Blogs & Opinions
Rivers as the New Frontlines of Geopolitics
Jun 8, 2025
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Samirul Ariff Othman
We are used to thinking of power grids, trade routes, and semiconductor fabs as the terrain of 21st-century power competition. But now add rivers—yes, rivers—to…
Key Changes to the DRC Mining Code: A New Era for Investors and National Development
Jun 6, 2025
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Amani Cibambo
The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), home to some of the world’s richest deposits of cobalt, copper, and other critical minerals, enacted major revisions to…
Minerals for Recognition: The Taliban’s Shadow Diplomacy
Jun 6, 2025
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Islomkhon Gafarov
Since the Taliban’s return to power, Afghanistan’s mineral and extractive industries have assumed growing strategic importance in the broader context of sustaining the country’s fragile…
Securing Women’s Land Rights: A Pathway to Food Security
Jun 5, 2025
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Sunaina Kumar
Observer Research Foundation
Despite playing a central role in food systems, women lack secure land rights in more than half of all countries, posing serious implications for food…
Sierra Leone Charts a New Diamond Story
Jun 5, 2025
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Jill Newman
Sierra Leone is historically rich in diamond deposits. They are found largely in alluvial mines, where miners sift through layers of mud and gravel for…
Protecting the Environment Is Protecting Civilians, Key Take-aways
Jun 2, 2025
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PAX
In conflict zones across the globe, civilians continue to suffer the devastating environmental consequences of armed conflicts, which directly and indirectly affect their health, safety,…
Give Peace a Chance? Why Sustainability Requires More Than Stability
Jun 2, 2025
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Richard Marcantonio
Conflict and environmental risks are both on the rise around the world, and they’re often connected in complex ways. In the past five years, the…
Soaring Global Military Spending Threatens Global Climate Action
May 30, 2025
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Ellie Kinney
No matter which way you look at it, the rapid rises in global military spending threaten climate action, undermining our collective security. A new joint…
OPINION: Why Gender-Responsive Action Must Anchor Africa’s Climate Summit 2025
May 29, 2025
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Salome Owuonda
Citizen Digital
As Africa prepares to convene in Addis Ababa for the second Africa Climate Summit (ACS) in September 2025, the continent stands at a critical intersection.
The…
Is Sudan’s War the Reason for South Sudan’s Economic Crisis? What’s Really Going on with Oil Revenue
May 29, 2025
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Jan Pospisil
The civil war in Sudan between the Sudanese army and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, which began in April 2023, has had an impact on its…
Blood Batteries: How Congo’s Conflict Is Shaking the World’s Rare Earths Market
May 28, 2025
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Veer Puri
The recent bout of violence in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has translated into a systematic shock for rare earth…
How Illicit Gold Fuels Insecurity in Latin America
May 28, 2025
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Fernanda Rios Herrera
Gold has become an increasingly attractive asset for non-state armed groups (NSAGs) in Latin America due to its soaring price, low risk and high profitability…
Sustainable Peace through Environmental Stewardship
May 26, 2025
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Sarah Lee
Achieving sustainable peace and development is a complex challenge that requires a multifaceted approach. One crucial aspect often overlooked is the role of environmental stewardship.…
Navigating Conflict and Environment
May 26, 2025
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Sarah Lee
The intricate relationship between conflict, peace, and environmental issues is a pressing concern in the context of development. As the world grapples with the challenges…
Amber: The Hidden Cost of Myanmar’s Gem Trade
May 22, 2025
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Mancunion
Blood amber from Myanmar has yielded endless discoveries and taken the world by storm; the name seems fitting after the human rights atrocities tied to…
Plastic Pollution from Fibre Optic Drones May Threaten Wildlife for Years
May 22, 2025
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Leon Moreland
Russia’s war in Ukraine has encouraged a rapid increase in the deployment of drones that use fibre optic cables to protect them from being jammed…
Is US Conflict Minerals Disclosure Nearing an End?
May 20, 2025
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Michael R. Littenberg, Marc Rotter, and Peter Witschi
SEC Commissioner Mark Uyeda took a pretty big swing at the US Conflict Minerals Rule in his prepared remarks yesterday at Practical Law Institute’s annual “SEC…
The US Should Aim Higher in Its ‘Minerals for Peace’ Deal with Congo
May 20, 2025
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Laura Kupe
In a small ceremony with oversized implications, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio welcomed his Congolese and Rwandan counterparts to Washington on April 25 for…
The Deadly Global Gold Rush: How to Stop the Illicit Mining and Trade That Fuel War and Repression
May 19, 2025
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Sasha Lezhnev and John Prendergast
Every year, illicit gold worth more than $30 billion flows across the globe, including gold originating in conflict zones and authoritarian states. Much of it…
Terrorists Use Food as a Weapon: How Boko Haram and Al-Shabaab Exploit Hunger
May 18, 2025
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Simone Papale and Emanuele Castelli
Over the last decade, there has been growing international focus on the role of food in conflict, particularly in Africa. The continent has seen an…
ECSA Launches New Working Group on Citizen Science in Areas Affected by Armed Conflict
May 14, 2025
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Anna Berti Suman and Doug Weir
Participatory community environmental research in areas affected by conflict could help empower people, groundtruth remote analysis, and contribute towards accountability processes and environmental peacebuilding.
The Importance of Tackling the Climate Impacts of UN Peacekeeping
May 13, 2025
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Ellie Kinney
To mark this week’s UN Peacekeeping Ministerial in Berlin, Ellie Kinney explains its potential role in improving transparency over the reporting of military GHG emissions…
Vorukh Exclave in the Fergana Valley: How to Overcome the Conflict Created by Stalin
May 12, 2025
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Alexander Shpunt
Judging by the extremely cautious reports in analytical publications of Central Asia, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan are at the final stage of the process of delimitation…
Hydrodiplomacy over Hostility: Rethinking Water Sharing amid India-Pakistan Tensions
May 10, 2025
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Hazim El-Naser
In recent weeks, military skirmishes have erupted along the India-Pakistan border, particularly in the disputed region of Kashmir. The escalation followed a militant attack that…
India-Pakistan Conflict over Water Reflects a Region Increasingly Vulnerable to Climate Change
May 9, 2025
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Mehebub Sahana
In an unprecedented move, India recently suspended the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty with Pakistan, citing cross-border terrorism. This was one of a series of escalations…
If Illegal Logging Starts Again, Liberia Could Lose More Than Its Beloved Pygmy Hippos
May 9, 2025
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Ellen Johnson Sirleaf
Liberia has more than half of west Africa’s remaining forests, which cover almost half of the country, approximately 6.6m hectares (16m acres) based on the…
The Indus Water Treaty Suspension: A Wake-up Call for Asia–Pacific Unity?
May 8, 2025
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Sinéad Barry and Emma Whitaker
On April 23, India suspended the Indus Water Treaty (IWT), a 65-year-old agreement that had been a rare symbol of cooperation between India and Pakistan…
Floodgates to Conflict
May 5, 2025
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Iqra Awan
In a region as volatile as South Asia, where historical animosities simmer beneath the surface of every diplomatic interaction, water has long stood as one…
Is ‘Green Reconciliation’ Coming to the Island of Ireland?
May 5, 2025
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Juneseo Hwang
The signing of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement in 1998 undoubtedly marked a new chapter in the history of the island of Ireland. Yet, the natural…
The Trump Presidency and Climate Security in the Indo-Pacific Region
May 2, 2025
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Tobias Ide
In the first hundred days of his second presidency, Donald Trump has caused considerable turmoil. Radical cuts to federal spending, concerning attacks on democratic guardrails,…