Showing posts from category What You Are Reading.
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Top 10 Posts for May 2012
›Laurie Mazur, Elizabeth Leahy Madsen, Tim Hanstad, and Musimbi Kanyoro topped the list last month. Integrated looks at development and security issues were popular in general, with looks at hotspots like Nigeria, Uganda, Yemen, Pakistan, Ethiopia, and India, and topics like land and water security all represented in the top 10.
1. Taming Hunger in Ethiopia: The Role of Population Dynamics
2. India’s Maoists: South Asia’s “Other” Insurgency
3. Yemen: Revisiting Demography After the Arab Spring
4. Guest Contributor Tim Hanstad: Poor Land Tenure: A Key Component to Why Nations Fail
5. Guest Contributor Musimbi Kanyoro: Women’s Rights and Voices Belong at Rio+20
6. The Global Water Security Assessment and U.S. National Security Implications
7. Uganda’s Demographic and Health Challenges Put Into Perspective With Newfound Oil Discoveries
8. Nabeela Ali on How PAIMAN Is Improving Maternal Health in Pakistan
9. In Search of a New Security Narrative: The National Conversation Series Launches at the Wilson Center
10. Nigeria Beyond the Headlines: Demography and Health [Part One] -
Top 10 Posts for April 2012
›Interest in the environment and conflict nexus is high: Posts on the Journal of Peace Research’s climate and conflict special issue; special profiles on India’s and Uganda’s environment, development, and security challenges; and March’s global water intelligence assessment all made the top 10 last month (measured by unique pageviews). The remaining newcomers hit on demography and gender issues, with a guest contribution on Rio+20 from the President of the Global Fund for Women, Musimbi Kanyoro, and a re-examination of Yemen’s prospects after the Arab Spring by Elizabeth Leahy Madsen.
1. Global Water Security Calls for U.S. Leadership, Says Intelligence Assessment
2. India’s Maoists: South Asia’s “Other” Insurgency
3. Responses to JPR Climate and Conflict Special Issue: François Gemenne (Sciences Po)
4. Guest Contributor Nils Petter Gleditsch: Much Ado About Conflict? Climate’s Links to Violence Reexamined
5. Uganda’s Demographic and Health Challenges Put Into Perspective With Newfound Oil Discoveries
6. Responses to JPR Climate and Conflict Special Issue: Solomon Hsiang (Princeton University) and Todd G. Smith (University of Texas, Austin)
7. Tunisia’s Shot at Democracy: What Demographics and Recent History Tell Us
8. Yemen: Revisiting Demography After the Arab Spring
9. In Search of a New Security Narrative: The National Conversation Series Launches at the Wilson Center
10. Guest Contributor Musimbi Kanyoro: Women’s Rights and Voices Belong at Rio+20 -
Top 10 Posts for March 2012
›With World Water Day, a new water initiative from the State Department, and the release of a U.S. intelligence assessment on global water security, several water posts were propelled into the top 10 last month. Joining them were contributions from Elizabeth Leahy Madsen on the demographic dividend, Kathleen Mogelgaard on future food security and population dynamics, Laurie Mazur on biodiversity and demography, and Kavita Ramdas on empowering women.
1. India’s Maoists: South Asia’s “Other” Insurgency
2. Kavita Ramdas: Why Educating Girls Is Not Enough
3. Food Security in a Climate-Altered Future
4. More People, Less Biodiversity? The Complex Connections Between Population Dynamics and Species Loss
5. Tunisia’s Shot at Democracy: What Demographics and Recent History Tell Us
6. Reaching Out to Environmentalists About Population Growth and Family Planning
7. The Missing Links in the Demographic Dividend
8. Global Water Security Calls for U.S. Leadership, Says Intelligence Assessment
9. In Rush for Land, Is it All About Water?
10. Water and Population: Limits to Growth? -
Top 10 Posts for February 2012
›Great guest contributions and a couple of book previews helped fill out the top 10 last month, from Laurie Mazur on water and limits to growth, Pamela Griffin on the Ramsar Convention, and Elizabeth Leahy Madsen’s comprehensive look at Afghanistan’s first demographic and health survey to Jack Goldstone’s Political Demography and Marc Sommers’ Stuck.
1. Water and Population: Limits to Growth?
2. India’s Maoists: South Asia’s “Other” Insurgency
3. Guest Contributor Pamela Griffin: The Ramsar Convention: A New Window for Environmental Diplomacy?
4. Tunisia’s Shot at Democracy: What Demographics and Recent History Tell Us
5. UNEP Maps Conflict, Migration, Environmental Vulnerability in the Sahel
6. In Search of a New Security Narrative: The National Conversation Series Launches at the Wilson Center
7. Afghanistan’s First Demographic and Health Survey Reveals Surprises (Part One)
8. Stuck: Rwandan Youth and the Struggle for Adulthood (Book Preview)
9. Political Demography: How Population Changes Are Reshaping International Security and National Politics (Book Launch)
10. Peter Gleick: Population Dynamics Key to Sustainable Water Solutions -
Top 10 Posts for January 2012
›The event summary from December’s meeting on new climate-conflict research took the top place last month and was joined by several other new comers: Marc Bellemare’s post about his food prices research, new Sahel vulnerability maps from UNEP, a summary of the water security plenary from NSCE 2012, and new reports on youth demographics from UNICEF and the U.S. Institute of Peace.
1. New Research on Climate and Conflict Links Shows Challenges for the Field
2. Tunisia’s Shot at Democracy: What Demographics and Recent History Tell Us
3. In Search of a New Security Narrative: The National Conversation Series Launches at the Wilson Center
4. Guest Contributor Marc F. Bellemare: Do High Food Prices Cause Social Unrest?
5. In the Rush for Land, Is it All About the Water?
6. UNEP Maps Conflict, Migration, Environmental Vulnerability in the Sahel
7. Peter Gleick: Population Dynamics Key to Sustainable Water Solutions
8. India’s Maoists: South Asia’s “Other” Insurgency
9. Move Beyond “Water Wars” to Fulfill Water’s Peacebuilding Potential, Says NCSE Panel
10. Three New Reports Highlight Ongoing Significance of Youth Demographics in Global Trends -
Top 10 Posts for 2011
›2011 was a momentous year for environment-population-security connections. Youth demographics came into the media spotlight with popular uprisings across the Middle East, we reached seven billion people on Earth, and there was new awareness about the importance of natural resource management in a more connected-than-ever world. Here are the most popular stories of 2011 on New Security Beat, measured by unique pageviews:
1. Tunisia’s Shot at Democracy: What Demographics and Recent History Tell Us
Tunisia’s “Jasmine Revolution” kicked-off the Arab Spring, but what are the country’s chances at achieving democracy? Demographer Richard Cincotta compares historical data on the relationship between age structure and democratic governments to find out.
2. In Search of a New Security Narrative: The National Conversation Series Launches at the Wilson Center
Captain Wayne Porter (USN) and Colonel Mark Mykleby (USMC) argued the United States needs a new national strategic narrative and presented their vision at the Wilson Center, saying that America needs to move away from a model of containment, deterrence, and control towards a “strategy of sustainability.”
3. Quantifying the Integration of Population, Health, and Environment in Development: When the Whole Is Greater Than the Sum of Its Parts
An article in Environmental Conservation broke new ground by presenting rigorous research that shows working across development sectors produces synergies not obtainable by any one of the disciplines alone.
4. How Did We Arrive at 7 Billion – and Where Do We Go From Here?
Demographer Elizabeth Leahy Madsen explained how world population reached seven billion this year, its significance, and where our demographic path might take us from here.
5. In the Rush for Land, Is it All About the Water?
With staple food prices shooting up and food security projected to worsen in the decades ahead, it is little wonder that countries are looking abroad to secure future resources. But the question arises: Are these “land grabs” really about the food – or, more accurately, are they “water grabs”?
6. Jon Foley: How to Feed Nine Billion and Keep the Planet Too
ECSP reports on Jon Foley’s presentation about the challenges to global food security as well as a strategy for overcoming them at South by Southwest’s inaugural eco conference.
7. Peter Gleick: Population Dynamics Key to Sustainable Water Solutions
Peter Gleick of the Pacific Institute explains in an interview with ECSP what role population dynamics play in his assessment of “peak water.”
8. Guest Contributor Jim Duncan: Redrawing the Map of the World’s International River Basins
Following on his presentation at the Wilson Center, water expert Jim Duncan outlined updates made to the Transboundary Freshwater Spatial Database, including the addition of 13 new basins covering 501,000 km2 and an estimated 13.8 million inhabitants.
9. Ten Billion: UN Updates Population Projections
The UN released an update to its biannual estimates for world population, extending projections for the first time to the end of the century. The results show that growth is likely to continue longer and total numbers will be higher than previously thought.
10. PRB’s Population Data Sheet 2011: The Demographic Divide
ECSP examined the Population Reference Bureau’s latest data sheet which shows an unprecedentedly stark divide between demographic trends in rich and poor countries.
Thanks for reading New Security Beat and also for your many constructive comments. We redesigned the blog in 2011 and plan to continue that modernization effort this year, all with the aim of better reaching you, so we’re grateful for your attention, feedback, and contributions.
Image Credit: Adapted from “Viva the Tunisian Revolution,” courtesy of flickr user freestylee (Michael Thompson). -
Top 10 Posts for November 2011
›ECSP Director Geoff Dabelko’s look at seven ways seven billion people affect the planet led the top 10 last month (by unique page views), followed by a number of posts on trends: visualizations of population, health, and climate trends; what El Niño and conflict patterns say about the relationship between the two; the policy decisions that led to a commitment to family planning in Rwanda; and the effects of global population on “peak water.” Captain Wayne Porter and Colonel Mark Mykleby’s new national security narrative presentation at the Wilson Center also remained popular, and a new guest contributor, American University student Olimar Maisonet-Guzman, joined the list for the first time:
1. Seven Ways Seven Billion People Affect the Planet
2. India’s Maoists: South Asia’s “Other” Insurgency
3. Tunisia’s Shot at Democracy: What Demographics and Recent History Tell Us
4. Eye On: STATcompiler: Visualizing Population and Health Trends
5. Peter Gleick: Population Dynamics Key to Sustainable Water Solutions
6. Eye On: Twin Challenges: Population and Climate Change in 2050
7. El Niño, Conflict, and Environmental Determinism: Assessing Climate’s Links to Instability
8. Building Commitment to Family Planning: Rwanda
9. In Search of a New Security Narrative: The National Conversation Series Launches at the Wilson Center
10. Guest Contributor Olimar Maisonet-Guzman: Bring the Water-Energy Nexus to Rio+20 -
Top 10 Posts for October 2011
›October brought plenty of talk about population – the UN estimates that the seven billionth person alive today was born on the 31st and that brought a flurry of media coverage from all corners. Elizabeth Leahy Madsen broke down how we got to that number and where we’re going. Peter Gleick explained “peak water,” Jon Foley impressed at the first South by Southwest Eco conference, and we highlighted some of the debate around Solomon Hsiang et al.’s article about El Niño and conflict. Here are the top 10, measured by unique pageviews:
1. How Did We Arrive at 7 Billion – and Where Do We Go From Here?
2. Jon Foley: How to Feed Nine Billion and Keep the Planet Too
3. India’s Maoists: South Asia’s “Other” Insurgency
4. Tunisia’s Shot at Democracy: What Demographics and Recent History Tell Us
5. Weathering Change: New Film Links Climate Adaptation and Family Planning
6. El Niño, Conflict, and Environmental Determinism: Assessing Climate’s Links to Instability
7. Watch: Peter Gleick on Peak Water
8. Peter Gleick: Population Dynamics Key to Sustainable Water Solutions
9. In Search of a New Security Narrative: The National Conversation Series Launches at the Wilson Center
10. Food Security and Conflict Done Badly…, via Edward Carr, Open the Echo Chamber