Category: Peace & Security

By Santo D. Banerjee

NEW YORK (IDN) – Hundreds of millions of people in civil society contribute to peace and justice every day, by public service, supporting thousands of public and private organizations, solid citizenship or leadership, and perhaps most importantly of all, by simply practicing peaceful behaviour in all situations.

However, in an era dominated by large organizations, whether governmental or private, individual contributions to social stability have their limitations. A new report says that companies can play a critical role in helping achieve particularly Goal 16 of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

By Joan Erakit

NEW YORK (IDN) – There is a famous bible passage that alludes to the unfortunate kinship between siblings; a child is questioned by God about his brother and he, at the time having killed his brother, denies allegiance by asking: “Am I my brothers keeper?”

Some may interpret the parable about Cain and Abel as follows: being humans, we are brothers by birth meant to look out for one another, yet circumstances have arisen that have turned us against each other. In the end, it is religion that is called upon to solidify bonds, bringing people from various backgrounds and points of view, together on the same page.

By Santo D. Banerjee

NEW YORK (IDN) – The Security Council has greeted the handover of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia-People’s Army’s (FARC-EP) remaining weapons to a United Nations-backed team as a “true example” of courage and commitment to peace, and pledged to support Colombia as it transitions out of its five-decades-long civil conflict.

Briefing the Council on those recent developments, Jean Arnault, Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the United Nations Mission in Colombia, said on June 30 that, with the June 27 handover of its remaining weapons, the FARC‑EP had officially met its obligations under the May 29 road map.

Analysis by Pier Francesco Zarcone*

ROME (IDN) – Well-meaning people of various countries have long tried to introduce the rule of law in relations among States, placing their trust for this purpose in the instrument of international law.

This is an imperfect, fragile instrument which is part conventional and part covenantal in nature, and works only by leveraging the fear of effective retaliation by other States.

In the context of today, talk of international law more than ever smacks of a joke, given that under the “new world order” of imperialism the issues of legality and illegality have now been relegated to the level of study and discussion for specialists in law, but without any practical relevance. Today, those who can do what they want.

By Phil Harris

ROME (IDN) – With the global arms trade having reached its highest level since the end of the Cold War, the United States leads the list of countries transferring major weapons, and flows have increased to the Middle East, Asia and Oceania.

Releasing its latest figures on arms transfers, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) said February 20 that the volume of international transfers of major weapons has grown continuously since 2004 and increased by 8.4 percent between 2007-2011 and 2012-2016.

By Jamshed Baruah

GENEVA (IDN) – A new survey finds that an overwhelming number of people living in countries affected by wars believe in the pressing need to impose limits on armed conflicts. Nearly half of those surveyed in conflict-affected countries are convinced that the Geneva Conventions prevent wars from getting worse.

But people in five countries that are permanent members (P5) of the UN Security Council appear to be more resigned to civilian casualties and suffering as an inevitable part of warfare:

The survey titled People on War was published by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on December 5, 2016. It sought to find out how people around the world perceive a range of issues related to war.

Analysis by T.K. Fernandes

NEW YORK (IDN) – Since the deadly use of atomic bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, the international community has been calling for the elimination of nuclear weapons. Despite slow progress, civil society has continued to tirelessly advocate for a nuclear-free world and is in fact one step closer to its realization in principle.

While speaking to IDN, Director of Peace and Human Rights at Soka Gakkai International (SGI) Kimiaki Kawai noted the importance of nuclear disarmament, stating: “We share common global challenges like climate change, poverty, hunger and disasters – so why don’t we utilize our rich resources for more meaningful purposes?”

By Courtesy of Cinema for Peace Foundation

RIO DE JANEIRO (IDN-INPS) – The Olympics should have been a time of peace, but the world was at war. There were 19 wars and 16 war-like conflicts in the world during the Olympic Games. Overall, there are 409 conflicts, of which 223 are violent.

To shine a light on conflicts and to endorse the peaceful ideals of Olympic Games the initiative Sports for Peace, who hosted at the London Olympics Muhammad Ali’s farewell, presented the ‘Olympic Ideal of Peace’ light installation in the Santa Marta Favela in Rio.

Analysis by Jacques N. Couvas

ANKARA (IDN) – The fourth and latest military coup in the history of the Turkish Republic ended at 8:02 p.m. on Saturday, July 16, less than 24 hours after it had begun. It was bloody. And it failed.

Hardly a week later, the state of emergency has been declared, tens of thousands of state and military personnel have been dismissed and three million servants recalled from holidays.

As the Turkish people recover from the psychological shock following the events, questions and all kinds of theories fill the discussions in the squares, cafés and social media. They are wondering “why” and “why now”? And then, “what is next”? All this on the assumption that everyone agrees with the answer to the question “who did it”?

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power

LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) – After Hitler’s Final Solution – the elimination of the Jews – came Cambodia’s Khmer Rouge and the murder of two million of the country’s people. After that came Rwanda when at least a million of the Tutsi people were slaughtered en masse by the Hutus. More recently we have seen large-scale killing in Sudan and now in Syria. The latter two can’t be called “genocide” – the attempt to totally eliminate a people – but the first three certainly were.

However bad that sounds the evidence is, whether it be genocide or mass slaughter, there has been significantly less of it during the last 50 years, despite the fact that most of us recall the horrors – thanks to the TV news producers’ mantra “if it bleeds it leads” – not the steady lessening of its frequency.