Global map depicting warming temperatures. Photo credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech. Perhaps no region on Earth is positioned to suffer the horrors of climate change more acutely than the Middle East, which already contends with limited rainfall, prolonged droughts, and scorching heat. This is especially worrisome given that scholars posit a direct connection between rising global temperatures and … Continue reading Climate Change and Armed Conflict: Assessing the World’s Most Vulnerable Region
Category: Environment & Health
Beijing-Moscow Relations Will Cool As the Arctic Heats Up
President Putin and President Xi. Photo Credit: AP By: Ezra Shapiro, Columnist In recent years, Russia and China’s growing collaboration on energy and shipping projects in the Arctic has caused some consternation among U.S policymakers. Despite the countries’ current cooperation, Moscow and Beijing’s long-term ambitions are fundamentally at odds with each other. Russia places a … Continue reading Beijing-Moscow Relations Will Cool As the Arctic Heats Up
A “Near-Arctic” Newcomer: China’s Maturing Arctic Strategy
Graphic design for annual Barents Spektakel in Kirkenes, Norway, depicting Chinese characters in celebration of the festival’s 2019 theme: ‘The World’s Northernmost Chinatown’” Photo Credit: Pikene på Broen AS, featured at Crypolitics. By: Ashley Postler, Columnist The globalized nature of climate change—“what happens in the Arctic does not stay in the Arctic”[i]—and the vast economic … Continue reading A “Near-Arctic” Newcomer: China’s Maturing Arctic Strategy
The Competition Heats Up: Climate Change and the Erosion of U.S. Military Power
A fire burns several miles behind Space Launch Complex-3, housing the Atlas V rocket & WorldView 4 satellite, at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. Photo Credit: Mike Eliason/Santa Barbara County Fire Department via AP. By: Christine Bang-Andersen, Columnist The costs and risks associated with climate change have long been exacerbated by its denial, but the … Continue reading The Competition Heats Up: Climate Change and the Erosion of U.S. Military Power
REPORT: The Politics of Economic Diversification in Oil-Dependent Autocracies
Dr. Marie Alienor van den Bosch. Photo Credit: Mercatus Center By: Simon Machalek, Reporter On November 26th, Georgetown University’s Center for Contemporary Arab Studies (CCAS) hosted a talk by Dr. Marie Alienor van den Bosch, the Center’s Qatar Post-Doctoral Fellow. She also received her PhD in Politics from Princeton University and her MA from CCAS. The … Continue reading REPORT: The Politics of Economic Diversification in Oil-Dependent Autocracies
REPORT: EPS Seminar, ‘Covering Climate Change in the Age of Donald Trump’
President Trump before leaving the White House on Monday to survey damage from Hurricane Michael. Photo Credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images By: Olivia Letts, Reporter On October 18, 2018, Lisa Friedman, a writer for The New York Times’ climate desk, discussed her passion for reporting on climate change policy in the most recent speaker event hosted … Continue reading REPORT: EPS Seminar, ‘Covering Climate Change in the Age of Donald Trump’
Sri Lanka: A Story of China’s Consolidation and India’s Haste
By: Husanjot Chahal, Columnist Photo Credit: NewsInAsia On November 21, 2017, Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe arrived in India for a three-day visit.[i] The visit marked the eighth interaction between Indian and Sri Lankan heads of state since 2015—suggesting vigorous high-level political engagement. Expediting decisions on joint projects and “solving the problems that have … Continue reading Sri Lanka: A Story of China’s Consolidation and India’s Haste
National Security Figures Need to Explain the Impacts of Climate Change
By: Evan Cooper, Columnist Photo Credit: Task and Purpose In a 2014 Department of Defense document, then Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel sounded the alarm that “Rising global temperatures, changing precipitation patterns, climbing sea levels, and more extreme weather events will intensify the challenges of global instability, hunger, poverty, and conflict.”[i] Hagel’s warning has borne … Continue reading National Security Figures Need to Explain the Impacts of Climate Change
As October Revolution Centennial Passes, Belarus Clings to Soviet Past
By: Patrick Savage, Columnist Photo Credit: Eurasianet As the 100th anniversary of the October Revolution, one of Russia’s most significant and traumatic historical events, came and went this month, Moscow was quiet.[i] The scene was far different, however, in neighboring Belarus, the former Soviet republic where “Revolution Day” is still a public holiday.[ii] President Alexander … Continue reading As October Revolution Centennial Passes, Belarus Clings to Soviet Past
Chinese Global Governance Leadership is Only a Win-Win for China
By: Theresa Lou, Columnist Photo Credit: Asia News Held from October 14-24, the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) 19th Party Congress solidified President Xi Jinping’s leadership and set the party’s priorities and goals for the next five years. During his three-hour speech,[i] Xi waxed poetic about China’s great national rejuvenation, which he mentioned 27 times,[ii] and … Continue reading Chinese Global Governance Leadership is Only a Win-Win for China