International


Iraq: Low Oil Prices Force Iraq to Pass Austerity Budget As It Struggles to Pay Soldiers Fighting ISIS

Feb 4, 2015 | Campbell MacDiarmid, National Post

ERBIL, Iraq — Low oil prices have forced an austerity budget on Iraq as it struggles to rebuild its army and rally support across the…


Liberia: Could 2015 Be a Breakthrough Year for Community Land Rights?

Feb 4, 2015 | Astrid Zweynert, Thomson Reuters Foundation

2015 is set to be a pivotal year for the global recognition of land and resource rights if momentum in protecting the world's forests and…


Resource Curse: Study Suggests Oil Factors Hugely Into Foreign Wars

Feb 4, 2015 | Douglas Main, Newsweek

Oil plays an even bigger role in influencing foreign military intervention than is generally acknowledged, according to a new economic analysis, lending support to so-called…


South Sudan: UN Agency Warns of Catastrophic Food Shortages If Conflict Continues

Feb 4, 2015 | UNICEF

The ongoing conflict in South Sudan is sharply reducing food supplies and slowing humanitarian access to people in need, the United Nations children’s agency (UNICEF)…


Russia/United States: New Cold War: U.S., Russia Fight Over Energy Future

Feb 4, 2015 | Bradley Klapper and Matthew Lee, Associated Press

WASHINGTON – The United States and Russia are once more locked in what could be a generation-defining conflict, and Europe is yet again the…


Conflict Resources: Russia Presses UN Resolution to Prevent Terrorists from Collecting Ransom and Money from Oil

Feb 4, 2015 | Associated Press

UNITED NATIONS –  Russia is pressing for adoption of a new U.N. resolution aimed at preventing terrorists from collecting ransom payments or money from the…


Conflict Minerals: Where Apple Gets the Tantalum for Your iPhone

Feb 4, 2015 | Lynnley Browning, Newsweek

Nobody likes to think his or her iPhone was made from minerals derived from a country where warlords and mass rapists profit from the mines.…


Myanmar: Land Disputes in Myanmar: From Ploughs to Ports

Feb 3, 2015 | Economist

New businesses are opening across Myanmar, literally reshaping its landscape. But some wonder whether the new developments will benefit everyone.


Liberia: Oil Money Raises Eyebrows for Legislative Consultation

Feb 3, 2015 | C. Winnie Saywah-Jimmy, The Inquirer

Contrary to Representatives Emmanuel Nuquay and Prince Moye's claim that the US$ 1.2 million under debate was a single check endorsed by the National Oil…


Conflict Minerals: EU’s Proposed Regulation on Conflict Minerals – Part I

Feb 3, 2015 | Squire Patton Boggs, Dynda A. Thomas, and Kate Stokes, Lexology

The European Union (EU) is considering legislation that would regulate the importation of conflict minerals into the EU. The European Commission announced its proposed regulation…


Climate Security: High North Dialogue Podcast – Interview with Kristin Halvorsen

Feb 3, 2015 | Andreas Raspotnik, The Arctic Institute

In our 2nd podcast for the High North Dialogue 2015 we talked with Kristin Halvorsen, Director of CICERO, Center for International Climate and Environmental Research…


Liberia: What Happened to Kuwaiti Oil Deal?

Feb 2, 2015 | Heritage

MONROVIA - There are reports that the announced Kuwaiti Oil Deal has supposedly ended up like the controversial Nigerian and Japanese Oil Agreements(deals) which were…


Iraq: Iraq Oilfield Output Suspended After IS Fighting - Oil Minister

Feb 2, 2015 | Mustafa Mahmoud, Reuters

Production at an oilfield near the northern Iraq city of Kirkuk remained suspended on Monday after incurring severe damage during a weekend attack by Islamic…


Myanmar: Burma Puts the Brakes on Resource Exports to China

Feb 2, 2015 | Jonathan Manthorpe. Business Vancouver

The seemingly endless nose-to-tail line of snorting trucks crossing the border from Burma into the far southwestern Chinese town of Ruili was mesmerizing.

Just as transfixing…


Pakistan: Muslim Illegally Seizes and Bulldozes Homes of Christian Families

Feb 1, 2015 | Pakistan Christian Post

KASUR: The influential Muslim men seized and bulldozed homes of seven Christian families in a village of Kasur.

Today, a local native Boota Masih reached…


Colombia: Colombia’s Rebel Reintegration Quagmire

Feb 1, 2015 | Global Politics

Colombia has endured more than five decades of civil discord. Peace negotiations between FARC representatives and the Colombian State have, though, been ongoing since 2012…


Iraq/Kurdistan: Kurds Retake Oil Facility in North Iraq, 15 Workers Still Missing

Jan 31, 2015 | Mustafa Mahmoud, Reuters

Kurdish peshmerga forces retook a small crude oil station near the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk which Islamic State insurgents seized earlier on Saturday, but…


Libya: Two Million People, a Third of Libya’s Population, May Have Been Affected by Internal Conflict – International Report

Jan 31, 2015 | Libya Herald

A new report out last week estimates that two million people, a third of the Libya population, may have been affected, and close to four-hundred…


South Sudan/Sudan: South Sudan to Renegotiate Oil Fees with Sudan: Official

Jan 31, 2015 | Sudan Tribune

JUBA – South Sudan’s petroleum minister, Stephen Dhieu Dau said his country will consider whether to continue paying Sudan $25 per barrel of oil or…


Sudan/South Sudan/Abyei: Sudan Signs Oil Contract with China in Disputed Area with S/Sudan

Jan 31, 2015 | APA

Sudan government has signed an agreement with China for oil production in the disputed area with South Sudan, the oil minister announced on Saturday.Sudan’s minister…


Pakistan: Man Stoned to Death in Land-Grabbing Episode

Jan 30, 2015 | The News

Killing over land dispute is a routine matter in rural areas of the country, which has now shifted to big cities after property-grabbing became trouble-free…


Myanmar: New China-Myanmar Oil Pipeline Bypasses Malacca Trap

Jan 30, 2015 | The Hindu

China has taken a firm step to beef up its energy security by inaugurating a pipeline that will bring crude oil from a deepwater port…


Philippines/Vietnam/South China Sea: Vietnam, Philippines Boost Ties to Counter China in Territorial Dispute

Jan 30, 2015 | Geann Pineda, China Topix

The Philippines and Vietnam are boosting defense ties to counter China in the South China sea territorial dispute.

China has maintained an aggressive stance on its…


South Sudan: Report: China Funding S Sudan Govt Militia to Protect Oil Fields

Jan 29, 2015 | Radio Tamazuj

China's state oil company is financing a South Sudanese government militia to protect the Unity oil field, a conflict monitoring-group has discovered.

According to a new…


Sierra Leone: Miners Brace for “Catastrophe"

Jan 29, 2015 | Silas Gbandia, Equal Times

Sierra Leone could lose more than 7,000 mining jobs following a decision by the country’s largest employer to temporarily retrench workers.

Although workers at African Minerals…


Liberia: Land Commission Seeks New Option for Land Disputes

Jan 29, 2015 | Emmanuel Weedee-Conway, Heritage

The Land Commission (LC) has adopted new measures to fast strike the settlement of land disputes outside of court proceedings with the establishment of Land…


Nigeria: Nigerian Farmers Face Destitution from 300 sq. km Land Grab Backed by UK Aid

Jan 28, 2015 | Oliver Tickell, Ecologist

Development secretary Justine Greening is facing questions over UK involvement in a massive land-grab in Nigeria that is evicting local farmers from 300 square kilometres…


Iraq: Oil Revenues, Economic Growth and Decreased Violence had Little Impact on Iraq's Poor

Jan 28, 2015 | World Bank

In 2012, one-fifth of Iraq’s population lived below the poverty line, and a significant share of the Iraqi people was vulnerable to falling into poverty,…


Afghanistan/India/Pakistan: Focus on Afghanistan, Not Kashmir, India and Pakistan Urged

Jan 28, 2015 | Vikas Datta, New Kerala

Afghanistan, not Kashmir, can be the issue for India and Pakistan to resume a sustainable dialogue, where it will be relatively easier for them to…


Iraq: Shell Signs $11 Billion Deal to Build Petrochemicals Plant in Iraq

Jan 28, 2015 | Saif Hameed, Reuters

Royal DutchShell (RDSa.L) signed a deal with Iraq on Wednesday worth $11 billion to build a petrochemicals plant in the southern oil hub of Basra,…