Category: OPINION

By Jeffrey D. Sachs* This article was published in Common Dreams and is being republished with the author’s permission. NEW YORK, 6 June 2023 (IDN) — President John F. Kennedy was one of the world’s great peacemakers. He led a peaceful solution to the Cuban Missile Crisis and then successfully negotiated the Partial Nuclear Test […]

By Jonathan Power* LUND, Sweden, 6 June 2023 (IDN) — There are questions that even today the historians don’t seem moved to investigate. Two important ones come to mind. Why was it that Pharaonic Egypt never went to war for hundreds of years until Ramesses 11 became pharaoh in 1303 BC? Isn’t it a fact […]

By Ambassador Mathu Joyini and Ambassador Tom Woodroffe* The writers are Co-Chairs of the 8th Annual Multi-Stakeholder Forum on Science, Technology, and Innovation for the SDGs. NEW YORK, 2 June 2023 (IDN) — In September this year, world leaders, Member States, civil society, academics, and experts will meet at the United Nations headquarters for the […]

By Azu Ishiekwene The writer is the Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief of LEADERSHIP newspaper based in Abuja, Nigeria. ABUJA, 2 June 2023 (IDN) — President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is under fire for announcing that petrol subsidy is gone from day one. His inauguration address also touched on a unified currency exchange, high interest rate and power, among […]

By Somar Wijayadasa* NEW YORK, 1 June 2023 (IDN) — The 15th BRICS Summit is scheduled to take place in August this year in Durban, South Africa at a time of great upheaval—both political and economical—throughout the world. BRICS is an acronym for five regional economies: Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. The first […]

By Alon Ben-Meir* This article was originally published in CNN Arabic [https://arabic.cnn.com/middle-east/article/2023/05/29/saudi-peace-process-israel-palestinians-oped-alon-ben-meir] NEW YORK, 31 May 2023 (IDN) — Israel and the Palestinians will not find a solution to their conflict without third-party mediation. Such a party is no longer the traditional arbiter, the US, but Saudi Arabia. The Saudis have created a promising geostrategic […]

By Jonathan Power* LUND, Sweden, 30 May 2023 (IDN) — The war in Syria has dropped out of the news, like almost everything else, in a time when the Ukraine war seems to dominate all discourse and reporting. But the regime of Bashar al-Assad continues to strangle its own country. Even last year the Russians […]

By Ramzy Baroud* WASHINGTON, 29 May 2023 (IDN) — It is unclear why 100-year-old Henry Kissinger has been elevated by Western intelligentsia to serve the role of the visionary in how the West should behave in response to the Russia-Ukraine war. But does the centenarian politician have the answers?

UNITED NATIONS, 28 May 2023 (IDN) — The sad demise of Sri Lanka’s veteran diplomat Dr Jayantha Dhanapala at the Kandy National Hospital, was announced on 27 May. Following are tributes by Nandasiri (Nandi) Jasentuliyana, former Deputy Director-General of the United Nations and Director UN Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOSA), and Ambassador A. L. […]

By Tomohiko Aishima* & Shahin Ashraf** TOKYO, 25 May 2023 (IDN) — When the leaders of powerful nations meet, finding ways to maintain peace is one of their most important responsibilities. But as the G7 meeting in Hiroshima has come to an end, some of the world’s most powerful leaders have let two opportunities to […]