SYNDICATION

Photo: U.S. President Donald Trump with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Helsinki on 16 July 2018. Credit: website of the President of the Russian Federation.

INF Treaty Decision is a Debacle, But Worse May Be Coming

Viewpoint by Daryl G. Kimball

The author is Executive Director of the Arms Control Association. This article appeared on 1 November 2018, and is being reproduced by courtesy of the think-tank. – The Editor

WASHINGTON, D.C. (IDN-INPS) – Earlier this year, President Donald Trump told reporters that he wanted to work with Russian President Vladimir Putin "to discuss the arms race, which is getting out of control." He characterized the costly nuclear weapons upgrade programs being pursued by each side as "a very, very bad policy."

: Daryl G. Kimball; OPINION; 01 November 2018

Photo: Berlin Wall on Potsdamer Platz, June 1988. CC BY-SA 3.0

Tear Down Walls, Those Manifestations of Superficial Thinking

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power*

LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) – At first I was a bit surprised to find that the English admonition, “Good fences makes for good neighbours” exists in many other languages. I shouldn’t have been taken aback. A moment’s reflection should have told me that fences and walls to divide off peoples have been going on for millennia.

There’s nothing in particular new about the fence between the U.S. and Mexico, the Cold War wall between East and West Germany or the one between Israel and the Palestinian West Bank. Look at the Great Wall of China.

: Jonathan Power; OPINION; 30 October 2018

Photo: The U.S. Army launches a Pershing II battlefield support missile. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.

The INF Treaty Looks Likely to be a Dead Letter by April 2019

Viewpoint by Dan Smith

The following article by Dan Smith, Director of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), first appeared on October 23, 2018 on the Institute's website. He has a long record of research and publication on a wide range of conflict and peace issues. Smith served four years in the UN Peacebuilding Fund Advisory group, two of which (2010–2011) were as Chair. – The Editor

STOCKHOLM (IDN-INPS) – At a political rally on October 20, U.S. President Donald J. Trump announced that the United States will withdraw from the 1987 Treaty on the Elimination of Intermediate-Range and Shorter-Range Missiles (INF Treaty). This confirms what has steadily been unfolding over the past couple of years: the architecture of Russian-U.S. nuclear arms control is crumbling.

: IDN-INPS UN Bureau; OPINION; 28 October 2018

Photo credit: Audrey Tirtaguna | The Daily Pennsylvanian

Experts Underline the Gravity of a Potential Nuclear Conflict

By Claire Ochroch

This report first appeared on October 25, 2018 in The Daily Pennsylvanian.

NEW YORK (IDN-INPS) – Speakers from across the world stopped by Penn's Perry World House on October 23 evening to discuss the importance of denuclearization.

The event, called the Penn Peace Project, was hosted by the International Affairs Association. Speakers included Veronique Christory, Senior Arms Control Advisor of the International Committee of the Red Cross and Susanne Hammer, Austrian First Secretary Disarmament Officer, who touched on how nuclear weapons affect people's daily lives.

: IDN-INPS UN Bureau; ARMAMENTS; Nuclear Weapons; 27 October 2018

A New Book Proposes an Alternative U.S. Foreign Policy

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power*

LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) – At last a book that attacks the "Blob" and holes it below the water line. Whether it can sink it is another matter. I'm talking about 'The Hell of Good Intentions: America's Foreign Policy Elite and the Decline of U.S Primacy' by the Harvard professor of international affairs, Stephen M. Walt, released on October 18, 2018. [Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. ISBN: 9780374902612. Publicity: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.]

The "Blob" is a wonderful word conjured up by President Barack Obama's deputy National Security Advisor, Ben Rhodes. It means the group of congressmen, generals, industrialists, academics and journalists who specialize in foreign policy and have an influence promoting what Walt calls "Liberal Hegemony".

: Jonathan Power; OPINION; 23 October 2018

China Lacking a Clear Strategy for Overseas Investments

Viewpoint by Xie Ping

The author is professor at the PBC School of Finance, Tsinghua University and is former executive vice president of China Investment Corporation. This article first appeared on October 8, 2018 in EastAsiaForum.

BEIJING (IDN-INPS) – China has become one of the world’s biggest investors. The explosive growth of its outward investment is helping China connect to world business, absorb advanced technologies, upgrade its traditional industries and stimulate exports. But as China steps up its outward investment, foreign governments are also tightening their regulatory and security review regimes, making the hurdles even higher for Chinese firms looking to invest overseas.

: Kalinga Seneviratne; OPINION; 18 October 2018

India's Free Trade Woes in the Face of Deteriorating Balance

Viewpoint by Biswajit Dhar

The author is Professor at the Centre for Economic Studies and Planning School of Social Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University. This article first appeared on October 9, 2018 in EastAsiaForum.

NEW DELHI (IDN-INPS) – Leaders at the sixth Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) Ministerial Meeting in August 2018 appear to have taken steps towards concluding the deal by the end of the year. With a possible endgame in sight, India’s stance in the negotiations should be of utmost interest. The viability of the proposed grouping hinges on India’s response to the more active RCEP participating countries’ calls for a highly ambitious trade liberalisation agenda.

: Kalinga Seneviratne; OPINION; 18 October 2018

Photo: The wide-angle photograph of the sun and inner planets (not visible), with Pale Blue Dot superimposed on the left, Venus to its right. Credit: NASA/JPL

A Provocative and Inspiring Look at the Future of Humanity

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power*

LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) – “Suppose aliens existed, and that some had been watching our planet for its entire forty-five million centuries, what would they have seen? Over most of that vast time-span, Earth’s appearance altered very gradually. Continents drifted; ice-cover waxed and waned; successive species emerged, evolved and became extinct.

But just in a tiny sliver of Earth’s history – the last hundred centuries – the patterns of vegetation altered much faster than before. This signaled the start of agriculture – and then urbanization.” We are at the very end of that “sliver”.

: Jonathan Power; OPINION; 16 October 2018

Trump Impossible to Deal with Though He Gets Things Done

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power*

LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) – What do we have to truly fear about President Donald Trump? Early October he pulled off the successful re-negotiation of the North America Free Trade area. Pundits thought, with Canada refusing to bend, it couldn’t happen. Maybe the deal now leans more in America’s direction but Trump has also given something away: the right of Mexico and Canada to sell their trucks and cars more easily in the U.S. He said he’s a great “deal-maker,” and so this time he is.

His trade tussle with China, which looks to be a standoff at the moment, has not yet led to a breakdown in good relations. Trump has been more than careful to keep the direct channels open to President Xi Jinping, even if early October he became more openly critical and personal. He has treated Xi much better than he treated Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada.

: Jonathan Power; OPINION; 09 October 2018

Photo: Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Chairman of the Senate of the Parliament of Kazakhstan and Head of the Secretariat of the Congress of the Leaders of World and Traditional Religions. Credit: The Astana Times.

Leaders of World and Traditional Religions Gather in Astana for Inclusive Dialogue

Viewpoint by Kassym-Jomart Tokayev

The author, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, is Chairman of the Senate of the Parliament of Kazakhstan and Head of the Secretariat of the Congress of the Leaders of World and Traditional Religions. This opinion article first appeared on The Astana Times on October 5, 2018, and is being reproduced courtesy the prestigious Kazakh newspaper. IDN-INPS are providing a special coverage of the conference, including videos interviews and features. – The Editor.

ASTANA (IDN-INPS) – The Congress of the Leaders of World and Traditional Religions is a unique interfaith forum, convened every three years in Astana at the initiative of President Nursultan Nazarbayev. For 15 years, this forum has played an important role in the rapprochement of cultures and civilisations, in searching for answers to the key challenges of our time. “Religious Leaders for a Safe World” is the main topic of the Sixth Congress, which will be held October 10-11 in the capital of Kazakhstan.