THE WORLD

Photo: The Marines deploying in Syria reportedly have M777 howitzers, seen here with artillerymen at the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center. Credit: Wikipedia | U.S. Marines.

Syria Withdrawal Plan Tallies With America's Wish To Bring Soldiers Home

Viewpoint by Ellen R. Wald

The writer is a historian and author of 'Saudi, Inc.' She is the president of Transversal Consulting and also teaches Middle East history and policy at Jacksonville University, USA. Twitter: @EnergzdEconomy. This article first appeared on the Arab News on January 2, 2019.

JACKSONWILLE, USA (IDN-INPS) – President Donald Trump shook the establishment in Washington by announcing on December 19, 2018 that he would do exactly what he had promised during his campaign. He declared that American military service members would be leaving Syria. As Trump explained: "We have defeated (Daesh) in Syria, my only reason for being there during the Trump presidency."

: Africa & ME Editor; OPINION; 05 January 2019

Photo: Soft power art: The Kochi-Muziris Biennial opens in India, and Chinese artist and activist Ai Weiwei displays work at a German museum. Credit: YaleGlobal

Contemporary Art Triggers China-India Soft-Power Competition

Art is a means of soft power for persuading and attracting global attention. "As globalization has distributed economic benefits around the world more broadly, emerging economies are stepping up to express their role as actors in the global sphere," explains John Zarobell, associate professor and chair of International Studies at the University of San Francisco. China and India, both fast-growing economies, take different paths on nurturing art.

: Asia Editor; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 05 January 2019

Trump, Big Oil Double Down On Automobile Inefficiency

By William Mebane

The writer is former Director of Energy Efficiency Department at the Energy and Sustainable Economic Development (ENEA).

ROME (IDN) – A group of U.S. oil companies, including Chevron, Exxon Mobile, Marathon and Phillips – 66, together with the Trump Administration – are seeking to cancel the previously approved 2022-2025 requirements of energy efficiency in new cars, SUVs and pickup trucks.

As recently as January of 2017 the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) affirmed that the 2022–2025 standards were technologically feasible and that benefits far exceeded costs. This is the single most important federal instrument for combating climate warming.

: UN Bureau; THE WORLD; USA and Canada; 04 January 2019

Liberalization, Privatization and Globalization Playing Havoc

Viewpoint by Jayasri Priyalal

The writer is the Regional Director responsible for Finance Sector of UNI Global Union, Asia & Pacific Organization - Singapore.

SINGAPORE (IDN) – Imagine the feelings of millions of Americans holding their pay cheques during the festive seasons and at a time getting ready to face the harsh winter, as a consequence of the partial government shutdown decision of President Donald Trump.

This single most incident can be interpreted as the culmination of the LPG strategies of the Liberal, Libertarian, and Neo-Liberal order with an ultimate objective to get rid of state intervention for market forces to reign into government.

: Kalinga Seneviratne; OPINION; 03 January 2019

Photo: PM Modi, Xi Jinping Meet On Sidelines Of G20 Summit In Argentina. Credit: MEA India.

Indian Foreign Policy Not Walking Modi's Big Talk

Viewpoint by Bharat Karnad

The author is Research Professor for National Security Studies at the Centre for Policy Research, New Delhi. He is author of 'Staggering Forward: Narendra Modi and India's Global Ambition' and blogs at 'SecurityWise'. This article first appeared on EastAsiaForum on 24 December 2018.

NEW DELHI (IDN-INPS) – The 2018 G20 Summit in Buenos Aires offered Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi another international occasion to bolster his political standing at home. But while domestic audiences lapped up the Indian media coverage of his umpteenth such outing, in the world of global power politics the Indian Prime Minister lacks any real influence or standing. So Modi followed the same strategy that he has in similar circumstances in the past — trying to make India relevant by inserting the country into clashing coalitions.

: Kalinga Seneviratne; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 02 January 2019

Photo: In a desert area located on the west coast of Australia. The lake looks pink because of Dunaliella. Credit: Midori Kurahashi.

The Biomass Shore Project – A Leading Model For Next-Generation Innovation

Viewpoint by Midori Kurahashi

The author is Project Associate Professor, Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, the University of Tokyo, Japan.

TOKYO (IDN) – Worldwide forest fires and the abnormal heat experienced last summer are still fresh in our memory. Many people throughout the world had a sense that some kind of unsettling change is happening. Even so, response is slow and measures are not being taken. One reason for this is that the world is driven by people who believe that the cost of stopping global warming is too great for the achieved effect.

: Asia Editor; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 02 January 2019

Photo: Portraits of King Salman and Prince Mohammed in Jenadriyah. CC BY-SA 4.0.

The U.S. Is Apparently At The Mercy Of Saudi Arabia

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power*

LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) – Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman remains at large, the unapologetic murderer (according to the CIA) of the respected dissident journalist, Jamal Khashoggi. Even though President Donald Trump came close to accusing him of the deed, he has pulled back, citing Saudi Arabia’s importance as an oil producer and arms buyer.

The Prime Minister of the UK, Theresa May, is too preoccupied with Brexit to want to give up an important market. President Emanuel Macron of France is silent after an initial outburst. Now pressed by the demands of the demonstrators, he also wants to keep sources of revenue that come from sales of jets.

: Jonathan Power; THE WORLD; Middle East; 01 January 2019

Photo: Shehu Shagari (left) and Olusegun Obsanjo (right). Credit: Nigerian Tribune

Nigeria's Ex-President Shehu Shagari Mourned

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK | ABUJA (IDN) - Former President Alhaji Shehu Usman Shagari, a devout Muslim, a former school teacher, son of a farmer, trader and herder, was remembered in December as a nice man, a gentle man but not a particularly strong man.

Nice, gentle and amiable – good qualities – but just short of what the opposition desired for the leader of Africa’s burgeoning colossus.

As a result, Shagari’s service to the nation from 1979 to 1983 was cut short by a coup led by military men including the current president of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 01 January 2019

Photo: The Arch 22 monument commemorating the 1994 coup which saw the then 29-year-old Yahya Jammeh seize power in a bloodless coup, ousting Dawda Jawara, who had been President of the Gambia since 1970. CC BY-SA 3.0

Press Freedoms Return To Gambia Under New Government

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK | BANJUL (IDN) – Following the end of the regime of former President Yahya Jammeh, journalists in The Gambia are beginning to enjoy press freedoms for the first time in 22 years.

During the two decades of ex-President Jammeh's rule, journalists were regularly abducted, tortured and killed. The new government has pledged to respect the media.

Outdated sedition laws are still on the books, however, and the public is urged to bring any complaints about journalists to the new Media Council of The Gambia instead of to the courts.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 01 January 2019

Image: Palestine flag. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.

Palestine Looks Forward To An Exceptional Year As G77 Chair

By Ramesh Jaura

NEW YORK (IDN) – 2019 is slated to be an exceptional year for the State of Palestine, not least because it will preside over the Group of 77 (G77) – the largest bloc at the United Nations – comprising 134 developing countries representing some 80 percent of the world population.

Though 71 years since the UN General Assembly adopted Resolution 181 in 1947 an independent and sovereign State of Palestine state has yet to be realised. But according to Riyad Mansour, Permanent Observer of Palestine to the United Nations, as chair of the Group of 77 and China, "we will be negotiating on behalf of 135 countries," including his own delegation in the count.