Blogs & Opinions

Kidapawan, Climate Change and Conflict

Mar 27, 2017 | Laurence Delina

With another El Niño projected to form this year, one can wonder if policymakers have done proper analyses of the ways in which climate change…

To Defeat Terrorism In Afghanistan, Start With Opium Crops in Nangarhar Province

Mar 26, 2017 | Anders Corr

This month, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) claimed an attack on a military hospital in Kabul, killing more than 40 civilians and defenseless patients. The…

Keeping Myanmar's Lights On

Mar 25, 2017 | Tony Nash

Myanmar is one of the world's fastest growing economies, with projected annual growth of 7.8% in gross domestic product for the financial year to March…

Why Our Human Rights Depend on Turning Conflict into Conservation

Mar 24, 2017 | Alex Reid

Biodiversity hotspots cover just 1.4% of the planet’s surface, yet 80% of major armed conflicts between 1950 and 2000 occurred in these areas. This figure should…

Ken Conca on the Good, Bad, and Ugly of Water Conflict and Cooperation

Mar 24, 2017 | Lauren Herzer Risi

In international development, conflict is often used as shorthand for violent conflict, and avoiding conflict is considered a priority. But “it’s important to recognize that…

European Conflict Minerals Regulation — Details on What EU Importers Must Do

Mar 22, 2017 | Dynda A. Thomas and Christina Economides

The proposed European Union conflict minerals regulation has almost reached the last step before becoming an official EU regulation. On March 16, 2017, the European…

Advancing U.S. Prosperity and Security in a Thirsty World

Mar 22, 2017 | Jane Harman and Carter Roberts

The waters of Lake Chad sustain 70 million people in four countries. Beginning in the 1970s, the 25,000-square-kilometer lake began shrinking due to excessive drawdown…

Hydropower Threatens Peace in Myanmar -- But It Doesn't Have To

Mar 22, 2017 | Noah Kittner and Kensuke Yamaguchi

Myanmar faces a critical moment for investment decision-making. The Barack Obama administration's move to lift sanctions on the Southeast Asian country has opened up new…

Industry Divided Over Future of US Conflict Minerals Rule

Mar 21, 2017 | Kelly Franklin

Companies and industries affected by the US conflict minerals rule have different views on whether the conflict minerals reporting rule should be maintained, modified or…

Afghanistan’s Water Plans Complicated by Worried Neighbors

Mar 20, 2017 | Elizabeth B. Hessami

More than 40 years ago, the Soviet Union attempted to harness hydropower to modernize Afghanistan. Between 1960 and 1968, they poured money and technical knowledge…

Julia McQuaid on the Complex Link Between Water and Conflict in the Middle East and North Africa

Mar 17, 2017 | Benjamin Dills

Does global water stress matter for U.S. national security, and if so, how? That’s a major focus of the next CNA Military Advisory Board report, says Julia…

How Minerals Fuel Conflicts in Africa

Mar 17, 2017 | Nicolas Berman, Mathieu Couttenier, Dominic Rohner, and Mathias Thoenig

Fighting groups have long understood how important it is to secure a stable stream of financial resources in order to sustain the fighting effort over…

Mattis Latest in Succession of Senior Military Leaders to Warn About Climate Change

Mar 17, 2017 | Schuyler Null

This week, newly minted Secretary of Defense James Mattis joined a long list of senior U.S. military leaders who have warned about the national security threats of…

In the Face of Colombia’s Coca Boom, Coffee and Cocoa Farming Offer a Remedy

Mar 16, 2017 | Huffington Post

Colombia, still in a delicate phase of its history as it struggles to revive from five decades of war, is seeing a dramatic rise in…

Water and War

Mar 16, 2017 | Mark Zeitoun

Water is a human right, but too often one of the causes and tools of today’s wars. If we confront the politics behind the scenes…

Conflict Minerals Rule Legal Challenge: Done and Done

Mar 15, 2017 | Dynda Thomas

“Hear ye, Hear ye.”  The parties to the legal challenge of the SECs conflict minerals rule have agreed that no further court proceedings are necessary…

Expand the Indus Waters Treaty to Make Peace

Mar 15, 2017 | Ashok Swain

Water scarcity is a serious and growing security challenge for South Asian countries. The twin pressures of population growth and climate change are further intensifying…

How Trump Can Understand the Dangers We Face in the "Age of Consequences"

Mar 14, 2017 | Jordan Brunner

The Climate Security Act of 2007 was introduced by Senator Joe Lieberman and Senator John Warner, both members of the Senate Armed Services Committee keenly…

The Streetlight Effect in Climate-Conflict Research on Africa

Mar 14, 2017 | Cullen Hendrix

Climate change research on Africa has a streetlight problem: researchers tend to invest more attention on former British colonies and countries with relatively open, stable political…

Myanmar’s Toxic Legacy of Large Dams

Mar 14, 2017 | Beth Walker

In September spectacular drone footage revealed the beauty of the waterfalls, rapids, ancient temples and islets of the Nam Pang River, a tributary of the…

Trump's Case for Taking the Oil and Obama's State-Building Failure in Iraq

Mar 13, 2017 | Carlo Jose Vicente Caro

A few weeks ago General Jim Mattis was in Baghdad to analyze the security and political situation there. While there, he told reporters, "We're not in…

New Data on Ukraine Conflict's Environmental Risks Supports Calls for Comprehensive Assessment

Mar 13, 2017 | Toxic Remnants of War Network

With the threats that the Ukraine conflict poses to the environment once again in the news, Zoï Environment Network has released new maps on the…

15 Years of Environmental Peacemaking: Overcoming Challenges and Identifying Opportunities for Cooperation

Mar 13, 2017 | Sreya Panuganti

As the 1990s drew to a close, there was a sense that much of the momentum gained at the first Earth Summit on sustainable development, a positive,…

Ecocide: The Need for a New International Law to Criminalise the Destruction of the Environment

Mar 12, 2017 | Harry Wright

In 2015, our planet witnessed one of the worst environmental crimes in history, the burning and incineration of the Indonesian rainforest perpetrated allegedly by palm…

Water Filtration Plants and Risks of a Chlorine Mass-Casualty Event in Donetsk

Mar 10, 2017 | Wim Zwijnenburg

Chlorine is one of the most widely produced chemicals, and used for many industrial and household applications. Weaponized chlorine has gained more popularity among State and…

From Conflict to Communities: Forests in Liberia

Mar 10, 2017 | John C. Cannon

Charles Taylor, who led the rebellion that began in 1989, funneled revenue from selling timber, as well as diamonds, iron ore, and rubber, into weapons…

Water Wars: Sun and Sand in the South China Sea

Mar 10, 2017 | Jimmy Chalk and Sarah Grant

China claimed progress on a Code of Conduct for the South China Sea this week, and the country’s bold plans to turn the Paracels into…

What the Potential Repeal of Dodd-Frank Means for Conflict Minerals

Mar 9, 2017 | Jabil

The Dodd-Frank Act was signed into law in 2010 as a response to the 2008 financial crisis. As the most far-reaching Wall Street reform in…

Future of DR Congo Mining Could Be on Rocky Ground if US Dodd Frank 1502 Rolled Back

Mar 7, 2017 | Laura Angela Bagnetto

The future of mining in the Democratic Republic of Congo could be changed forever as watchdog agencies, Congolese non-governmental organizations, and American businesses are watching…

Here's Why Nations Go to War Over Water

Mar 6, 2017 | George Friedman and Allison Fedirka

Access to and control over water is a strategic imperative for all countries. As such, it has been a source of conflict throughout history.

Water access…