By Caroline Mwanga NEW YORK (IDN) – While the vast majority of the senior leadership of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) – 126 Resident Representatives – were slated to leave the organization simultaneously on December 31, 2018, a new pool of world class talent has been selected to lead the UNDP’s development work across […]
Syria Withdrawal Plan Tallies With America’s Wish To Bring Soldiers Home
Viewpoint by Ellen R. Wald The writer is a historian and author of ‘Saudi, Inc.’ She is the president of Transversal Consulting and also teaches Middle East history and policy at Jacksonville University, USA. Twitter: @EnergzdEconomy. This article first appeared on the Arab News on January 2, 2019. JACKSONWILLE, USA (IDN-INPS) – President Donald Trump […]
Contemporary Art Triggers China-India Soft-Power Competition
Art is a means of soft power for persuading and attracting global attention. “As globalization has distributed economic benefits around the world more broadly, emerging economies are stepping up to express their role as actors in the global sphere,” explains John Zarobell, associate professor and chair of International Studies at the University of San Francisco. […]
Trump, Big Oil Double Down On Automobile Inefficiency
By William Mebane The writer is former Director of Energy Efficiency Department at the Energy and Sustainable Economic Development (ENEA). ROME (IDN) – A group of U.S. oil companies, including Chevron, Exxon Mobile, Marathon and Phillips – 66, together with the Trump Administration – are seeking to cancel the previously approved 2022-2025 requirements of energy […]
UN Keen To Progress Towards 17 Global Development Goals
By J Nastranis NEW YORK (IDN) – A series of events, including two High-level Political Forums (HLPFs) and the UN Secretary-General’s Climate Summit on the margins of the 74th General Assembly underline the vital importance of 2019 that marks the fourth year of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development adopted at the United Nations Sustainable […]
Sustainable Blue Economy Movement Gains Momentum
By Santo D. Banerjee NEW YORK (IDN) – The concept of sustainable blue economy is gaining momentum, including at the highest levels of decision making, encouraging proponents of the growing movement to believe that humans can use the ocean as a tool for lifting people out of poverty, all the while protecting its valuable ecosystems. […]
Liberalization, Privatization and Globalization Playing Havoc
Viewpoint by Jayasri Priyalal The writer is the Regional Director responsible for Finance Sector of UNI Global Union, Asia & Pacific Organization – Singapore. SINGAPORE (IDN) – Imagine the feelings of millions of Americans holding their pay cheques during the festive seasons and at a time getting ready to face the harsh winter, as a […]
Indian Foreign Policy Not Walking Modi’s Big Talk
Viewpoint by Bharat Karnad The author is Research Professor for National Security Studies at the Centre for Policy Research, New Delhi. He is author of ‘Staggering Forward: Narendra Modi and India’s Global Ambition’ and blogs at ‘SecurityWise‘. This article first appeared on EastAsiaForum on 24 December 2018. NEW DELHI (IDN-INPS) – The 2018 G20 Summit […]
The Biomass Shore Project – A Leading Model For Next-Generation Innovation
Viewpoint by Midori Kurahashi The author is Project Associate Professor, Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, the University of Tokyo, Japan. TOKYO (IDN) – Worldwide forest fires and the abnormal heat experienced last summer are still fresh in our memory. Many people throughout the world had a sense that some kind of unsettling change […]
The U.S. Is Apparently At The Mercy Of Saudi Arabia
Viewpoint by Jonathan Power* LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) – Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman remains at large, the unapologetic murderer (according to the CIA) of the respected dissident journalist, Jamal Khashoggi. Even though President Donald Trump came close to accusing him of the deed, he has pulled back, citing Saudi Arabia’s importance as an oil producer […]