As Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant rebels were steadily pushing into Iraq last month, ultimately threatening the country’s largest dam, water conflict was a popular topic on the blog.

Guest contributor Cameron Harrington explained how modern water woes are mostly about “daily structural violence and injustice related to underdevelopment, poverty, and environmental degradation.” But a new World Bank working paper also warned that the past may not be a reliable guide to the future, thanks to climate change and population growth.

Cities were also popular. Guest contributors Jeffrey Stark and Katsuaki Terasawa explained how climate change is impacting urban areas in West Africa; Jim Jarvie and Richard Friend, meanwhile, describe the poor governance that prevails in many Asian cities where development agencies are rushing to invest in resilience projects.

Closer to home, Kathleen Mogelgaard broke down USAID’s new climate strategy, finding a promising start but uneven execution so far.

1. Challenging Patriarchy: The Changing Definition of Women’s Empowerment, Donald Borenstein

2. Climate Change Will Test Water-Sharing Agreements, Thomas Curran

3. A Closer Look at USAID’s Climate Strategy: Climate-Smart Development a Work in Progress, Kathleen Mogelgaard

4. Don’t Forget About Governance: The Risk of Tunnel Vision in Chasing Resilience for Asia’s Cities, Jim Jarvie and Richard Friend

5. The End of Sustainability? Melinda Harm Benson and Robin K. Craig (Ensia)

6. Dawn of the Smart City? Perspectives From New York, Ahmedabad, São Paulo, and Beijing (Report Launch), Schuyler Null

7. Youth and Global Violence: Saving History’s Largest Generation of Young People, Moses Jackson

8. Water Wars? Think Again: Conflict Over Freshwater Structural Rather Than Strategic, Cameron Harrington

9. Climate Change and Conflict in West African Cities: Early Warning Signs in Lagos and Accra, Jeffrey Stark and Katsuaki Terasawa

10. Flooding in Uttarakhand Shows Why India Needs to Take Environmental Security More Seriously, Dhanasree Jayaram