USA and Canada

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

Photos (L to R): Manish Uprety F.R.A.S. and Ritesh Tandon. Credit: The authors.

California Needs Low Taxation to Boost Innovation

Viewpoint by Manish Uprety F.R.A.S. and Ritesh Tandon

Manish Uprety F.R.A.S. is an ex-diplomat and Ritesh Tandon is the Republican Party candidate for the US Congress from California’s 17th District. Any views or opinions expressed are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of IDN-InDepth News.

CALIFORNIA (IDN) – President Donald Trump is nominated for the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize for the recent Peace Deal between Israel and the United Arab Emirates. In fact, his pursuit for peace as an official US policy found manifestation earlier in his efforts not to lead US into any war, and to bring reconciliation to North and South Korea.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 15 September 2020

Photo: U.S. Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo meets with Ethiopian President Sahle-Work Zewde in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on February 18, 2020. [State Department Photo by Ron Przysucha/ Public Domain]

U.S. Effort to Block Ethiopian Dam Recalls Legacy of British Colonialism

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) – Based on guidance from President Trump, the State Department is suspending $130 million in security-related aid to Ethiopia over a nearly-completed dam that would lift Ethiopia from poverty and end the shadow of British colonialism that favoured Egypt.

Programs on the chopping block include security assistance, counterterrorism and military education and training, anti-human trafficking programs, and broader development assistance funding, congressional aides said. The cuts would not impact U.S. funding for emergency humanitarian relief, food assistance, or health programs aimed at addressing COVID-19 and HIV/AIDS, they said.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 14 September 2020

Photo: inland Northwest National Wildlife Refuge Fire Management staff conducted a fifty-acre prescribed fire at Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge earlier this spring. Credit: Ken Meinhart, USFWS. Public Domain.

Indigenous Techniques Could Help Fight Out-Of-Control Wildfires in California

Viewpoint by Sonali Kolhatkar

This article was produced by Economy for All, a project of the Independent Media Institute. Sonali Kolhatkar is the founder, host and executive producer of “Rising Up With Sonali,” a television and radio show that airs on Free Speech TV and Pacifica stations.

LOS ANGELES (IDN) – In more than 20 years of living in Southern California, I have never been in a potential fire evacuation zone—until now. The entire state is seemingly on fire with a record-breaking 2 million acres already burned this year alone, with months to go before the end of fire season. The situation is so dire that the state’s fire officials are warning they “simply do not have enough resources to fully fight and contain every fire.”

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 14 September 2020

Photo: Kyle Rittenhouse (left, with backwards cap) walks along Sheridan Road in Kenosha, Wisconsin, on August 25, with another armed civilian. Adam Rogan/The Journal Times via AP.

Many Police Can Hardly Be Distinguished from Armed Vigilantes

Viewpoint by Sonali Kolhatkar

LOS ANGELES (IDN) – Police in America, whose mottos claim to “protect and serve” us, have been openly declaring allegiance with the forces of white supremacy. It is no coincidence that this has become a hallmark of Donald Trump’s presidency.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 11 September 2020

Photo: One of the protests against President Trump in 2017. Source: Wikimedia Commons.

Mass Direct Action Might Be the Only Way to Stop Trump from Stealing the Election

Viewpoint by George Lakey *

This article was originally published on Waging Nonviolence and is made available under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

PHILADELPHIA (IDN) – The warning drums for a contested election are beating louder and louder. At a recent campaign stop in Scranton, Pennsylvania, Trump once again laid the groundwork for not stepping down by saying, “The only way [the Democrats] are going to win is by a rigged election.”

The concern for what Trump might do in the absence of a landslide Biden victory has even led one bi-partisan group of experienced legal and political minds to run a “war-game” type experiment called the Transition Integrity Project.

: Phil Harris; OPINION; 09 September 2020

Photo: Fires like this one in the city of Ventura, California, are likely to be more common, say University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) climate scientists. Credit: Ryan Cullom/Ventura County Fire Department.

Why The November U.S. Election Is Critical

Viewpoint by John Scales Avery *

COPENHAGEN (IDN) – Why did Prof. Noam Chomsky call the US Republican Party “The most dangerous organization in the history of the world”? He did so because the party is characterized by climate change denial and by support for giant fossil fuel corporations. According to the 2018 IPCC Report, the world has only a very short time left in which to stop the extraction and use of fossil fuels. If we collectively fail to do this within a decade or so, feedback loops may be initiated which will make human efforts to avoid catastrophic climate change useless. Much of the world could become uninhabitable, and a very large-scale mass extinction could be initiated.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 09 September 2020

A New Alliance Will Likely Shape U.S. Foreign Policy for Years to Come

Viewpoint by Marshall Auerback and James Carden*

This article was produced by Economy for All, a project of the Independent Media Institute.

NEW YORK (IDN) – In early June, a group of former officials from the George W. Bush administration launched a PAC in support of Joe Biden’s candidacy. The group, 43 Alumni for Biden, boasts nearly 300 former Bush officials and is seeking to mobilize disaffected Republicans nationwide.

The mobilization appears to be having an impact: More recently, “more than 100 former staff of [recently deceased Senator John] McCain’s congressional offices and campaigns also endorsed Biden for president,” according to NBC News, as well as dozens of former staffers from Senator Mitt Romney’s 2012 presidential campaign.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 03 September 2020

Photo: We're used to thinking of Hitler's Third Reich as the incomparably evil tyranny that it undoubtedly was. But Hitler didn’t take power by force. He used a set of rhetorical tropes codified in Trump’s bedside reading that persuaded enough Germans to welcome Hitler as a populist leader. (Photo: photolibrarian/Flickr/cc)

Message to Joe Biden and Kamala Harris on Afghanistan

Viewpoint by Saber Azam

The writer is a former official of the United Nations and author of the recently released book, “SORAYA: The Other Princess”, a historical fiction that overflies the recent seven decades of Afghan history.

GENEVA (IDN) – The US internal serenity is essential to the political and economic stability of the planet. The last four years have been challenging for Americans, their allies, and the rest of the world.

Hardly in the US history, an election such as the forthcoming in November this year will be so crucial. Wizards predict that it would be a game-changer. If the winners of the country's leadership are Joe. Biden and Kamala Harris, many critical issues will be high on their agenda, and the crisis in Afghanistan will undoubtedly constitute one of them.