IDN-InDepthNews

GLOBAL ISSUES2013-04-152023-07-10

More Guns For the Poor, Less For the Rich

By Jaya Ramachandran | IDN-InDepth NewsReport

STOCKHOLM (IDN) – Instead of raising the standards of living of their people by investing all possible resources in sustainable development, some of the countries traditionally considered poor are spending more on guns. The better off are still responsible for the lion’s share of world military spending, though there has been a marginal decline.

Military expenditure refers to all government spending on current military forces and activities, including salaries and benefits, operational expenses, arms and equipment purchases, military construction, research and development, and central administration, command and support.

GLOBAL ISSUES2013-04-132023-07-10

The Political Damage Thatcherism Wrought

By Roberto Savio* | IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis

ROME (IDN | Other News) – The flood of elegiac articles on former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher is in itself a good measure of how we have all become Thatcherites without realising it. Only those who are not graced by a young age can see how the world and politics have changed so deeply since her days that it is correct to call her a “great revolutionary”.

Let us recall something that has been forgotten. Immediately after the end of World War II, two other major events took place. One was decolonisation and the emergence of the Third World, the other was the creation of a powerful and strong socialist bloc, led by the Soviet Union, but with offshoots in Africa, Latin America and Asia, from Angola to Cuba and China, for example.

GLOBAL ISSUES2013-04-122023-07-10

BRICS Building An Equitable Economic South

By Devaki Jain* | IDN-InDepth NewsViewpoint

GENEVA (IDN) – For those of us who participated in the South Commission and in the preparation of its report and recommendations, the announcement of the setting up of the BRICS bank, at the BRICS summit in Durban, is a moment not only to celebrate but to reflect (BRICS comprises Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa). Further, its raison d’etre being to claim some autonomy from the traditional Bretton Woods Institutions is heartening. This was in fact the reasoning behind the South Commission’s recommendation, in chapter four of the report, ‘A challenge to the South’, which was released in 1990.

ENERGY2013-04-122023-07-10

Nuclear Energy Far From Extinct

By Richard Johnson | IDN-InDepth NewsReport

LONDON (IDN) – While Japan’s reactors remain vulnerable two years after Fukushima disaster, more than 45 countries, ranging from sophisticated economies to developing nations are reported to be actively considering embarking upon nuclear power programs, The front runners after Iran are said to be UAE, Turkey, Vietnam, Belarus, Poland and Jordan.

Asia-Pacific2013-04-112023-07-10

North Korea Defying Ally China Too

By Zachary Fillingham* | IDN-InDepth NewsViewpoint

TORONTO (IDN) – For those in need of a refresher, here is the Cold War paradigm underpinning China-North Korean relations up until now. Historically speaking, a shared ideology has been at the core of their relationship. The two countries fought a war together in 1950 and have stood shoulder-to-shoulder against encroaching U.S. military power in East Asia throughout the sixty years that followed.

PLANET EARTH2013-04-102023-07-10

Land Degradation Involves Huge Costs

By Jaya Ramachandran | IDN-InDepth NewsReport

BERLIN (IDN) – Some 600 scientists, government officials and representatives of civil society organizations are gathered in Bonn to carry out the first ever comprehensive cost-benefit analysis of desertification, land degradation and drought. During the meetings, concluding April 19, governments will for the first time also provide concrete data on the status of poverty and of land cover in the areas affected by desertification in their countries.

ENERGY2013-04-092023-07-10

‘Nuclear Power Far Safer Than Fossil Fuels’

By J. C. Suresh | IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis

TORONTO (IDN) – Two eminent NASA scientists have taken up the cudgels for nuclear power, which is being increasingly pooh-poohed around the world since the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster in March 2011.

A landmark study by scientist-turned-climate activist James Hansen, who has been more outspoken than virtually all of his peers on the need for climate action, and his NASA colleague Pushker Kharecha avers that nuclear power is far safer than natural gas. According to them, 1.84 million lives have been saved by the worldwide use of nuclear power instead of fossil fuels between1971 and 2009.

ARMAMENTS2013-04-072023-07-10

Calling For a Nuclear Weapons Convention

By Frederick N. Mattis | IDN-InDepth NewsEssay

ANNAPOLIS, USA (IDN) – Soka Gakkai International (SGI) President Daisaku Ikeda’s Peace Proposal for 2013 notes that worldwide abolition of nuclear weapons will require the legal framework of a treaty banning the weapons (variously called a nuclear abolition treaty, nuclear ban treaty, or Nuclear Weapons Convention – NWC). The SGI president proposes the goal of substantial completion in 2015 of the NWC text. Upon its finalization, then, of course, time will be needed for states to evaluate, sign, ratify, and formally accede to the NWC.

Europe2013-04-062023-07-10

The Story Behind the Cyprus and Euro-Crisis

By Roberto Savio*
IDN-InDepthNews and Other News Analysis

There is more to the Cyprus crisis than has been taken note of by the general public, not the least because of the mainstream media’s failure to provide a contextual analysis of the situation in three-fifths of the island of Cyprus, two-fifths of which are a separate political entity that only Turkey recognises. The lack of transparency and anti-people solution to resolve the Cyprus crisis and crises elsewhere in the 27-nation bloc bode ill for the European Union.

HUMAN DEVELOPMENT2013-04-042023-07-10

Bad News for Countries in Dire Need of Funds

By Jaya Ramachandran | IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis

PARIS (IDN) – Development aid that some of the world’s poorest countries are direly in need of declined for the second successive year in 2012, according to a new report. The reason, says the 34-nation Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), is the continuing financial crisis and euro zone turmoil, which has led several governments to tighten their budgets.