Think-Tanks

Photo: A Simorgh launch vehicle launched the Payam-e Amirkabir Satellite from the Imam Khomeini Space Center, Iran, on 15 January 2019. The satellite was not placed into orbit due to an issue with the rocket’s third stage.

New U.S. Report Focuses On Possible Future Iranian ICBM

By Arms Control Association

WASHINGTON, DC (IDN-INPS) – On January 17, the Trump administration unveiled its Missile Defense Review, which outlines the administration’s strategy to counter missile threats, focusing on those posed by "rogue states" defined as Iran and North Korea.

The review cites Iranian missile development as a primary challenge, repeatedly referencing the possibility of the development of an Iranian ICBM and the U.S. missile defense response.

The report also describes Iran’s transfer of missiles to terrorist organizations which then target U.S. and allied forces in the Middle East as a missile threat, noting that “one of Iran’s primary tools of coercion and force projection is its missile arsenal, which is characterized by increasing numbers, as well as increases in accuracy, range, and lethality.”

: Africa & ME Editor; THE WORLD; Middle East & North Africa; 24 January 2019

Photo: Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi (left) receives U.S. envoy Zalmay Khalilzad at the Foreign Ministry in Islamabad on January 18. Source: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.

A Crumbling 'Pax Americana' in Afghanistan

Viewpoint by Chayanika Saxena

This article is the first in a series of joint productions of South Asian Outlook and IDN-InDepthNews, flagship of the International Press Syndicate. The writer is President's Graduate Fellow & PhD Candidate (Political Geography), Dep. of Geography, National University of Singapore. This article first appeared on the New Delhi based South Asia Terrorism Portal on 19 January 2019. – The Editor

SINGAPORE (IDN-INPS) – Amongst the diverse on-going negotiations on Afghanistan, the one led by the U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation, Zalmay Khalilzad, has been making the most noise. Reflecting both the urgency and the desperation with which the United States, if not the entire coalition, wants its 'boys back home', the intensity and extensity of talks that are being conducted are telling in their own ways.

: Suresh Jaura; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 20 January 2019

Photo: The Joint Security Area (JSA) in the DMZ, looking toward South Korea from the North. Conference Row seen from the northern side of the JSA. CC BY-SA 3.0

Pyongyang And Washington Do Not Speak The Same Language

Viewpoint by Kelsey Davenport

The writer is the Director for Nonproliferation Policy at the Arms Control Association, where she provides research and analysis on the nuclear and missile programs in Iran, North Korea, India, and Pakistan and on nuclear security issues. This article was posted on January 8 on the Association's website as part of the current issue of 'Arms Control Today'.

WASHINGTON, DC (IDN-INPS) – North Korea reiterated that denuclearization of the Korean peninsula must include removal of U.S. nuclear weapons in the region, a statement that underscores that diplomatic advances in 2019 will require addressing simultaneously North Korea’s nuclear weapons program and its security concerns.

: UN Bureau; OPINION; 11 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: DPRK state media has been quite transparent about DPRK missile intent | Credit: KCNA

Who’s Deceiving Whom? Open Source North Korea Under The Microscope

NYT Coverage of Think-Tank Report Risks Credibility of Open-Source Research on North Korea

Viewpoint by Joshua H. Pollack

The writer is a senior research associate at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey and editor of the Nonproliferation Review. This article first appeared on NKNews.Org on December 11, 2018.

NEW YORK | MONTEREY (IDN-INPS) – Along with the features of daily life that few of us could have anticipated a generation ago – smartphones, rent-a-scooters, Greek yogurt in every grocery store – something new has come to the world of think tanks and NGOs: the budding democratization of imagery intelligence.

: Ramesh Jaura; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 20 December 2018

Image: The ethical application of artificial intelligence is one of the pressing questions of our time. Credit: Information Age

Let's Train Humans First … Before We Train Machines

Viewpoint by Hazel Henderson*

JACKSONVILLE, Florida (IDN) – We humans are at the absurd stage in our technological evolution when we seem to have abandoned our common sense.

Billions are spent by governments, corporations and investors in training computer-based algorithms (i.e. computer programs) in today’s mindless rush to create so-called “artificial” intelligence, widely advertised as AI.

Meanwhile, training our children and their brains (already superior to computer algorithms) is under-funded, schools are dilapidated, sited in run-down, often polluted areas while our teachers are poorly paid and need greater respect. How did our national priorities get so skewed?

: Phil Harris; SYNDICATION; Think-Tanks; 06 December 2018

Photo: Russian President Vladimir with Prime Minister of Singapore Lee Hsien Loong. Credit: en.kremlin.ru

Behind Russian President Putin's First Visit to Singapore

By Chris Cheang

The author is a Senior Fellow with the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore. He served three tours of duty in the Singapore Embassy in Moscow between 1994 and 2013. A version of this article was first published on RSIS and then reproduced by the EastAsiaForum on 23 November 2018.

SINGAPORE (IDN-INPS) – Russian President Vladimir Putin made his first-ever state visit to Singapore on November 13, 2018. Coinciding with the 33rd ASEAN summit, 3rd ASEAN–Russia summit, 13th East Asia Summit (EAS), and 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Russia and Singapore, the visit marks an important step in Russia’s efforts to broaden its pivot to the East.

: Asia Editor; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 27 November 2018

Photo: Colombo skyline in November 2017. Tallest buildings from left to right: Altair, Hilton Residence, Access Tower II, Empire Towers, Parkland Building (short white building), OnThree20, Lotus Tower. CC BY-SA 4.0

Continuing Political Instability Impacting Economic Policy-Making in Sri Lanka

By Friday Forum

The following media release issued by the Friday Forum (FF) on November 22, 2018 expresses grave concern about the situation in the aftermath of Sri Lanka President Maithripala Sirisena's move to remove Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and prorogue Parliament on October 26, 2018. The FF is an informal group of concerned citizens pledged to uphold norms of democracy, good governance, rule of law, human rights, media freedom and tolerance in our pluralist society. – The Editor

COLOMBO (IDN-INPS) – The FF shares the despair and disgust of most Sri Lankans with recent political events in the country that have now spiralled into a serious impasse in governance. The economic, social and political repercussions of this crisis will undoubtedly cause a serious set-back to the sustained and inclusive development and reconciliation that our nation urgently needs.

: Asia Editor; OPINION; 24 November 2018

Photo: Sr Lanka President Maithripala Sirisena. Credit: Colombo Telegraph.

Sri Lanka President Told Not to Trample on Parliamentary Democracy and the Rights of People

Viewpoint by Friday Forum

Sri Lanka President Maithripala Sirisena's move to remove Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and prorogue Parliament was "a shameless disregard of this political mandate given to him by the people", avers the Friday Forum in a statement circulated on November 5. The Friday Forum is "an informal group of concerned citizens pledged to uphold norms of democracy, good governance, the rule of law, human rights, media freedom and tolerance in our pluralist society". We are publishing this statement in full with a view to offering a perspective different from that reflected in two viewpoints* we have carried. in the aftermath of President Sirisena's "shock decision on October 26 to appoint his political foe of recent years Mahinda Rajapakse as Prime Minister", which has evoked outrage among Western diplomats and the international media. – The Editor.

: Devinder Kumar; OPINION; 06 November 2018

Photo: Protests in Pakistan. Source: Times of India.

Protests As Pakistan Blasphemy Death Sentence Is Overturned

Viewpoint by René Wadlow

The author is representative to the United Nations, Geneva, of the Association of World Citizens (AWC)*. This blog was carried by AWC on November 1, 2018. Since then, Asia Bibi remains in prison, and it is her lawyer who has had to flee the country. There are demonstrations against the Supreme Court decision in the larger cities of Pakistan, and Islamist groups have focused on the case. – The Editor

GENEVA (IDN-INPS) – On October 29, 2018, the Supreme Court of Pakistan reversed the decision of lower courts sentencing to death Asia Bibi, a Christian mother of four for blasphemy. After 3,422 days of imprisonment in solitary confinement, the Supreme Court reversed a 2010 lower court verdict. Asia Bibi is now in seclusion and will probably leave the country as some 60 persons in Pakistan have been murdered since 1990, accused of blasphemy.