OPINION

Photo: Russia's President Vladimir Putin. Credit: Screenshot video Kremlin.ru

Doubts Whether Putin Can Defeat Ukraine and Maintain Power in Moscow

Viewpoint by John Feffer

Foreign Policy in Focus (FPIF), a project of the Institute for Policy Studies, issued this article on September 28, 2022.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (IDN) — When a country starts casting around for 60-year-old veterans to send to the front, you know something’s wrong. All hands don’t go on deck unless the ship is foundering. It’s not yet clear whether the Russian ship of state is taking on water. But its military effort in Ukraine is obviously at the SOS stage.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 05 October 2022

Photo: Nuon Chea (left) and Khieu Samphan in the Trial Chamber of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC). (file) © ECCC/Sok Heng Nhet.

Lessons of the Cambodian-UN War Crimes Trials

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power

LUND, Sweden (IDN) — Finally, finally, the over-long, fifteen-year-long trials of the leaders of the murderous Khmer Rouge leadership of Cambodia are concluded. It has been water on stone, but the conclusion is the stone has cracked.

The New York Times reported on September 22: “The Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia—a United Nations-backed tribunal charged with prosecuting the crimes of the Khmer Rouge regime—held its final hearing. It rejected an appeal by the ninety-one years old Khieu Samphan, the fanatical communist movement’s last surviving leader, upholding his conviction and life sentence for genocide.”

: Jonathan Power; OPINION; 04 October 2022

Photo: Sri Lanka's new Foreign Minister Mohamed-Ali-Sabry. Source: Asian Affairs.

Sri Lanka: Nation Struggles as Noose Tightens

This article was issued by Asian Affairs (London).

Viewpoint by Neville de Silva*

LONDON (IDN) — Time is running out. Even as this is written, Sri Lanka is desperately canvassing support from within the 47-member UN Human Rights Council (HRC) now meeting in Geneva, to stave off a tougher and hard-hitting resolution that castigates the island-nation for its democratic regression, rising militarisation and official corruption.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 02 October 2022

Image credit: International Indigenous Peoples Movement for Self-Determination & Liberation (IPMSDL)

Indigenous Women Fighting Back for A Future Free of Violence

By Romeo Jara*

MANILA (IDN) — Fifteen years and almost nothing much has changed. This is the result of an Amnesty International (AI) report titled “The Never-Ending Maze” about sexual violence towards Indigenous women in the United States as shared by AI USA’s Tarah Demant.

On September 14, the International IPMSDL hosted the online discussion “In Search of a Safer Future” which highlighted government failures in keeping Indigenous women safe.

: UN Bureau; OPINION; 01 October 2022

Photo (from left to right): Manish Uprety F.R.A.S. and Jainendra Karn.

Irish Unification, Britain and the Gandhian Path

Viewpoint by Manish Uprety F.R.A.S. and Jainendra Karn

Manish Uprety F.R.A.S. is an ex-diplomat & ALCAP’s Special Adviser for Asia & Africa, and Jainendra Karn is a senior leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Any views or opinions expressed are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of IDN-InDepth News.

NEW DELHI (IDN) — Time changes the boundaries and spheres of influence of a nation. In the case of the United Kingdom, many countries now want out and have their own head of state while the bell tolls for the Commonwealth.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 30 September 2022

Image: Eternal Flame in Belgrade, memorial to the military and civilian victims of the NATO bombing. (Taken on 9 November 2015) CC BY 3.0

The Great Game in Ukraine is Spinning out of Control

Viewpoint by Jeffrey D. Sachs

This article was published in Other News and is being republished with the author's permission.

NEW YORK (IDN) — Former US National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski famously described Ukraine as a “geopolitical pivot” of Eurasia, central to both US and Russian power. Since Russia views its vital security interests to be at stake in the current conflict, the war in Ukraine is rapidly escalating to a nuclear showdown. It’s urgent for both the US and Russia to exercise restraint before disaster hits.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 29 September 2022

Photo: Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev at the General Debate of the 77th session of the UN General Assembly stressing the need to abide by the UN Charter. Source: The Astana Times.

Kazakhstan Could Become “The Switzerland of the 21st Century"

Viewpoint by Dmitry Babich*

This article was issued by The Astana Times.

NUR-SULTAN, Kazakhstan (IDN) — The 77th General Assembly of the United Nations was characterized by a general feeling of anxiety and alarmism. Some speakers limited themselves to accusations, blaming other members of the “community of nations” for the generally accepted fact that the world’s security situation and economic perspectives are visibly worsening.

: Ramesh Jaura; OPINION; 28 September 2022

Photo: Former President Lula at a campaign rally in Nova Iguaçu on September 8,2022. Ricardo Stuckert/Reproduction, Lula campaign website. Source: Americas Quarterly.

Brazil Has the Potential to Moving to the First World

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power

LUND, Sweden (IDN) — Brazil has long lived out its personal fantasy as the archetypal relaxed, tolerant and gregarious country with Copacabana beach, the samba, the carnival and a great deal of sexual freedom. But, as it was often said when Luiz Inacio “Lula” da Silva came to power in 2003, it had yet to live its societal dream, an economic-cum-social revolution.

: Jonathan Power; OPINION; 27 September 2022

Possible Deployment of North Korea's Nuclear Weapons: "Automatically and Immediately"

Viewpoint by Herbert Wulf

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

BONN (IDN) — In the shadow of the Ukraine war and the extraordinary media attention, the conflict over North Korea's nuclear ambitions is currently receding into the background. For years, the government in Pyongyang has been continuously advancing its program. After numerous missile tests earlier this year, according to the English-language state news agency KCNA, the Supreme People's Assembly passed a law on September 8, "On Policy of the Nuclear Force of DPRK".

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 27 September 2022

Photo: Late Dr. Mohamed Jameel of Sainthamaruthu

In Memoriam: Dr. M.I.M Jameel

By A. L. A. Azeez

COLOMBO (IDN) — Much-loved and respected Dr Mohamed Jameel of Sainthamaruthu passed away on September 24.

The last time I visited him in 2020, he received me with open arms, shared with me his anxiety over what was then going on in the country and within the community, and discussed his ideas for how healing and reconciliation should be advanced at every level of Sri Lankan society and asked me about my future plans.