Governance and Development
Matters of public debate that affect our lives as global citizens
What happened to peacekeeping?
Christian:
People regularly wonder why peacekeeping has been abandoned in favour of more “robust” “stabilization” missions, also known as peacebuilding and peace enforcement. For one thing, there are still plenty of traditional peacekeeping missions across the globe – they just don’t make headlines. The recent deployment to southern Sudan is just one example. The problem is that the nature of the beast has changed. No longer are Western troops keeping two warring factions apart who have agreed [...]
Happy Birthday Democracy?
Christian:
Democracy: It's tough to put our finger on it but we all think we know one when we see one, such as the German Democratic Republic. Trouble is that that was the official name of the former East Germany. So, what makes a democracy, well, a democracy? Periodic elections? The GDR held those regularly - and with near 100% turnouts that many of us who portend to live in democracies can't possibly imagine. One of the curiosities about democracies is that those who we think of as [...]
Democracy: It's tough to put our finger on it but we all think we know one when we see one, such as the German Democratic Republic. Trouble is that that was the official name of the former East Germany. So, what makes a democracy, well, a democracy? Periodic elections? The GDR held those regularly - and with near 100% turnouts that many of us who portend to live in democracies can't possibly imagine. One of the curiosities about democracies is that those who we think of as [...]
Development Aid: End or Means?
Christian:
In one of our earlier blogs I referred to how little Overseas Development Aid actually makes it overseas, how much of it ends up in the hands of bureaucrats and consultants working for NGOs and governments, and how much of the aid ends up being devoted to causes that serve the political and economic interests of the first-world donors.
In this blog, we ponder whether that aid is actually effective. We have already established that it is quite effective at maintaining an extensive NGO [...]
In one of our earlier blogs I referred to how little Overseas Development Aid actually makes it overseas, how much of it ends up in the hands of bureaucrats and consultants working for NGOs and governments, and how much of the aid ends up being devoted to causes that serve the political and economic interests of the first-world donors.
In this blog, we ponder whether that aid is actually effective. We have already established that it is quite effective at maintaining an extensive NGO [...]
The Dark Side of Globalization? Not so fast!
Christian:
Globalization has an image problem. It gets blamed for just about everything that ails our societies: Not just job losses but also human trafficking, money laundering, terrorism, and so forth. Globalization perpetuates misery and the exploitation of human beings around the world. But does it really? In both absolute and relative terms, never in the history of the world has a greater proportion of the world's population been better off than it is today. Never has a smaller [...]
Globalization has an image problem. It gets blamed for just about everything that ails our societies: Not just job losses but also human trafficking, money laundering, terrorism, and so forth. Globalization perpetuates misery and the exploitation of human beings around the world. But does it really? In both absolute and relative terms, never in the history of the world has a greater proportion of the world's population been better off than it is today. Never has a smaller [...]
Conflicted Aid
Christian:
The recent rash of killings of unarmed aid workers in Afghanistan is necessarily provocative. After all, who in their right mind kills unarmed civilians, let alone unarmed civilians who ostensibly are trying to do good - and, on top of that, who kills unarmed women trying to do good? These killings show the danger of painting your "enemy" with the same brush. The only way to justify such kills is if the "enemy" is dehumanized and anyone and everyone who does not explicitly support [...]
The recent rash of killings of unarmed aid workers in Afghanistan is necessarily provocative. After all, who in their right mind kills unarmed civilians, let alone unarmed civilians who ostensibly are trying to do good - and, on top of that, who kills unarmed women trying to do good? These killings show the danger of painting your "enemy" with the same brush. The only way to justify such kills is if the "enemy" is dehumanized and anyone and everyone who does not explicitly support [...]
About
Meghan is a social worker, Christian a political scientist. This combination gives us different and often conflicting insights into many of the most pressing policy issues which confront us all. With your participation in our exchange, we look forward to a stimulating and informed discussion. Comment on what we write or start a new thread.
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