USA and Canada

Photo: Ethiopian PM Abiy Ahmed wants the diaspora to tear down the wall of hatred and bring home the culture of innovation. Source: ECADF

Ethiopian PM Sparks Euphoria In A Whirlwind U.S. Trip

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) – It’s been called 'Abiy-mania' – an impulse to reach out and hug the young new Prime Minister of Ethiopia, Abiy Ahmed, who brought an end to his country's two-decade-long war with Eritrea and other sweeping changes in the Horn of Africa.

The 41-year old Ethiopian leader landed in the United States on July 26 where he met with thousands of his countrymen and women and reiterated his message of love and unity. "He urged them to tear down the wall of hatred and bring home the culture of innovation that Los Angeles is known for," his chief of staff wrote on Twitter.

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

Photo: Highly enriched uranium awaiting secure transportation by rail on September 26, 2010. Credit: National Nuclear Security Administration

Study Finds Congressional Attention on Nuclear Security Waning as Nuclear Terrorism Threat Persists

By J C Suresh

TORONTO (IDN) – A new report reveals an alarming diminution of U.S. congressional engagement and interest in critical efforts to prevent nuclear terrorism and proposed "action items" for lawmakers in enhancing nuclear security efforts and reducing global stockpiles of nuclear materials.

Titled Empowering Congress on Nuclear Security: Blueprints for a New Generation, the report from Partnership for a Secure America and the Arms Control Association also assesses current congressional staff attitudes about nuclear security and explores the role of Congress and case studies in congressional leadership on this issue.

: J C Suresh; THE WORLD; USA and Canada; 26 July 2018

Photo: Putin gifts Trump a Telstar Mechta, the official match ball for the knockout stage of the 2018 FIFA World Cup. CC BY 4.0

The Media Is Misleading On Trump's Remarks in Helsinki

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power*

LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) – I don't think I've ever witnessed in all my years of journalism such a hysterical outpouring against a presidential statement as I've seen in the aftermath of Helsinki summit. President Donald Trump has even been accused of treason by prominent columnists and politicians. There’s barely a voice of dissent in the media. (Maybe it's written but not published.) No wonder that even some of my normally open-minded friends feel that things are as bad as they are made out to be. Sorry to say it, as I've told them, they are being brainwashed.

: Jonathan Power; OPINION; 24 July 2018

Photo: Dalian Hi-Tech Industrial Zone, Dalian, China. CC BY-SA 4.0

Trump's Trade War With China Prompted By Flimsy Reasons

Viewpoint by Yu Yongding*

BEIJING (IDN-INPS) – No one wins in a trade war. Yet U.S. President Donald Trump seems determined to pursue one with China, which he accuses of causing the United States' trade deficit, violating World Trade Organization (WTO) rules and using unfair practices to acquire foreign technology.

While most economists marvel at Trump's ignorance of how trade balances work, many broadly agree with his charges regarding intellectual property (IP). But the evidence supporting these claims is also weak, at best.

: IDN-INPS Asia Editor; OPINION; 23 July 2018

Photo: Vladimir Putin (right) and Donald Trump (left) at a news conference after their summit meeting in Helsinki on July 16, 2018. Credit: en.kremlin.ru

A U.S.-Russia Summit That Left Trump In The Hot Seat

Viewpoint by Somar Wijayadasa*

NEW YORK (IDN | INPS) – In a historic bilateral summit, the United States President Donald Trump met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki on July 16, 2018. The summit took place notwithstanding myriad objections, conjectures and apprehensions from many U.S. political leaders who oppose rapprochement with Russia over a plethora of issues: Crimea, East Ukraine, Syria, and Russia's alleged meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

Just two days before the summit, the U.S. Justice Department indicted 12 Russians for interfering in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, giving impetus to a steady drumbeat of demands that Trump cancel the meeting. The New York Times reported, "according to an internal government document, the U.S. has imposed sanctions on 213 Russian-related targets".

: Somar Wijayadasa; OPINION; 21 July 2018

Trump Wants To Do It His Way

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power*

LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) – Russian president Vladimir Putin has been in a benign mood after a perfectly organized World Cup which gave Russians and foreigners the rare freedom to mass in the street. In response the world TV audience has looked at Russia with new eyes. Maybe there’s a new Russia coming to the boil which, if the West could seize the chance, could help the two countries make a pot of very tasty and good tea! Maybe.

The Donald Trump/Vladimir Putin encounter is as convoluted as they come.

: Jonathan Power; OPINION; 17 July 2018

Competitive Diplomacy Under the Trump Administration – Part 2

Viewpoint by Michele Nobile*

This is the second of a two-part article which was written before the July 11-12 NATO summit in Brussels – The Editor.

ROME (IDN) – It is evident that the reduction or even wiping out of U.S. spending on United Nations agencies is essentially irrelevant from the point of view of reduction of its public debt and revival of its domestic economy. The reason for cuts can only be political and ideological.

With regard to family planning, contraception and abortion, it is a question of satisfying the domestic fundamentalist right. In more general terms, the Trump administration's competitive diplomacy is a way of blackmailing the United Nations because of the prevailing disagreement in organising certain positions of the US government: the most recent case is that of Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as capital of Israel.

: Phil Harris; OPINION; 16 July 2018

Photo: U.S. President Trump and Chinese President XI. Source: The United States Studies Centre, Sydney.

Competitive Diplomacy Under the Trump Administration – Part 1

Viewpoint by Michele Nobile*

This is the first of a two-part article which was written before the July 11-12 NATO summit in Brussels – The Editor.

ROME (IDN) – The goal of the diplomacy of George W. Bush under his National Security Strategy (NSS) was to be "transformative", that is, aimed at building and supporting democratic states in collaboration with "many international partners".

In other words, the armed export of "democracy" presupposed the ability and will to build variable alliances tailored on military intervention. Except for the fact that, for the purpose of partial political legitimation and outside any UN Security Council mandate, unilateral military action had to be combined with multilateralism.

: Phil Harris; UN INSIDER; 16 July 2018

Photo: 2017-18 protests in Tehran. Credit: Fars News Agency | Wikimedia Commons.

Iran Sandwiched Between 'Regime Change' Threat and Menacing Discontent Within

By Mortezagholi Raissi

BERLIN (IDN) – Plagued by domestic turmoil and the Trump Administration threatening regime change, not only the government in Iran but the entire theocratic regime too are faced with a far from envious situation, according to political observers.

What started off as protests spurred on by the deteriorating economic conditions in Iran and the inflation in prices of basic necessities beginning of 2017 partly turned into "riots". These prompted Iran government spokesmen Mohammad-Baqer Nobakht declare that the government recognizes the people's right to protest within the framework of citizens' rights and the Constitution. However "rioters and protestors are not the same".

: IDN-INPS Middle East & Africa Editor; THE WORLD; Middle East & North Africa; 09 July 2018

Photo: Citizens of Berlin watch a C-54 land at Berlin Tempelhof Airport in 1948 (US Air Force via Wikimedia Commons)

Remembering the Berlin Airlift 70 Years On

By Frederick Kempe*

Following is the text of the slightly modified blogpost based on Frederick Kempe's weekly newsletter InflectionPoints on 26 June, which originally appeared with the caption 'Europe Beyond Trump'. Kempe is president and chief executive officer of the Atlantic Council. You can follow him on Twitter @FredKempe. – The Editor

WASHINGTON, D.C. (IDN) – Seventy years ago, the Soviet Union blockaded access to West Berlin in an effort to score an early win in the first major crisis of the Cold War. What the Kremlin hadn’t expected was an unbending United States, which, with its UK allies, launched the Berlin Airlift, or “Operation Vittles” on June 26, 1948.