By James E. Jennings* ATLANTA, USA | 14 February 2025 (IDN) — The stark alternatives facing people in Gaza are both equally bad: stay in their little strip of Palestine and die or try to leave and die. It’s like choosing between the devil or the deep blue sea. They face death either way. Even […]
Military Infiltrations Undermine Thailand’s Democratization
By Jan Servaes* BANGKOK, Thailand | 14 February 2025 (IDN) — Since the abolition of the absolute monarchy in 1932, Thailand has alternated between periods of relatively democratic rule and military coups. Officially, there have been 13 successful coups, but the attempted coups, which have been extensively gossiped about in the media, are countless. The […]
Opinion: Ukraine War, Impact of Rearmament, Economic Woes Loom Over German National Elections
By Michael von der Schulenburg* BRUSSELS | 13 February 2025 (IDN) — The war in Ukraine and its consequences will have a long-lasting negative impact on the political, security, economic and social future of Germany. It is the biggest war on European soil since the Second World War; a war which has brought us dangerously […]
How a Moroccan NGO Provides Services Based on an Ancient Religious Connection
By Noah Schrott-Schubert* MARRAKECH, Morocco | 13 February 2025 (IDN) — On the 7th of January, Dr. Yossef Ben-Meir, president of the Moroccan NGO, High Atlas Foundation, published an essay in Johns Hopkins University’s The SAIS Review, which sheds light on how people’s needs in Morocco can be addressed through participatory interfaith dialogue. The story […]
Importance of the Indian Navy Frigate’s Visit to South Africa
By Guy Martin* The premier online African defence and security news publication defenceWeb issued this article. It is being republished with their permission. JOHANNESBURG, South Africa | 10 February 2025 (IDN) — The Indian Navy’s latest guided missile stealth frigate, INS Tushil, recenrly called in South Africa while on her maiden voyage home from Russia. […]
Quad and AUKUS Face an Uncertain Future Under Trump
By David M. Andrews* CANBERRA, Australia | 10 February 2025 (IDN) — The return of Donald Trump as US President marks an important crossroads in the future of two emergent Indo-Pacific security frameworks: the Quad, comprising Australia, India, Japan and USA, and AUKUS, the trilateral partnership between Australia, the UK and USA. Both institutions played […]
European Companies Feed the Dangerous Global Shadow Fleet
By Nathaniel Peutherer* LONDON | 9 February 2025 (IDN) — On 19 July 2024, the oil tanker Hafnia Nile was nearing its top speed when it collided with the supertanker Ceres I, off the east coast of Malaysia. Within minutes, flames engulfed both vessels, sending thick plumes of toxic smoke into the air. Several crew […]
Breakthrough in UN Tax Convention Despite Talks Despite US Walking Out
By J Nastranis NEW YORK | 8 February 2025 (IDN) — The European Network on Debt and Development (Eurodad), a network of 60 European non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in 28 countries, has welcomed “a major breakthrough towards more just and effective international tax rules” in UN Tax Convention negotiations in New York—despite the United States’ withdrawal. […]
AFRICOM Carries Out First Trump-Directed Airstrike On ISIS-Somalia
By Pearl Matibe* The premier online African defence and security news publication defenceWeb issued this article. It is being republished with their permission. WASHINGTON | 7 February 2025 (IDN) — At the direction of President Donald J Trump, the United States carried out its first airstrike of his second term, targeting ISIS-Somalia operatives in the […]
“Riviera Of the Middle East”: A Paradise Inside a Hornet’s Nest
By Somar Wijayadasa* NEW YORK | 6 February 2025 (IDN) — President Donald Trump’s bombshell proposal that the United States would take over the war-ruined Gaza—that he described as a “demolition zone” – relocate Palestinians to neighboring countries—possibly in Egypt and Jordan – and redevelop the war-torn enclave into what he described as the “Riviera […]