Question And Answer
Publications
Articles, publications, books, tools and multimedia features from the U.S. Institute of Peace provide the latest news, analysis, research findings, practitioner guides and reports, all related to the conflict zones and issues that are at the center of the Institute’s work to prevent and reduce violent conflict.
In Earth’s Climate Crisis, Africa Demands a Fairer Sharing of Costs
Earth’s intensifying storms, heat, droughts and floods underscore that humanity is falling behind in its race against climate change. With global powers and institutions still debating how to transform economies and share the costs of surviving a destabilizing climate, the planet’s most vulnerable continent managed partial advances this month toward a regional consensus. The first-ever Africa Climate Summit amplified demands for a robust, fairer collective response to a warming planet — but fell short of forging a unified African position. Critically, it missed a chance to outline a strategy for dealing with the combined impacts of climate and violent conflicts.
To Protect the Amazon, Target Transnational Criminal Networks
Earlier this month, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, often referred to as “Lula,” resurrected the moribund Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (ACTO) with the group’s first summit in 14 years. Originally formed in 1995, ACTO was intended as a regional forum for its eight member-states to coordinate efforts to protect the Amazon rainforest. But prior to this month's meeting in Belém, Brazil, the organization had been mostly dormant since Lula’s first stint as Brazil’s president ended in 2010.
Achieving Climate Security
The ambition of civilian leaders at the Pentagon to bring climate security policy to scale quickly is running into the shoals of a peculiar reality: climate security as a concept is not well defined and controversial, even as climate impacts on societies are mounting. There is clearly a connection between the effects of a changing climate and security—security both in the broadest sense of the safety and well-being of human societies and in the narrower sense of threats to civil order—but there is insufficient climate security research and analysis to guide policy.
What Does John Kerry’s Visit Mean for U.S.-China Climate Cooperation?
This week, U.S. Special Envoy on Climate Change John Kerry spent four days in China in the hopes of facilitating a thaw in U.S.-China climate cooperation and easing tensions between Washington and Beijing more broadly. While the talks did not yield any major breakthroughs, any progress toward a shared climate agenda cannot be taken for granted after nearly two years of frozen relations. And with Kerry announcing plans for more bilateral talks ahead of the next round of U.N. climate negotiations in November, it appears that climate change may offer a tentative path for rebuilding trust between the two world powers.
Kurdish Official Lists ISIS and Climate Change as Top Threats
More than five years since the Iraqi government declared victory over ISIS, a senior Kurdish official says the terrorist group is among the top threats facing the region. Alongside ISIS, Rebar Ahmed, minister of interior in the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), listed climate change and the resource scarcities and migration it would trigger as a critical challenge.
Displaced to Cities: Conflict, Climate Change, and Rural-to-Urban Migration
Countries as geographically diverse as Honduras, Jordan, and Pakistan are experiencing a common challenge—rapid growth in urban populations as conflict and climate-induced disasters push people from rural areas into cities. This report examines the effects of this increased urban migration on both the migrants and the urban environment, as well as the challenges policymakers face. It offers recommendations to help meet the needs of growing urban populations and develop adaptive, resilient systems to better withstand the impacts of climate change and conflict.
Earth’s best defenders are Indigenous. They pay a price: violence.
Little noted by the world, warfare in India’s northeastern state of Manipur this spring has killed hundreds of Indigenous people and uprooted more than 35,000 residents. This violence along the India-Myanmar border fits a global pattern, also little noted: For decades, some 80 percent of human conflicts have smoldered in the “biodiversity hotspots” where our planet’s flora and fauna are most threatened by battles for resources and wealth — and where Indigenous peoples suffer the violence while protecting humanity’s common ecological heritage. We should strengthen the world’s inadequate public attention and policies on this crisis, and 2023 offers a chance to do so.
Challenging China’s Grip on Critical Minerals Can Be a Boon for Africa’s Future
Demand for the critical minerals powering the world’s clean-energy technologies, consumer goods and defense applications is skyrocketing. These metals are what the modern economy runs on: we need them for our phones, electric vehicles and satellites, and so much more. Forecasts estimate that in the coming decades, the world will need many times more cobalt, copper, lithium and manganese, among other minerals, than what is currently being produced.
How Heat Waves Are Destabilizing Asia
Unprecedented heat waves continue to ravage Asia this year. Temperatures have climbed to highs of 45 degrees Celsius in Myanmar, 44.5 degrees Celsius in India and 41.9 degrees Celsius in China, with Thailand and Laos breaking all-time high records.
Peace, Poaching and Pangolins in Central Africa
The pangolin — also known as the scaly anteater — is a small, primarily nocturnal mammal that lives in parts of Africa and Asia. Reportedly the most trafficked animal in the world, the pangolin is desired for its scales and its meat, particularly in Southeast Asia. Data shows that a pangolin is poached every three to five minutes. But the demise of the poor pangolin, as well as other trafficked species, has implications beyond the obvious risks to biodiversity. As new research shows, the proceeds of wildlife trafficking also contribute to violent conflict in Central Africa. Researcher Alexia Tata discusses the findings of her research on this issue and its implications for peace and security in the region.