EU & Europe

Queen Elizabeth's Death Stirs Mixed Emotions in Africa

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) — The passing of Queen Elizabeth II has not gone unremarked in Africa, where local television and radio stations interrupted normal broadcasting in order to relay events happening in the United Kingdom.

Across the world, nations are paying tribute to the 96-year-old monarch. US President Joe Biden described her as “a stateswoman of unmatched dignity and constancy who deepened the bedrock alliance between the United Kingdom and the United States”.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 12 September 2022

Photo: Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III, Army Gen. Mark A. Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov attend the Ukraine Defense Contact Group meeting at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, Sept. 8, 2022. Credit: Chad J. McNeeley, DOD.

Momentum Builds for Ukraine Defense Contact Group

By Jim Garamone , DOD News

This article was issued by U.S. Department of Defense.

RAMSTEIN, Germany (IDN) — U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III said nations of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group are even "more united and resolved to keep up our support for Ukraine's right to defend itself."

The secretary and Army Gen. Mark A. Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, briefed the media at the conclusion of the contact group meeting at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, on September 8.

: Europe Editor; SUSTAINABILITY; Peace & Justice; 08 September 2022

Photo: An aerial view of the Pentagon. CBS has reportedly stifled an investigative report into diversions of arms from western sources finding their way, not to the front lines in Ukraine, but to black markets in Europe and the Middle East. Photo by Air Force Staff Sgt. Brittany A. Chase, DOD

'How the West Brought War to Ukraine'

Viewpoint by David C. Speedie

This article was produced by Globetrotter in partnership with the American Committee for U.S.-Russia Accord. David C. Speedie, a board member of ACURA, was the former chair of International Peace and Security at Carnegie Corporation.

MONTCLAIR, New Jersey, US (IDN) — The seven-month war in Ukraine, and the role of NATO, especially the Atlanticist powers, are fuelled by an official western narrative that depicts the conflict as one between the plucky little Ukrainian David and the brutish Goliath that is Russia. The invasion is as unwarranted as it is vicious and provides justification for a current tally of $57 billion in lethal and non-lethal aid from the United States alone, with the United Kingdom at its side.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 02 September 2022

Photo: French President Emmanuel Macron. Source: Spiegel

Some European Leaders Warn of the End of Western Hegemony

By Shastri Ramachandaran

NEW DELHI (IDN) — Those who assert that western hegemony is no longer sustainable can take heart from the fact that movers and shakers on the world stage are also saying this. French President Emmanuel Macron has proclaimed that “Western hegemony is nearing its end”.

Perhaps, the most erudite among the heads of P-5 governments, Macron’s intellectual and diplomatic appeal extends beyond France and Europe, which explains his continued engagement with Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the war in Ukraine.

: Europe Editor; THE WORLD; EU & Europe; 24 August 2022

Photo (from left to right): Achieng Oneko (1920–2007) was a Kenyan freedom fighter; Jomo Kenyatta, an anti-colonial activist and politician who governed Kenya as its Prime Minister from 1963 to 1964 and then as its first President from 1964 to his death in 1978; Kenyan trade unionist, Makhan Sign, born in India's Punjab; Oginga Odinga in 1961. Wikimedia Commons.

Evidence of How British Dirty Tricks Smeared Kenya's First Vice-President

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) — As election fever was cresting in the East African nation of Kenya, declassified documents were published exposing the spread of fake news by the UK's propaganda arm against the country's first vice president, Oginga Odinga (October 1911-20 January 1994), for his leftist views.

Provisional results of the current elections suggest a tight presidential race in Kenya between Deputy President William Ruto and Raila Odinga, Oginga Odinga's son and a former prime minister.

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

Squaring the Circle

Viewpoint by Herbert Wulf

This article was issued by the Toda Peace Institute and is being republished with their permission.

Immediately after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, all the governments of the EU and the European NATO countries reacted. Not only with support for Ukraine but also by announcing an increase of their own military spending. There are some indications that not everything can actually be financed.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 07 August 2022

Russia and the EU Continue Transition to Wartime Economies

Viewpoint by John P. Ruehl

This article was produced by Globetrotter. John P. Ruehl is an Australian-American journalist living in Washington, D.C. He is a contributing editor to Strategic Policy and a contributor to several other foreign affairs publications. He is currently finishing a book on Russia to be published in 2022.

: Opinion Editor; THE WORLD; Russia; 07 August 2022

The “Non-Stop” Flow of Arms to Ukraine Amidst Reports of Black Marketeering

By Thalif Deen

UNITED NATIONS (IDN) — The flow of weapons to battle-scarred Ukraine has been “non-stop”, says Rear Admiral Duke Heinz, the European Union’s chief logistician, as the fighting continues uninterruptedly ever since the Russian invasion last February.

And US Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III was quoted as saying: “Ukraine needs the firepower and the ammunition to withstand its barrage and to strike back at the Russians launching these attacks from inside Ukraine’s own territory”.

: Thalif Deen; THE WORLD; USA and Canada; 05 August 2022

Image credit: IDN-INPS with Serbian and Kosovo flags from Wikimedia Commons.

Is Serbia Planning a "Special Operation" in Kosovo?

Viewpoint by Aurora Weiss

The possibility of the Serbian president Vučić starting to play the role of the Balkan Vladimir Putin with an eventual invasion of Kosovo seems never to have been more serious.

VIENNA (IDN) — Escalation: it's like lighting a match. Two separate components, Phosphorus and Match, can spark several times before the flame catches and finally lights up the fire. From the first, second or third attempt, it is only a matter of time before it starts burning.

: Europe Editor; OPINION; 05 August 2022

Photo: U.S. airmen from the 60th Aerial Port Squadron load cargo onto a Boeing 757 Jan. 22, 2022 at Travis Air Force Base, California. Since 2014, the United States has committed more than $5.4 billion in total assistance to Ukraine, including security and non-security assistance. (Nicholas Pilch/Air Force)

The US Provides a Hefty $8.2 billion to Ukraine Battling a Superpower

By Thalif Deen

UNITED NATIONS (IDN) — The five largest recipients of US weapons have traditionally included Saudi Arabia, Australia, South Korea, Japan and Qatar.

Ukraine, which was ranked as the 50th largest importer of US arms, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), is now set to make a giant leap upwards.

During 2017-2021, Saudi Arabia accounted for 23% of US arms exports, Australia 9.4%, South Korea 6.8%, Japan 6.7% and Qatar 5.4%.