THE WORLD – Page 215 – IDN-InDepthNews

Asia-Pacific2013-10-082023-07-10

Afghanistan: Reconciling India’s and Pakistan’s Interests

By Shastri Ramachandaran* | IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis

NEW DELHI (IDN) – Although the drawdown of NATO forces in Afghanistan is well under way, there remain many uncertainties about the post-2014 situation. The presence and role of the U.S. military and mercenaries, outcome of President Hamid Karzai’s endgames as he prepares the pitch for the presidential election in April 2014 and the consequences of the Taliban’s opposition to Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif aiding the reconciliation process are just a few of the uncertainties.

In the event, the only certainty appears to be uncertainty over the peace-building process taking off as planned to bring about reconciliation and cooperation of those involved in Afghanistan. However, “reconciliation and cooperation of countries in the region” of South Asia refers not only to stabilization of the situation in Afghanistan for peace building, but is also a euphemism for India and Pakistan joining hands in and with Afghanistan.

Europe2013-10-052023-07-10

EU Must Grant Asylum To All Eritrean Refugees

By Mirjam van Reisen* | IDN-InDepth NewsViewpoint

BRUSSELS (IDN) – The tragic loss of some 300 refugees off Lampedusa on October 3 gives public focus to the harsh and cruel reality facing thousands fleeing insecurity and oppression in the countries of their birth. A boat which traveled from Libya caught fire in close reach of the Italian coast. There were some 500 Eritreans on board, but only 147 were rescued according to media reports.

Asia-Pacific2013-10-012023-07-10

Malaysia Needs More Than ‘Cyberjaya’

By Murray Hunter* | IDN-InDepth NewsViewpoint

BEIJING (IDN – The ritualistic month-long celebration of Merdeka (independence) activities in Malaysia has largely lost its meaning, in part because the history of the roles that different groups played in the road to independence has been rewritten to support the current rulers.

The August 31 celebration, the day that Malaya gained independence from the British, as the major national day seems to exclude the aspirations of Sabahans and Sarawakians, who on September 16, 1963, joined Malaya and Singapore in a union called Malaysia. Groups like the Communist Party of Malaya, which fought and lost many lives against both the British and Japanese, are almost totally excluded from the nation’s Merdeka narrative as well.

This is all occurring in an environment desperately in need of a narrative of inclusiveness.

Middle East2013-09-202023-07-10

Syria Starts Abandoning Chemical Weapons

By Richard Johnson | IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis

THE HAGUE (IDN) – When the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) enters into force for Syria on October 14, 2013, the country will become the 190th Member State of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), according to the Hague-based global watchdog.

The CWC – or the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on their Destruction – is the most recent arms control agreement with the force of International law. This agreement outlaws the production, stockpiling and use of chemical weapons. It is administered by the OPCW, an independent organization.

Asia-Pacific2013-09-192023-07-10

How Myanmar Philanders With China, India, USA

By Zak Rose* | IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis

DETROIT (IDN) – During the period of strict economic sanctions and export bans that Western countries levied against Myanmar through the 1990s and 2000s, the military government had little choice but to turn to China. China, with its deep pockets and a strategic focus on the periphery, was more than happy to invest in the isolated state, increasing Myanmar’s dependence and furthering Beijing’s own military and economic interests by tapping into the poorer state’s promising energy reserves and vying for coastal access to the Indian Ocean.

Asia-Pacific2013-09-162023-07-10

South Korea Prepares To Handle Refugee Flows

By Steven Borowiec* | IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis

SEOUL (IDN | Yale Global) – Near South Korea’s main international airport, the national government is constructing a type of building never seen before in the country – a large complex capable of accommodating more than 1,000 refugee applicants. As South Korea becomes a more developed and better known country, with its TV shows and pop music appreciated around the world, the country is receiving more refugee applicants, and the government is still figuring out how to handle them. South Korea also receives many escapees from North Korea – more than 1,000 per year, which complicates relations with Pyongyang and Beijing.

Middle East2013-09-122023-07-10

The Identity Crisis Of Two Palestinian Towns

By Ramzy Baroud* | IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis

MOUNTLAKE TERRACE, WASHINGTON (IDN | CounterCurrents.org) – The distance between Gaza and Ramallah in sheer miles is hardly significant. But in actuality, both cities represent two different political realities, with inescapable cultural and socioeconomic dimensions. Their geopolitical horizons are vastly different as well – Gaza is situated within its immediate Arab surroundings and turmoil, while Ramallah is westernized in too many aspects to count. In recent years, the gap has widened like never before.

Of course, Gaza and Ramallah were always, in some ways, unalike. Demographics, size, topography and geographic proximity to Arab countries with different political priorities have always made them separate and distinctive. But the Israeli occupation of East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza in 1967 had decisively removed Ramallah from its Jordanian element, and Gaza from its Egyptian political milieu.

Africa2013-09-112023-07-10

DR Congo: How To Ensure Recurrence of Conflict

By Thibaud Lesueur* | IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis

NAIROBI (IDN | Crisis Group Blogs) – “With two hundred men, we could get rid of most of the LRA in DRC,” a foreign security official told me in August when I was touring the Uele district, in the far north east of the Democratic Republic of Congo. The Lord’s Resistance Army has been abusing the population there since at least 2008. But in contrast to the foreign official’s confidence, the striking fact was that the fight against what remains of the LRA is at a standstill. It needs fresh impetus, because the LRA has demonstrated repeatedly its capacity to go underground then surge again more violent than before.

Middle East2013-09-102023-07-10

Syria: A Complicated US-Russia Power Game

By Reza Hojjat Shamami* | IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis

TEHRAN (IDN | Iran Review) – Without a doubt, during these days that the international community is grappling with the Syria crisis, a new sensitive and determining chapter is being opened for the international world order. Of course, the ongoing developments inside Syria do not constitute the main reason for this situation, but it is more a result of a complicated power game, especially between the United States and Russia.

As a result, continuation of this trend can lead to the stabilization or change of the existing structure of international world system. Since August 21, when a chemical weapons attack was carried out in Ghouta, an eastern suburb of the Syrian capital, Damascus, the type of position taken by the American officials as well as some of their allies such as the UK, has practically pushed the world to the brink of a new war in the Middle East.

Middle East2013-09-092023-07-10

Grounds For Optimism In Egypt

By Ismail Serageldin* | IDN-InDepth NewsViewpoint

ALEXANDIRA (IDN) – Violence is about in the land. The young, the idealists and the dutiful, along with the fanatics, are dying in the streets and the hamlets of Egypt. Hatred and attacks on the Christian minority have reared their ugly head again. Differences of opinion escalate into confrontation, and the declaration of a state of emergency and the imposition of a curfew have formally underlined the gravity of the situation.