Think-Tanks

The Political Significance of the UN Nuclear Ban Treaty

Viewpoint by Thomas Hajnoczi

The writer is the outgoing Director of Arms Control at the Austrian Foreign Ministry. He negotiated the TPNW*

VIENNA (IDN) – With its entry into force on January 22 the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) will become binding international law for the growing number of State Parties, for the moment 51 countries. Moreover, it is also having an effect on those states that do not intend to join it.

The nuclear weapon states themselves testify to the TPNW's effectiveness by their campaign against it. They could have ignored it instead of pressuring countries not to sign and ratify.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 20 January 2021

Photo: Drivers of the colourful and traditional 'jeepneys' have been among the hardest-hit populations in the Philippines. Credit: Dan Olanday.

COVID-19 Worsens Human Rights Situation in Southeast Asia

Viewpoint by Champa Patel*

LONDON (IDN) – Southeast Asia already had a poor human rights record before the COVID-19 outbreak. Despite ASEAN’s rhetoric on democratic values and human rights, illiberal democracies have been on the rise, putting fundamental freedoms in the region under pressure. Most countries across the region continue to criminalise dissent using draconian often colonial-era laws, or new repressive legislation. COVID-19 has intensified these trends.

: Kalinga Seneviratne; COVID-19; 27 December 2020

Situation Report EEPA HORN OF AFRICA No. 15

Europe External Programme with Africa is a Belgium-based Centre of Expertise with in-depth knowledge, publications, and networks, specialised in issues of peacebuilding, refugee protection and resilience in the Horn of Africa. EEPA has published extensively on issues related to movement and/or human trafficking of refugees in the Horn of Africa and on the Central Mediterranean Route.

: Africa & ME Editor; THE WORLD; Horn of Africa; 03 December 2020

Situation Report EEPA HORN OF AFRICA No. 14

: Europe Editor; THE WORLD; Horn of Africa; 02 December 2020

Photo: European Parliament Brussels. Credit: The Brussels Times.

European Parliament in A Joint Resolution Urges Ethiopia to Tread the Path of Peace and Dialogue

By L. Storchi

BRUSSELS (IDN | EEPA) – On November 26, Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) held a plenary debate on the current situation in Ethiopia and the conflict in the Horn of Africa region. The speakers called for de-escalation and a resumption of the dialogue for peace between the Ethiopian federal government and representatives of the Tigray region. The discussion followed a draft Joint Motion for a Resolution on November 25, supported by several parliamentarians from different political parties. The motion was adopted by the European Parliament. European Commissioner for Crisis Management Janez Lenarcic announced plans to visit Sudan to speak to refugees.

: Europe Editor; THE WORLD; Horn of Africa; 27 November 2020

Uncertainty Hangs Over the UN Surviving Beyond 2045

Viewpoints by Franz Baumann, Fmr. UN Assistant Secretary-General, United Nations and Christopher Ankersen, Global Affairs, New York University.

This is the second of two rounds of Dr Franz Baumann's stimulating exchange with Dr Chris Ankersen posted on PAIRAGRAPH – A Hub of discourse between pairs of notable individuals. The first appeared on 8 September 2020. It can be freely accessed here.

: Ramesh Jaura; OPINION; 18 September 2020

Photo: U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson meets with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, in Manila, Philippines on August 6, 2017. (Photo credit: U.S. Department of State/Public Domain)

U.S. Shifts Arms Control Strategy with Russia

By Kingston Reif and Shannon Bugos

While Kingston Reif is the director for disarmament and threat reduction policy, Shannon Bugos is research assistant at the Arms Control Association.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (IDN) – The Trump administration has softened its demand that China immediately participate in trilateral nuclear arms control talks with the United States and Russia and says it is now seeking an interim step of a politically binding framework with Moscow.

But the administration continues to reject Russia’s offer of a clean five-year extension of the 2010 New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) and has said that President Trump will not consider an extension until several conditions are met.

: Arms Control Association; ARMAMENTS; Nuclear Weapons; 17 September 2020

Collage of pictures (left) of Senator Kamala Harris, official US Senate photo (Source: Wikimedia) and (right) her parents, Shyamala Gopalan and Donald Harris. (Source: San Jose Mercury News).

From Lotus Goddess to Holy Basil: Transnational Racio-scapes in US Presidential Politics

By Radhika Parameswaran and Pallavi Rao *

BLOOMINGTON, USA (IDN) – On June 27, 2019, the night of the second Democratic primary debate, Donald Trump Jr. shared and deleted a tweet posted by the right-wing provocateur Ali Alexander. Alexander’s social media post alleged that presidential candidate Kamala Devi Harris was “not an American Black” because she was half Indian and half Jamaican. Trump Jr.’s spokesperson then offered a dubious defense of his boss claiming that he had not intended to endorse racism, but had simply been surprised to learn about Harris’s Indian background.¹

: J C Suresh; THE WORLD; USA and Canada; 21 August 2020

Photo: ECOSOC's 2020 Operational Activities Segment (OAS) on development issues took place through a series of virtual meetings from 19 to 22 May and on 27 May 2020, under the chairmanship of the Deputy Permanent Representative of Mexico, as ECOSOC Vice-President. Credit: UN

COVID-19 Puts to Test the UN Development System

By Elena Marmo, Global Policy Watch (GPW)

This article first appeared in the GPW's blog.

NEW YORK (IDN) – Across the UN System, all hands are on deck to address the impact of COVID-19 from immediate humanitarian and health needs, to medium and longer-term socio-economic policy. Various initiatives are circling one another, raising issues of governance, reporting and accountability. Member States in the ECOSOC Operational Activities Segment explored some of these questions as they related to the UN Development System (UNDS). At the same time, in the 28 May and 2 June meetings on Financing for Development, they also explored policy ideas, with an emphasis on accounting for vulnerability in macroeconomic analysis.

: Opinion Editor; UN INSIDER; 11 June 2020

Photo: Flamingos at Talawe Wetlands in Navi Mumbai. Source: TERI.

COVID-19 Lockdown Is A Much-Needed Break for Nature

Viewpoint by Siddharth S Edake

NEW DELHI (IDN) – Today, I can see the forests of the Aravali Biodiversity Park at the far end, under a light blue sky dotted with fluffy white clouds. The air is crisp and clear, and close to around 20 yellow-footed green pigeons locally known as hariyal, a rare sighting for Gurugram, are feasting on the fruits of the shehtut (Mulberry) tree in front of me. The sound of traffic is replaced by the chirping of birds and the tinkling of wind chimes as they sway in the light breeze. For a nature lover and environmentalist, this is as good as it gets in a metropolitan city in India.