Blogs & Opinions

Powering the Future: Striking Deals to Secure Critical Mineral Supply Chains

Jun 19, 2025 | Joseph Boudreau

Despite an administration change at the beginning of the year, key US defense priorities have remained the same. Among these priorities is the revitalization of…

Suspending the Indus Waters Treaty: What It Means and Why It Matters

Jun 18, 2025 | Jiedine I.A. Phanbuh

On April 23, 2025, India announced the suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) following an attack that killed more than 20 tourists in Indian-administered…

Governance Failure: The Root of Nigeria’s Farmer-Herder Crisis

Jun 16, 2025 | Thomas Samuel

The failure to address systemic issues, such as outdated land-use policies like the 1978 Land Use Act, exacerbates tensions by fostering ambiguous land tenure systems…

Will the Surge in Renewable Energy Spark a New Era of Global Conflict?

Jun 13, 2025 | Syed Raiyan Amir

While promising a cleaner future, the shift to green energy is also generating new sources of competition and conflict, from critical mineral rivalries and infrastructure…

Liberia: Rethinking Capital Growth in Liberia: A Path Toward Equitable Resource Distribution

Jun 13, 2025 | Austin S. Fallah

Liberia, a nation rich in natural resources, stands at a pivotal crossroads as it approaches the mid-21st century. Harnessing these resources for sustainable internal growth…

A Governance Framework for Africa’s Critical Minerals

Jun 13, 2025 | Clarence Tshitereke

There is a need for a governance framework to regulate Africa’s trade in critical minerals through a standard register of reporting — particularly regarding exports.…

Water, War, and Peace: The Indus Treaty Crisis and the Quest for Sustainable Solutions in South Asia

Jun 12, 2025 | Rao Farman Ali

The suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty by India has transformed water from a shared resource into a weapon in the Kashmir conflict, creating existential…

Climate Security: Key to Lasting Stability in the Sahel

Jun 12, 2025 | Jad Zammarieh

Climate. Peace. Security. Three words which, in the Sahel, no longer belong to separate fields of action. They are superimposed and intertwined, redrawing the lines…

Harnessing NIC Surveillance for Better Climate Security Outcomes

Jun 10, 2025 | Isabelle Bond

Australia’s National Intelligence Community could substantially enhance Australia’s climate security response. It could do so by applying its surveillance resources to the task.

Sushi Wars: Maritime Food Security, Criminal Networks and Geopolitical Risk

Jun 10, 2025 | Masaaki Yoshimori

Global fisheries, particularly the sushi supply chain, are entangled with rising geopolitical tensions, climate change and transnational crime. China’s use of distant-water fishing fleets as…

Rivers as the New Frontlines of Geopolitics

Jun 8, 2025 | Samirul Ariff Othman

We are used to thinking of power grids, trade routes, and semiconductor fabs as the terrain of 21st-century power competition. But now add rivers—yes, rivers—to…

Key Changes to the DRC Mining Code: A New Era for Investors and National Development

Jun 6, 2025 | Amani Cibambo

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), home to some of the world’s richest deposits of cobalt, copper, and other critical minerals, enacted major revisions to…

Minerals for Recognition: The Taliban’s Shadow Diplomacy

Jun 6, 2025 | Islomkhon Gafarov

Since the Taliban’s return to power, Afghanistan’s mineral and extractive industries have assumed growing strategic importance in the broader context of sustaining the country’s fragile…

Securing Women’s Land Rights: A Pathway to Food Security

Jun 5, 2025 | Sunaina Kumar
Observer Research Foundation

Despite playing a central role in food systems, women lack secure land rights in more than half of all countries, posing serious implications for food…

Sierra Leone Charts a New Diamond Story

Jun 5, 2025 | Jill Newman

Sierra Leone is historically rich in diamond deposits. They are found largely in alluvial mines, where miners sift through layers of mud and gravel for…

Protecting the Environment Is Protecting Civilians, Key Take-aways

Jun 2, 2025 | PAX

In conflict zones across the globe, civilians continue to suffer the devastating environmental consequences of armed conflicts, which directly and indirectly affect their health, safety,…

Give Peace a Chance? Why Sustainability Requires More Than Stability

Jun 2, 2025 | Richard Marcantonio

Conflict and environmental risks are both on the rise around the world, and they’re often connected in complex ways. In the past five years, the…

Soaring Global Military Spending Threatens Global Climate Action

May 30, 2025 | Ellie Kinney

No matter which way you look at it, the rapid rises in global military spending threaten climate action, undermining our collective security. A new joint…

Why Gender-Responsive Action Must Anchor Africa’s Climate Summit 2025

May 29, 2025 | Salome Owuonda
Citizen Digital

As Africa prepares to convene in Addis Ababa for the second Africa Climate Summit (ACS) in September 2025, the continent stands at a critical intersection.

The…

Is Sudan’s War the Reason for South Sudan’s Economic Crisis? What’s Really Going on with Oil Revenue

May 29, 2025 | Jan Pospisil

The civil war in Sudan between the Sudanese army and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, which began in April 2023, has had an impact on its…

Blood Batteries: How Congo’s Conflict Is Shaking the World’s Rare Earths Market

May 28, 2025 | Veer Puri

The recent bout of violence in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has translated into a systematic shock for rare earth…

How Illicit Gold Fuels Insecurity in Latin America

May 28, 2025 | Fernanda Rios Herrera

Gold has become an increasingly attractive asset for non-state armed groups (NSAGs) in Latin America due to its soaring price, low risk and high profitability…

Sustainable Peace through Environmental Stewardship

May 26, 2025 | Sarah Lee

Achieving sustainable peace and development is a complex challenge that requires a multifaceted approach. One crucial aspect often overlooked is the role of environmental stewardship.…

Navigating Conflict and Environment

May 26, 2025 | Sarah Lee

The intricate relationship between conflict, peace, and environmental issues is a pressing concern in the context of development. As the world grapples with the challenges…

Amber: The Hidden Cost of Myanmar’s Gem Trade

May 22, 2025 | Mancunion

Blood amber from Myanmar has yielded endless discoveries and taken the world by storm; the name seems fitting after the human rights atrocities tied to…

Plastic Pollution from Fibre Optic Drones May Threaten Wildlife for Years

May 22, 2025 | Leon Moreland

Russia’s war in Ukraine has encouraged a rapid increase in the deployment of drones that use fibre optic cables to protect them from being jammed…

Is US Conflict Minerals Disclosure Nearing an End?

May 20, 2025 | Michael R. Littenberg, Marc Rotter, and Peter Witschi

SEC Commissioner Mark Uyeda took a pretty big swing at the US Conflict Minerals Rule in his prepared remarks yesterday at Practical Law Institute’s annual “SEC…

The US Should Aim Higher in Its ‘Minerals for Peace’ Deal with Congo

May 20, 2025 | Laura Kupe

In a small ceremony with oversized implications, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio welcomed his Congolese and Rwandan counterparts to Washington on April 25 for…

The Deadly Global Gold Rush: How to Stop the Illicit Mining and Trade That Fuel War and Repression

May 19, 2025 | Sasha Lezhnev and John Prendergast

Every year, illicit gold worth more than $30 billion flows across the globe, including gold originating in conflict zones and authoritarian states. Much of it…

Terrorists Use Food as a Weapon: How Boko Haram and Al-Shabaab Exploit Hunger

May 18, 2025 | Simone Papale and Emanuele Castelli

Over the last decade, there has been growing international focus on the role of food in conflict, particularly in Africa. The continent has seen an…