 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Viewpoint by Roberto Savio*
This article was issued by Meer and is being re-published with the author's permission.
ROME (IDN) — With the death of Mikhail Gorbachev, the last great statesman, an entire epoch has ended.
I had the privilege of working with him as deputy director of the World Political Forum, which 'Gorbi' had founded in Turin in 2003, with a headquarters agreement with the Piedmont Region.
Viewpoint by David C. Speedie
This article was produced by Globetrotter in partnership with the American Committee for U.S.-Russia Accord. David C. Speedie, a board member of ACURA, was the former chair of International Peace and Security at Carnegie Corporation.
MONTCLAIR, New Jersey, US (IDN) — The seven-month war in Ukraine, and the role of NATO, especially the Atlanticist powers, are fuelled by an official western narrative that depicts the conflict as one between the plucky little Ukrainian David and the brutish Goliath that is Russia. The invasion is as unwarranted as it is vicious and provides justification for a current tally of $57 billion in lethal and non-lethal aid from the United States alone, with the United Kingdom at its side.
By Kalinga Seneviratne
SYDNEY (IDN) — The 12th and the first anniversary issue of Sustainable Development Observer started by IDN-InDepthNews Southeast Asia with no funding and a lot of passion is out now. The situation has not changed, and it is your feedback and encouragement that keeps us going.
Viewpoint by René Wadlow, President, Association of World Citizens
GENEVA (IDN) — On August 26, 2022, there was the bombing by Ethiopian federal troops of a primary school in Mekelle—the capital city of the Tigray province, which had a population of about 500,000 before the fighting began. It is not clear if the attack brings to an end some five months of relative calm in the war-torn Tigray or not.
Viewpoint by Manish Uprety F.R.A.S.
The writer is an ex-diplomat and Special Adviser for Asia & Africa of ALCAP, the Latin American Parliamentary Association of Audio-Visual Communication. Any views or opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of IDN InDepth News.
NEW DELHI (IDN) — Those who have seen the 1969 movie Easy Rider must have reflected on the meaning of The Ballad of Easy Rider, a beautiful elegy that evokes the subconscious bond a man shares with rivers and his very existence.
Viewpoint by Jonathan Power
LUND, Sweden (IDN) — High moments aside, do we know what happiness is? Is the world becoming a happier place? Are we happier than our parents' or grandparents’ generations? What could give us a little more happiness?
"Homo Sapiens has been around for about 8,000 generations, and for most of that time, life has been rather unpleasant. Most humans who have ever lived have done so under despotic regimes," wrote Stephen Krasner in Foreign Affairs in March 2020. Life expectancy, he points out, didn’t begin to increase until 1850, just seven generations ago, and accelerated only after 1900. It is still accelerating.
Viewpoint by Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana
Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana is an Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Secretary of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP)
BANGKOK (IDN) — Asia and the Pacific is the most digitally divided region of the world, and South-East Asia is the most divided subregion. The Covid-19 pandemic detonated a “digital big bang” that spurred people, governments and businesses to become “digital by default;” a sea change that generated vast digital dividends.
Viewpoint by Rene Wadlow, President, Association of World Citizens
GENEVA (IDN) — Edward Carpenter (1844-1929) born on August 29, was an English writer, educator and pacifist, socialist reformer. Carpenter came from a middle class intellectual family and studied at Cambridge University. As with some of his fellow students who were interested in philosophy and ideas, he was ordained in the Church of England hoping that its outlook and theology could be widened from the inside.
Hypocrisy & Outright Lying by Nuclear-armed States
By Jackie Cabasso
The writer is Executive Director, Western States Legal Foundation, who participated in the Tenth NPT Review Conference, which concluded on August 26.
NEW YORK (IDN) — The 10th NPT Review Conference didn't fail because it couldn't produce a final document. It failed because the nuclear-armed states haven't made good on their fundamental nuclear disarmament obligation under Article VI of the Treaty, undertaken 52 years ago, nor on the promises and commitments to action items that would lead to nuclear disarmament they agreed to in connection with the indefinite extension of the Treaty in 1995 and in the 2000 and 2010 final documents.
Time for a National Forum or Assembly
By Simone Galimberti
The writer is the Co-Founder of ENGAGE, a not-for-profit NGO in Nepal. He writes on volunteerism, social inclusion, youth development and regional integration as an engine to improve people's lives.
KATHMANDU (IDN) — One of the pillars of Our Common Agenda, the UN Secretary-General's global blueprint on delivering a better future based on cooperation and multilateralism, is a strong focus on inclusion, protection and participation.
IDN-InDepthNews offers news analyses, features, reports and viewpoints that impact the world and its peoples. It has been online since 2009. Its network spans countries around the world.