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Nuclear Deterrence Policy Gathering Steam in India

By Sudha Ramachandran

BANGALORE (IDN) – "Though India is a reluctant nuclear power, nuclear deterrence will continue to play a crucial role in India's national security strategy over the next few decades," says Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal, Distinguished Fellow at India's Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA).

In his recent book 'Sharpening the Arsenal: India's Evolving Nuclear Deterrence Policy', he explains the reason: "Only when India's adversaries are convinced that India has both the necessary political and military will and the hardware to respond to a nuclear strike with punitive retaliation that will inflict unacceptable loss of human life and unprecedented material damage, will they be deterred."

: Asia Editor; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 06 March 2018

Photo: President Trump explaining a 'New National Security Strategy for a New Era' on December 18, 2017. Credit: whitehouse.gov

US Foreign Policy and Trump's Contradictions – Part 1

Viewpoint by Michele Nobile*

This is the first of a five-part article looking at US foreign policy in historical context and its global implications under President Donald Trump.

BERGAMO, Italy (IDN) – During a speech on foreign policy in April 2016, US President Donald Trump thundered: "We are totally predictable. We tell everything. We're sending troops. We tell them. We're sending something else. We have a news conference. We have to be unpredictable. And we have to be unpredictable starting now."

Uncertainty and variety of assessments about the course of the Trump administration's foreign policy continue to be significant. What unites critics and supporters of the administration's foreign policy is the fear or hope that, driven by nationalism, the United States may withdraw into what is called isolationism.

: Phil Harris; THE WORLD; USA and Canada; 05 March 2018

Photo: Ambassador Kairat Umarov, Kazakhstan's Permanent Representative to the UN, signing the Nuclear Ban Treaty on March 2. Credit: Abolition2000

Kazakhstan Signs Ban Treaty After Security Council Debut

By J Nastranis

UNITED NATIONS (IDN) – Kazakhstan, known as an active and staunch supporter of a world free of nuclear weapons, became 57th country to sign the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons on March 2.

The Treaty, which opened for signature on September 20, 2017, will remain open indefinitely. It will enter into force 90 days after 50 nations have ratified or acceded to it. Until now, five states have ratified the Treaty: Guyana, Holy See and Thailand on September 20, 2017 immediately after signing. They were followed by Mexico on January 16 and Cuba on January 30.

: J Nastranis; ARMAMENTS; Nuclear Weapons; 05 March 2018

UN at Pains to Weed Out Sexual Exploitation and Abuse

By Santo D. Banerjee

NEW YORK (IDN) – At a critical moment when allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse from within the United Nations are mounting, and a leaked UN staff survey shows fears over whistleblowing and ethical accountability, Secretary-General António Guterres has in his message for International Women's Day on March 8, called for the UN setting "an example for the world," adding: "I recognize that this has not always been the case."

Guterres continues: "Since the start of my tenure last year, I have set change in motion at United Nations Headquarters, in our peacekeeping missions and in all our offices worldwide. We have now reached gender parity for the first time in my senior management team, and I am determined to achieve this throughout the Organization."

: Santo D. Banerjee; UN INSIDER; 05 March 2018

Photo: Dr Vera Songwe, the executive secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), addressing Africa Business and Investment Forum in Addis Ababa on January 30 on the margins of the African Union (AU) Summit. Credit: Jessica Hope

Africa’s Mounting Thirst for Foreign Direct Investment

By Jeffrey Moyo

HARARE | ADDIS ABABA (IDN) – He was just 17 when his country Zimbabwe gained independence. Now, 38 years later, Trynos Hove is over half a century old and what he remembers is persistent underdevelopment and repeated calls for foreign investment.

Without meaningful foreign direct investment in this Southern African nation, says Hove, suffering will continue for the majority of citizens who are now bearing the brunt of joblessness.

“I’m one of the Zimbabweans who are without employment today. I worked for Lever Brothers before I was sacked as the company scaled down operations owing to the failing economy here,” Hove told IDN.

: Jeffrey Moyo; THE WORLD; Africa; 05 March 2018

Photo: The Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, one of the world's longest suspension bridges, connects Brooklyn and Staten Island. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.

A Compelling Book on 'Humanity’s Success in Ruining Nature'

NEW YORK (IDN) – Across the globe, geologists, climate scientists, biologists, chemists and physicists are alarmed, and if there are uncertainties these are whether danger is in the offing very soon or in a few years; about whether our prospects are calamitous or only troublesome.

The lack of dread among the general public about the risks of irreversible damage is worrying. Politics and Science operate on different time lines and with different urgencies. The open question is if the governments of the world’s dozen or so wealthiest countries are up to organizing a workable, equitable and sustainable global response before it is too late.

: UN Bureau; SUSTAINABILITY; Climate Action; 04 March 2018

Photo: Coordinating Committee of International Staff Unions and Associations (CCISUA) and United Nations International Civil Servants Federation (UNISERV), along with statisticians, join the staff union in New York Headquarters. Credit: CCISUA

Staff Unions Threaten UN-Wide Work Stoppages Over Pay Cuts

By Shanta Roy

GENEVA (IDN) – A proposed salary cut – resulting from an "austerity agenda" – has triggered temporary work stoppages in UN offices in Geneva, Bangkok and Addis Ababa and is threatening to spread system-wide, including field operations.

The protest is led by three staff unions – the Coordinating Committee of International Staff Unions and Associations (CCISUA), the Federation of International Civil Servants’ Associations (FICSA) and the United Nations International Civil Servants Federation (UNISERV) representing over 60,000 staffers worldwide – and is aimed primarily at the International Civil Service Commission (ICSC).

: Thalif Deen; UN INSIDER; 04 March 2018

Photo: African Union meeting end of January. Credit: Voices for Transparency

The Focus Turns To Corruption in 2018

By Joe Powell

The writer is Deputy CEO of Open Government Partnership (OGP). This article first appeared in Transparency International's blog Voices for Transparency. – The Editor

WASINGTON, D.C. (IDN) – Corruption continued to dominate headlines across the world in 2017. It ended political careers, motivated citizens to organize and advocate for reform, and was spurred by another major leak of documents revealing money laundering and elite capture in the Paradise Papers. It is one of the most challenging open government topics facing the world today.

: UN Bureau; OPINION; 03 March 2018

Photo: "Comrade, your statement is factually incorrect." "Yes, it is. But it is politically correct." Credit: www.geopolintelligence.com

On the Use – or Abuse – of "Politically Correct"

Viewpoint by Marcelo Colussi*

GUATEMALA CITY (IDN) – Although it is not very clear – or not at all clear – what the "correct" in "politically corrrect" consists of, there is a general consensus that we must practice "correctness", that we must be "politically correct".

Pushed by this trend, then, we cannot say "blacks" but “people of colour" and we always have to make explicit reference to gender, among myriad others. Following the same line, we should not say "disabled” but "people with different abilities", "homosexual” and never "poof" and "third age" instead of "elderly " – never think of saying "old".

: Phil Harris; OPINION; 02 March 2018

Photo: Frying civic space. Illustration image | Source: Mauro Pimentel | Transparency International

Independent Media and Civil Society Under Assault

By Sean Buchanan

This is the fifth in a series of reports highlighting salient aspects of Transparency International's latest analysis on challenges posed by corruption around the world as well as successes and failures of efforts targeting a scourge that eats into the vitals of human rights. – The Editor.

LONDON (IDN) – Civil society organisations (CSOs) and independent media play a vital role in anti-corruption efforts, yet CSOs working on governance and human rights issues are subject to ever-greater restrictions on their operations while attacks on journalists are on the rise in many parts of the world.