By Reinhard Jacobsen VIENNA (IDN) — The Commonwealth of Dominica announced its decision early February to join the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) that bans nuclear explosions by everyone, everywhere—on the Earth’s surface, in the atmosphere, underwater and underground. The Treaty was signed 26 years ago but it has yet to enter into force.
Putin’s War of Aggression on Ukraine and the Non-proliferation Regime
By Daryl Kimball The writer is executive director, Arms Control Association. This editorial is issued in the March 2022 issue of Arms Control Today. WASHINGTON, D.C. (IDN) — President Vladimir Putin has chosen the path of destruction instead of diplomacy. His months-long build-up of a massive Russian invasion force encircling Ukraine and his decision on […]
Will the United Nations Share the Same Fate as its Predecessor League of Nations?
Considering that the above question cannot be answered at this stage, a look back at history of the founding of the League of Nations and the origin of the United Nations would be useful. Following are excerpts from the UN Website https://www.un.org/en/about-us/history-of-the-un/predecessor From UN in Geneva GENEVA (IDN) — The predecessor of the United Nations […]
Africa Battles for Rightful Place in the UN
By Jeffrey Moyo HARARE | ADDIS ABABA (IDN) — Held in Addis Ababa the Ethiopian capital, the 35th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the African Union early February seems long gone, with loud calls from African leaders for reform of the United Nations system. The loudest calls came from the Ethiopian Prime Minister, Abiy […]
India’s Domineering Role Over Sri Lanka
By Mulaffer Khalid The writer is a political analyst, a Senior Lecturer at the Chartered Institute of Supply & Materials Management and Visiting Lecturer both at the National Institute of Business Management and the Sri Lanka Institute of Development Administration. COLOMBO (IDN) — India, one of the major nuclear powers in South Asia, has long […]
Ukraine-Russia: Analysis Briefs
By Aar Jay NEW YORK (IDN) — “Over the past six months, Russia has steadily built up forces along the frontier as Kyiv, Moscow, and Washington have traded barbs,” writes Robert Farley in ‘1945‘ on January 3, 2022. Russia’s immediate concerns involve the Ukrainian acquisition and use of Turkish drones along its border regions, along […]
S.N. Goenka: Spreading Buddha’s Teaching Around the World
By Dr Asoka Bandarage The writer, a scholar and practitioner, has taught at Yale, Brandeis, Mount Holyoke (where she received tenure), Georgetown, American and other universities, and colleges in the U.S. and abroad. COLOMBO (IDN) — Fear and distress prevail. Although less reported, there are developments bringing peace and happiness to people’s lives. One such […]
“They”, The Blob, Are Pushing for War Over Ukraine
Viewpoint by Jonathan Power LUND, Sweden (IDN) — You can insult them, call them the “Blob”, “group thinkers”, or even worse. You can challenge their scholarship and their prejudices. You can demonstrate that the policies they advocated for former wars were dead wrong and met failure. You can prove they don’t know their history and […]
Superstar Angelique Kidjo on Africa: “We Never Had Independence”
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK (IDN) — For those unfamiliar with African superstar Angelique Kidjo, her unflinching views on everything from the colonial mentalities of her French schoolmates to African politics and American history and her decision to call out slavery in her music can be found in a recent freewheeling interview […]
Nuclear Disarmament Requires Prompt Resolution, Says a Buddhist Peacebuilder
By Ramesh Jaura BERLIN | TOKYO (IDN) — Along with the United Nations, the community-based Buddhist organisation Soka Gakkai International (SGI) offers a beacon of hope particularly when the world is plagued by crises threatening the survival of humankind. Every year since 1983, SGI President Daisaku Ikeda, a Buddhist philosopher, peacebuilder and educator, has issued […]