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Planetary Security Conference Convenes Amidst “Unsettling New Normal”
›December 14, 2016 // By Schuyler NullEnvironmental security? Climate security? How about planetary security. Last week at the venerable Peace Palace in The Hague, nearly 300 experts from around the world met for the somewhat dramatically named Planetary Security Conference, a new initiative aimed at bringing together people working on all things related to the environment, climate change, and their security implications.
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The Global Refugee Crisis Has Coarsened Our Politics, Says Wilson Fellow Joseph Cassidy
›Chaotic flows of refugees and migrants – the most since World War II – have challenged leaders in Western Europe and North America. “The reactions to those big flows are undermining our institutions in important ways and degrading our politics,” says Wilson Center Fellow Joseph Cassidy in this week’s podcast.
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No Mother Left Behind: How Conflict Exacerbates the Global Maternal Health Challenge
›Since the end of World War II, the number of wars between states has declined significantly, but the number of intrastate civil conflicts – as seen in Syria and Afghanistan – has increased.
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Climate Change, the U.S. Military, and “the Intersection of Politics and Events”
›November 1, 2016 // By Schuyler NullThere may not have been a single question about climate change in the 2016 presidential debates, but it remains a hotly contested, partisan issue for many in the United States. That climate change is happening and requires a response is not up for debate within the upper echelons of the U.S. military, however.
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António Guterres and the Way Forward on Climate Change and Security
›On October 13, the United Nations General Assembly appointed Antonio Guterres as the next UN secretary-general. When the former prime minister of Portugal and high commissioner for refugees begins his term in January 2017, he will face a world of increasing climate and security crises. In a Wilson Center NOW interview and op-ed for The Daily Climate, Wilson Fellows Ruth Greenspan Bell and Sherri Goodman express optimism in Guterres’ ability to address these interconnected challenges and provide insight on the role of institutions like the United Nations in fighting climate change.
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Necessity Is the Mother of Invention: Islands as the Vanguard of Climate Adaptation
›“Climate change is one of the greatest challenges of our time and it calls for a comprehensive and cooperative international approach like we’ve never seen,” said Jainey Bavishi, associate director for climate preparedness at the White House Council on Environmental Policy, at the Wilson Center on October 5. “The leadership of the island nations is essential; they punch well above their weight on this issue.”
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What’s Next for the Environment at the UN? Bringing Rights to the Fore, Says Ken Conca
›October 13, 2016 // By Schuyler NullThe United Nations has made significant progress since the Stockholm Conference of 1972 in putting the environment on the global agenda. Indeed, the environment plays a major role in two of the largest UN initiatives today: the Paris climate accord and the Sustainable Development Goals. But in a new brief for the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung Foundation, Wilson Center Fellow Ken Conca writes that the traditional approach to environmental issues is running up against its limits.
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New UN Secretary-General Brings Humanitarian Experience, But Will It Matter? 5 Things to Watch
›Over the next few days, many smart people will opine on the prospects for success of António Guterres, the man (yes, surprise, another man) nominated by the United Nations Security Council to be the next UN secretary-general.
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