Blogs & Opinions

China is Playing Peacemaker in Myanmar, but with an Ulterior Motive

Apr 18, 2017 | Doug Bock Clark and Corey Pattison

In early March, Myanmar’s government sat down with a coalition of ethnic rebel groups, including the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), trying to jump-start peace negotiations…

Enough Project Responds with Serious Concerns about SEC Statements on Conflict Minerals

Apr 12, 2017 | Enough Project

The Enough Project takes serious issue with recent statements by Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Acting Chairman Michael Piwowar and the SEC Division of Corporate Finance regarding the…

Water and the Rise of Insurgencies in the “Arc of Instability”

Apr 12, 2017 | Azua (Zizhan) Luo

Water scarcity has contributed to an “arc of instability” characterized by conflict and displacement that stretches from West Africa to the Middle East, said a…

Reprehensible SEC Decision on Conflict Minerals Rule Undermines Global Efforts to Source Minerals Responsibly

Apr 11, 2017 | Global Witness

According to Global Witness, SEC Acting Chairman Michael Piwowar and the SEC Division of Corporation Finance’s recent actions questioning enforcement of an important aspect of…

Conflict Minerals Report No Longer Required? Wait — Not So Fast

Apr 10, 2017 | Dynda A. Thomas

Those hoping for updated SEC guidance that would relieve or reduce companies’ conflict minerals diligence and disclosure obligations for calendar year 2016 got only a…

Ending Wildlife Trafficking Will Help The Fight against Terrorism

Apr 8, 2017 | Emma O’Malley

Illegal wildlife trafficking is one of the lowest profile illegal activities, but is in fact the fourth-largest transnational crime in the world, averaging between $7.8-10 billion in sales…

Why IR Needs the Environment and the Environment Needs IR

Apr 7, 2017 | Jessica F. Green and Thomas N. Hale

The state of the global environment is terrible—and deteriorating. The globalization of industrial production and the consumptive habits of 7 billion people have created the…

Colombia's Fracking Boom Risks Deepening Environmental Conflicts

Apr 7, 2017 | Sebastian Ordoñez Muñoz

A multinational fracking boom has begun in Colombia. New concessions threaten the water supply to the capital city of Bogota.

Information from Colombia’s National Hydrocarbons Agency shows…

How Advocacy Gave Trump Ammunition on Conflict-Free Minerals

Apr 6, 2017 | Emmanuel Freudenthal

US President Donald Trump has signalled his intention to suspend the world’s first conflict-free minerals law, much to the consternation of advocacy groups and others…

"Disaster Foretold" Leaves Hundreds Dead in Colombia, Many of Them Kids

Apr 6, 2017 | Associated Press

People were caught off guard when a devastating flash flood surged through a small city in southern Colombia, but not everyone was surprised. Government agencies, land use…

Successful Colombian Rainforest Project Exposes Problems with Carbon Emissions Trading

Apr 6, 2017 | Bart Crezee

The Chocó-Darién Conservation Corridor, as the community’s REDD+ project is called, is the first REDD+ project to be certified in Colombia. In 2012 it was…

Repeal and Replacement of Conflict Minerals Rule 1502 Undermines Peace and Stability in the Congo

Apr 4, 2017 | Lauren Compere

The cell phone in your pocket or laptop you may be reading this on could contain minerals used to fund militia groups and war in…

A Survey of the “War on Wildlife”: How Conflict Affects Conservation

Apr 3, 2017 | Bethany N. Bella

Over the last 60 years, more than two-thirds of the world’s remaining biodiversity hotspots have experienced armed conflict. The effects have been myriad, from destruction as a…

State Department Ventures into Conflict Minerals

Mar 29, 2017 | Cydney S. Posner

Bloomberg BNA is reporting that the State Department has launched a new review of “how best to support responsible sourcing of conflict minerals,” which will continue…

Climate Change is a Security Threat

Mar 27, 2017 | Melanne Verveer

Climate change is a security threat and a vulnerability multiplier. It affects human security, food security, water security, energy security—and women’s security.

The security threat starts…

Myanmar Must Avoid Resource Curse

Mar 27, 2017 | Chan Mya Htwe

It is high time that Myanmar escape from overdependence on natural resource income, analysts have said.

“In the long run, Myanmar must escape from resource dependency. …

Kidapawan, Climate Change and Conflict

Mar 27, 2017 | Laurence Delina

With another El Niño projected to form this year, one can wonder if policymakers have done proper analyses of the ways in which climate change…

To Defeat Terrorism In Afghanistan, Start With Opium Crops in Nangarhar Province

Mar 26, 2017 | Anders Corr

This month, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) claimed an attack on a military hospital in Kabul, killing more than 40 civilians and defenseless patients. The…

Keeping Myanmar's Lights On

Mar 25, 2017 | Tony Nash

Myanmar is one of the world's fastest growing economies, with projected annual growth of 7.8% in gross domestic product for the financial year to March…

Why Our Human Rights Depend on Turning Conflict into Conservation

Mar 24, 2017 | Alex Reid

Biodiversity hotspots cover just 1.4% of the planet’s surface, yet 80% of major armed conflicts between 1950 and 2000 occurred in these areas. This figure should…

Ken Conca on the Good, Bad, and Ugly of Water Conflict and Cooperation

Mar 24, 2017 | Lauren Herzer Risi

In international development, conflict is often used as shorthand for violent conflict, and avoiding conflict is considered a priority. But “it’s important to recognize that…

European Conflict Minerals Regulation — Details on What EU Importers Must Do

Mar 22, 2017 | Dynda A. Thomas and Christina Economides

The proposed European Union conflict minerals regulation has almost reached the last step before becoming an official EU regulation. On March 16, 2017, the European…

Advancing U.S. Prosperity and Security in a Thirsty World

Mar 22, 2017 | Jane Harman and Carter Roberts

The waters of Lake Chad sustain 70 million people in four countries. Beginning in the 1970s, the 25,000-square-kilometer lake began shrinking due to excessive drawdown…

Hydropower Threatens Peace in Myanmar -- But It Doesn't Have To

Mar 22, 2017 | Noah Kittner and Kensuke Yamaguchi

Myanmar faces a critical moment for investment decision-making. The Barack Obama administration's move to lift sanctions on the Southeast Asian country has opened up new…

Industry Divided Over Future of US Conflict Minerals Rule

Mar 21, 2017 | Kelly Franklin

Companies and industries affected by the US conflict minerals rule have different views on whether the conflict minerals reporting rule should be maintained, modified or…

Afghanistan’s Water Plans Complicated by Worried Neighbors

Mar 20, 2017 | Elizabeth B. Hessami

More than 40 years ago, the Soviet Union attempted to harness hydropower to modernize Afghanistan. Between 1960 and 1968, they poured money and technical knowledge…

Julia McQuaid on the Complex Link Between Water and Conflict in the Middle East and North Africa

Mar 17, 2017 | Benjamin Dills

Does global water stress matter for U.S. national security, and if so, how? That’s a major focus of the next CNA Military Advisory Board report, says Julia…

How Minerals Fuel Conflicts in Africa

Mar 17, 2017 | Nicolas Berman, Mathieu Couttenier, Dominic Rohner, and Mathias Thoenig

Fighting groups have long understood how important it is to secure a stable stream of financial resources in order to sustain the fighting effort over…

Mattis Latest in Succession of Senior Military Leaders to Warn About Climate Change

Mar 17, 2017 | Schuyler Null

This week, newly minted Secretary of Defense James Mattis joined a long list of senior U.S. military leaders who have warned about the national security threats of…

In the Face of Colombia’s Coca Boom, Coffee and Cocoa Farming Offer a Remedy

Mar 16, 2017 | Huffington Post

Colombia, still in a delicate phase of its history as it struggles to revive from five decades of war, is seeing a dramatic rise in…