Separatism in Mindanao, Philippines
by Alyson Slack
Number 118, May, 2003

Several Islamic rebel groups on the island of Mindanao in the predominantly Roman Catholic Philippines have been engaging in armed conflict with government forces over the past three decades, with two major factions demanding independence. Tensions over the exploitation of the island’s resources and the economic disparity between Muslims and Christians go back centuries and existed under both the Spanish and American periods of colonization, but the armed separatist movement began at the beginning of the 1970s. The conflict has strong roots in the question of control over natural resources, especially land but also mining, timber, oil, gas, and fishing resources. The heightening of friction between Muslims and the government was accelerated by a resettlement program that increased the ratio of Christians to Muslims on Mindanao, and by the fact that Muslim areas remain comparatively underdeveloped (attributed by the rebel groups as the government’s failure to integrate their ethno-religious group). In the two years since the September 11, 2001 World Trade Center attacks in New York, two of the separatist factions have been linked to regional terrorist organizations.

Hadrian's Wall
by Chris Zweifel
Number 109, Nov., 2002

This case study will examine the environmental impact of Hadrian’s Wall and the Wall as a cultural divider between Scotland and England. Hadrian’s Wall was built by the Romans around 120 A.D. and was meant to protect Roman Britannia (England) from Northern tribes located in modern day Scotland. The building of the Wall, the settlements that sprung up around the Roman fortifications, and tourism to the site have all changed the natural environment through deforestation, mining, biological seclusion, and roads. Not only has the Wall affected the natural environment, its creation established a split between two peoples on the English Isle: a division that created two distinct cultures and lands-- Scotland and England.