THE WORLD – Page 239 – IDN-InDepthNews

Asia-Pacific2013-08-272023-07-10

ICAN Australia Shows The Way To Abolish Nukes

By Neena Bhandari | IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis

SYDNEY (IDN) – Even as the nuclear-armed countries continue to amass new warheads and build and modernise ballistic missiles, bombers and submarines to launch them, the campaign for nuclear abolition is growing from strength to strength.

International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons’ (ICAN) Paper Cranes Project – symbolizing support for nuclear disarmament – is urging governments to begin negotiations on a global treaty banning nuclear weapons this year. More than 190,000 paper cranes have already been delivered to world leaders, and messages of support have been received from the Secretary-General of the United Nations and amongst others national leaders of Australia, Afghanistan, Greece, Kazakhstan, the Marshall Islands, Mozambique, Slovenia and Switzerland. Read in Chinese | Read in Japanese

Middle East2013-08-252023-07-10

Iran Mulls Over Eurasian Security Organization

By Kaveh L. Afrasiabi* | IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis

TEHRAN (IDN | Iran Review) – Although President Hassan Rouhani is scheduled to participate in next month’s summit of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in the Kyrgyz capital of Bishkek, the whole Iranian approach toward this regional, part economic, part security, organization is now under review in Tehran, as part and parcel of a “new foreign policy” promised by Rouhani and his foreign policy team headed by Javad Zarif.

Inducted as observer, along with India, Pakistan and Mongolia, since 2005, Iran has in fact sought full membership in the SCO since 2008, only to be rebuffed by the legalistic argument that the organization’s rules disallow membership by any country that is under the UN sanctions. Clearly, that is giving the UN sanctions too much importance and if China and Russia, the two leading SCO powers, really wanted they could come up with a creative solution, such as a “conditional acceptance” of Iran that would hinge on Iran’s resolution of its current problems with the UN atomic agency, the IAEA.

Middle East2013-08-232023-07-10

Turkey Tip Toes To Improve Ties with Iran

By Siamak Kakaei* | IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis

TEHRAN (IDN | Iran Review) – Turkey is currently grappling in its domestic politics with widespread popular protests in a number of Turkish cities. Also, on a regional level, Ankara is dealing with the aftermath of another crisis in its southern neighbour, Syria, and is also looking for ways to give a proper response to the demands of its own Kurdish population. The question is: Will these domestic and regional developments have any important effect on the foreign policy of (Turkey’s Prime Minister) Recep Tayyip Erdogan? Will Ankara’s foreign policy, which has been known in recent years as the new regional and Middle Eastern policy of Turkey, undergo changes as a result of the aforesaid developments?

Middle East2013-08-222023-07-10

Iran and P5+1 Talk About New Nuclear Talks

By Jaya Ramachandran | IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis

BERLIN (IDN) – Preparations are afoot for a new, and perhaps a promising, round of talks between Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany (P5+1) over Tehran’s nuclear energy program. According to Press TV, Kazakhstan is willing to host the negotiations for the third time in succession this year.

Undeterred by continued impasse at the talks in Almaty on April 6-7 and earlier on February 26-27, Kazakhstan’s Foreign Minister Erlan Idrissov made the announcement during a phone conversation with new Director of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Ali Akbar Salehi on August 18.

Asia-Pacific2013-08-202023-07-10

China Not the Global Engine of Economic Growth

By Michael Pettis* | IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis

BEIJING (IDN | Yale Global) – Imagine having predicted in 1990 that the Japanese economy, then widely expected to overtake the US within a decade or two, would grow on average by less than 1 percent a year for the next 20 years. In the unlikely case that anyone believed you, he would probably have drawn two worrisome conclusions.

First, Japan at that time was considered the world’s growth engine, and so a collapse in Japanese growth would likely throw the world into a tailspin. Second, if after several decades of robust expansion Japanese growth were suddenly to drop so dramatically, there was sure to be social and political upheaval in Japan.

Middle East2013-08-182023-07-10

Egypt A Hard Nut To Crack, Not Only For Obama

By J. C. Suresh | IDN-InDepth NewsReport

TORNTO (IDN) – President Barack Obama is coming under growing pressure at home to order “an immediate suspension” of military aid to Egypt and work with the United Nations, the African Union and other international institutions as well as Europe and Arab countries to put concerted pressure on the Egyptian military government to reverse its current policies.

Such persistent appeals are coming at a point in time when analysts stress that since the military took control in July and ousted President Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood in the aftermath of popular demand, the Gulf sheikdoms have stepped in with more than $12 billion of concessionary loans and critical energy deliveries with a view to backing General Abdel Fattah el-Sisi’s hard line. “The United States’ leverage pales in comparison: a mere $1.5 billion in annual assistance, $1.3 billion of which goes to the military,” says Isobel Coleman, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.

Asia-Pacific2013-08-162023-07-10

Revived Nalanda Should Include Buddhists

By Shenali D Waduge* | IDN-InDepth NewsViewpoint

COLOMBO (IDN) – In 1193 A.D. Nalanda, the world’s oldest Buddhist university was ransacked and destroyed by foreign invaders led by the Turkish Bakhityar Khiliji because the 14 acre “giver of knowledge” was a strong pillar of Buddhism and attracted students from all over the world, including countries such as Turkey and Persia. The invaders burnt to ruins the magnificent library and other architectural masterpieces of the Nalanda University.

In 2006, it was announced that Nalanda University was to be revived with the efforts and contributions of numerous countries. However, the issue is that old Nalanda was essentially a Buddhist place of learning promoting Buddhist beliefs and philosophy – the new architects are ironing out a creation of ancient Nalanda with a modern twist to include subjects that are taught in general universities thereby denying the Buddhist niche that Nalanda epitomized.

Middle East2013-08-122023-07-10

Egypt: Supporting Democracy the American Way

By Jeremy R. Hammond* | IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis

TAIPEI (IDN) – When the Obama administration announced on July 25 that it was free to violate U.S. law by continuing to finance the Egyptian military to the tune of $1.5 billion annually, even though it was responsible for overthrowing the democratically elected president of Egypt, Mohamed Morsi, in a coup d’tat on July 3, the message was understood loud and clear in Cairo. Two days later, the Egyptian military massacred over 70 demonstrators who were protesting Morsi’s ouster.

Africa2013-08-122023-07-10

A New Lease For ‘Thugtatorship’ in Zimbabwe

By Alemayehu G. Mariam* | IDN-InDepth NewsViewpoint

Zimbabwe had its presidential elections on August 3. The Zimbabwe Election Support Network said these were “seriously compromised”. Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai described the polls “a huge farce” and a “sham that does not reflect the will of the people.” Among African Union observers, only Botswana called for an investigation. Professor Alemayehu G. Mariam asks whether elections in Africa are a colossal exercise in futility, but is convinced that change in inevitable – perhaps through the expression of the ‘tornadic’ wrath of the people as seen in the ‘Arab Spring’.

Middle East2013-08-072023-07-10

Iran: New President Faces Abundant Challenges

By Jamsheed K. Choksy* | IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis

BLOOMINGTON (IDN | Yale Global) – Hassan Rouhani took charge of Iran with its socioeconomic safety nets unraveling, thanks to deleterious policies exacerbated by tightened sanctions from the West. Addressing the parliament on July 14, while president-elect, he acknowledged that the nuclear impasse is far from the only factor transforming the Islamic Republic of Iran negatively with impact on other countries. Iran’s challenges pose severe consequences at home and abroad.