International issues

“Let our shared humanity be the antidote to our shared threat. “-Dr Tedros At today’s meeting of the 73rd World Health Assembly —its first-ever to be held virtually—delegates adopted a landmark resolution to bring the world together to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. The resolution, co-sponsored by more than 130… »

By M.K. Bhadrakumar Russia’s relationships with its client states have never been easy. Of course, managing client states is always a complicated exercise. The Kremlin’s cupboard is full of skeletons—Hungary (1956), Czechoslovakia (1968), Cuba (1962), Afghanistan (1980), Ukraine (2014) and so on. What complicates Russia’s relationship with Syria, which has sometimes… »

During the first day of the 73rd World Health Assembly[1] that took place through a teleconference based in Geneva, lots of leaders of states and heads of other Organizations made important statements backing the 7 pages draft resolution[2] proposed by Albania, Australia, Bangladesh, Belarus,… »

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) led more than 300 international lawmakers across two dozen countries in a letter to the leadership of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) today, calling on the international financial institutions to cancel low-income countries’ debt in response to… »

By Alicia Sanders-Zakre Nine nuclear armed states spent roughly $73 billion on their nuclear arsenals last year! That’s $138,699 per minute! These numbers come from our latest investigation, published today: “Enough is Enough: Global Nuclear Weapons Spending in 2020.” This estimate includes costs to maintain current nuclear warheads and nuclear… »

By Vijay Prashad On April 1, Admiral Philip Davidson—the head of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command—told the U.S. Congress that he would like $20 billion to create a robust military cordon that runs from California to Japan and down the Pacific Rim of Asia. His proposal—titled “Regain the Advantage”—pointed to the… »

“It’s bad enough that Trump is responsible for so many deaths in his own country, now he is actively complicit in causing even more across the globe.” By Julia Conley, staff writer – Common Dreams International diplomats were stunned and frustrated Friday night after the U.S. again blocked a United Nations… »

May 7, 2020 —– Youth leaders from around the world today reaffirmed their commitment to a plastic-free future as Break Free From Plastic (BFFP) digitally launched the global Plastic-free Campuses program.  The initiative seeks to create a worldwide network of schools and universities repudiating single-use plastic and promoting alternative systems. »

By David Swanson, World BEYOND War A new collection of maps found here displays what militarism looks like in the world. Here’s a brief guide to using and understanding them. Across the top are 10 drop-down menus on these topics: Wars, Weapons, U.S. Weapons, Money, Nukes, Chemical and Biological, U.S. Military, Air… »

Total global military expenditure rose to $1917 billion in 2019, according to new data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). The total for 2019 represents an increase of 3.6 per cent from 2018 and the largest annual growth in spending since 2010. The five largest spenders in 2019,… »