Viewpoint by Jonathan Power BETHLEHEM (IDN) — Perhaps the biggest single misthink in Western history is best understood by standing in the town square of Bethlehem, allowing one’s gaze to pass over the roof top of the Church that covers the stable where Jesus was supposedly born, and let one’s eye drift into the blue […]
Putin and Biden: Who Will Blink First?
Viewpoint by Herbert Wulf This article was issued by the Toda Peace Institute and is being republished with their permission. After constant Cold War rhetoric and sabre-rattling, the presidents of the USA and Russia talk to each other about the Ukraine conflict and more generally about the security architecture in Europe. The EU is directly […]
The NPT-5 Joint Statement—Cum grano salis
Viewpoint by Sergio Duarte The writer is President of Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs and former UN High Representative for Disarmament Affairs. NEW YORK (IDN) — On January 3, the five nuclear-weapon states party to the Treaty on the Non-proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) issued an important Joint Statement on “preventing nuclear war […]
‘Unity in Diversity’ Is an Essential Part of Indian Culture
Viewpoint by Dr Ram Puniyani This article is the 17th in a series of joint productions of South Asian Outlook and IDN-InDepthNews, the flagship of the International Press Syndicate. The writer is a former professor of biomedical engineering and former senior medical officer affiliated with the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (now Mumbai) and meanwhile […]
At The Onset Of 2022, We Need a Return to Perspective
Viewpoint by Jonathan Power LUND, Sweden (IDN) — We had much to be glum about as we came to the end of 2021. We are brainwashed with bad news. “If it bleeds it leads”, say the wags in the newsroom. One plane crash or celebrity’s death or royal family transgressions or Russian military manoeuvres are […]
Omicron To the Rescue: NPT Review Conference Postponed—Again!
Viewpoint by Tariq Rauf* “The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty is an essential pillar of international peace and security, and the heart of the nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation regime. Its unique status is based on its near-universal membership, legally-binding obligations on disarmament, verifiable non-proliferation safeguards regime, and commitment to the peaceful use of nuclear energy”. UN Secretary-General […]
A Japan-US ‘Island Chain’ Threatens to Provoke Backlash from China and Russia
Viewpoint by M K Bhadrakumar * NEW DELHI (IDN) — A Kyodo News agency report on December 23 cited Japanese government sources to the effect that Tokyo and Washington have drawn up a draft joint operation plan that would enable the setup of an attack base along the Nansei island chain in Japan’s southwest in […]
Homage to the 1984 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Bishop Desmond Tutu
By Ambassador Anwarul K. Chowdhury Former Under-Secretary-General and High Representative of the UN Following is the text of a brief homage on December 26 for the Culture of Peace global network. Dear co-activists! Today the world has lost a precious treasure of humanity with the demise of Desmond Mpilo Tutu, globally respected and loved as […]
What the Sialkot Lynching Means For South Asia?
Viewpoint by Chulanee Attanayake and Chirayu Thakkar This article was issued by Toda Peace Institute and is being republished with their permission. COLOMBO | SINGAPORE (IDN) — On December 3, 2021, the South Asian headlines were dominated by the unfortunate lynching of a Sri Lankan factory manager, Priyantha Kumara. An Export Manager working in Pakistan […]
Archbishop Desmond Tutu Was a “True Humanitarian and A Committed Advocate of Human Rights” — Dalai Lama
THEKCHEN CHÖLING, Dharamsala, India (IDN) — Immediately on being informed that his “respected elder spiritual brother and good friend” Archbishop Desmond Tutu had passed away, His Holiness the Dalai Lama composed a letter to the Archbishop’s daughter, Rev. Mpho Tutu. “Please accept my heartfelt condolences,” he wrote, “and convey the same to your mother and […]