Tag Archives: fragile states

New Deal – real deal ?

Posted on April 18, 2013 | 1 Comment

In both low and middle income countries, well established arguments and solid evidence confirm that there is no real development without peace and only the peace of the graveyard without development. These conclusions have shifted the fulcrum of discussion about development over the past several years. But they have not yet added up to telling anybody how to do it. Continue reading →

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Posted in Conflict & peace, International development

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The state of the world’s states

Posted on February 22, 2013 | 3 Comments

The state is the organising principle of national and international politics and states are the subject of abundant historical research, academic theory and contemporary analysis.  That perhaps makes it a little strange to say that both the state as a category and states in general tend to be taken for granted. But that’s how it is – and it’s a problem. Continue reading →

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Posted in Conflict & peace, Power, The State of the World

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The world’s state of war and peace

Posted on January 18, 2013 | 3 Comments

Most of the trends that The State of the World Atlas looks at are ones that are visible across the last two decades since the Cold War ended. During that period, peace is one of the big, under-reported (though not unqualified) good news stories. Continue reading →

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Posted in Conflict & peace, The State of the World

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Do British development NGOs not want to discuss development?

Posted on October 26, 2012 | 3 Comments

The UN High Level Panel looking at development goals after 2015 is coming to London and will meet representatives of British development NGOs who, it seems, don’t want to discuss development with them. Continue reading →

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Posted in International development

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DRC’s deadlock – new dangers, new beginnings

Posted on October 16, 2012 | Leave a comment

Democratic Republic of Congo: In Kinshasa , the summit meeting of La Francophonie replete with heads of state, resounding speeches and ringing declarations; in the east, 2 million displaced people and rising tension as the M-23 rebels sit just 15 kilometres from Goma, capital of North Kivu province, held back only by an uncertain ceasefire; on TV, repeated statements that this is the 187/8/9th day of aggression by Rwanda.

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Posted in Conflict & peace

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Assisting development = assisting what, precisely?

Posted on October 2, 2012 | Leave a comment

All around are the signs and sounds of a steady gearing up for the renewed development debate. Before it gets swamped by a demand for commitments based on GDP percentages, targets and indicators, it would be a good idea to reflect a little on what we really mean by development. Continue reading →

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Posted in International development

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Development aid – its opponents and proponents

Posted on September 24, 2012 | 3 Comments

A new debate is heating up in Britain about overseas development assistance – ODA. To foreign observers struck by how international generosity became a cross-party consensus here, it may come as something of a surprise that development aid is under pressure. But it is real and should be heeded for well-honed arguments are needed. Continue reading →

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Posted in International development

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Looking at some peacebuilding assumptions

Posted on February 3, 2012 | 3 Comments

My most recent post (29 Jan) reflected about peacebuilding inside the bounds of the European Union as well as outside. My thinking grew out of International Alert’s recently started work  in the UK. Going a bit further,  some more thoughts have appeared in the online magazine and discussion forum, openDemocracy. What follows is an abridged version. Continue reading →

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A scorecard for Busan: did the High Level Forum help conflict-affected countries?

Posted on December 12, 2011 | 2 Comments

At the end of November, 2,000 representatives of governments, international agencies and NGOs met in Busan as the 4th High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness. But how effective was Busan for conflict-affected countries? Continue reading →

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The UN Peacebuilding Fund – four years on

Posted on November 30, 2011 | Leave a comment

The decision to set up the UN Peacebuilding Commission, Peacebuilding Support Office and Peacebuilding Fund was taken in September 2005 and bit by bit the new architecture was ready for business in 2006 and into 2007. I have just finished four years on the Fund’s independent Advisory Group, the last two as its chair, so here are my reflections. Continue reading →

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Posted in Conflict & peace, International development

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