EU & Europe

Doubts Whether Return to Exceptionalism Will Serve Perceived U.S. Interests

Viewpoint by M.K. Bhadrakumar

The writer is a former Indian diplomat. This article was produced in partnership by Indian Punchline and Globetrotter, a project of the Independent Media Institute where it first appeared.

NEW DELHI (IDN) — In a statement marking the “return” of the United States to the United Nations Human Rights Council on February 24, Secretary of State Antony Blinken disclosed that the Biden administration is placing democracy and human rights at the centre of American foreign policy.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 02 March 2021

Photo: An artist’s impression of Columbus arriving in America by Wilhem Berrouet. Credit: Salon de la Mappemonde/Flickr/CC)

Europe Slow in Recognising Global Impact of Colonialism

Viewpoint by Michael McEachrane*

LUND (IDN) – Centuries of European colonialism have had a tremendous impact on shaping inequities within and among countries, many of which are yet to be effectively addressed. This may seem like a trivial statement, but it is only recently being recognised by EU countries.

In 2019, the European Parliament passed a resolution on the Fundamental Rights of People of African Descent. It called for a comprehensive perspective on colonialism and slavery, which recognises their historical and contemporary adverse effects on people of African descent.

: Phil Harris; HUMAN RIGHTS; Racism; 23 February 2021

Photo: Security forces stand outside a polling station in Kampala, Uganda, on January 14, 2021. Source: The African Report.

Ugandan Election Rights Violations Elicit Threat of European Union Sanctions

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK | BRUSSELS (IDN) — As Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni bore down on rights groups and the opposition, the European Union (EU) Parliament responded with the threat of sanctions against Ugandan individuals and organizations they hold responsible for abuses during the recent general election.

Museveni apparently sparked the EU backlash when he instructed the Ministry of Finance, in a letter dated January 1, to suspend the activities of the Democratic Governance Facility, a basket fund of European countries that bankroll most Ugandan civil society organizations that work on governance, rights and related themes.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 16 February 2021

Image: Global Supply Chains. Source: PYMNTS.com

New German Law Seeks Corporate Accountability for Rights Violations in Global Supply Chains

An Important Step Towards Implementing UN Guidelines

By Rita Joshi

BERLIN (IDN) – After protracted negotiations, Germany's coalition government has announced an agreement on a German 'mandatory human rights due diligence law' focusing on corporate accountability for human rights violations in global supply chains. In doing, it has taken into account the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs). These also address the human rights risks and identify the human rights impact of their response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

: Rita Joshi; SUSTAINABILITY; Health & Well Being; 13 February 2021

Photo: AFRICOM commander, U.S. Army Gen. Stephen Townsend, conducts engagements in Somalia and a visit to the amphibious assault ship USS Makin Island, operating off the coast of Somalia, January 16-18.

Biden Administration Has an Opportunity to Emerge as A Reliable Partner with African Countries

Viewpoint by Daniel Haile*

COLLEGE STATION, Texas | USA (IDN) – The lack of engagement with African countries economically, politically, and militarily could haunt the United States in the coming decades. Washington needs to forget the trauma of the infamous "Black Hawk Down" incident in Somalia and draft a new policy for mutually beneficial cooperation with African states. China, the European Union (EU), and Russia have been engaging with a great number of African countries while the United States watches from the sidelines.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 30 January 2021

Collage of photos: President Putin (Credit: Kremlin.ru) and President Biden being sworn in (Source. Wikimedia Commons.)

US and Russia Should Agree to a New “Reset”

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power*

LUND, Sweden (IDN) – There is a dangerous element in President Joe Biden’s foreign policy. It comes from his deeply embedded dislike of the Russian president, Vladimir Putin. During the campaign, he even called Putin a thug, which was not a very sensible thing to do if you are hoping to do business with him.

For all Biden’s conciliatory and pacific instincts, which I described in my column on January 19, his rigid position on Putin seems to lead him astray when it comes to US-Russian relations.

: Jonathan Power; OPINION; 26 January 2021

Photo: Late Mrs. Djene Kaba Conde, First Lady of Guinea, with the map of Guinea on the left. Sources: Official White House Photo by Amanda Lucidon and the World Fact Book.

Court Finds Israeli Tycoon Guilty of Bribing Guinean Officials

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) – The gavel came down on January 22 on billionaire Israeli-French tycoon Beny Steinmetz who, a criminal court in Geneva ruled, bribed government officials in Guinea, West Africa, to enrich himself and his mining company with valuable assets of the African country.

The ruling caps a seven-year investigation into the shady and complex world of corrupt practices employed with near impunity by foreign corporations which harm poor people in resource-rich countries.

: Global Information Network; SUSTAINABILITY; Peace & Justice; 26 January 2021

Photo: France to form a commission for reconciling with Algeria. Credit: Anadolu Agency

Macron Willing to Reconcile with Algeria But No Official Apology

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) – Time marches on but murderous crimes committed during war may demand an apology regardless of the number of years that elapsed since the crimes took place.

Such is the current case presented by Algerians who have renewed their demand for an apology for colonialization and the crimes against humanity that took place during Algeria’s war of independence from 1954-1962. This follows the much-anticipated release of a government-sponsored report by the historian Benjamin Stora.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 25 January 2021

Photo: Johnson holding his first cabinet meeting at 10 Downing Street, 25 July 2019. Source: Wikimedia Commons.

'Fine Words Butter No Parsnips' — Behind Boris Johnson’s So-Called Liberalism

Viewpoint by Sam Fowles*

LONDON (IDN) – The UK has left the EU and plunged into a third lockdown (the latter some two weeks after doing so was recommended by the government’s medical advisers), while, in the US, right-wing terrorists stormed the Capitol.

Strangely, all three provoked responses along the lines of “Boris Johnson is a liberal”. For Robert Tombs, writing in The Telegraph, the chief benefit of Brexit is a “reinvigorated democracy”. For Robert Peston, Johnson’s repeated ignoring of scientific advice is due to “a political philosophy… that he will not restrict our liberties unless there is an overwhelming reason to do so.” For James Forsyth in The Times, "Johnson is not Trump's Transatlantic twin".

: Phil Harris; OPINION; 15 January 2021

Photo: Edinburgh is the 17th largest financial centre in the world in 2020. CC BY 2.0

The Rationale for Scotland Returning to the European Union

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power*

LUND, Sweden (IDN) – Trump wants to get in. Scotland wants to get out. That sounds a bit odd. Let me explain. A few days ago, the first minister of Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon, said she’d heard that one of the White House’s planes had asked for permission to land in Glasgow airport a day before the inauguration of the new president, Joe Biden. She said she had refused it. The surmise was that Donald Trump wanted to escape to one of his favourite golf courses, near where his mother was born.