OPINION

Image: State flag of Ukraine behind a wall of anonymous protesters in Kyiv, Ukraine. Events of February 18, 2014. CC BY-SA 3.0

Behind The Ninth Anniversary of the Ukraine War

Truths remain obscured by US secrecy and European obsequiousness to US power

By Jeffrey D. Sachs*

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

NEW YORK, 01 March 2023 (IDN) — We are not at the one-year anniversary of the war, as the Western governments and media claim. This is the 9-year anniversary of the war. And that makes a big difference.

The war began with the violent overthrow of Ukraine's President Viktor Yanukovych in February 2014, a coup that was overtly and covertly backed by the United States government (see also here). From 2008 onward, the United States pushed NATO enlargement to Ukraine and Georgia. The 2014 coup of Yanukovych was in the service of NATO expansion.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 01 March 2023

Image: U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders speaking with supporters at a campaign rally at Desert Pines High School in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Gage Skidmore, Flickr) Source: LA Progressive

Showdown in Nevada as Democratic Establishment Targets Party Chair

By Norman Solomon*

SAN FRANCISCO, 28 February 2023 (IDN) — To understand the current fierce attacks on the progressive leadership of the Nevada Democratic Party, it’s helpful to recall the panicked reaction from political elites three years ago when results came in from the state’s contest for the presidential nomination.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 28 February 2023

Image: UN short clip on the Rule of Law, Peace and Security

Will the New Struggle for Dominance Uphold the UN Charter?

By Jonathan Power*

LUND, Sweden, 28 Feb 2023 (IDN) — Eleven hundred years ago Europe was a backwater. There were no grand cities, apart from Cordoba in Spain which was Muslim. Muslim Spain was the epicentre of learning in Western Europe.

The Middle East was much further ahead, still absorbing the intellectual delights and challenges of Greek science, medicine and architecture which Europeans were largely ignorant of. In southern China agriculture advanced and trade in tea, porcelain and silk flourished.

: Jonathan Power; OPINION; 28 February 2023

One Year On: Is Peace Still Possible in Ukraine?

By Sergio Duarte

The writer is a former UN High Representative for Disarmament Affairs and current President of Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs.

NEW YORK, 24 Feb 2023 (IDN) — The states that signed the Charter of the United Nations on June 26 1945, accepted the obligation to act in their relations with one another in accordance with the Principles set in its Article 2, which include refraining from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political Independence of any state and settling their international disputes by peaceful means in such a manner that international peace and security are not endangered.

: Sergio Duarte; OPINION; 24 February 2023

Image: Ukrainian soldiers install the state flag on Snake Island, in the Black Sea. The Ukrainian military returned the flag of Ukraine to island, which had been under the control of Russian troops for some time. (Ukrainian Defence Ministry Press Office via AP)

Time for Russia to End Continuing War Against Ukraine

The restoration of peace and international law is necessary

By Alyn Ware and Julius Brede

HAMBURG, 23 Feb 2023 (IDN) — The World Future Council is shocked and deeply saddened by Russia’s continuing invasion of Ukraine, which commenced one year ago, and by Russia’s grievous violations of international law in the war and their illegal annexation of Ukrainian territory.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 23 February 2023

Image: Nuclear missile SS-18 Satan fully designed and manufactured in Ukraine at Yuzhmash (cropped). C BY 2.5

War in Ukraine and ICBMs: The Untold Story of How They Could Blow Up the World

By Norman Solomon*

SAN FRANCISCO, 22 Feb 2023 (IDN) — Ever since Russia invaded Ukraine a year ago, media coverage of the war hasn’t included even the slightest mention of intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs). Yet the war has boosted the chances that ICBMs will set off a global holocaust.

: UN Bureau; OPINION; 22 February 2023

Image credit: maradon 333/Shutterstock Image credit: maradon 333/Shutterstock Image credit: maradon 333/Shutterstock

Environment, Peace and Conflict Research: The Need for Constructive Dialogue

By Tobias Ide*

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

PERTH, Australia, 22 Feb 2023 (IDN) — Environmental factors play an increasingly important role for the dynamics of peace and conflict. There is widespread agreement that climate change is a risk multiplier for armed violence, even though other conflict drivers are often more important.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 22 February 2023

Image: Marine training located in North Carolina and Camp Pendleton in California. Credit: Marines

About The Morality of Going to War

By Jonathan Power*

LUND, Sweden, 21 Feb 2023 (IDN) — Do you wonder how the operatives of ISIS sleep at night? No problem, I think. After swallowing the double narcotic of killing unbelievers and promised sensuality they sleep the peace of the just, despite the lack of approval for such beliefs in Islamic theology.

: Jonathan Power; OPINION; 21 February 2023

Image source: Deutsche Welle, a German public, state-owned international broadcaster

Ukraine Needs to Learn About US-Russia Proxy Wars

By Jeffrey D. Sachs

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

NEW YORK, 19 Feb 2023 (IDN) — The greatest enemy of economic development is war. If the world slips further into global conflict, our economic hopes and our very survival could go up in flames. The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists has moved the hands of the Doomsday Clock to a mere 90 seconds to midnight.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 19 February 2023

Image: Chinese with masks in Beijing. Source: Tagesschau

China's COVID-19 Data Flawed: 82,238 'Official' to 1.5 million 'Estimated' Deaths

By Jan Servaes*

BRUSSELS, 19 Feb 2023 (IDN) — “China has created a miracle in human history, in which a highly populous nation has successfully pulled through a pandemic.”

The above quote can be read in the report published by the state news agency Xinhua of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) that met on Thursday, 16 Feb 2023, in the presence of President Xi Jinping: “China has taken an extraordinary journey in its COVID-19 prevention and control work”.