SYNDICATION

Photo: U.S. vessels launch missiles in support of the Libyan Civil War. U.S. Navy photo.

U.S. Invested Trillions in Wars, China in Development

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power

LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) - The French ambassador to the U.S. from 1902 to 1924, Jean-Jules Jusserand, observed that distant powers could not easily threaten the U.S. because “On the north, she has a weak neighbour; on the south, another weak neighbour; on the east fish and on the west, fish”.

The coming of the submarine-based nuclear missile has not changed that. Apart from the fact that no enemy would dare use them for fear of retaliation, and that there is no country in the world that feels that hostile to America (accept North Korea), the fact is America is too big and too far away to be invaded and dominated. There could not be a blitzkrieg by a foreign army across the mid-west or a Vichy America.

Photo: UN Mission Planning team carries out its first regional visit. UN Photo

The Story of Peace in Colombia sans US-NATO Invasion

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power

LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) - After 52 years of fighting between the Colombian government and FARC, the left wing, drug-dealing, Marxist, guerrilla grouping, there is a peace agreement.

I’ve always wondered why the U.S. and NATO never intervened militarily. They should have if they were to be consistent. Colombia has long been exhibit A for those who say, “Look what happens when the outside world doesn’t intervene – the local fires just burn brighter and fiercer”. (And it has been said likewise for Sri Lanka during its civil war.)

Building a Nuclear-Weapon-Free World

By Kazuo Ishiwatari

The author is Executive Director, Peace and Global Issues, Soka Gakkai International (SGI). Following is the text of his remarks in Panel Session IV: Initiatives and campaigns – legislators, religious leaders and civil society' on the occasion of the International conference: Building a nuclear-weapon-free world on August 29, 2016 in Astana, Kazakhstan.

ASTANA (IDN-IINPS) - We are standing at an important juncture in history. Calls for a legal prohibition or banning of nuclear weapons are mounting as a first concrete step toward a world finally and permanently free from nuclear weapons.

Photo: A carnival float in Duesseldorf depicts Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and Turkish President Erdoğan, 2016. Abu Bakr is the leader of the Sunni militant jihadist organisation known as the ISIS_Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, which controls territory in western Iraq, Syria, Libya and Afghanistan. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.

Don't Overhype ISIS: Remember How Russians Fought Napoleon

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power

LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) - Politicians have it in their DNA to hype our supposed present dangers. So do journalists. So does the military-industrial complex. So do certain think tanks and university professors who depend on sounding the alarm about this and that to gain grants from foundations.

When Leon Panetta was defence secretary under President Barack Obama he was not atypical when he said that any defence cuts would undermine the military’s “ability to protect the nation” and reductions would “invite aggression”.

Image credit: Cinema for Peace Foundation.

Light Installation and Cinema for Peace Screenings in Rio

By Courtesy of Cinema for Peace Foundation

RIO DE JANEIRO (IDN-INPS) - The Olympics should have been a time of peace, but the world was at war. There were 19 wars and 16 war-like conflicts in the world during the Olympic Games. Overall, there are 409 conflicts, of which 223 are violent.

To shine a light on conflicts and to endorse the peaceful ideals of Olympic Games the initiative Sports for Peace, who hosted at the London Olympics Muhammad Ali's farewell, presented the 'Olympic Ideal of Peace' light installation in the Santa Marta Favela in Rio.

The projections in the favelas served as a reminder of the Olympic ideals which were not brought to life in Rio de Janeiro, especially the Olympic ideal of laying down all arms: all over the world the killings went on, especially in Syria.

Photo: Nobel Laureate Prof. Muhammad Yunus. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.

Social Business a Way Out of Misery for World's 3 Billion

Viewpoint by Prof Muhammad Yunus*

DHAKA (IDN-INPS) - We are living in a time of unparalleled prosperity, fuelled in part by revolutions in knowledge, science, and technology, particularly information technology. This prosperity has changed the lives of many, yet billions of people still suffer from poverty, hunger, and disease. And now, food, oil price and financial crises have combined forces to bring even greater misery and frustration to the world bottom 3 billion people.

Sadly, however, we saw headlines reporting news of a sort many people assumed we would never experience again: skyrocketing prices for staple foodstuffs like grains and vegetables (wheat alone having risen in price by 200 percent since the year 2000); food shortages in many countries; rising rates of death from malnutrition and undernourishment; environmental threats to agricultural production; even food riots threatening the stability of countries around the globe.

Photo: Prosecution and Defence benches at the Tribunal. Credit: UnfoldZero

People's Tribunal on Nuclear Weapons Convicts Leaders

BERLIN | SYDNEY (IDN | UNFOLDZERO) - An International Peoples’ Tribunal on Nuclear Weapons and the Destruction of Human Civilisation held in Sydney handed down its judgement on August 16 affirming the illegality of any use or threat to use nuclear weapons and convicting the leaders of the nine nuclear-armed States of war crimes, crimes against humanity, crimes against peace and crimes of threatening, planning and preparing acts which would constitute genocide, ecocide and omnicide (the destruction of humanity as a species).

Photo: Autumn maple leaves (momiji) at Kongōbu-ji on Mount Kōya, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.

Japan Shows the Way to Good Life with Little Growth

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power

LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) - The announcement was made on August 15 by Japan’s Finance Ministry: In the last quarter of the year the Japanese economy grew at an annualised rate of 0.2%. “One wonders if the economy will remain at a standstill for the rest of the year”, the Financial Times asks.

But then Japan’s economy has been becalmed for 30 years. Even though the government has poured billions of dollars into the economy it has had only a small effect in boosting demand.

One wonders when the government will give up and what happens then – another decade of minimal growth? If that is what happens how much does it matter?

Photo: Benjamin William Mkapa. Credit: Club de Madrid.

EPA Has Never Made Much Sense for Tanzania

Viewpoint by Benjamin William Mkapa*

GENEVA (ACP-IDN | Daily News) - The EPA issue has once again re-emerged when Tanzania informed EAC (East African Community) Members and the EU that it would not be able to sign the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) between EU and the six EAC Member States in early July.

The European Commission reportedly proposed signature of the EAC EPA in Nairobi, on the sidelines of the 14th session of the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD XIV).

A Nonviolent Strategy to End War

Viewpoint by Robert J. Burrowes*

DAYLESFORD, Victoria | Australia (INPS) - There is a long history of anti-war and peace activism. Much of this activism has focused on ending a particular war. Some of this activism has been directed at ending a particular aspect of war, such as the use of a type of weapon. Some of it has aimed to prevent a type of war, such as 'aggressive war' or nuclear war. For those activists who regard war as the scourge of human existence, however, 'the holy grail' has always been much deeper: to end war.