THE WORLD

US Military Bases Devastating Communities Across the World

By Alice Slater*

This article was originally published in The Nation on January 24 with the caption: 'The US Has Military Bases in 80 Countries. All of Them Must Close.' It is being reprinted with their permission.

NEW YORK (IDN-INPS) – On the weekend of Martin Luther King Day (January 15), Baltimore University fittingly hosted more than 200 activists in the peace, environment, and social-justice movements to launch a timely new initiative, the Coalition Against US Foreign Military Bases.

Ajamu Baraka, Green Party vice-presidential candidate and co-founder of the Black Alliance for Peace, opened the meeting reminding us that Reverend King, in his historic anti-war speech more than 50 years ago at Riverside Church in New York, called the government of the United States “the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today” adding that “the war in Vietnam is but a symptom of a far deeper malady within the American spirit,” while warning that “a nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death.”

: UN Bureau; OPINION; 27 January 2018

Photo: Astro-Lab (Arctic Stratospheric Ozon Observatory) near Eureka Weather Station (Nunavut, Canada). Credit: Wikimedia Commons.

Scientists Seek Trudeau's Backing for Canada as a Global Leader in Climate Research

By J C Suresh

TORONTO (IDN) – In the face of U.S. President Donald Trump claiming that "the concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive," international scientists have lauded Canada's achievements in the field, and called for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to re-invest in climate science.

In an open letter to him, released in Ottawa on January 22, hundreds of prominent international scientists have raised concern that a crisis is looming for Canadian climate and atmospheric research following the government’s failure to renew or replace the Climate Change and Atmospheric Research (CCAR) program which funded seven research networks.

: J C Suresh; SUSTAINABILITY; Climate Action; 24 January 2018

Photo: A US military officer and YPG and YPJ commanders tour an area hit by Turkish airstrikes in April 2017. YPG, the People's Protection Units, is a mainly-Kurdish militia in Syria and the primary component of the Democratic Federation of Northern Syria's Syrian Democratic Forces. YPJ, The YPJ is an acronym whose translation means Women's Protection Units. It is the all-female brigade of the YPG. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.

Trump's Kurdish Militia in Syria

By Pier Francesco Zarcone*

ROME (IDN) – The U.S. decision to train about 30,000 men of a Kurdish militia on the Turkish-Syrian border was considered a reckless initiative with catastrophic consequences – and that immediately turned out to be the case – but, paradoxically, it is also understandable in the global Syrian situation. Let us leave aside the issue of violation of the sovereignty of the Syrian state, given that the United States makes and undoes international law as it pleases and the media present this as if it were normal.

The reasons for judging the U.S. move as reckless can be easily identified. The lesser of these lies in the notorious unreliability of Kurdish political-military organisations, accompanied by bungling opportunism and yet constantly exploited and betrayed by their allies of the moment.

: Phil Harris; OPINION; 23 January 2018

Photo: President Trump departs from the Pentagon alongside Secretary of Defense James Mattis on Jan. 27, 2017, in Washington, D.C. (DOD photo by U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Jette Carr)

Mattis-Trump Duo Uncovers China and Russia as US Adversaries

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power*

LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) – The American secretary of defence, Jim Mattis, has declared a new era: "There has been a return of great power competition ……great power competition – not terrorism – is now the primary focus of U.S. security." In the new national defence strategy document*, unveiled on January 19, China and Russia are singled out as "adversaries".

Although the U.S. is now spending on defence three times as much as China (1.7% of its GNP as against America’s 3.3%), Mattis is worried that the U.S. military advantage over its adversary has eroded "in every domain of warfare". The military, he said, was coping with "inadequate resources" and he called for Congress to appropriate it more billions of dollars.

: Jonathan Power; OPINION; 23 January 2018

Photo: Demonstrators at the Echangeur de Limete, Kinshasa, capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo in September 2016. Photo: Habibou Bangre/IRIN

In the Shadow of Lumumba, Congolese Defy Protest Ban

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) – Amid reports that pro-democracy activism in the Democratic Republic of Congo is feeling the lash from the unpopular government of Joseph Kabila who is under pressure to hand over power as the Constitution requires, UN Secretary-General António Guterres has urged Congolese security forces "to exercise restraint and to uphold the Congolese people’s right to freedom of speech and peaceful assembly."

Also the Chairperson of the African Union Commission (AUC), Moussa Faki Mahamat, has strongly condemned the violence following demonstrations organized on January 21 in Kinshasa, and deplored the reported loss of life.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 23 January 2018

Photo: Kairat Abdrakhmanov, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan and President of the Security Council for the month of January, opens the Security Council meeting on maintenance of international peace and security, with a focus on building regional partnership in Afghanistan and Central Asia as a model to link security and development. Secretary-General António Guterres is seen to his right. 19 January 2018. United Nations, New York. Credit: UN Photo/Manuel Elias

Security Council Focuses on Afghanistan, Central Asian States

By J Nastranis

UNITED NATIONS (IDN) – The 15-nation United Nations Security Council has reiterated its commitment to the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of Afghanistan and the Central Asian States. Before debating the pressing challenges ahead, the Council adopted a presidential statement on January 19, expressing its continued support to the UN Secretary‑General’s call to action to avert threats.

The presidential statement S/PRST/2018/2, presented by Kazakhstan's Minister for Foreign Affairs, Kairat Abdrakhmanov, whose country holds the Council presidency for the month of January, reiterates the Council's concern over the continuing threats to the security and stability of Afghanistan.

: J Nastranis; THE WORLD; Central Asia; 22 January 2018

Photo: UN Security Council delegation, headed by Ambassador Kairat Umarov, the Permanent Representative of Kazakhstan to the UN, confers with Afghan leaders in Kabul. Credit: UNAMA.

Security Council Delegation Backs Afghan-led Peace Process

By J Nastranis

NEW YORK | KABUL (IDN) – For the first time since 2010, the UN Security Council undertook a visit to Afghanistan to reiterate the Council's support for the Government and people of Afghanistan and their efforts to restore peace, stability and progress to the country.

The visit from January 13-15 was organized by Kazakhstan, which holds the Council Presidency for the month of January. Kazakhstan, as the first country of Central Asia elected to the Council as its non-permanent member for 2017-2018, is striving to promote strong cooperation among neighbours, which is critical for promoting stability and prosperity in and around Afghanistan.

: J Nastranis; UN INSIDER; 22 January 2018

Photo: UN Security Council debates on Afghanistan and Central Asia. Credit: UNAMA.

Building Regional Partnership in Afghanistan and Central Asia

By António Guterres, UN Secretary-General

Following are extensive excerpts from UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ remarks to the Security Council debate on building regional partnership in Afghanistan and Central Asia to link security and development, on January 19. The debate was convened by the Council's Kazakh presidency for the month of January. – The Editor.

UNITED NATIONS (IDN) – The entire international community has a stake in peace, stability and development in Afghanistan, and the countries of Central Asia have a particularly important role to play.

Sustainable development is a fundamental end in itself, enabling people, communities and societies to flourish and fulfil their potential. But, sustainable and inclusive development is also an important factor in preventing and ending conflict, and in sustaining peace. Only by addressing the root causes of crisis, including inequality, exclusion and discrimination, will we build peaceful societies resilient to terrorism and violent extremism.

: UN Bureau; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 21 January 2018

Photo: India's longest range nuclear capable missile Agni-5 was successfully test fired from the Kalam Island off Odisha coast on January 18 by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). Source: NDTV

Successful Test Firing of India's Agni-5 Evokes No Fury

By Kalinga Seneviratne

BANGKOK (IDN) – The successful launch of the nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) Agni-5 on January 18 has hardly been noticed in Asia. The western media however have given it coverage focusing on India's ability now to strike major Chinese cities including Beijing and Shanghai.

This partly adulatory coverage is in sharp contrast to hysteria in the western media in particular when North Korea tested a similar missile on November 28, 2017. While North Korea’s tests are projected as threats to global denuclearization efforts, India's are not.

: Kalinga Seneviratne; ARMAMENTS; Nuclear Weapons; 21 January 2018

Photo: Nursultan Nazarbayev, President of Kazakhstan and President of the Security Council for the month of January, addresses the Security Council meeting on Non-proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction, with a focus on confidence-building measures. 18 January 2018. United Nations, New York. UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe.

Kazakh President Offers Astana as Venue for Disarmament Negotiations with North Korea

By Santo D. Banerjee

UNITED NATIONS (IDN) – In the run up to the fiftieth anniversary of the UN inviting nuclear haves and have-nots to sign the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) on July 1, 1968, Kazakhstan has proposed a set of six measures aimed at the non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, and offered a platform for disarmament negotiations with North Korea.

The initiative has been launched on January 18 at the high level briefing of the Security Council which focused on the theme of non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction: confidence-building measures convened by Kazakhstan in its capacity as the Council President for the month of January. And this at a point in time when, as UN Secretary-General António Guterres says, "global anxieties about nuclear weapons are the highest since the Cold War."