“Is it working?” is the question most commonly asked of aid. In response, aid agencies feed the public a diet of overwhelmingly “good news stories” to convince them that it is working. This diverts attention from the central question: how to reduce the major gap between what aid currently does and
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.
International Alert supports a series of small post-conflict initiatives in Burundi. And some of the values that motivate these are also dear to the liberal hearts of the international community. A reply to Oliver Richmond’s ‘Liberal Peace Transitions’.
Fearful for their lives, thousands of doctors left Iraq after the 2003 invasion. The author outlines the challenges and dilemmas they now face in Britain.
The post-election crisis in Iran has revolutionised the potential for international pressure and civil action to work in harmony.
The austere public budgets that will come out of the financial crisis offer, as a silver lining, a renaissance in cooperative citizen engagement in the supply of welfare services
Ten million children are born annually in India. Primary education should be a vital lifeline, for those who survive.
The Palestinians’ right of return challenges not only international law itself, but more so the political will of UN member states to act in the face of blatant racism and forced dispossession. A reply to Ahmed Badawi’s “Palestine: seize the initiative”.
Why is Russia resisting international help with its spiralling drugs problem, asks Susan Richards? While the Kremlin's rhetoric reveals a profound insecurity, its policies are failing to deal effectively with the situation
The wave of change across east-central Europe in 1989 was a real revolution - but with one missing feature. Neal Ascherson recalls a time of surprise and exhiliration.
The deepening crisis in Thailand is symbolised by the lack of accountability for state violence in the country’s Muslim-majority south, says Tyrell Haberkorn.
The trial of the Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic is a test of justice and accountability over terrible crimes. But the trend of events in Bosnia itself also demands the international community’s urgent attention, says Martin Shaw.
