Blogs & Opinions

EU Must Give Assurances on the Morality of Trade in Natural Resources

Oct 29, 2014 | EurActiv

We ask European Parliamentarians and European governments to meet the expectations of EU consumers who want assurances that the resources in their mobile phones, computers…

Mineral Certification: The Genesis and Steps Uganda Ought to Remember

Oct 29, 2014 | New Vision

On December 15, 2010, Uganda endorsed the ICGLR Lusaka Declaration adopting six tools to fight Illegal exploitation of natural resources in the Great Lakes Region.

The…

Star Petroleum Response To "Oil: Will Star Shine For South Sudan?"

Oct 28, 2014 | Gurtong

From Star Petroleum

Dear Mrs. Vickers,

Reference to the publication by Global Witness of the report “Scrutinizing South Sudan’s First Post-Independence Oil Deal”, dated 27th October 2014, STAR…

Oil: Will Star Shine for South Sudan?

Oct 27, 2014 | Gurtong

South Sudan’s first post-independence oil deal is high-risk and in urgent need of further scrutiny, according to a new Global Witness report released today. The seven…

The Last Train

Oct 25, 2014 | New York Times

When Secretary of State John Kerry began his high-energy effort to forge an Israeli-Palestinian peace, I argued that it was the last train for a…

Intelligent Imagining: Scenarios to Manage Water as the Climate Changes

Oct 23, 2014 | Moushumi Chaudhury, Paul Reig and Tien Shiao

Imagine a world just six years from now, when water governance is weak and there are no laws to manage water in a drying climate.…

No Pain, No Gain: The Hassle of Conflict Mineral Audits Might Actually be Worth It

Oct 22, 2014 | TTI, inc.

It is a simple question companies are required to ask and, depending on the direction of the latest appellate court decision, perhaps even answer: do…

Oil and Gas and the Debate over ‘Quality’ Investment

Oct 19, 2014 | Mizzima

Not enough Myanmar companies are benefitting from foreign investment in the oil and gas sector, says Parami Energy group chairman and chief executive officer U…

China's Water Wars More Reality than Cli-Fi

Oct 19, 2014 | Sydney Morning Herald

Living in Beijing, I often felt bad about taking a shower. It was guilt because, in our house, you had to run a good five…

Pates: Conflict and Hunger Increase Each Other

Oct 19, 2014 | Des Moines Register

I welcome all of you from across Iowa and the country to our beautiful city of Des Moines. The opportunity to address you is one…

What's on Deck in Libya: An Oil Rich Nation Nearing Anarchy

Oct 17, 2014 | Site Intel Group

As the world focuses most of its attention on the Middle East, most specifically on Syria and Iraq, another nation in the region is also…

Is Burma the New Cambodia?

Oct 15, 2014 | Corporate Knights

In 1996, a photograph began circulating among the foreign press in Phnom Penh. Sam Rainsy, Cambodia’s liberal opposition leader, was pictured sitting with Nobel laureate…

What Do Iraq, Syria, and Ukraine Have in Common?

Oct 15, 2014 | The Christian Science Monitor

I've been advancing a thesis for several months with friends that World War III is now underway. It's just that it's not the war we…

Interview on the Front Lines: Congolese Researcher Murairi Speaks on Dodd-Frank, Conflict Minerals

Oct 14, 2014 | Enough Project

Bisie is a remote town in the Walikale district in eastern DR Congo. It has lucrative deposits of tin (cassiterite), along with coltan, diamond, uranium,…

China’s Dark Designs after 25 Years of Seizing Johnson South Reef

Oct 13, 2014 | Vietnam Net

Twenty-five years after the illegal use of force to occupy Gac Ma (Johnson South Reef) and six other reefs in Vietnam’s Spratly Islands, China once…

Forgotten Abyei: How to Bring Back the Struggle of Abyei’s People into Public Discourse

Oct 12, 2014 | Philip Manyok, The Bor Globe Network

July 9, 2011, South Sudan independence was met with great jubilation across South Sudan including the people of Southern Kordofan, Blue Nile and of course…

Afghanistan’s Mining Industry, Crucial for Economy, Holds Risks for Women

Oct 10, 2014 | Emily Horin, United States Institute of Peace

As Afghanistan attempts to develop its economy by attracting investment to its mining sector, the already daunting conditions for women in rural areas could worsen…

On Water for Gaza, Put Politics Aside

Oct 10, 2014 | The Times of Israel

There is a serious humanitarian crisis in Gaza and water is at its center. Holding water issues hostage to the conflict will have dire consequences…

Is Food Aid Helpful or Harmful in Conflict-Affected Areas?

Oct 9, 2014 | Moses Jackson, New Security Beat

A study published in the American Economic Review offers macro-level quantitative support for critics’ claims that food aid, which is often prone to theft or capture by armed…

Obama’s New Oil Wars

Oct 9, 2014 | Huffington Post

It was heinous. It was underhanded.  It was beyond the bounds of international morality. It was an attack on the American way of life.  It…

Why Military Veterans Are Uniquely Primed for Climate Action

Oct 7, 2014 | Environmental Defense Fund

Most veterans’ climate action advocacy is not motivated only by traditional environmental issues, but also by lives lost during fuel transports amid increasing global conflicts.

My…

From Liberia to America, We Must Stop Illegal Logging

Oct 3, 2014 | Roll Call

Around the world, illegal logging threatens communities and drives deforestation. Every second, an area of forest the size of a football field disappears due to…

Liberia: Hailing the Passage of the Land Law

Oct 3, 2014 | The Inquirer Editorial Board, allAfrica

Yesterday it was reported that President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf has signed into law the 'Act Against Criminal Conveyance of Land'. The Act was signed on August…

The U.S. Needs a Plan to Deal With Mideast Oil-Sharing Conflicts

Oct 3, 2014 | Wall Street Journal

Modern warfare has often involved targeting of fuel-supply lines, so the U.S. military’s recent decision to target the oil-supply chain of Islamic State is not…

Kurdistan on the Brink

Oct 1, 2014 | Samira Ghaderi, The Hill

As ISIS continues its savagery throughout Iraq, the government of Iraq (GoI) has recently transitioned its leadership with Prime Minister al-Abadi replacing al-Maliki.  Many hope…

Without Peace, Can There Be Development?

Sep 30, 2014 | Huffington Post

As UN Member States follow last week's General Assembly debates with the months-long intergovernmental negotiations around the post-2015 development agenda, this is a critical time…

Conservatives Kill Measure to Cut Money for Violent Militias in Africa

Sep 30, 2014 | Rabble

There are times when some of the most significant events in Parliament happen far from public view.

This week the chatter about politics is all about…

Preventing Water Wars: How to Build Bridges over River Disputes

Sep 30, 2014 | Ilmas Futehally, The Guardian

Fifty years ago, Lake Chad in Africa had a surface area of 25,000 square kilometres. Today, it has less than 2,000. The surface area of…

Kurdish Attempts to Sell Oil Are Not Going to Get Support from the Obama Administration

Sep 30, 2014 | Platts

For two months now, the United Kalavrvta tanker holding 1 million barrels of Kurdish crude has idled in international waters off the coast of Galveston, Texas, awaiting…

The Environmental Consequences of Targeting Syria’s Oil Refineries

Sep 29, 2014 | Toxic Remnants of War

On the 25th September, the US-led coalition conducting airstrikes in Syria began targeting oil refineries under the control of militants from Islamic State (IS). The TRWP…