By Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury* DHAKA, Bangladesh. 20 August 2023 (IDN) — In a series of swift and ill-conceived diplomatic moves, US President Joe Biden has plunged into catastrophic decision-making, most notably concerning Afghanistan. Biden’s first significant move involved the withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan, a decision that has had dire repercussions. His statement […]
It’s Time to End the ‘Nonsense’ in Niger
By Azu Ishiekwene The writer is the Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief of LEADERSHIP newspaper based in Abuja, Nigeria. ABUJA. 17 August 2023 (IDN) — Almost everyone, including me, seems opposed to Nigeria leading the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to war in Niger. In one of the most telling anti-war metaphors, a Nigerian columnist and […]
NATO Enlargement Enthusiasts Look to the Indo-Pacific
By Ramesh Thakur* This article was issued by the Toda Peace Institute and is being republished with their permission. CANBERRA, Australia. 16 August 2023 (IDN) — Lord Ismay, NATO’s first secretary-general (SG), famously said the purpose of NATO was to “keep the Americans in, the Russians out, and the Germans down”. The end of the […]
Hiroshima Was Not Necessary or Inevitable
By Jonathan Power* LUND, Sweden. 15 August 2023 (IDN) — 78 years ago, the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima on August 6 and on Nagasaki on August 9 was premeditated mass murder. President Harry Truman had a workable alternative to using the atom bomb- to cooperate with Stalin, as Roosevelt and Churchill had done on the […]
Impact of Social Media: Trivialization of Pakistani Society
Viewpoint by Hamid Ali Khan BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan. 13 August 2023 (IDN) — The prevalence of social media has snowballed in recent years in Pakistan, ushering in a new era of digital interconnectedness. But with this technological advancement comes the unintended consequence of trivializing Pakistani society. Social media platforms like YouTube, Twitter, TikTok, and Facebook have […]
First Person: Life Story of a 3rd Generation Survivor of Soviet Nuclear Tests in Kazakhstan
At a side event co-organized by the Permanent Mission of Kazakhstan in Vienna, Soka Gakkai International (SGI), and Center for International Security and Policy (Kazakhstan), Dmitriy Vesselov—a third-generation Semipalatinsk nuclear-testing survivor—spoke at the first session of the Preparatory Committee for the 2026 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear […]
A Perilous Implosion Awaits Israel Unless True Democracy Prevails
By Alon Ben-Meir* NEW YORK. 12 August 2023 (IDN) — To prevent creeping authoritarianism and the complete disintegration of Israel’s democracy, it will be crucial to not only preserve the independence of the judiciary but to embrace other central pillars on which democracy rests The socio-political turmoil in Israel which is manifested by the pervasive […]
The Unholy Alliance of Orientalism, Ethnocentrism, Misogynism, and Terrorism
Part II: Five False Narratives of Orientalist Taliban Apologists By Bashir Mobasher* This article was issued by the Toda Peace Institute and is being republished with their permission. ALEXANDRIA, VIRGINIA, USA. 9 August 2023 (IDN) — Orientalist narratives are once again displacing the interests and needs of Afghans. Orientalists are some so-called international “experts of […]
The Erosion of The International Arms Control Regimes
By Sergio Duarte The writer is an Ambassador, former UN High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, and President of Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs. NEW YORK. 9 August 2023 (IDN) — Nuclear weapons burst into the international scenario 21 days after the signature of the Charter of the United Nations. For that chronological reason, […]
The Unholy Alliance of Orientalism, Ethnocentrism, Misogynism, and Terrorism
Part I: Understanding Taliban Apologism By Bashir Mobasher* This article was issued by the Toda Peace Institute and is being republished with their permission. ALEXANDRIA, VIRGINIA, USA. 8 August 2023 (IDN) — Recently, Amina J. Mohammed, UN Deputy Secretary General, and other Taliban apologists in the UN held a meeting in Doha with different regional […]