Situation in Sudan (per 9 March) Clashes in Sudan’s Kordofan region killed at least 51 people between Wednesday and Thursday last week, with intense artillery and drone strikes hitting Dilling and Al-Mojlad, as the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) recaptured the strategic city of Bara on the road to Khartoum. An army drone strike on a […]
From Anti-Russian McCarthyism to Pro-Russian Trumpism
By Dr. Alon Ben-Meir* NEW YORK | 9 March 2026 (IDN) — Back in the 1950s in the United States, even a whisper of sympathy for Russia or the Soviet Union was unthinkable and seen as almost traitorous. The eventual rise of McCarthyism was all about rooting out what were presumed to be “un-American activities,” […]
A Gateway to Hell: How the War Against Iran Will Harm the West
By Michael von der Schulenburg* BRUSSELS | 5 March 2026 (IDN) — In the Western world today, there are an alarming number of politicians and media outlets that justify or even welcome military action by the United States and Israel against the Islamic Republic of Iran. Driven by the self-righteousness we are so familiar with, […]
Trump and Netanyahu Are Chasing an Illusion in Iran
By Alon Ben-Meir* NEW YORK | 5 March 2026 (IDN) — Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu have launched a campaign against Iran with maximalist aims and minimalist means. They speak the language of regime change, but the political, military, and social preconditions are not present. The result will not be transformation in Tehran, but a […]
Daniel Ellsberg Speaks to us as the War on Iran Continues
By Norman Solomon* NEW YORK | 3 March 2026 (IDN) — When Daniel Ellsberg died in 2023, the world lost a unique voice of sanity. Five decades earlier, as a “national security” insider, he had released the top-secret Pentagon Papers to expose the official lies behind the ongoing Vietnam War. From then on, he never […]
Situation Report Horn of Africa: At least 122 killed in South Sudan attack
Situation in South Sudan (per 2 March) A group of unidentified men attacked a town in South Sudan’s Ruweng Administrative Area on Sunday, resulting in 122 deaths, of which 82 were civilians. Two officials were among those killed. The attackers consisted of youth from Mayom County in neighbouring Unity State; they reportedly stormed the town […]
Europe Confronts a World Without Guarantees
The Merz Doctrine, and the Cost of Strategic Adulthood This article first appeared on https://rjaura.substack.com By Ramesh Jaura* BERLIN | 1 March 2026 (IDN) — For nearly eight decades, Europe thrived under the sturdy canopy of a security order that felt immovable. The United States was the bedrock of NATO, its power a shield against […]
Situation Report: RSF targeting people with disabilities
Situation in Sudan (per 26 February) The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) targeted and killed people with disabilities during and after its October 2025 takeover of El Fasher in North Darfur, reported Human Rights Watch (HRW), documenting executions, torture, and extortion that it said may constitute war crime and crimes against humanity. The RSF carried out […]
Implications of Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s Parliamentary Supermajority
Resurrection of Bushidō into a tool for Japanese ultra-nationalism & military expansionism? By Purnaka L. de Silva* NEW YORK | 22 February 2026 (IDN) — Japan’s acquisition of a parliamentary supermajority under Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s landslide election victory marks a qualitative shift in the country’s political trajectory with significant implications for regional security, historical reconciliation, […]
Floods and Mudslides Prompt Sri Lanka To Move Communities From Mountain Slopes
By Benuka Senadheera* WELIMADA, Sri Lanka | 20 February 2026 (IDN) — Sri Lanka, it seemed, was well on the way to recovering from the economic crash of 2022, when Cyclone Ditwah hit the island at the end of November last year, resulting in devastating floods in all 25 districts of the country. The floods washed […]