Blogs & Opinions
Afghanistan’s Curse Was Manufactured – and Now Haunts Its Makers
Sep 12, 2026
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Ikramul Haq
Afghanistan is not cursed because copper lies beneath Logar, lapis beneath Badakhshan or iron beneath Bamiyan. It has been cursed by political choices made in…
Who Really Controls Afghanistan’s Mineral Wealth
Sep 10, 2026
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Umar Khan
The Afghanistan’s mineral resources have traditionally been one of hidden wealth ready to be unlocked by peace, investment, and modern technology. This narrative is becoming…
Staying in Place: Building Cultural Security in a Changing Climate
Sep 9, 2026
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Claudia Fry and Selai Maramanisoso
As the Pacific prepares to host pre-COP31, the region has a unique opportunity to advance dialogue on peace and security through a Pacific-led climate-peace nexus.…
Are Rising Spending and Temperatures Causing More Fires on European Military Lands?
Sep 9, 2026
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Sara Niknam, Adam Krid, and Ritchie Davelaar
As European countries raise military spending and step up training, one environmental risk is becoming harder to ignore: fire. Live ammunition, explosives and pyrotechnics are…
Hunger Warfare and a Fertilizer Crisis Are Straining Global Food Supplies
Sep 8, 2026
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Michael Werz
Using food as a lever is a proven military method as old as siege warfare, now conducted at global range. Both Russia’s and Ukraine’s military…
Afghanistan: Internal Tug-of-War over Afghanistan’s Untapped Wealth
Sep 7, 2026
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Faisal Ahmad
Underneath the rugged mountains of Afghanistan lies extraordinary wealth. Geological surveys estimate that the country holds over $1 trillion in untapped mineral resources, which include…
The Strategic Execution Gap: Why America Can Find Critical Minerals - and Still Lose Them
Sep 6, 2026
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Rare Earth Exchanges
Critical minerals are turning foreign ministries into business-development organizations. Embassies, development banks, export-credit agencies, and political leaders will increasingly compete to secure mining concessions, infrastructure,…
Taliban Mining Economy, an Insurgent Way of Doing Business
Sep 3, 2026
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Shahzaib Khan
Afghanistan has long been described as a poor country sitting on extraordinary wealth. Under Taliban rule, that contradiction has acquired a harder political edge. A…
New Cluster Munition Action Plan Would Include More Environment and Climate
Sep 2, 2026
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Anna McKean and Jonathan Walsh
The process of environmental mainstreaming in mine action has been underway for several years. Anna McKean and Jonathan Walsh explain how a new action plan…
Badakhshan Gold and the Taliban’s Politics of Extraction
Sep 2, 2026
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Sahibzada Muhammad Usman
August protests in Arghanj Khwaj—after July and Nasi—saw local gold panners push contracted firms and machines off traditional sites; they say Taliban “regulation” (Hibatullah’s panning…
Indus Waters Treaty and the New Fault Line in South Asian Security
Sep 1, 2026
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Amina Jabbar
It is well known that water is the next potential source of conflict in the world where climate change, population increase and the shortage of…
Taliban’s Hydropolitics and the International Engagement Dilemma
Aug 31, 2026
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Mohd H. Faizee
Five years ago, the Taliban took power in Afghanistan, inheriting the country water infrastructure agenda but lacking a coherent policy and technical capacity. This left…
Conflict and Climate: Double Threat Driving Great Lakes Displacement
Aug 31, 2026
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Institute for Security Studies
Climate hazards are compounding decades of conflict-driven displacement, while fragmented responses expose vulnerable communities to repeated crises.
Gas and Peace: Can Energy Trade Contain Egypt-Israel Conflict?
Aug 31, 2026
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Nourhan Hefzy
Can economic ties help contain conflict between Egypt and Israel, or do they simply postpone confrontation? Drawing on the German-Russian experience, the article examines how…
Climate Change as a Security Threat: Climate Risks into Defence Policy
Aug 29, 2026
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Laiba Awan
Canada has increasingly integrated climate change into its defence strategy, recognizing it as a threat multiplier affecting military readiness, infrastructure resilience, Arctic security, and operational…
How the ‘Climate Table’ Is the New Peace Table
Aug 29, 2026
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Hafed Al-Ghwell
The choice is becoming clearer at every drying well; climate governance will either reinforce legitimate institutions, or armed groups will govern the scarcity for captive…
Water Scarcity in the Colorado River Basin: A National Security Assessment
Aug 27, 2026
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Small Wars Journal
The Colorado River system provides water to around 40 million people and supplies 5 million acres of farmland in the American southwest. But it’s been…
Climate Finance and Afghanistan: A Question of Whether, Not How
Aug 24, 2026
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Assem Mayar
Every discussion of climate finance in Afghanistan eventually collides with a question that is rarely asked out loud: should this country receive climate finance at…
Egypt’s Choices on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam
Aug 23, 2026
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Hamdy A. Hassan
The Ethiopian dam marks the beginning of a new phase in crisis management, where the conflict has shifted from preventing construction to dealing with the…
Data Centres and Democratic Decline Could Lead to More Water Conflict in the Future
Aug 23, 2026
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Ryan Durante
Transboundary waters — rivers, lakes and aquifers residing in more than one country — are facing challenges due to climate change, with conflicts over these…
The Indus Waters Treaty Is Becoming South Asia’s Next Strategic Flashpoint
Aug 20, 2026
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Saima Afzal
For more than six decades, the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) has been one of the world’s most durable examples of cooperation between adversarial neighbors. Signed…
How China Can Turn Its ‘Blue Cradle’ into a Bridge with Southeast Asia
Aug 20, 2026
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James Borton
A jointly governed, tiered South China Sea ocean data framework would transform knowledge of a contested sea into stewardship of a shared one.
Violence, Profit, and the Economy Sustaining Eastern Congo’s Endless War
Aug 19, 2026
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Chhai Bunsonareach
At a checkpoint between Miba and the Kachanga hill in Fizi territory, soldiers of the Congolese army wave through bicycles loaded with mineral ore, one…
Wildfires and Extreme Heat Show Climate Change Is Now Europe’s Biggest Security Threat
Aug 18, 2026
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Patrick Schröder
The continent is increasingly vulnerable to arson attacks, while climate disasters are diverting militaries from other threats. Policymakers must respond with a security-based approach to…
Land, Forests and the Struggle for Survival: A Three-Decade Journey in Ye Chaung Phya (Bee Ree)
Aug 18, 2026
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Kun Wood
Land is vital in the struggle of the Mon people for survival, political freedom and human rights. Protection and ownership, however, have fallen victim to…
When Climate Shocks Threaten Food, Peace and Livelihoods
Aug 15, 2026
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Ludwig Federigan
Climate change increasingly operates as a threat multiplier. Droughts, floods, heat waves and sea-level rise do more than damage infrastructure and crops: they amplify preexisting…
Women in Africa: The Unseen Victims of Crisis and Conflict
Aug 14, 2026
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Kim Heller
The African
On Sunday, as South Africa commemorated the 70th anniversary of the 1956 Women's March, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai stood at the Union Buildings…
The Kabul River: The River of Sorrow between Afghanistan and Pakistan
Aug 13, 2026
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Shri Pradeep Kumar Saxena
India has traditionally been a friend to Afghanistan, and that relationship carries a responsibility as much as an opportunity. Helping Afghanistan build the storage, irrigation…
Somalia’s Food Crisis: When Drought, Conflict and Declining Aid Collide
Aug 13, 2026
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Muhammed Sherifdeen Omeiza
Somalia is facing another serious hunger crisis, but what makes the situation worrying is not only the number of people going hungry. It is the…
Is Climate Diplomacy Becoming National Security Policy?
Aug 12, 2026
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Lexy Reid
Over the last few years, there has been a significant change in how governments conceptualise and approach climate change. Climate change was previously seen as…