“The definition of insanity is continuing to do the same thing over and over, and then expecting different results”……attributed to Albert Einstein, but first said by Rita Mae Brown (Sudden Death) Viewpoint by Tariq Rauf * VIENNA (IDN) — For more than a year, a vain search has been continuing to find an appropriate date […]
Time to Think Beyond Current NWFZs
Viewpoint by Dr Jargalsaikhan Enkhsaikhan The writer is Chairman of Blue Banner NGO, Former Mongolian Permanent Representative to the United Nations. ULAANBAATAR (IDN) — Post-cold war peace dividend has not realized. Though the number of nuclear weapons of the two largest nuclear weapon holders—Russia and the United States—was reduced but then the reduction process came […]
Sleepwalking into Nuclear War?
Viewpoint by Jonathan Power* LUND, Sweden (IDN) — On April 20, US Strategic Command, the part of the military responsible for nuclear weaponry and its use, posted an official Tweet that read, “We must account for the possibility of conflict leading to conditions which could very rapidly drive an adversary to consider nuclear use as […]
A Counterpoint to ‘Geopolitics of the 2019 Easter Sunday Crime in Sri Lanka and Cover-Up by Darini Rajasingham-Senanayake’
Viewpoint by Muttukrishna Sarvananthan PhD* POINT PEDRO, Sri Lanka (IDN) — I have read with great interest Darini Rajasingham-Senanayake’s well-crafted conspiracy theory on the Easter Bombings in Sri Lanka in a two-part viewpoint dated November 2020 and April 18, 2021. There are a few factual inaccuracies or deliberate hyperbole to insinuate that the United States […]
Can We Feed the Billions?
An Expert Voice NEW YORK (IDN | UNDESA) — With hundreds of millions suffering hunger, a growing population and devastating impacts of agriculture on the environment, many experts are asking themselves: will we have enough food for everyone? Ahead of the 54th session of the UN Commission on Population Development, we ask that question to […]
Lessons of the Bay of Pigs Invasion Followed by the Cuban Missile Crisis
Viewpoint by Jonathan Power* LUND, Sweden (IDN) — The Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 is well remembered, even by those not yet born when it happened. The word has been passed down the generations and probably always will be. It was the first and only time, say many historians and political scientists, that the world […]
The Global South Is Swamped in Debt Pandemic
Viewpoint by Daniel Munevar * Covid-19 is not the only pandemic ravaging across the Global South. A debt pandemic threatens to prevent developing countries’ recovery, writes Daniel Munevar, an eminent debt justice advisor. This article was originally published in the Journal of International Politics and Society issued by the German Friedrich-Ebert Foundation’s Brussels office. BRUSSELS […]
Modernization, New Weapons and The Risks to International Security
Viewpoint by Sergio Duarte The writer is Ambassador, former High Representative of the United Nations for Disarmament Affairs and current President of Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs NEW YORK (IDN) — “Reliance on nuclear weapons for [deterrence] is becoming increasingly hazardous and decreasingly effective.” George P. Shultz, William J. Perry, Henry A. […]
Solving the Riddle of Who Won the Second World War
Viewpoint by Jonathan Power* LUND, Sweden (IDN) — Who won the Second World War? If you go to the United Kingdom people will answer, we did, led by Winston Churchill. If you visit the USA people will say, we did, led by Franklin Roosevelt. If you go to Russia, people will say the Soviet Union […]
DON’T QUOTE ME: Did US Spies Read Russian Lips in the UN Security Council Chamber?
The following excerpts are from a newly-released, 220-page book titled “No Comment – and Don’t Quote me on That”, a rich collection of political anecdotes, both serious and hilarious, reflecting over 40 years of reporting from the United Nations* By Thalif Deen UNITED NATIONS, (IDN) — The United Nations, along with the 193 diplomatic missions […]