OPINION

Photo: British and German soldiers playing soccer in No-Man’s Land during the Christmas Truce in 1914. Credit: Universal History Archive.

Now is a Good Time for a Ukraine Ceasefire and Peace Talks

Viewpoint by Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J. S. Davies*

NEW YORK (IDN) — As the war in Ukraine has dragged on for nine months and a cold winter is setting in, people all over the world are calling for a Christmas truce, harkening back to the inspirational Christmas Truce of 1914. In the midst of World War I, warring soldiers put down their guns and celebrated the holiday together in the no-man’s land between their trenches. This spontaneous reconciliation and fraternization has been, over the years, a symbol of hope and courage.

: Opinion Editor; SUSTAINABILITY; Peace & Justice; 30 November 2022

Photo: Ambassador Palitha Kohona with Chinese TV film crew at his office in Beijing.

China–Sri Lanka: Two Millennia of Mutually Enriching Relations

Viewpoint by Ambassador Palitha Kohona*

BEIJING (IDN) — Sitting in the middle of the Indian Ocean at the southern tip of India, Sri Lanka occupies an enviable strategic position. A blessing that it has successfully leveraged to advantage in the past and a curse that will continue to attract the rapacious attention of global and regional powers seeking to dominate the Indian Ocean region strategically, economically and culturally.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 30 November 2022

A Workshop Helps Fill the Basket of Knowledge on the Pacific

Climate Change, Human Mobility and Peacebuilding Draw the Focus

Viewpoint by Volker Boege

Toda Peace Institute issued this article, and it is being republished with their permission.

BRISBANE, Australia (IDN) — While UN Secretary-General António Guterres in his opening speech at this year’s COP 27 in Sharm El-Sheikh on November 7 stated that humanity is “on the highway to climate hell with our foot on the accelerator”, a workshop held in Wellington, New Zealand, just a few days before, explored the consequences of this hellish trip for the security and peace of communities and countries in the Pacific region.

: Opinion Editor; SUSTAINABILITY; Climate Action; 29 November 2022

Slim Possibility of Asia-Pacific Getting on Track to Net-Zero

Viewpoint by Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana

The writer is an Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Secretary of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP).

BANGKOK (IDN) — The recent climate talks in Egypt have left us with a sobering reality: The window for maintaining global warming to 1.5 degrees is closing fast and what is on the table currently is insufficient to avert some of the worst potential effects of climate change.

: Opinion Editor; SUSTAINABILITY; Climate Action; 28 November 2022

Photo: Recent floods in Pakistan covered a third of the country, with devastating consequences for families and the economy. Credit: UNDP Pakistan floods

Finding The Right Money for Vulnerable Countries

The Importance of Loss and Damage Fund (LDF)

Viewpoint by Inge Kaul

The author is a fellow at the Hertie School of Governance, Berlin, Germany. Comments are welcome and can be addressed to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

BERLIN (IDN) — For decades, there have been non-conclusive deliberations regarding how the international community can support poor and vulnerable countries in their efforts to cope with and recover from the havoc wreaked on their territory by the ill-effects of global warming, such as severe droughts, floods, storms, or rising sea levels.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 27 November 2022

Myanmar Junta Craves Legitimacy Amid Crimes Against Humanity & War Crimes

Viewpoint by Jan Servaes

BRUSSELS (IDN) — Since the February 1, 2021 coup, Myanmar's military has committed a variety of atrocities that, according to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, may amount to "crimes against humanity and war crimes".

To consolidate its power against widespread popular resistance, the self-proclaimed State Administration Council (SAC) led by Min Aung Hlaing has killed at least 2,465 people, conducted indiscriminate airstrikes in ethnic areas and razed hundreds of villages. The country has plunged into chaos and teeters on the brink of a failed state.

: Asia Editor; OPINION; 27 November 2022

Photo: The colour orange is used to represent a brighter future, free from violence against women and girls. Source: UN Women

Push Forward—Act Now to End Violence Against Women & Girls

Viewpoint by Sima Bahous

The following is the text of the statement by Ms Bahous, UN Under-Secretary-General and UN Women Executive Director, on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, 25 November 2022.

NEW YORK (IDN) — Five years ago, the global #MeToo movement brought new urgency and visibility to the extent of violence against women and girls. Millions of survivors came forward to share their experience. They forced the world to recognise a reality that shames every one of us. Their courage and voice led to a powerful collective activism and a sea-change in awareness.

: UN Bureau; OPINION; 25 November 2022

The US Midterm Election: A Rude Awakening for the Republican Party

Viewpoint by Alon Ben-Meir

Dr Alon Ben-Meir is a retired professor of international relations at the Center for Global Affairs at New York University (NYU). He taught courses on international negotiation and Middle Eastern studies for over 20 years.

NEW YORK (IDN) — The result of the midterm election has caused a seriously widening fissure within the Republican party. The leadership as well as the rank and file of the party must now choose between following Trump’s hopeless pursuit of the presidency again or abandon him once and for all in pursuit of constructive conservatism while protecting and defending the constitution and American democracy.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 20 November 2022

Photo: President Joko Widodo (middle) conveys his views in the Working Session 3 of the Indonesia's G20 Summit in Nusa Dua, Bali, on November 16, 2022. Extreme left of Widodo is Indian PM Modi. G20 Media Center/Zabur Karuru/nym/vn/22.

India Could Navigate the G20 Next Year in a New Direction

Viewpoint by M. K. Bhadrakumar*

NEW DELHI (IDN) — The seventeenth G20 Heads of State and Government Summit held in Bali, Indonesia, on November 15–16 stands out as a consequential event from many angles. The international politics is at an inflection point and the transition will not leave unaffected any of the institutions inherited from the past that is drifting away forever.

However, the G20 [or Group of Twenty—comprising 19 most of the world's largest economies, including both industrialised and developing nations and the European Union] can be an exception in bridging time past with time present and time future.

: Asia Editor; OPINION; 19 November 2022

Photo: Demonstrators protest against fuel price hikes and to demand that Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry step down, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on September 19, 2022. Courtesy of AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph

UN Military Intervention in Haiti Offers No Added Value but Added Chaos

Viewpoint by P.I. Gomes

The writer is the former Secretary-General of The Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS)

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad & Tobago (IDN) — Haiti’s history of horror and resolute self-determination is once again a subject of controversy and confusion in much of the world’s media.