By Alon Ben-Meir NEW YORK | 23 May 2025 (IDN) — The Trump administration’s pursuit of a negotiated agreement over Iran’s nuclear program is the only sound policy that can prevent a regional conflagration. Beyond that, it offers a unique opportunity that can change the regional security trajectory and potentially usher in long-term peace and […]
Trump’s Hostility Towards China
By Jonathan Power* LUND, Sweden | 20 May 2025 (IDN) — President Donald Trump’s antagonism towards China existed before the Coronavirus. Despite his bonhomie with President Jinping Xi whenever he meets him, he has gone all out with his trade war. He refuses to negotiate an extension of the nuclear weapons reduction agreement with Russia […]
UN Reform Is Not a Floorplan. It’s a Reckoning
By Stephanie Hodge* UNITED NATIONS | 20 May 2025 (IDN) — Last week’s leaked UN80 reform blueprint offers a sweeping architectural plan for a more “streamlined” UN. It proposes merging development-related entities, relocating operations to Nairobi, cutting senior posts, and centralizing administration through a new Executive Secretariat. It reads like a rebrand of the UN system […]
How to Crown an Impostor
By Azu Ishiekwene The writer is Editor-In-Chief of LEADERSHIP and author of the new book Writing for Media and Monetising It. ABUJA, Nigeria | 14 May 2025 (IDN) — Burkinabe leader Ibrahim Traore is acting like a rock star. It’s not entirely his fault. He’s receiving a lot of help from dozens of social media […]
Peace and Disarmament Education: A Strategy to Prevent Dystopia
By Ramesh Jaura This article was first published on https://rjaura.substack.com/ BERLIN | 12 May 2025 (IDN) — Fancy people around the world singing John Lennon’s “Imagine” — of a world where there is “nothing to kill or die for” and “all the people living in peace…sharing all the world…as one”! Envision people beating their “swords into […]
Humanitarian Corridors: A Trojan Horse Threatening Bangladesh’s Sovereignty
By Tajul Islam* DHAKA, Bangladesh | 6 May 2025 (IDN) — In the ever-shifting terrain of global politics, ‘humanitarian corridors’ are increasingly wielded not as genuine lifelines for suffering populations but as instruments of foreign influence and domination. The recent decision to establish a United Nations-backed humanitarian corridor along the Chittagong–Rakhine route in Bangladesh is […]
Japan’s Largest Bank’s Role in Financing Indonesia’s Fire and Haze Crisis
By Alex Helan The writer is a Senior Researcher at Rainforest Action Network. LONDON | 4 May 2025 (IDN) — Trade shocks and geopolitical restructuring likely mean economic instability is the new norm and will be compounded by climate and natural shocks like the fires in Indonesia, Brazil and the United States. Banks’ role in […]
Europe the Superpower
By Jonathan Power* LUND, Sweden | 30 April 2025 (IDN) — The European Union is not going to face a break-up; however, the Ukraine/Russian conflict goes. Big crises come, but they also go. The Euro currency crisis was not dealt with as well as it should have been — austerity was the policy of the […]
How to Avoid Trade Wars – and World War Three
By Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J. S. Davies* NEW YORK | 29 April 2025 (IDN) — Not a day goes by without a new shock to Americans and our neighbors around the world from the Trump administration. On April 22nd, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) downgraded its forecasts for global growth in 2025, from 3.3% […]
It Is Time For Asia’s MAGA – A Non-Military Quad Alliance
By Kalinga Seneviratne* BANGKOK | 29 April 2025 (IDN) — The current international tariff saga based on a notion of “Make America Great Again” (MAGA) ideology promoted by President Donald Trump and supported by millions of Americans should, one would hope, trigger Asia’s own MAGA (Make Asia Great Again). The latter is shaping up more the […]