Natural Resources

Posted: Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Author: Vina Seelam

Amidst all the hubbub surrounding the discovery of a wealth of minerals in Afghanistan, experts have also confirmed the presence of diamonds in Zimbabwe that could bring in an estimated $1 billion to $1.7 billion annually. But in the case of failed states, a seemingly fortuitous event like the discovery of natural resources may not be as much of a blessing as it seems.

Nick Mills at the Huffington Post argues that the unearthing of minerals in Afghanistan only means that “the rich will get richer, the poor will remain poor, and Afghanistan will remain a beggar nation.” Similarly, skeptics about Zimbabwe’s windfall in diamonds are hesitant to believe that this find will prove beneficial to the country, either economically or politically. Aside from concerns that any income from the export of these diamonds would be funneled into the personal accounts of Zimbabwe’s President Mugabe and his inner circle, human rights groups are also worried that the government is permitting violence and abuse in the mining fields.

Posted: Monday, June 21, 2010
Author: Ashley Duenas

Last week's press release about the 1 trillion dollars worth of natural resources sitting in Afghanistan brought a new narrative to the war. However, this only one more piece of the complicated puzzle in a war that has been difficult to navigate. Today, Anjli Raval of the Financial Times spotlighted the unlikely resources race between China and India in Afghanistan. Last week Anthony Cordesman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies hit the nail on the head when he said, "it is time to stop demonizing Bin Laden and Al Qa’ida and focus on the broader threat. Massive population increases, poverty, decaying educational and social infrastructure, culture shock and alienation, and failed secularism affect far too much of the Islamic world." Though the pockets of mineral wealth may shift attention away from some of the immediate concerns of the war, with the right effort it could be a window for the media to shed light into broader developments and regional players surrounding Afghanistan.

Posted: Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Author: Melanie Dominski

Bulgaria, long considered one of Russia’s most dependable energy consumers, is reevaluating its energy dependence on Russia. Bulgaria’s energy minister recently compared the Bulgarian energy sector to “the way English football used to be played – ‘with lots of energy, lots of running around the field, and comparatively little efficiency in achieving its goals.’” Bulgaria’s energy sector has long been inefficient since it was developed based on Bulgaria’s bonds with Russia, instead of on national utility.

Posted: Thursday, December 3, 2009
Author: Amber Pembleton

As the long-awaited Copenhagen conference (COP 15) draws near, political and scientific analysts alike are predicting what will transpire from the meetings. Unfortunately, it seems that one of the most important issues has been removed from the conference agenda. Water has been inexplicably pushed to the back burner as leaders instead focus primarily on cutting carbon emissions. According to one analyst, “for every thousand carbon-mitigation obsessed delegates” at Copenhagen, there will be fewer than a dozen water adaptation specialists. However, climate change cannot be managed without examining this critical lynchpin to the global society. Water vapor is considered by many to be the most important greenhouse gas affecting climate change. Moreover, climate change is drastically reducing the amount of freshwater readily available.

Posted: Friday, November 20, 2009
Author: Brandon Kaster

In an address at the 1974 World Food Conference, former secretary of state Henry Kissinger predicted that it would take only ten years to feed the world’s hungry children. He was wrong. Today, one billion people go to sleep hungry every night, and this number is expected to grow. In 2050, conservative estimates suggest that the world’s population will increase to over 9 billion, a 33 percent increase from today; however, food demand will grow by 70 percent.

Posted: Thursday, November 5, 2009
Author: Amber Pembleton

Israeli settlements continue to threaten peace negotiations in the Middle East as water rights of the Palestinians went center stage last week. Control over contested land in the West Bank is evolving into a conflict about water rights. Amnesty International recently published a report stating that the Israeli authorities were denying basic water rights to Palestinians. The report states that the Mountain Aquifer, lying under both Israel and the West Bank, is the source for all of the Palestinians’ water needs. However, according to the 1994 Oslo Peace Accords, which was only intended to last five years as an interim solution, Israel owns rights to 80 percent of the water pumped, while Palestinians own rights to only 20 percent of the water pumped. This translates, according to the report, to 450,000 Israelis using more water than 2.3 million Palestinians. Israelis also have access to the Coastal Aquifer and Lake Kinneret/Tiberias/Sea of Galilee, including the Jordan River and tributaries.

Posted: Thursday, October 8, 2009
Author: Amber Pembleton

The U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) is increasingly looking toward climate change to predict security challenges that may arise in the future. This is evidenced in the proposed 2010 Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR). One security threat related to climate change that cannot be ignored is the melting of the Himalayan glaciers. The glaciers supply freshwater to much of Asia, including Pakistan, India and China, through the Indus, Gagnes and Brahmaputra rivers. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) released a report recently that stated the Himalayan glaciers were melting much faster than previously estimated. The plausible water scarcity for these regions has incredible implications when one considers that conflicts over water have the ability to lead to violence, and when one also considers the unstable nuclear capacity in the region. In July, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee held a hearing convened by chairman Senator John Kerry (D-MA). He acknowledged the threat by saying, “nowhere is the nexus between today’s threats and climate change more acute than in South Asia–the home of Al Qaeda and the center of our terrorist threat. Scientists are now warning that the Himalayan glaciers, which supply water to almost a billion people from China to Afghanistan, could disappear completely by 2035.”

Posted: Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Author: Ed Levandoski

China, South Korea, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates are among several countries who are currently involved in purchasing or renting African farmlands. Historically there have been land deals between private individuals but since 2006, nearly all sales and rentals of land have been arranged between two governments. This large increase in the amount of land being purchased is a result of the worldwide 2007-2008 food crisis. Many countries have purchased this land in order to ensure they maintain their food resources.

Posted: Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Author: Amber Pembleton

As combat missions reduce in number, the Department of Defense (DOD) is finding more ways to take part in non-combat missions, which help build the capacity of post-conflict nations. One of the ways in which this can be done is through the building and maintenance of the utility infrastructure of water. Another way this can be done is through the training of soldiers and citizens on how to use portable water treatment devices. Recently, there have been several efforts from the U.S. Army to help build and maintain the water infrastructure in Iraq.

Posted: Friday, September 18, 2009
Author: Amber Pembleton

Understanding the fully burdened cost of water (FBCW) is of critical importance to understanding water security, and in turn, energy security. Yet, the FBCW has barely entered the sphere of DoD conversations. To bring the idea to the front of research and conversation, it is important to grasp an understanding of what the FBCW would entail. What is the fully burdened cost of water? The fully burdened cost of water acknowledges that water actually has a higher monetized and non-monetized value than is currently prescribed to it.