News
Climate Change: The Link Between Armed Conflict and Climate Change Just Got a Bit Stronger
Jul 26, 2016
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Alejandro Dávila Fragoso, ThinkProgress
Social scientists have for several decades tried to understand what makes a country experience conflict, with poverty, income inequality, weak governance, and ethnic animosity making…
How Infrastructure Helps Determine the Risk of Violence Following Drought
Jul 25, 2016
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Adrien Detges
One fear of climate change is that more variable weather conditions will lead to violence and chaos in some places. But looking at it methodically,…
Colombia: UN Praises Colombia and FARC's Agreement on Women
Jul 25, 2016
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BBC News
The UN has welcomed an agreement between the Colombian government and FARC rebels giving specific guarantees to women as part of a peace accord. Both…
Myanmar: Hundreds of Jade Mining Licenses Expire This Month
Jul 25, 2016
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Myat Pyae Phyo, The Irrawaddy
Burma’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation has released a list of 310 jade mining companies in Kachin State who will be unable to…
Liberia: Lands and Mines Ministry Launches Artisanal Mining Roadmap
Jul 25, 2016
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Lewis S. Teh, New Dawn
The Ministry of Lands, Mines and Energy has, for the first time, launched the Artisanal Mining Roadmap for the mining sector in Liberia. The launch of…
Climate Change: Disasters Linked to Climate Can Increase Risk of Armed Conflict
Jul 25, 2016
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Damian Carrington, Guardian
Climate-related disasters increase the risk of armed conflicts, according to research that shows a quarter of the violent struggles in ethnically divided countries were preceded…
Climate Change: Inter-Ethnic Conflict Linked to Climate Change
Jul 25, 2016
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Megan Darby, Climate Home
There is a growing awareness among security analysts that global warming can have a destabilising effect. For example, studies suggest a prolonged drought hit crop yields…
Climate Change: Inter-Ethnic Conflict Linked to Climate Change
Jul 25, 2016
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Megan Darby, Climate Home
There is a growing awareness among security analysts that global warming can have a destabilising effect. For example, studies suggest a prolonged drought hit crop yields…
Climate Change: The GOP is Leading an Effort to Block the Military from Planning for Climate Change
Jul 24, 2016
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Adam Wernick, PRI
In June, House Republicans attached an amendment to the defense authorization bill that stopped the Defense Department from spending money to plan for climate change. The…
Myanmar: China Gets the Wrong Answer
Jul 23, 2016
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Strategy Page
There is general agreement that there should be a major effort to expand the 2015 NCA (nationwide ceasefire agreement) to include all rebel groups operating…
Returning to Everyday Life
Jul 23, 2016
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Gregor Maaß and Mario Pilz
The success of Colombia’s peace talks will depend substantially on how the state chooses to address the needs of the 8 million people who were…
Asia: East Asia’s State-Led Search for Energy Security
Jul 23, 2016
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Michael Hart, Diplomat
After two decades of rapid industrialization and unprecedented population growth, the demand for energy in East Asia is soaring. This has resulted in the emergence…
Sorting Through Water Wars Rhetoric
Jul 22, 2016
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Geoffrey Dabelko
The eye catching headlines are familiar. “Water Wars” are imminent or already underway in the latest drought or dam-building hotspot. Such “wars” often extend to…
Asia: Human Rights Body Calls for ASEAN Land Reforms
Jul 22, 2016
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Ron Corben, Voice of America
An international human rights umbrella says the Southeast Asian region faces the threat of growing conflicts over land between investors and local people unless legal…
Afghanistan: Afghanistan Renews Push for Wheat Crops Amid Ongoing Anti-Poppy Drive
Jul 22, 2016
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Latin American Herald Tribune
In renewed efforts to wean farmers off growing poppies, the Afghan government has over the past decade pushed for agriculturalists to grow wheat, of which…
Climate Change: Kerry: Climate Change as Dangerous as Terrorism
Jul 22, 2016
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Matthew Lee, Associated Press
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Friday that climate change is as dangerous as, if not more, than the threats posed by the Islamic…
Philppines/South China Sea: Despite Legal Victory in South China Sea, Philippines' Oil Remains in Troubled Waters
Jul 22, 2016
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Enrico Dela Cruz, Reuters
The Philippines, eager to resume development of vital oil and gas reserves off its coast, will likely need to reach an accord with a Chinese…
Myanmar: Golden Promises Turn Sour in Indawgyi
Jul 22, 2016
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RJ Vogt, Myanmar Times
It is home to myriad rare creatures and even, legend says, a dragon. Pilgrims believe that gold in the surrounding hills is one of nine…
China/South China Sea: China's Secret Weapon in the South China Sea: Cyber Attacks
Jul 22, 2016
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Anni Piiparinen, Diplomat
Despite China’s great power aspirations, its cyber warriors threw a fit after losing a legal battle to the Philippines in The Hague. Within hours of…
Food Security: Obama Signs Global Food Security Act to End Hunger
Jul 21, 2016
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Fernanda Crescente, USA TODAY
A bipartisan bill promoting global food security, resilience and nutrition could make hunger history, President Obama said Wednesday during the White House Summit on Global Development. The Global Food…
How a New Source of Water is Helping Reduce Conflict in the Middle East
Jul 20, 2016
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Rowan Jacobsen
Just a few years ago, in the depths of its worst drought in at least 900 years, Israel was running out of water. Now it…
A Decades-Old Idea for the South China Sea Resurfaces: Make a Contested Area a Marine Park, Instead
Jul 20, 2016
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Steve Mollman
One of the sea’s main areas of contention is the Spratly archipelago, an area the size of Tunisia featuring emerged rocks, tiny islands, and hundreds…
EU’s Conflict Minerals Framework a 'Missed Opportunity'
Jul 20, 2016
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Leigh Stringer
Trade body and NGOs criticise plan for excluding end products
Afghanistan: Pistachios, Afghans' Green Gold, Coveted by Taliban
Jul 20, 2016
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Agence France-Presse
Afghanistan takes pride in its world-class pistachios, but with looters harvesting the nuts well before maturity fears are growing that the Taliban and local strongmen…
Conflict Minerals: U.S. Companies Providing More Details in Latest Conflict Minerals Filings with SEC, but Supply Chain Transparency Challenges Remain
Jul 20, 2016
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Source Intelligence
More U.S. companies are providing greater details about their efforts to determine if their products contain conflict minerals under federal rules designed to help end…
Afghanistan/Pakistan: Pakistan Worried as Afghanistan Plans to Build Dams on Kabul River
Jul 20, 2016
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Khaama Press
The Pakistani officials are worried amid reports that the Afghan government is planning to build water dams on Kabul River. The country’s Ministry of Water…
Syria/Kurdistan: US-Backed Kurdish Forces Benefiting from Oil in Syria
Jul 20, 2016
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Sirwan Kajjo, Voice of America
When Kurdish-led forces took control of Shaddadi in northeastern Syria in February, they not only pushed back Islamic State militants who had been there for…
South Sudan: CNPC Evacuates Oil Personnel from South Sudan
Jul 19, 2016
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Erwin Cifuentes, OilPrice.com
The China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) evacuated 191 of its employees in South Sudan amid worries over an escalation in the armed conflict between the…
Liberia: FDA Rubbishes SDI Claims of Planned Forest Destruction
Jul 19, 2016
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Edwin M. Fayia III, Daily Observer
The Forestry Development Authority (FDA) has taken serious exception to claims made by the Sustainable Development Institute (SDI) in an open letter from Goldman Prize…
Cambodia: Wetlands Threatened by Coastal Land Grabs
Jul 19, 2016
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Phak Seangly, Phnom Penh Post
The Council of Ministers has urged the Ministry of Land Management to crack down on coastal land grabbing in response to a report that found…