Blogs & Opinions
Joint #envconflictday Statement: Protecting the Environment, Protecting People
Nov 6, 2017
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Doug Weir
NGOs and leading experts have used the United Nation’s International Day for Preventing the Exploitation of the Environment in War and Armed Conflict to call for greater…
Confronting Climate Change as an Accelerator of Crisis
Nov 6, 2017
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Kishan Khoday and Oscar Ekdahl
More frequent and severe droughts, millions at risk of famine, the spread of conflict and mass displacement - these are the challenges of our time…
With New Peace, Colombia Finds Hope for Saving its Wild Lands
Oct 27, 2017
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Lisa Palmer
Brandishing automatic rifles, the guerilla fighters ordered Andrés Cuervo to leave his camping gear and research notes at the abandoned wooden house where he had…
Water Knowledge in Afghanistan: Weak but Growing Stronger
Oct 26, 2017
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John Shroder and Sher Jan Ahmadzai
Water is absolutely critical to woefully arid Afghanistan, yet few people really know very much about their precious fluid. The natural physics and the different chemistry…
Iraqis and Kurds Compete for Oil Deals, Gulf States Still Fighting PR War in Washington, Deadly Ambush in Egypt
Oct 26, 2017
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J. Dana Stuster
The pressure is continuing to mount on Iraqi Kurdistan. After Iraqi forces pressed into Kirkuk last week, Baghdad and its regional partners have cinched their cordon around…
Pressure on Colombia to Forcibly Eradicate Coca Could Spur Human Rights Violations: Think Tank
Oct 24, 2017
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Jack Norman
US support for Colombia’s peace process will backfire unless counter-narcotics policies are implemented with much greater patience, according to a new report from a major…
Water as a Basic Human Right Within the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
Oct 24, 2017
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Erika Weinthal
In the Middle East, water often crosses political borders; because water is a shared resource, its effective management demands cooperation among different users. In the…
Hazardous Legacies: An Open-Source Overview of the Destruction of Deir ez-Zor’s Oil Industry
Oct 20, 2017
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Wim Zwijnenburg
Now that the so-called Islamic State (IS) is rapidly losing terrain in eastern Syria, a race is underway to capture the oil-rich Deir ez-Zor governorate.…
The Environmental Consequences of the Use of Armed Drones
Oct 20, 2017
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Doug Weir
To date, debate over the implications of the growing use of armed drones has focused on human rights, on the expansion of the use of…
Who is Behind the Recent Rise of Genetically Modified Poppy in Afghanistan?
Oct 20, 2017
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Irfan Takalvi
During the past two to two and half decades Afghanistan, under various regimes that controlled parts of the country, poppy has globally been highlighted as…
Colombia’s Frontlines of the Drug War: Cauca
Oct 20, 2017
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Adriaan Alsema
Colombian authorities are combating cocaine production in some of the most remote regions. Cauca is one of the long-neglected areas where the drug trade has fueled political…
Climate Change, Food Security and Sustaining Peace
Oct 18, 2017
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Florian Krampe
‘We have succeeded at keeping famine at bay, we have not kept suffering at bay’, said UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres while briefing members of the…
Myanmar’s Evolving Maritime Security Landscape
Oct 18, 2017
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Rajni Gamage
Myanmar links South and Southeast Asia and lies on maritime shipping routes from the Indian and Pacific Oceans. A key pillar of its national development…
The Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons: Assisting Victims and Remediating the Environment
Oct 17, 2017
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Elizabeth Minor
In a remarkable achievement this summer, States concluded negotiations on the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW). Having opened for signature in September, the TPNW…
Could Oil Bring the World to Finally Support the Kurds?
Oct 17, 2017
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Ellen R. Wald
One month after the KRG voted in favor of a referendum to seek independence from Iraq, Baghdad finally responded. In the early morning hours of…
On Trump, Afghanistan, and the Plunder Doctrine
Oct 16, 2017
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Kate Harveston
Plunder. It’s a word typically reserved for the likes of pirates, but it seems somehow appropriate when used next to the name Donald Trump. Perhaps…
NATO and Climate Change: The Need for a More Coherent Approach
Oct 16, 2017
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Amar Causevic
Climate change represents a non-traditional threat to international security and the future existence of modern civilization. Year after year, drought, famine, storms and flooding become…
Indigenous Resistance: My Fight for Land and Life in Colombia
Oct 16, 2017
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Angelica Ortiz
My name is Angelica Ortiz. I am a Wayuu woman from the Ipuana clan of the Lomomato indigenous reserve in La Guajira, Colombia. I am…
Climate Change Did Not Cause Syrian War
Oct 16, 2017
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Tim Radford
LONDON, 11 October, 2017 – Climate change in the form of sustained drought is not to blame for the bloody and prolonged conflict in Syria, according to a…
ISIL's Scorched Earth Policy in Iraq: Options for its Victims to be Recognized under International Law
Oct 13, 2017
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Doug Weir
With what has been called a ‘landmark’ resolution, the UN Security Council has established a team to investigate international crimes committed by ISIL in Iraq.…
Gender in Conflicts - Interview with Saferworld on Building Peace [Video]
Oct 6, 2017
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Climate Diplomacy
Saferworld is an international conflict prevention organization. The Head of Policy, Larry Attree, in this video, shares the lessons learned over the years to end…
Unraveling the Oil Geopolitics Intertwined in the Kurdish Independence Referendum
Oct 6, 2017
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Amy Myers Jaffe
For over a decade, U.S. efforts to promote stability across the Middle East have run afoul of many complexities. The recent independence referendum in the…
Overlooked and Misunderstood: Stories about Climate, Conflict, and Migration
Oct 6, 2017
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Bethany N. Bella
Barbuda—an island once full of people—has been rendered completely uninhabitable by Hurricane Irma. Every single resident was evacuated from the island, and some are not planning to return.…
Peace Consciousness and Food Security
Oct 6, 2017
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Louie Divinagracia
As the country celebrates national peace consciousness month, we are reminded about the role of peace in food security. Sometime last year, the Food and…
China’s Water Grab in Tibet Risks Regional Devastation and Conflict
Oct 6, 2017
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Nithin Coca
China’s unchecked mining expansion and dam construction across the Tibetan plateau, compounded by climate change melting glaciers, are threatening the Yellow, Yangtze, Ganges and other…
The Arctic: In the Face of Change, an Ocean of Cooperation
Oct 6, 2017
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Wilson Center Staff
“The United States and Russia… have found ways to continue to cooperate in the Arctic—particularly, but not only—through the Arctic Council, despite the difficulties on other issues relating…
Kurdish Independence: It’s All About the Oil
Oct 5, 2017
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Amy Myers Jaffe
For over a decade, U.S. efforts to promote stability across the Middle East have run afoul of many complexities. The recent independence referendum in the…
Cordaid Confronts the Challenges of Conflict and Climate Change
Oct 2, 2017
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Marcelin Ridja
Cordaid’s technical teams (Food Security, Water, and Sanitation, Community Mobilization and Protection) are working together in order to provide assistance to the displaced populations who…
Everyone Wants Cobalt, but Few Want to Get Tangled up in the World’s Largest Producing Nation
Oct 2, 2017
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Lynsey Chutel
For too long, the Democratic Republic of Congo has known no competition in the cobalt market, to its detriment. The metal, which used to be…
The FARC, Land Reform, and the Future of Colombia’s Security
Oct 1, 2017
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Nicola Bilotta
The historical ceasefire, signed in La Habana on June 23th 2016, was the first step to bring peace in Colombia after fifty-two years of conflict.…