Peter
Schwartzstein

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

@pschwartzstein

Latest Stories

New Security Beat 

Feb 24, 2026

Syria’s Environmental Woes Fueled Its Long Conflict. Left Unaddressed, They Will Do So Again.

I recently returned to Syria for my first peacetime visit. Unsurprisingly, the country is an awful mess. The destruction is somehow slightly more conspicuous than it seemed through a number of trips between 2014 and 2022. People’s exhaustion is palpable, and...

ECDPM 

Jan 21, 2026

Europe and Africa in 2035: Losing Alone or Winning Together?

Europe’s climate transition is reshaping trade, security, and geopolitical relations beyond the EU’s borders. Nowhere are the stakes higher than in Europe’s relationship with Africa, where EU climate policies directly affect everything from livelihoods to resource governance....

Carboun 

Dec 2, 2025

The Perils of ‘Ghost Water’

Desalination is all the rage in the Middle East. History provides a cautionary tale. At the beginning of the 20th century, the UK produced almost none of its own timber. Having deforested all but 5 percent of the country, Britons had...

Friedrich Ebert Stiftung 

Oct 20, 2025

A Distant Problem No Longer

How climate change is fuelling crime and fraying trust across Europe

New York Times 

Sep 2, 2025

When Climate Change Blurs Borders

In recent years, Greek soldiers on patrol along the Evros River have found themselves at times unsure of which country they were in. Sometimes extreme rain swells the river, which forms most of the Greece-Turkey land border, enough to obscure...

The Wilson Center 

May 1, 2025

15 KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM A DECADE OF CLIMATE SECURITY REPORTING

Introduction For nearly two decades, the connections between climate change and security have been debated and discussed in a diverse array of fora—from universities, think tanks, and the Pentagon, to the National Intelligence Council, NATO, and United Nations. While...

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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