OPINION

Photo: The Marines deploying in Syria reportedly have M777 howitzers, seen here with artillerymen at the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center. Credit: Wikipedia | U.S. Marines.

Syria Withdrawal Plan Tallies With America's Wish To Bring Soldiers Home

Viewpoint by Ellen R. Wald

The writer is a historian and author of 'Saudi, Inc.' She is the president of Transversal Consulting and also teaches Middle East history and policy at Jacksonville University, USA. Twitter: @EnergzdEconomy. This article first appeared on the Arab News on January 2, 2019.

JACKSONWILLE, USA (IDN-INPS) – President Donald Trump shook the establishment in Washington by announcing on December 19, 2018 that he would do exactly what he had promised during his campaign. He declared that American military service members would be leaving Syria. As Trump explained: "We have defeated (Daesh) in Syria, my only reason for being there during the Trump presidency."

: IDN-INPS Middle East & Africa Editor; OPINION; 05 January 2019

Liberalization, Privatization and Globalization Playing Havoc

Viewpoint by Jayasri Priyalal

The writer is the Regional Director responsible for Finance Sector of UNI Global Union, Asia & Pacific Organization - Singapore.

SINGAPORE (IDN) – Imagine the feelings of millions of Americans holding their pay cheques during the festive seasons and at a time getting ready to face the harsh winter, as a consequence of the partial government shutdown decision of President Donald Trump.

This single most incident can be interpreted as the culmination of the LPG strategies of the Liberal, Libertarian, and Neo-Liberal order with an ultimate objective to get rid of state intervention for market forces to reign into government.

: Kalinga Seneviratne; OPINION; 03 January 2019

Photo: PM Modi, Xi Jinping Meet On Sidelines Of G20 Summit In Argentina. Credit: MEA India.

Indian Foreign Policy Not Walking Modi's Big Talk

Viewpoint by Bharat Karnad

The author is Research Professor for National Security Studies at the Centre for Policy Research, New Delhi. He is author of 'Staggering Forward: Narendra Modi and India's Global Ambition' and blogs at 'SecurityWise'. This article first appeared on EastAsiaForum on 24 December 2018.

NEW DELHI (IDN-INPS) – The 2018 G20 Summit in Buenos Aires offered Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi another international occasion to bolster his political standing at home. But while domestic audiences lapped up the Indian media coverage of his umpteenth such outing, in the world of global power politics the Indian Prime Minister lacks any real influence or standing. So Modi followed the same strategy that he has in similar circumstances in the past — trying to make India relevant by inserting the country into clashing coalitions.

: Kalinga Seneviratne; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 02 January 2019

Photo: In a desert area located on the west coast of Australia. The lake looks pink because of Dunaliella. Credit: Midori Kurahashi.

The Biomass Shore Project – A Leading Model For Next-Generation Innovation

Viewpoint by Midori Kurahashi

The author is Project Associate Professor, Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, the University of Tokyo, Japan.

TOKYO (IDN) – Worldwide forest fires and the abnormal heat experienced last summer are still fresh in our memory. Many people throughout the world had a sense that some kind of unsettling change is happening. Even so, response is slow and measures are not being taken. One reason for this is that the world is driven by people who believe that the cost of stopping global warming is too great for the achieved effect.

: IDN-INPS Asia Editor; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 02 January 2019

Photo: Portraits of King Salman and Prince Mohammed in Jenadriyah. CC BY-SA 4.0.

The U.S. Is Apparently At The Mercy Of Saudi Arabia

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power*

LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) – Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman remains at large, the unapologetic murderer (according to the CIA) of the respected dissident journalist, Jamal Khashoggi. Even though President Donald Trump came close to accusing him of the deed, he has pulled back, citing Saudi Arabia’s importance as an oil producer and arms buyer.

The Prime Minister of the UK, Theresa May, is too preoccupied with Brexit to want to give up an important market. President Emanuel Macron of France is silent after an initial outburst. Now pressed by the demands of the demonstrators, he also wants to keep sources of revenue that come from sales of jets.

: Jonathan Power; THE WORLD; Middle East & North Africa; 01 January 2019

Photo: A glimpse of the 7th European Union Nonproliferation and Disarmament Conference in Brussels. Credit: European Union.

Nonproliferation Policy and Priorities – U.S. Perspective

Viewpoint by Dr. Christopher Ashley Ford

The author is Assistant Secretary, Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation. The following are extensive extracts from his remarks at the 7th European Union Nonproliferation and Disarmament Conference in Brussels, Belgium, on December 18, 2018.

BRUSSELS | WASHINGTON, D.C. (IDN-INPS) – A year ago at this European Union conference, I had the honor of speaking on behalf of the new U.S. Administration to outline our emerging approaches to nonproliferation, arms control, and disarmament policy — summarizing critical continuities and highlighting constructive innovations that we were then getting underway in our first year. This year, having moved from the National Security Council staff to the State Department, I’m pleased to be able to outline our policy and priorities in the nonproliferation business.

: J C Suresh; OPINION; 30 December 2018

Photo: President Joseph Kabila Kabange of the Democratic Republic of the Congo addresses the seventy-third session of the United Nations General Assembly on 25 September 2018. UN Photo/Cia Pak

UN Intervention In The Congo Appears To Be Successful

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power*

LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) – The general election in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo) has been postponed yet again – to December 30. Will this country, the largest and potentially the richest in Africa, ever escape from its continuous dictatorship, and its propensity to civil war? It’s not so long ago that Susan Rice, then the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, was talking about the Congo as the site of “Africa’s First World War”.

Has the UN at long last really pacified this country that has been continuously in a state of unrest since the Belgian colonisers, after effectively looting the country, fled in 1960, turning the country over to a hastily improvised African government?

: Jonathan Power; THE WORLD; Africa; 25 December 2018

Photo: UN Secretary-General Guterres speaking about 'The Importance of Multilateralism in a Time of Unprecedented Challenge' at Hamad Bin Khalifa University in Doha, Qatar on 16 December 2018. Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, Chairperson of Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development (QF), attended the lecture. Credit: Hamad bin Khalifa University, Doha.

Multilateralism Works – With All Its Problems, With All Of Its Difficulties

By António Guterres

The author is UN Secretary-General. Following are extensive extracts from his public lecture at Hamad Bin Khalifa University in Doha, Qatar on 16 December 2018, which attracted more than 375 guests, including students, faculty and diplomats.

DOHA (IDN-INPS) – We live in a world where, more and more, we have challenges that are global, more and more we have problems that no country can solve by itself, but at the same time a world where many people do not believe that international organizations can be helpful. They believe that their own countries should be doing it by themselves.

: Ramesh Jaura; OPINION; 23 December 2018

Photo: Ashraf El Nour, Director of IOM Office to UN New York addressing the UN Security Council Meeting on the "Maintenance of international peace and security: Trafficking of persons in conflict situations" on 21 November 2017.

Migration Is a Great Opportunity to Africa and Host Countries

By Caroline Mwanga

NEW YORK (IDN) – Contrary to the widespread view coloured by the too-common images of young African migrants crossing the Mediterranean, migration in Africa is dominated by Africans moving within Africa, says Ashraf El Nour, the director of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) Office to the UN in New York.

They migrate mostly to neighbouring countries, or within the same region. Africa's share of global migration, which on the whole stood at 258 million in 2017, are 36 million people of which 19 million moved within the continent and 17 million outside Africa, El Nour told Africa Renewal's Zipporah Musau.

: IDN-INPS UN Bureau; THE WORLD; Africa; 21 December 2018

Image source: Democracy without Borders; Freedom House report for 2018.

Democracy Has Hit An Iceberg

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power*

LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) – In the Western world there is a constant debate about democracy. In the U.S. the Democrats charge quite correctly that the House’s constituencies are gerrymandered against them. Then there’s the insoluble issue of the Senate’s anti-democratic bias where its numbers are tilted against the Democrats by the fact that rural, less populated, states which tend to be conservative, elect two senators, just as do the Democratic-inclined, heavily populated, states.