OPINION

Photo: Signing of the peace agreement between the government of Colombia and FARC in Cartagena de Indias on 26 September 2018. Credit: Presidency of El Salvador

Were 'Timochenko' to Become President of Colombia

Viewpoint by Marcelo Colussi*

GUATEMALA CITY (IDN) – Rodrigo Londoño Echeverri, known by his nom de guerre 'Timochenko', of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) has recently announced that he intends to run for the presidency of his country. It is difficult to predict what will happen in the next presidential elections in May 2018 but, if won by Timochenko, what might happen?

First of all, two considerations: 1) deepest respect for the struggle of an armed revolutionary movement such as FARC, and 2) this is no whimsical exercise in futurology.

: Phil Harris; THE WORLD; Latin America & the Caribbean; 20 November 2017

Photo: UNDP Resident Representative in Kenya, Siddharth Chatterjee

Kenya A beacon of Hope, says UNDP Representative Siddharth Chatterjee*

BERLIN | NEW DELHI (IDN-INPS | WION) - Major Siddharth Chatterjee (Retd), the United Nations (UN) Resident Coordinator and the UNDP Resident Representative in Kenya, a humanitarian and development professional, a feminist and a passionate advocate for youth empowerment who has served in many war-ravaged and fragile parts of the world spoke exclusively to WION about his passion for advancing gender equality, his impressions of Kenya, the UN reform, and his transition from the Indian Army to the UN.

Below is the full transcript of the interview, first published on WION on November 15, 2017. It is being reproduced with due permission.

: Africa & ME Editor; OPINION; 18 November 2017

More Steps Forward on Human Rights than Backwards

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power*

LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) - When Donald Trump stretched his hand across our television screens on Sunday (November 12) to shake the hand of the Philippines’ president, Rodrigo Duterte, and then said he had “a great relationship” with him I felt my gorge contracting.

Having tasted the great, if sometimes flawed, (remember the totally counterproductive policy of arming the Afghani mujahedeen against the Soviet invaders) campaign of another U.S. president, Jimmy Carter, to put human rights at the centre of American foreign, to see this bald regression is a bitter fruit to swallow.

: Jonathan Power; SUSTAINABILITY; Peace & Justice; 14 November 2017

Look Beyond Nuclear Deterrence to Deserve the Title of 'Civilization'

By Alexey Arbatov

Dr. Alexei Arbatov is the head of the Center for International Security at the Institute of Primakov National Research Institute of World Economy and International Relations. He is a former scholar in residence with the Carnegie Moscow Center’s Nonproliferation Program. Formerly, he was a member of the State Duma, vice chairman of the Russian United Democratic Party (Yabloko), and deputy chairman of the Duma Defense Committee. He is a member of the Russian Academy of Sciences and is the head of the academy’s Center for International Security at the Institute of World Economy and International Relations. Following is the complete text of his paper presented to the conference on 'Perspectives for a world free from nuclear weapons and for integral disarmament' at Vatican City on 11 November 2017 – The Editor

: Africa & ME Editor; ARMAMENTS; Nuclear Weapons; 11 November 2017

Photo: Izumi Nakamitsu addressing nuclear disarmament conference in Vatican City on November 10, 2017. Credit: Katsuhiro Asagiri | IDN-INPS.

Disarmament and Non-proliferation Regime a Diplomatic Pillar Reinforcing Peace and Security

By Izumi Nakamitsu

The author is High Representative for Disarmament Affairs United Nations (UNODA). Addressing the conference on 'Perspectives for a world free from nuclear weapons and for integral disarmament' at Vatican City on 10 November 2017, she expressed her gratitude to Pope Francis and the Holy See for their commitment to a world free from nuclear weapons. The Holy See was one of the very first to sign and ratify the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. Following are extensive excerpts from her remarks. - The Editor

VATICAN CITY (IDN-INPS) - I would like to recall Pope Francis’ words to the General Assembly in 2015, “An ethics and a law based on the threat of mutual destruction – and possibly the destruction of all mankind – are self-contradictory and an affront to the entire framework of the United Nations.”