Politics

As tensions rise in one of the world’s most critical maritime chokepoints, the ripple effects go far beyond oil—touching food systems, climate pressures, and regional stability

Today, Britain is attempting something that would have seemed unthinkable way back when.

Health emerges from a continuous energy and material flow from water through food to human physiology. Technical energy systems support this cycle through water treatment, agriculture, and infrastructure.

Somaliland, for its part, has operated as a de facto independent state since 1991. It has its own government, elections, currency, and security forces. It’s often described as one of the more stable and democratic political systems in the region, despite never being formally recognized internationally. 

Environmental activists in Iran often face significant personal risk when speaking out about illegal land grabs, deforestation, or the destruction of protected areas. In recent years, several high-profile environmentalists have been detained, interrogated, or imprisoned on broad national-security charges, sometimes without transparent legal proceedings.

“Lebanon, stand up,” he added. “Be a home of justice and fraternity! Be a prophetic sign of peace for the whole of the Levant!”

Arab normalization resistance — unchallenged by EU and UN bodies — ensures they remain politically sanitized and technically shallow. The Mediterranean cannot solve climate change, migration pressures, or food insecurity if it continues to sideline the very countries with the expertise to contribute. And the more the UfM, the EU, and UN bodies appease political vetoes, the more they reinforce the exact divisions they were created to heal.

More than sixty years after France’s nuclear tests in the Algerian Sahara, radiation still lingers in the sand. At Reggane and In Ekker, plutonium traces remain where underground detonations vented into the open air. The sites were never fully decontaminated after France’s withdrawal in 1966. Algeria now monitors them with help from the International Atomic Energy Agency, but vast areas remain off-limits to herders and researchers.

In 2012, Green Prophet sounded the alarm about depleted Gulf fish stocks and weak enforcement in Dubai. Revisit Tafline Laylin’s original piece here: Dubai Finally Gets Serious About Overfishing.

Egypt’s irrigation system has roots in millennia-old techniques, from Aswan Dam regulation to historic canal networks. The current program builds on this heritage, blending tradition with pressure-based systems and digital monitoring. Watch developments on the GERD dam opening this year from Ethiopia as water volume from the Nile that goes to Egypt may drop dramatically. 

Rising temperatures, unpredictable rainfall, and more frequent droughts amplify existing disputes. Water scarcity can fuel unrest, as seen in Iran’s Khuzestan protests, and can undermine fragile peace deals in post-conflict states like Libya and Yemen.

The endangerment finding has been the scientific and legal backbone of US climate policy for more than a decade. Without it, the EPA loses its authority to regulate carbon emissions under the Clean Air Act.

"Greta Thunberg is currently on her way to Israel, safe and in good spirits," says Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs in early hours of the morning.

In a region long marked by political divides, armed conflict, and environmental degradation, EcoPeace Middle East is quietly advancing the power of peacebuilding. Peace through education. Through its cross-border teacher tours in the Jordan Valley, EcoPeace is bringing together educators from Israel, Jordan, and the Palestinian territories to address critical environmental issues.

What is clear is that Thunberg's journey has drawn massive attention to Gaza’s humanitarian and environmental conditions. At the same time, it opens up a broader conversation on the role of ecological activism and justice in a time of war.