By Jonathan Power* LUND, Sweden, 25 April 2023 (IDN) — Twenty years after 200,000 unnecessary deaths, 40,000 “disappearances” and 440 decimated villages, peace formally came to the last redoubt of the Central American war zone, Guatemala, in 1996. Put it up there with Rwanda, Cambodia, ex-Yugoslavia and today, the Congo as one of the great […]
Sri Lanka’s Kingdom of Ruhuna, Home of a World Heritage Site
Authored by Suriya Jayalath Perera Reviewed by Nandasiri (Nandi) Jasentuliyana, Former Deputy Director-General of the United Nations. LOS ANGELES, 24 April 2023 (IDN) — The launch of an important new book took place during the opening ceremony of the ‘Sri Lanka in Focus’ Photographic Exhibition at the Art Gallery of the University of California Los […]
An Open Letter to Prime Minister Netanyahu
You Can Still Be Hero If Only You Muster the Courage By Alon Ben-Meir NEW YORK, 21 April 2023 (IDN) — I can’t imagine how you must feel. Perhaps never throughout your political career have you faced a more fateful test in your life. You have placed yourself in an untenable state. If you win […]
The Reality Behind U.S. Propaganda in Ukraine
Leaks reveal that neither side is likely to win By Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J. S. Davies* NEW YORK, 20 April 2023 (IDN) — The U.S. corporate media’s first response to the leaking of secret documents about the war in Ukraine was to throw some mud in the water, declare “nothing to see here,” and […]
The Global South’s Rising Power Prods Japan to Signal an Attitude Shift
By Vijay Prashad* This article was produced by Globetrotter. NORTHAMPTON, Massachusetts | USA, 18 April 2023 (IDN) — In mid-April, the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs released its Diplomatic Bluebook 2023, its most important guidebook on international affairs. Japan’s foreign minister, Yoshimasa Hayashi, wrote the foreword, which begins: “The world is now at a turning […]
Is Climate Change a Threat to Australia’s National Security?
By Tobias Ide* This article was issued by the Toda Peace Institute and is being republished with their permission. PERTH, Australia, 18 April 2023 (IDN) — From climate protestors to the new Teal political movement to leading intelligence experts, Australians are increasingly expressing concerns about the security implications of climate change. This might not be surprising […]
Divesting from the US Military: “War Tax Resisters” Protest with Their Money
By Lincoln Rice* MILWAUKEE, USA, 17 April 2023 (IDN) — Since the beginning of 2022, the US has dedicated over $30 billion of military aid for war in Ukraine. Most of these funds will be used by the Department of Defense to replenish the military equipment and weapons that have been sent to Ukraine. Essentially, […]
Myanmar: International Outrage Without Action?
By Jan Servaes* BRUSSELS, 16 April 2023 (IDN) — February 1 marked two years since Myanmar’s military, the Tatmadaw, launched a disastrous coup that has plunged the country into an economic slump. The State Administration Council (SAC) military junta continues to struggle to impose its rule across the country, while a coalition of activists and […]
US Foreign Policy Conflicts with the UN Charter
By Jeffrey D. Sachs* NEW YORK, 15 April 2023 (IDN) — US foreign policy is based on an inherent contradiction and fatal flaw. The aim of US foreign policy is a US-dominated world in which the US writes the global trade and financial rules, controls advanced technologies, maintains militarily supremacy, and dominates all potential competitors. […]
US and Not the Global South Gets Its Way with the UN
By Roger McKenzie Globetrotter produced this article. The writer is the international editor of the Morning Star newspaper. Follow on Twitter at @RogerAMck. LONDON, 15 April 2023 (IDN) — Dag Hammarskjöld, the tragic second United Nations secretary general, once said the organization “was created not to lead mankind to heaven but to save humanity from […]