Blogs & Opinions

The Next “Day Zero”: Water Scarcity and Political Instability beyond Cape Town

Mar 24, 2018 | Nazia Hussain

Cape Town is running dry. But thanks to its sophisticated water management efforts, the city may ride out the crisis. However, other cities that lack these capacities are…

Water, Sanitation & Hygiene: First Response in Conflicts & Natural Disasters

Mar 21, 2018 | Sanjay Wijesekera

When disaster strikes, or conflict rages, families soon discover their most urgent need – water. In such precarious situations, access is usually limited or non-existent,…

A Paradigm for Peace: Celebrating “Environmental Peacemaking”

Mar 20, 2018 | Wilson Center

“Most fundamentally, we turned the ‘resource scarcity drives conflict’ argument on its head and asked, ‘Can environmental interdependence drive cooperation in ways that can be…

Q&A: Getting Women's Land Rights Recognized

Mar 19, 2018 | Philippine Sutz

Philippine Sutz describes work under way to help secure land rights for women in Senegal and Tanzania, and explains how accessing land gives them greater…

How Oil Drives the South China Sea Conflict

Mar 19, 2018 | Tim Daiss

While it’s no secret that China has been intensifying its building frenzy, including military installations on islands, reefs and inlets in the heavily disputed South…

New DRC Mining Code Will Not Alter Positive Outlook

Mar 18, 2018 | BMI Research

The executive decision was made following the passing of the new mining code by the DRC parliament and Senate in December/January 2018 and in the…

Below the Radar, the US Is Making Steady Progress on the Climate-Security Nexus

Mar 17, 2018 | Ellen Laipson

From the homeland security folks who respond to national disasters to the armed forces planning for hostile encounters with state or nonstate adversaries, the U.S.…

Land-Restitution Demands Driven by the Pain of the ‘Colonial Wound’

Mar 13, 2018 | Hans Pienaar

Theorists speak of the "colonial wound", which does not allow the victims of colonialism to see much good in it — if any at all.…

Worse than Oil? The Geopolitics of the Banana

Mar 13, 2018 | Bhaso Ndzendze

Attracting encroachments to national sovereignty by rapacious Washington-connected multinational corporations and the meddling attentions of their powerful home country; stunting reform and economic development at…

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…