OPINION

Photo: BlackRock Headquarters in Midtown Manhattan, New York City (cropped from top). CC BY-SA 3.0

Privatizing Sri Lanka ex-ante IMF Bailout of BlackRock

India's Adani Greenwash in Mannar and Pooneryn

Viewpoint by Darini Rajasingham-Senanayake

COLOMBO (IDN) — The Argentine capital, Buenos Aires, was rocked again by massive protests against austerity measures imposed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which have been taking place since July 2022. Structural reforms with austerity have resulted in soaring inflation, currency depreciation, poverty and inequality that is eroding Argentine society and economy while enabling bail-out of private lenders and vulture funds like BlackRock.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 26 August 2022

Photo source: United States Institute of Peace

Electoral Epic Of “Hustler Vs. Dynasty” in Kenya

Viewpoint by Azu Ishiekwene

The writer is the Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief of LEADERSHIP newspaper based in Abuja, Nigeria.

ABUJA (IDN) — One of the ironies of politics is how easily fiction becomes reality, and reality, precedent. Before our eyes, the president-elect of Kenya, William Ruto, who has played all sides of Kenya’s politics for at least three decades, has just won an election by claiming to be an outsider.

Ruto’s electoral epic of “hustler vs. dynasty” appears to have wiped off all memory of his 30-year involvement in the good and bad of Kenya’s politics. This legend won him a razor-thin victory over Raila Odinga in the August 9 presidential election.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 25 August 2022

Image: Advocate of bitcoin proposes BTC as fix to US student loan crisis. Source: Coinscreed

We Can Do So Much More on Student Loan Forgiveness

Viewpoint by India Walton and Sam Rosenthal

SAN FRANCISCO, USA (IDN) — As a presidential candidate, Joe Biden was hardly bullish on student debt cancellation. He was cajoled by progressives and his presidential primary opponents into adopting a more forceful student debt cancellation stance, one which ultimately helped win him the support of young voters.

Now, after a series of tepid moves, President Biden’s grand statement in the student debt saga has arrived.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 25 August 2022

Photo: Meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida (right) in front of the Hiroshima (banner) exhibition at United Nations on August 1, 2022. Source: Mariko Komatsu

Nuclear Weapons Are a Clear Threat to A Sustainable Future for Humanity

Viewpoint by Hidehiko Yuzaki, Governor of Hiroshima, Japan

The following is the content of Hiroshima Governor Hidehiko Yuzaki's speech at a side event (co-hosted by Nagasaki and Hiroshima Prefectures) under the theme "Nexus between Nuclear Disarmament and Sustainable Future" held at UN Headquarters on August 1, the first day of the 2022 NPT Review Conference. The side event was attended by about 70 diplomats, nuclear disarmament experts, and NGO representatives.

UNITED NATIONS (IDN) — I am Hidehiko YUZAKI, Governor of Hiroshima Prefecture and President of Hiroshima Organization for Global Peace or HOPe for short.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 24 August 2022

Navigating Climate-Related Mobility and Human Security in the Pacific Islands

Viewpoint by Tim Westbury

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

BRISBANE, Australia (IDN) — The Pacific Islands security narrative is often dominated by voices and interests from outside of the region. At the recent Shangri-La Dialogue, among the hype surrounding geostrategic competition in the Pacific, Fiji’s Defence Minister Inia Seruiratu said that the “single greatest threat to our very existence is ... human-induced, devastating climate change.”

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 23 August 2022

UN Capable of Negotiating Peace in Russia's War with Ukraine

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power

LUND, Sweden (IDN) — In late 2004 the U.S. was ignoring the UN despite it being obvious to the outside world that it was increasingly bogged down in Iraq following its misconceived war. On November 15, when the Coalition Provisional Authority and the Iraqi Governing Council signed an agreement that set up a transition plan, the UN was not even mentioned. But a short two months later Washington was on its knees before the UN, its transition plan in tatters.

: Jonathan Power; OPINION; 23 August 2022

Photo: Ms. Kekashan Basu, Founder and President of Green Hope Foundation, presented a joint statement of the "Faith Communities Concerned about Nuclear Weapons" during the NGO presentation session at UN Headquarters. Credit: Seikyo Shimbun

Faith Communities Concerned about Nuclear Weapons

Since 2014, SGI has worked as part of the Faith Communities Concerned about Nuclear Weapons, a group of faith-based organizations and individuals committed to a nuclear-weapon-free world, to issue joint interfaith statements at international fora.

Following is the Joint Interfaith Statement to the Tenth Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) issued on August 5, 2022.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 19 August 2022

Photo: eyeWitness has helped expose atrocities in countries such as DRC, Ukraine, Senegal, and Palestine. ©Original photos captured by Anastasia Taylor-Lind and TRIAL International

Why We Need to Advance SDG 16 More Than Ever

Viewpoint by Dr Márcia Balisciano

The writer is the Global Head of Corporate Responsibility, RELX. She is also Chair of the UN Global Compact Network UK; Chair of the Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability Council of the Conference Board; and a founding member of the Board of the Ban Ki-moon Centre for Global Citizens.

LONDON (IDN) — The goal in 2015 was to achieve the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030. We should have been more than halfway there, but given the tumultuous state of global affairs, we are off track.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 19 August 2022

Photo: A collage of pictures of the two leading presidential candidates for 2023—Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) on the left, and former Vice President Atiku Abubakar of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), on the right. Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Nigerian Presidential Elections: Politicians and the Jeopardy of Trial by Ordeal

Viewpoint by Azu Ishiekwene

The writer is the Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief of LEADERSHIP newspaper based in Abuja, Nigeria.

ABUJA (IDN) — “I’m going to waste my vote,” a friend told me recently. “And don’t argue with me,” he added. “It’s my right to do so.”

I defied him. Regrettably, even though I also recruited help nearby to press home my point, my unsolicited advice fell on deaf ears.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 18 August 2022

Photo: Interactive Dialogue on “Revenue Generation as a Pathway to Sri Lanka’s Economic Recovery” held with the participation of Members of Parliament on August 10, 2022. Source: Parliament of Sri Lanka @ParliamentLK

Abolish Political Parties in Impending New Sri Lankan Constitution

Viewpoint by P. Soma Palan

COLOMBO (IDN) — I have advocated the abolition of political parties from contesting elections to form a government, in previous articles, both in the electronic and print media. In the present unprecedented political, economic, financial and social instability in the country, the need to revive this plea assumes greater relevance and importance.

My proposal may be dismissed as an absurdity by politicians and others as an impractical, unrealistic and even eccentric idea.