By Ramu Damodaran The author is the first Director of UN Academic Impact and a Senior Fellow at the New Delhi-based Centre for Social and Economic Progress (CSEP). NEW YORK (IDN) — It was in the final weeks of 2020, during the annually familiar, even at times festive, reaffirmation and celebration of faith, from Eid-e-Milad […]
New Evidence Against the War on Civilizations
Viewpoint by Jonathan Power* LUND, Sweden (IDN) — War of civilizations? Violence-prone Muslims living out the inheritance of their prophet, Mohammed who, in marked contrast to Jesus Christ, established his creed on earth by a vigorous use of the sword. It’s all there in Princeton professor Bernard Lewis’ book, “From Babel to Dragomans”.
‘Cobalt Red’ Portrays the Degradation of Congolese Miners’ Life
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK (IDN) — Some might call it a vision of hell. To others, the cobalt mines, where thousands of miners toil in vast open pits, are “a hellscape of craters and tunnels, patrolled by maniacs with guns.” “It was a “lunar wasteland,” a “devastated landscape” that “resembled a […]
Ghana To Establish A ‘War College’ As Fears of Terrorism Grow
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK (IDN) — The Ghanaian Armed Forces (GAF) is looking to establish a War College to train future military strategists and leaders. President Nana Akufo-Addo revealed the plans at the Ghanaian Armed Forces end-of-year West African Soldiers Social Activities (WASSA) celebrations in Accra.
US-Russia Nuclear Treaty in Danger of Breaking Down
By Thalif Deen UNITED NATIONS (IDN) — The growing nuclear threats from Russia—the last one from President Vladimir Putin himself—have resulted in a negative fallout for a landmark treaty between two of the world’s major nuclear powers. The Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START 1) between the US and the then Soviet Union—on the reduction and […]
Pope Ends African Journey Calling for End to Gun Violence
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK (IDN) — Pope Francis departed from South Sudan along with over 70 journalists aboard the papal plane bound for Rome, marking the conclusion of his 6-day Apostolic Journey to South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo. His first public words in DR Congo set the tone […]
Africa Confronts an Aged Leadership Unwilling to Retire
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK (IDN) — African leaders serving 20 or more years in office are drawing the attention of critics who question their ability to run a country after so many years. Suspicions about the stability of Cameroonian President Paul Biya, age 89, were raised in a recent issue of […]
New Study Reveals Awful Human Trafficking Trails to Libya
By Reinhard Jacobsen BRUSSELS (IDN) — Eritrean refugees are trafficked and enslaved in Libya, where they are tortured, abused and raped by slave traders to force family members to pay ransom for their release. If they escape and make it to the Mediterranean Sea, they risk being intercepted and sent back to Libya or dying […]
When a New Cold War Threatens World Peace & Security
By Thalif Deen* This article contains excerpts from a recently-released book* on the United Nations titled “No Comment–and Don’t Quote Me on that” available on Amazon: https://www.rodericgrigson.com/no-comment-by-thalif-deen/ UNITED NATIONS (IDN) — During the height of the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union, and particularly in the 1960s, the United Nations was […]
Is Europe Sliding into Third World War?
By Boaventura de Sousa Santos* COIMBRA, Portugal (IDN) — A new-old ghost is hovering over Europe—war. The most violent continent in the world in terms of deaths in warfare for the last hundred years (not to go back any further and include the deaths suffered by Europe during religious wars and the deaths inflicted by […]