News
Myanmar: Moving the Earth: Women Take On Land Aggressors
May 3, 2015
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Sonya Carassik Ratty, Democratic Voice of Burma
From the platinum reserves in eastern Shan State to the Shwe gas pipeline in south-western Arakan, much of Burma’s wealth lies in the earth. As…
China/South China Sea: Making Waves
May 2, 2015
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The Economist
In November, after months of frantic land reclamation in the South China Sea aimed at boosting its vast territorial claim there, China tried a subtler…
China/South China Sea: China is Building Mobile Islands in the East Sea
May 2, 2015
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VietNamNet Bridge
In relation to warnings about American experts on China’s manufacturing of a series of "mobile islands" in the East Sea, marine expert Phan Vinh Tri,…
Environmental Peacebuilding in the South China Sea
May 1, 2015
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Ryan Stoa
In recent years the South China Sea has become a fiercely contested region. China's rise as a regional and global superpower has emboldened an aggressive…
Is the Rubber Industry Dragging Its Heels on Sustainability?
May 1, 2015
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Megan Macinnes
Our recent Guns, Cronies and Crops exposé revealed the human toll of the rubber industry in Myanmar, where companies colluded with the former military junta to seize vast…
Amid Katmandu's Earthquake Wreckage, Hints of a Shift to Safer Construction
May 1, 2015
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Andrew C. Revkin
In the world’s crowded earthquake zones, fromthe Himalayas to the Pacific Northwest, every community faces enormous challenges in designing for inevitable, but unpredictable jolts. This challenge is particularly…
Conservation for Peace: Perspectives of Environmental Peacebuilders in Liberia and Timor-Leste
May 1, 2015
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Brittany Ajroud and Janet Edmond
Environmental peacebuilding is an emerging field of practice that responds to the needs of the many remote, biodiverse communities around the world that struggle to prevent…
Cote d’Ivoire/Liberia: Trouble at Liberia/Ivorian Border, Land Encroachment by Ivorians Gives Rise to Serious Conflict between Both Countries
May 1, 2015
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Cholo Brooks, Global News Network
Report from Liberia/Ivorians border speaks of serious conflict between citizens of both Countries following report that the citizens of Ivory Coast have resolved to encroach…
Empowering Women in the Mines of the Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo
Apr 30, 2015
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The World Bank
After two decades of civil war and ongoing conflicts, vulnerable populations throughout the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) have continually been pushed off their traditional agricultural…
Liberia: Senator Proposes Oil Benefit Bill
Apr 30, 2015
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Necus M. Andrews, The NEWS
A bill seeking for the allocation of five percent of the rights and interest in each petroleum block has been introduced at the Liberian Senate.…
Land Grabbing: Banks and Pension Funds Continue to Bankroll Deforestation and Land Grabs
Apr 30, 2015
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Andrew Simms, The Guardian
Whether its food you’re putting in your mouth, or products you’re putting on your body, the probability is that half of them contain palm oil.…
Iraq: IS Expands in Iraq's Largest Oil Refinery
Apr 30, 2015
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Xinhua News Agency
The Islamic State (IS) militant group on Thursday captured more ground in the vast oil refinery of Baiji in Iraq's Salahudin province, while battles with…
Vietnam/South China Sea: Vietnam Buys Submarine-Launched Land Attack Missiles to Deter China
Apr 30, 2015
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Greg Torode, Reuters
Vietnam is arming its expanding submarine fleet with land attack missiles that could be capable of reaching Chinese coastal cities, a choice of weapon likely…
Myanmar: Blood Teak: How Myanmar's Natural Resources Fuel Ethnic Conflicts
Apr 30, 2015
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Jay Benson, The Diplomat
On March 30, the government of Myanmar and an umbrella group of 16 ethnic minority groups agreed to a draft agreement for a “nationwide ceasefire”…
Liberia: Liberia's Postwar Constitution Review - a Tale of Mistrust and Uncertainty
Apr 30, 2015
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Richard Akum and Mainlehwon Vonhm, African Arguments
When under review, a constitution (the supreme law of the land) reveals issues of collective angst within the land. In Liberia, the process to review…
The Limits of the “Nile Agreement”
Apr 29, 2015
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Mwangi S. Kimenyi and John Mukum Mbaku
On Monday, March 23, 2015, leaders of Egypt, Ethiopia, and Sudan met in the Sudanese capital Khartoum to sign an agreement that is expected to resolve various…
Iraq/Kurdistan: Kurdish Regional Gov’t to Raise Oil Exports to Turkey
Apr 29, 2015
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Andalou Agency
The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in northern Iraq will increase its oil exports to Turkey and deliver up to 625,000 barrels per day starting from…
China/Philippines/Vietnam/South China Sea: China Fires Back at South China Sea Claimants with Reclamation Accusations
Apr 29, 2015
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Reuters
After facing weeks of criticism about its reclamation work on disputed islands in the South China Sea, China on Wednesday turned the tables on Vietnam,…
Call for Abstracts: Reframing the Arctic: Cooperation, Not Conflict Workshop
Apr 28, 2015
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Institute for Environmental Diplomacy and Security
Too much of the popular narrative, in particular media framing, of polar politics is driven by the notion of inevitable conflict. The “Arctic cold war”…
Wicked Problems, Messy Analysis, Clumsy Solutions?
Apr 28, 2015
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Naho Mirumachi
Increased climate uncertainty, changing lifestyles and disparities in socio-economic development make finding solutions to water scarcity and water-related hazards significant. Today, there are both persistent…
Ghana/Cote d’Ivoire: Tribunal Tells Ghana to Suspend Oil Drilling
Apr 28, 2015
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Cholo Brooks, Global News Network
An international tribunal on Saturday ordered Ghana not to carry out any new oil drilling activities in waters disputed with Ivory Coast, pending a final…
Iraq: ISIS Executes Oil Workers in Mosul
Apr 28, 2015
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Middle East Monitor
ISIS fighters have executed ten oil workers in the city of Mosul, a Kurdish information official reported on Monday. According to Said Momzini, the ten…
Colombia: A Lesson in Booms and Busts for Latin America’s Newest Oil Power
Apr 28, 2015
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Andrea Jaramillo and Andrew Willis, Bloomberg
In a remote corner of Bogota’s sprawling airport complex, just a few miles before the city gives way to wind-swept savanna, a gleaming-white hangar stands…
Colombia: Officials Urge End to Herbicide’s Use on Coca
Apr 28, 2015
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William Neuman, New York Times
Colombia’s Health Ministry has recommended halting the spraying of an herbicide widely used in an American-funded campaign to eradicate crops of coca, the plant used…
War, Famine, and Drought – the Unholy Trinity Changing Our World
Apr 27, 2015
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Boyd Tonkin
Earlier this week, the outgoing Deputy Prime Minister at last backtracked on his government’s part in the withdrawal last year of EU search-and-rescue operations for…
Building Climate Resilience in Conflict-Affected States: A Neglected Agenda
Apr 27, 2015
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Grace Keyes
Climate change adaptation and mitigation efforts face many obstacles in fragile and conflict-affected societies. Instead of writing off these situations, however, International Alert’s Janani Vivekananda,…
Africa: African Diamond Producers Refuse to Support Beneficiation With Mining Revenue
Apr 27, 2015
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Ronen Shnidman, Rapaport
Africa’s major diamond producing nations expressed unwillingness to compromise government revenue from rough diamond sales to support local manufacturers in the current weak market. "We…
Mali: Drought, Expanding Deserts and 'Food for Jihad' Drive Mali's Conflict
Apr 27, 2015
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Chris Arsenault, Reuters
Life has never been easy in Moussa Majga's corner of northern Mali, a desert region of leafless trees, mud huts and roaming gunmen. For years,…
Liberia: 'Pay Our Land Rental Fees'
Apr 27, 2015
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The NEWS
The National Union of Community Forest Development Committees (NUCFDC) is calling on the Liberian Government to disburse its share of the Land Rental Fees. The…
Nepal: Nepal Villages Cut Off by Earthquake Wait for Aid as Death Toll Passes 4,000
Apr 27, 2015
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Thomas Fuller and Ellen Barry, New York Times
Five hours by car from Katmandu, then by foot for several miles past the spot where the road is blocked by boulders and mud, people…