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 Stories

Roads and Kingdoms 

Jun 2, 2015

Dam Fury

In Lebanon, not even dams are immune from sectarian disputes

Quartz 

Jun 1, 2015

Iraqis say ISIL’s impact on Baghdad food prices is even worse than its car bombs

BAGHDAD—Four years after US troops pulled out of the Iraqi capital, local merchants are once more cursing America.

“Look at these prices,” Abu Mustafa said, as he gestured at the mounds…

The Guardian 

May 26, 2015

Syrian refugees in Lebanon camp reliant on 'hell water' that reduces metal to rust

Poor management of resources, political stalemate and an influx of Syrians fleeing war to settlements like Shatila have exacerbated Lebanon’s water crisis

Quartz 

May 21, 2015

Iraq enlisted 100,000 militiamen to fight ISIL and now it can barely control them

BAGHDAD—With traffic on the Republic Bridge snarled up for half a mile and lunchtime fast approaching, the two pickup trucks chock full of armed men in desert camouflage decided they could stand the…

Quartz 

Apr 15, 2015

The Arab Spring’s best legacy: Egyptians are now reading once-banned books

In his 25 years manning a stall at Cairo’s storied Ezbekiya book market, Ali El Shaer has often had to revise his stock. When local students favored socialist treatises, he bought Karl Marx by the…

Roads and Kingdoms 

Mar 7, 2015

EGYPTIAN RUINS

A year after its destruction, Cairo's Museum of Islamic Art is still a blown-out shell

National Geographic 

Feb 19, 2015

Surrounded by Conflict, an Ancient Synagogue Crumbles in Iraq

Corruption and war threaten the site where biblical prophet Nahum is said to rest.

Quartz 

Jan 19, 2015

ISIL has forced the price of eggs in Syria up by 1,000%

AMUDA, SYRIA—Even in territory it doesn’t control, the Islamic State group, or ISIL, is making an awful nuisance of itself.

Not content with cutting a swath of terror through tracts of Syria…

Le Monde Diplomatique 

Jan 19, 2015

The writing’s off the wall

The Arab Spring revitalised Egypt’s cultural scene. But now everyone is weary, broke and scared.