Blogs & Opinions
In Context: Erika Weinthal and Jeannie Sowers on the Middle East Conflict’s Impacts on Civilian Infrastructure
Mar 11, 2026
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Stimson Center
Recent attacks on critical infrastructure in Iran and the Persian Gulf mark a troubling escalation in the widening regional conflict. Since the U.S. and Israel…
After Oil, War of Water? Why Desalination Plants Are Turning into Targets in Middle East – Explained
Mar 9, 2026
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Times of India
The ongoing conflict in West Asia is entering a new phase as desalination plants, a key source of drinking water across the Gulf, begin to…
Climate, Conflict and Synthetic Fertilisers Are Sowing the Seeds of Instability
Mar 9, 2026
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Tom Nickson
As the latest rupture in an increasingly unstable geopolitical landscape, military strikes on Iran by the USA and Israel will likely increase pressure on the…
Broken Land Systems Risk Liberia’s Future
Mar 9, 2026
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New Dawn
Land disputes in Liberia have reached alarming levels, threatening not only the nation’s social stability but also its economic development prospects. The failure to address…
What International Law Says about the Israeli Strikes on Iranian Oil Facilities
Mar 9, 2026
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Saeed Bagheri
Israeli strikes targeted oil facilities near the Iranian capital of Tehran over the weekend. Two oil refineries, both of which had been attacked by Israel…
Black Rain: The Health and Environmental Risks from Tehran’s Oil Fires
Mar 9, 2026
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Conflict and Environment Observatory
Overnight on the 7-8th of March, the Israeli-US war against Iran saw a significant escalation as Israel targeted Iran’s oil infrastructure. Israel reportedly attacked more…
Why Women Are Central to Resilient Food Systems
Mar 9, 2026
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Mcallejas
CIMMYT
As climate change, economic instability, and biodiversity loss place increasing pressure on global food systems, building resilience has become an urgent priority. But resilience is…
Middle East Conflict Carries Significant Environmental and Ecological Consequences for Small States Such as Ours
Mar 6, 2026
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Stabroek News
Escalating tensions involving the United States of America, Israel, and Iran may seem geographically distant from Guyana. Yet in an interconnected global system, war in…
The Climate Briefing: The Future of Climate Diplomacy 4: Laurence Tubiana
Mar 5, 2026
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Chris Aylett and Laurence Tubiana
What are the most important changes the Paris Agreement has brought about? How should the COP process evolve? And why does geoengineering need to be…
As the Gulf Conflict Widens, So Does Its Environmental Footprint
Mar 4, 2026
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Daniel Cressey
On 28 February, the latest escalation between the US, Israel and Iran moved from threats to open strikes, plunging the Gulf region into crisis. Missiles…
Nature, Peace and Security: Too Important to Leave to Governments
Mar 2, 2026
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Doug Weir
The message is clear, the UK’s spooks have consulted with experts and concluded that global biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse are a serious threat to…
Addressing the Root Causes of the DRC Conflict
Feb 27, 2026
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Vuyisile J.S. Radebe
The DRC conflict has been going on for decades. Thousands of innocent lives have been lost while scores of women, children and the elderly have…
Groundwater and the Horn’s Climate Security Future: From Technical Resource to Strategic Asset
Feb 27, 2026
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Kidus Tesfaye
The Horn of Africa’s climate debate is often framed above ground: failed rains, drying rivers, shrinking pastures, emergency relief corridors, and displacement flows. But one…
The New Age of Resource Competition Needs Transparency
Feb 27, 2026
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Helen Clark and Ellen Johnson Sirleaf
As countries scramble to secure the minerals needed for clean energy, digital technologies, AI, and defense industries, the new era of resource competition implies both…
Liberia’s Emerging Carbon Credit Sector: A Path Toward Climate Resilience, Economic Growth, and Sustainable Development
Feb 26, 2026
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Matthew Sieh Wisseh
Liberia, endowed with one of West Africa’s last vast rainforest ecosystems and significant coastal Blue Carbon resources, is moving decisively toward establishing a functional carbon…
The Environmental Peacebuilding Association: Year in Review and What’s Ahead
Feb 25, 2026
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Karishma Goswami and Madeleine Loll
With a reduction in capacity of bilateral and multilateral institutions and a broader political retreat from environmental protection and peacebuilding, environmental peacebuilding reached a turning…
Syria’s Environmental Woes Fueled Its Long Conflict. Left Unaddressed, They Will Do So Again
Feb 23, 2026
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Peter Schwartzstein
Peter Schwartzstein recently returned to Syria for his first peacetime visit. Unsurprisingly, the country is an awful mess. The destruction is somehow slightly more conspicuous…
The Converging Threats of Climate Change and War in Sudan
Feb 23, 2026
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Haley Schuler-McCoin and Mahitab Mahgoub
Environmental disasters affected hundreds of thousands of people in Sudan in 2025, and will only worsen in the coming years, with parts of the country…
Water as a Weapon: The New Frontier of an Old Conflict
Feb 22, 2026
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Muhammad Mohsin Iqbal
Parallel to the theatre of arms has been the subtler but no less consequential arena of water. The Indus basin is the lifeblood of Pakistan’s…
Kordofan and Blue Nile’s Quiet Battles: The Geopolitics of Resources behind Sudan’s Civil War
Feb 20, 2026
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Fernando Carvajal
Tens of thousands of people have been killed, and millions displaced, but this is only part of the story. Every morning, there is fear of…
The Indus Waters Treaty at Crossroads: Implications for Regional Peace & the Path Forward
Feb 20, 2026
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Mohammad Ishaq Rahman
The Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) of 1960 stands as one of the most significant achievements in transboundary water cooperation globally. Brokered by the World Bank…
Pax Sinica vs Pax Silica: How China-US Mineral War Is Taking Shape
Feb 20, 2026
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Chenjie Song
If 2026 were a chess match, critical minerals would be the opening gambit, and both China and the United States are going all out. On…
Being There Is Not Enough: The Paradox of Land Restitution in Colombia
Feb 20, 2026
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Sandra Brunnegger
Under the current government’s ‘Total Peace’ agenda, this territorial emphasis is invoked across state institutions through dialogue and negotiations with armed groups and criminal organisations,…
Water Nationalism, Climate Anxiety, and the Myth of the Coming Water Wars
Feb 18, 2026
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Jeremy Allouche
Will future wars be fought over water? Global policymakers, politicians and the media promote a sense of catastrophism about the impact of climate change on…
Clionadh Raleigh on the Race for Africa’s Minerals
Feb 17, 2026
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Clionadh Raleigh
As the United States, China and the European Union intensify efforts to secure minerals such as cobalt, lithium and coltan, all central to defence, technology…
Iran’s Water Crisis: A National Security Imperative – Analysis
Feb 17, 2026
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Scott N. Romaniuk, Erzsébet N. Rózsa, and László Csicsmann
Iran is confronting an unprecedented water crisis. Rivers that have sustained settlements and agriculture for centuries are drying, while groundwater reserves are being extracted far…
Climate Security Should Be a Bigger Priority at the Munich Security Conference
Feb 13, 2026
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Beatrice Mosello
At the Munich Security Conference (MSC) – long a barometer of global security priorities – climate change is of reduced importance this year. While it…
The Munich Security Conference's Uncomfortable Truth: Fossil Fuels Are Now a Security Risk
Feb 12, 2026
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María Mendiluce
At Munich world leaders will talk about defence readiness, economic resilience and strategic autonomy, but energy and climate change should be understood as central to…
Reimagining Land, Justice, and Post-War Responsibility in Liberia
Feb 12, 2026
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Ysyndi Martin-Kpeyei
Nations emerging from conflict are not rebuilt by rigidity, but by vision anchored in humanity. In Liberia, it is unproductive and ultimately visionless to suggest…
Venezuela’s Democratic Transition Needs Women, Including Machado
Feb 11, 2026
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Caroline Hubbard
Council on Foreign Relations
Women have been on the frontlines fighting Maduro’s dictatorship, and other countries’ transitions show that women’s participation is vital for democracy to succeed.