OPINION

Image credit: International Development Law Organization

Breaking the Culture of Violence to Advance SDG 16 On Peace & Security

Viewpoint by P. I. Gomes*

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad and Tobago (IDN) – In the Preamble of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, reference is made to what is called the 5P’s of People, Planet, Prosperity, Peace and Partnership. They capture with such lucid precision what is referred to as “all areas of critical importance for humanity and the planet.”

These are all areas deserving of concerted attention, but the widespread and insidiously yet blatant impact of violence, as the negation of “peace”, might benefit from some reflections.

: Dr. Patrick Gomes - former ACP Seretary-General; OPINION; 16 December 2020

Photo: Ambassador Choudhury in a virtual address to the Israeli Knesset.

'If We Are Serious About Peace, We Must Take Women Seriously'

By Ambassador Anwarul K. Chowdhury in New York

The following is the full text of the address by Ambassador Chowdhury at the Knesset of Israel on November 17, 2020, at 14:30 Israel Standard Time. He is former Under-Secretary-General and High Representative of the United Nations and initiator of the precursor decision leading to the UNSCR 1325 as the President of the UN Security Council in March 2000 at the Special Meeting of the Committee on the Status of Women and Gender Equality of the Israeli Knesset marking the 20th anniversary of UNSC Resolution 1325 with focus on the challenges, progress made, and way forward in its implementation.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 16 December 2020

Photo: Late French President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing and 'Emperor' Bokassa of the Central African Republic.

The Story of Giscard D’Estaing's Fascination for 'Emperor' Bokassa's Diamonds

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power*

LUND, Sweden (IDN) – Early December the former president of France Valery Giscard D’Estaing died. The Guardian in its obituary described him as “the grand old man of French politics”. President Emanuel Macron said, “his presidency had transformed France and his direction still guides its way”. The New York Times said he was “a modern-minded conservative”.

Unlike many of the other obituaries, the New York Times failed to mention the scandal that was a major factor in bringing him down when he ran for a second term in 1981. He was accused and it was proved that he had accepted a gift of diamonds from Emperor Bokassa of the Central African Republic valued at about quarter of a million US dollars.

: Jonathan Power; OPINION; 15 December 2020

Supporting Small Island Developing States to Build Back Better in the face of COVID-19

Viewpoint by Angélica Maria Jácome Daza

The writer is FAO Director, Office for Small Island Developing States (SIDS), Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs).

BRUSSELS (IDN) – The possible food crisis that could be triggered by the effects of COVID-19 differs significantly from traditional food crises brought on by conflict or natural disasters. In contrast to the food crisis of 2007 and 2008, the current challenge is about ensuring food access, not food availability.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 15 December 2020

Photo: “Manhattan cocktail” (Creative Commons image) served at the UN North Delegates' Lounge (designed by Hella Jongerius and Rem Koolhaas) "where Diplomats and Renegades Rendezvous!” (Image source: dezeen.com)

Great Expectations! The Non-Proliferation Treaty and The Coming of The Messiah!

Viewpoint by Tariq Rauf* from Vienna for IDN

Great Expectations is a novel published in July 1861 by the renowned British writer, Charles Dickens. It depicts the education of an orphan nicknamed Pip who has a stroke of good luck and great expectations but then loses both his luck and his expectations. Against that backdrop, the writer – an eminent nuclear disarmament expert – cautions that the taking of office by Joe Biden as US President next January would not mark the coming of the Messiah for nuclear arms control as wished for by his supporters. Besides, he argues, the already postponed tenth review conference of the parties to the NPT should be held in April-May 2022 in the Austrian capital city Vienna and not in August 2021 at the UN headquarters in New York. And this for two reasons: the wide-ranging impact of COVID-19 pandemic and Vienna offering an ideal venue for nuclear disarmament conferences.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 14 December 2020

Pacific SIDS Champion Oceans and Blue Economy Preparing for COP 26

Viewpoint by P.I. Gomes*

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad and Tobago (IDN) – On December 10, 2020, marking five years since adoption of the landmark Paris Agreement of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Heads of Government and Leaders of the Pacific Small Island Developing States (SIDS) deemed it fit to convene a High-Level Roundtable on Urgent Climate Change Action in Tuvalu.

: Dr. Patrick Gomes - former ACP Seretary-General; OPINION; 13 December 2020

Trump Paves Highway to Hell

Viewpoint by Bill Dahl*

QUERETARO, Mexico (IDN) – Donald Trump lost the U.S. Presidential election. Trump garnered 73.9 million votes to Joe Biden’s 80 million (47.2% to 51.1%). Yet, Trump refuses to formally concede his loss. His attempts to win legal challenges based upon assertions of widespread voter fraud have been unanimously rejected by U.S. courts. The official certification of the election results is scheduled for December 14, 2020.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 11 December 2020

Australia-China Spat: It's More Than Just Trade

Viewpoint by Kalinga Seneviratne

SYDNEY (IDN) – A one-sided trade war has been gathering momentum between China and Australia, ever since Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison called for an “independent” international investigation of the origins of Covid-19, which infuriated China.

China is Australia’s biggest trading partner with two-way trade worth A$ 235 in financial year 2018-19, which amounts to 26% of Australia’s total trade.

: Kalinga Seneviratne; OPINION; 11 December 2020

Photo: Maradona visited Argentina's new president Alberto Fernández (right) on 26 December 2019. CC BY 4.0

How Nigerians Remember Maradona

Viewpoint by Azu Ishiekwene

The writer is the Managing Director/Editor-In-Chief of The Interview magazine based in Abuja, Nigeria.

ABUJA (IDN) – When the news of the death of Diego Maradona broke, I was in a friend’s office. Our initial spontaneous reaction was sorrow and regret. And then we drifted, almost as if we had rehearsed it, to the next thing: who is football’s all-time greatest? Maradona or Pele?

My friend wasted no time in declaring that for him, it is and always will be Maradona. He spoke about the Argentine’s prodigious talent, talked about his imagination and gushed, above all, about his artistry and genius.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 10 December 2020

Photo: President Ronald Reagan and Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev at The First Summit in Geneva Switzerland, 19 November 1985. Source: Wikimedia Commons.

Biden Would Do Well to Roll Back the Expansion of NATO

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power*

LUND, Sweden (IDN) – Top of President-elect’s Joe Biden’s foreign policy list must be Russia. Not China, not Europe. Russia has been the West’s mortal enemy since shortly after the end of World War II, with a short break when Communism was overthrown in 1991, until NATO began its expansion in 1999 and the Cold War, supposedly dead and buried, was resurrected. Only Russia and the US with their massive nuclear arsenals have the power to destroy civilization.