By Norman Solomon* SAN FRANCISCO | 11 September 2024 (IDN) — Kamala Harris won the debate. People being bombed in Gaza did not. The banner headline across the top of the New York Times home page—“Harris Puts Trump on Defensive in Fierce Debate”— was accurate enough. But despite the good news for people understandably eager for […]
How US Foreign Policy Affected Relations with Russia
By Jonathan Power* LUND, Sweden | 10 September 2024 (IDN) — Two mistakes, committed on President Barack Obama’s watch, were the triggers for the end of the long post-Cold War period of good relations with Russia. They were the attack on Libya by the US, France and the UK and the subsequent killing of its […]
OECD Criticises Lack of Equality in Educational Opportunities and Employment
By Jaya Ramachandran PARIS | 10 September 2024 (IDN) — Women out-perform men in education, but this does not translate into corresponding job opportunities. The lack of equality of opportunity is reflected in students from less advantaged socio-economic backgrounds performing worse in standardised assessments. Early childhood education is key for reducing the impact of family […]
Macbeth in Palestine: Murder Most Foul Hath Brok Ope
By James E. Jennings ATLANTA, USA | 9 September 2024 (IDN) — “Horror, horror, horror! Most sacrilegious murder hath broke ope!” That’s how William Shakespeare described the foul act of murder in his classic play Macbeth. The news September 6 of the killing of a 26-year-old Turkish-American woman named Aysenur Ezgi by an Israeli soldier […]
Pursuing Transitional Justice in the Aftermath of Peace in Nepal
By Simone Galimberti* KATHMANDU, Nepal | 9 September 2024 (IDN) — Ending a civil conflict is always an incredibly daunting task but ensuring a permanent peace that would enable the peace dividend to trickle down can often prove to be even more challenging. The unbalanced power dynamics and the inequities at the foundation of the […]
Is the IAEA Board up to the job: Safeguards at Sea?
By Tariq Rauf* VIENNA | 9 September 2024 (IDN) — The Board of Governors (Board) of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is holding its third regular meeting of the year during the week of 9 to 13 September 2024. Increasingly, astute observers are wondering whether the IAEA Board is up to the job mandated […]
Kosovo: The Closure of Parallel Institutions and Its Ramifications
By Dr. Alon Ben-Meir* NEW YORK | 8 September 2024 (IDN) — Kosovo Prime Minister Kurti’s consistent efforts to assert Kosovo’s sovereignty over the predominantly ethnic Serb municipalities do not bolster Kosovo’s independence. Instead, Kurti’s misplaced efforts only strain EU-Kosovo ties while exposing his lack of confidence in Kosovo’s sovereign resiliency Kurti’s decision to close […]
New Policing Agreement May Not Address Main Security Issue of the Pacific
By Kalinga Seneviratne SYDNEY | 8 September 2024 (IDN) — At the recent Pacific Island Forum (PIF) meeting in Tonga, the regional leaders adopted a controversial agreement known as the ‘Pacific Policing Initiative’ (PPI), which seems focused on blocking China from participating in any security arrangements in the vast South Pacific Ocean region. Typhoons and […]
Kazakhstan Proposes a Digital Solutions Centre for Sustainable Development
By Aar Jay BERLIN | ASTANA | 6 September 2024 (IDN) — The Central Asian republic of Kazakhstan has proposed the establishment of a Digital Solutions Centre for Sustainable Development at a high-level conference organized by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) and the Government of Kazakhstan. The […]
Ukraine War: A Global Diplomatic Vacuum
By Christos Katsioulis, Walter Kemp* This article was issued by IPS-Journal. VIENNA | 6 September 2024 (IDN) — The recent ‘peace missions’ undertaken by Viktor Orbán, who currently holds the rotating EU presidency, caused much consternation within the European Union. In particular, the question of who speaks for the EU and whether and to what […]