IDN-InDepthNews – Page 651 – News for a Sustainable World, Peace and Security

Arms Trade2017-06-202023-07-10

After Arms Deal, Trump Unleashes Riyadh in Mideast

Analysis by Emad Mekay

CAIRO (IDN) – The image could have passed for a Harry Potter cover; three powerful leaders with hands on a creepy, lit miniature globe in a darkened room – US President Donald Trump was posing for a photo with two authoritarian Middle East rulers: King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud of Saudi Arabia and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.

On a May 20-21 visit to Saudi Arabia, the US president had just vowed to improve ties with Egypt and Saudi Arabia as the three leaders pledged an energised battle under US sponsorship of what they termed “extremist ideology”.

The message from the room was that the head of the world’s most powerful nation is now firmly behind notoriously harsh regimes in measures they take in the name of fighting extremism, a crusade that often turned into a justification for cracking down on opposition and broad abuse of human rights.

OPINION2017-06-202023-07-10

Wars were and are far from Inevitable

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power*

LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) – Frederick the Great of Prussia was a friend of Voltaire and enjoyed ribald evenings with the philosopher discussing the intricacies of life’s dos and don’ts. Before becoming king he was persuaded by Voltaire to become a pacifist. But on ascending to the throne he became the most ferocious and successful of Europe’s warrior leaders. He said of himself that he was “doomed to make war just as an ox must plow, a nightingale sing and a dolphin swim in the sea.”

UN INSIDER2017-06-192023-07-10

Organised Crime Threatening Security and Development in Southeast Asia

By Yury Fedotov

The author is the Executive Director of the Vienna-based UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). Following are extensive excerpts from his remarks – made available by the UN Information Service – at the UN General Assembly side event on transnational organized crime challenges and responses in Southeast Asia on June 19, 2017. – The Editor

NEW YORK (IDN-INPS) – Transnational organized crime is a growing challenge to security and development in Southeast Asia. It threatens the very foundations of the rule of law, the integrity of public institutions, and the basic security and health of people and communities.

UN INSIDER2017-06-192023-07-10

Astana Summit Favours UN Security Council Reform and a Polycentric World Order

By Ramesh Jaura

This is the third in a series of articles from Kazakhstan which being geographically located both in Asia and Europe, considers itself a Eurasian country. The articles are based on information gathered during a visit from June 7 to June 15 on the occasion of the opening of EXPO 2017 in Astana. Video clips accompany the articles in this series. – The Editor

ASTANA (IDN) – Kazakhstan, which is a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for 2017-2018, played a crucial role in the summit meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), chaired by President Nursultan Nazarbayev, on June 8-9 in Astana.

The United Nations drew much of the focus of the SCO heads of state gathered in the Kazakh capital city. But they also underlined the importance of the Organisation’s further consolidation as an effective full-fledged regional platform aimed at active participation in building a more equitable, polycentric model of the world order.

UN INSIDER2017-06-182023-07-10

UN Defends Saudi Arabia’s Election to Rights Council

By Jaya Ramachandran

GENEVA (IDN) – Questioning Saudi Arabia’s membership on the Human Rights Council is a “distraction,” a “gross oversimplification,” and an “attempt to stigmatize”, according to Philip Alston, a prominent New York University (NYU) scholar who serves as the United Nations special rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights.

Alston, who presented a report on June 8 on Saudi Arabia, was responding to a question posed in the plenary of the 47-nation Human Rights Council by Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch, a Geneva-based human rights group monitoring the world body.

EU & Europe2017-06-182023-07-10

Nordic States Support Sustainable Development Goals

By Lowana Veal

REYKJAVIK (IDN) – Leaders of the five largest Nordic countries recently announced support of the Nordic countries as a whole for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) agreed under UN auspices.

The initiative, called Nordic Solutions to Global Challenges, was initially flouted in 2015 when the Paris Agreement on climate change and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development were adopted. As part of the Agenda, 17 SDGs were outlined.

Since the UN climate change in Paris in 2015 (COP 21), the programme has been further developed and was launched at a meeting of the Nordic Council of Ministers on May 30, attended by the Prime Ministers of Denmark, Iceland, Norway, Sweden and Finland.

Africa2017-06-182023-07-10

Lesotho – Crisis Beyond Polls

Analysis by Sechaba Mokhethi

MASERU, Lesotho (IDN) – Snap elections held on June 3 have ushered Lesotho into a new political era, but the outgoing Pakalitha Mosisili government insists on setting terms for the new administration after losing the election on the heels of its earlier loss of a vote of no confidence on March 1.

The tiny Southern African kingdom has been plagued by political instability since 2014, with the Southern African Development Community (SADC) periodically intervening to restore peace and order – having also called for the 2015 snap election that was envisaged to resolve internal strife.

Latin America & the Caribbean2017-06-182023-07-10

Hubs and Spokes Initiative for Promoting ACP Trade Extended

By Desmond Brown

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (ACP-IDN) – The Hubs and Spokes Programme, an innovative trade initiative for expanding opportunities for business, employment and prosperity in African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries, is to be extended until February 2019.

Through the Programme, which is a joint initiative of the European Union (EU), ACP Group Secretariat, Commonwealth Secretariat and Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie (OIF), trade advisers are placed in government ministries and regional organisations to provide support and build local capacity to develop trade policies.

UN INSIDER2017-06-162023-07-10

African Ministers Keen to Halt Migration of Jobless Youth

By Rita Joshi

BONN (IDN) – Senior government ministers from several African countries have emphasized the need for addressing the plight of jobless young people in sub-Saharan Africa. Ignoring their predicament is a recipe for political instability and global insecurity, warned a high-level symposium of Africa’s interior, environment and foreign affairs ministers in Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso,

The Symposium on June 15 examined the threats connected to sustainability, stability and security, namely, conflicts linked to access to degrading natural resources, instability due to unemployment of rural youth and insecurity and the risk of the radicalization triggered by social and economic marginalization and exposure to extremist groups.

UN INSIDER2017-06-152023-07-10

UN Disarmament Official Urges Progress on Nuke Ban Treaty

By Izumi Nakamitsu

The author is High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, United Nations. Following are excerpts from her address to the second substantive session of the ‘UN Conference to Negotiate a Legally Binding Instrument to Prohibit Nuclear Weapons, Leading towards Their Total Elimination’ in New York on June 15, – The Editor.

UNITED NATONS (IDN) – In accordance with (the UN General Assembly) resolution 71/258, these negotiations aim to achieve a clear legal prohibition of nuclear weapons. These talks are truly historic, as they represent the most significant negotiations in the area of nuclear disarmament.