Viewpoint by Federico Mayor Zaragoza* BARCELONA (IDN) – “Suddenly,” said Leonardo Da Vinci, “there are no poor and rich, no young and old, no white and black on board … only a bunch of passengers toiling, working together to survive, to avoid a shipwreck.” This is the advice we should convey today through all media […]
Mercenaries Undermine Rule Of Law, Perpetuate Impunity
Viewpoint by António Guterres The following is the text of UN Secretary-General’s remarks to a high-level debate of the Security Council on ‘Mercenary activities as a source of insecurity and destabilization in Africa’ with the Central African sub-region as a focus, under the presidency of Equatorial Guinea for the month of February. Equatorial Guinea President […]
Global Prosperity Rises, Inequality Haunts The U.S.
Viewpoint by Jonathan Power LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) – Every so often reports emerge that attempt to measure which are the best countries to live in. The Nordic countries plus New Zealand, Holland and Switzerland, usually come out on top. Sweden is number one just for the sheer stability of life and security. Denmark is seen […]
Trashing Treaties: It’s Not Just Trump
Viewpoint by Rick Wayman The writer is Deputy Director of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation. (Twitter @rickwayman) SANTA BARBARA, CA (IDN) – There is no shortage of critics who have pointed out President Donald Trump’s monumental strategic mistake in unilaterally withdrawing the United States from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty. It is indeed a […]
Next Steps Out Of The INF Treaty Crisis
Viewpoint by Daryl G. Kimball The writer is Executive Director of the Arms Control Association. This article was posted on the Association’s website as an Issue Brief on February 1, 2019. WASHINGTON, DC (IDN-INPS) – The Trump administration announced on February 1 that effective February 2, the United States will suspend implementation of the 1987 […]
Trump’s Missile Defence Buildup Plans Are Dangerous
Viewpoint by Kingston A. Reif The writer is director for disarmament and threat reduction policy at Arms Control Association (ACA). He casts a close look at the ‘2019 Missile Defense Review’. This article appeared as an Issue Brief on ACA website on January 17, 2019. WASHINGTON, DC (IDN-INPS) – The Trump administration’s long-awaited ‘Missile Defense […]
Time Is Running Out For Sensible Decision-Making On Missile Defences
Viewpoint by Jonathan Power LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) – The number of nuclear weapons possessed by the U.S. and Russia is a fraction of what it was during the height of the Cold War. Successive presidents on both sides, since the time of John F. Kennedy and Nikita Khrushchev, have feared their destructive power. The supposed […]
Uncertain Prospects For Progress In Nuclear Disarmament
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) – Although humankind has known since the dawn of ages the sorrow, misery and devastation caused by […]
DR Congo Is Rotting From Within
Viewpoint by Jonathan Power LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) – The Algerian philosopher and revolutionary writer, Frantz Fanon, wrote: “Africa is shaped like a gun, and Congo is its trigger. If that explosive trigger bursts, the whole of Africa will explode.” The Democratic Republic of Congo, Africa’s largest country, is now caught up in the aftermath of […]
Cooperation Key To Confronting Migration Challenges In West And Central Africa
Viewpoint by Richard Danzinger The writer is regional director for West and Central Africa of International Organization for Migration (IOM), the UN migration agency. This article first appeared on Africa Renewal, December 2018-March 2019 issue. DAKAR (IDN-INPS) – Without a doubt, migration is a defining issue of this century. One billion people, one-seventh of the […]