Peace & Justice

Image: Constitution preamble. Credit: Wikipedia Commons

Does Constitution or Selective Interpretation of Civilization Bind India?

Viewpoint by Dr Ram Puniyani

This article is the 21st in a series of joint productions of South Asian Outlook and IDN-InDepthNews, the flagship of the International Press Syndicate. The writer is a former professor of biomedical engineering and former senior medical officer affiliated with the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (now Mumbai) and meanwhile a social activist and commentator.

NEW DELHI (IDN) — A couple of years ago article 370 was abrogated, and our Supreme Court is yet to give its verdict on whether this move conforms to our Constitution.

: Suresh Jaura; THE WORLD; South Asia; 26 June 2022

Image: President Donald J. Trump, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bahrain Dr. Abdullatif bin Rashid Al-Zayani, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Minister of Foreign Affairs for the United Arab Emirates Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyanisigns sign the Abraham Accords on Sept. 15, 2020, on the South Lawn of the White House. (Official White House Photo by Shealah Craighead)

The Abraham Accords’ Implications for The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

Viewpoint by Alon Ben-Meir

Dr Alon Ben-Meir is a retired professor of international relations at the Center for Global Affairs at New York University (NYU). He taught courses on international negotiation and Middle Eastern studies for over 20 years.

NEW YORK (IDN) — The Abraham Accords have been in the making for several years; what has ultimately brought them to fruition is the Arab states’ national security interests. By no means though have the Arab states abandoned the Palestinian cause, which will continue to haunt them and Israel until an independent Palestinian state is established.

: Africa & ME Editor; OPINION; 25 June 2022

Photo: Kazakh Minister addressing High-level Session of the First Meeting of the States Parties (MSP) to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW). Credit: Katsuhiro Asagiri, IDN-INPS Multimedia Director

Kazakhstan Calls for Universalization of the TPNW

Following are excerpts from the text of the statement by Kazakh's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Affairs Minister Mukhtar Tileuberdi, at the High-Level Opening Session of TPNW MSP1 on June 21, 2022.

VIENNA (IDN) — The First Meeting of States Parties to the TPNW is a remarkable historic achievement following a nearly decade-long collective effort to advance the universal objective of complete nuclear disarmament.

: Ramesh Jaura; OPINION; 23 June 2022

Photo: First Meeting of the States Parties (MSP) to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW). Credit: Seikyo Shimbun

Faith Communities Greet First Nuclear Weapons Ban Conference

By IDN-INPS Team

VIENNA (IDN) — Faith communities "from a diversity of traditions and located all over the world" have joined together "with one voice to mark" the first meeting of the States Parties to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (MSP) to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW)."

: UN Bureau; ARMAMENTS; Nuclear Weapons; 22 June 2022

Photo: YouTube Screenshot of Zelensky with Troops. Source. France 24

There’s No Need for War with Russia

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power

LUND, Sweden (IDN) — Conflicts have a history of spinning out of control. Trotsky, the one-time close comrade of Lenin, reportedly said, “You may not be interested in war, but war is interested in you”. The overwhelming majority of Ukrainians were not interested in war until President Volodymyr Zelensky took his counterproductive stance on NATO membership and President Vladimir Putin subsequently launched his invasion and united most of Ukraine’s people against him.

: Jonathan Power; THE WORLD; Russia; 21 June 2022

Eritrea: North Koreans with Black Faces

Viewpoint by Daniel Haile*

COLLEGE STATION, Texas | USA (IDN) — Eritrea is a very small country in East Africa along the Red Sea. Second to North Korea, the Eritrean regime is the most isolated, secretive, and repressive authoritarian regime globally, and the last remaining Marxist state on the African continent. The Kim Jong-un of Africa, Isaias Afewerki, has been in power since Eritrea's independence de jure in 1991 and de facto in 1993. Subsequently, Eritrea is infamously known in Africa as the North Korea of Africa for a good reason.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 18 June 2022

Famine is a Policy Choice: The Afterlife of Covid, Institutional decay, and Privatization—Part 2

This is the second in a series of two articles. Click here for Part 1

COLOMBO (IDN) — What was never mentioned in connection with power cuts and soaring fuel and energy prices was the privatization of sale of the Yugadanavi power plant to an American New Fortress company in a corrupt mid-night deal in November 2021 by former US citizen President Rajapakse, before he took wing to New York to address the United Nation’s General Assembly to boast about his green energy and fertilizer policies that had bought Sri Lanka to the current disaster!

: Asia Editor; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 18 June 2022

Photo: Dr Jargalsaikhan Enkhsaikhan (Credit: Global Peace Foundation) against the backdrop of Chinggis Khaan (Sükhbaatar) Square in Ulaanbaatar, the capital and largest city of Mongolia. Source: Hostelman ID

Second Comprehensive Study on NFWZs Is Needed

Viewpoint by Dr Jargalsaikhan Enkhsaikhan

The writer is Chairman of Blue Banner NGO, Former Mongolian Permanent Representative to the United Nations.

ULAANBAATAR (IDN) — In preparation for the 10th Review Conference (Revcon) of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) in August, a group NGOs met in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, to exchange views and discuss the challenges and prospects of nuclear-weapon-free zone (NWFZ) regimes that are recognized as important practical regional measures of non-nuclear-weapon states (NNWSs) that contribute to non-proliferation and nuclear disarmament.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 16 June 2022

oto: Álvaro Alberto, Brazil's first nuclear-powered attack submarine.

The Brazilian Nuclear Submarine

Viewpoint by Sergio Duarte

The writer is an Ambassador, former United Nations High Representative for Disarmament Affair, and President of Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs.

NEW YORK (IDN) — Last July 8 the Director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, informed the Board of Governors that Brazil had decided to start consultations on the special safeguards procedures to be applied to the nuclear materials that will be used in the country’s first nuclear-powered submarine.

: Sergio Duarte; OPINION; 15 June 2022

Photo: Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III and Army Gen. Mark A. Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, hold a news conference following the Ukraine Defense Contact Group meeting at NATO Headquarters in Brussels, June 15, 2022. Credit: Chad J. McNeeley, DOD

More Than 50 Nations Pledge to Help Build Ukraine's Defense

By Jim Garamone

This article was issued by the U.S. Department of Defence and is being republished courtesy of them.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (IDN) — Representatives from more than 50 nations pledged to get more military capabilities into the hands of Ukrainian forces battling Russian invaders, Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III said on June 15 in Brussels.

Austin chaired the third meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group. The group is looking to get Ukraine what it needs to fight the battle developing in the Donbas region of the country.