Tag Archives: Climate change

Positive News about the State of the World in 2013

Posted on April 9, 2013 | Leave a comment

Anybody can be forgiven for feeling these are gloomy times. National economies are largely sluggish, abysmal at worst. Political leaders can’t fix a range of problems from the Euro to carbon emissions. From Mali via Syria to the Korean peninsula, peace in the world seems at risk. So it’s important to find the positive news. Continue reading →

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Posted in The State of the World

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The state of the world

Posted on January 10, 2013 | Leave a comment

Today is publication day for the new edition of The State of the World Atlas. It presents information about the world – economics, politics, conflict, health, environment and demography – in a variety of forms, primarily in maps and other visuals, also in text. If you will excuse me, I want to introduce it to you. Continue reading →

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Posted in The State of the World

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More, most and never before

Posted on November 13, 2012 | 5 Comments

What is the name of our age? The late Eric Hobsbawm wrote a series of brilliant histories that each named the era it covered - The Ages of Revolution, Capital,  Empire and, for the age in which I grew up and whose aftermath still shapes us,  the Age of Extremes. So what is the name of our age? Continue reading →

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Posted in International development

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The world is not prepared for climate-related conflict

Posted on April 28, 2011 | 2 Comments

A recent meeting at DFID brought together a number of people from different government departments, NGOs and research centres to discuss some of the under-discussed aspects of the climate/security links. Laurie Goering captured the essence of the discussion in this AlertNet article.

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Posted in Climate change, Conflict & peace

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Climate, river, land, oil, insecurity

Posted on December 8, 2010 | 1 Comment

It is sometimes difficult to give a vivid and convincing sense of the link between climate and the problems of insecurity. The linkage is indirect and can seem intangible. And there is a lack of hard evidence with which to demonstrate it because the problems are only now beginning. But then sometimes the link is brought out into the open in the most vivid and cogent form. Continue reading →

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Posted in Climate change, Conflict & peace

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The EAS: what it takes to succeed

Posted on August 23, 2010 | 2 Comments

Just before the summer shutdown, the last key decisions were taken to establish the EU’s new External Action Service – the European Parliament on 8 July and the Council of the EU on the 20th. As the EAS starts to become real, what can and should we expect from it? Continue reading →

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Posted in Conflict & peace, Power

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Water, conflict and peace

Posted on June 3, 2010 | 5 Comments

Water is a basic condition of life. We depend upon it for daily use, for agriculture, for industry and infrastructure. A shortage, an excess and deficient quality can all undermine welfare, impair human security, hold back economic development and in some circumstances generate conflict. The London-based Foreign Policy Centre has published Tackling the World Water Crisis, an edited collection of articles in which mine looks at the peace and security issues around water. Continue reading →

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Posted in Climate change, Conflict & peace, International development

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After the UK election (2): Three questions on international development

Posted on May 20, 2010 | Leave a comment

What does the advent of the new government mean for UK policy on international development? Continue reading →

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Posted in Conflict & peace, International development, The economic crunch

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Chaff, noise and fog in the climate debate.

Posted on March 12, 2010 | 9 Comments

This is a critical time on climate. Scientific conclusions that had seemed largely settled and backed by professional consensus are today challenged with increasing confidence. Three months after Copenhagen, the policy pathway is still hard to discern.  Opinion polls show growing numbers of people think the globe is not warming, or not because of human action, or, variously, that not much can, need or should be done about it. Last week a House of Commons committee queried the state of climate science in the wake of the publication of emails to and from the University of East Anglia’s Climate Research Unit; this week a new UN review has been launched to assess the work of the Inter-govermental Panel on Climate Change.

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Posted in Climate change

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Quiet start from EU High Rep Ashton? Good! Go for the long game

Posted on March 2, 2010 | 2 Comments

Baroness Catherine Ashton, the European Union’s High Representative, is facing a mountain of a job and a rockfall of criticism across Europe after her first 100 days. But most of the negativity is a matter of Brussels gossip, bruised little egos and out-dated thinking about international politics. Ashton has got things more right than her critics. Rightly, she is focused on the long game rather than short-term headlines (which some journalists find impossible to forgive and others equally impossible to understand).    Continue reading →

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Posted in Power

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