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Joan Whelan on a New Strategy at the Office of Food for Peace: Address Conflict
›Since its inception more than 60 years ago, USAID’s Office of Food for Peace has provided critical food assistance to billions of people around the world. Yet, despite its name, the office lacked a strategy to address the effects of conflict on its work.
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Tracking China’s “Foul and Filthy” Rivers With Citizen Science
›Blackened rivers snake the ring roads of Beijing, carrying pollution and often smelly water from one end of the city to another. The most polluted of these have been dubbed “foul and filthy” rivers (黑臭河) by China’s Ministry of the Environment (MEP) and Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development (MOHURD). However, the government has decided to clean these up – and is enlisting the help of the public to do so.
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Myanmar’s Democratic Deficit: Demography and the Rohingya Dilemma
›According to political demographers, who study the relationship between population dynamics and politics, two characteristics when observed together provide a rather good indication that a state is about to shed its authoritarian regime, rise to a high level of democracy, and stay there. Myanmar has both.
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Sharon Burke on How the U.S. Military Is Planning for Climate Change
›Climate change is impacting the U.S. military in two major ways, explains Sharon Burke in this week’s podcast.
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Keith Johnson, Foreign Policy
Pentagon Directive Quietly Makes Climate Change Long-Term Priority
›March 24, 2016 // By Wilson Center StaffIn the middle of January, Deputy Secretary of Defense Robert Work signed off on one of the potentially most significant, if little-noticed, orders in recent Pentagon history. The directive told every corner of the Pentagon, including the office of the secretary of defense, the joint chiefs of staff, and all the combatant commands around the world, to put climate change front and center in their strategic planning.
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Leslie Rose, Global Waters
Incubating Innovation: Solutions for a Parched Earth
›March 24, 2016 // By Wilson Center StaffMassive droughts and water demands from a world population projected to grow to 9 billion by 2050, translate to food insecurity and lack of water for agriculture. Securing Water for Food sources and invests in a portfolio of innovative solutions that help farmers use water more efficiently and effectively; improve water storage for lean times; and remove salt from water to make more food.
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Global Stories From the Nexus of Gender and Climate Change Vulnerability
›March 21, 2016 // By Gracie CookDeveloping countries are in a pitched fight against the effects of climate change, and women, playing prominent roles in agriculture and household resource collection, are “at the front lines in the battle,” writes UN Framework Convention on Climate Change Executive Secretary Christiana Figueres, in a new report.
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Kabul Greenbelt Project Aims to Restore Some Luster to War-Ravaged Capital – and Resilience Too
›It’s hard to imagine today, but Kabul was once ringed with grassy areas and shrubs, a few trees in areas too. Some of my husband’s favorite recollections of early 1970s Afghanistan are of simple family picnics in picturesque parks. Hours of lounging, grilling kebab, preparing rice, and conversing were a respite from the oppressive heat of the capital. Sometimes a picnic would become an all-night, extended family gathering. The Gardens of Paghman were a favorite destination with rows of pine trees, roses, and cool fountains. Pre-war family photos reveal neatly trimmed trees, bushes, and ample grassy areas for impromptu games. The family picnic is still popular among the Afghan diaspora. In the United States, Afghan community events are often held in parks, and involve large, multi-family picnics.
Showing posts from category Asia.