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Photo: A possible scenario after a 10-kiloton nuclear detonation centered on Arnhem in the Netherlands. Credit: Dennis van Zuijlekom/Flickr

Prohibiting Nuclear Weapons: The Role of Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands

Viewpoint by Moritz Kütt, Jan Hoekema and Tom Sauer *

The English version of this article was first published in The Toda Peace Institute's Global Outlook on February 28, 2021.**

TOKYO (IDN) — On January 22, the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons entered into force. The new agreement also called the Nuclear Ban Treaty, prohibits member states from developing, producing, testing, and stockpiling nuclear weapons. It similarly restricts the use and the threat of use of these weapons.

The treaty has 54 member states; 32 more have signed the treaty. Additional states are expected to join. The treaty puts into law a prohibition of a substantial threat to the planet: the use of nuclear weapons in warfare that has catastrophic humanitarian and environmental consequences.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 04 March 2021

Reinvigorate Multilateralism by Replacing its Operating Principle

Viewpoint by Inge Kaul*

The following article first appeared on the website of Center for Global Development and was adapted from a paper published originally by Global Perspectives and cross-published by CGD.

BERLIN (IDN | CGD) — The global policy debate on multilateralism has taken an intriguing turn during recent months and its focus has been widened. Besides its previously dominant topic of renewed great-power rivalry and the deleterious effects of that on multilateralism, the essential, even indispensable role of multilateralism for meeting today’s global challenges has now emerged as a second priority topic that, moreover, attracts high-level political attention.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 04 March 2021

India Driving Toward 'Authoritarianism' — Media Being Gagged

The following is a revised version of the previous report titled "India Falls from ‘Free’ to ‘Partly Free’ in Freedom Index"

By Ditsa Bhattacharya, NewsClick and ICF Team

NEW DELHI (IDN) — India's status fell from "free" to "partly free" in the Freedom in the World 2021 report released on March 3. India's score in the index decreased by four points, from 71 in 2020, to 67 in 2021. The report, published by Freedom House, a US-based non-governmental organisation, measures the strength of democratic processes in countries. The report attributed the decline in India's score to the policies of the Narendra Modi-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government.

: Asia Editor; THE WORLD; South Asia; 04 March 2021

Photo: Solar power in the desert. Terlingua, TX, USA. Credit: Gene Jeter | Unsplash.

Texas’ Sustainable Energy Initiatives Under Fire Amid the Latest Grid Failures

By J W Jackie

RENO, Nevada, USA (IDN) — The recent energy failure in Texas left 4 million Texans without power and almost half the state under a boil water advisory. As below-freezing temperatures and an intense winter storm swept the state, the state’s energy grid—at the worse possible time. Clean energy is poised to grow in 2021.

Now, in the wake of consequences, everyone is asking whether renewable energy is to blame—and realizing that maybe the U.S. energy system is not as indestructible as they once thought. For now, interesting conclusions are being drawn relating to the state’s dependency on fossil fuels, and the need to do more with its energy-saving and green energy initiatives in the coming years.

: Jaya Ramachandran; SUSTAINABILITY; Affordable Clean Energy; 03 March 2021

Photo: A visual from a section of the Indian farmers' protests on 3 January 2021. CC BY-SA 4.0

India’s Farmers’ Protests Threaten to Overturn the Political Landscape

Viewpoint by Vijay Prashad*

NORTHAMPTON, Massachusetts (IDN) — For the past three months, Indian farmers and agricultural workers have been in the middle of a difficult struggle against the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Tens of thousands of them have gathered around the capital city of New Delhi; they say that they will not disband unless the government repeals three laws that negatively impact their ability to remain economically viable.

The government has shown no sign that it will withdraw these laws, which provide immense advantages to the large corporate houses that are close to Prime Minister Modi. The government’s attempt to crack down on the farmers and agricultural workers has altered the mood in the country: those who grow the food for the country are hard to depict as “terrorists” and as “anti-national.”

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 03 March 2021

Photo: Ethiopian refugees fleeing clashes in the country's northern Tigray region, rest and cook meals near UNHCR's Hamdayet reception centre after crossing into Sudan. Credit: © UNHCR/Hazim Elhag

Humanitarian Situation Getting from Bad to Worse in the Horn

By S. Gianesello

BRUSSELS (IDN | EEPA) — As the UN Security Council prepared to meet on March 4 to talk over the humanitarian situation in the Tigray region of Ethiopia, the situation in the Horn of Africa was getting from bad to worse with reports of ethnic targeting and cleansing. The meeting was requested by Ireland, joined by other members of the UN Security Council.

Diplomats stated there is no assurance that the closed-door meeting will produce a joint statement. The Security Council held several meetings over the situation in Tigray since the beginning of the conflict, on November 4, 2020. The last Council meeting was held on February 2, 2021.

: Europe Editor; THE WORLD; Horn of Africa; 03 March 2021

Photo: US carried out air strikes in Syria targeting Iranian backed militias on February 26. Such airstrikes add to the suffering of the people who are already suffering during the COVID-19 pandemic. Credit: WFP/Khudr Alissa

Biden Should Stop Military Activism and Start Thinking

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power*

LUND, Sweden (IDN) — “Diplomacy is back”, President Joe Biden said recently. But then in the middle of a delicate diplomatic dance with Iran he goes and bombs a small, politically inconsequential, Iranian surrogate in Syria, in retaliation for the killing of one American soldier.

This seems to go against everything he said during his presidential campaign on moving towards fashioning a quick agreement with Iran so that the deal made by President Barack Obama that froze Iran’s nuclear activities could be resuscitated after Donald Trump’s decision to blow it up. Biden’s bombing has made the chance of simultaneous choreographed moves by both sides to get back to the deal made by Obama more difficult.

: Jonathan Power; OPINION; 02 March 2021

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala Leads A New Era for the WTO

Viewpoint by Yvonne Bartmann*

This article first appeared on International Politics and Society, an e-Journal published by Germany's Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung's office in Brussels.

GENEVA (IDN) — When problems proliferate, expectations tend to be high. The World Trade Organization (WTO) is facing many problems, indeed a whole raft of them. Accordingly, there’s a lot of pressure on its new Nigerian Director-General, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. Not just because of the state of the WTO, but also because she’s its first female and first African leader. So it's on Okonjo-Iweala now to fix the WTO's many problems.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 02 March 2021

A Woman, a Latin American and a Future Force of Change

By Isabella Duque Muñoz

This article first appeared as one of Youth Community's Spotlight Stories on February 26, 2021, as a part of UNODA's #Youth4Disarmament Initiative.

BOGOTA (IDN) — As a Colombian, I grew up in a nation marked by violence and armed conflict. These matters seized my interest from a very young age; learning about them felt vital to understanding my country and the factors that drive conflicts around the world.

In 2016, Colombia signed a historic peace agreement and began a process of laying down arms. Witnessing these developments confirmed my passion for issues of peace, security and disarmament, as well as development in emerging countries. I wanted to get involved and make my own contribution.

: UN Bureau; THE WORLD; Latin America & the Caribbean; 02 March 2021

Doubts Whether Return to Exceptionalism Will Serve Perceived U.S. Interests

Viewpoint by M.K. Bhadrakumar

The writer is a former Indian diplomat. This article was produced in partnership by Indian Punchline and Globetrotter, a project of the Independent Media Institute where it first appeared.

NEW DELHI (IDN) — In a statement marking the “return” of the United States to the United Nations Human Rights Council on February 24, Secretary of State Antony Blinken disclosed that the Biden administration is placing democracy and human rights at the centre of American foreign policy.