By Robert Kelley* VIENNA | 13 December 2024 (IDN) — On the night of 6 September 2007 Israeli jets bombed a building in Northen Syria. The building was alleged to be a nuclear reactor under construction to support a nuclear weapons program. The reactor was reported to be a copy of the small plutonium production […]
Russia: Experts Emphases the Role of Public Diplomacy in Ensuring Global and Eurasian Security
By Kester Kenn Klomegah MOSCOW | 13 December 2024 (IDN) — The School of Preventive Public Diplomacy held from November 30 to December 13 panel discussions on “Preventive Public Diplomacy in Ensuring Global and Eurasian Security” at the Eurasian Network University. The Scientific and Educational Center organised the “Globus XXI Century” program of the Faculty […]
Why Ghana’s Election Matters Across Africa
By Azu Ishiekwene The writer is Editor-In-Chief of LEADERSHIP and author of the new book Writing for Media and Monetising It. ABUJA, Nigeria | 12 December 2024 (IDN) — The news from Ghana was not how John Dramani Mahama’s opposition party, the National Democratic Congress (NDC), defeated Nana Akufo-Addo’s ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP). The […]
Syria: They Made a Desert, And Called It Peace
By Jeffrey D. Sachs* This article was published in Common Dreams and is being republished with the author’s permission. NEW YORK | 12 December 2024 (IDN) — In the famous lines of Tacitus, Roman historian, “To ravage, to slaughter, to usurp under false titles, they call empire; and where they make a desert, they call […]
Nobel’s Spotlight on Our Perilous Path and How We Change Course
By Rafael Mariano Grossi Following are extensive excerpts from the keynote speech the IAEA Director General delivered at the Nobel Peace Prize Forum 2024 at the University of Oslo Aula on 11 December 2024. The Forum was co-sponsored by the Soka Gakkai International (SGI), Mr Grossi started by congratulating Nihon Hidankyō and the hibakusha for […]
How The Loss of Naval Base in Syria Would Weaken Russia as A Global Power
By Basil Germond The writer is Professor of International Security, Department of Politics, Philosophy and Religion, Lancaster University. The Conversation issued this article. LANCASTER, UK | 11 December 2024 (IDN) — The fall of the Assad regime constitutes a major blow to Russia’s foreign policy and prestige. Not least among the setbacks is the prospect […]
Sandbagging Trump: Obstacles to a Ukraine Settlement
Manages to Insult Trump After Meeting (After Demanding the Meeting!) By Stephen Bryen* This article was issued by Weapons and Strategy and is being republished with their permission. WASHINGTON, D.C. | 10 December 2024 (IDN) — President Donald Trump reluctantly met with Volodymyr Zelensky and Emanuel Macron in Paris to discuss the way forward in Ukraine. […]
Post-Assad Power Struggle: A New Battle Awaits Syria
By Bahauddin Foizee* DHAKA, Bangladesh | 10 December 2024 (IDN) — The watershed moment in Syria with the ousting of Bashar al-Assad has triggered a complex and high-stakes scramble for influence in a region already rife with instability. As Syrian rebel forces have seized Damascus, toppling over more than 50 years of Assad family’s autocratic […]
Israel-Palestine: Seeking a Two-State Solution by Insisting on One
By Jonathan Power* LUND, Sweden | 9 December 2024 (IDN) — Albert Einstein once said that “insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result”. That’s how it seems to be with President Joe Biden continuously sending his secretary of state to the Middle East to attempt to resurrect […]
Syria is the Big Enchilada
By James E. Jennings* ATLANTA, USA | 9 December 2024 (IDN) — In American slang, “the big enchilada” means something of supreme importance, more than any other item among a slew of alternatives. Historical comparisons over long millennia in the Middle East show that Syria, not Iraq or Palestine, is the keystone of the Fertile […]