Blogs & Opinions

No Peace without Inclusion: Indigenous and Afro-Descendant Circumscriptions in Colombia

Mar 13, 2018 | José Camargo

Today, Colombian citizens will be able to vote for Congress. In Colombia, Congress is constituted by a Senate and a Chamber of Representatives. Each Colombian…

Rep. Lee Introduces Women and Climate Change Act of 2018

Mar 8, 2018

On February 5, 2018, Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA) introduced the Women and Climate Change Act of 2018 (H.R.4932) to “address the disparate impact of climate…

Connecting the Dots: Natural Resources, Women, and Peace

Mar 8, 2018 | Silja Halle, Clare Church

In the recent peace process with the FARC in Colombia, however, women made up one third of participants, and the resulting peace agreement stands as a model…

Elephant in the Room: The Illegal Ivory Trade, Wildlife and War

Mar 7, 2018 | Anton Peez

The African Elephant is a keystone species, strongly affecting the ecosystems in which they live. The recent drop in elephant populations across the African continent…

Oil Wealth — A Curse or a Blessing?

Mar 6, 2018 | Abdulrahman Al-Rashed

Saudi Arabia remembers two important dates in its history: One is the day when King Abdul Aziz established the Kingdom, and the second is when…

Climate Conflicts: Myth or Reality?

Mar 6, 2018 | Hayley Stevenson

The specter of water wars has long loomed large in political and popular imaginations. With the end of the Cold War, fresh concerns emerged that…

Years of Conflict Puts South Sudan on the Brink of Famine

Mar 6, 2018 | Oxfam

While famine was not declared in the latest IPC food security report released last week, the food crisis is worse than ever, with more than 6.3 million…

Overblown Expectations for East Timor's Greater Sunrise Oil and Gas

Mar 5, 2018 | Damon Evans

Reports that East Timor is set to bank tens of billions of dollars from the potential development of the Woodside Petroleum-operated Greater Sunrise oil and…

Environmental Cooperation Can Facilitate Peace between States

Mar 5, 2018 | Tobias Ide

Environmental stress and climate change can accelerate instability and conflict—but shared environmental problems can also be a source of cooperation and facilitate peacemaking between states. Transnational environmental…

Chronology of US Military Leadership on Climate Change and Security: 2017-2018

Feb 25, 2018 | Caitlin Werrell and Francesco Femia

Over the past twelve months, 12 senior officials at the US Defense Department (DoD) have raised concerns about, and recommended actions to address, the security…

How H.E. President Weah’s Land Commissioner’s Dr. Othello Brandy Must Reduce High Costs of Unscrupulous Land Sales against the Interest of Liberians: A Few Suggestions

Feb 25, 2018 | New Dawn

The rationale is to reduce hardship on Liberians. The Government Land Commissioner Dr. Brandy should re-regular land tenures and land prices across Liberia. Let the…

Sustaining Peace in a Climate of Change

Feb 25, 2018 | Janani Vivekananda

The world is at its most volatile and dangerous since the Cold War. The escalation of conflict in Syria this week, and Congo’s spiralling back…

For Cobalt Buyers, Is Artisanal Mining the Problem or the Solution?

Feb 25, 2018 | Andy Home

One reason the cobalt price has gone supernova over the last year is the realisation that not only does most of the available supply come…

Iraq's Water Crisis: A Prognosis

Feb 24, 2018 | Shwan Mohammed

The area historically known as Mesopotamia, the cradle of civilization, is now suffering from an acute water crisis due to climate change and human actions.…

Environmental Governance in Post-Conflict Scenarios: Insights from the Colombian Amazon

Feb 24, 2018 | Nicolas Andres Eslava

With the FARC’s demobilization process underway, regions of Colombia where until now the FARC had significant presence are now sitting at an environmental governance crossroads.…

Land Rights Essential for Peace in Colombia

Feb 21, 2018 | Gloria Pallares

Colombia - Recognition of collective land tenure rights in Colombia is among the strongest in Latin America: there has been constitutional backing since 1991, and more than…

Could Tackling Climate Change Help Bring Peace to South Sudan?

Feb 21, 2018 | Adela Suliman

The world's youngest nation, South Sudan, has been embroiled in war and conflict for years. The oil-rich nation - which won independence from Sudan in…

Before the Flood: Environment and Security in the Spotlight

Feb 21, 2018 | UN Environment

For the first time, the role of the environment in promoting security was addressed at one of the world’s most important international policy forums. The…

Producers from Caquetá in Colombia Commit to Conserving and Restoring Their Natural Landscapes and to Improving the Sustainability of Their Livestock Raising Systems

Feb 20, 2018 | Miguel Antonio Romero

The Sustainable Amazonian Landscapes (SAL) project closed the year with a voluntary agreement with the producers who stand to benefit from the project for the…

The Dragon Bares Its Fangs

Feb 20, 2018 | Gil H. A. Santos

Reports last week of China’s latest move on the Philippine Rise (aka Benham Rise), which was officially recognized by the UN as part of our…

Plundering Iraq's Oil Wealth

Feb 20, 2018 | Jeff Schechtman

To understand the plundering of Iraq’s oil wealth, we have to look first at the original sin of the invasion itself. Blueprints showing how oil…

Timor-Leste’s Oil: Blessing or Curse? – Analysis

Feb 20, 2018 | Viji Menon

The oil and gas sector is the mainstay of Timor-Leste’s economy, with almost 90% of government revenue coming from oil. The non-petroleum economy, which scarcely…

Don’t Waste the New US Water-Security Strategy

Feb 20, 2018 | David Reed

President Trump should order the inclusion of water issues — a major driver of security problems — in the national defense and security strategies. In his…

This Website Can Tell You Who Owns Land in 60 Countries

Feb 20, 2018 | CRL

Helping cultures and nations communicate with one another has traditionally been the responsibility of diplomats, but the Land Portal Foundation takes the position that strengthening…

Compromise Is Key to Kurdistan Oil Recovery

Feb 7, 2018 | Alan Mohtadi

Relations between the Kurdistan regional government (KRG) and the central government of Iraq have been at an all-time low since the KRG’s independence referendum in…

Congo - DRC: Highlight of the New Mining Code and PPP Reform to Be Promulgated Shortly

Feb 5, 2018 | Julien Barba and Eric Diamantis

Two major reforms relating to the new Mining Code and Public Private Partnerships have been voted and will be promulgated and applicable shortly in Democratic…

Climate Change and NATO: A New Study

Feb 2, 2018 | Amar Causevic

This article summarizes findings from a recent journal article, Facing an Unpredictable Threat: Is NATO Ideally Placed to Manage Climate Change as a Non-Traditional Threat Multiplier?” published in the…

Climate Change and the UN Security Council: Bully Pulpit or Bull in a China Shop?

Feb 2, 2018 | Janani Vivekananda and Winter Wilson

Last month, the UN Security Council hosted another meeting on climate change. Despite this positive step, in order to really tackle climate-related security risks, the Council…

SEC Chair Discusses Completion of Dodd-Frank Rulemaking Mandate

Jan 25, 2018 | Cydney S. Posner

In a speech delivered by video to the Securities Regulation Institute in San Diego, SEC Chair Jay Clayton shed some light (but just a little) on the…

I Agree with President Weah; Land Rights Is Key for Rural Development

Jan 24, 2018 | Fidel Budy

“Together, we owe our citizens clarity on fundamental issues such as the land beneath their feet, freedom of speech, and how national resources and responsibilities…