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Photo: At a summit in Minsk on 11 February 2015, the leaders of Belarus, Russia, Germany, France, and Ukraine agreed to a package of measures to alleviate the ongoing war in the Donbass region of Ukraine. The talks that led to the deal, overseen by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), were organised in response to the collapse of the Minsk Protocol ceasefire in January–February 2015. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.

Resolving the Imbroglio by Making Ukraine a Buffer State

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power*

LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) - A few recent words from Jack Matlock who was U.S. ambassador to Moscow under presidents Reagan and Bush senior: “The Ukraine crisis is a product, in large part, of the policy of indefinite expansion of NATO to the east. If there had been no possibility of Ukraine ever becoming part of NATO, and therefore Sevastopol (the ex-Soviet naval port in Crimea) becoming a NATO base Russia would not have invaded Crimea.”

He goes on to say: “Americans have lived for nearly two centuries with the Monroe Doctrine [which forbids non-Americans to seize land or intervene in Latin America]. Why don’t we understand that other countries are sensitive about military bases from potential rivals not only coming up to their borders, but also taking land that historically they have considered theirs. These are extremely emotional issues – issues that are made to order for any authoritarian leader that wants to strengthen his rule”.

Students Send Social Message Through Movement

By A.D. McKenzie

KINGSTON (IDN | SWAN) – Dance has long been a potent force among the arts in Jamaica, with pioneering companies such as Rex Nettleford’s National Dance Theatre Company holding a mirror up to society and promoting Caribbean culture.

Now students are taking the genre to a whole new level with powerful, socially relevant performances.

The island’s top high school, Campion College, is one of the institutions leading the way. Now in its seventh season, the school’s Dance Society performed to packed audiences in Kingston in July with its “Roots” production, which addressed issues such as violence against women and the challenges young people face in building confidence and self-esteem.

Trade Can Deliver the 2030 Agenda, But Weaken Ecosystems Too

By Amina Mohammed

The author is Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations. This article first appeared on UNCTAD website on July 21 with the caption: 'Can trade deliver the UN’s 2030 agenda?' – The Editor

UNITED NATIONS (IDN-INPS) - Trade can be a source of prosperity, new ideas and shared values and ambitions. Today, the world strives to harness globalization in realizing the social, economic and environmental goals embodied in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Making sure that trade plays its part is a must, which means both sustaining it and ensuring its consistency with sustainable development.

Photo: Hekitta: Pedestrians are forced to walk on the middle of the road because the garbage has taken over the pavement. Source: The Sunday Times | M.A. Pushpa Kumara

The Forgotten Professions: The Plight of a Nation

Viewpoint by Asanga Abeyagoonasekera

COLOMBO (IDN-INPS) - The Sri Lankan public has become the unfortunate victim of the nation’s health and sanitation crisis. The policymakers are questioned by both the public and the media of their inability to manage the ongoing situation.

One of the world’s most iconic cities, New York, was turned into a garbage dump in February 1968 due to the sanitation workers’ refusal to collect garbage. After 9 days, 100,000 tons of garbage had piled up and a state of emergency was declared. In Sri Lanka, garbage collection in Colombo and the surrounding areas has become a serious problem over the past few weeks. Sabotage by sanitation workers and relocation of the garbage dump, with an on-going blame-game, has aggravated the situation. A record high of 100,000 dengue patients is an indirect consequence. Hospitals have run out of beds compounding the health crisis.

Photo: Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and Sri Lankan President J.R. Jayewardene sign the historic Indo-Sri Lanka accord in Colombo on July 29, 1987. File photo. Courtesy of The Hindu.

Thirty Years of Jittery Indo-Lanka Relations

Viewpoint by Sugeeswara Senadhira*

COLOMBO (IDN-INPS) - While there is much written about China’s jittery relations with many of its neighbours these days, there is hardly anything written about equally jittery relations between India and its smaller neighbours in South Asia.

The scorching summer of 1987 saw the relations between Sri Lanka and India plummeting to a lowest ever ebb. New Delhi's decision to airdrop supplies over Jaffna had opened up a diplomatic Pandora's Box. New Delhi tried to justify this blatant violation of Sri Lanka's sovereignty as an act of humanitarian necessity. But the world knew it as a hegemonic political action entangled directly in the ethnic crisis in Sri Lanka.

Photo: ASEAN members' flags in their headquarters in Jakarta. Credit; Wikimedia Commons.

Culture of Peace is the Lynchpin of ASEAN’s Strategic Diplomacy

By Kishore Mahbubani

The author is dean of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore and co-author of The ASEAN Miracle. This article first appeared in EASTASIAFORUM on June 18. An extended version of this article appeared in the most recent edition of East Asia Forum Quarterly, ‘Strategic diplomacy in Asia’. – Editor.

SINGAPORE (IDN | INPS) - Try imagining a world where the Middle East is at peace. The thought seems almost inconceivable. Imagine a world where Israel and Palestine, two nations splintered from one piece of territory, live harmoniously. Impossible? This is what Malaysia and Singapore accomplished. After an acrimonious divorce in 1965, they live together in peace.

Photo: Ambassador Anwarul K. Chowdhury, former Under-Secretary-General and High Representative of the United Nations. Credit: Mitsu (Eric) Kimura, SUA Archivist.

Critical Next Steps in Enhancing Women's Equality and Empowerment

By Ambassador Anwarul K. Chowdhury

“I am proud to be a feminist … all of us need to be. That is how we make our planet a better place to live for all,” writes Ambassador Anwarul K. Chowdhury, former Under-Secretary-General and High Representative of the United Nations. He is an internationally recognized initiator of the UNSCR 1325 as the President of the UN Security Council in March 2000. He is the Founder of the Global Movement for The Culture of Peace (GMCoP), a civil society entity promoting the UN Declaration and Programme Action on Culture of Peace.

NEW YORK (IDN) - The year 2017 is experiencing a ground-swell of much-needed mobilization by women to assert their rights and claiming their due role in contributing to global efforts for a better life for all. The Women’s March in Washington DC on January 21 with a million protesters worldwide was emphatic in its demand for equality joined in solidarity by hundreds of "sister marches" held around the U.S. and the globe. On March 18, more than 10,000 women and men took to the streets of Zurich in protest against sexism and racism and stood up for gender equality. As a reaction to the rollback of women’s rights worldwide, the new activist alliance WE CAN’T KEEP QUIET was founded in Switzerland.

Get On With Disarmament, Don't Rant About North Korea

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power*

LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) - During the French election no candidate talked about France’s nuclear weapons. In Britain, the subject has been raised in its election in an attempt to undermine the Labour Party leader, Jeremy Corbyn. But the long-time anti-bomb activist compromised his views, saying in effect he was against them but Labour Party policy was for them.

Meanwhile, the Western nations worry and rage about North Korea’s nuclear weapons development. There is a lack of principle and honesty as well as an overdose of self-delusion as to their effectiveness as a deterrent in this whole bomb game.

Photo: The eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly, which convened on 15 September 1953 at UN Headquarters, elected Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit of India as its President. She is photographed here with UN Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld. She was the first woman president ever elected by a UN General Assembly. Credit: UN Photo # 372908/AF

UN Positions Pose a Dilemma for 'Rising Power' India

By Shastri Ramachandaran

NEW DELHI (IDN) - The Government of India has no clear-cut stand and approach when it comes to campaigning for positions in the United Nations including specialized agencies of the world body and formations such as the Group of 77 (G77). The reason, according to informed sources and diplomats who have had a ringside view of past campaigns, is that the “calculated ambivalence” has served India’s interests “up to expectations and beyond”.

What importance does New Delhi attach to the G77? How much is India interested in G77 comprising 134 developing countries including China? When posed these two questions, all officials -- both serving and retired diplomats -- agreed to respond on condition of anonymity. The only exception was India’s former UN Under-Secretary General Shashi Tharoor, currently Member of Parliament from Thiruvananthapuram, capital of the southern state of Kerala.

In Memoriam: Remembering Ernest Corea

BERLIN | WASHINGTON | COLOMBO - Ernest Corea, one of Sri Lanka’s most distinguished journalists and diplomats died on May 11, 2017 after a long illness. Throughout his career, he worked to maintain a free and independent press, advocated for the interests of the Sri Lankan people, and worked to improve conditions for the poor worldwide. He was awarded the Deshabandu Class 1 National Day honour for meritorious diplomatic service.