Viewpoint by Jonathan Power* LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) – Don’t cry for me, Europe. The time for diminishing Europe’s self-esteem is over. It’s time for toughness and retaliation. Even a personal intervention by his favourite European head of state, Emmanuel Macron, President of France, failed to move President Donald Trump on the gravest of all policies […]
Thwart Saudi Threat To Acquire Nuclear Weapons
By Daryl G. Kimball and Thomas Countryman Following is the text of Statement from Daryl G. Kimball, Executive Director of the Arms Control Association and its Board of Directors Chairman and former U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Nonproliferation,Thomas Countryman,– The Editor WASHINGTON, D.C. (IDN-INPS) – We are deeply disappointed by the counterproductive response from […]
The Bumpy Road to Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Process
By Sergio Duarte The writer is President of Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs. NEW YORK (IDN) – On July 1, 2018 the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) will celebrate the fiftieth aniversary of its opening for signature. Although criticised as discriminatory for establishing different rights and obligations […]
Nuclear Weapon States’ Long Arm Seen Behind Deferral of Landmark UN Conference
By Alyn Ware The writer is Co-Chair, World Future Council Disarmament Commission. NEW YORK (IDN) – May 14, 2018 was supposed to see the opening at the United Nations of a three-day High-Level Conference on Nuclear Disarmament, scheduled to discuss “effective nuclear disarmament measures to achieve the total elimination of nuclear weapons, including, in particular, […]
Inequality on the Rise in Asia-Pacific – UNESCAP Reports
By Rita Joshi BERLIN | BANGKOK (IDN-INPS) – The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, approved by the United Nations in September 2015, pledged to “leave no one behind”. But two years since the Agenda began to be implemented, inequality in Asia and the Pacific is on the rise. This is affirmed by a study launched […]
CTBTO Must Credibly Confirm Dismantling & Closure of DPRK Nuclear-Weapon Test Site
By Tariq Rauf * While North Korea has invited journalists from a handful of countries to witness the dismantling and closure of its nuclear-weapon test site at Punggye Ri, only the Vienna-based Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) has the required expertise, verification technology and credibility to confirm the closure of the Punggye Ri test site. […]
The Road to Climate Summit in Poland Leads Through Bangkok
By Jaya Ramachandran BONN (IDN) – Since the climate negotiations in Bonn failed to pave the way for a successful United Nations climate summit COP24 in Poland in December, an extra round is being convened from September 3-8 in Bangkok. Commenting the negotiations in Bonn, concluded on May 10, the Least Developed Countries (LDC) Group […]
European Development Fund Comes to Rescue as Backyard Schools Swamp Africa
By Jeffrey Moyo HARARE (ACP-IDN) – Enrolment in primary education in developing countries has reached 91 per cent but 57 million children remain out of school. More than half of children that have not enrolled in school live in 48 countries from Sub-Saharan Africa, which are members of the 79 African, Caribbean and Pacific Group […]
In A Sense, We Are All Marxists
Viewpoint by Peter Singer* MELBOURNE (IDN) – It is not far-fetched to suggest that the predictions of Karl Marx – whose 200th anniversary fell on May 5, 1818 – have been falsified, his theories discredited, and his ideas rendered obsolete. So why should we care about his legacy in the twenty-first century? From 1949, when […]
Finance for Development Should Focus on Poverty Eradication
By Sahar Nasr, on Behalf of the Group of 77 and China Following are extensive excerpts from the Statement on behalf of the Group of 77 and China by Ms. Sahar Nasr, Minister of Investment and International Cooperation of Egypt, at the general debate of the Forum on Financing for Development Follow-up on the follow-up […]