The Caribbean to Address Long-Standing Challenges
Viewpoint by Alicia Bárcena, Sergio Díaz-Granados, Mathias Cormann, Jutta Urpilainen* The following is the text of the editorial in the ‘Latin American Economic Outlook 2021: Working Together for a Better Recovery’. PARIS (IDN) — Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) has been the region worst affected by the pandemic and is only re-emerging from what […]
The Taliban’s Social Media Warfare Operation Toward Seizing Kabul
Viewpoint by Iria Puyosa This article was issued by Toda Peace Institute and is being republished with their permission. MICHIGAN, United States (IDN) — In their advance towards Kabul, the Taliban were anticipating their military victory through WhatsApp’s voice notes, tweets, and Facebook posts. The Taliban insurgency crafted transmedia storytelling on how Afghan army soldiers […]
Biden’s White House Is Deliberately Flaring Up Tensions with Kremlin
Viewpoint by M K Bhadrakumar* NEW DELHI (IDN) — This must be a rare occasion when Russian President Vladimir Putin during his 18 years in the Kremlin came out second best in an encounter with an American president. And it had to be at the hands of President Joe Biden who has not yet completed […]
Ten Problems with Biden’s Foreign Policy—and One Solution
Viewpoint by Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J. S. Davies* NEW YORK (IDN) — The Biden presidency is still in its early days, but it’s not too early to point to areas in the foreign policy realm where we, as progressives, have been disappointed or even infuriated. There are one or two positive developments, such as […]