OPINION

Photo: Clockwise, from top left: U.S. combat operations in Ia Đrăng, ARVN Rangers defending Saigon during the 1968 Tết Offensive, two A-4C Skyhawks after the Gulf of Tonkin incident, ARVN recapture Quảng Trị during the 1972 Easter Offensive, civilians fleeing the 1972 Battle of Quảng Trị, and burial of 300 victims of the 1968 Huế Massacre. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.

The Secret of Greatness Lies in 'Net Resources'

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power

LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) – Let’s make America great again! Or as the prime minister of France said: Let’s make France great again. Or, as President Donald Trump conceded, let every nation in the world announce that they are going to be great again. But what makes for greatness? Over that there is a big dispute.

Strategists say that power has to be measured carefully because “the balance of power is the motor of world politics, playing a role as central as the role of energy in physics and money in economics”, as writes Professor Michael Beckley of Tufts University.

: Jonathan Power; OPINION; 23 April 2019

Image: Collage by IDN-INPS with graphics von Internet.

The Great De(b)terioration in the Offing As Impotent Capital Weds Algorithms

Viewpoint by Jayasri Priyalal

The writer is the Regional Director responsible for Finance Sector of UNI Global Union, Asia & Pacific based in Singapore. This article was first published in the Financial Times, Sri Lanka.

SINGAPORE (IDN-INPS) – We are now in the era of acceleration termed as the Fourth Industrial Revolution [4IR]. In the new era, the impact and relevance of old ethical theories of yesteryear have severe limitations to offer solutions to the complex problems unfolding in the twenty-first century.

: Ramesh Jaura; OPINION; 20 April 2019

Photo: Dr. Daisaku Ikeda. Credit: Seikyo Shimbun.

Eminent Buddhist Leader Urges Halt to Nuclear Weapons and Killer Robots

By Ramesh Jaura

BERLIN | TOKYO (IDN) – In the run-up to the forthcoming round of crucial talks on the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons, Buddhist philosopher, educator and a staunch advocate of nuclear disarmament, Dr. Daisaku Ikeda, has called for easing tensions to halt further escalation of the conflict over nuclear weapons development.

Underlining the importance of the third session of the Preparatory Committee for the 2020 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) from April 29 to May 10, 2019 at UN Headquarters in New York, Dr. Ikeda has urged the need to gather the support of States parties for multilateral efforts toward nuclear disarmament. 2020 will mark the 50th anniversary of the entry into force of the accord.

: Ramesh Jaura; OPINION; 19 April 2019

Photo: Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s record on the economy compares unfavourably with his predecessor Dr.Manmohan Singh government’s growth, which for one year hit 10 percent and for a number of years was over 8 percent. Source: Press Information Bureau on behalf of Prime Minister's Office, Government of India.

Vibrant Democracy Is India's Trump Card against China

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power

LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) – Conversation with Manmohan Singh was always fascinating at the time he was prime minister of India. It was difficult to challenge his superior intellect. He could, in his calm, disciplined way, out-argue anyone. He saw where India was going with a degree of exactness that dwarfed other observers. On the economic front it was, for his Congress Party government, all about ending poverty which he thought doable, although achieving a fairer income distribution was much more difficult.

: Jonathan Power; OPINION; 16 April 2019

Photo: Secretary-General António Guterres (on screen) makes remarks at the Financing for Development Forum of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) Session 2019 on April 15. UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe

2019 A Defining Year for Implementing SDGs and the Paris Agreement

By António Guterres

The following are extensive excerpts from opening remarks of the UN Secretary-General to the 2019 ECOSOC Financing for Development Forum on April 15. This, he said, was “critical moment for governments, businesses, and societies to accelerate action for sustainable development”.

NEW YORK (IDN-INPS) – We have the tools to tackle poverty, inequality, climate change and environmental pressures. They were defined in the great multilateral agreements reached in 2015: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the Addis Ababa Agenda for Action, and the Paris Agreement on climate change.

: IDN-INPS UN Bureau; OPINION; 16 April 2019

Photo: Mao's calligraphy of his poem "Qingyuanchun Changsha". CC BY-SA 3.0

Dictators Striving to be Thinkers and Writers

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power

LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) – “Since the days of the Roman Empire”, Daniel Kalder wrote in his book ‘The Infernal Library’, “dictators have written books, but in the twentieth century there was a Krakatoa-like eruption of despotic verbiage, which continues flowing to this day.”

It’s a strange thing but true that many dictators began their working lives as writers “which probably goes a long way towards explain[ing] their megalomaniac conviction in the awesome significance of their own thoughts.”

: Jonathan Power; OPINION; 09 April 2019

Photo: ESCAP Executive Secretary Dr. Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana. Credit: ESCAP

New Study Asks Asia-Pacific to Raise Ambitions Beyond Mere Economic Growth

Viewpoint by Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana

The writer is United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP).

BANGKOK (IDN) – Three years of implementation of the transformative 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in Asia and the Pacific shows the region has some catching up to do.

Despite much progress, the region is not on track to reach the 17 Sustainable Development Goals set out in the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

: IDN-INPS UN Bureau; OPINION; 04 April 2019

Photo: The Ohio-class USS Nebraska submarine returns to port in Washington in 2018. The Trump administration is seeking funds to complete development of low-yield nuclear warheads for submarine-launched ballistic missiles. Credit: Michael Smith/U.S. Navy.

2020 Trump Budget Aims to Boost U.S. Nuclear Capabilities

Viewpoint by Kingston A. Reif

The writer is director for disarmament and threat reduction policy at Arms Control Association (ACA). This article appeared in Volume 49: April 2019 of the Association's monthly journal 'Arms Control Today'.

WASHINGTON, DC (IDN-INPS) – .Consistent with the recommendations of the 2018 Nuclear Posture Review (NPR), the Trump administration’s fiscal year 2020 budget request would continue plans to expand U.S. nuclear weapon capabilities.

: IDN-INPS UN Bureau; OPINION; 03 April 2019

Photo: Operation Ajax, a British-funded, American-led coup against Mossadegh in Iran. Credit: Ajay Flickr/Jahangir Razmi

Forthcoming Book on CIA Meat for Global Criminal Court

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power

LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) – The International Criminal Court (ICC) which prosecutes crimes against humanity is under attack again by the Trump Administration for pursuing Americans. Bill Clinton and Barack Obama supported it. George W. Bush tried to close it down but then decided to cooperate with it. Donald Trump is against it and encouraged John Bolton, his National Security Advisor, to publicly savage it.

To be published in May is a revealing book on the CIA, about its paramilitary armies, operators and assassins. The book is still under wraps so I can’t break the embargo by telling you its title and author. All I can say is that it’s meat for the ICC.

: Jonathan Power; OPINION; 02 April 2019

Moving the ACP Group to Centre Stage of Multilateralism

Viewpoint by Dr. Patrick I. Gomes

The writer is the Secretary-General of the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States (ACP).

BRUSSELS (IDN) – In today’s global situation that bears the features of turbulence, fragility and an increasingly precarious balance between peace and possible nuclear annihilation, the role and relevance of the United Nations Organisation has assumed unparalleled importance.

It was a perceptive comment of the late Nelson Mwalimu Mandela, who in his landmark speech to the United Nations on October 3, 1994, posed the question and demanded a response to what he considered to be the enduring imperative confronting the United Nations today, more than ever.