Blogs & Opinions

Congo’s Next Big Crisis

Jul 23, 2017 | Ulrika Blom

DR Congo made headlines this year as it topped the charts for the world’s highest number of people fleeing conflict internally. This year could see…

Beware the Illusion of South China Sea Calm

Jul 21, 2017 | Prashanth Parameswaran

A year after the supposedly game-changing arbitral tribunal ruling on the Philippines’ South China Sea case against China, the region appears to have entered another…

Timber Imports from Conflict Countries to EU Increasing

Jul 19, 2017 | Jade Saunders and Marigold Norman

EU timber imports from conflict countries, which are at high risk of being illegal, have increased 14 percent, despite the European Union’s Timber Regulation (EUTR)…

Smugglers Take Sheen From Uganda’s Bright Gold Refinery

Jul 19, 2017 | Joseph Burite

African Gold Refinery, a Ugandan company, expects to process $1 billion worth of gold a year but is battling would-be smugglers turning to the precious…

This is Not the Time for Kurdish Independence

Jul 18, 2017 | Daniel Serwer

With the Islamic State near defeat in Syria and Iraq, the urgent and sanguinary is crowding out the merely important: the referendum on Iraqi Kurdistan’s independence,…

How Armed Conflicts Impact the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions

Jul 18, 2017 | Doug Weir

Since 1989, the Basel Convention, and later the Rotterdam and Stockholm conventions, have played an important role in international efforts to minimise the health and…

How Climate Change Denial Threatens National Security

Jul 17, 2017 | Nick Stockton

In a cramped meeting room Wednesday on Capitol Hill, House Democrats hosted a roundtable to discuss climate change with several national security experts. In attendance were two former…

How Men Can Promote Gender-Inclusive Disaster Risk Reduction

Jul 13, 2017 | Alex Rohlwing

Gender’s importance and the vital roles played by women in all facets of development, humanitarian aid, and disaster response are increasingly recognized. But recognition is…

National Security Implications of Climate Change

Jul 13, 2017 | John Campbell

Climate change certainly has direct implications for the security of the United States, which other participants are exploring this afternoon.  But, we Americans must also…

War of Words Heats up between Iran and Afghanistan over Water Resources

Jul 12, 2017 | Dominic Dudley

A long-running diplomatic squabble between Iran and Afghanistan over shared water resources appears to be intensifying, with the two countries’ presidents trading barbs in speeches…

Afghanistan- Editorial: Smart Move

Jul 12, 2017 | Afghanistan Times

Surely, land grabbing is a lucrative, but black business. In the past 16 years, land grabbing has become a permanent feature of Afghanistan's landscape, at…

Could DRC’s Resource Wealth be the Key to Ending Its Conflicts too?

Jul 10, 2017 | Keith Slack

Africa watchers will know that the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is once again poised on the verge of violent conflagration.  How the country got there and…

The Potentially Profound and Widespread Consequences of September's Kurdish Independence Vote

Jul 9, 2017 | Feisal Amin Rasoul Al-Istrabadi

There is so little doubt that the referendum called for September on Kurdish independence from Iraq will pass overwhelmingly that it seems a waste of…

Land Committees: An Opportunity for Inclusion

Jul 7, 2017 | Caitlin Pierce and Ye Yint Htun

Of the long list of legacy woes leftover to the new government after decades of military rule, the issue of land confiscation is one of…

Demining Workshop Helps Families in Afghanistan Return Home Safely

Jul 3, 2017 | Amy OHalloran

People in many communities across Afghanistan face daily dangers from landmines and unexploded ordnance that remain behind as a deadly legacy of over four decades…

Why the New Conflict-Free Gold Program May Be about Far More

Jul 3, 2017 | Rob Bates

Most mineral-tracking schemes—and we have covered quite a few—have a serious downside: They generally work with established mining companies. That threatens the artisanal sector, the…

Whose Responsibility is it Anyway? Environmental Obligations in the Nuclear Ban Treaty

Jun 30, 2017 | Doug Weir

We’re just over halfway through the negotiations on a treaty banning nuclear weapons and, while some campaigners and states seem generally happy with the progress being made on…

Costs of Conflict Minerals Compliance (1 of 3) - Why Lower than Expected?

Jun 30, 2017 | Dynda A. Thomas

The out-of-pocket costs of compliance with the SEC conflict minerals rule have been lower than those originally estimated by industry and by the SEC. But,…

The DRC is Revisiting its Mining Code. Why Reform is Long Overdue

Jun 30, 2017 | Ben Radley

The government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) recently announced plans to reintroduce the shelved changes to the country’s mining code. The current mining code,…

Global Rights, Local Struggles: Barriers to Women's Participation in Community Land Decision-Making

Jun 28, 2017 | Celine Salcedo-La Vina

Seven women quietly filed in and sat on the rough cement floor of the tiny stone block house. We were in a small, dusty village…

Water Wars: The South China Sea Security Dialogue That Wasn’t

Jun 26, 2017 | Jared Dummitt and Eliot Kim

The United States and China participated in the inaugural U.S.-China Diplomatic and Security Dialogue (D&SD) on Wednesday in Washington, D.C.. The negotiations were initially launched by President…

Colombian Town Votes against Huge Open-Pit Mine

Jun 22, 2017 | Michelle Begue

In 2006, a discovery in the small Colombian town called Cajamarca would change its future. Julio Roberto Vargas a community leader of the region, said…

The UN Wants to Respond to Climate Change and Prevent Conflict, but When?

Jun 21, 2017 | Jonathan Rozen

Climate change, civil conflict, and violent extremism are among the most significant threats to global human development, peace, and security. UN-led plans to address all…

Coming Kurdish Vote Could Change the Mid East & Oil Markets as We Know It

Jun 15, 2017 | Ellen R. Wald

The Kurds are a distinct ethnic group of people living in parts of Iraq, Turkey, Iran and Syria. Over the past thirty-five years they have…

Water and Conflict: Fighting Wars over a Precious Resource

Jun 14, 2017 | Peter Neill

We have been fighting wars over the most valuable resource on the planet since thousands of years B.C. We speak today of water wars as…

Food Insecurity Strains Deepen amid Civil Conflict and Drought

Jun 13, 2017 | UN Food and Agriculture Organisation

8 June 2017, Rome--Large agricultural harvests in some regions of the world are buoying global food supply conditions, but protracted fighting and unrest are increasing…

Penn State Experts Promote Cacao as an Alternative to Illicit Crops in Colombia

Jun 9, 2017 | David Pacchioli

As codirectors of Penn State’s endowed cocoa research program and professors in the College of Agriculture, Mark Guiltinan and Siela Maximova work together all over…

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

Jun 9, 2017 | Jane Harman & 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…

Beyond Humanitarian Hand-outs: Sowing the Seeds of Food Security in Syria

Jun 6, 2017 | Dr. Anas Al Kaddour

Is it possible in the Syria conflict for humanitarian responders to look beyond immediate humanitarian assistance into resilience-focused work? It can seem near impossible, especially…

Understanding Gender, Conflict and the Environment

Jun 5, 2017 | Doug Weir

Last year’s landmark UNEA-2 resolution on conflict and the environment, the most significant of its kind since 1992, was the product of tough negotiations. Fortunately…