Asia-Pacific

Photo: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Myanmar's junta leader Min Aung Hlaing in Naypyitaw on August 3 (Credit: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation MFA)

"Misery Acquaints a Man with Strange Bedfellows"

Russia's Complex Myanmar Embrace

Viewpoint by Jan Servaes

BRUSSELS (IDN) — Think tanks conduct interdisciplinary research to develop positions and recommendations on a wide range of domestic and international topics encompassing defence, economic development and social policy. Therefore, many think tanks advocate and lobby for policy changes at the local, national and international level. The International Crisis Group, founded in 1995, is such an independent organisation that has gained recognition for its work to prevent wars and advocate policies to build a more peaceful world.

: Opinion Editor; THE WORLD; Russia; 14 August 2022

Photo: Chinese fishermen. Source: East Asia Forum

China's Efforts to Reel in Overfishing

By Hongzhou Zhang and Genevieve Donnellon-May*

This article was first issued by East Asia Forum.

SINGAPORE | OXFORD (IDN) — Global fish stocks are facing a crisis, with nearly all classified as either fully exploited, overexploited or significantly depleted. China is the largest contributor to this problem as a world leader in both fishery exports and imports. It is simultaneously responsible for 15 per cent of the global total of caught fish and one-third of fish consumption worldwide.

: Asia Editor; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 11 August 2022

Photo: The long lines for kerosene, used in cooking, which is in short supply island wide. Credit: Sunday Times, Sri Lanka

The Politics of Misfortune in Sri Lanka

By Neville de Silva*

LONDON, (IDN) — Never in Sri Lanka's 74-year post-independence history has a democratically elected leader been forced to flee the country, running away from the economic shambles and social disarray he was largely responsible for creating.

Gotabaya Rajapaksa with 6.9 million votes under his belt was elected president at the butt end of 2019. Two and a half years later, one of the siblings of the most powerful political family in the country, was forced out of his private residence in the outskirts of the capital Colombo by angry crowds as essentials such as fuel, cooking gas, medicines ran out and some foods were hard to find.

: Asia Editor; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 10 August 2022

Photo credit: Leicester Museum Art Gallery

Asians Recall Expulsion from Uganda 50 Years Ago

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK | LEICESTER (IDN) — It remains a bitter memory for Asians, some life-long and others more recent residents of Uganda, of their sudden, unexpected expulsion from the African country they called home 50 years ago this month.

They had just 90 days to pack up and leave, then President Idi Amin declared in a televised speech. For now, he was "giving Uganda back to ethnic Ugandans".

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 10 August 2022

Photo: (Left) Álvaro Alberto, Brazil's first nuclear-powered attack submarine (SSN) concept, courtesy of Serviços e Informações do Brasil; (Right): US Navy Virginia-class SSN, courtesy of General Dynamics Electric Boat Public Affairs, Creative Commons Licence 040730-N-1234E-002)

Nuclear Submarines and The Non-Proliferation Treaty: Brazil Gets a Jump on Australia?

By Tariq Rauf*

VIENNA (IDN) — Originally scheduled for April-May 2020, due to postponements because of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Tenth Review Conference of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) finally convened in these turbulent times at the United Nations in New York on 1 August and will conclude its deliberations on 26 August.

NPT review conferences are held every five years to assess the implementation of the NPT across its three "pillars": nuclear disarmament, nuclear non-proliferation, and cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy.

: UN Bureau; ARMAMENTS; Nuclear Weapons; 08 August 2022

Nancy Pelosi Could Get Us All Killed

By Norman Solomon

SAN FRANCISO (IDN) — The arrogance of power is especially ominous and despicable when a government leader risks huge numbers of lives in order to make a provocative move on the world’s geopolitical chessboard. Nancy Pelosi’s plan to visit Taiwan is in that category. Thanks to her, the chances of a military confrontation between China and the United States have spiked upward.

: UN Bureau; THE WORLD; USA and Canada; 01 August 2022

Photo: UN Human Rights Council. Credit: UN Web TV

Nuclear Weapons Policies of Japan and South Korea Challenged

By Jaya Ramachandran

GENEVA (IDN) — The Basel Peace Office, in cooperation with other civil society organisations, has challenged the nuclear weapons policies of Japan and South Korea in the UN Human Rights Council, maintaining that these violate the Right to Life, a right enshrined in Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).

: Jaya Ramachandran; ARMAMENTS; Nuclear Weapons; 31 July 2022

Photo: Farmer House—Indo-Fijian cane farmer's house (on top) and abandoned house and property (in foreground) after the expiry of the land lease.

Land Lease System Threatens Sustainability of Cane Farming in Fiji

By Kalinga Seneviratne

SUVA, Fiji (IDN) — Though sugar cane is thought to be indigenous to the islands of the South Pacific, it was the British who started to grow it as a cash crop in Fiji in the later part of the 19th century. In 37 years, beginning in 1879, they shipped some 60,000 Indians over 7000 miles from home to work as indentured labourers in the newly established plantation for very little or no salary on 5-year contracts.

: Kalinga Seneviratne; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 23 July 2022

Photo: The Group of Summit leaders. Credit: Sera Tikotikovatu-Sefeti.

Pacific Leaders Endorse '2050 Strategy of the Blue Pacific'

Pledge to Promote "Accountable" Development

By Sera Tikotikovatu-Sefeti

SUVA, Fiji (IDN) — The leaders of the Pacific gathering for the first time in three years endorsed the 2050 Strategy for a Blue Pacific at the 51st Pacific Island Forum (PIF) from July 11 to July 14.

"The success of this strategy is down to two things, and that is first, the leaders take accountability, and secondly, the people also be accountable for it, " said Fiji’s Prime Minister Josaia Voreqe Bainimarama, who chaired the PIF meeting.

: Asia Editor; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 22 July 2022

Photo: Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (left) and Fethullah Gülen. Photo: Hayatin Kendisi Burada/Picasa.

For Erdogan the Failed Coup was A “Gift from God”

Viewpoint by Alon Ben-Meir

Dr. Alon Ben-Meir is a retired professor of international relations at the Center for Global Affairs at New York University (NYU). He taught courses on international negotiation and Middle Eastern studies for over 20 years.

NEW YORK (IDN) — Perhaps nothing has changed Turkey’s domestic and international trajectory since the establishment of the Turkish Republic in 1923 than the failed military coup of July 2016, which gave Erdogan an unprecedented opportunity to satisfy his insatiable lust for power.