Armed Conflicts

Sri Lanka Prepares ‘Certificates of Absence’

By Amantha Perera
Five years after the end of a bloody and protracted civil war, Sri Lanka has begun its first survey of families of the missing in order to assess their needs.

Going Beyond the Arms Trade Treaty to Secure Peace in Africa

By Farangis Abdurazokzoda
Even as countries around the world have started to sign on to and ratify a landmark international treaty that would for the first time regulate the international trade in conventional weapons, experts here are warning that the treaty in itself will not be able to maintain peace and security in Africa.

U.S.-Dependent Pacific Island Defies Nuke Powers

By Thalif Deen
The tiny Pacific nation state of Marshall Islands - which depends heavily on the United States for its economic survival, uses the U.S. dollar as its currency and predictably votes with Washington on all controversial political issues at the United Nations - is challenging the world's nuclear powers before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague.

Interfaith Leaders Jointly Call to Abolish Nuclear Arms

By Michelle Tullo
On the eve of next week’s meeting at the U.N. headquarters in New York on the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), more than 100 representatives of 11 faith groups from around the world have pledged to step up their efforts to seek the global abolition of nuclear weapons.

U.S. Public Feeling More Multilateral Than Isolationist

By Jim Lobe
Amidst a roiling and mostly partisan debate over Washington’s global role, a survey released here Thursday suggests that President Barack Obama’s preference for relative restraint and multilateral - over unilateral - action very much reflects the mood of the voting public.

Violence in South Sudan at a Savage Turning Point

By Samuel Oakford
After a week that saw a massacre inside a U.N. base and wide-scale ethnic-based slaughter in an oil-producing region, the international community is grappling with what, if any, options remain to save lives in South Sudan.

OP-ED: Russia’s Changing Islamic Insurgency

By Peter J. Marzalik
With the Kremlin’s attention fixated on Ukraine, the Caucasus Emirate, a terrorist group fighting to establish an independent Islamic state in the North Caucasus, threatens to undermine Russian domestic security in new ways.

U.S. Apache Delivery Highlights Mixed Messaging on Egypt

By Jasmin Ramsey
Last October, the Barack Obama administration suspended the delivery of attack helicopters to Egypt’s interim government following the Jul. 2 military ouster of Egypt’s democratically elected president, Mohamed Morsi.

Bringing the Bridges Home

By Francesca Dziadek
As foreign forces withdraw slowly from Afghanistan, they leave behind a vulnerable band of people who were their ears and guides on the ground. These people who served as interpreters, face a life of threats and uncertainties. Many have been killed.

U.S.-Russia Sabre Rattling May Undermine Nuke Meeting

By Thalif Deen
The growing tension between the United States and Russia over Ukraine has threatened to unravel one of the primary peace initiatives of the United Nations: nuclear disarmament.

Nigeria – From Sticks and Machetes to Rocket-propelled Grenades

By Sam Olukoya
Nigerians are beginning to adjust to the sad reality that they live in a country where suicide bombers and terrorists could be lurking around the next corner thanks to a ready supply of advanced weapons smuggled through the country’s porous borders. 

Imprisoning Themselves to Stay Safe

By Karlos Zurutuza
"I don’t dare tell you who the murderers are but their target is just us, Turkmens," says Ahmed Abdulla Muhtaroglu, sitting by the portrait of his brother who was killed last year.

Obama Seeks to Reassure Anxious Asians on “Rebalance”

By Jim Lobe
As he embarks Tuesday on a major trip through East Asia, U.S. President Barack Obama will be focused on reassuring anxious – albeit sometimes annoying – allies that Washington remains determined to deepen its commitment to the region.

South Sudan Dictates Media Coverage of Conflict

By Sadik Wani
As rebel forces loyal to South Sudan’s former vice president Riek Machar declared on Tuesday Apr. 15 that they had captured the key oil town of Bentiu, the government has been accused of clamping down on local media in an attempt to influence the reporting on the conflict.

Gabriel García Márquez, the Story-Teller of the Country of the War Without End

By Diana Cariboni
The first time I read Gabriel García Márquez (1927-2014) was when I was proofreading the galleys of “The Story of a Shipwrecked Sailor”, which the Editorial Sudamericana was getting ready to reprint in Argentina.

Afghanistan Turns a Political Corner

By Giuliano Battiston
The Afghanistan presidential election is turning out to be a tale of two narratives. The more positive and democratic one could be winning the day.

Russian Law Corners Drug Users

By Pavol Stracansky
As local authorities prepare to put an end to opioid substitution treatment (OST) programmes in the newly annexed Crimean peninsula, drug users there say they are being forced to choose between a return to addiction and becoming refugees.

Court Upholds Most of U.S. “Conflict Minerals” Law

By Carey L. Biron
The United States’ second-highest court has upheld most of a landmark U.S. law requiring companies to ascertain and publicly disclose whether proceeds from minerals used to manufacture their products may be funding conflict in central Africa.

Conflict Fuels Child Labour in India

By Stella Paul
Early in the morning, 14-year-old Sumari Varda puts on her blue school uniform but heads for the village pond to fetch water. “I miss school. I wish I could go back,” she whispers, scared of being heard by her employer.

Russians Blend Loyalty to Nazarbayev with Pro-Kremlin Sentiments

By Joanna Lillis
On a hillside in northeastern Kazakhstan, south of the Russian border, a simple and stark slogan looms over the city of Oskemen: “Kazakhstan,” reads the message in giant white letters arrayed across the green slope.

Emerging Nations Opt for Arms Spending Over Development

By Thalif Deen
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who has relentlessly advocated drastic cuts in global military spending in favour of sustainable development, will be sorely disappointed by the latest findings in a report released Monday by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).
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