Viewpoint by Alyn Ware The author is Director of the World Future Council Peace and Disarmament Program. He is also the International Representative of the Aotearoa Lawyers for Peace. PRAGUE (IDN) – January 22 was a historic day for the global campaign to eliminate nuclear weapons, with the entry-into-force of the Treaty on the Prohibition […]
Reflections on the Groundbreaking UN Nuclear Ban Treaty
By Ramu Damodaran The writer is Chief, United Nations Academic Impact (UNAI) hosted in the Department of Global Communications. This OpEd first appeared in this week’s #WhyWeCare, @ImpactUN on January 22. NEW YORK (IDN | UNAI) – Memory, more than modesty, made me miss mention last week of the single exclusive conversation I was privileged […]
Nuclear Weapons Are Now Banned, Prohibited, Outlawed!
Viewpoint by Tariq Rauf The writer is the former Head of Verification and Security Policy at the International Atomic Energy Agency and was a member of the Group of Eminent Persons for Substantive Advancement of Nuclear Disarmament established by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Japan. VIENNA (IDN) – As the day broke today, 22 […]
Nigeria: A Governor’s Wife Goes Houston To Take the Vaccine
Viewpoint by Azu Ishiekwene The writer is the Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief of The Interview magazine based in Abuja, Nigeria. ABUJA (IDN) – Whether Jean-Jacques Rousseau miscredited the words to Marie Antoinette in Confessions or not, Nigeria is happy to supply a modern-day princess who has earned the title of Her Royal Spite-tress without controversy. And unlike […]
Revisiting A Historic Day in Divided America
Viewpoint by Somar Wijayadasa* NEW YORK (IDN) – January 20 was a historically momentous day as Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. was sworn in as the 46th President of the United States of America, and Kamala Harris, a person of colour was sworn in as the first woman Vice President – and now the highest-ranking woman […]
The Political Significance of the UN Nuclear Ban Treaty
Viewpoint by Thomas Hajnoczi The writer is the outgoing Director of Arms Control at the Austrian Foreign Ministry. He negotiated the TPNW* VIENNA (IDN) – With its entry into force on January 22 the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) will become binding international law for the growing number of State Parties, for […]
President Joe Biden Marks the Start of a New Era in the US
Viewpoint by Jonathan Power* LUND, Sweden (IDN) – President Joe Biden is more peacenik than war-monger. Compared with all recent previous presidents, apart from Jimmy Carter, he has been a dove. But be warned. When Barack Obama became president he forswore “more dumb wars” yet he got involved in more than any of them did. […]
Insurrection and the Racist Underpinnings of US Exceptionalism
Viewpoint by Ravi Arvind Palat The writer is a professor at the State University of New York (SUNY) at Binghamton NEW YORK (IDN) – Several commentators have underlined the sharp contrast between law enforcement responses to the storming of the U.S. Capitol by mobs unleashed by President Trump on January 6, 2021, and to the […]
Time to Dispense with the Rhetoric of Decolonisation
Viewpoint by Themrise Khan* KARACHI (IDN) – While preparing to speak at an online discussion on decolonising the aid sector, I searched Google Translate for a corresponding word for ‘decolonisation’ in my native language of Urdu. I couldn’t find one. In many other languages, from Arabic to Spanish, only a loanword exists. It’s just one […]
Behind January 6 Insurrection: America Is an Oligarchy, Not A Functioning Democracy
Viewpoint by Albena Azmanova and Marshall Auerback * This article was produced by Economy for All, a project of the Independent Media Institute. NEW YORK | BRUSSELS (IDN) – While the majority of Americans deplored the events at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, it was troubling to see a YouGov poll indicating that 1 […]