By J Nastranis NEW YORK (IDN) — Since the start of agriculture 10,000 years ago, many crops have been domesticated. However, not all are made equal as some play an important role in providing food and nutritional security globally, including wheat, corn, rice, and potatoes. At the same time, the globalization efforts of the past […]
The US Provides a Hefty $8.2 billion to Ukraine Battling a Superpower
By Thalif Deen UNITED NATIONS (IDN) — The five largest recipients of US weapons have traditionally included Saudi Arabia, Australia, South Korea, Japan and Qatar. Ukraine, which was ranked as the 50th largest importer of US arms, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), is now set to make a giant leap upwards. […]
Climate Change and COVID-19 Playing Havoc in Latin America and the Caribbean
Viewpoint by Mario Cimoli The writer is the Deputy Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC). SANTIAGO, Chile (IDN) — The Latin America and the Caribbean region is home to some of the widest biodiversity on the planet. From Caribbean marine and coastal oases to the Amazon rainforest and […]
CARICOM’s Policy “Coordination”: Successes, Failures and Limitations
By Reinhard Jacobsen BRUSSELS (IDN) — The Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS) Secretary-General Georges Rebelo Pinto Chikoti has called for unified positions by the 79-member grouping ahead of several international meetings, namely, the 77th United Nations General Assembly in September, the World Health Summit 2022 in Germany in October as well as […]
OACPS-European Union Post-Cotonou Negotiations Process in a Stalemate
By Reinhard Jacobsen BRUSSELS (IDN) — The 79 member-country Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS) is asking the European Commission to explain the long lapse that had occurred since April 2021, when chief negotiators of the EU and OACPS concluded their deliberations and initialled an agreed text for the successor Agreement to the […]
Sri Lanka Crisis: A Poetic Perspective
The following poem is by H.A. Azeez. It accompanies a drawing by Imadh Azeez. ‘Aragalaya’ is the Sinhalese for ‘struggle’, now synonymous with the movement that led to the fall of the government in Sri Lanka.
January 6 Attack on the Capitol: The Most Damning Hearing Yet
Viewpoint by Dr Alon Ben-Meir The writer is a retired professor of international relations at the Center for Global Affairs at New York University. He taught courses on international negotiation and Middle Eastern studies for over 20 years. NEW YORK (IDN) — Last Thursday’s (July 21) hearing by the House Select Committee investigating the January […]
The Congo, its Minerals and its Tribalism
Viewpoint by Jonathan Power LUND, Sweden (IDN) — When the United Nations pulled its troops out of the Congo, a country the size of western Europe, in June 1964, Secretary General U Thant reported, “The UN cannot permanently protect the Congo from internal tensions and disturbances created by its own organic growth towards unity and […]
Calling for No First Use of Nuclear Weapons
Statement by Daisaku Ikeda, President, Soka Gakkai International (SGI) to 2022 NPT Review Conference TOKYO — Seventy-seven years have passed since the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Not only is there a lack of any concrete progress toward nuclear weapons abolition but the risk that nuclear weapons will actually be used has risen to […]
Caring about Nuclear Sharing: A Setback for Nuclear Arms Control
Viewpoint by Herbert Wulf This article was issued by the Toda Peace Institute and is being republished with their permission. BONN (IDN) — Russia’s repeated references to nuclear weapons since it started the war in Ukraine have put nuclear weapons back at centre stage of the strategic discussions. This has raised anxieties about a possible […]