THE WORLD – Page 236 – IDN-InDepthNews

Middle East2013-11-232023-07-10

Syria: Road To Geneva-II Littered With Bumps

By Manish Rai* | IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis

NEW DELHI (IDN) – While efforts are underway to make a peace conference on Syria possible, the surrounding atmospheres are not encouraging as opposition groups in the Syrian conflict seem to still have reservations and preconditions.

The Western-backed Syrian National Coalition (SNC), the main opposition group in exile, threw a monkey wrench into the planned peace talks in Geneva saying that it won’t attend the Geneva II peace conference unless there’s a strict timetable for President Bashar al-Assad to leave power.

Asia-Pacific2013-11-212023-07-10

Asia Wants To Abolish Hunger and Poverty

By Ashok Kumar | IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis

BANGKOK (IDN) – Asia-Pacific region has bumpy roads to traverse before it achieves ‘zero hunger’ and ‘zero poverty’. But it is gearing up for ‘food security for all’ backed by ‘concerted efforts’ to achieve Zero Hunger by 2025 when global population is estimated to surpass the 8 billion mark.

The ‘Zero Hunger Challenge’ – highlighting that hunger can be eliminated in our lifetimes – was launched by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in June 2002 at Rio to commemorate and review the UN Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in June 1992.

Middle East2013-11-122023-07-10

Iran Talks: France Anxious About Competition With the Other Five

By Jaya Ramachandran | IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis

BERLIN | TEHRAN (IDN) – France is concerned about its declining influence in the Middle East and fears economic competition from the U.S., Britain and Germany if relations between Tehran and the West are normalized for the first time since the 1979 Iranian revolution. This, according to a senior Iranian analyst, is the reason French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius appeared to adopt a tough stance in Iran’s talks with the P5+1 – the UN Security Council’s permanent members, the U.S., Britain, France, Russia, China along with Germany – on November 9-10 in Geneva.

Europe2013-11-102023-07-10

Whither Post-Wall Europe – and Germany?

By Ramesh Jaura | IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis

BERLIN (IDN) – Europe is the world’s richest region. Together 28 countries constituting the European Union (EU) are the world’s largest market. EU and its member states provide 56% of about $130 billion global official development assistance. Precisely this obliges Europe not to stay bogged down in ongoing financial and identity crises but accept its international responsibilities wholeheartedly.

This was the upshot of a landmark speech by the European Council President Herman Van Rompuy on November 9, the very day the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, 28 years after it was erected to reinforce post-war division of Germany and Europe. The day was “perhaps the most important tipping point, not just for Germany but in our recent European history,” he said.

Asia-Pacific2013-11-092023-07-10

Commonwealth Faces Challenge of Relevance

By Kalinga Seneviratne | IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis

SINGAPORE (IDN) – On 15th of November Britain’s King-In-Waiting for the past three decades Prince Charles will open a three-day Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Colombo, which has attracted much media attention particularly in Britain, India and Canada for all the wrong reasons.

Asia-Pacific2013-11-042023-07-10

New Drone Assault Knocks US-Pakistan Relations

By Zachary Fillingham* | IDN-InDepth NewsViewpoint

TORONTO (IDN) – US drone strikes have long been a sticking point in US-Pakistan relations. To the Obama administration, they are a key tool in the fight against terrorism, evident in the various high-ranking commanders they’ve eliminated from the regional militancy equation. To Islamabad, however, they represent a breach of state sovereignty, and their tendency to kill civilians serves to undermine government writ in Pakistan’s tribal territories.

If drone strikes are the crack running along the edifice of US-Pakistan relations, then US aid is the plaster used to mask it. The Obama administration quietly resumed a $1.6 billion military aid package to Pakistan last month (October 2013).

Middle East2013-10-302023-07-10

The Importance of Iran-US-Russia Triangle

By Alireza Noori* | IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis

TEHRAN (IDN | Iran Review) – Although the idea of possible re-establishment of Iran’s relations with the United States is still at the stage of early speculations and does not seem to be realized even in the medium term, the mere mention of this issue has been followed by different analysis about the possibility of an Iran-U.S. détente and its outcomes. Among all other issues, relations between Tehran and Moscow will be certainly affected by such a development.

Europe2013-10-262023-07-10

The Lampedusa Tragedy: Why Sons Could Not Mourn Their Mothers

By Mirjam van Reisen* | IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis

BRUSSELS (IDN) – In the early morning of October 3 a tourist was enjoying the beautiful quiet beach of the Italian Mediterranean Island when three swimmers appeared. Three African young men frantically asked for help. They had left their mothers behind in a ship on sea that was on fire.

Asia-Pacific2013-10-242023-07-10

US-Japan Defence Pact Troubles South Korea

By Shim Jae Hoon* | IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis

SEOUL (IDN | Yale Global) – The front-page picture in Korean newspapers told the story of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit. South Korea’s President Park Geun Hye, looking frosty and gazing in the opposite direction, ignored Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe standing next to her at the October 7 APEC in Bali. The two leaders barely exchanged greetings, according to a Japanese news dispatch, and kept their contact to a minimum, “only for a few seconds”.

Middle East2013-10-212023-07-10

Iran and P5+1 Take One More Step Toward Mutual Confidence Building

By Hassan Beheshtipour* | IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis

TEHRAN (IDN | Iran Review) – The fourth round of negotiations between representatives of Iran and the P5+1 group of world powers (USA, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany), which ended on October 16, 2013, was a great leap ahead for both sides and a solid measure aimed at mutual trust building.

The two-day talks in Geneva were very remarkable for the Iranian side because serious negotiations had gotten underway again after a hiatus of several months. By offering a new proposal which was too attractive for the Western states to reject, Iran proved that it is ready to reach a comprehensive and complete understanding with the West over its peaceful nuclear energy program.