Development practitioners enter the field hoping to make the world a better place. Yet, too often, they become jaded and cynical over time. The bureaucratic processes that shape the mechanics of development programs (funding, design, implementation, and evaluation) often make it difficult for practitioners to apply their expertise and judgment. As the international development sector adjusts to the shutdown of USAID last year, it is an opportune moment to reflect upon how different approaches may strengthen development practice.

A window into what we’re reading at the Stimson Center’s Environmental Security Program

US Pressure Adds to the Suffering in Cuba’s Worst Economic Crisis  (The New Humanitarian)

Cuba is on the brink of a total humanitarian collapse as its people bear the brunt of cascading crises driven by the Trump administration’s decision to block Venezuelan oil shipments to the island. It is a crisis compounded by a decades-long US embargo and years of economic mismanagement. The power blackouts which previously lasted for 12 to 14 hours now exceed 20 hours, thus further crippling hospitals, food storage, and water systems. Without new fuel deliveries, the island might reach complete fuel depletion this month amidst its worst economic crisis since the 1930s.

With a reduction in capacity of bilateral and multilateral institutions and a broader political retreat from environmental protection and peacebuilding, environmental peacebuilding reached a turning point in 2025. This was the conclusion of leading experts who spoke at The Year in Review and the Year Ahead  webinar hosted by the Environmental Peacebuilding Association, as they reflected on the mounting constraints posed by this altered landscape.

The article was adapted from “Local Resilience Can Mitigate Climate Conflicts in the Pacific,” published by Global Outlook.

Pacific Island countries sit at the frontline of climate change. Many consist of small, low-lying islands, with long coastlines and vast ocean spaces between them. Livelihoods often depend on agriculture and fishing, and importing water or food is often infeasible or expensive. This makes those large ocean nations highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, such as storms, droughts, and rising sea levels.

President Donald Trump’s revived interest in buying Greenland attracted worldwide attention to the Arctic and triggered renewed geopolitical discussions about the region. These policy and academic debates mainly focus on traditional military threats and protecting national interests linked to great power rivalries—specifically a broader global competition involving the USA, Russia, and China.

A window into what we’re reading at the Stimson Center’s Environmental Security Program

Community Forests Are the Frontline of a Minerals Race in the DRC (Mongabay)

In the Democratic Republic of Congo’s copper-cobalt belt, local communities are establishing community forest concessions to secure land titles and prevent eviction by mining companies. Sparked by previous displacement incidents, these concessions allow communities to hold up to 50,000 hectares in perpetuity. This region holds approximately 70% of the world’s cobalt reserves, which has attracted intense competition from Chinese companies, the United States, and the DRC state-owned Gécamines to obtain minerals essential to high-tech, weapons, and clean energy industries. Between 2001 and 2024, 1.38 million hectares of tree cover in Lualaba and Haut-Katanga provinces were lost due to mining activities.

From Kenya to Morocco to Madagascar, waves of protest have erupted across Africa. Africans—and especially young Africans—have grown increasingly frustrated with a lack of economic opportunities.

So, it is no surprise that when Afrobarometer, a pan-African, non-partisan survey research organization, asked people across 39 African countries which issues they think their governments should prioritize, people ranked unemployment as the top policy priority.

Launched in 2013, China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has drawn wide global attention, with scholars and policymakers examining its geopolitical and economic implications. Much less explored, however, are the subnational impacts of BRI in participating countries. The China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), adopted as Pakistan’s flagship BRI project in 2015, offers a case in point.