Armed Conflicts

Ghosts Of War Give Way to Development in Sri Lanka

By Amantha Perera
It is an oasis from the scorching heat outside. The three-storey, centrally air-conditioned Cargills Square, a major mall in Sri Lanka’s northern Jaffna town, is the latest hangout spot in the former warzone, where everyone from teenagers to families to off-duty military officers converge.

The U.N. at 70: United Nations Disappoints on Its 70th Anniversary – Part Two

By James A. Paul
While member states, weakened in the neoliberal era, have pulled back from the U.N. and cut its budgets, a charity mentality has arisen at the world body. Corporations and the mega-rich have flocked to take advantage of the opportunity. They have looked for a quietly commanding role in the organisation’s political process and hoped to shape the institution to their own priorities.

The U.N. at 70: United Nations Disappoints on Its 70th Anniversary – Part One

By James A. Paul
It is hard to imagine today the public enthusiasm that greeted the founding of the U.N. in 1945.  After massive suffering and social collapse resulting from the Second World War, the U.N. seemed almost miraculous – a means at last to build peace, democracy, and a just society on a global scale.

Security Council Action on Gaza War Crimes a Non-Starter

By Thalif Deen
When a U.N. panel released a 217-page report accusing both Israel and Hamas of possible war crimes committed during the 50-day conflict in Gaza last July, the chances of Security Council action were remote because of the traditional U.S. commitment to stand by Israel – right or wrong, mostly wrong.

Smart Phones New Tool to Capture Human Rights Violations

By Thalif Deen
The widespread use of digital technology – including satellite imagery, body cameras and smart phones – is fast becoming a new tool in monitoring and capturing human rights violations worldwide.

Democracy on the Retreat in Over 96 of the 193 U.N. Member States, Says New Study

By Thalif Deen
Democracy is on the retreat and authoritarianism is on the rise in more than 96 of the U.N.’s 193 member states, according to a new report released here.

Worldwide Displacement at the Highest Level Ever Recorded

By Roger Hamilton-Martin
A horrific year of war, humanitarian crises, human rights violations and persecution has caused a sharp rise in global forced displacement.

South Sudan Again Tops Fragile States Index

By Beatrice Paez
For the second year in a row, South Sudan has been designated as the most fragile nation in the world, plagued by intensifying internal conflict that has displaced more than two million of its people.

CTBTO, the Nuclear Watchdog That Never Sleeps

By Thalif Deen
The world’s nuclear powers may succeed in thwarting sanctions by the Security Council or avoiding condemnation by the General Assembly, but they cannot escape the scrutiny of a key international watchdog body: the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO).

Could Peacekeeping Wives Deter Sexual Abuse in U.N. Overseas Operations?

By Thalif Deen
Back in November 2007, about 108 military personnel from an Asian country, serving with the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Haiti, were deported home after being accused of sexual exploitation and sexual abuse of minors.

Israel’s Deadly Game of Divide and Conquer Backfiring

By Mel Frykberg
Israel’s deadly game of divide and conquer against its enemies could be coming home to roost with a vengeance, especially as the Islamic State (ISIS) grows in strength in neighbouring countries and moves closer to Israel’s borders.

World’s Nuke Arsenal Declines Haltingly While Modernisation Rises Rapidly

By Thalif Deen
The world’s stockpile of nuclear weapons, held by nine states, just got a little smaller.

Q&A: Better Students, Better Citizens, Better World: Education Is the Key to Peace

By Valentina Ieri
In a world where high levels of social and religious intolerance, conflicts, violent extremism and environmental degradation are threatening justice and peace, the United Nations is trying to find ways to maintain world order and promote sustainable development.

Israel, Hamas Escape U.N.’s List of Shame on Attacks on Children

By Thalif Deen
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, reportedly under heavy pressure from the United States and Israel, has decided not to blacklist the Jewish state in an annex to a new U.N. report on children victimised in armed conflicts.

Opinion: Minsk Agreements, the Only Path to Peace in Ukraine

By Aslan Abashidze
The “U.N. Report on the human rights situation in Ukraine”, which was referred to in an Inter Press Service (IPS) article of Jun. 2, does not, in my view, reflect many salient points.

Fishing and Farming in Gaza is a Deadly Business

By Mel Frykberg
Three Palestinian fishermen were injured last week after Israeli naval forces opened fire on fishing boats off the coast of al-Sudaniyya in the northern Gaza Strip, bringing to 15 the number of farmers and fishermen shot and injured by Israeli security forces recently as they attempted to earn a living.

The U.N. at 70: A Time for Reflection and Reform

By Hardeep S. Puri
Seventy years since its inception, the United Nations remains at the core of the multilateral system. The world body, together with the Bretton Woods institutions, was conceived in the mid-1940s by the architects of the postwar order with the central aim of saving succeeding generations from the scourge of war on the one hand, and the need to reconstruct and revive the global economy on the other.

8.2 Million Iraqis In Need of Emergency Humanitarian Assistance

By Kanya D'Almeida
As fighting drags on between Iraqi armed forces and the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), millions of refugees caught between the warring groups are in dire need of humanitarian assistance.

U.N. Sets Up Independent Panel to Probe Sexual Abuses in CAR

By Thalif Deen
The United Nations, which came under heavy fire for its failure to act swiftly on charges of sexual abuse by French troops in the Central African Republic (CAR) last year, has decided to set up an External Independent Review (EIR) to probe these allegations.

Opinion: Why the US-Iran Nuclear Deal May Still Fail

By Prem Shankar Jha
The euphoria that spread though the world after the Iran nuclear agreement reached in Lausanne in April this year with the United States, Russia, China, France, United Kingdom and Germany, plus the European Union, is  proving short-lived.

Countries Commit to Protecting Education During Conflict

By Roger Hamilton-Martin
With thousands worldwide being denied education due to attacks on schools and universities, and the use of school buildings by armed groups, 37 countries have committed to protecting students and their education during armed conflict.
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