Peace & Justice

Photo: Peter Launsky-Tieffenthal, Secretary General for Foreign Affairs. (BMEIA). Credit: BMEIA/Grube

An Attack on Journalists is an Attack on Democracy, Emphasises a UN Conference

A Special Report by Aurora Weiss

VIENNA (IDN) — United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), and the Austrian Federal Ministry for European and International Affairs (BMEIA) joined in early November to mark the 10th anniversary of the UN Plan of Action on the Safety of Journalists at a high-level conference entitled "Safety of Journalists: Protecting media to protect democracy".

: Europe Editor; SUSTAINABILITY; Peace & Justice; 17 November 2022

The Climate Dispossessed are not Refugees

Viewpoint by Teall Crossen *

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

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (IDN) — Let’s be clear, people displaced by climate breakdown are not climate refugees under international law. They are not being forced from their countries because of persecution by their own government. Nor are they migrants. They are not leaving in search of work or education, or to be closer to family.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 16 November 2022

Photo: A Group of 'Women Cross Demilitarised Zone (DMZ)'

Building Security in the Korean Peninsula

Pursue Fresh Diplomatic Approaches Not Military-Nuclear Posturing

Viewpoint by Dr Rebecca Johnson

LONDON (IDN) — Nuclear fears have been increasing in North-East Asia in recent months. From early November, North Korea ratcheted up its usual sabre rattling with more direct threats, ‘tactical nuclear drills’, apparent preparations for more nuclear tests, and by firing around 25 different missiles towards South Korea and Japan.

: Opinion Editor; ARMAMENTS; Nuclear Weapons; 15 November 2022

The US Is Making a Mess of the Concept of Democracy

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power

LUND, Sweden (IDN) — It should take a long time before America can again strut the world stage and lecture about the values of democracy, poking its finger in the eye of every authoritarian or dictatorial government it has the desire to show up. A former president, about to announce he will run for the presidency again, still uses every occasion to tell the world that the election of 2020 was illegally hijacked.

: Jonathan Power; OPINION; 15 November 2022

Photo: The Korean War Memorial in Pyongyang, North Korea, with the pyramidal Ryugyong Hotel in the background. C BY-SA 3.0

Religious & Civil Society Call for An End to Crisis in Korean Peninsula

By Thalif Deen

UNITED NATIONS (IDN) — A coalition of over 700 religious and civil society organizations (CSOs) is making a collective appeal to end the crisis in the Korean peninsula and avoid "military action provoking war".

In a recently released statement, the coalition says: "We are here today in a great sense of crisis. The word 'war' feels closer than ever. Tensions are rising like never before as the military exercises of South Korea, the US, and North Korea continue for days."

: Thalif Deen; UN INSIDER; 15 November 2022

Photo: Seven countries still supplying arms to Myanmar. Source: Anadolu Agency.

US Hits Myanmar with More Military Sanctions

By Thalif Deen

UNITED NATIONS (IDN) — The United States, which has failed in its attempts to move a divided UN Security Council to adopt a resolution restricting arms sales to the military regime in Myanmar, has been left with only one alternative: continue to hit Myanmar with unilateral military sanctions.

With two veto-wielding permanent members—China and Russia—implicitly and explicitly backing Myanmar, the Security Council has remained paralyzed.

: Thalif Deen; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 12 November 2022

Biden Made It Harder for Democrats to Win

He’d Be an Albatross on the 2024 Ticket

Viewpoint by Norman Solomon*

SAN FRANCISCO (IDN) — No amount of post-election puffery about Joe Biden can change a key political reality: His approval ratings are far below the public’s positivity toward the Democratic Party. Overall, the Democrats who won the midterm elections did so despite Biden, not because of him. He’s a drag on the party, a boon to Republicans, and—if he runs again—he’d be a weak candidate against the GOP nominee in the 2024 presidential campaign.

: Opinion Editor; THE WORLD; USA and Canada; 10 November 2022

Photo: Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and President Biden speak during a photo shoot in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, July 16, 2022. Credit: Bandar Algaloud/Courtesy of Saudi Royal Court via Reuters

Mending US-Saudi Relationship is Critical to Their Mutual Geostrategic Interest

Viewpoint by Alon Ben-Meir

Dr Alon Ben-Meir is a retired professor of international relations at the Center for Global Affairs at New York University (NYU). He taught courses on international negotiation and Middle Eastern studies for over 20 years.

NEW YORK (IDN) — The US’ misperception of its bilateral relations with Saudi Arabia on a number of fronts has contributed dramatically to the present heightened tension between them. It is critical that at this juncture the two countries recalibrate their relationship and renew their geostrategic partnership.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 08 November 2022

Photo: Idyllic Pacific Islands threatened by rising sea levels. Credit: Kalinga Seneviratne

COP 27: The World's Rich Urged to Pay Reparations for Climate Damage

By Kalinga Seneviratne

SINGAPORE (IDN) — At COP 27 in the Egyptian resort town of Sharm El Sheikh, the Global South led by Asia and the South Pacific (as well as Africa) are demanding that nature rights and climatic justice be recognized as a human right and COP (Conference of Parties) process go beyond pledges for climatic change mitigation.

And this by agreeing to look into a binding agreement for financial reparations from the rich for the damage done by climatic change, as evidenced in 2021 by floods, cyclones and heat waves hitting the most economically vulnerable countries.

: Kalinga Seneviratne; SUSTAINABILITY; Climate Action; 07 November 2022

Photo: Climate Strike by Students. Source: Global Information Network

Egyptian Civil Rights Activists View COP27 as a Carefully Managed Theatre

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK | SHARM EL-SHEIKH (IDN) — Some civil rights activists suspect this year’s UN climate conference, held in a country reputed for holding thousands of political prisoners, will give the host country a great opportunity to remake its image and position itself as the voice for the Global South.

In fact, Egypt is facing a barrage of criticism over what rights groups say is a crackdown on protests and activists.