By Greg Webb The writer is editor of Arms Control Today, the Arms Control Association’s flagship publication. WASHINGTON, DC (IDN-INPS) – An accidental explosion on Russia’s White Sea coast has triggered questions about the Kremlin’s strategic weapons development efforts and concerns that Russia may have shut down sensors to deny information to international observers. The […]
Keeping Up Anti-Corruption Momentum in the Post-Lagarde IMF
Viewpoint by M. Emilia Berazategui The author is Global Advocacy Coordinator at Transparency International, the global civil society organisation leading the fight against corruption BERLIN (IDN) – In recent years, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has repeatedly demonstrated its ambition to play a leading role in tackling corruption worldwide. Under the leadership of Christine Lagarde, […]
ACP Reiterates Call for Urgent Ambitious Climate Action
Viewpoint by Dr. Patrick I. Gomes The writer is the Secretary-General of the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States (ACP). Following are extensive excerpts from his presentation at the United Nations Trade Forum from 9-13 September 2019 in the Session ‘Climate Action and Trade’ in Geneva. GENEVA (IDN) – The ACP Group of States […]
Extinction ‘Imminent’ for Small Islands
By Sean Buchanan NEW YORK | GENEVA (IDN) – Islands are often emblazoned across tourism pamphlets, glorified as the epitome of natural beauty and portrayed as idyllic places of escape. But this image is far from the dark reality they face. Changes in sea level, temperature, precipitation, a growing number of extreme storms and floods, […]
Kazakhstan Needs Young Graduates as Teachers for Education Reforms to Succeed
By Milena Melnikova* TARAZ (IDN) – Since 2016, the educational system in Kazakhstan has undergone numerous reforms, and in October 2018 President Nursultan Nazarbayev announced further reforms, including a pledge to increase spending in education along with science and healthcare to 10 percent of national GDP within five years. With the aim of making Kazakhstan […]
Sri Lanka Praised for Advancing the Cluster Munitions Convention’s Objectives
By Jamshed Baruah GENEVA (IDN) – Sri Lanka has won kudos for a number of progressive measures taken during its presidency of the Ninth Meeting of States Parties (MSP) to the Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM) that addresses the humanitarian consequences and unacceptable harm caused to civilians by cluster munitions, through a categorical prohibition and […]
Burning Down the House
Viewpoint by John Feffer The author is the director of Foreign Policy in Focus at the Washington-based Institute for Policy Studies and this viewpoint is published with his kind permission. It was written prior to the latest events in the UK Parliament. WASHINGTON (IDN) – Doesn’t idiocy ever take a vacation? As August wound down, […]
Gunnar Myrdal Went Wrong with His ‘Asian Drama’
Viewpoint by Deepak Nayyar The transformative experience of the last five decades shows that policymakers should approach development with a diagnostic mind and a healthy scepticism of magic wands, silver bullets, and universal prescriptions, writes Deepak Nayyar, Emeritus Professor of Economics at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. The following text is based on his input […]
Ghana’s First President Predicted Black-on-Black Troubles in Africa
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK (IDN) – Ghana’s first president, Kwame Nkrumah, warned as far back as the 1960s that political independence from European colonial oppressors without economic independence was a recipe for disaster.Nkrumah, who authored The struggle continues, Class Struggle in Africa and Neo-colonialism – the last stage of imperialism, among […]
Kenya President Keen to Boost the Caribbean Presence at ACP December Summit
By Reinhard Jacobsen BRUSSELS (ACP-IDN) – ACP Secretary General, Dr. Patrick I. Gomes has welcomed the recent visit of Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta to the Caribbean and said that it could help boost the region’s participation at the December 9-10 ACP Summit to be held in Nairobi. In a wide-ranging interview with the Caribbean Media […]