Category Energy & Environment
A Proposal to Manage Human Migration
The United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27) last fall focused the world’s attention on the many climate-related crises to come, including floods and droughts; inhospitable heat; saltwater intrusion and inundation; the loss of biodiversity; the loss of agricultural regions; and more violent storms.…
Water Security & The Maghreb
Unveiling Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) Challenges: The Potential Dispute Between China and EU
Review: Robert Vitalis’ Oilcraft: The Myths of Scarcity and Security that Haunt U.S. Energy Policy
How Climate Change Could Make Water a Resource Trap Risk
The SAIS Review Interview with His Excellency Dr. Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi
His Excellency Dr. Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi is the Minister of Climate Change and Environment for the United Arab Emirates
Climate Diplomacy: A Mismatch Between Science and Politics
A struggle between natural science and politics has characterized the history of climate diplomacy from 1991 to the present, as the physical condition of the earth’s atmosphere worsens while the international community continues to try to design policy responses. ... Progress in combating climate change needs more intense, blunt, and candid conversations on a sustained basis between atmospheric physicists and diplomatic negotiators to move forward at a time when global economic and population growth is increasing greenhouse gas emissions and exacerbating climate change.
China’s Coal-to-Gas Program: A Developing Environmental Governance Regime
Despite the increasing centralization of China under Xi Jinping, SAIS student Yujin Zhang uses the example of China’s Coal-to-Gas program to show that principal-agent problems and competing interests between Beijing and local governments still negatively affect environmental policy implementation. Effective environmental policies require long-term institutional reforms, not short term campaign-style enforcement.
Can Russia Maintain European Demand of Natural Gas in a Changing World?
In this article, author Joniel Cha investigates current trends in Russian natural gas production and exports, focusing on its role in the European energy markets. He analyzes how Russia uses natural gas production for its geopolitical strategy, the policies of different European countries, the effects of external shocks, and other strengths and weaknesses of the Russian gas sector to assess its future as supplier to Europe.
Resilience after Harvey, Irma and Maria: Adapting to Climate Change
Dr. Gerald E. Galloway, from the University of Maryland, gave a speech at SAIS about why the effects of Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria were so damaging to the United States. He then linked the effects of the disasters to the necessity of proper development in order to avert future disasters. He concluded by recommending that Congress re-brand climate change as a national security concern in order to improve climate change's position in the national discourse.
Water Crisis in Kabul Could Be Severe If Not Addressed
In this article, Mohsin Amin and Elnaz Hassanpour Adeh from Oregon State University tackle the issue of water scarcity in Afghanistan and its implications for the stability of the country. After discussing the recent myriad problems facing the water infrastructure system in Kabul, they propose several engineering and policy solutions such as the construction of the Shah-Arus Dam and the creation of the Managed Aquifer Recharge (MAR) that will ameliorate the situation.