OPINION

Photo: Global food supply chains are complex and include these kale farmers in Uganda. Credit: FAO.

Global Food Systems Can Only Be Truly Transformed with a People’s Summit

Viewpoint by Agnes Kalibata*

NEW YORK (IDN) – Long before the emergence of COVID-19, it was well-accepted that the world was off-course to achieve most of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030, including ending hunger. But recovering from the pandemic to deliver any of the 17 SDGs relies now more than ever on first feeding the world.

Yet as COVID-19 spread, the reported number of hungry people rocketed upward after three decades of progress, with worse still likely to come in some regions as farmers contend with an unprecedented number of extreme weather events as well as the impact of the pandemic.

: Phil Harris; OPINION; 18 February 2021

Photo: In Colombia, young people, activists and former FARC guerrilla fighters are being targeted for execution-style murders. Credit: EPA-EFE/Mauricio Duenas Castaneda

Mass Murders Threaten Colombia's Peace Agreement

Viewpoint by Camilo Tamayo Gomez*

BIRMINGHAM (IDN) – The murder of five students at a farm in Buga, in south-western Colombia, on January 24 highlights the fragility of the 2016 peace deal which brought to an end more than five decades of civil conflict between successive governments and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).

January 2021 was the most violent month since the peace deal was signed, with 12 mass killings and total of 45 people murdered, according to the Colombian NGO INDEPAZ. The United Nations Verification Mission in Colombia and Human Rights Watch have recorded the deaths of 261 FARC ex-combatants and more than 400 human rights defenders and social leaders since 2016.

: Phil Harris; OPINION; 17 February 2021

Photo: Protesters in Yangon carrying signs reading "Free Daw Aung San Suu Kyi" on 8 February 2021. CC BY-SA 4.0

MYANMAR: The Complicated Politics & Geopolitics of the Coup

Viewpoint by Vijay Prashad*

NORTHAMPTON, Massachusetts (IDN) — On February 1, 2021, Myanmar’s military — known as the Tatmadaw — invoked Article 417 of the 2008 constitution, dismissed State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi, and arrested her and other members of her National League for Democracy (NLD) party. Condemnation of the coup was swift, although there would be the reason for hesitancy in the reaction:

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 17 February 2021

President Biden Should Resurrect the Iran Nuclear Deal

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power*

LUND, Sweden (IDN) — General Colin Powell should know. He was chief of staff of the US military, and later secretary of state under President George W. Bush. When the Syrian civil war broke out and there was an effort in Congress and the media to persuade President Barack Obama to intervene, Powell made an observation, the one posted in pottery shops: ”If you break it you own it”. He had also made the same pithy remark before the first Gulf war but then he went along with leading the invasion.

: Jonathan Power; OPINION; 16 February 2021

Photo: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump attends 'Namaste Trump' event in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. Streamed live on 24 Feb 2020. Credit: Prime Minister's Office.

US and India: The Nexus Between Identity Politics and Economic Achievements

Viewpoint by Chandra Muzaffar

This article is being reproduced from the Website of the International Movement for a Just World (JUST) presided over by Dr Chandra Muzaffar.

KUALA LUMPUR (IDN) – According to official estimates, Donald J. Trump obtained a little more than 74 million votes in the November 2020 presidential election losing to Joseph Biden who secured a little more than 81 million votes. Biden won by a comfortable margin, but Trump also performed remarkably well. What explains his performance? Analysis of his performance may reveal the growing influence of a certain combination of forces that may shape elections in not only the United States but also in other parts of the world in the coming years.

: Kalinga Seneviratne; OPINION; 13 February 2021

Nigerian Bandits Have Their Cake and Eat It

Viewpoint by Azu Ishiekwene

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

ABUJA (IDN) – The fight against terror in Nigeria has been a theatre of the absurd. What began as a tiny spark of itinerant fanatics taking a pledge against western education mutated into a full-fledged non-state army currently ranked as the third deadliest globally. Yet, banditry is another fast-growing franchise.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 11 February 2021

Photo: Stuart Appelbaum, the president of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU). Credit: RWDSU.

Behind Amazon's 'Most Aggressive Anti-Union Effort’

Viewpoint by Sonali Kolhatkar

Workers at one of Amazon’s warehouses are deciding whether or not to join a union. Amazon’s union-busting efforts indicate just how important the vote is, writes Sonali Kolhatkar. She is the founder, host and executive producer of “Rising Up With Sonali,” a television and radio show that airs on Free Speech TV and Pacifica stations. This article was produced by Economy for All, a project of the Independent Media Institute.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 11 February 2021

Photo: President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. delivers remarks to State Department employees, at the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C., on February 4, 2021. [State Department Photo by Freddie Everett/ Public Domain]

President Biden Vows to 'Repair Our Alliances, Engage with The World Once Again'

Viewpoint by Somar Wijayadasa*

NEW YORK (IDN) – The President of the United States of America, Joseph Biden, outlined his vision for America's foreign policy agenda and reiterated the need for America to strengthen its global alliances after President Donald Trump disparaged those relationships during the last four years.

Biden chose to unveil his foreign policy at the Department of State.

: Somar Wijayadasa; OPINION; 10 February 2021

Photo: People fleeing conflict are particularly exposed to the threat of COVID-19. Credit: Giorgos Moutafis/Oxfam

Refugees and Pandemic: An Opportunity to be Seized?

Viewpoint by James Milner*

OTTAWA (IDN) – December 2019 was a time for cautious optimism for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). They were celebrating the results of the first Global Refugee Forum, during which a wide range of states and other actors made pledges to enhance refugee support and share good practices.

Only a year later, on its 70th anniversary, the UNHCR issued a statement saying it was “in no mood to celebrate” given that conditions for refugees were getting markedly worse, not better.

: Phil Harris; OPINION; 10 February 2021

Photo: Human Rights protest in the US. Source: humanrights.org

Biden Must Tread Carefully in the Human Rights Field

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power*

LUND, Sweden (IDN) – President Joe Biden is committed to the pursuit of human rights abroad. We know this because this cause now runs through the arteries of the Democratic Party and has done since the time of President Jimmy Carter who was the first president in post World War 2 history to make it such pronounced priority.

Carter, a highly religious man who taught in his local Sunday school whenever he could get home, felt that God had created the US in part “to set an example for the rest of the world”. In practice, it wasn’t so straightforward.