Blogs & Opinions
Energy Security Is National Security: Fixing America’s Incoherent Energy Policies
Mar 24, 2026
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Greg Pollock and Joshua Busby
For years, Republican politicians advocated an “all of the above” energy strategy, supporting continued oil and gas production while also scaling up renewable energy. Though…
Hydro War Crime
Mar 24, 2026
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Naseer Memon
Water is as precious a commodity as oil for countries of the Middle East. In the absence of freshwater resources, the region relies heavily on…
How CIMMYT is Advancing Women-centered Agriculture in Africa
Mar 23, 2026
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Mariana Callejas
CIMMYT
Across Africa, women play a central role in producing food, managing farms, and sustaining household nutrition and incomes. Yet their contributions are still too often…
Chagos and the Militarization of the Indian Ocean
Mar 23, 2026
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Nitya Labh
The geopolitics of the wider Indian Ocean have undergone tremendous shifts over the past few decades, as traditional maritime powers like the United Kingdom, the…
Beyond the Ban: Why Mining Reform Is Nigeria’s Next Peacebuilding Frontier
Mar 23, 2026
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Ephraim Emah
Nigeria’s mining sector is often described in binary terms: to some, it is a sleeping economic giant, which is key to diversifying a mono-product economy,…
South Sudan’s Resilience Trap: The Dark Side of Resilience and the Way out
Mar 23, 2026
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Joe Mabor
South Sudanese are among the most resilient people on earth, as demonstrated during the twenty-one-year war of liberation that led to independence in 2011, and…
Where Water Security Begins
Mar 22, 2026
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Tetiana Tevkun
Climate change is making water one of the most vulnerable resources in the world. Even regions that were considered water‑secure just a few decades ago…
Unrecognised Environmental Costs of Conflict
Mar 20, 2026
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Syed Mohammad Ali
When assessing the costs of war, attention is typically directed toward human suffering, economic loss and geopolitical instability. Yet another major cost often goes unnoticed:…
ENMOD: Dodo, Dormant or Presciently Divine?
Mar 18, 2026
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Vanessa Murphy and Helen Obregón Gieseken
At the 34th International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent in October 2024, Nigeria and European Union Member States pledged, among other things,…
Don’t Lock in Future Fossil Fuel Insecurity in Response to the Iran War
Mar 18, 2026
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Grace Alexander
The Israeli-US war with Iran is disrupting global fossil fuel supply chains and, while states increasingly recognise that renewables reduce exposure to geopolitical shocks, there…
Women-led Peacebuilding
Mar 16, 2026
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Carlito G. Galvez Jr.
Manila Bulletin
When President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. stood before the United Nations General Assembly in New York City last March 10, he carried with him a clear…
Iraq’s Oil Paralysis: A Self-Inflicted Wound and a Gift to Tehran
Mar 16, 2026
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Yerevan Saeed
With the Strait of Hormuz closed and oil production from Iraq’s south in free fall, Baghdad’s failure to maximize the Iraq-Turkey Pipeline (ITP) is no…
Legal and Operational Issues in the Strait of Hormuz: Transit Passage Under Fire
Mar 15, 2026
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Mark Nevitt
The Strait of Hormuz — a narrow chokepoint through which roughly 20 percent of the world’s oil transits — is now an active conflict zone.…
In Context: Erika Weinthal and Jeannie Sowers on the Middle East Conflict’s Impacts on Civilian Infrastructure
Mar 11, 2026
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Stimson Center
Recent attacks on critical infrastructure in Iran and the Persian Gulf mark a troubling escalation in the widening regional conflict. Since the US and Israel…
After Oil, War of Water? Why Desalination Plants Are Turning into Targets in Middle East – Explained
Mar 9, 2026
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Times of India
The ongoing conflict in West Asia is entering a new phase as desalination plants, a key source of drinking water across the Gulf, begin to…
Climate, Conflict and Synthetic Fertilisers Are Sowing the Seeds of Instability
Mar 9, 2026
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Tom Nickson
As the latest rupture in an increasingly unstable geopolitical landscape, military strikes on Iran by the USA and Israel will likely increase pressure on the…
Broken Land Systems Risk Liberia’s Future
Mar 9, 2026
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New Dawn
Land disputes in Liberia have reached alarming levels, threatening not only the nation’s social stability but also its economic development prospects. The failure to address…
What International Law Says about the Israeli Strikes on Iranian Oil Facilities
Mar 9, 2026
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Saeed Bagheri
Israeli strikes targeted oil facilities near the Iranian capital of Tehran over the weekend. Two oil refineries, both of which had been attacked by Israel…
Black Rain: The Health and Environmental Risks from Tehran’s Oil Fires
Mar 9, 2026
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Conflict and Environment Observatory
Overnight on the 7-8th of March, the Israeli-US war against Iran saw a significant escalation as Israel targeted Iran’s oil infrastructure. Israel reportedly attacked more…
Why Women Are Central to Resilient Food Systems
Mar 9, 2026
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Mcallejas
CIMMYT
As climate change, economic instability, and biodiversity loss place increasing pressure on global food systems, building resilience has become an urgent priority. But resilience is…
Towards Safer Engagement with Women Peacebuilders
Mar 8, 2026
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Berghof Foundation
Berghof Foundation
This International Women’s Day, we highlight a vital but often overlooked connection: the link between women’s participation in peace processes and mental health and psychosocial…
Middle East Conflict Carries Significant Environmental and Ecological Consequences for Small States Such as Ours
Mar 6, 2026
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Stabroek News
Escalating tensions involving the United States of America, Israel, and Iran may seem geographically distant from Guyana. Yet in an interconnected global system, war in…
The Climate Briefing: The Future of Climate Diplomacy 4: Laurence Tubiana
Mar 5, 2026
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Chris Aylett and Laurence Tubiana
What are the most important changes the Paris Agreement has brought about? How should the COP process evolve? And why does geoengineering need to be…
As the Gulf Conflict Widens, So Does Its Environmental Footprint
Mar 4, 2026
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Daniel Cressey
On 28 February, the latest escalation between the US, Israel and Iran moved from threats to open strikes, plunging the Gulf region into crisis. Missiles…
Nature, Peace and Security: Too Important to Leave to Governments
Mar 2, 2026
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Doug Weir
The message is clear, the UK’s spooks have consulted with experts and concluded that global biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse are a serious threat to…
Free Bodies, Free Territories: Reflections on the Right to Land, Water and Territories for Gender and Sexually Diverse People in Rural Contexts
Feb 27, 2026
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Sylvia Kay
La Via Campesina
How can land and agrarian reform create safe spaces for the LGBTQIA+ community? What does it mean to struggle for recognition and rights to land,…
Addressing the Root Causes of the DRC Conflict
Feb 27, 2026
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Vuyisile J.S. Radebe
The DRC conflict has been going on for decades. Thousands of innocent lives have been lost while scores of women, children and the elderly have…
Groundwater and the Horn’s Climate Security Future: From Technical Resource to Strategic Asset
Feb 27, 2026
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Kidus Tesfaye
The Horn of Africa’s climate debate is often framed above ground: failed rains, drying rivers, shrinking pastures, emergency relief corridors, and displacement flows. But one…
The New Age of Resource Competition Needs Transparency
Feb 27, 2026
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Helen Clark and Ellen Johnson Sirleaf
As countries scramble to secure the minerals needed for clean energy, digital technologies, AI, and defense industries, the new era of resource competition implies both…
Current Geopolitics Shift Deep-Sea Mining Debates
Feb 26, 2026
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Mahlet Mesfin
If anyone needed a signal of global interest in critical minerals and supply chains, the events in Washington DC earlier this month offered a clear…