Blogs & Opinions

Asean Environmental Security Concerns

Oct 3, 2015 | Amado S. Tolentino, Jr.

The effects of extreme weather events caused by climate change are now felt all over the world – warmer temperature causing desertification and inadequate food…

New Amnesty Report Provides Insights into the Diamond Trade in Central African Republic

Oct 1, 2015 | Kasper Agger

The Central African Republic (CAR) has been rocked by renewed violence this week with 36 people killed and 42,575 displaced persons over the last few days. A new report from…

OP-ED: Mass Firing at National Oil Company of Liberia is Overdue

Oct 1, 2015 | Francis Cordor

In August, the National Oil Company of Liberia fired its entire staff of 200 people in a move aimed at reducing costs and saving the…

Friday Deadline for SEC to Appeal Latest Conflict Minerals Court Ruling

Sep 30, 2015 | Enough Team

This Friday, October 2, is the deadline for the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and other parties to petition for a review of the most recent…

Guest Post: Setting the Boundaries in the South China Sea

Sep 30, 2015 | Micah Zenko

Tensions between China and Vietnam over the South China Sea are rising and a miscalculation or miscommunication risks an outbreak of hostilities. Earlier this month, imagery…

Getting to the Root of Gender Equal Land Governance

Sep 23, 2015 | Catriona Knapman

While there is international agreement that we need gender equality in land ownership – achieving this in practice is more complex.

Women face a number of…

Why Climate Change is Australia's Greatest National Security Issue

Sep 20, 2015 | Clive Williams

I recently gave my "National Security and Counterterrorism" Masters students a syndicate exercise at the end of their course requiring them to prioritise the most…

US and China have Escalating War of Words over South China Sea Territory Dispute

Sep 18, 2015 | Zachary Davies Boren

The world's two most powerful countries are involved in an escalating dispute over territory in the South China Sea. China has nearly finished developing artificial…

Amazon Women on the Front Lines: The Waorani

Sep 17, 2015

Meet the Waorani of the Ecuadorian Amazon. They are fighting for traditional life and championing alternatives to threats to their ancestral territory—one of the wildest,…

The Climate Wars Are Coming – And More Refugees with Them

Sep 17, 2015 | Paul Hockenos

In his State of the European Union address on Sept. 9, EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker broached a topic that until now has been virtually…

Planning Matters

Sep 16, 2015 | Kashmir Images

In 1961, diamond-rich Botswana and Sierra Leone had approximately the same per capita income of about US$1,070, when both these countries in Africa adopted and…

Introducing the Toxic Remnants of War Network

Sep 15, 2015 | Doug Weir

Damage to the natural environment has long been a hallmark of conflict. But technological developments, both in terms of how hostilities are conducted, and the…

The Losing Battle Against Conflict Minerals

Sep 14, 2015 | Natasja Sheriff

United States regulations concerning the trade in conflict minerals, aimed at reducing the devastating violence in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), are proving difficult…

The Next Genocide

Sep 12, 2015 | Timothy Snyder

New Haven — Before he fired the shot, the Einsatzgruppe commander lifted the Jewish child in the air and said, “You must die so that…

Myanmar: Shan Villagers and the Salween Dam Fight

Sep 11, 2015 | Dana MacLean

The increasing army presence to defend the construction of a controversial Salween river dam in southeastern Myanmar’s Shan state has sparked heightened concerns among rural…

Don't Be Fooled by Dialogue -- Argentina Only Wants One Answer to 'the Falklands Question'

Sep 8, 2015 | Jan Cheek

On Friday 4th, Ms Cecilia Nahón, Argentina Ambassador to the United States, wrote an article for the Huffington Post, titled 'Malvinas: All Argentina Is Saying…

Coffee: A Pillar of Peace in South Sudan and Africa

Sep 7, 2015 | John Prendergast

Four years after independence there is very little to celebrate in South Sudan. Border and land disputes continue to strain ties, and given other high-visibility…

The Improbability of a Water War in South Asia

Sep 6, 2015 | Manu Moudgil

Water wars in South Asia are unlikely due to well-etched treaties and economic compulsions. If there is ever to be a Third World War, many believe it…

Red Cross: Water Continues to Be Used as Weapon of War in Syria

Sep 3, 2015 | Schuyler Null

Water is being used as a weapon of war on one of Syria’s deadliest battlegrounds, says the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and its…

Gold Fever Grips Uganda

Sep 3, 2015 | Rodney Muhumuza

The hunt for gold takes the men 100 metres underground, past contraptions of wood and rope rigged to function like pulleys, past hard rock that…

How History Shaped China's Water Crisis

Sep 3, 2015 | David Pietz

During the hot, dry month of August 1992 the farmers of Baishan village in Hebei province and Panyang village in Henan came to blows. Residents…

The Turkish-Kurdish Energy Deal Could Pave Way for Iraq’s Breakup

Aug 31, 2015 | Ozan Serdaroglu

When they signed an energy agreement in November 2013, the Turkish AKP (Justice and Development) government and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) of Northern Iraq…

KRG Oil Sales and its Bid for Independence

Aug 30, 2015 | Paul Iddon

A report in the Financial Times last week indicated that in recent months most of Israel's oil has come from the oil fields of Iraqi Kurdistan, part…

Oil is Islamic State’s Lifeblood

Aug 28, 2015 | Noah Feldman

The battle for Baiji, site of one of Iraq’s major oil refineries, is heating up again. Since May, Islamic State fighters have been chipping away…

Which States Are Progressive on Conflict and the Environment?

Aug 28, 2015 | Doug Weir

The first tentative moves to strengthen legal protection for the environment before, during and after armed conflict are underway – and not before time. With…

Could Natural Resource Revenue Sharing Help Secure Peace in Myanmar?

Aug 27, 2015 | Andrew Bauer and Maw Htun Aung

On 8 November, Myanmar will vote for a new government. Much is at stake.

Many analysts expect Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) to win the…

How Natural Resources Breed Violence

Aug 27, 2015 | Economist

Africa is home to a tenth of the planet’s oil, a third of its mineral reserves and produces two-thirds of its diamonds. High prices may…

What Does Climate Change Mean to China's Security?

Aug 26, 2015 | RP Siegel

A recent report by Zheng Haibin, a professor at Peking University, highlights the potential impact of climate change on China’s national security. Haibin claims that climate…

Conservation in Conflict Zones: Protecting Peace and Biodiversity in Colombia

Aug 25, 2015 | Brittany Ajroud

With a new peace process underway between the Colombian government and leaders of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) in Cuba, the spotlight is back on…

Violence Over Land in Darfur Demands We Look Again at Links Between Natural Resources and Conflict

Aug 24, 2015 | Brendan Bromwich

Given that there have been three major peace processes in Sudan’s troubled western province of Darfur, the current escalation of violence indicates that perhaps something…