By Simone Galimberti* KATHMANDU, Nepal | 10 May 2024 (IDN) — As Europe Day was commemorated on 9 May, many lingering questions remain: Does this really matter if you live outside Europe? Or even if you are part of an EU member state, will there be much of a celebration? This is a mistake because […]
Germany-European Elections: Will Lowering the Voting Age to 16 Benefit the Right Extremists?
By Gabriele Abels* The Conversation issued this article. TÜBINGEN, Germany | 9 May 2024 (IDN) — Ahead of the European Parliament elections on 6 June, Germany has lowered the age limit on participation to 16. This makes it the largest of just a handful of states in the EU to allow people under the age […]
The Palestinian Case: Applying to be a Member of the UN
UN Security Council Report BERLIN | NEW YORK | 8 May 2024 (IDN) — On 18 April, the US vetoed a draft Security Council resolution that would have recommended that “the State of Palestine be admitted to membership in the United Nations”. Twelve Council members voted in favour of the draft resolution, while two abstained […]
Africa: A New Study May Warn of Future Climate Tipping Points
By Martin H. Trauth, Asfawossen Asrat, and Mark Maslin* LONDON | ADDIS ABABA | 8 May 2024 (IDN) — Around five and half millennia ago, northern Africa went through a dramatic transformation. The Sahara desert expanded and grasslands, forests and lakes favoured by humans disappeared. Humans were forced to retreat to the mountains, the oases, […]
EU Will Not Promote Democracy with Patronising Speeches and Paternalistic Funds
By Jan Zielonka* This article has been issued jointly by Social Europe and IPS-Journal OXFORD | 7 May 2024 (IDN) — In a recent interview for the New Statesman, a former head of Israel’s internal-security service, Ami Ayalon, disarmingly confessed: ‘We have to assume we shall have a war with Hezbollah not because we want […]
How Israel and Iran Benefit from Escalation
By Dr Muneer Ahmed & Siddharth Anil Nair* This article was issued by the Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies (IPCS), an independent think-tank. NEW DELHI | 7 May 2024 (IDN) — While the spectre of inter-state conflict has loomed large over West Asia these past few months, it appears now to be at a […]
Erdogan Could Have Become a Great leader of a Great Nation
By Dr Alon Ben-Meir* NEW YORK 1 May 2024 (IDN) — Turkey’s President Erdoğan could have emerged from the Israel-Hamas war as a peacemaker. Instead, being absorbed by fake piety, hypocrisy, and folly, he chose to fan the flames of the horrific war, further poisoning the atmosphere and intensifying the hostility and hatred between Israel […]
2024 US Elections: A Peace Candidate Is Pitted Against Two Warmongers
By Jeffrey D. Sachs* This article was published in Other News and is being republished with the author’s permission. NEW YORK | 28 April 2024 (IDN) — The Democrats and the Republicans are outdoing each other to prove who can get us to World War III fastest. Joe Biden and the Congressional Democrats are making […]
Kazakhstan: A Peacemaker in the Ukraine War?
By Alexandra Sitenko* BERLIN | 27 April 2024 (IDN) — The war in Ukraine has presented countries that have close political, economic and historical ties with Russia with a difficult task: On the one hand, they cannot sever their relations with Moscow; on the other, they do not want to fall out of favour internationally. […]
It’s China, Stupid! Why the West Is Courting India
By Herbert Wulf* This article was issued by the Toda Peace Institute and is being republished with their permission. BONN, Germany | 24 April 2024 (IDN) — India votes. In the world’s largest democracy, with almost a billion voters, parliamentary elections are being held from April 19 to June 1. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is […]