By Jonathan Power* LUND, Sweden. 11 July 2023 (IDN) — The United States of America has a “culture of ignorance”. Polls say that round half of all Americans appear to feel no shame about that being so. In the south the total probably goes up to around 65%, whereas in the north, including California, it […]
Viewpoint: Indian Ocean Regional Security — & Its Implications
By A. L. A. Azeez* COLOMBO 8 July 2023 (IDN) — Discussions on the Indian Ocean regional order and Indo-Pacific—and on China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)—involve strategic interests and aspirations of countries in the region and beyond. Given that the Indian Ocean is traversed annually by almost 100,000 commercial ships and that over 80% […]
Viewpoint: What After Banned Cluster Bombs to Ukraine?
By Ramesh Jaura BERLIN 8 July 2023 (IDN) — “Have you noticed,” said John, “how countries call theirs ‘sovereign nuclear deterrents,’ but call the other countries’ ones ‘weapons of mass destruction’?” I am reminded of this quote from David Mitchell’s ‘Ghostwritten’ while reading how President Biden has defended his decision to provide Ukraine with banned […]
Making Madness Normal in Wartime
By Norman Solomon* SAN FRANCISCO, USA 6 July 2023 (IDN) — Midway through his cumulatively stunning new book “Soldiers Don’t Go Mad,” author Charles Glass quotes a declaration from The Times of London on August 18, 1917: “The war has brought new opportunities of heroism to us all. Every Briton in the full strength of […]
India’s G20 Presidency: Can It Reshape International Climate Politics?
By Robert Mizo* This article was issued by the Toda Peace Institute and is being republished with their permission. NEW DELHI 5 July 2023 (IDN) — India’s presidency of the G20 for 2023 has been hailed with much fanfare and national pride in India. The G20, being a club of leading economies, accounts for 74 […]
Sri Lanka: Double Trouble
By Neville de Silva* LONDON 2 July 2023 (IDN) — Politics, say those not averse to giving Shakespeare’s words a little twist, make strange bed fellows. Last July two of Sri Lanka’s leading political parties and arch enemies decided to bed together, not because of a newfound intimacy but rather for their political survival.
A Legally Binding Treaty on Business & Human Rights is Needed
By Simone Galimberti The writer is the co-founder of ENGAGE and of the Good Leadership, Good for You & Good for the Society. KATHMANDU, Nepal 1 July 2023 (IDN) — Communities can become truly empowered while dealing with grievances or alleged abuses perpetuated by the corporate sector. Katherine McDonnell, an expert on human rights and […]
US Foot-dragging at the Paris Finance Summit
By Jeffrey D. Sachs* This article was published in as part of a series of columns The New World Economy and is being republished with the author’s permission. NEW YORK, 30 June 2023 (IDN) — Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley and French President Emmanuel Macron invited world leaders to Paris on June 22-23 to reach […]
Five Titanic Tourists Killed Is the Big Story, not 500 Dead Migrants
By Azu Ishiekwene The writer is the Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief of LEADERSHIP newspaper based in Abuja, Nigeria. ABUJA, 30 June 2023 (IDN) — It doesn’t make sense to weigh tragedies on a scale. How do you measure them? Leo Tolstoy got it right in Anna Karenina when he said whereas all happy families are alike, every […]
Is Patriotism Confined to Killing and Being Killed?
By Norman Solomon* SAN FRANCISCO, USA, 29 June 2023 (IDN) — The Fourth of July—the ultimate patriotic holiday—is approaching again. Politicians orate, American Flags proliferate and, even more than usual, many windows on the world are tinted red, white and blue. But an important question remains unasked: Why are patriotism and war so intertwined in […]