THE WORLD

Photo: Hezbollah Patrol in Syria. Credit: Aberfoyle International Security (AIS)-

Unnoticed Changes of Equilibrium in the Middle East

Viewpoint by Pier Francesco Zarcone*

ROME (IDN) – The occurrence of events and related "media bombardment" very often distract attention from the most profound – or wider – meaning of what has happened and is happening ... and the necessary help in understanding does not always come from professional commentators. This is particularly true of the Middle East, theatre of a centuries-old conflict between Sunni Islam and Shiite Islam.

Generally speaking, a defeat of significant proportions of the first of these two Islams, with the consequent opening up of significant areas for the Shiites, is overlooked. The Sunni countries have lost all three wars against Israel, and Saddam Hussein's Iraq (more or less secular, but Sunni) has in turn lost as many – the war with Iran and the two against the United States. In addition to that regime, domination of the Sunni minority over the rest of the Iraqi people has disappeared.

: Phil Harris; OPINION; 09 November 2017

Photo: President Trump addressing the South Korean National Assembly. Source: The White House Video.

No Sign Yet of a Sustained Direct U.S.-North Korean Dialogue

By Daryl G. Kimball

Daryl G. Kimball is Executive Director of the Arms Control Association. This article first appeared with the caption 'Trump Repeats Failing Formula on North Korean Threat'.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (IDN-INPS) - In his high profile address to the South Korean National Assembly November 8, President Donald Trump missed a crucial opportunity to clarify and adjust his administration’s disjointed and, at times, reckless policy toward North Korea.

Although Trump indicated earlier [...] in a press conference in Seoul that he is "open" to talks with North Korea, he has also said in recent days that now is not the time for such talks but instead it is time to apply "more pressure" on North Korea to bring North Korea to bargaining table and to agree to eliminate its nuclear program. While in Asia, Trump has also repeated, albeit in less bombastic terms than before, that he will resort to the use of military force if North Korea does not back down.

: Daryl G. Kimball; OPINION; 08 November 2017

Photo: Screenshot of a video depicting the demonstration and shooting at the Al Diaa Islamic School in Asmara, Eritrea, October 2017. Source: HRW | 2017 Private.

Opposition Calls for International Solidarity with Eritrea After Rare Protest

By Wim Brummelman

Note: This report, based on an interview with a representative of the opposition Freedom Friday ('Arbi Harnet') in Asmara, Eritrea, was first published in the Dutch newspaper NRC on 7 November 2017. Following is its unofficial translation by Klara Smits. – The Editor.

AMSTERDAM (IDN-INPS | NRC) - The banned Eritrean opposition is asking the international community to pay attention to the continuing repression in Eritrea. “Foreign countries must send observers to find out what is happening here,” said an opposition member speaking over the phone from the Eritrea's capital city Asmara.

: IDN-INPS Middle East & Africa Editor; THE WORLD; Africa; 08 November 2017

Photo: Unlike 26 African teenage girls, de Awa – with her 1 and 4-year-old children, and her 14-year-old niece – had luck after a rescue ship carried them from waters near Libya across the Mediterranean to Italy. Credit: Louis Leeson/Save the Children

Rescue Operation in Mediterranean Fails to Save African Teenage Girls

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK | ROME (IDN) – Shivering immigrants pulled from icy Mediterranean waters huddled under aid workers' blankets hardly move the hearts of wealthy nationals in developed countries these days.

But the story of 26 young African women whose bodies were recovered near a smuggler’s boatload of migrants caused some heads to turn and tears to fall.

Their bodies were plucked from the sea on November 5 in one of four separate rescue operations that brought 400 people to the Italian port town of Salerno.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 07 November 2017

Photo: Oxfam International Executive Director Winnie Byanyima. Photo by: Stephen Jaffe / IMF / CC BY-NC-ND

Charities Facing Closer Scrutiny over Sex Harassment and Graft Claims

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) – Two well-known charities are responding to serious claims of misappropriation of money and sexual harassment during their work in Africa.

In one investigation by the Associated Press, the Red Cross was cited for faulty oversight of workers who may have stolen millions of dollars meant to combat the Ebola outbreak in West Africa.

The deadly Ebola virus that spread throughout West Africa from 2014 to 2016 killed more than 11,000 people and drew numerous aid workers and medical professionals to the continent. Some of those responders, according to a Red Cross internal investigation covered by AP, fraudulently used funds earmarked for aid. Total losses due to fraud topped $6 million, AP claimed.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 07 November 2017

Photo: The statue of Theodore Herzl in Dimona, Israel, who published his highly influential book, The Jewish State, which launched the movement called "political Zionism".

The Death of Israel by a Thousand Cuts

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power*

LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) - Even former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, who single handedly (without much Jewish appreciation) did more to make Israel secure than any other living person, confesses neither he nor anyone can change the march of demographics. Within the boundaries of the Holy Land there are just over 6 million Jews and 6 million Palestinians. The Palestinian birth rate is almost three times that of the Israeli Jews. If anything the Jewish population is starting to fall as an increasing number of Jews decide that Israel has no future for them and emigrate.

Another former U.S. President, Richard Nixon, when asked by Patrick Buchanan how he saw the future of Israel, turned down his thumb "like a Roman emperor at the gladiators' arena".

: Jonathan Power; OPINION; 07 November 2017

Photo: A view of the press conference at the UN in New York. Source: UNCA

Arab Media Sustains a Heavy Presence at the UN

By Shanta Roy

UNITED NATIONS (IDN) – The day-to-day news coverage by the UN press corps represents a virtual political barometer of the outside world – from a UN perspective.

Since most news organizations in the developing world cannot afford either a fulltime or a part-time correspondent at the UN, they have traditionally relied on the mainstream wire services and news organizations such as Reuters, BBC, the Associated Press, Deutsche Welle, Agence France-Presse (AFP) and the Chinese news agency Xinhua — all of them fully staffed and geared for extensive UN coverage.

: IDN-INPS UN Bureau; THE WORLD; Middle East & North Africa; 06 November 2017

Photo: Much of Raqqa has suffered extensive damage during the battle of Raqqa in June–October 2017. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.

What’s Going On in the Middle East?

By Pier Francesco Zarcone*

ROME (IDN) – The military breakthrough in the Syrian war appears to be definitive ... at least according to Robert S. Ford, former U.S. ambassador to Syria.

Even though the conflict has not yet come to an end, in a recent interview with Foreign Affairs Ford stated that the Syrian army has won the war and the United States must "abandon hopes of supporting a separate Kurdish region" having "no good options in Syria" so that "hopes of getting rid of [Bashar Hafez al-] Assad are far-fetched fantasies."

The reason for this situation was Russian intervention. An obvious question comes to mind: why and in what way did the Russians succeed? In this regard, it is necessary to clarify a number of points.

: Phil Harris; THE WORLD; Middle East & North Africa; 06 November 2017

Photo: Vladimir Ilyich Lenin. Credit: history.com

Milestones of the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia 100 Years Ago

By Somar Wijayadasa*

NEW YORK (IDN | INPS) - The 7th of November this year marks the centenary of the Russian Revolution – an indelible landmark and a turning point in the history of Russia – that established the Communist rule under what became the Soviet Union that is officially known as the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). The revolution shaped world politics of the 20th century, and saved the Soviet Union from the brutal war, and propelled it to superpower status.

It is called the October Revolution as it happened on October 25 (on the old, Julian calendar), and also known as the Bolshevik (meaning majority) Revolution because it was led by Bolshevik Party leader, Vladimir Ilyich Lenin (1870-1924) – a revolutionary, politician and political theorist. The strategy for the revolution was crafted by the Russians – due to intolerable conditions resulting from centuries of serfdom under which the Russian people suffered during the Czarist autocratic rule.

: Somar Wijayadasa; THE WORLD; EU & Europe; 05 November 2017

Photo: WTO Chief Azevêdo highlights important role of trade and investment in promoting sustainable development at the High Level Policy and Private Sector Trade and Investment Facilitation Partnership Forum in Abuja on November 2-3, 2017. Credit: WTO

The Role of Trade and Investment Vital in Fostering SDGs

By Roberto Azevêdo

Trade and investment are inseparable and remain indispensable "twin engines" for economic growth, modernization and development of Africa, says 'The Abuja Statement' emerging from the two-day High Level Policy and Private Sector Trade and Investment Facilitation Partnership Forum in Abuja, Nigeria, on November 2-3, 2017. Following are extensive excerpts from WTO Director-General Roberto Azevêdo. – The Editor

GENEVA (IDN-INPS) - It is encouraging to see many countries – as well as the broader development community represented here – interested in exploring how trade and investment can help promote sustainable development . . . both these elements – trade and investment – are fundamental in helping countries successfully integrate into the global economy.