Category: OPINION

Viewpoint by Azu Ishiekwene The writer is the Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief of LEADERSHIP newspaper based in Abuja, Nigeria. ABUJA (IDN) — One of the ironies of politics is how easily fiction becomes reality, and reality, precedent. Before our eyes, the president-elect of Kenya, William Ruto, who has played all sides of Kenya’s politics for at least […]

Viewpoint by India Walton and Sam Rosenthal SAN FRANCISCO, USA (IDN) — As a presidential candidate, Joe Biden was hardly bullish on student debt cancellation. He was cajoled by progressives and his presidential primary opponents into adopting a more forceful student debt cancellation stance, one which ultimately helped win him the support of young voters. […]

Viewpoint by Hidehiko Yuzaki, Governor of Hiroshima, Japan The following is the content of Hiroshima Governor Hidehiko Yuzaki’s speech at a side event (co-hosted by Nagasaki and Hiroshima Prefectures) under the theme “Nexus between Nuclear Disarmament and Sustainable Future” held at UN Headquarters on August 1, the first day of the 2022 NPT Review Conference. […]

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, […]

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 […]

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 […]

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) […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]