Home - IDN-InDepthNews | Analysis That Matters

Photo: Portraits of King Salman and Prince Mohammed in Jenadriyah. CC BY-SA 4.0.

The U.S. Is Apparently At The Mercy Of Saudi Arabia

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power*

LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) – Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman remains at large, the unapologetic murderer (according to the CIA) of the respected dissident journalist, Jamal Khashoggi. Even though President Donald Trump came close to accusing him of the deed, he has pulled back, citing Saudi Arabia’s importance as an oil producer and arms buyer.

The Prime Minister of the UK, Theresa May, is too preoccupied with Brexit to want to give up an important market. President Emanuel Macron of France is silent after an initial outburst. Now pressed by the demands of the demonstrators, he also wants to keep sources of revenue that come from sales of jets.

: Jonathan Power; THE WORLD; Middle East; 01 January 2019

Photo: Shehu Shagari (left) and Olusegun Obsanjo (right). Credit: Nigerian Tribune

Nigeria's Ex-President Shehu Shagari Mourned

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK | ABUJA (IDN) - Former President Alhaji Shehu Usman Shagari, a devout Muslim, a former school teacher, son of a farmer, trader and herder, was remembered in December as a nice man, a gentle man but not a particularly strong man.

Nice, gentle and amiable – good qualities – but just short of what the opposition desired for the leader of Africa’s burgeoning colossus.

As a result, Shagari’s service to the nation from 1979 to 1983 was cut short by a coup led by military men including the current president of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 01 January 2019

Photo: The Arch 22 monument commemorating the 1994 coup which saw the then 29-year-old Yahya Jammeh seize power in a bloodless coup, ousting Dawda Jawara, who had been President of the Gambia since 1970. CC BY-SA 3.0

Press Freedoms Return To Gambia Under New Government

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK | BANJUL (IDN) – Following the end of the regime of former President Yahya Jammeh, journalists in The Gambia are beginning to enjoy press freedoms for the first time in 22 years.

During the two decades of ex-President Jammeh's rule, journalists were regularly abducted, tortured and killed. The new government has pledged to respect the media.

Outdated sedition laws are still on the books, however, and the public is urged to bring any complaints about journalists to the new Media Council of The Gambia instead of to the courts.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 01 January 2019

Image: Palestine flag. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.

Palestine Looks Forward To An Exceptional Year As G77 Chair

By Ramesh Jaura

NEW YORK (IDN) – 2019 is slated to be an exceptional year for the State of Palestine, not least because it will preside over the Group of 77 (G77) – the largest bloc at the United Nations – comprising 134 developing countries representing some 80 percent of the world population.

Though 71 years since the UN General Assembly adopted Resolution 181 in 1947 an independent and sovereign State of Palestine state has yet to be realised. But according to Riyad Mansour, Permanent Observer of Palestine to the United Nations, as chair of the Group of 77 and China, "we will be negotiating on behalf of 135 countries," including his own delegation in the count.

: Ramesh Jaura; GLOBAL GOVERNANCE; The Group of 77; 31 December 2018

Photo: A glimpse of the 7th European Union Nonproliferation and Disarmament Conference in Brussels. Credit: European Union.

Nonproliferation Policy and Priorities – U.S. Perspective

Viewpoint by Dr. Christopher Ashley Ford

The author is Assistant Secretary, Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation. The following are extensive extracts from his remarks at the 7th European Union Nonproliferation and Disarmament Conference in Brussels, Belgium, on December 18, 2018.

BRUSSELS | WASHINGTON, D.C. (IDN-INPS) – A year ago at this European Union conference, I had the honor of speaking on behalf of the new U.S. Administration to outline our emerging approaches to nonproliferation, arms control, and disarmament policy — summarizing critical continuities and highlighting constructive innovations that we were then getting underway in our first year. This year, having moved from the National Security Council staff to the State Department, I’m pleased to be able to outline our policy and priorities in the nonproliferation business.

: J C Suresh; OPINION; 30 December 2018

UN Security Council Reform Back On The Table Again

By J Nastranis

NEW YORK (IDN) – Foreign Minister Heiko Maas of Germany, which takes up its seat as a non-permanent member of the 15-nation United Nations Security Council on January 1, says the current composition of the Council is "outdated" and that it needs be reformed.

He told the German news agency DPA that "the balance of power in the world needs to be reflected much more adequately than is currently the case," and insisted that Germany should hold a permanent seat.

The Council currently has five permanent members, the U.S., the UK, France, China and Russia. Germany, along with Brazil, Japan and India has been pushing for an expansion of the UN body for years.

: J Nastranis; UN INSIDER; 29 December 2018

Photo: María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés, President of the seventy-third session of the General Assembly, gavels to a close the General Assembly’s annual general debate. UN Photo | Cia Pak

Except A Few Dissenters World Leaders Pledge To Bolster Multilateralism

By Ramesh Jaura

NEW YORK (IDN) – As the new year unfolds, UN Secretary-General António Guterres' appeal for addressing the "trust deficit disorder" plaguing the world, and General Assembly President María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés' plea for stressing the need to enshrine the General Assembly as the "chief peacebuilding organization in the world" will serve as a clarion call to urgent action by the international community. All the more so because the 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly in 2018 was held against the backdrop of burgeoning unilateralism and large-scale migration.

: Ramesh Jaura; UN INSIDER; 28 December 2018

Photo: Colombo City, Sri Lana. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.

Wickremasinghe's Reappointment As Sri Lanka PM Opens Door To The 'Indo-Pacific'

By Kalinga Seneviratne

COLOMBO (IDN) – For the past two months Sri Lanka’s deeply divided political community has been fighting to protect democracy in one of the oldest democracies in Asia. One side wants a general election to elect a new parliament claiming the current one is corrupt and wants to divide the country. The other is fighting to evade going for a general election before it is due in mid-2020.

Interestingly the U.S. and its European allies have been openly supporting the latter – the camp that does not want an election. They claim this is to “restore” democracy in the country!

: Kalinga Seneviratne; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 27 December 2018

Photo (left to right): Ms. D. Walsweer-Sore, ACP Secretariat; Stefano Manservisi, European Commission's Director-General; Professor Robert Dussey, ACP Chief Negotiator; Rimnick Pato, Foreign Minister of Papua New Guinea.

A Critical Year Ahead For EU's Ties With 79 ACP Countries

By Reinhard Jacobsen

BRUSSELS (ACP-IDN) – 2019 will be a crucial year for relations between the European Union (EU) and 79 countries in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific (ACP) – uniting more than half of all UN member countries and representing over 1.5 billion people.

The current partnership, governed by the Cotonou agreement, is one of the longest-standing and most comprehensive framework for cooperation between the EU and developing countries. The current agreement expires in 2020. Therefore, the new agreement needs to be both finalised and approved by then.

: Reinhard Jacobsen; GLOBAL GOVERNANCE; ACP Group of States; 26 December 2018

Photo: President Joseph Kabila Kabange of the Democratic Republic of the Congo addresses the seventy-third session of the United Nations General Assembly on 25 September 2018. UN Photo/Cia Pak

UN Intervention In The Congo Appears To Be Successful

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power*

LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) – The general election in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo) has been postponed yet again – to December 30. Will this country, the largest and potentially the richest in Africa, ever escape from its continuous dictatorship, and its propensity to civil war? It’s not so long ago that Susan Rice, then the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, was talking about the Congo as the site of “Africa’s First World War”.

Has the UN at long last really pacified this country that has been continuously in a state of unrest since the Belgian colonisers, after effectively looting the country, fled in 1960, turning the country over to a hastily improvised African government?