SYNDICATION

Photo: Aerial view of the Amazon rainforest, near Manaus. CC BY-SA 2.0

The Emerald Forests Need Not Die

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power

LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) – Belem is the Brazilian city at the mouth of the Amazon. Unlike its slummy counterpart, Kinshasa, at the mouth of the Congo, it’s full of resplendent streets with beautiful nineteenth century houses. It has squares and marketplaces full of cafes, fountains and life.

The large city grew up shipping rubber from the Amazon forest, which begins on its doorstep. This made it wealthy. One can see the beautiful baroque Theatre of Peace, a fluffy pink building where Anna Pavlova danced. On the main square, ornate with pavements of black and white quartz, is the Hotel Grao Para where Xavier Cugat and his orchestra would play and Zsa Zsa Gabor would stop over on her way, by propeller plane, on the slow flight to Rio.

: Jonathan Power; OPINION; 10 September 2019

Photo credit: U.S: National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)

Continuing Upsurge in Costs of U.S. Nuclear Warheads

Viewpoint by Kingston Reif

The writer is the Director for Disarmament and Threat Reduction Policy at the Arms Control Association. This article was first published in Arms Control Today (ACT).

WASHINGTON, DC (IDN | Arms Control Association) – The estimated cost of sustaining U.S. nuclear warheads and their supporting infrastructure continues to rise, according to the Energy Department’s latest annual report on the Stockpile Stewardship and Management Plan.

: UN Bureau; OPINION; 09 September 2019

Photo: Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru addressing a mass audience. Source: IISG/Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0)

How the Kashmir Debate in India Is Being Fuelled by Falsehoods

Viewpoint by A.G. Noorani

India’s Union Home Minister Amit Shah claims that if it wasn't for the country’s first prime minister Jawahar Lal Nehru, Pakistan-occupied Kashmir would have been in India’s possession. The truth is, if Kashmir is a part of India, it is almost entirely because of Nehru, writes A. G. Noorani, an Indian lawyer, constitutional expert and political commentator. This article first appeared in The Wire on 9 August 2019.

MUMBAI (IDN-INPS) – The Sangh parivar’s hatred of Jawaharlal Nehru is perfectly understandable. At the time of the Partition of India, he stood by Gandhi and bravely fought back the rising surge of hate fostered by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). The RSS supremo, M.S. Golwalkar’s plans to exterminate Muslims were detected, as the chief secretary of Uttar Pradesh, Rajeshwar Dayal revealed in his memoir A Life in Our Time.

: Suresh Jaura; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 23 August 2019

Image credit: Cambridge Science Festival.

Artificial Intelligence Offers Benefits for Africa

By Hugo Bourhis *

NEW YORK (IDN | Africa Renewal) – When some people think of artificial intelligence (AI), they think of humanoid robots turning against their creators in an apocalyptic science fiction movie. In reality, AI is already playing an increasing role in many existing and evolving technologies, from driverless cars to translation software, virtual assistance devices and monitoring agriculture and biodiversity.

Satellite images provided by AI can assist policymakers in finding solutions to problems of hunger, drought and climate change, to name only a few.

: Africa Renewal; THE WORLD; Africa; 22 August 2019

Photo: The U.S. Defense Department conducted a flight test of a conventionally configured ground-launched cruise missile at San Nicolas Island, California on August 18, 2019. Credit: Scott Howe | DVIDS – The Defense Visual Information Distribution Service.

Nuclear Arms Race Is Here

By Jessica Corbett *

MAINE, USA (IDN) – Nuclear experts and disarmament advocates are warning that the world is witnessing a new arms race after the Pentagon tested a new missile August 18 that would have violated a Cold War-era treaty the Trump administration ditched earlier this month.

After years of the U.S. government—under both the Obama and Trump administrations—and NATO accusing Russia of violating the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty signed in 1987 by former U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, Washington formally withdrew from the deal, which banned ground-launched nuclear and conventional ballistic and cruise missiles with ranges of 500 to 5,000 kilometers, or about 310 to 3,400 miles.

: UN Bureau; ARMAMENTS; Nuclear Weapons; 22 August 2019

Photo: 2019 Hong Kong anti-extradition law protest on 16 June, captured by Studio Incendo from Flickr. CC BY 2.0

In Hong Kong the Two Sides Must Meet Each Other Half Way

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power

LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) – In 1995 in a little remembered event Li Ruthuan, a member of the Chinese Politiburo (containing the top seven in the government), made a speech likening the Chinese take-over of Hong Kong to the case of a lady who had agreed to sell a 100-year-old Yi-Xiang teapot that was famous for the taste of the tea it poured.

Unbeknown to her, its quality derived from the residue that had accumulated on the inside of the pot. In her eagerness to prepare the pot for sale she cleaned and polished it. When the purchaser came to try using the pot the tea was dreadful and he demanded his money back.

: Jonathan Power; OPINION; 20 August 2019

Photo: Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin on June 5, 2019, The Kremlin, Moscow. Credit: en.kremlin.ru Moscow.

Russia and China Are Coming Closer Again

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power

LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) – In her famous decree in 1767 Empress Catherine the Great proclaimed Russia to be a European power. She wanted Russia to be a major player in European politics. She compelled the Europeans to accept Russia as a great power as a condition for doing business. In 1815 Russia was considered an equal in the 1815 Concert of Europe.

In contrast, Imperial China at that time was self-sufficient and inward looking. It basked in its own superior culture. It did not want to open up trade relations with Europe and the emperor questioned the ability of the British who were knocking on the door to “acquire the rudiments” of Chinese civilization.

: Jonathan Power; THE WORLD; Russia; 13 August 2019

illustration: Sandeep Joshi. Source: The Tribune

Exploding the Myth of the ‘Ugly Indian’

The new-generation tourists are the millennials, and they are anything but ugly — at least when abroad. They travel light and are averse to carrying stuff. They travel not to pick up things, but to gather experiences.

By Shastri Ramachandaran*

NEW DELHI (IDN) – East Asian hotels and resorts, especially in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam, have a despicable practice of not letting a guest leave until the room has been gone through with a toothcomb. A lot of hotels in Europe are also behaving like those in East Asia, especially when it comes to Indians. In parts of Europe, there are hotels that discourage Indians while a few keep a separate section for Indians.

: Shastri Ramachandran; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 11 August 2019

Photo: Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrives at the swearing-in ceremony of Mufti Mohammad Sayeed as Jammu&Kashmir Chief Minister, at Jammu University, in Jammu and Kashmir on March 1, 2015. The J&K Governor N.N. Vohra is also seen. Credit: India Prime Minister's Office.

Hindu Nationalists Succeed in Depriving Jammu & Kashmir of ‘Special Status’

By Pieter J. Friedrich*

GREENWOOD, Canada (IDN-INPS) – Terror grips the most militarized zone in the world after India’s Central Government terminated Jammu and Kashmir’s 70-year-old "special status" as the first step towards stripping the disputed region of statehood entirely.

Internationally infamous as the world’s hottest potential nuclear flashpoint, J&K originally acceded to India in 1947 only on the condition that the newly-formed country be restricted from interfering in the domestic affairs of the mountainous northern region.

: Suresh Jaura; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 08 August 2019

Europeans Should Refuse to Go MAD Again

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power

LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) – If MAD was Mad then the decision of President Donald Trump to renounce the Intermediate Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) is MADDER.

MAD is Mutually Assured Destruction, a concept which underlay the nuclear deterrence of the Cold War. Presidents Mikhail Gorbachev and Ronald Reagan began the hard work of dismantling MAD with the INF, a treaty affecting the land-based missiles of Europe. It abolished missiles with a range of 500 to 2000 kilometres.