USA and Canada

Photo: Papua New Guinea's Prime Minister Peter O'Neill, right, and China's President Xi Jinping in Port Moresby on November 16.

China Chides U.S. for Portraying Silk Road as 'Trap'

By Devinder Kumar

PORT MORESBY (IDN) – China’s President Xi Jinping has rejected U.S. criticism of Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative, vowing it is not "a trap" and that it is not designed to serve any hidden geopolitical agenda. The project is also known as Silk Road Economic Belt.

Xi was addressing a meeting of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) in the capital of PNG and referring to a massive infrastructure and development project spanning Southeast Asia, Central Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Africa, according to Iran's Press TV.

: Devinder Kumar; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 17 November 2018

Photo: President Donald Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron in their bilateral discussion on September 24, 2018, at the Lotte New York Palace in New York. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.

Nuclear Arms Control is Going Down a Trumpian Hole

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power*

LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) – Reacting to the radio interview by the French president, Emmanuel Macron, to mark Armistice Day, in which he was reported as saying, “We have to protect ourselves with respect to China, Russia and even the United States of America… We need a true European army”, President Donald Trump blew a fuse. He tweeted: “President Macron of France has just suggested that Europe build its own military in order to protect itself from the U.S., China and Russia. Very insulting.”

: Jonathan Power; OPINION; 13 November 2018

Photo: Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar. Credit: National Daily.

Nigeria's Presidential Candidate Abubakar Hires Trump's Campaign Strategist

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) - Cash money makes things happen. That’s an expression taken from the Urban Dictionary but it may also be the hope of Atiku Abubakar, candidate for President of Nigeria with the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) which just hired Donald Trump’s lobbying firm at an astronomical price.

Abubakar was Nigeria’s vice president from 1999 to 2007 and a former ally of current president Muhammadu Buhari.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 06 November 2018

Photo: Gabon President Ali Bongo. Source: polisonline.com.ng

Gabon Draws the Focus as Longtime President is Hospitalized

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) – Balloons and fireworks will have to wait as the longtime President of Gabon has been hospitalized at the King Faisal hospital in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, suffering from severe fatigue.

The party of President Ali Bongo Ondimba had just “coasted to victory” in a second round of legislative elections in October 2018 when the President fell ill. A medical and a diplomatic source both told the Reuters news agency that the president had suffered a stroke, but government officials disputed the story.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 30 October 2018

Photo credit: Audrey Tirtaguna | The Daily Pennsylvanian

Experts Underline the Gravity of a Potential Nuclear Conflict

By Claire Ochroch

This report first appeared on October 25, 2018 in The Daily Pennsylvanian.

NEW YORK (IDN-INPS) – Speakers from across the world stopped by Penn's Perry World House on October 23 evening to discuss the importance of denuclearization.

The event, called the Penn Peace Project, was hosted by the International Affairs Association. Speakers included Veronique Christory, Senior Arms Control Advisor of the International Committee of the Red Cross and Susanne Hammer, Austrian First Secretary Disarmament Officer, who touched on how nuclear weapons affect people's daily lives.

: UN Bureau; ARMAMENTS; Nuclear Weapons; 27 October 2018

Participation in Landmark NATO Exercise Reveals Iceland's Dilemma

By Lowana Veal

REYKJAVIK (IDN) – Iceland, the most sparsely populated country in Europe, has no standing army. But it is a founding member of the 29-nation North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and is therefore taking part in Trident Juncture 2018, the largest NATO exercise since the end of the Cold War in December 1991.

Briefing the media on October 24, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said, the exercise includes around 65 ships, 250 aircraft, 10,000 vehicles and 50,000 personnel. In addition to all NATO Allies, Finland and Sweden are also participating.

: Lowana Veal; THE WORLD; USA and Canada; 26 October 2018

A New Book Proposes an Alternative U.S. Foreign Policy

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power*

LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) – At last a book that attacks the "Blob" and holes it below the water line. Whether it can sink it is another matter. I'm talking about 'The Hell of Good Intentions: America's Foreign Policy Elite and the Decline of U.S Primacy' by the Harvard professor of international affairs, Stephen M. Walt, released on October 18, 2018. [Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. ISBN: 9780374902612. Publicity: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.]

The "Blob" is a wonderful word conjured up by President Barack Obama's deputy National Security Advisor, Ben Rhodes. It means the group of congressmen, generals, industrialists, academics and journalists who specialize in foreign policy and have an influence promoting what Walt calls "Liberal Hegemony".

: Jonathan Power; OPINION; 23 October 2018

U.S. Gets Green Light To Boot Thousands of Ghanaian Refugees

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) – A simmering dispute between the U.S. and Ghana appears to be resolved. Some 7,000 Ghanaians can now be deported from the U.S. and a key demand – that their Ghanaian citizenship be proven before deportation – has been dropped.

The dispute was settled at the United Nations General Assembly meeting in September 2018.

Speaking with the press, Ambassador Baffour Adjei-Bawuah said there was no longer any dispute over the nationality of the affected persons which had been a bone of contention earlier.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 09 October 2018

Trump Impossible to Deal with Though He Gets Things Done

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power*

LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) – What do we have to truly fear about President Donald Trump? Early October he pulled off the successful re-negotiation of the North America Free Trade area. Pundits thought, with Canada refusing to bend, it couldn’t happen. Maybe the deal now leans more in America’s direction but Trump has also given something away: the right of Mexico and Canada to sell their trucks and cars more easily in the U.S. He said he’s a great “deal-maker,” and so this time he is.

His trade tussle with China, which looks to be a standoff at the moment, has not yet led to a breakdown in good relations. Trump has been more than careful to keep the direct channels open to President Xi Jinping, even if early October he became more openly critical and personal. He has treated Xi much better than he treated Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada.

: Jonathan Power; OPINION; 09 October 2018

Photo: Mike Pompeo, then Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, meets with North Korea dictator Kim Jong-un over the Easter weekend (March 30 to April 1, 2018). Source: Wikimedia Commons.

Pompeo Heads to Pyongyang in Quest of Denuclearization

By Kelsey Davenport & Alicia Sanders-Zakre

Kelsey Davenport is director for nonproliferation policy and Alicia Sanders-Zakre is research assistant at the Arms Control Association. This article first appeared in the Inaugural Issue: The North Korea Denuclearization Digest on October 3, 2018. It is being reproduced courtesy Arms Control Association. – The Editor

WASHIGTON, D.C. (IDN-INPS) – After a long pause in U.S.-North Korea talks on denuclearization and peace, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will travel to Japan, China, North Korea, and South Korea October 6-8. He will visit Pyongyang October 7 and is expected to meet with Chairman Kim Jong-un.