Blogs & Opinions

Will China Change its South China Sea Approach in 2015?

Jan 8, 2015 | Prashanth Parameswaran

Given the litany of surprises we have witnessed in the South China Sea over the past few years, it would be a fool’s errand to…

International Conference on Sustainable Development in the Jordan Valley

Jan 8, 2015 | EcoPeace Middle East

The SIWI / EcoPeace / GNF November 10-12, 2014 "International Conference on Sustainable Development in the Jordan Valley" brought together over one hundred government officials…

Sanctions for Peace in South Sudan

Jan 7, 2015 | Peter Biar Ajak

After about a year of on-off negotiations between the government of South Sudan and rebels led by its former vice president, Riek Machar, the two…

'Outside the Net': Women's Participation in Fishing Activities in Trincomalee District of Sri Lanka

Jan 5, 2015 | Gayathri Lokuge

‘The woman left us slowly and moved to the other side of the beach seine, sat down on the sand and started piling the seaweed…

Rwanda Restores Ecosystems, Generating Record Tourism and New Opportunities for Growth

Jan 5, 2015 | UNEP

Rwanda has undergone a remarkable economic and social reconstruction in recent years and recorded consistent growth rates of 8 per cent a year between 2001…

Tajikistan Green Investment in the Agricultural Sector Helps Realign its Pathway to Sustainable Development

Jan 5, 2015 | UNEP

In Tajikistan, known to some as the "land of rugged mountains", agriculture provides the backbone of the economy and supports the livelihoods of two-thirds of…

UN Report Highlights Women’s Roles in Natural Resource Management During and After Conflict

Jan 5, 2015 | Priya Kamdar

It’s been 14 years since the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 1325 acknowledging women as important agents of change in recovery from conflict and peacebuilding…

The Business of War

Jan 3, 2015 | Asad Zaman

As plans for war against Syria heat up, new myths are being manufactured to support it. In line with Major General Smedley Butler’s thesis, we…

Who is Setting Libya’s Oil on Fire?

Dec 31, 2014 | Ali Ibrahim

Those worried about the slump in the oil market—which has seen prices of crude oil fall to their lowest levels in years—may owe a debt…

Crunching the Numbers on Climate Change, Conflict, and Food Aid

Dec 31, 2014 | Sarah Meyerhoff

Two studies push back on recent analyses that claim to demonstrate empirical links between food aid and conflict and climate change and conflict.

This summer, Nathan…

The Egypt-Ethiopia Dispute Over the Nile Basin Can Evolve into a Strategic Partnership

Dec 30, 2014 | Goitom Gebreluel

Ethiopia and Egypt have successfully managed to end their millennia-long rivalry over the river Nile. Ethiopia’s announcement in 2011 of its intention to construct Africa’s…

Business's Bribery Shifts Country Dividends To A Privileged Few

Dec 28, 2014 | J. Yanqui Zaza, The Perspective

For big business to get its sweet heart deal, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf paid $31,000, predictably, to each Liberian Senator, to approve an Oil Agreement…

Falling Oil Prices and the Consequences for Sub-Saharan Africa

Dec 23, 2014 | Amadou Sy, Brookings Institution

Yesterday, in reaction to the recent, dramatic drop in oil prices, Africa Growth Initiative Nonresident Fellow Rabah Arezki and International Monetary Fund Chief Economist  Olivier…

Breaking the silence: Protecting civilians from toxic remnants of war

Dec 18, 2014 | Doug Weir

Toxic remnants of war and their legacy of civilian harm is seriously under-explored as an area of conflict. There is a growing consensus that the current…

Congo-Kinshasa: Leveraging Mobile Tech to Combat Conflict and Corruption

Dec 17, 2014 | Eliot Pence, allAfrica

Rarely has so small a law stirred so much debate about so distant a conflict. Over the past several months, debate about legislation requiring companies…

How to cut militias off from gold and mineral mines in Congo

Dec 17, 2014 | The Los Angeles Times

Few parts of the world have been more ravaged by war and violence over the last two decades than the Democratic Republic of Congo. That's…

Q & A: Bill Hayton on Growing Rivalries in the South China Sea

Dec 17, 2014 | Jane Perlez, The New York Times

Bill Hayton, a longtime journalist with the BBC, has spent much of his career chronicling events in Southeast Asia and observing the growing rivalries in…

'Extreme Realities' Sheds Light on Links Between Global Climate Dynamics and National Security

Dec 17, 2014 | Sarah Meyerhoff

“We cannot ignore the new reality that climate change has become a major foreign policy issue in the 21st century,” a new film by Hal and…

Women's Land Rights and Africa's Development Conundrum- Which Way Forward?

Dec 12, 2014 | Eric Yeboah

How can African countries use land policies to ensure agricultural development and inclusive growth? Particularly in countries which are dominated by patriarchal land ownership systems?…

Conflict Minerals Regulation Helping Thousands of Miners

Dec 12, 2014 | Source Intelligence

How the Conflict Minerals Regulation Benefits Congolese Miners The Enough Project's U.S. and Congo-based groups visited mining communities in eastern Congo to "get an updated…

The Australian Defence Force’s Approach to Contaminated Land Management

Dec 9, 2014 | Andy Garrity

The Australian Defence Force has a comprehensive management plan for TRW sites and practices and the Department of Defence recognises its responsibility to remediate sites…

Feeding Unrest: A Closer Look at the Relationship Between Food Prices and Sociopolitical Conflict

Dec 8, 2014 | New Security Beat

From the Roman poet Juvenal’s observations about bread and circuses to Marie Antoinette’s proclamation, “let them eat cake!” the link between food and political stability is well…

Unregulated World Oil Market Is A Peace For South Sudan

Dec 8, 2014 | Gurtong

No More Resource Curse: Unregulated World Oil Market is a Peace for South Sudan

Faced with US sale oil boom and lower global oil demand, oil…

9 Things You Need To Know About Conflict Minerals

Dec 5, 2014 | Think Progress

The armed conflict in eastern Congo that has killed over 5.4 million people is financed largely by trading minerals used in an array of common…

Writing China: Luke Patey, ‘The New Kings of Crude’

Dec 5, 2014 | Wall Street Journal

China’s hunt for oil to drive its fast-growing economy has taken it into conflict areas like Sudan and South Sudan, a risky venture for both…

Missing the Progress Made in Congo

Dec 5, 2014 | Washington Post

The Dec. 1 front-page article “In Congo, unintended harm from a U.S. law,” about Section 1502 of the Dodd-Frank Act, understated the important progress made in the fight to…

Water Wars of the 21st Century

Dec 1, 2014 | Dawn

While oil may have triggered many of the conflicts of the 20th century, many believe that this century’s wars will mostly be over water. Four…

Common Sense on Conflict Minerals

Dec 1, 2014 | Project Syndicate

“That diamond upon your finger, say how came it yours?” asks Shakespeare’s Cymbeline. “Thou’lt torture me,” responds the villainous Iachimo, “to leave unspoken that which, to be…

Pipeline Geopolitics: From Syria to Russia via Ukraine

Nov 30, 2014 | Counter Currents

Prior to landing in Ukraine or before I start glossing the western sanction on Russia, it is important to take the readers through the memory…

Conflict Minerals: EU Can Save Lives and Boost Profits

Nov 29, 2014 | EU Observer

It’s not always fashionable to talk about Brussels wielding power. To many, the inner workings of the European Union seem far-removed from day-to-day life, and…