Viewpoint by Sergio Duarte The writer is President of Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs, and a former UN High Representative for Disarmament Affairs. He was president of the 2005 Nonproliferation Treaty Review Conference. NEW YORK (IDN) – The advent of weapons of mass destruction, in particular the nuclear weapon, was the most dramatic […]
Getting the Priorities on Human Rights Right in Syria
Viewpoint by Jonathan Power LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) – The long war is almost over in Syria. Tyranny has won. Violence has won. Most have suffered, many unspeakably. For too long all sides were stalemated by each other’s brutality. Now the government of Bashar Al-Assad has come out on top, aided by Russia and Iran What […]
Smart Tech Must Go with the Fundamentals for Its Uptake
Viewpoint by Ibrahim Thiaw The author is Under-Secretary General of the United Nations and Executive Secretary of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD). This OpEd is issued in the context of the International Women’s Day observed on 8 March 2019, and the UN’s focus on Science and Technology that enhances gender equality, innovation […]
The Trump-Kim Hanoi Summit Disappointing But Not Devastating
Viewpoint by Daryl G. Kimball This article by the Executive Director of Arms Control Association appeared on February 28. WASHINGTON, D.C. (IDN-INPS) – Not only did the summit in Hanoi between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un fail to produce meaningful results, but Trump and his team have clearly squandered […]
Criticism of Israel is Not Anti-Semitism
Viewpoint by Jonathan Power LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) – After the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in AD 70 the Jews were thrust into the outer world – many into Arab countries, later to become Muslim, where they were extended protection, and later into the Roman and then Christian world where they were accepted for […]
Soft- and Hard-Power Challenges in China-India Diplomacy
Viewpoint by P S Suryanarayan The writer is a Visiting Senior Fellow with the South Asia Programme, S Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in Singapore and the author of ‘Smart Diplomacy: Exploring China-India Synergy’ (2016). The author’s views are his own and do not represent the position of any institution. […]
The Long Walk from World Social Forum to World Party
Viewpoint by Roberto Savio The writer is publisher of Other News, a vehicle for “voices against the tide”, and founder of IPS-Inter Press Service News Agency. This article is being reproduced courtesy of Other News with the writer’s permission. He can be contacted at utopia@robertosavio.info and his articles and comments can be read on Facebook @robertosavioutopia ROME (IDN) […]
Australia Increasingly Silent on U.S. Leadership in Asia
Viewpoint by Hugh White The writer is Emeritus Professor in the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, The Australian National University. EastAsiaForum carried this article on 18 February 2019. A version of this analysis was first published in The Straits Times. CANBERRA (IDN-INPS) – Sometimes what is left out of a major policy speech is as […]
Beyond the Second Trump-Kim Nuclear Weapons Summit
Viewpoint by Jonathan Power LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) – Kim Jong-un, paramount leader of the North Korean dictatorship, arrived in Vietnam by train and limousine ready to meet President Donald Trump. The two leaders met in June 2018 in Singapore, applauded themselves and each other and made some sort of a deal even if it wasn’t […]
On the Precipice of a Multipolar Qualitative Nuclear Arms Race
Viewpoint by Izumi Nakamitsu Following are extensive excerpts from a video briefing by Izumi Nakamitsu, the United Nations High Representative for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA), to the 65-nation Conference on Disarmament in Geneva on 7 February 2019. NEW YORK | GENEVA (IDN-INPS) – 2019 will be a weighty year for the Conference on Disarmament. As a […]