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On Tuesday, September 8, the Civitas One Team attended the Atlantic Council’s Streamed Public Discussion: Data governance for AI and Healthcare: From Washington to Beijing. The full discussion is available here. Speakers of the discussion are: Ranjit Kumble, Vice President, Trusted AI Pfizer Stephen Moon, Global Public Sector Chief Technology Officer, Snowflake Daria Bahrami, Head of Policy, Dreadnode Gil Alterovitz, Associate Professor, Harvard Medical School; President, Pre

Vol. 2, Issue 17 — September 3, 2026 I. Sudan's Civil War Grinds On in Kordofan as Army-Aligned Forces Consolidate Gains Sudan's civil war shifted in the reporting period from Darfur toward Kordofan, the buffer between the Sudanese Armed Forces' eastern strongholds and Rapid Support Forces territory in the west. On August 20, RSF fighters raided villages near El Obeid in North Kordofan, killing six civilians and forcing more than a thousand people to flee on foot to the state

On August 26, 2026, a massive glacial collapse occurred high in the Himalayas near the Nepal-China border, roughly 20 kilometers northeast of the Rasuwagadhi crossing. According to a satellite imagery analysis from Planet Labs and geomorphologist at the University of Calgary, a portion of a glacier measuring roughly 0.2 square kilometers detached at an elevation of 5,200 meters and fell over 1,000 meters vertically onto the valley floor. A satellite image shows Chappthoke in

In the modern global economy, the term “trade war” refers to major economic powers battling through monetary mechanisms such as border taxes, export controls, retaliatory duties, and strategic blacklisting. Beginning as localized economic disputes over manufacturing and heavy industries have transitioned into a multi-front structural conflict reshaping global commerce. Escalation and Weaponized Policy At its simplest, a trade war occurs when one nation imposes economic restri

Vol. 2, Issue 16 — August 23, 2026 I. Washington Escalates Economic Pressure as Iran War Enters Second Stalemate The five-month confrontation between the United States, Israel, and Iran showed no sign of resolution over the reporting period, as Washington shifted from military brinkmanship toward an intensified campaign of economic coercion. On August 20 and 21, the U.S. Treasury Department imposed fresh sanctions on a Hezbollah-linked financial network and formally redesigna

On May 15, 2026, the Ministry of Public Health, Hygiene, and Social Welfare of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) officially declared the country’s 17th Ebola outbreak. By mid-August 2026, the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed the epidemic had spiraled into the deadliest Ebola crisis in the nation’s history. With confirmed cases reaching 4,945 and the cumulative death toll climbing past 2,325, the summer of 2026 has exposed profound vulnerabilities in epidemic

Regulation EU 2024/1689 entered force on August 1, 2024, marking a historic legislative milestone as the world’s first comprehensive legal framework for AI. Universally known as the European Union Artificial Intelligence Act, this piece of legislation has transitioned into an active, operational enforcement regime that reshapes how software is built, labeled, and governed. On August 2, 2026, these regulations took effect. EU 2024/1689 Overview Serving as the world’s first com

Vol. 2, Issue 15 — August 9, 2026 I. Hormuz Standoff Deepens as Washington and Tehran Trade Blame Over Collapsed Ceasefire The reimposed U.S. naval blockade of Iranian ports entered its second month during the reporting period, with the Strait of Hormuz remaining the central flashpoint of the broader U.S.-Iran conflict. U.S. Central Command reported redirecting dozens of commercial vessels attempting to transit the waterway and disabling or boarding several others, while Iran

How Critical Minerals are Redrawing Geopolitics The global balance of power has largely been defined by crude oil domination. Tanker routes, pipeline maps, and Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) summits dictated international diplomacy and economic stability. However, today we see a fundamental shift. As the world transitions toward renewable energy, advanced computing and automated defense systems, the geopolitical environment is increasingly shaped by

On July 24, U.S. President Donald Trump renewed his warning to impose additional tariffs on Canadian imports, attributing the measures to what he characterized as “willful negligence” on the part of Canadian authorities regarding cross-border wildfire smoke. The immediate catalyst involved smoke originating from nearly 900 active fires across Canadian provinces, concentrated heavily in Ontario and Manitoba. The smoke drifted southward across the international border, triggeri

Vol. 2, Issue 14 — July 26, 2026 I. Power Struggle Rumors and Religious Crackdown Deepen Burkina Faso's Crisis Amid Continued Jihadist Offensives On July 22, Burkinabe junta leader Ibrahim Traore moved publicly to quell speculation of a power struggle within his government, warning subordinates in the northern town of Ouahigouya that "there can't be two captains on one ship" and that he would deal harshly with anyone who challenged his authority. The remarks followed weeks of

On July 21, the Civitas One Team attended the CSIS virtual event “The Future of Global Energy: Insights from the 2026 Statistical Review.” This event was hosted by the Energy Security and Climate Change Program comprised of Dr. Nick Wayth, CEO, Energy Institute and Dr. Joseph Majkut, Director, Energy Security and Climate Change Program. The 2026 Edition of the Statistical Review of World Energy can be downloaded and accessed here. The global energy transition was previously d

Early last week, the 36th NATO Summit took place in Ankara, Turkey. The 2026 summit occurred roughly one year after the alliance’s landmark agreement at The Hauge where member countries committed to allocating 5% of their GDP to defense by 2035. Allies focused heavily on translating these massive spending budgets into immediate capabilities. Led by the NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, this year’s summit secured major breakthroughs in defense industrialization and technologi

Vol. 2, Issue 13 — July 12, 2026 I. Burkina Faso Severs Ties with France as JNIM Pressure Mounts and AES Juntas Deepen International Isolation Burkina Faso unilaterally severed diplomatic relations with France on June 26, 2026, marking the most significant diplomatic development in the Sahel this cycle, with the break formalized through the full withdrawal of French diplomatic personnel by July 6. Communications Minister Pingdwende Gilbert Ouedraogo announced the break on nat

In the same week that world attention was fixed on the Middle East, three West African governments took a quieter but significant step away from the postwar international legal order. Between June 18 and 24, Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali each filed formal notifications with the United Nations Secretary General confirming their withdrawal from the Rome Statute, the treaty that established the International Criminal Court. The ICC confirmed the filings on July 1, starting a one

On June 26, 2026, a reassessment of Middle Eastern Diplomacy occurred as the governments of Israel and Lebanon signed a landmark agreement at the State Department in Washington. Brokered through intense U.S. mediation led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the trilateral accord represents a striking shift in regional politics. As agreed to in the accord, Israel is promised sovereign recognition by the Lebanese state in exchange for an explicit written commitment by Beirut to

Vol. 2, Issue 12 — June 28, 2026 I. The Islamabad Memorandum and the Path to an Iran Nuclear Deal On June 17, 2026, U.S. President Donald Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian remotely signed the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding, a 14-point framework agreement aimed at ending the 2026 Iran war. The memorandum provides for an end to military strikes, the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz to commercial shipping toll-free for 60 days, an end to the U.S. naval blocka

From June 15 to 17, 2026, Evian-les-Bains, France, hosted the 52nd annual G7 Summit. The Council of the European Union compiled the 12 key takeaways that resulted from the 72-hour summit. Through deliberations, we can see a clear structural transition presented by the G7 leaders. There is an emerging emphasis on transactional diplomacy, supply chain security, and regulatory frameworks designed to navigate a constantly evolving global landscape. Palais Lumiere ahead of the G7

The Civitas One team recently attended the World Bank's Fragility Forum, where one of the standout sessions tackled a topic too often overlooked in development circles: the outsized role organized crime plays in driving fragility and undermining jobs and economic opportunity. The session was moderated by Chris Blattman, a professor of global conflict studies at the University of Chicago, who coordinates a worldwide research network on organized crime. He was joined by Tuesday

Vol. 2, Issue 11 — June 14, 2026 I. Burkina Faso and the Sahel Security Crisis: Insurgent Consolidation, Humanitarian Collapse, and Regional Isolation Security conditions in Burkina Faso have continued to deteriorate sharply, with Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) sustaining a high operational tempo across the country's northern, eastern, and central regions. Multiple attacks on civilian communities and Volunteers for the Defense of the Homeland (VDP) militias were re