Blogs & Opinions

Coffee: A Pillar of Peace in South Sudan and Africa

Sep 7, 2015 | John Prendergast

Four years after independence there is very little to celebrate in South Sudan. Border and land disputes continue to strain ties, and given other high-visibility…

The Improbability of a Water War in South Asia

Sep 6, 2015 | Manu Moudgil

Water wars in South Asia are unlikely due to well-etched treaties and economic compulsions. If there is ever to be a Third World War, many believe it…

Red Cross: Water Continues to Be Used as Weapon of War in Syria

Sep 3, 2015 | Schuyler Null

Water is being used as a weapon of war on one of Syria’s deadliest battlegrounds, says the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and its…

Gold Fever Grips Uganda

Sep 3, 2015 | Rodney Muhumuza

The hunt for gold takes the men 100 metres underground, past contraptions of wood and rope rigged to function like pulleys, past hard rock that…

How History Shaped China's Water Crisis

Sep 3, 2015 | David Pietz

During the hot, dry month of August 1992 the farmers of Baishan village in Hebei province and Panyang village in Henan came to blows. Residents…

The Turkish-Kurdish Energy Deal Could Pave Way for Iraq’s Breakup

Aug 31, 2015 | Ozan Serdaroglu

When they signed an energy agreement in November 2013, the Turkish AKP (Justice and Development) government and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) of Northern Iraq…

KRG Oil Sales and its Bid for Independence

Aug 30, 2015 | Paul Iddon

A report in the Financial Times last week indicated that in recent months most of Israel's oil has come from the oil fields of Iraqi Kurdistan, part…

Oil is Islamic State’s Lifeblood

Aug 28, 2015 | Noah Feldman

The battle for Baiji, site of one of Iraq’s major oil refineries, is heating up again. Since May, Islamic State fighters have been chipping away…

Which States Are Progressive on Conflict and the Environment?

Aug 28, 2015 | Doug Weir

The first tentative moves to strengthen legal protection for the environment before, during and after armed conflict are underway – and not before time. With…

Could Natural Resource Revenue Sharing Help Secure Peace in Myanmar?

Aug 27, 2015 | Andrew Bauer and Maw Htun Aung

On 8 November, Myanmar will vote for a new government. Much is at stake.

Many analysts expect Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) to win the…

How Natural Resources Breed Violence

Aug 27, 2015 | Economist

Africa is home to a tenth of the planet’s oil, a third of its mineral reserves and produces two-thirds of its diamonds. High prices may…

What Does Climate Change Mean to China's Security?

Aug 26, 2015 | RP Siegel

A recent report by Zheng Haibin, a professor at Peking University, highlights the potential impact of climate change on China’s national security. Haibin claims that climate…

Conservation in Conflict Zones: Protecting Peace and Biodiversity in Colombia

Aug 25, 2015 | Brittany Ajroud

With a new peace process underway between the Colombian government and leaders of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) in Cuba, the spotlight is back on…

Violence Over Land in Darfur Demands We Look Again at Links Between Natural Resources and Conflict

Aug 24, 2015 | Brendan Bromwich

Given that there have been three major peace processes in Sudan’s troubled western province of Darfur, the current escalation of violence indicates that perhaps something…

Tin is the Biggest Conflict Mineral: GAO

Aug 21, 2015 | Emily Chasan

Tin may pose the biggest challenge for companies looking to rid their supply chains of “conflict minerals” blamed for funding violence in the Democratic Republic…

Water Wars and Migration of Peoples Go to Eastern Europe?

Aug 20, 2015 | ABC

In 2015 it became apparent that the Middle East syndrome (increased tension and conflict in connection with the reduction of water resources) begins to spread…

China’s Ongoing Game of Chess in Southeast Asia

Aug 20, 2015 | Eliza King

As China continues to expand into a superpower large enough to one day rival the United States, the support and cooperation of Southeast Asian countries…

Decentralisation Key to Ending Water Wars

Aug 19, 2015 | Nipon Poapongsakorn and Nujpanit Narkpitaks

Water is the lifeblood of agriculture. It has significant impacts on the livelihood of millions of Thai farmers. Early on in rainy season this year,…

The World’s Hot Spot

Aug 19, 2015 | Thomas Friedman

Here’s a bet about the future of Sunni, Shiite, Arab, Turkish, Kurdish and Israeli relations: If they don’t end their long-running conflicts, Mother Nature is…

D.C. Circuit Voids SEC “Conflict Minerals” Policy on First Amendment Grounds (Again)

Aug 18, 2015 | Jonathan H. Adler

This morning, a divided panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit again concluded that the Securities and Exchange Commission’s “conflict minerals”…

Healing Waters From Hebron to Gaza

Aug 17, 2015 | Kate Rothschild

For millennia the Holy Land has attracted pilgrims from all corners of the Earth, devoutly following in the footsteps of Abraham and the patriarchs of…

Over 140 Mines in Congo are Now Officially Conflict-Free: the Latest List

Aug 17, 2015 | Sasha Lezhnev

Over the past three years, teams of business persons, government officials, and civil society members have been traveling to mines in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo to assess whether or not the…

Tensions in the South China Sea: The Nuclear Dimension

Aug 15, 2015 | Mathieu Duchâtel and Eugenia Kazakova

Ever since China started constructing artificial islands in the South China Sea (SCS) on an unprecedented scale and speed by the standards of the region,…

Why Climate Change Could be China’s Biggest Security Threat

Aug 14, 2015 | Wilson VornDick

In preparation for the UN’s Climate Change Conference in Paris this November, the globe’s two largest emitters, China and the United States, have been pledging various actions…

Water and Conflict

Aug 14, 2015 | Barry S. Levy and Victor W. Sidel

The four-year drought in California, which is causing severe water shortages and related problems, is receiving increasingly more attention. It is affecting everyone, causing people…

US 'Not Neutral' in South China Sea? A Rebuttal

Aug 14, 2015 | James Kraska

The recent article by Mark J. Valencia ("The issue of US 'neutrality' in South China Sea disputes"; Aug 11) complains that the United States is…

Liberia: President Obama's Emissions Cuts - Quest for Renewable Energy in Liberia

Aug 10, 2015 | Stephen B. Lavalah

It is an obvious fact that no one can live without clean air, clean water and clean environment; however, on a daily basis, we are…

Pentagon Issues Scary Climate Security Report, as Russia Lays Claim to Vast Arctic Territory

Aug 5, 2015 | Eric Holthaus

Global warming could turn the Arctic into a 21st-century battlefield, and the United States isn’t prepared. That’s the key takeaway from a new Pentagon report on the…

In Conflict Minerals, Ethical Investors Gain Ability to Rank Companies

Aug 5, 2015 | Kristin Lin and Eily Chasan

Coming up with a “conflict-free” determination to comply with the SEC’s rule can be costly for companies—and the value of the information is up for…

Climate Change and Destabilization in the MENA Region

Aug 3, 2015 | Ian Armstrong

The devastating environmental impacts of climate change have together become such an ominous cloud on the horizon that they often overshadow other potentially grave consequences…