OPINION

Photo: Kosovar Prime Minister Albin Kurti (left) and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic are due to meet for talks in Brussels on February 27. Source: Radio Free Europe.

Is The New Agreement a Turning Point for Serbia and Kosovo?

By Dr Alon Ben-Meir*

NEW YORK, 26 March 2023 (IDN) — The recent verbal agreement reached between Serbia and Kosovo in Ohrid, North Macedonia, obviously represents a positive development in the process of normalization between the two countries. There are however many obstacles and a considerable number of ambiguities that will make it difficult to fully implement the EU-backed deal in spite of the fact that both sides have a vested interest in seeing many of the provisions of the agreement being realized.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 26 March 2023

Image: Greenhouse and drip irrigation system installed with support from WFP (Marcala municipality, La Paz Department). Photo: Valencia

Lessons on Climate Resilience and Peacebuilding from Ethiopia & the Dry Corridor

By Dr Farah Hegazi and Sandra C. Valencia*

This article was published by SIPRI.

STOCKHOLM, 24 March 20303 (IDN) — Humanitarian and development interventions often aim to make households and communities more resilient in the face of shocks, including climate change. But they can end up creating new vulnerabilities or missing chances to build and sustain peace if they do not consider local conflict sensitivities.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 24 March 2023

Image: War protest in Washington. Source: Countercurrents.org

America's Over 300 Wars!

By John Scales Avery*

COPENHAGEN, 23 March 2023 (IDN) — As documented in the Wikipedia timeline of US wars, the United States of America has been more or less continuously at war ever since the American Revolutionary war of 1775-1783, which established the United States as a nation.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 23 March 2023

Photo: Robert Kelley with scientists from the French Atomic Energy Commission’s military applications division (CEA-DAM), during inspections in Iraq in December 2002. Credit: Petr Pavlicek / IAEA

Twenty Years Ago in Iraq, Ignoring Weapons Inspectors Proved to Be a Fatal Mistake

By Robert E. Kelley

The writer is Distinguished Associate Fellow at the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

"Let me begin by saying, we were almost all wrong, and I certainly include myself here."—David Kay, Head of the Iraq Survey Group, during testimony to the US Senate on 29 January 2004.

: Europe Editor; UN INSIDER; 23 March 2023

Image: Israel’s President Isaac Herzog is now all but despairing to save the country from the perilous path that Netanyahu has chosen. Source: YouTube Screenshot of i24NEWS English

'The Battle Over Israel’s Soul'

By Alon Ben-Meir*

NEW YORK, 22 March 2023 (IDN) — Israel is facing the greatest danger since its inception—not from any regional adversarial power but from within, led by a largely corrupt cast of political characters and shepherded by a criminal who is willing to destroy the country only to escape justice.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 22 March 2023

Image: M1 Abrams tanks in Iraqi service, January 2011.Wikimedia Commons.

Who’s in Control of How We Remember the Iraq War?

By Jeremy Earp*

“All wars are fought twice, the first time on the battlefield, the second time in memory.” — Viet Thanh Nguyen

NORTHAMPTON, MA, USA (IDN) — As mainstream U.S. media outlets pause to remember the U.S. invasion of Iraq, it’s clear that there’s a lot they hope we’ll forget— first and foremost, the media’s own active complicity in whipping up public support for the war.

: UN Bureau; THE WORLD; Middle East; 18 March 2023

Photo: UN Secretary-General António Guterres meets Iraq's Prime Minister in Baghdad March 2023. Guterres, who was in Iraq for the first time in six years, expressed his support for the country’s people, the new Government and its ambitious reform agenda. Credit: UNAMI/Sarmad Al-Safy

The Urbanity of Evil: 20 Years After the Invasion of Iraq

By Norman Solomon

SAN FRANCISCO, March 17 2023 (IDN) — Vast quantities of lies from top U.S. government officials led up to the Iraq invasion. Now, marking its 20th anniversary, the same media outlets that eagerly boosted those lies are offering retrospectives. Don’t expect them to shed light on the most difficult truths, including their own complicity in pushing for war.

: UN Bureau; OPINION; 17 March 2023

Image source: The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)

Independent Commission Server and Other Election Day Stories

By Azu Ishiekwene

The writer is the Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief of LEADERSHIP newspaper based in Abuja, Nigeria.

ABUJA, 16 March 2023 (IDN) — For the third time since 1999, I voted at a general election on February 25 and did so without much hassle. I knew my candidates would lose at the unit where I voted, but that didn’t matter. Voting mattered more.

The Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) processed me so quickly it was almost like magic. I had no reason to suspect my experience would not be the norm that day.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 16 March 2023

Image: President Xi Jinping of China, 10 March 2023. Credit: Xinhua News

Will China's 'Position Paper' Achieve Peace or Justice for Ukraine?

By Mona Ali Khalil

This article was issued by Passblue and is being reproduced with due acknowledgement.

NEW YORK, 16 March 2023 (IDN) — China launched its 12-point position paper to end the war in Ukraine on the first anniversary of Russia’s full invasion of Ukraine. Some, including the United States, the European Union and NATO have dismissed what they call China’s peace plan as pro-Russian. The US further claimed that “China is seriously exploring supplying arms to Russia.” China has categorically denied the US claims and consistently maintained that it “will continue firmly standing on the side of dialogue and the side of peace.”

: UN Bureau; OPINION; 16 March 2023

Image: President Joe Biden meets with Chinese Communist Party General Secretary Xi Jinping ahead of the G-20 meeting in Bali, Indonesia, Nov. 14, 2022. Credit: Doug Mills/The New York Times

It's High Time the US Stopped Threatening China

By John Scales Avery*

COPENHAGEN, 15 March 2023 (IDN) — It appears that the military-industrial complex has complete control of the government of the United States, which recently voted to give the Pentagon roughly a trillion dollars of the taxpayer's money. This was done by cutting back on social programs which would have helped poor working families.