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Photo: Asked, 'Which country do you think is the greatest threat to peace in the world today?' international respondents overwhelmingly chose the United States. Credit: Staff Sgt. William Tremblay / U.S. Army / Creative Commons)

‘U.S. Is Greatest Threat to World Peace’

By Jamshed Baruah

NEW YORK (IDN) – American philosopher and political activist Noam Chomsky has criticized Washington's policies on Iran and referred to polls from prestigious centres, which show that America is the biggest threat to world peace. According to Iran Press/America, he told a New York school on January 4 that the former Republican Party had now become a "radical rogue" that has abandoned any parliamentary policy.

"They may succeed in raising sanctions and even secondary sanctions on other countries, and may take other measures to keep Iran out of agreement with the United States," Chomsky added.

: Jamshed Baruah; OPINION; 06 January 2020

Photo: Protestors gather outside Trump Tower to demonstrate against US/Middle East relations in Chicago. Credit: Grack Hauck, USA TODAY

U.S.-Iran Conflict: Iraq President Concerned – Young Americans Alarmed – Trump Has Put Millions at Risk

By Santo D. Banerjee

NEW YORK (IDN) – While Iraq President Barham Salih is worried about U.S.-Iran conflict since the killing of Iranian General Qassem Suleimani, young Americans are alarmed and speak about World War III, and an OpEd says Congress failed to act to prevent Iran war. The British-educated Kurd Salih, who spent years representing his party in Washington, was elected President of Iraq in 2018 said in a Q&A with the New Yorker’s Robin Wright:

: Santo D. Banerjee; THE WORLD; USA and Canada; 05 January 2020

Image: Post-Soviet states in English alphabetical order: Armenia Azerbaijan Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan. CC BY-SA 3.0

Putin Keen to Strengthen Ties with Former Soviet Republics

By Kester Kenn Klomegah

MOSCOW (IDN) – Russian President Vladimir Putin is keen to deepen and strengthen relations with the former Soviet republics, particularly those which initially formed the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and joined the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) after the breakup in 1991. Russia was internationally recognized as the successor state to the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics out of which 15 sovereign states emerged and re-emerged.

: Kester Kenn Klomegah; THE WORLD; Russia; 05 January 2020

Photo: The writer in front of the Sultan's Al Alam Palace in Old Muscat. Credit: Manish Rai.

Ibadis Are Ray of Hope for The Middle East

By Manish Rai

MUSCAT, Oman (IDN) – It’s widely believed that there are two main branches of Islam i.e. Sunni and Shia, which differ in their understanding of early Islamic history and hence they have different ideas about how Islam’s leadership should have been organised in subsequent eras. But there is a third, lesser-known body of believers with deep historic roots, and their identity fractionally predates the Sunni-Shia split in the seventh century. They are the Ibadis, who number less than 3 million in total. Only in one country, Oman, do they form a majority. However, significant pockets exist in North Africa, especially Libya, and along the east African coast, particularly on the island of Zanzibar.

: Africa & ME Editor; THE WORLD; Middle East & North Africa; 04 January 2020

Collage by IDN-INPS: With images from Wikimedia Commons – Scared Child (left), 1909 painting ‘The Worship of Mammon’ (centre), and Hate (right) from CMON.

Fear, Greed and Hate as We Enter the 2020s

Viewpoint by Roberto Savio*

ROME (IDN | OtherNews) – In a world in which the institutions that govern us are rapidly losing their moral compass, it is difficult not to realise that in 2020 we are now entering – or have already entered – a new low point in the history of humankind.

Today, for example, we face an unprecedented existential threat brought about by the climate crisis. According to scientists, we have until 2030 to stop climate change, after which the writing is on the wall for the planet. Yet, we have just had a world conference in Madrid on climate change, which ended in nothing.

: Roberto Savio; OPINION; 03 January 2020

Photo: Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov answers to questions in The Great Game show on Channel One Russia on December 22, 2019. Source: Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Russia Urges U.S. to Agree to Extending New START

By Kester Kenn Klomegah

MOSCOW (IDN) – In a series of significant discussions and a special interview with Rossiya Segodnya, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has reiterated Russia’s plea for the extension of the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START). President Vladimir Putin had clearly stated that “Russia is ready to extend it without any preconditions," he said. As for deadlines, Putin had emphasised that "Russia is willing to immediately, as soon as possible, before the year is out, renew this Treaty," he added.

: Kester Kenn Klomegah; ARMAMENTS; Nuclear Weapons; 03 January 2020

Turbulent Start to a New Decade for Central Europe

Viewpoint by Wojciech Przybylski

In 2020, Central Europe will observe plenty of electoral races and will be exposed to a few important economic and security impulses, writes Wojciech Przybylski, Chairman of the Res Publica Foundation and Editor-in-chief of Visegrad Insight where this article was first publisehd.

WARSAW (IDN-INPS) – In February parliamentary elections will be held in Slovakia which will result in fragmentation and instability. The ruling socialist SMER-SD party and its current coalition partners will not be able to form a governing coalition again.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 02 January 2020

Photo: People living along the Kenya-Uganda border are amongst the poorest in the region. Credit: WFP.

Kenya and Uganda Partner With the UN to Achieve SDGs

By Siddharth Chatterjee and Rosa Malango

UN Resident Coordinators in Kenya and Uganda, Siddharth Chatterjee and Rosa Malango respectively report in a blog how the two East African neighbours have kick-started a Decade of Action to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals by partnering with the UN to address challenges that transcend country borders. The UN Resident Coordinator (RC) is the highest-ranking representative of the UN development system at the country level. In this first of occasional series, UN News is inviting RCs to blog on issues important to the United Nations and the country where they serve. UN News carried this blog on 1 January 2020.

: UN Bureau; THE WORLD; Africa; 02 January 2020

WISHING US ALL AND OUR PLANET PEACE & SECURITY

: Ramesh Jaura; SUSTAINABILITY; Peace & Justice; 01 January 2020

Image credit. Peterson Institute for International Economics.

Trump Fighting the Wrong Battle in A Tit-For-Tat Confrontation with China

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power

LUND, Sweden (IDN) – In Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s “The Hound of the Baskervilles”, Sherlock Holmes lectures Watson on the unlikely subject of free trade.

Holmes: “Capital article this on free trade. Permit me to read you an extract from The Times: ‘You may be cajoled into imagining that your own special trade or your own industry will be encouraged by a protective tariff, but it stands to reason that such legislation must in the long run keep wealth from the country, diminish the value of our imports, and lower the general condition of life in this island.’”