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New Report Focuses on Security Risks of Environment Crisis

By Thalif Deen

UNITED NATIONS (IDN) — The world’s growing environmental crisis—including climate change, which has resulted in widespread droughts, floods and heatwaves threatening major food crops—is escalating security risks worldwide.

A new policy report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), titled Environment of Peace: Security in a New Era of Risk,‘ points out that between 2010 and 2020 the number of state-based armed conflicts roughly doubled (to 56), as did the number of conflict deaths. At the same time, the number of refugees and other forcibly displaced people also doubled, to 82.4 million.

: Thalif Deen; SUSTAINABILITY; Climate Action; 24 May 2022

Photo: African refugees from the Ukraine in France. Credit: Anadolu Agency

Africans Fleeing War in Ukraine Face New Obstacles in France

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) — European countries have generously offered shelter to some of the 5.5 million people who fled the war in Ukraine launched on Feb. 24 with an unprovoked attack by Russia.

More than 50,000 have been welcomed by France and granted a temporary status that enables them to work and receive social and medical assistance.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Horn of Africa; 23 May 2022

Photo: Renowned Kenyan writer Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o reads excerpts from his recent work in both Gikuyu and English during a presentation in the Coolidge Auditorium, May 9, 2019. Photo by Shawn Miller/Library of Congress.

Google Translate App to Add 10 African Languages

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) — While a professor at the University of Nairobi, Kenyan author Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o was the catalyst of the discussion to abolish the English department. He argued that after the end of colonialism, it was imperative that a university in Africa teach African literature, including oral literature, and that such should be done in the richness of African languages.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 23 May 2022

US Presses India to Reassess Its Foreign Policy Options

Viewpoint by John P. Ruehl

This article was produced by Globetrotter. The writer is an Australian-American journalist living in Washington, D.C. He is a contributing editor to Strategic Policy and a contributor to several other foreign affairs publications. He is currently finishing a book on Russia to be published in 2022.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (IDN) — The United States’ approach to India since the outbreak of the Ukraine crisis has reignited India’s historical grievances toward Washington. But outreach by other major powers—such as Russia and China—to New Delhi illustrates India’s growing clout in international affairs.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 23 May 2022

Image: Beachcomber Resort Island. Credit: Kalinga Seneviratne.

South Pacific: Fiji Tourism Is Back on Its Feet with Focus on Sustainability

By Sheryl Lal and Akansha Narayan*

NADI, Fiji (IDN) — Though Fiji Islands was unaffected by the first wave of COVID-19, its tourism sector, the lifeblood of the economy, has been devastated by border closure across the world due to the pandemic in the past two years. Thus, when the Fijian Tourism Expo (FTE) returned after a break of two years, Fiji Tourism’s CEO Brent Hill was in an upbeat mood, especially because they have been able to attract over 500 participants to the Expo in these competitive times for the travel industry. But, having experienced the vulnerabilities, sustainability was very much in focus during presentations at the event here.

: Kalinga Seneviratne; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 23 May 2022

Photo: Michelle Bachelet, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Michelle Bachelet, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. Credit: UN Photo/Laura Jarriel

UN Human Rights Chief’s China Visit Under Critical US Scrutiny

By Thalif Deen

UNITED NATIONS (IDN) — The upcoming visit to China by Michelle Bachelet, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, has come under critical US scrutiny.

Asked about the proposed visit, US State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters on May 20: “We are deeply concerned about the upcoming visit. Our understanding of the planned restrictions that she will be subjected to during the visit—based on that, we have no expectation that the People’s Republic of China (PRC) will grant the necessary access required to conduct a complete, unmanipulated assessment of the human rights environment in Xinjiang”.

: Thalif Deen; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 22 May 2022

Image: River Pripyat, Polesia / Fedor Lysenko/Shutterstock

Grave Concern for Environmental and Climate Damage Caused by Russian Invasion of Ukraine

Viewpoint by Kazuo Matsushita

This article was issued by the Toda Peace Institute and is being republished with their permission.

TOKYO (IDN) — War is the worst destruction of the environment and human rights.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine is truly a humanitarian crisis. In addition, the war has caused extensive damage to the environment, the effects of which are feared to be long-lasting. Even if the war were to end, the environmental devastation and pollution will make reconstruction difficult.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 22 May 2022

Photo: South African President (right) in a phone conversation with Putin. Credit: CGTN

South Africa on The Right Side of History or Captured by Cold War Allies?

Viewpoint by Professor Gerrit Olivier and Michèle Olivier

Gerrit Olivier is an emeritus professor at Pretoria University and former South African Ambassador in Russia and Kazakhstan. Michèle Olivier is a consultant in international law.

PRETORIA, South Africa | HULL, England (IDN) — A seemingly non-negotiable principle of South Africa’s foreign policy, is to be on the side of autocrats and dictators and habitually anti-West, irrespective of the issues. Cosy relations with the likes of Ethiopia’s Mengistu Haile Mariam, Sudan‘s Omar al Bashir Cuba’s Fidel Castro and Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe, characterised our foreign policy under all presidents since Nelson Mandela. With the present government being enamoured with a rabid war criminal like Vladimir Putin, we see a continuation of this policy.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 22 May 2022

Image: Cover of Electoral Integrity Report

US Falters, Europe Leads in Electoral Integrity

By Thalif Deen

NEW YORK (IDN) — When Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi declared a state of emergency during a political crisis in June 1975, she arrested hundreds of citizens, suspended civil liberties and imposed strict censorship of the press—temporarily downgrading “the world’s largest democracy” to a near-authoritarian state.

: Thalif Deen; SUSTAINABILITY; Peace & Justice; 21 May 2022

Global Call to Act on Land Degradation and Drought

By Devendra Kamarajan

ABIDJAN, Côte d’Ivoire (IDN) — The 15th Conference of Parties (COP15) of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), concluded in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, has concluded with a united global pledge to boost drought resilience and invest in land restoration for future prosperity.