OPINION

Photo: The UN Security Council adopts Resolution on Iran Nuclear Deal (Resolution 2231), taken on 20 July 2015. UN Photo/Loey Felipe.

A Punitive Approach to Iran's Missile Activities Will Not Fix the Problem

Europe Should Promote a Regional Security Mechanism in the Middle East

Viewpoint by Dr Tytti Erästö *

European powers deserve credit for their efforts to maintain the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), but their current coercive approach to Iran's missiles is counterproductive, writes Dr Tytti Erästö, a researcher in the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) Disarmament, Arms Control and Non-proliferation Programme, in a topical backgrounder published on 15 November, 2018 on SIPRI's website. Following are extensive excerpts from the original article which wa: https://www.sipri.org/commentary/topical-backgrounder/2018/dissecting-international-concerns-about-irans-missiles - The Editor

: Ramesh Jaura; OPINION; 16 November 2018

Photo: Ambassador Anwarul K. Chowdhury (third from left), former Under-Secretary-General and High Representative of the United Nations, who is the Chairman of the Global Forum on Human Settlements (GFHS) since 2008, delivered the opening address to the 13th GFHS Annual Session in Bangkok on 30 October 2018. Credit: GFHS.

Cities Have the Potential to Shape the Future of Humankind

Viewpoint by Ambassador Anwarul K. Chowdhury*

The following are extensive extracts from the opening address by Ambassador Anwarul K. Chowdhury, former Under-Secretary-General and High Representative of the United Nations, who is the Chairman of the Global Forum on Human Settlements (GFHS) since 2008, at the 13th GFHS Annual Session in Bangkok on 30 October 2018. – The Editor

NEW YORK (IDN-INPS) – We live at a time of unprecedented, rapid, irreversible urbanization. Beginning in 2008, for the first time, half of humanity is now living in towns and cities … but this dramatic transition is far from over. In reality the beginning of a new urban era is being felt. It is projected that globally urbanization levels will rise dramatically in the next 35 years to reach 70 percent by 2050 when the world population is expected to hit 9 billion.

: IDN-INPS UN Bureau; OPINION; 14 November 2018

Photo: President Donald Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron in their bilateral discussion on September 24, 2018, at the Lotte New York Palace in New York. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.

Nuclear Arms Control is Going Down a Trumpian Hole

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power*

LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) – Reacting to the radio interview by the French president, Emmanuel Macron, to mark Armistice Day, in which he was reported as saying, “We have to protect ourselves with respect to China, Russia and even the United States of America… We need a true European army”, President Donald Trump blew a fuse. He tweeted: “President Macron of France has just suggested that Europe build its own military in order to protect itself from the U.S., China and Russia. Very insulting.”

: Jonathan Power; OPINION; 13 November 2018

Photo: U.S. Ambassador to the UN Samantha Power meets Northern Province Governor H. M. G. S. Palihakkara at the Governor's Secretariat in Chundikuli, Jaffna, Sri Lanka on 22 November 2015. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.

Sri Lanka Needs a Consensus Builder – Where Have All the Leaders Gone?

Viewpoint by H.M.G.S. Palihakkara *

The author is a Sri Lankan civil servant, diplomat and former Governor of Northern Province. This article first appeared in The Island and is being republished in view of its fervent plea for 'building a culture of consensual governance'. – The Editor.

COLOMBO (IDN-INPS) – Many concerned citizens are seen to describe the current state of our Republic as being at a crossroads. It is not difficult to join this conversation, not least because the challenges involved are multiple and touch upon all strata of our national life.

: IDN-INPS Asia Editor; OPINION; 08 November 2018

Photo: NATO Deputy Secretary General Rose Gottemoeller addressing the Beijing Xiangshan Forum. Credit: NATO

NATO's Gottemoeller Discusses Military Applications of Artificial Intelligence in China

By J C Suresh

TORONTO (IDN-INPS) – "We know that we cannot fight tomorrow's threats with today’s tools. Defending ourselves is no longer about just looking at a map and deciding where to position troops and equipment. We need to defend ourselves in the digital age, and in the age of artificial intelligence," NATO Deputy Secretary General Rose Gottemoeller told experts participating in the 8th Beijing Xiangshan Forum in China from October 24 to 26 2018.

: J C Suresh; OPINION; 08 November 2018

Photo: Sr Lanka President Maithripala Sirisena. Credit: Colombo Telegraph.

Sri Lanka President Told Not to Trample on Parliamentary Democracy and the Rights of People

Viewpoint by Friday Forum

Sri Lanka President Maithripala Sirisena's move to remove Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and prorogue Parliament was "a shameless disregard of this political mandate given to him by the people", avers the Friday Forum in a statement circulated on November 5. The Friday Forum is "an informal group of concerned citizens pledged to uphold norms of democracy, good governance, the rule of law, human rights, media freedom and tolerance in our pluralist society". We are publishing this statement in full with a view to offering a perspective different from that reflected in two viewpoints* we have carried. in the aftermath of President Sirisena's "shock decision on October 26 to appoint his political foe of recent years Mahinda Rajapakse as Prime Minister", which has evoked outrage among Western diplomats and the international media. – The Editor.

: Devinder Kumar; OPINION; 06 November 2018

Photo: British Prime Minister Theresa May (left) and German Chancellor Angela Merkel (right). Credit. The Mirror

Theresa May Should Join Angela Merkel at the Retirement Door

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power*

LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) – Is Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany, responsible for Brexit? In a way yes she is because at the time of the great economic crisis of 2007-2013, counterproductively she insisted on austerity throughout the European Union. Austerity helped turn the poorer classes of the UK towards Brexit.

But so also are the people in high places who lied to the British electorate and persuaded them to vote in a referendum for it. So are those who have fanned the anti-immigrant flames all over Europe. Angela Merkel, in this case, was the most heroic of all the leaders of the West in going the other way and taking in one million, mainly Syrian, refugees.

: Jonathan Power; OPINION; 06 November 2018

Photo: Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasingha (left) with his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi who participated in the International Vesak Day celebrations in Colombo in May 2017. The measured response to the "crisis" in India and Australia suggests a greater appreciation of the real situation in Sri Lanka. Credit: Daily News & Analysis (DNA)

The 'CRISIS' In Sri Lanka – Invented by the Western Media

Viewpoint by Dr Palitha Kohona

Ambassador Dr Palitha Kohona, Former Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the United Nations.

COLOMBO (IDN) – The change of Government in Sri Lanka, following the unceremonious sacking of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasingha by President Maithripala Sirisena, has given rise to a crescendo of alarmist commentary in the Western media, which is slowly seeping in to the non-Western media as well. One after the other, the Western media outlets have taken a critical approach to the change and have begun to characterize the replacement of the Prime Minister as a "Crisis".

: Dr. Palitha Kohona; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 06 November 2018

Palestinians, Goodbye?

Viewpoint by Pier Francesco Zarcone*

ROME (IDN) – Sorry to say so, but the future of the Palestinians is darker and more bleak than ever, because the Sunni Arab countries have become disinterested in them and they have no powerful friends in the world. Today their loneliness is stronger and more evident, as even the residual veils of hypocritical rhetoric have disappeared among the Arabs could support them, having money and political and media influence. Let's see why.

: Phil Harris; OPINION; 04 November 2018

Photo: Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena with his political foe of recent years, Mahinda Rajapakse. Source: Colombo Telegraph.

West's 'Democracy' Clash With Peoples' Concerns in Sri Lanka

Viewpoint by Kalinga Seneviratne

SINGAPORE (IDN) – After Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena's shock decision on October 26 to appoint his political foe of recent years Mahinda Rajapakse as Prime Minister, Western diplomats and the international media have expressed outrage at what they perceive as "lack of respect for democratic institutions" such as the Parliament.

But, within an hour of the announcement, Sri Lankan media broadcast images of people lighting celebratory fire crackers across the country including in Tamil-dominated Jaffna.