Blogs & Opinions

Where Macro Meets Micro: How Climate Change Fuels Violent Extremism

Sep 11, 2019 | Tom Middendorp and Reinier Bergema

Climate change is a “direct and existential threat,” the Council of the European Union concluded in February 2019. In the past half-century, the most vulnerable—particularly…

Why Gender Matters in Climate Adaptation

Sep 10, 2019 | Bernadette Resurreccion

Climate change will not affect people equally. Those living through its most adverse effects will have contributed least to the problem and have fewer resources to adapt…

To Build Peace, Boost the Women Who Lead the Movements

Sep 10, 2019 | James Rupert

mages of this year’s grassroots movements for social and political change—such as the ouster of authoritarian rulers in Sudan and Algeria—reiterate that women worldwide are…

Making Their Voices Count: The African Women Protecting Their Land Rights

Sep 10, 2019 | Philippine Sutz

Ashura Juma Mnaula lives in the village of Marumbo in Tanzania. The divorced 38-year-old has three children and, like many women in her community, looks…

How Jordan's Climate and Water Crisis Threatens its Fragile Peace

Sep 9, 2019 | Caitlin Werrell and Francesco Femia

For years, security service recruitment has masked climate instability in rural Jordan. Now that strategy is breaking down and no one knows what will take…

CoP: Only 25% Nations Include Gender Discussions in Land Degradation Targets

Sep 9, 2019 | Shagun Kapil

Only around 20 of more than 80 countries have included discussions on the role of gender and women in their targets to halt land degradation…

Joining Forces to Empower Women in Senegal

Sep 9, 2019 | Maggie May

Where are the effects of climate change felt the strongest? 

West Africa shoulders some of the heaviest impacts created by climate change, particularly in communities where…

If Women, Peace and Security Agenda Is to Be More Than Words, Congress Must Stay Engaged

Sep 4, 2019 | Sahana Dharmapuri and Hans Hogrefe

On paper, proponents of the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda in the U.S. have a lot to celebrate. Twenty years after the international community…

Of Food, War and Ecology

Sep 4, 2019 | Julian Cribb

The most destructive implement on the Planet, without a doubt, is the human jawbone.  Every year, in the course of wolfing through 8.5 trillion meals,…

Heat-Related Illness Increasing among US Military Personnel

Aug 30, 2019 | Marc Kodack

Heat-related illnesses (heat stroke and heat exhaustion) have increased among U.S. military personnel since 2008 according to a July 23, 2019, investigative news story jointly…

Timor-Leste: Why Water Is More Important Than Oil

Aug 29, 2019 | Christopher Ryan

It’s a time of immense change for one of the world’s youngest nation-states: Timor-Leste, which gained independence on May 20, 2002. Timor-Leste faces multiple social,…

An EU Agenda for Climate Security

Aug 28, 2019 | Luca Bergamaschi

Responding to the unprecedented challenge posed by climate change will require all actors – including the defence and security community – to step outside their…

Iraq's Latest Oil Plan Could Upset the Entire Middle East

Aug 27, 2019 | Cyril Widdershoven

Washington’s advisors will need to get back soon to address a possible tripartite pipeline proposal of Iran, as it will not only be linked to…

"Black Gold" and Global Armed Conflicts

Aug 26, 2019 | Christina Kitova

By August 1942 the Germans soon faced a conundrum: mass their forces and turn south to capture the oil, or continue driving west to capture…

"First They Grabbed Our Land with Guns; Now They Are Using the Law"

Aug 26, 2019 | Transnational Institute

A Commentary by TNI on the Right to Land of People Displaced by War and Militarization: Displaced people in Myanmar have been suffering layer upon layer…

Climate Change in Iraq Threatens to Wipe Out Years of Progress after Decades of Conflict

Aug 23, 2019

War-weary Iraqis are cautiously optimistic that reconstruction and economic diversification are finally on horizon after decades of conflict. But planners, policymakers and citizens alike find…

The Iraq-Turkey Pipeline Dispute: Opportunity in an Arbitration

Aug 22, 2019 | Richard Kraemer

Fatigue and frustration aside, U.S. focus and engagement in Iraq remains critical to the national- and energy-security interests of the United States and its allies.…

In Myanmar, Better Oversight of Forests a Vital Step in Transition to Rule of Law

Aug 20, 2019 | Art Blundell

For the first time, the Myanmar Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (MEITI) has opened the books to share information with the public on revenue Myanmar’s government collects…

Of Pine Trees & Payloads: Environmental Damage during an Armed Conflict

Aug 19, 2019 | Sonia Ahmad

Following the recent armed stand-off between two nuclear-armed states with a combined population of 1.5 billion people earlier this year, the felling of 15 pine…

A Generation in Limbo: Protracted Refugee Situations in Kenya Must Be Addressed

Aug 15, 2019 | John Thon Majok

The 1951 Refugee Convention spells out refugee rights, including the right to freedom of movement. Yet 68 years later, 15.9 million people are trapped in prolonged exile,…

Iraq and Kuwait Are Beginning a Beautiful Friendship

Aug 15, 2019 | Bobby Gosh

Last month, Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi declared that “the future prospects are far greater than the fears and obstacles between the two countries.” Earlier…

In Search of Consensus on Climate-Conflict Links

Aug 12, 2019 | Cullen Hendrix and John O'Laughlin

What do we (think we) know about the links between climate change and armed conflict? Early attempts to theorize what climate-related conflict might look like…

Water to Cause Future Wars, as in the Past

Aug 9, 2019 | Jarius Bondoc

Future wars will be fought over water, experts say. Rivers and lakes will dry up from global warming. Seafood stocks will dwindle as ocean temperatures…

Women's Participation in Myanmar's Peace Process

Aug 8, 2019 | Akanksha Khullar

For years, women in Myanmar have been powerful advocates for comprehensive peace and good governance, calling for reconciliation and democratic transition; demanding legislations that protect…

Support African Women Working in Agriculture

Aug 8, 2019 | Esther Ngumbi

As South Africa commemorates Women’s Month, the country will reflect on the progress made in achieving gender equality and main-streaming the gender agenda across all…

South Africa: How More Women in Agriculture Will End Food Security, Tackle Land Reform

Aug 8, 2019

Addressing gender disparities in the agricultural sector is a prerequisite to increasing women and youth participation in the sector, creating much-needed employment opportunities and ensuring…

Green Technology's Dark Side

Aug 7, 2019 | Ronald Stein

The hype these days is to stop using those dirty fossil fuel driven cars and trucks and convert everyone to those clean electric vehicles. But…

Agriculture's Secret Weapon: Empowering Women

Aug 6, 2019 | Patrick Galey and Laure Fillon

Women farmers face the brunt of the threat posed by climate change, yet they may hold the key to helping limit its fallout, according to…

Blood Diamonds and Land Corruption in Sierra Leone

Aug 2, 2019 | Transparency International

A deep abyss punctures the southern suburbs of Koidu Town, one of the largest cities in Sierra Leone. The giant pit, vast processing plants and…

The Human Cost of Amber

Aug 2, 2019 | Katharine Gammon

For scientists, amber is thrilling. It preserves ancient organisms in incredible detail, down to the veins in insect wings and the lenses on fly eyes.…