By H. L. D. Mahindapala* “… my administration, I believe, has had the most successful year in the history of the Presidency,” Donald Trump, Conservative Political Action Conference, Maryland, February 23, 2018. MELBOURNE, Australia (IDN) – Since it is generally agreed that one week is a long time in politics, it is time to ask, […]
US Foreign Policy and Trump’s Contradictions – Part 5
Viewpoint by Michele Nobile* This is the fifth of a five-part article looking at US foreign policy in historical context and its global implications under President Donald Trump. BERGAMO, Italy (IDN) – If Trump wanted to be unpredictable, he certainly succeeded. It is the reason for the uncertainty, confusion and variety of assessments about the […]
UN Pushes for Gender Equality in War-Torn Afghanistan
By Devinder Kumar NEW DELHI | KABUL (IDN) – The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) has documented that, in 2017, 359 women were killed – five per cent more than in the previous year – and 865 injured. Altogether about 10,000 civilians lost their lives or suffered injuries in 2017. It is against this […]
U.S. Undermining the Global Nuclear Testing Taboo
By Ramesh Jaura BERLIN | GENEVA (IDN) – A new document that outlines U.S. nuclear policy, strategy, capabilities and force posture for the next five to ten years proclaims that the Trump Administration does not intend to ratify a global treaty banning nuclear weapons tests. Nor does it rule out resuming such tests. The document, […]
Infrastructural Boom Spreads Across Southern Africa
By Jeffrey Moyo HARARE (IDN) – Waving a red cloth tied to a stick while signalling vehicles to stop, 35-year old Denford Muzvidziwa who dons blue overalls and a white helmet, joyfully busies himself on the Harare-Mutare high way which is still being upgraded. For over a decade after he completed a degree in Social […]
US Foreign Policy and Trump’s Contradictions – Part 4
Viewpoint by Michele Nobile* This is the fourth of a five-part article looking at US foreign policy in historical context and its global implications under President Donald Trump. BERGAMO, Italy (IDN) – All US administrations between the twentieth and twenty-first centuries have experienced considerable fluctuations, both in the face of development of their actions and […]
Structural Reform Needed to Ensure Brazil’s Inclusive Growth
By Sean Buchanan LONDON (IDN) – Brazil is emerging from its long recession and is headed for solid growth in 2018 and 2019 as recent structural reforms start to bear fruit, but the country still has some way to go. The mixed outlook comes in the latest OECD Economic Survey of Brazil which notes that […]
Surprise Trump-Kim Summit by May with Global Repercussions
By Jayantha Dhanapala The writer is a former Sri Lanka Ambassador and UN Under-Secretary-General for Disarmament Affairs. He was also President of the Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs for ten years until August 2017. Click here for his previous stimulating contributions for IDN. – The Editor. KANDY (IDN) – Donald Trump has always […]
US Foreign Policy and Trump’s Contradictions – Part 3
Viewpoint by Michele Nobile* This is the third of a five-part article looking at US foreign policy in historical context and its global implications under President Donald Trump. BERGAMO, Italy (IDN) – The development of capitalism is global but structurally unequal: its contradictions are also expressed through the hierarchy of the system of States. And, […]
Sri Lanka’s Extremists Find a New Enemy
Viewpoint by Dr Farah Mihlar* LONDON (IDN) – After fiercely quelling a three-decade armed conflict fought mainly on ethnic grounds, majoritarian politics in Sri Lanka has found a new enemy – the country’s nine percent Muslim community. In the worst outbreak of violence against Muslims in recent years, Sinhalese-Buddhist mobs were on the rampage earller […]