Blogs & Opinions

The Taliban’s Opium Ban Is Working. But It Could All Still Fall apart

Aug 15, 2024 | Ruchi Kumar

For nearly three decades, Afghanistan had been among the world’s leading producers of opium; at one point, it contributed nearly 90 per cent of the…

Environmental Violence and Enterprise: The Outsized Role of Business for Environmental Peacebuilding

Aug 13, 2024 | Josh Stowe

Toxic pollution is the single largest cause of death and poor health, killing up to 9 million people each year—about 100 times more than war…

Afghanistan’s Lithium: Sovereignty vs. Foreign Exploitation

Aug 12, 2024 | Hamayun Khan

Afghanistan sits atop vast lithium reserves and faces a pivotal decision: leverage this mineral wealth to assert national sovereignty and drive local development or risk…

Resource Wars: How Climate Change Is Fueling Militarization of the Arctic

Aug 7, 2024 | Joanna Rozpedowski

As the Russo-Ukrainian conflict continues to redefine the international security landscape, more sources of dispute among rivals are emerging. New outbreaks of mass violence in…

Ukraine Recovery Conference 2024: What Were the Key Environmental Takeaways?

Aug 5, 2024 | Viktoria Hubareva

On June 11-12, European and world leaders, international organizations and representatives of civil society converged on Berlin for the Ukraine Recovery Conference, devoted to discussing…

The Toll that Wars Take on Women

Jul 31, 2024 | Candice Helfand-Rogers

For women in war-torn regions, suffering, displacement, pain and death are daily prospects, for themselves and their children – whether they’re soldiers or not. And they’re usually…

Going beyond “Conflict-Free”: Transition Minerals Governance in DRC and Rwanda

Jul 31, 2024 | Neeraja Kulkarni

Resource-rich nations such as the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Rwanda—which produce minerals ranging from coltan, cobalt, gold, tungsten, and tantalum, to tin (3TG)—hold…

The Paradox of the DRC’s War: Mining for Climate Solutions Fuels Environmental Destruction

Jul 30, 2024 | Sibahle Zuma

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is a crucial player in the global effort to combat climate change. Its rich deposits of cobalt and…

Will Critical Minerals Be Another Poisoned Chalice for Africa?

Jul 28, 2024 | James Boafo and Rochelle Spencer

The world's journey to a decarbonised energy future requires a shift towards the development of low-carbon technologies. The development of these low-carbon technologies in the…

Landmines, Climate Change and New Environmental Guidance

Jul 27, 2024 | Linsey Cottrell

Wars damage the environment in many ways. Landmines and other explosive remnants of war (ERW) can remain in the ground for decades after conflicts end.…

How Will We Solve the World’s Water Wars? An Ancient Spanish Court Offers One Answer

Jul 26, 2024 | Roman Krznaric

Every Thursday at noon, outside the west door of Valencia’s cathedral, nine black-cloaked figures – one wearing a banded cap and with a ceremonial harpoon…

Environmental Consequences of the War in Ukraine: June 2024 Review

Jul 25, 2024 | Alexei Ovchinnikov

The main event in this past June was the anniversary of the explosion of the Kakhovka hydropower plant (HPP) dam, an event which led to…

Growing Peace, One Coffee Farm at a Time

Jul 24, 2024 | Lauren Petersen-Green

Mayerly’s journey into coffee began when Mercy Corps invited her to attend a meeting about the benefits of substituting coca with legal crops. Mercy Corps…

Ending the Conflict in Ukraine through Land Purchase

Jul 24, 2024 | Glauco Ortolano

Glauco Ortolano explores an implausible proposal for how the war may end through economic rather than political means.

Kellogg Developing Researcher Finds Community, Inspiration, and Hope at the Third International Conference on Environmental Peacebuilding

Jul 23, 2024 | Sophia Rockwell

What role does the environment have in current and future conversations about how to promote, create, and maintain international peace through research and government initiatives?…

Could the Nile Dam Dispute between Egypt and Ethiopia Escalate?

Jul 22, 2024 | Amr Emam

Egypt is playing a waiting game as Ethiopia prepares to make the fifth, and final, filling of its Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) by the end of…

Why Women Are Key to Managing Afghanistan’s Water Crisis

Jul 22, 2024 | Katrina J. Lane

Afghan women’s livelihoods are the most impacted by water scarcity. Involving them in water policy and resource management could provide sustainable livelihoods and climate resilience…

The Interplay between Conflict and Climate Change Needs a Rethink

Jul 22, 2024 | Mauricio Vazquez

The recent news that Somalia was elected to become a nonpermanent member of the United Nations Security Council has generated headlines. As one of the most…

Ukraine/Russia: Russia's War Threatens Food Security: UK Statement to the OSCE

Jul 19, 2024 | Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office and Justin Addison

Justin Addison, UK Delegation to the OSCE, tells the OSCE's Economic and Environmental Committee (EEC) that Russia is prioritising its own aims above global food…

Water and War

Jul 15, 2024 | Morgan Shimabuku

Attacks on water infrastructure and water supplies are not new. Records of water-related conflicts go back 4,000 years to Sumeria, where the neighboring city-states of…

Environmental Cooperation in the Middle East: A Conversation with Dr. Tareq Abu Hamed [Podcast]

Jul 12, 2024 | Environmental Change and Security Program, Wilson Center

In today’s episode of New Security Broadcast, Wilson Center Global Fellow and environmental journalist Anneliese Palmer speaks with longtime leader in regional environmental diplomacy and Executive…

Collective Action for the Environment in Iraq: A New Initiative by PAX

Jul 12, 2024 | PAX International

Today marks the International Day of Combating Sand and Dust Storms. The UN General Assembly proclaimed this day as these storms have become a serious global…

Advancing Women, Peace, and Security through Security Cooperation in NATO

Jul 12, 2024 | Courtney Clarksen, Tyler McAnally, and Kathleen McInnis

This series—featuring scholars from the Futures Lab, the International Security Program, and across CSIS—explores emerging challenges and opportunities that NATO is likely to confront after…

Afghan Canal Project Affecting Not Only Central Asia but China and Russia Too

Jul 11, 2024 | Paul Goble, Eurasia Daily Monitor

Afghanistan is pushing ahead with the construction of the Qosh Tepa Canal to divert water that has been flowing into neighboring countries to slow the…

Environmental Wartime Protection is Central to the Protection of Civilians

Jul 9, 2024 | Laetitia Courtois

Statement delivered by Laetitia Courtois, Permanent Observer and Head of Delegation, at UN Security Council Arria-Formula Meeting "Stepping up Preventive Action: From Environment Challenges to…

Toward a Peaceful Future: Cooperation and Solutions for East Asia’s International Issues

Jul 8, 2024 | Simon Hutagalung, Eurasia Review

The East Asia region is currently facing numerous international issues that pose threats to both regional stability and global security. These predicaments include the nuclear…

Cross-Cutting Themes and Priorities of the Environmental Compact for the Green Future of Ukraine

Jul 5, 2024 | Andriy Demydenko

In February 2024, the High-Level Working Group on the Environmental Consequences of War, which includes Ukrainian and European officials, signed an Environmental Compact for Ukraine. The…

Taliban’s Approach to Natural Disasters

Jul 3, 2024 | Pupsa Kumari, Mahonar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses

Climate change is one of the most important challenges in the 21st century and has unfavourable consequences, including droughts, floods, storms, decrease in rainfall, landslides,…

Taliban’s Approach to Natural Disasters

Jul 3, 2024 | Puspa Kumari

Climate change is one of the most important challenges in the 21st century and has unfavourable consequences, including droughts, floods, storms, decrease in rainfall, landslides,…

Conflict, Land Dispossession, and the Struggle for Gender Equality in Cameroon

Jul 2, 2024 | Dean Peacock

This interview with Lotsmart Fonjong is part of series of interviews by WILPF to reflect on the original research produced by the Mobilising Men for Feminist Peace…