IDN-InDepthNews

Middle East2013-07-082023-07-10

Egypt: Developments in Continuing Revolution, Not a Coup

By Ismail Serageldin* | IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis

CAIRO (IDN) – Egypt is once more doing things its own unique way. After millions of people went into the streets and in 18 days that shook the world succeeded in toppling the regime of Hosny Mubarak after 30 years of rule, they came back again in their millions into the streets and squares of Egypt and toppled Mohamed Morsi after one year of rule.

Dr. Mohamed Morsi was Egypt’s first elected civilian president, in free and fair elections organized by the post-Mubarak military rulers after 18 months of transitional governance. The people rejoiced in the election and the handover of power from the military to Dr. Morsi on July 1, 2012. They backed him in his bid to assert civilian leadership over the military.

Middle East2013-07-072023-07-10

Post-Morsi Egypt Fuel For Al-Qaeda Fires

By Eric Walberg* | IDN-InDepth NewsViewpoint

The removal of Egypt’s first democratically elected president, Mohammed Morsi, by the army threatens to open a Pandora’s box. Al-Qaeda’s post-Bin Laden leader, (Egyptian) Ayman Zawahiri, has always been focused on combating local regimes and Arab rulers, these days, Assad in Syria. If Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood is forced underground again, it is inevitable that terrorism will increase, as frustrated Islamists are forced to defend themselves and to resist the re-imposition of the western model, with al-Qaeda-types hovering in the background.

Europe2013-07-062023-07-10

Banks Count Ten Times More Than Europe’s Youth

By Roberto Savio* | IDN-InDepth NewsViewpoint

ROME (IDN | Other News) – Youth At the last summit of European heads of state in Brussels, the main theme was youth unemployment, which has now reached 23% of European youth (although it stands at 41% in Spain). Last year, the International Labour Organization issued a dramatic report on ‘Global Employment Trends for Youth 2012’ in which it spoke of a “lost generation”.

ENERGY2013-07-052023-07-10

Nuclear Plants To Power Sustainable Development

By Richard Johnson | IDN-InDepth NewsReport

MOSCOW (IDN) – Forgotten is the shock and despair triggered by the Fukushima power plant disaster about two years ago. Nuclear power is here to stay. In fact, according to a consensus emerging from an international conference, “for many countries nuclear power is a proven, clean, safe, and economical technology that will play an increasingly important role in achieving energy security and sustainable development goals in the 21st century”.

GLOBAL ISSUES2013-07-042023-07-10

‘Soil Crucial to Sustainable Development’

By IDN Global Desk

BERLIN (IDN) – Land and soil, which are finite resources and the essential bases of all food production, should be treated on par with energy, food and water as essential elements of sustainable development, says Tarja Halonen, co-chair of the UN High-level Panel on Global Sustainability, and a former President of Finland.

Though the debate on land and soil has been moving forward, “it is still lagging behind the climate and biodiversity processes, so we have to give it an extra push for the run-up to the discussions on the post-2015 agenda,” she told UNCCD News, a bi-monthly update on the work of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD).

Asia-Pacific2013-07-032023-07-10

Asian Economic Model Under Duress

By Martin Khor* | IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis

The successful East Asian model of “state-driven capitalism” is being threatened by proposals in the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) to remove possible advantages of state-owned enterprises.

GENEVA (IDN) – Many articles and books have been published on the contrast and competition between the present Western and the Asian-style economic models.

Asia-Pacific2013-07-022023-07-10

India-China Boundary Talks Ease Tension

By Shastri Ramachandran* | IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis

NEW DELHI (IDN) – The 16th round of talks between the Special Representatives (SRs) of India and China on the boundary issue, which was held in Beijing on June 28 and 29, was not just another round of jaw-jaw towards resolving the border dispute. The meeting had acquired greater significance because it is the first after the April 15 incursion by Chinese troops in Depsang in eastern Ladakh, and was held less than a week before defence minister AK Antony’s visit to China.

In the view of some observers, the Chinese incursion had strained bilateral relations to a level unprecedented since the 1962 conflict. So much so that there were calls for cancellation of not only external affairs minister Salman Khurshid’s visit to China in May but also Chinese premier Li Keqiang’s visit to Delhi the same month. However, with China making amends and India not pushing for a confrontation, both visits went as scheduled although Premier Li’s visit – his first foreign stop since assuming office in the decadal power shift – did not evoke the expected enthusiasm.

Latin America & the Caribbean2013-07-012023-07-12

Behind the Brazilian ‘Spring’

By Ted Hewitt* | IDN-InDepth NewsViewpoint

LONDON, ONTARIO (IDN) – Much of the global media has focused on the protests occurring throughout Brazil. Almost all have drawn their own conclusions as to the cause of the tumult, and almost all in splendid contradiction. Similarly, there has been an enduring preoccupation in most news reports with the violence and looting associated with all such public demonstrations.

In reality, both the causes and the effects of the Brazilian protests are only poorly understood at this point; and for its part, the violence portrayed in the media has primarily been the exception rather than the rule.

ARMAMENTS2013-06-302023-07-10

Obama Magic is Gone – Caution Outweighs Zeal

By Ramesh Jaura* | IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis

BERLIN (IDN) – President Barack Obama’s commitment four years ago “to seek the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons” reverberated across the globe generating hope that humankind will not be annihilated by a sheer flash of light. On June 19 in Berlin he sought to build on the iconic Prague speech. But there was no magic filling the air.

The reason, Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) General Secretary Kate Hudson wrote on June 28 in her blog: “. . . despite Obama’s apparent continued commitment to the goal of global abolition, he did not quite take us to the dizzy heights of hope and emotion stirred by his Prague speech in 2009.”

ARMAMENTS2013-06-302023-07-10

Nuclear Deterrence Works in Indo-Pak Ties

By A. Vinod Kumar* | IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis

NEW DELHI (IDN | IDSA) – For over two decades, a dominant section of western analysts harped on the volatilities of the India and Pakistan nuclear dyad, often overselling the ‘South Asia as a nuclear flashpoint’ axiom, and portending a potential nuclear flare-up in every major stand-off between the two countries. The turbulence in the sub-continent propelled such presages, with one crisis after another billowing towards serious confrontations, but eventually easing out on all occasions.

While the optimists described this as evidence of nuclear deterrence gradually consolidating in this dyad, the pessimists saw in it the ingredients of instability that could lead to a nuclear conflict. Though there is no denial of the fact that the three major crises since the 1998 nuclear tests – Kargil (1999), the Parliament attack and Operation Parakram (2001-2002) and the Mumbai terror strike (2008) – brought the two rivals precariously close to nuclear showdowns, not once had their leaderships lost complete faith in the efficacy of mutual deterrence. Fifteen years after the nuclear tests, it is relevant to examine if deterrence remains weak in this dyad or has consolidated towards greater stability.