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By Elizabeth Frame Ellison
The writer is president and CEO of the Lobeck Taylor Family Foundation.
TULSA, United States (IDN) — As Oklahoma is poised to resettle nearly 2,000 Afghan refugees in the near future, it is more important than ever to welcome newcomers who are fleeing war, poverty, trauma and many other hardships. That is why the Lobeck Taylor Family Foundation (LTFF) and its associated businesses, made the decision to sign the Businesses for Refugees Pledge.
By Thalif Deen
New York (IDN) — The politically and militarily volatile Middle East continues its run as one of the world’s biggest single arms markets—led primarily by Saudi Arabia. But the Saudi dominance is being gradually challenged by another oil-blessed country in the region: the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
According to the latest report from the US Commercial Service, the trade promotion arm of the US Department of Commerce's International Trade Administration, the UAE is second only to Saudi Arabia, which has been ranked first globally, due to several large deals, topping $1.9 billion in purchases over the past year, while the UAE’s purchases amounted to $609 million during August 2020-July 2021.
Viewpoint by Sugeeswara Senadhira
COLOMBO (IDN) — Recently, Sri Lanka has been wooed by world powers—particularly China, US, India and Russia—thus, in view of Sri Lanka’s desire to engage with major powers through continued cooperation in areas that are beneficial to the country, it is very interesting to note the American ambassador designate Julie Chung’s emphasis that the United States needs to build constructive relationships with Sri Lanka.
Viewpoint by Herbert Wulf
This article was issued by Toda Peace Institute and is being republished with their permission
What do the Biden administration's recent lonely foreign and security policy decisions imply for the EU? Perplexity and annoyance in Paris. Consternation in Brussels. Lots of open questions and no answers in Berlin.
Viewpoint by James W. Carden
This article was produced by Globetrotter in partnership with the American Committee for U.S.-Russia Accord. James W. Carden is a writing fellow at Globetrotter and a former adviser to the U.S. State Department. Previously, he was a contributing writer on foreign affairs at the Nation, and his work has also appeared in the Quincy Institute’s Responsible Statecraft, the American Conservative, Asia Times, and more. Source: Globetrotter.
Viewpoint by Jorge Heine
This article was issued by Toda Peace Institute and is being republished with their permission.
WATERLOO, ON Canada (IDN) — One joke making the rounds in Kabul’s diplomatic circles these days is that the power transition in Kabul from the Ghani government to that of the Taliban was smoother than the one that took place in Washington D.C. earlier this year. That may be a (slight) exaggeration, but there is little doubt that the swiftness with which the Taliban entered the Afghan capital caught most observers by surprise.
By Kester Kenn Klomegah*
MOSCOW (IDN) — Russian and foreign media have stepped up reports about rising Covid-19 infections. The reports also indicate high deaths in the country. Some new trends are noticeable. Interestingly, Tourism and Travel agencies have revealed that vaccine uptake has lagged in Russia and worse, due largely to mistrust, so many Russians are lining up for vaccine tourism in Serbia, Bulgaria and Germany and a few other foreign countries.
Viewpoint by Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J. S. Davies*
NEW YORK (IDN) — President Biden and the Democratic Congress are facing a crisis as the popular domestic agenda they ran on in the 2020 election is held hostage by two corporate Democratic Senators, fossil-fuel consigliere Joe Manchin and payday-lender favorite Kyrsten Sinema.
But the very week before the Dems’ $350 billion-per-year domestic package hit this wall of corporate money-bags, all but 38 House Democrats voted to hand over more than double that amount to the Pentagon. Senator Manchin has hypocritically described the domestic spending bill as “fiscal insanity,” but he has voted for a much larger Pentagon budget every year since 2016.
Viewpoint by Daryl G. Kimball
The following statement by Daryl G. Kimball, Executive Director of The Arms Control Association, was issued on October 6, 2021.
WASHINGTON, DC (IDN) — The Biden administration’s decision to declassify updated information on the number of nuclear warheads in the U.S. nuclear weapons arsenal is a welcome step that reverses an unwise decision by the Trump administration to classify this information. It also puts pressure on other nuclear armed states that maintain excessive secrecy about their arsenals, and highlights the need for further steps to reduce the number, role, and risk of nuclear weapons in the United States and world’s other eight nuclear-armed states.
Viewpoint by Shastri Ramachandaran*
NEW DELHI (IDN) — Recent developments—such as the pandemic’s impact, the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, its nuclear submarine deal with Australia and the release of Huawei’s CFO Meng Wanzhou—once again raise the question of whether the US remains the world’s sole superpower with its hegemony unchallenged. As is the wont in matters concerning the United States, analysts are divided on the subject, as they have been since the global financial crisis of 2008.
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