SYNDICATION

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: 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: 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: 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.

: UN Bureau; THE WORLD; Africa; 21 December 2018

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 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.

: Jonathan Power; OPINION; 18 December 2018

Photo credit: Sunrise Movement / @SunriseMvmt. Source: Common Dreams.

Why Green New Deal Advocates Must Address Militarism

Viewpoint by Medea Benjamin and Alice Slater*

Where is the call for the New Peace Deal that would free up hundreds of billions from the overblown military budget to invest in green infrastructure? ask the authors of this article that first appeared on Common Dreams on 12 December 2018.

NEW YORK (IDN-INPS) – In the spirit of a new year and a new Congress, 2019 may well be our best and last opportunity to steer our ship of state away from the twin planetary perils of environmental chaos and militarism, charting a course towards an earth-affirming 21st century.

: UN Bureau; OPINION; 12 December 2018

Photo: Manchester Brexit protest for Conservative conference, October 1, 2017. CC BY-SA 4.0

UK's May Should Announce a New Referendum Immediately

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power*

LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) – The whole debate about Brexit has had a weird quality about it from beginning to end. Prime Minister Theresa May voted in the referendum two and half years ago to remain in the European Union but then as a quid pro quo for being made prime minister she has led the charge to implement Brexit.

Jeremy Corbyn, the leader of the Labour Party, voted to remain but has made it clear that he too prefers out, albeit keeping the UK in the Customs Union.

: Jonathan Power; OPINION; 11 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

Image: Visual China Group (also known as VCG). Source: China Daily

China Not Interested In Any 'Cold War'

Viewpoint by Shen Dingli

The author is a professor at the Institute of International Studies, Fudan University, Shanghai. This article first appeared on China Daily on 4 December 2018.

SHANGHAI (IDN-INPS) – Of late, there has been talk of and concern over a possible "Cold War" between the United States and China. The argument goes that Beijing and Washington are competing to establish their respective versions of "political correctness" and global order.

And although the Sino-U.S. trade conflict has eased after U.S. President Donald Trump agreed at the G20 Summit in Buenos Aires on Saturday [December 1] to not impose additional tariffs on Chinese imports and President Xi Jinping said China will increase U.S. imports, Beijing still favours a multilateral approach to international trade based on rules and equality while Washington seems keen on pushing ahead its version of "fairness" and "reciprocity".