By: Lauren Prudente, Columnist Photo Credit: PBS During his own presidential campaign in 2011, former Texas Governor Rick Perry infamously forgot the name of the Department of Energy (DOE) when listing the three agencies he would eliminate. Now, Governor Perry is poised to become the next Secretary of Energy, pending Senate confirmation, and has admitted … Continue reading Why the United States Should Maintain Civilian Control of Its Nuclear Complex
Category: Environment & Health
What CPEC Can Do for Pakistan’s Internal Security
By: Trisha Ray, Columnist Photo Credit: CPEC Official Website The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), part of the “One Belt One Road” (OBOR) project, has been compared by Bloomberg to the Marshall Plan in terms of its potential economic legacy.[i] However, the CPEC’s most enduring legacy will be in the realm of security. Its infrastructural and … Continue reading What CPEC Can Do for Pakistan’s Internal Security
Deal or No Deal: What Should Be the Fate of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action?
Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons By: Farnaz Alimehri, Columnist The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) between Iran and the P5+1 has been labeled one of the Obama Administration’s culminating achievements in foreign policy and nonproliferation. Despite the successful negotiation and implementation of this agreement by all parties last year, political divisions in the United States … Continue reading Deal or No Deal: What Should Be the Fate of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action?
An Arab Spring with No Water: How Uprisings in the Middle East Can Be Linked to Resource Scarcity
Photo Credit: Middle East Eye By: Farnaz Alimehri, Columnist The Middle East is often mischaracterized as an arid, desertic region; however, for the past twenty years, this misrepresentation has slowly turned into a stark reality. Most countries in the region have been experiencing a massive drought that scientists say has been brought on by climate … Continue reading An Arab Spring with No Water: How Uprisings in the Middle East Can Be Linked to Resource Scarcity
India’s Act East Policy: A Track Record and Recommendations for the Future
Photo Source: ASEAN.org By: Trisha Ray, Columnist When Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced India’s new Act East Policy in 2014, his statements were met with optimism about the prospect of the world’s largest democracy finally living up to its potential as a great power. The success of this turn is something of a question mark, … Continue reading India’s Act East Policy: A Track Record and Recommendations for the Future
Looking Outward: Indian Maritime Power and Energy Security
Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons By Trisha Ray, Columnist From February 4-8, 2016, the Indian port of Vishakhapatnam was overflowing. Glistening under the sunlight, a dizzying array of warships sailed down the harbor. China’s PLAN Lizhou, the American USS Antietam, and India’s new destroyer, INS Kolkata, joined the ships of the 50 participating countries in one … Continue reading Looking Outward: Indian Maritime Power and Energy Security
Iraqi Kurds’ Oil Woes: A Story of False Hope
Photo Credit: Reuters By Rachel Bessette, Columnist 2014 was widely trumpeted as the “year of the Kurds.” With Iraq unraveling and scholars hailing the end of Sykes-Picot, expectations were high for a resolution to the Iraqi Kurds’ long quest for independence. The outlook today is far bleaker. The Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) is fractured, insolvent, … Continue reading Iraqi Kurds’ Oil Woes: A Story of False Hope
The Perfect Climate for War
Photo Credit: Getty Images By: Anthony D’Amato, Columnist Recent events in Paris, Lebanon, Egypt, and Syria might have overshadowed another security threat announced this past week: the world is expected to become 1 degree Celsius warmer by the end of 2015. According to researchers at the U.K.-based Met Office Hadley Centre for Climate Science … Continue reading The Perfect Climate for War
Will Cheap Oil Hamper Nigeria’s Fight against Boko Haram?
Boko Haram's Logo, Wikimedia Commons By Jacob Goldstein, Columnist The global community generally regards falling crude oil prices as a positive development. Cheap oil means less expensive gas and lower heating bills. Yet it also indicates future struggles for countries reliant on oil production to raise revenue. Analysts often focus on how low oil … Continue reading Will Cheap Oil Hamper Nigeria’s Fight against Boko Haram?
Beyond Oil: The New Energy Geopolitics of the Middle East
This article was featured in GSSR Vol. 1 Issue 3. By: Andrea Clabough For decades, energy development in the Middle East has equated to one word: oil. Middle East oil production has fueled the region’s most influential actors and periodically threatened the energy security of the global community at large, most dramatically in the 1970s … Continue reading Beyond Oil: The New Energy Geopolitics of the Middle East