Blogs & Opinions


Report Finds That Russia Securitises the Environment – But on Its Terms

Jan 20, 2021 | Nina Lesikhina

Our new report seeks to understand why Russia opposes measures to more effectively integrate the environment into international policymaking on peace and security. To do…


New Day for the US Conflict Minerals Rule

Jan 20, 2021 | Dynda A. Thomas

It’s Inauguration Day in the US, and it’s likely to be a new day for the US conflict minerals rule.  Where have we been and…


Ensuring Women’s Participation in Land Governance: “Bringing the Law Home” in Tanzania

Jan 20, 2021 | Isabella Nchimbi

Despite Tanzania’s progressive legal framework on land rights and governance, many women are often left out of community decision-making due to social and cultural norms…


Indigenous Women Are Championing Climate Justice

Jan 19, 2021 | Kavita Ramdas and Laura Garcia

For Indigenous Mollo people on Indonesia’s Timor Island, the forests, mountains, and water are not just their surroundings; they are as essential to their lives as food…


Climatizing Security: Protecting Americans in the Age of Climate Change

Jan 18, 2021 | Sherri Goodman and Kate Guy

Beyond the recent attack on the U.S. Capitol and the coronavirus looms the climate crisis.  The Trump-fueled mob attack and climate change have one thing in common in America today:  they…


Canada Must Clarify Its Policies on Conflict and the Environment

Jan 18, 2021 | Conflict and Environment Observatory

Our study into Canada’s practice used the draft legal principles developed by the UN’s International Law Commission (ILC) on the Protection of the environment in relation to armed conflicts (PERAC) as…


From Rhetoric to Reality: Advancing Women’s Participation in Peace Processes

Jan 15, 2021 | Marlene Spoerri

As President-elect Biden prepares to tackle global challenges, there is a concrete way to increase the odds of success: involve more women in high-level decision-making.…


Canada Must Clarify Its Policies on Conflict and the Environment

Jan 14, 2021 | Stavros Pantazopoulos

Our newly published study of Canada’s practice on the protection of the environment in relation to armed conflicts finds some progressive policies but these are…


Conflict Cycles and the Management of Protected Areas in South Sudan

Jan 7, 2021 | Adrian Garside

The International Law Commission’s draft principles on the Protection of the environment in relation to armed conflicts use a temporal framing of ‘before, during and…


Conflict Cycles and the Management of Protected Areas in South Sudan

Jan 7, 2021 | Adrian Garside

South Sudan, and southern Sudan prior to its independence, has been in a cycle of conflicts for more than 65 years, spanning three civil wars…


Weapon Proliferation Challenges Biodiversity Protection in South Sudan

Jan 7, 2021 | Adrian Garside

The availability of Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW) is a factor in the decline of wildlife numbers due to their use in poaching and…


Gender Equality and Food Security in Rural South Asia

Jan 6, 2021 | Cindy Zhou

Globally, nearly 690 million people were hungry in 2019. Though the number of people who experience hunger in Asia has declined since 2015, the continent still…


Congress Continues to Affirm that Climate Security Is National Security

Jan 5, 2021 | Shana Udvardy

Last week Congress voted to override the president’s veto of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), enacting H.R. 6395, the “William M. (Mac) Thornberry” NDAA…


Gender Equality and Food Security in Rural South Asia: A Holistic Approach to the SDGs

Jan 4, 2021 | Cindy Zhou

Globally, nearly 690 million people were hungry in 2019. Though the number of people who experience hunger in Asia has declined since 2015, the continent still…


Women and Peacebuilding Can Help Reduce Poverty

Jan 3, 2021 | Kylar Cade

Violent conflict had been on the rise even before the onset of the pandemic. Fragility, conflict and violence (FCV) have already caused much suffering and…


Biden's Climate Plan Will Not Address Gender and Racial Inequality

Dec 28, 2020 | Greer Gosnell and Sara Hastings-Simon

Women and minorities have suffered disproportionately from the pandemic recession and must be part of any comprehensive recovery program. The Biden administration’s quest to green the…


Terror in a Renewed Era of Interstate Conflict — Bringing Climate Change Center Stage

Dec 28, 2020 | Mohammed Sinan Siyech

The year 2020 has been marked by COVID-19, a pandemic that took over the world and complicated the security landscape in various nations of South…


Women Working on the Front Line

Dec 23, 2020 | Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a crisis reaching far beyond health, challenging fundamental aspects of the ways we have previously arranged our social and economic…


Climate Change in the US Arctic: A Growing Concern for Homeland Defense?

Dec 21, 2020 | Agata Lavorio

Is climate change shaping U.S. Arctic posture? For much of its modern history, the U.S. has been considered a reluctant Arctic state, given its limited…


Tackling Gender Inequality Is ‘Crucial’ for Climate Adaptation

Dec 15, 2020 | Ayesha Tandon

Efforts to tackle gender inequality can play a key role in how countries adapt to the growing risks posed by climate change, a new study…


What Afghan Women Leaders Want You to Know about the Peace Talks

Dec 14, 2020 | The Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security

Peace talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban officially began in October of 2020, opening the possibility for ending to decades of violence through…


Visions Toward a Federal Land Governance System in Myanmar

Dec 11, 2020 | Transnational Institute

In Myanmar’s evolving transitional context, the land sector is particularly important and strategic: what happens here will have wide effects and long-term consequences. The country’s…


To Raise Ambition at the Climate Summit, Let’s Promote Quality Education - Especially for Girls

Dec 10, 2020 | Christina Kwauk and Lucia Fry

Last month, over 330 youth delegates to the Mock COP26 from over 140 countries signed a treaty of demands aimed at world leaders to address the greatest intergenerational equity…


Peacebuilding without Protection: Yemeni Women’s Barriers to Peace

Dec 10, 2020 | Nadia Ebrahim, Aïcha Madi, and Nesmah Mansoor

Women peacebuilders at the frontlines face multidimensional threats and violence in Yemen. The Peace Track Initiative’s staff can only deplore a lack of international awareness…


The Taliban Are Megarich – Here’s Where They Get the Money They Use to Wage War in Afghanistan

Dec 8, 2020 | Hanif Sufizada

The Taliban militants of Afghanistan have grown richer and more powerful since their fundamentalist Islamic regime was toppled by U.S. forces in 2001. In the…


Escalating Tigray Conflict Can Spiral into a Regional Water War

Dec 7, 2020 | Simon Wolfe

The power and communications blackouts that followed Ethiopia’s bombing of Tigray’s regional capital, Mekelle, are an ominous sign that this conflict is far from over…


In the Words of Riko Nagu: “In Order to Build an Inclusive Society and a Resilient Community both Women and Men Should Work Together.

Dec 3, 2020 | Anastasiia Tiurmenko

The IGNR project presents a series of articles, the heroines of which are local leaders who participated in the Traditional Governance and Facilitation Bill consultations…


How the Women, Peace and Security Agenda Must Change in Response to the Climate Crisis

Dec 3, 2020 | Carol Cohn and Claire Duncanson

The 20th anniversary of UNSCR 1325 in October this year has been an occasion of reflection for feminist peace activists around the world. What has…


New Constitution Could Help Chile Avert the Lithium Curse

Dec 3, 2020 | Matthew Gallagher

Chile is on the cusp of a new era. Just as its lithium—a common element of energy storage technology, which is itself a critical component…


Climate Change, National Security, & the New Commander-in-Chief

Dec 2, 2020 | Mark Nevitt

President-elect Joe Biden is 50 days away from assuming office as commander-in-chief. He has committed to taking bold, historic action on climate change and has…