Blogs & Opinions

For Cobalt Buyers, Is Artisanal Mining the Problem or the Solution?

Feb 25, 2018 | Andy Home

One reason the cobalt price has gone supernova over the last year is the realisation that not only does most of the available supply come…

Iraq's Water Crisis: A Prognosis

Feb 24, 2018 | Shwan Mohammed

The area historically known as Mesopotamia, the cradle of civilization, is now suffering from an acute water crisis due to climate change and human actions.…

Environmental Governance in Post-Conflict Scenarios: Insights from the Colombian Amazon

Feb 24, 2018 | Nicolas Andres Eslava

With the FARC’s demobilization process underway, regions of Colombia where until now the FARC had significant presence are now sitting at an environmental governance crossroads.…

Land Rights Essential for Peace in Colombia

Feb 21, 2018 | Gloria Pallares

Colombia - Recognition of collective land tenure rights in Colombia is among the strongest in Latin America: there has been constitutional backing since 1991, and more than…

Could Tackling Climate Change Help Bring Peace to South Sudan?

Feb 21, 2018 | Adela Suliman

The world's youngest nation, South Sudan, has been embroiled in war and conflict for years. The oil-rich nation - which won independence from Sudan in…

Before the Flood: Environment and Security in the Spotlight

Feb 21, 2018 | UN Environment

For the first time, the role of the environment in promoting security was addressed at one of the world’s most important international policy forums. The…

Producers from Caquetá in Colombia Commit to Conserving and Restoring Their Natural Landscapes and to Improving the Sustainability of Their Livestock Raising Systems

Feb 20, 2018 | Miguel Antonio Romero

The Sustainable Amazonian Landscapes (SAL) project closed the year with a voluntary agreement with the producers who stand to benefit from the project for the…

The Dragon Bares Its Fangs

Feb 20, 2018 | Gil H. A. Santos

Reports last week of China’s latest move on the Philippine Rise (aka Benham Rise), which was officially recognized by the UN as part of our…

Plundering Iraq's Oil Wealth

Feb 20, 2018 | Jeff Schechtman

To understand the plundering of Iraq’s oil wealth, we have to look first at the original sin of the invasion itself. Blueprints showing how oil…

Timor-Leste’s Oil: Blessing or Curse? – Analysis

Feb 20, 2018 | Viji Menon

The oil and gas sector is the mainstay of Timor-Leste’s economy, with almost 90% of government revenue coming from oil. The non-petroleum economy, which scarcely…

Don’t Waste the New US Water-Security Strategy

Feb 20, 2018 | David Reed

President Trump should order the inclusion of water issues — a major driver of security problems — in the national defense and security strategies. In his…

This Website Can Tell You Who Owns Land in 60 Countries

Feb 20, 2018 | CRL

Helping cultures and nations communicate with one another has traditionally been the responsibility of diplomats, but the Land Portal Foundation takes the position that strengthening…

Compromise Is Key to Kurdistan Oil Recovery

Feb 7, 2018 | Alan Mohtadi

Relations between the Kurdistan regional government (KRG) and the central government of Iraq have been at an all-time low since the KRG’s independence referendum in…

Congo - DRC: Highlight of the New Mining Code and PPP Reform to Be Promulgated Shortly

Feb 5, 2018 | Julien Barba and Eric Diamantis

Two major reforms relating to the new Mining Code and Public Private Partnerships have been voted and will be promulgated and applicable shortly in Democratic…

Climate Change and NATO: A New Study

Feb 2, 2018 | Amar Causevic

This article summarizes findings from a recent journal article, Facing an Unpredictable Threat: Is NATO Ideally Placed to Manage Climate Change as a Non-Traditional Threat Multiplier?” published in the…

Climate Change and the UN Security Council: Bully Pulpit or Bull in a China Shop?

Feb 2, 2018 | Janani Vivekananda and Winter Wilson

Last month, the UN Security Council hosted another meeting on climate change. Despite this positive step, in order to really tackle climate-related security risks, the Council…

SEC Chair Discusses Completion of Dodd-Frank Rulemaking Mandate

Jan 25, 2018 | Cydney S. Posner

In a speech delivered by video to the Securities Regulation Institute in San Diego, SEC Chair Jay Clayton shed some light (but just a little) on the…

I Agree with President Weah; Land Rights Is Key for Rural Development

Jan 24, 2018 | Fidel Budy

“Together, we owe our citizens clarity on fundamental issues such as the land beneath their feet, freedom of speech, and how national resources and responsibilities…

Criminal Elements: Illegal Wildlife Trafficking, Organized Crime, and National Security

Jan 19, 2018 | Saiyara Khan

“The same criminals that are trafficking in drugs, guns, and people, traffic in wildlife,” said Christine Dawson, the director of the Office of Conservation and…

A Tale of Two Policies: Climate Change, Trump, and the US Military

Jan 19, 2018 | Sean Mowbray

The U.S. government appears to be of two minds, with utterly opposing worldviews, on climate change policy. On one hand, the Trump Administration has pulled out…

China Is Stealthily Waging a Water War

Jan 15, 2018 | Brahma Chellaney

While international attention remains on China's recidivist activities in the South China Sea's disputed waters, Beijing is also focusing quietly on other waters – of…

Colombia: Extractivist Pax vs. Peace with Social and Environmental Justice

Jan 12, 2018 | Tatiana Roa Avendaño

During the last few years, arguments have been put forward to defend the aggressive territorial occupation by oil companies, even in places with no extraction…

Gas Wars: The First Energy Conflict in 2018

Jan 12, 2018 | ZeroHerge

The eastern Mediterranean is expected to witness the first conflict of 2018, as developments at the end of 2017 are signaling worsening relationships between Turkey…

Chocó at Epicenter of Colombia’s Social, Environmental Conflicts

Jan 12, 2018 | Maximo Anderson

One wet November morning deep within Colombia’s western rainforest of Chocó, rebel fighters of the National Liberation Army (ELN) scattered across a muddy football pitch in groups of eight to practice their…

Nuclear Fusion Is Coming, but Will It Power Peace or War?

Jan 12, 2018 | John Draper and Peerasit Kamnuansilpa

Last month, the European Union-hosted International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) announced it was halfway to completing initial operation, meaning it will begin testing of fusion…

Can the EU Revive a Troubled Scheme against Conflict Diamonds?

Jan 12, 2018 | Vince Chadwick and Lisa Cornish

The European Union began its year-long leadership of the global effort against conflict diamonds this month, pledging to focus on “effectiveness” and “dialogue.” But observers say the…

New Data Highlight Afro-Descendant Territories without Legal Recognition, and the Threats They Face

Jan 9, 2018 | Mary Alice Jackson

New data gathered from Afro-descendant community councils and state records reveal that the Colombian government has failed to address 271 claims for collective Afro-descendant land…

As Afghanistan’s Mining Race Stalls, the Taliban and ISIS Tap into Illegal Mines

Jan 5, 2018 | Matthew C. DuPée

Afghanistan has some of the richest mineral deposits in the world, but extracting them has proven difficult amid years of instability and war. There were…

Creating New Tools for the Job

Jan 3, 2018 | Lydia Cardona

Headlines about scarce natural resources driving or causing conflicts are not hard to find. Threats of war over the control and use of natural resources…

Water Shortages Could Trigger Asia Conflicts

Dec 30, 2017 | Brahma Chellaney

In recent weeks, one of the most pristine Himalayan rivers has mysteriously turned black when entering India from Tibet, highlighting how China's upstream tunneling, damming…