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Photo credit: Munich Security Conference.

Europe Ventures to Speak Up Against USA

By Somar Wijayadasa*

NEW YORK | MUNICH (IDN) – "The whole liberal world order appears to be falling apart – nothing is as it once was," said Wolfgang Ischinger, a senior German diplomat in an opinion article in the run-up to the 2019 Munich Security Conference (MSC) that he chairs.

He added: "When Vladimir Putin annexed Crimea and started the bloody conflict in Eastern Ukraine in 2014, many considered him to be the major cause of global destabilization."

"Nobody could have known," Ischinger went on to say, "that just a few years later the U.S. President, of all people, would seriously challenge the current international order. Donald Trump questions free trade just like he questions the Western set of values or NATO. This has massive consequences – not just for us Europeans."

: Somar Wijayadasa; THE WORLD; USA and Canada; 22 February 2019

Photo: Mahidol University that co-hosted the 1st Makhapuja International Conference on ‘The Future of Buddhism in Asia’.

Consumerism and Proselytism Threatening Buddhism in Asia

By Natcha Lim

This article is the 28th in a series of joint productions of Lotus News Features and IDN-InDepthNews, flagship of the International Press Syndicate. Click here for previous series.

BANGKOK (IDN) – Buddhist scholars attending the 1st Makhapuja International Conference on ‘The Future of Buddhism in Asia’ have warned that consumerist trends within the monastic order and aggressive proselytism by Islamic and Christian groups are a threat to the future of Buddhism in Asia.

Governments in the region lack adequate political solutions to defy "anti-Buddhist movements”, and this poses a huge challenge, said Professor Kapila Abhayawansa, Vice Rector for Academic Affairs at the International Buddhist College in Thailand.

: IDN-INPS Asia Editor; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 22 February 2019

Photo: U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev at the first Summit in Geneva, Switzerland, in November 1985.

A Nuclear Arms Race Will Produce No Winners

Despite everything, it is still in our power to avoid nuclear confrontation.

Viewpoint by Mikhail Gorbachev*

MOSCOW (IDN-INPS) – The fate of the INF treaty has politicians and ordinary people worried on every continent. I am also concerned, and not only because I signed that treaty with former U.S. President Ronald Reagan in Dec. 1987. These events are yet another manifestation of the dangerous and destructive trends in world politics facing us today.

The main idea guiding us on the path to signing the original treaty was expressed in a joint statement with the United States, adopted at our first meeting in Geneva: “A nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought.”

: IDN-INPS UN Bureau; OPINION; 21 February 2019

U.S. and Canadian Baby Boomers Retiring to Mexico

By Bill Dahl*

REDMOND, Oregon, USA (IDN) – The term boomerang is considered a noun and a verb. As a noun, it is defined as a curved flat piece of wood that can be thrown so as to return to the thrower, traditionally used by Australian Aborigines as a hunting weapon. As a verb, boomerang means a plan or action that results in a return to the originator, often with negative consequences.

One of the overlooked, unanticipated consequences of social, economic and political policies is that they inherently possess a boomerang effect; they return to the sender with negative consequences. A current example of this phenomenon are the negative consequences U.S. President Donald Trump’s range of policies have thrust upon a major demographic cohort in the U.S.: The Baby Boomers.

: IDN-INPS UN Bureau; THE WORLD; USA and Canada; 21 February 2019

Photo: Joseph Hammond, aged 91, is a Commonwealth veteran from Ghana who fought for Britain in WWII. Credit: DFID

African WWII Vets Seek Formal Apology, Compensation From UK

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK | LONDON (IDN) – The UK government is coming under pressure to compensate and apologize to the last surviving African veterans who fought alongside white British soldiers in the Second World War that began 80 years ago and lasted six years.

More than half a million black African soldiers who fought in the British army were paid up to three times less than their white counterparts, a newly unearthed document has revealed, prompting calls for an investigation and the government to compensate surviving veterans.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 20 February 2019

Photo: A crane removes a section of the Wall near Brandenburg Gate in Berlin on 21 December 1989. Source: Wikimedia

Why Walls Make Little Sense

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power

LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) – It’s time overdue that the misleading myths on immigration are thrown into the trashcan. They are causing untold damage. The fact is that President Donald Trump’s own government research shows that Mexican migration has dropped sharply in recent years.

In Britain, the Brexit debate which began with a whipped up crisis about immigration has now moved to a level where it’s tearing the country apart. In France and Belgium immigrants are falsely blamed for Islamic terrorism. In Sweden and Denmark the myth-makers have pushed traditionally left of centre electorates rightwards.

: Jonathan Power; OPINION; 19 February 2019

Photo (from left to right): Noboru Yamaguchi (Japan); Yang Xiyu (China), Chung-in Moon (South Korea), Kevin Clements (Coordinator: Toda Institute), Joseph Yun (USA), Georgy Toloraya (Russia). Credit: Yukie Asagiri.

Experts Discuss Prospects of Peace on The Korean Peninsula

By Katsuhiro Asagiri

TOKYO (IDN) – Nearly 66 years have passed since the Armistice Agreement formally brought about "a complete cessation of hostilities" of the Korean War. One year later, Chinese Premier and Foreign Minister Zhou Enlai proposed a peace treaty. But U.S. Secretary of State, John Foster Dulles, refused – leaving a final peace settlement on the Korean Peninsula hanging in the air.

The signed Armistice established the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), the de facto new border between the two nations, put into force a cease-fire, and finalized repatriation of prisoners of war. The DMZ runs close to the 38th parallel and has separated North and South Korea since the Armistice Agreement was signed in 1953.

: Ramesh Jaura; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 19 February 2019

Photo: Haitian National Police units have been having a tough task containing the outbreaks of violence and looting, restore order and freedom of movement. Credit: Guestonn Fermy / PNH 2019

Haiti Unrest Beginning to Take A Humanitarian Toll

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) – Demonstrators have been filling the streets of downtown Port-au- Prince in Haiti, as anger and frustration over government mismanagement and corruption boils over.

Protestors are now demanding the resignation of President Jovenel Moise. Hundreds gathered in downtown Port-au-Prince a few days ago to demonstrate against economic mismanagement and corruption and to ask for President Jovenel Moise to step down.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Latin America & the Caribbean; 18 February 2019

Photo: While more girls are attending school than before, they are significantly under-represented in STEM subjects in many settings and they appear to lose interest in STEM subjects as they reach adolescence. Credit: UN Women Viet Nam/Pham Quoc Hung

Women and Girls Can Help Tackle Some of The World’s Biggest Challenges

By Caroline Mwanga

NEW YORK (IDN) – Nearly 90 per cent of future jobs will require some form of ICT (information and communication technology) skills, according to a new World Economic Forum report, 'The Future of Jobs'. The fastest growing job categories are related to STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics), and recent studies indicate 58 million net new jobs, in areas such as data analysis, software development and data visualization.

The United Nations is concerned that women and girls will not be in a position to benefit from emerging opportunities because too many of them are being discouraged from the sciences. Data from UNESCO, the UN agency for education, science and culture, shows that less than a third of all female students choose STEM-related subjects in higher education, whilst just three per cent of women choose ICT subjects.

: IDN-INPS UN Bureau; GLOBAL GOVERNANCE; United Nations; 18 February 2019

Photo: A small fence separates densely-populated Tijuana, Mexico, right, from the United States in the Border Patrol's San Diego Sector. Construction is underway to extend a secondary fence over the top of this hill and eventually to the Pacific Ocean. Source: Wikimedia Commons.

Trump’s Emergency A Step Towards Presidential Dictatorship

Viewpoint by Patrick Martin*

TORONTO (IDN | INPS) – President Trump’s proclamation of a state of national emergency on the southern U.S. border is a frontal assault on constitutional norms and democratic rights in America. It is the first time in American history that a president has sought to usurp the constitutional prerogative of Congress to decide how public funds are to be spent.

The actual text of the proclamation, released by the White House on February 15 afternoon, confirms that Trump is seeking to accomplish the building of a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border primarily through the U.S. military and using the vast resources of the Pentagon.