By António Guterres, UN Secretary-General NEW YORK (IDN) — Every New Year is a moment of rebirth. We sweep out the ashes of the old year and prepare for a brighter day. In 2022, millions of people around the world literally swept out ashes. From Ukraine to Afghanistan to the Democratic Republic of the Congo […]
The Ukraine War: Paving the Road to a World War with ‘Peace Plans’?
Viewpoint by Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J. S. Davies* NEW YORK (IDN) — On December 27, 2022, both Russia and Ukraine issued calls for ending the war in Ukraine, but only on non-negotiable terms that they each know the other side would reject. Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Kuleba proposed a “peace summit” in February 2023 to […]
The Dismal State of Nuclear Disarmament
Viewpoint by Jacqueline Cabasso The writer is the Executive Director of the Western States Legal Foundation. OAKLAND, California (IDN) — The year 2022 has been a nightmare for nuclear disarmament. The year started out with a mildly reassuring Joint Statement by the five original nuclear-armed states, issued on January 3, 2022, declaring:
Western Hypocrisy Overshadows the Epic Qatar Match
Viewpoint by Azu Ishiekwene The writer is the Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief of LEADERSHIP newspaper based in Abuja, Nigeria. ABUJA (IDN) — The shenanigans were always there, but until FIFA president Infantino Giovanni called them out in his down-to-earth press conference in Qatar, they remained the elephant in the room. The hint of displeasure goes back 12 […]
The Age of Intersecting Crises?
Viewpoint by Tobias Ide* This article was issued by the Toda Peace Institute and is being republished with their permission. PERTH, Australia (IDN) — When following the news over the past three years, one might get the impression that the world is living through a permanent state of crisis. While climate change is arguably the […]
A Surplus of Men Leads to a Deficit of Peace
Viewpoint by Jonathan Power LUND, Sweden (IDN) — Many of us who watched the parade of new politburo members walking onto the stage at the recent meeting of the Chinese Communist Party’s 20th Congress were struck by the total absence of women. Unlike the previous 25 years, not even one. Women can be found at […]
Toward 2023: Preparing for Tectonic Shifts in the World Economy
Viewpoint by Dan Steinbock The writer is the Founder of the Difference Group. The following are extensive excerpts from the article, originally published by China-US Focus on December 16, 2022. NEW YORK (IDN) — In a recent Foreign Affairs commentary, Mohamed A. El-Erian warned that we are not facing just extraordinarily challenging business-cycle fluctuations but […]
Why Not Use Money Power to Wind Back Military Spending?
Viewpoint by Jonathan Power LUND, Sweden (IDN) — The U.S. is not the only well-built actor on the Western stage. Some argue, quite understandably after the missed opportunities and mistaken steps of recent decades, that there is a lot to be said for trying to ignore the U.S. as much as possible or, at least, […]
UNCTAD: This Time is Indifferent
Viewpoint by Alexander Kozul-Wright* The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) hosted its biennial debt management conference on December 5-7. The forum brought together governments, international organizations and academia to share views on the current debt landscape in developing countries. LONDON (IDN) — Covid-19 shuddered the world economy to a halt, and the […]
Strategic Dilemma: Germany in Search of an Effective China Strategy
Viewpoint by Herbert Wulf This article was issued by the Toda Peace Institute and is being republished with their permission. BONN (IDN) — German-Chinese relations are currently being reassessed in Germany. This is the result of a longer development that also took place in the EU. The shock of Germany’s dependence on Russian gas, coal […]