Blogs & Opinions

SEC Issues a Call for Comments on All Aspects of the Conflict Minerals Rule

Feb 6, 2017 | Sarah A. Altschuller

On January 31, the Acting Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), Michael Piwowar, issued an call for comments with regard to the conflict…

Global Water and National Security: Why the Time Is Now

Feb 6, 2017 | Sherri Goodman, Ruth Greenspan Bell, Nausheen Iqbal

During the 2016 campaign President Trump stated that clean water would be a top priority of his administration, telling ScienceDebate.org “it may be the most important issue…

SEC Acting Chairman Directs Reconsideration of Conflict Minerals Rule

Feb 6, 2017 | Andrew Brady, Brian V. Breheny, Hagen Ganem, Caroline Kim, Justin Kisner, Josh LaGrange, and Emily Prezioso

The acting chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Michael S. Piwowar, yesterday released two public statements concerning the conflict minerals rule applicable…

Will Central Asia Fight over Water Resources?

Feb 6, 2017 | Fuad Shahbazov

Water has always been a major cause of wars and border conflicts in the Central Asian region. For being one of the greatest geographical regions,…

Is It Time to Roll Back the Conflict Minerals Rule?

Feb 5, 2017 | Gary Emmanuel

It’s well documented that conflict over lucrative mining operations in the Democratic Republic of Congo is a major driver of brutal violence, forced labor, rape and other…

Confronting Global Security in an Era of Water Instabilities

Feb 3, 2017 | Kris Hartley, Cecilia Tortajada, and Asit K. Biswas

Political instability complicated by water security threats compromises America’s ability to navigate global security challenges. The state of global security and stability appears more precarious…

What’s the Future for the Conflict Minerals Rule?

Feb 3, 2017 | Rob Bates

The controversial Dodd-Frank Section 1502 will likely be weakened by the new administration. Just as there is much uncertainty over how the new administration will handle conflict…

Final Text of the EU Conflict Minerals Regulation

Feb 3, 2017 | Graham J. Stuart, Rachel Barlow, and Aurella Smith-Anthony

On 24 January 2017, the European Parliament's Committee on International Trade (INTA) approved the final compromise text of the EU's long awaited Conflict Minerals Regulation.…

Chairman Piwowar’s Statement on SECs Conflict Minerals Rule – We Could Have Seen It Coming

Feb 2, 2017 | Dynda A. Thomas

In a move that has already been widely reported, on January 31, 2017, the SEC’s Acting Chairman Michael Piwowar issued a statement on the SECs conflict minerals rule,…

Trump, ISIS and Iraqi Oil

Jan 27, 2017 | Eugene Kiely

President Donald Trump claimed that the Islamic State, or ISIS, would not exist if the U.S. “kept the oil when we got out” of Iraq.…

Trump, Iraqi Oil and International Law

Jan 27, 2017 | Sarah Saadoun

In an interview with ABC News anchor David Muir on January 25, 2017, President Donald Trump repeated his position that the United States “should have taken the oil” from Iraq during…

Food Security: How Drought and Rising Prices Led to Conflict in Syria

Jan 26, 2017 | Aled Jones

But what [Charlotte Church] said was correct – and there will be an increasing convergence of climate, food, economic and political crises in the coming…

Why Iraq Needs the Oil

Jan 25, 2017 | Jack Watling

Baghdad’s control of Iraq’s provinces is, in part, based on its custodianship of the country’s petrodollars, with the oil sector contributing up to 99 percent…

Famine Isn't Just a Result of Conflict—It's a Cause

Jan 25, 2017 | Justa Hopma

The relationship between food insecurity and conflict is almost so logical that it appears to state the obvious: Conditions of food insecurity contribute to the…

Conflict Minerals in 2017 – What’s New?

Jan 25, 2017 | Dynda A. Thomas

It’s January 2017, and some believe it will be the last year for the SECs conflict minerals rule.

President Trump’s inclination to roll back regulation reduces or…

Does Myanmar Need a Gemstone Law?

Jan 25, 2017 | Paul Shortell

In July 2016, Myanmar’s government took the positive step of suspending jade and gemstone licensing until relevant laws could be reviewed and an environmental management plan for…

Water Wars: Hedging Bets in the South China Sea

Jan 20, 2017 | Chris Mirasola

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe followed last week’s trip to Manila with a busy schedule of state visits to Canberra, Jakarta, and Hanoi reaffirming Japan’s role in…

The Power of Cocoa: Preserving Peace - and an Indigenous Tribe - in Colombia

Jan 17, 2017 | Lutheran World Relief

Now that an agreement has been reached between the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), the current generation of Colombian youth…

Leading Jewelry Manufacturer Richline Group States Public Support for Conflict Minerals Regulations

Jan 17, 2017 | Enough Team

On January 9th, the Richline Group released a statement voicing strong support for Section 1502, the conflict minerals provision of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer…

Land Grabs are Partly to Blame for Skyrocketing Violence in Central America

Jan 16, 2017 | Saskia Sassen

In 2013, San Pedro Sula in Honduras was the world’s murder capital, with a murder rate of 187 murders per 100,000 inhabitants, driven by a surge in gang…

Water Wars: Sparks (and Planes) Fly as Countries Contest Access to the Seas

Jan 13, 2017 | Chris Mirasola

After a period of (relative) quiet last week, Beijing returned to the center of action in the East and South China Seas. The Liaoning aircraft carrier…

Adapting NATO to Climate Change, and the Economic Benefits of the 1.5-Degree Limit

Jan 13, 2017 | Sreya Panuganti

In his dissertation, Tyler H. Lippert of the Pardee RAND Graduate School explains how the transboundary security impacts of climate change will both challenge and elevate…

Backdraft Revisited: The Conflict Potential of Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation

Jan 12, 2017 | Lauren Herzer Risi

Whether or not we respond to climate change – and the security implications of that decision – is a major public policy question. But increasingly…

For Rural Afghan Women, Agriculture Holds the Potential for Better Jobs

Jan 12, 2017 | Anuja Kar and Mansur Ahmed

In Afghanistan, agriculture continues to be the backbone of the rural economy – about 70% of the population in rural areas is engaged in on-farm…

The Impact of War on Syrian Water is So Vast, You Can See it from Space

Jan 9, 2017 | Kieran Cooke

A new study by researchers at California’s Stanford University has found that the ongoing war has caused a dramatic change in river flows and water availability both…

Missing Voices: Let's Hear Women's Experiences of Climate Change

Jan 6, 2017 | Anne Schulthess

Attending the UN climate talks feels like a big deal. Despite having been in the climate change movement for some years, Bonn was my first…

Legalizing Opium Won't Work for Afghanistan

Jan 5, 2017 | Adam Wunische

In recent months, a debate has been raging over what to do about poppy cultivation in the country. Some are reviving old arguments in favor…

To Avoid the "Conflict Trap", Myanmar Should Protect Its Forests

Jan 4, 2017 | Michael Jenkins and Art Blundell

About a third of Myanmar’s population depend on forests for their livelihoods, and effectively managed forests could make a significant contribution to these livelihoods, and…

The Plan to Dam Asia’s Last Free-Flowing, International River

Jan 4, 2017 | Diana Suhardiman

Thousands of protesters gathered in Myanmar’s North Kachin state on October 4, as fresh violence and clashes between ethnic groups continue to mar the ongoing peace process. But hopes…

Indus Waters Treaty: Hope Despite Rising Tensions

Jan 2, 2017 | Bilal Hussain

With tensions looming high, there is dwindling hope of cooperation between the water-sharing nations of the Indus Basin. The two nuclear states of South Asia,…