Viewpoint by Branko Milanović* NEW YORK (IDN) – In a series of books, and especially in Antifragile, Nassim Taleb has introduced an important concept — that of being antifragile, referring to ‘things that gain from disorder’. ‘Fragile’ is, of course, the opposite: it connotes something that thrives under stable conditions but, being brittle, loses, and […]
What’s Left? What’s Right? Or When Left Is Right
Viewpoint by Jonathan Power LUND, Sweden (IDN) – It goes back to the French revolution of 1789. At the Revolutionary Convention the most radical of the insurgents decided to seat themselves on the left side. “Why not on the other side, the right side, the place of rectitude, where law and the higher rights resided, […]
Making COP25 an ‘Ambitious’ Climate Summit
Viewpoint by Cleo Verkuijl The author is a Research Fellow at Stockholm Research Institute (SEI) Oxford and her main expertise is on climate change law and policy. She joined the SEI Oxford office in March 2017, where she is concentrating on legal and political aspects of fossil fuel subsidies reform. This article first appeared on […]
Middle Eastern States Are Back on The Path to A WMD Free Zone
Viewpoint by Sergio Duarte The writer is President of Pugwash and former UN High Representative for Disarmament Affairs. NEW YORK (IDN) – The establishment of a nuclear weapon free zone in the region of the Middle East has been one of the most frustrating undertakings in the field of arms control and non-proliferation at the […]
Defeating Hatred: For a World Without Death Penalty
Viewpoint by Adama Dieng The following are extensive excerpts from the United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Special Adviser of the Secretary-General on the Prevention of Genocide, Mr. Adama Dieng, to the 12th International Meeting of Justice Ministers, on 29 November in Rome. The meeting focussed on ‘Paving the Way: Defeating Hatred for a World Without Death […]
Iranian Agents Likely to Target U.S. and European Assets
Viewpoint by Syafruddin Arsyad* JAKARTA (IDN) – As the Iranian leaders are now feeling the pressure of the full sanctions on Iranian oil and the terror-designation of Iran Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), they will try and shift much of the IRGC’s human resources and assets into Iranian intelligence service that operates under Iran’s Ministry of […]
Rajapaksa’s Election Win in Sri Lanka Exposes Bankruptcy of ‘Velvet Revolutions’
Viewpoint by Kalinga Seneviratne SINGAPORE (IDN) – International news reports about former Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s rise to power in Sri Lanka project him as a human rights violator who detests democracy. But, there is an untold story behind his path to the country’s presidency that would have lessons for Asian countries in particular, who […]
The China-India Double Helix in the Reemergence of Asia as World’s Dominant Power
Viewpoint by Manish Uprety F.R.A.S. and Jainendra Karn * NEW DELHI (IDN) – It has been posited that in the 19th century, the world was Europeanized. In the 20th century, it was Americanized. Now, it is being Asianized. But is the story of the Asian success as blossoming as it looks. There are immense challenges […]
A Lot More Needs Be Done to Achieve Gender Parity
By Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana and Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka Government Ministers and senior officials from the Ministries of Women, National Planning, and Finance, representatives of civil society and other key stakeholders from across the Asia-Pacific region have gathered at the United Nations Conference Centre in Bangkok, Thailand for a three-day Asia-Pacific Ministerial Conference on the Beijing+25 Review […]
The two-state Solution is Dead as Netanyahu Pushes for ‘Greater Israel’
Viewpoint by Jonathan Power LUND, Sweden (IDN) – It’s unbelievable that 102 years have passed since the Balfour Declaration when the British colonial government decided to give the Jews their own homeland – but also promised that “it be done without infringing on the civil and religious rights of the existing non-Jewish population”. Now, this […]