Blogs & Opinions

Forest Rights Create New Livelihoods in Myanmar

Dec 4, 2017 | Duncan Macqueen

It is impossible to talk about Myanmar without acknowledging the persecution of the Rohingya by the country's armed forces over which the NLD, Aung San…

From Disaster Risk Reduction to Sustainable Peace: Reducing Vulnerability and Preventing Conflict at the Local Level

Dec 4, 2017 | Florian Krampe and Roberta Scassa

The summer of 2017 was a stark reminder that climate change exacerbates both the intensity and frequency of natural disasters—and that the most vulnerable people…

War Has Made Afghanistan's $1 Trillion in Minerals Worthless

Nov 27, 2017 | Eric Schewe

Middle East observers surfaced last month to remind the American public that the United States’ war in Afghanistan had entered its seventeenth year. This makes…

Absence of Water Diplomacy Leads to Ecological Disasters

Nov 27, 2017 | Financial Tribune

Many environmental challenges such as drought and dust storms are the outcomes of ineffective past water diplomacy, an expert on geopolitics said. Mohammad Hossein Papoli Yazdi,…

From Conflict to Climate Change, Are Policy Responses to Food Insecurity Getting Smarter?

Nov 27, 2017 | Ellen Laipson

This week, many Americans savor the seasonal culinary delights of Thanksgiving, while around the world, food insecurity is on the rise, particularly in places suffering…

From Coca to Cacao: Colombia Pushes Farmers to Exit Cocaine Trade

Nov 20, 2017 | Michelle Begue

Colombia says it sees an opening to end its infamous cocaine trade. The government is enticing farmers to change their crops from coca to cacao.…

Climate Change, Food Security and Sustaining Peace

Nov 16, 2017 | Florian Krampe

‘We have succeeded at keeping famine at bay, we have not kept suffering at bay’, said UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres while briefing members of the…

Using Science Diplomacy in the South China Sea

Nov 16, 2017 | James Borton

Despite White House efforts to deny well-established climate change reports and U.S. withdrawal from the 2015 Paris Climate Accord, most might question the wisdom of…

Momentum Continues to Grow in UN Study on Laws Protecting Environment in Conflict

Nov 13, 2017 | Doug Weir

The International Law Commission (ILC) is mandated by the UN with the progressive development and codification of international law, and added the topic ‘Protection of…

South China Sea Needs Science Diplomacy Policy

Nov 8, 2017 | James Borton

Despite White House efforts to deny well-established climate change reports, coupled with US withdrawal from the 2015 Paris Climate Accord, most might question the wisdom…

A Toxic Legacy: Remediating Pollution in Iraq

Nov 7, 2017 | Wim Zwijnenburg

As the so-called Islamic State loses control over the areas it once occupied, it is leaving behind a toxic legacy.  The initial findings of a scoping mission undertaken…

When the Sheep Turn Black, War's Toxic Legacy Can No Longer Be Ignored

Nov 6, 2017 | Erik Solheim

The smoke that billowed from the burning oil fields was so thick it blocked out the sun. By the time I reached Qayyarah, where Islamic State fighters…

Governments Can No Longer Ignore War’s Impact on People - and Planet

Nov 6, 2017 | Doug Weir

Since its inception in 2001, the United Nations' International Day for Preventing the Exploitation of the Environment in War and Armed Conflict on November 6th has mainly…

War-Related Damage to Environment Devastating for Health, Well-Being, Secretary-General Says in International Observance Message

Nov 6, 2017 | UN

War is a dirty business.  Smoke plumes from burning oil wells, looted industrial facilities, abandoned munitions and collapsed buildings are among the hallmarks of conflict.…

Joint #envconflictday Statement: Protecting the Environment, Protecting People

Nov 6, 2017 | Doug Weir

NGOs and leading experts have used the United Nation’s International Day for Preventing the Exploitation of the Environment in War and Armed Conflict to call for greater…

Confronting Climate Change as an Accelerator of Crisis

Nov 6, 2017 | Kishan Khoday and Oscar Ekdahl

More frequent and severe droughts, millions at risk of famine, the spread of conflict and mass displacement - these are the challenges of our time…

With New Peace, Colombia Finds Hope for Saving its Wild Lands

Oct 27, 2017 | Lisa Palmer

Brandishing automatic rifles, the guerilla fighters ordered Andrés Cuervo to leave his camping gear and research notes at the abandoned wooden house where he had…

Water Knowledge in Afghanistan: Weak but Growing Stronger

Oct 26, 2017 | John Shroder and Sher Jan Ahmadzai

Water is absolutely critical to woefully arid Afghanistan, yet few people really know very much about their precious fluid.  The natural physics and the different chemistry…

Iraqis and Kurds Compete for Oil Deals, Gulf States Still Fighting PR War in Washington, Deadly Ambush in Egypt

Oct 26, 2017 | J. Dana Stuster

The pressure is continuing to mount on Iraqi Kurdistan. After Iraqi forces pressed into Kirkuk last week, Baghdad and its regional partners have cinched their cordon around…

Pressure on Colombia to Forcibly Eradicate Coca Could Spur Human Rights Violations: Think Tank

Oct 24, 2017 | Jack Norman

US support for Colombia’s peace process will backfire unless counter-narcotics policies are implemented with much greater patience, according to a new report from a major…

Water as a Basic Human Right Within the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

Oct 24, 2017 | Erika Weinthal

In the Middle East, water often crosses political borders; because water is a shared resource, its effective management demands cooperation among different users. In the…

Hazardous Legacies: An Open-Source Overview of the Destruction of Deir ez-Zor’s Oil Industry

Oct 20, 2017 | Wim Zwijnenburg

Now that the so-called Islamic State (IS) is rapidly losing terrain in eastern Syria, a race is underway to capture the oil-rich Deir ez-Zor governorate.…

The Environmental Consequences of the Use of Armed Drones

Oct 20, 2017 | Doug Weir

To date, debate over the implications of the growing use of armed drones has focused on human rights, on the expansion of the use of…

Who is Behind the Recent Rise of Genetically Modified Poppy in Afghanistan?

Oct 20, 2017 | Irfan Takalvi

During the past two to two and half decades Afghanistan, under various regimes that controlled parts of the country, poppy has globally been highlighted as…

Colombia’s Frontlines of the Drug War: Cauca

Oct 20, 2017 | Adriaan Alsema

Colombian authorities are combating cocaine production in some of the most remote regions. Cauca is one of the long-neglected areas where the drug trade has fueled political…

Climate Change, Food Security and Sustaining Peace

Oct 18, 2017 | Florian Krampe

‘We have succeeded at keeping famine at bay, we have not kept suffering at bay’, said UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres while briefing members of the…

Myanmar’s Evolving Maritime Security Landscape

Oct 18, 2017 | Rajni Gamage

Myanmar links South and Southeast Asia and lies on maritime shipping routes from the Indian and Pacific Oceans. A key pillar of its national development…

The Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons: Assisting Victims and Remediating the Environment

Oct 17, 2017 | Elizabeth Minor

In a remarkable achievement this summer, States concluded negotiations on the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW). Having opened for signature in September, the TPNW…

Could Oil Bring the World to Finally Support the Kurds?

Oct 17, 2017 | Ellen R. Wald

One month after the KRG voted in favor of a referendum to seek independence from Iraq, Baghdad finally responded. In the early morning hours of…

On Trump, Afghanistan, and the Plunder Doctrine

Oct 16, 2017 | Kate Harveston

Plunder. It’s a word typically reserved for the likes of pirates, but it seems somehow appropriate when used next to the name Donald Trump. Perhaps…