Viewpoint by Patrick Martin* TORONTO (IDN | INPS) – President Trump’s proclamation of a state of national emergency on the southern U.S. border is a frontal assault on constitutional norms and democratic rights in America. It is the first time in American history that a president has sought to usurp the constitutional prerogative of Congress […]
India’s Hindu Nationalists Celebrate Gandhi Assassination
By Ram Puniyani* This article is the third in a series of joint productions of South Asian Outlook and IDN-InDepthNews, flagship of the International Press Syndicate. MUMBAI (IDN) – On January 30, 2019, when the whole country was observing the 71st martyrdom day of ‘Father of the Nation’, Mahatma Gandhi, the members of Hindu Mahasabha […]
Why I Became A CTBTO Youth Group Member
By Ilya Kursenko MOSCOW (IDN) – It all began with a question to the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon in 2016 during the plenary session of the 20th anniversary of CTBTO, the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization. I asked him back then: “What can the youth do to change the world?” Right after […]
Why Venezuela’s Oil Money Could Keep Undermining Its Economy And Democracy
By Scott Morgenstern and John Polga-Hecimovich* LONDON (IDN-INPS) – As political and economic crises threaten to topple Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro, political scientists like us are not surprised that he has run into trouble. Instead, we see Venezuela as another example of what scholars call the “resource curse.” That’s the unfortunate correlation first described by […]
Venezuela Crisis Drives A Wedge Between Europeans
Viewpoint by Shastri Ramachandaran* NEW DELHI (IDN) – It’s a topsy-turvy world. President Emmanuel Macron’s France can recognise Juan Guaido, who is leading the protests in distant Venezuela, as “Interim President” of that country. But Italy’s Deputy Prime Minister Luigi Di Maio cannot meet “Yellow Vest” protestors demonstrating on the streets of Paris. Why is […]
Writing From A Sinking Vessel
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 […]