USA and Canada

Photo: A mural in Ponce, Puerto Rico. Tito Caraballo / Flickr. Source: Jacobin

UN Stresses Puerto Ricans' Right to Self-determination

By J C Suresh

NEW YORK (IDN) - The United Nations Special Committee on Decolonization has welcomed the commutation of the prison sentence of Puerto Rican nationalist Oscar López Rivera, the world's longest-serving political prisoner confined in a U.S. federal penitentiary since 1981.

Puerto Rico – Spanish for 'Rich Port' – is an "unincorporated territory" of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean Sea, with a population of about 3.4 million and San Juan as most populous city.

Rich history, tropical climate, diverse natural scenery, renowned traditional cuisine, and attractive tax incentives make the main island of Puerto Rico – and a number of smaller ones such as Mona, Culebra, and Vieques – a popular destination for travellers from around the world.

: J C Suresh; UN INSIDER; 26 January 2017

Photo: Steve Bannon. Credit: Don Irvine | Wikimedia Commons.

The Four Whose Foreign Policy Ideas Could Impact Trump Most

By Jim Lobe* | Reproduced courtesy of LobeLog

WASHINGTON, DC (IDN | LobeLog) – The most frightening commentary I’ve read in the run-up to the inauguration—and there have been many—appeared in a column identifying the four people whose foreign policy ideas were likely to be most influential with the then-president-elect. It was written by The Washington Post’s Josh Rogin and entitled “Inside Trump’s Shadow National Security Council.”

Those four people, according to Rogin, are chief strategist Stephen Bannon, who “has been working on the long-term strategic vision that will shape the Trump administration’s overall foreign policy approach;” chief of staff Reince Priebus; Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner; and his national security adviser, Gen. Michael Flynn (ret.).

: J Nastranis; OPINION; 25 January 2017

Photo: President George H. W. Bush and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev declared an end to the Cold War at the Malta Summit on December 3, 1989. At a joint press conference aboard the Soviet passenger liner Maxim Gorky in Marsaxlokk Harbor, President Bush speaks about his hopes for a cooperative U.S.-Soviet relationship. Credit: history.com

The Last Chance To Get Russian-U.S. Relationship Right

By Jonathan Power

LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) - The great flaw in ex-president Barack Obama’s record was his policy towards Russia. Going against everything he had said and written about before he became president, one action after another antagonised the Russians.

His early proclamation that he wanted Georgia and Ukraine in NATO, his de facto coalition of convenience for a crucial couple of days with the anti-democratic, anti-Russian, neo-fascist, demonstrators in Ukraine, the further expansion of NATO, despite an earlier promise not to, made by President H.W. Bush, to the Soviet President, Mikhail Gorbachev, and his inability to cooperate with the Russians and Iranians over Syria.

: Jonathan Power; OPINION; 24 January 2017

Photo: Portrait of Nikki Haley, President-elect Donald Trump's choice for U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations.

Nikki Haley Tells U.S. Congress: The UN Does Matter

By Barbara Crossette* | Reproduced courtesy of PassBlue

NEW YORK (IDN | Passblue) - Nikki Haley, President Donald Trump’s nominee to become the United States ambassador to the United Nations, appeared in a confirmation hearing on January 18 lasting more than three hours in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. She introduced herself in an address to members that was both autobiographical — the daughter of immigrants — and political.

Acknowledging her neophyte standing in international affairs, she announced at the outset: “Like most government agencies, the United Nations could benefit from a fresh set of eyes. I will take an outsider’s look at the institution as I have in every challenge in my life, I will come to the UN to work and to work smart.”

: IDN-INPS UN Bureau; UN INSIDER; 23 January 2017

practice,” he added. [IDN-InDepthNews – 21 January 2017] Photo: Rick Perry speaking at the 2014 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Maryland. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.

U.S. Moves into Age of Nuclear Uncertainty – and Ignorance

By Rodney Reynolds

WASHINGTON, DC (IDN) – With the inauguration of Donald Trump as the new President on January 20, the United States moves into an age of nuclear uncertainty – and perhaps ignorance.

The frightening prospects took a bizarre turn when a day earlier Trump’s nominee for Energy Secretary, former Texas Governor Rick Perry, apparently was not aware that his department is in charge of America’s nuclear weapons.

According to an editorial in the New York Times on January 20, Perry knew only recently that "his biggest responsibilities would, in fact, involve overseeing a vast nuclear security complex that he knows almost nothing about".

: Rodney Reynolds; ARMAMENTS; 21 January 2017

Photo: The ministers of foreign affairs of France, Germany, the European Union, Iran, the United Kingdom and the United States as well as Chinese and Russian diplomats announcing the framework for a Comprehensive agreement on the Iranian nuclear programme (Lausanne, 2 April 2015). Credit: United States Department of State.Photo: IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano confirmed on 16 January that Iran has removed excess centrifuges and infrastructure from the Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant in line with its nuclear-related commitments. Credit: D. Calma | IAEA

Iran’s Nuke Agreement Survives Without a Shot Being Fired

By Rodney Reynolds

WASHINGTON, DC (IDN) – During the height of the U.S. presidential election campaign last year, Republican candidate Donald Trump threatened to tear up the 159-page Iran nuclear agreement on live television.

In characteristic “Trumpism”, he dismissed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), as the agreement was formally known, as “stupid”, “a lopsided disgrace” and “the worst deal ever negotiated.”

With Trump moving into the White House on January 20, will he abide by his threats and swear by his rhetoric? Or was it all political bluster?

: Rodney Reynolds; ARMAMENTS; 17 January 2017

Photo: President Obama during his 2013 Africa trip. Credit: whitehouse.gov

Concern About U.S. Africa Policy Under Trump

By Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) – Long-time Africa specialists who have looked at a four-page list of Africa-related questions from the Trump transition staff say they are seeing an American retreat from development and humanitarian goals while business opportunities will be getting an extra push.

The four-page list has been making the rounds at the State Department and Pentagon, according to the New York Times.

Of priority interest to the new administration is the prospect of dollars to be made in this “new” frontier. One of the first questions on the list went straight to the point: “How does U.S. business compete with other nations in Africa? Are we losing out to the Chinese?”

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 17 January 2017

Photo: President Obama greets people in Old Havana, Cuba, March 20, 2016. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

Six Out of Ten For Obama's Foreign Policy

By Jonathan Power

LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) - When President Barack Obama leaves office will the world be better or worse than eight years ago? Taking the big picture, so often obscured by the wars and uprisings that dominate the front page, more often than not he has resisted the foreign-policy establishment, most importantly in Syria, which makes a fetish of “credibility”.

Obama has argued that “dropping bombs on someone to prove that you are willing to drop bombs on someone is just about the worst reason to use force”.

: Jonathan Power; OPINION; 17 January 2017

Photo: An unarmed Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile is launched during a 2016 operational test at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. Credit: Senior Airman Kyla Gifford/U.S. Air Force.

Trump's Nuclear Twitter Menacing Ahead of UN Talks in March

By Ramesh Jaura

BERLIN | NEW YORK (IDN) – Ahead of the inauguration of Donald Trump as 45th President of the United States on January 20, analysts are far from certain whether he would take to policies that reduce nuclear dangers or resort to actions resulting in a suicidal arms race.

The guessing game is taking place against the backdrop of the United Nations General Assembly having confirmed that beginning March 2017, it would hold a conference open to all member states, to negotiate a “legally binding instrument to prohibit nuclear weapons, leading towards their total elimination”. The conference to be held at UN headquarters in New York will be divided into two sessions: from March 27 to 31 and from June 15 to July 7.

: Ramesh Jaura; UN INSIDER; 09 January 2017

Photo: Nikki Haley. Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Trump Nominates Nikki Haley as Ambassador to the UN

By Suresh Jaura*

TORONTO (IDN) - First American-born Indian-origin woman, Nikki Haley, made history in U.S. by being nominated to serve as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, by President-elect, Donald Trump, on November 23. She is one of the two women in Trump cabinet, the other is, Ms Betsy DeVos, Secretary of Education nominee.

Haley, 44, born as Nimrata Nikki Randhawa on January 20, 1972, is the American-born daughter of Indian immigrants. Her parents, Ajit Singh Randhawa and Raj Kaur Randhawa, immigrated to Canada after her father received a scholarship offer from the University of British Columbia. Her father moved his family to South Carolina after earning PhD in 1969.