“To live like a tree, lonely and free / To live as brothers like trees in a forest”

About Robert Muggah

Robert Muggah is the research director of the Igarapé Institute in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Articles by Robert Muggah

A chronology of crisis in the Sahel

Steven A. Zyck and Robert Muggah 19 June 2013

Awareness has not necessarily translated into more investment in good governance or poverty-reduction programmes. Instead, the US has supported training of local special forces units in counter-terrorism.

The future of humanitarian action to be decided in Medellin

Robert Muggah and Claudia Navas Caputo 13 June 2013

It will be decided in these new types of situations that are neither war nor peace, a new kind of menace facing cities worldwide.

Brazil should take a shot at United Nations reform

Robert Muggah 29 May 2013

The United States and others in NATO are looking to Brazil to help shoulder the burden in the world´s hot-spots, including Syria. Until now, Brazil has refused, but is focusing too obsessively on negotiations inside the United Nations.

Killing them softly in Medellin

Robert Muggah 24 November 2012

More than sixty musicians were threatened with death immediately after El Duke´s funeral. The ceremony was considered a provocation by armed criminal groups, or BaCrim as they are known in Colombia. But ultimately, the police must demonstrate that they are in the business of protection and not punishment.

Relocation failures in Sri Lanka

Robert Muggah 18 October 2011

The tragic consequence of internal displacement in Sri Lanka and the failure of the government to address the situation will most likely be renewed instability.

Stay alive: turning around a failing war

Robert Muggah and Erwin van Veen 14 October 2011

A deep strategic rethink is needed to reverse the dismal failure of the war on drugs and gangs, particularly in the way this has been fought across Central America and the Caribbean. Intimate community engagement and integral policy approaches are crucial steps in moving on from the bankrupt iron fist.

Breaking our promise to Haiti

Robert Muggah 4 January 2011

The Haitian government’s handling of the situation has been spectacularly poor. But the international aid sector's record has also been dismal.

Jamaica's war on gangs

Glaister Leslie and Robert Muggah 13 September 2010

Jamaica is at the forefront of the Caribbean's fight against gangs, but the country needs to recognise that this is a complex struggle in which strong-arm tactics can be counter-productive, argues Robert Muggah and Glaister Leslie.

A gangster's paradise

Robert Muggah and Dorn Townsend 2 December 2009

How can we prevent gang violence in the world's most violent city?

Brazil's "southern effect" in fragile countries

Robert Muggah and lona Szabó de Carvalho 19 November 2009

Global preoccupation with fragile environments is on the rise. Can south-south and triangular co-operation help? Brazil thinks so. A reply to Oliver Richmond.

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About Robert Muggah

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A Turkish Spring?

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