Peter
Schwartzstein

Enviro journalist & researcher, think tanker @ The Wilson Center & @ Center for Climate & Security, Author of 'The Heat and the Fury: On the Frontlines of Climate Violence'

@pschwartzstein

Latest from the Blog

Apr 5, 2020

The Perfect Storm: Coronavirus and Climate Change in the Middle East

The pandemic caused by the novel coronavirus has upended our lives, making a mockery of our illusions of permanence and stability. Economies that only last month appeared solid are teetering. Healthcare systems that were supposed to be resilient are proving anything but. For many of us in the environmental field,...
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Feb 6, 2020

As the Risk of a ‘Water War’ Fades, Is It Too Late to Save the Nile?

Article first featured on World Politics Review At first glance, the Nile valley at Wad Ramli, an hour’s drive north of Khartoum, looks as lush and fertile as ever. Date palms sag, heavy with fruit along the banks. Neat rows of barley await harvesting in the heat. With thousands...
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Nov 14, 2016

“You Are Asking About Pollution?”: One Journalist’s Perspective on the Mid East’s Environmental Crisis

It was some point in May last year, shortly after ISIS surged into the city of Ramadi, and I was working on a story about Iraq’s fast-disappearing Mesopotamian Marshes. Keen to fact-check a few statistics with the Ministry of Water Resources and to hear the government line on the...
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Jun 23, 2015

Turkey’s election draws mixed reactions

Published at Le Monde Diplomatique http://mondediplo.com/blogs/turkey-s-election-draws-mixed-reactions Two weeks ago, as the results of the Turkish parliamentary elections filtered through, international TV networks cut to jubilant scenes on the streets of central Istanbul and Diyarbakir. We watched as supporters of the mostly Kurdish HDP triumphantly celebrated clearing...
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Aug 20, 2013

Copts Under Attack

“On days like today, being Christian reallytests my faith,” taxi driver Hany Girgis said, as he drove past his shutteredand heavily-fortified Coptic church in Cairo’s Shubra neighborhood. But at least his church is still standing. Dozens have been damaged or destroyed, and hundreds of other Christian properties targeted at...
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