Blogs & Opinions


All in a Generation: Stopping Conflict, Building Peace, and Saving the Environment

Oct 1, 2017 | Anuj Krishnamurthy

Today, world leaders gathered in New York for the United Nations General Assembly will celebrate the International Day of Peace, observed annually since 1981. This year’s…


The Struggle for Kurdistan’s Oil: Past, Present and Future

Sep 27, 2017 | Leo Kabouche

On Monday, September 25, the government of Iraqi Kurdistan held an independence referendum. Although the vote will not trigger any immediate change to the nature…


How Oil Wealth and Terrorism Can Lead to Kurdistan’s Secession

Sep 27, 2017 | Mirna Khaled Abdulaal

State building is a difficult and expensive task, and in a region currently gripped by perpetual conflict, the possibilities of creating a new state come…


All in a Generation: Stopping Conflict, Building Peace, and Saving the Environment

Sep 24, 2017 | Anuj Krishnamurthy

Today, world leaders gathered in New York for the United Nations General Assembly will celebrate the International Day of Peace, observed annually since 1981. This year’s…


Peace and the Environment

Sep 24, 2017 | Janet Edmond

Today is International Peace Day and my mind is filled with thoughts of the many conflicts over natural resources around the world, many in critically…


The Assault on the Rohingya Is Not Only about Religion — It’s Also about Land

Sep 24, 2017 | Saskia Sassen

Religion and ethnicity have been the major focus in local and international news coverage of the persecution of the Rohingya in Myanmar. Such persecution is…


Can Renewable Energy Pay a Peace Dividend?

Sep 24, 2017 | Justin Guay

What if the hundreds of millions of dollars spent each and every year burning fossil fuels to power peacekeeping and humanitarian efforts could instead create…


Boko Haram: Exacerbating and Benefiting from Food and Water Insecurity in the Lake Chad Basin

Sep 22, 2017 | Mervyn Piesse

The Lake Chad basin suffers from multiple security stressors, including widespread unemployment, poverty and conflict. Rising food and water insecurity exacerbates the tensions that arise…


What Is at Stake in Iraqi Kurdish Vote for Independence?

Sep 18, 2017 | Michael Knights

On 25 September, the residents of Kurdish-controlled areas inside Iraq will have the opportunity to vote in a referendum on their preference for the future…


Destabilizing Egypt; Ethiopia’s Nile River Dam

Sep 14, 2017 | Thomas C. Mountain

Ethiopia’s new “ Grand Renaissance Dam”, scheduled to be completed next year, will take close to half (40%) of the Nile River’s water every year…


Is the Military Prepared for Climate Crisis?

Sep 13, 2017 | Sharmini Peries

If you live in the U.S., it is not news that we have been hit by two devastating hurricanes in the last two weeks. First,…


Tomorrow May Be Too Late: Military Leaders Testify on National Security Challenges of Climate Change

Sep 13, 2017 | Amanda King

As the Senate returns from recess, passing the annual National Defense Authorization Act will be one of its top priorities—and this year it could include…


A New Film, Silas, Premiering at the Toronto International Film Festival, Highlights the Struggle to Fight Liberian Land Grabs

Sep 11, 2017 | Jonathan Gant

In 2012, while working for my anti-corruption NGO Global Witness, I sat down with a tribal chief in an isolated region of Liberia called Dugbeh.…


Climate Variability, Water, and Security in El Salvador

Sep 10, 2017 | Herman Rosa, Chelsea Spangler

Water-related challenges in El Salvador have acquired far greater significance over the past decade as they have intersected with other social problems including migration, criminal…


Whither Peacebuilding Initiatives? The Escalation of Herder-Farmer Conflicts in Nigeria

Sep 10, 2017 | Akachi Odoemene

There is a growing trend towards episodic, low-intensity conflicts across Nigeria, particularly in its north-central and southern zones. These conflicts often involve nomadic Fulani herdsmen…


How to Free Children Like Samira from Somalia’s Cycle of Drought, Conflict & Hunger

Sep 7, 2017 | Kevin Watkins

Humanitarian action in Somalia has saved lives. Six months ago, a full-blown famine was in prospect as the worst drought in living memory tightened its…


Big Data’s Big Role in Reducing Water Stress

Sep 6, 2017 | Nitin Donde

Water stress is not an arcane term just used by hydrologists. It is defined as the inability to meet the ‘human and ecological demand for…


Reforming Women's Property Rights in Afghanistan

Sep 6, 2017 | Gayle Tzemach Lemmon, Becky Allen

On paper, the law is clear: men and women enjoy equal property rights under Afghanistan's 2004 Constitution. But on-the-ground reality says otherwise as a combination…


Liberia: How Lack of Knowledge of Our Soils Hamper Agriculture Productivity in Liberia

Sep 5, 2017 | Solomon C. Hedd-Williams

The soil is a farmer's silent partner and the basis of farming. It is the basic resource of the agricultural development of any nation. Its…


Why Should the UN Security Council Deal with Climate Security Risks?

Sep 5, 2017 | Amiera Sawas, Florian Krampe

Over 600,000 people have been displaced in recent floods in Sri Lanka. Drought is bringing starvation and famine to 11 million people in Kenya, Ethiopia…


Rethinking Hydropower in Myanmar

Sep 1, 2017 | Michael Spolum

Electricity demand has surged past available supplies by a factor of 15 percent annually and is expected to more than double by 2020. Rolling brownouts…


GAO Report on Gold Supply Chain Reveals Little Progress in Responsible Sourcing

Aug 30, 2017 | Cooley LPP, Cydney Posner

The GAO has issued a new report on conflict minerals focused in this instance on the supply chain for artisanal and small-scale mined (ASM) gold in the…


Indian Company Wins Tender to Construct CASA-1000 Power Project

Aug 25, 2017 | Energy World

Kabul: An Indian company has won the tender for construction of 1000 Electricity Transmission and Trade Project for Central Asia and South Asia (CASA). As per Tolo News,…


Serenity Amid Conflict at Myanmar’s Indawgyi Lake

Aug 25, 2017 | Hugh Scobie

Hugh Scobie takes a journey to a serenely remote lake in northern Myanmar that is largely inaccessible due to surrounding military conflicts. Indawgyi Lake, located in…


Tackling Ozone Depleting Substances as Casualties Mount in Afghanistan

Aug 25, 2017 | UN Environment

Kabul – On a recent Monday morning on 24 July, the Director General of National Environmental Protection Agency (NEPA), H.E.Mostafa Zaher and his environment team along with…


Afghanistan- Improved Irrigation Canal to Benefit over 7,500 People in Taloqan

Aug 25, 2017 | MENAFN - Wadsam

Afghan authorities and the Afghan-German Cooperation signed a contract for the reparation and rehabilitation of the Gurg irrigation canal in Taloqan, Takhar's provincial capital on…


Tatmadaw to Continue Clearing out Illegal Mines in Tanai and Hpakant

Aug 25, 2017 | Htoo Thant

Lieutenant Colonel Soe Myint Aung pointed out that without peace, stabillity and rule of law at those mines, they cannot become legal businesses. “There are questions…


Khartoum Negotiating Teams Say Abyei is Sudanese Territory

Aug 25, 2017 | Sudan Tribune

Sudanese delegation for the talks on the Abyei area Monday said they will focus on the need for a peaceful coexistence between the communities there,…


How Not to Create a State: Lessons from South Sudan to Kurdistan

Aug 25, 2017 | Diliman Abdulkader

As the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI) prepares to hold a long awaited independence referendum on September 25 of this year, it's wise to look…


Kurds’ Risky Dream of Independence

Aug 24, 2017 | New York Times

After yearning for independence for generations, Kurds in Iraq are scheduled to take a major step in that direction with a nonbinding referendum set for…