SYNDICATION

Photo: Steve Bannon. Credit: Don Irvine | Wikimedia Commons.

The Four Whose Foreign Policy Ideas Could Impact Trump Most

By Jim Lobe* | Reproduced courtesy of LobeLog

WASHINGTON, DC (IDN | LobeLog) – The most frightening commentary I’ve read in the run-up to the inauguration—and there have been many—appeared in a column identifying the four people whose foreign policy ideas were likely to be most influential with the then-president-elect. It was written by The Washington Post’s Josh Rogin and entitled “Inside Trump’s Shadow National Security Council.”

Those four people, according to Rogin, are chief strategist Stephen Bannon, who “has been working on the long-term strategic vision that will shape the Trump administration’s overall foreign policy approach;” chief of staff Reince Priebus; Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner; and his national security adviser, Gen. Michael Flynn (ret.).

: J Nastranis; OPINION; 25 January 2017

Photo: President George H. W. Bush and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev declared an end to the Cold War at the Malta Summit on December 3, 1989. At a joint press conference aboard the Soviet passenger liner Maxim Gorky in Marsaxlokk Harbor, President Bush speaks about his hopes for a cooperative U.S.-Soviet relationship. Credit: history.com

The Last Chance To Get Russian-U.S. Relationship Right

By Jonathan Power

LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) - The great flaw in ex-president Barack Obama’s record was his policy towards Russia. Going against everything he had said and written about before he became president, one action after another antagonised the Russians.

His early proclamation that he wanted Georgia and Ukraine in NATO, his de facto coalition of convenience for a crucial couple of days with the anti-democratic, anti-Russian, neo-fascist, demonstrators in Ukraine, the further expansion of NATO, despite an earlier promise not to, made by President H.W. Bush, to the Soviet President, Mikhail Gorbachev, and his inability to cooperate with the Russians and Iranians over Syria.

: Jonathan Power; OPINION; 24 January 2017

Photo: Portrait of Nikki Haley, President-elect Donald Trump's choice for U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations.

Nikki Haley Tells U.S. Congress: The UN Does Matter

By Barbara Crossette* | Reproduced courtesy of PassBlue

NEW YORK (IDN | Passblue) - Nikki Haley, President Donald Trump’s nominee to become the United States ambassador to the United Nations, appeared in a confirmation hearing on January 18 lasting more than three hours in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. She introduced herself in an address to members that was both autobiographical — the daughter of immigrants — and political.

Acknowledging her neophyte standing in international affairs, she announced at the outset: “Like most government agencies, the United Nations could benefit from a fresh set of eyes. I will take an outsider’s look at the institution as I have in every challenge in my life, I will come to the UN to work and to work smart.”

: IDN-INPS UN Bureau; UN INSIDER; 23 January 2017

Chinese President Xi Claims Global Leadership – Discreetly

Excerpts From Speech at World Economic Forum

Following are detailed excerpts from Chinese President Xi Jinping's historic 45-minute speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on January 18, 2017 in which he calls for a world free of all nuclear weapons, and a global governance system based on equality among countries. The full text appeared on https://www.weforum.org/events/world-economic-forum-annual-meeting-2017

Xi's mission apparently is to make China great by following the advice of Sun Tzu, the ancient Chinese author of the legendary Art of War: “Superior strategies avoid conflict. They overcome hurdles without attacking these and quickly appropriate what is foreign to them. They are totally open towards everything under the heavens.”

: IDN-INPS Asia Editor; OPINION; 19 January 2017

Photo: President Obama greets people in Old Havana, Cuba, March 20, 2016. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

Six Out of Ten For Obama's Foreign Policy

By Jonathan Power

LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) - When President Barack Obama leaves office will the world be better or worse than eight years ago? Taking the big picture, so often obscured by the wars and uprisings that dominate the front page, more often than not he has resisted the foreign-policy establishment, most importantly in Syria, which makes a fetish of “credibility”.

Obama has argued that “dropping bombs on someone to prove that you are willing to drop bombs on someone is just about the worst reason to use force”.

: Jonathan Power; OPINION; 17 January 2017

Photo: Syed Akbaruddin, Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations, Credit: UN Photo/Evan Schneider

UN Reform Vital To Conflict Prevention and Sustaining Peace

By Ambassador Syed Akbaruddin

Ambassador Syed Akbaruddin is India's Permanent Representative to the UN in New York. Following are excerpts from his statement to the Security Council in an open debate on January 10 on 'Conflict Prevention and Sustaining Peace' in connection with the agenda item 'Maintenance of International Peace and Security'- an agenda that relates to one of the first purposes of the UN's charter and one which is listed in the first article.

UNITED NATIONS (IDN-INPS) - The wisdom of the age-old adage, "Prevention is better than Cure" is self-evident . . . Dag Hammarskjöld is said to have first introduced the term "preventive diplomacy" more than 50 years ago into the lexicon. Boutros Boutros-Ghali's "Agenda for Peace" unveiled in the 1990s comes to mind as another milestone in this saga.

: IDN-INPS UN Bureau; UN INSIDER; 15 January 2017

Photo: Justice Weeramantry. Credit: Sri Lanka Guardian

'Nuke Generation Far More Brutal Than Past Conquerors'

By Jamshed Baruah

STOCKHOLM (IDN-INPS) - "It is said that previous conquerors like Attila and Jenghiz Khan used to proclaim that not even a dog or cat or mouse would be left alive when they destroyed the cities which defied them. Our generation with the nuclear weapon in its hand is far more brutal and primitive than any of those conquerors of the past, however barbaric they might have been," declared Justice Christopher Gregory Weeramantry in an interview in 2007, some ten years before he passed away in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on January 5, aged 90.

: Jamshed Baruah; ARMAMENTS; 14 January 2017

Image: The Marshall Islands and Ambassador de Brum were nominated for pursuing a formal legal case against the world's nuclear-armed states for failing to meet their obligations under the NPT. Credit: Arms Control Association

Marshall Islands and Tony de Brum '2016 Arms Control Persons of the Year'

WASHINGTON, D.C. (IDN | INPS) - The Republic of the Marshall Islands and its former Foreign Minister, Tony de Brum, have been awarded the '2016 Arms Control Person of the Year'. Over 1,850 individuals from 63 countries participated in the selection.

Ten individuals and groups were nominated by the Arms Control Association (ACA) for their leadership in advancing effective arms control, nonproliferation, and disarmament solutions or for raising awareness of the threats posed by mass casualty weapons during the past year. The Nuclear Age Peace Foundation is a consultant to the Marshall Islands in their Nuclear Zero lawsuits.

: IDN-INPS UN Bureau; ARMAMENTS; 12 January 2017

*Shastri Ramachandaran is an independent journalist and global affairs commentator based in New Delhi, supporting IDN-INPS as editor. He worked as senior editor and writer with China Daily and Global Times and was previously senior consultant and editor of China-India Dialogue. This article, published on January 9, reflecting the author's opinion, not necessarily the view of CGTN (China Global Television Network), is being reproduced by arrangement with the author.

THAAD Deployment Uncertain After S. Korean President Exits

By Shastri Ramachandaran

NEW DELHI (IDN-INPS) - As the impeachment trial of South Korean President Park Geun-hye over a corruption scandal began on January 5, international commentators began to ask what will be the political consequences of her exit, and more specifically what it will mean for the deployment of the controversial missile system THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense). ‍

Park’s powers as president were suspended by the National Assembly, which voted on December 9 to impeach her. This followed months of protests by millions of Koreans seeking to oust her for allegedly extorting money and favors from companies in collusion with her confidante, Choi Soon-sil, for the latter’s foundations.

: Shastri Ramachandran; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 10 January 2017

Photo: Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon bids farewell to delegates, staff, senior advisers, and other well-wishers at UN Headquarters in New York. UN Photo/Amanda Voisard

Ban Ki-moon Leaves a Legacy of Mediocrity

By The Nation (Thailand)*

BANGKOK (IDN-INPS) - Ban Ki-moon ended (on December 31) his decade as Secretary-General of the United Nations amid praise from many quarters, but this was mere diplomacy. Astute witnesses to his two terms in office know that, given the chance to stop wars, forge peace and foster international fraternity, to make the world safer and more equitable to all, he accomplished precious little.

His primary goal on taking office at the beginning of 2007 was to bring lasting peace to the Middle East. In this too he failed. Ban’s achievements in the area of environmental protection, specifically the Paris Protocol on climate change, allow him a legacy that is mixed at best.