Taking Stock of the Credit Crunch: Implications for development finance and global governance

2009/04 - Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development - Development Centre (OECD/DC); Authors: Andrew Mold et al.

Abstract:

In the wake of the G-20 summit in London, this new working paper  explores the prospects for development finance and global governance, especially from the perspective of low-income countries. These countries were not responsible for the crisis but are now suffering its consequences. To avoid turning the credit crisis into a credibility crisis, global governance and regulatory reform will need to fully take into account their voices and interests.

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A Development Charter for the G-20

2009/03 - Overseas Development Institute (ODI), Background Paper, Authors: Simon Maxwell et al.

Abstract:

The global financial crisis started in developed countries, but the global recession which has followed is having a wide-spread impact on developing countries. By the end of this year, developing countries are expected to lose incomes of at least US $750 billion. In sub-Saharan Africa, the figure is over US $50bn. The consequence is likely to be rising unemployment, poverty and hunger: an extra 50 million people trapped in absolute poverty, with the number expected to rise to 90 million; and the total number suffering from hunger already up by 75 million to nearly a billion people, rising for the first time in nearly two decades.

ODI researchers, in coordination with other developed and developing country institutes, are tracking the spread of the recession, monitoring and modelling its impacts and applying their different skills to the policy challenge of restoring growth and development in the poorest economies in the world. The G-20 cannot deliver development, but its members can aim to promote development efforts rather than hinder them. The 12 short articles in this pack do not constitute an institutional position but, taken together, they outline a Development Charter for the G-20 to help poor countries tackle the effects of the global economic recession.

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From Crisis Management to Institutional Reform

2009/03 - Institute of Development Studies (IDS), In Focus Policy Briefing, Author: Anna Schmidt

Abstract:

As the financial crisis deepens, policymakers are focused on responding to the immediate impact of the crisis. However, there is also a strong interest in prevention, so that future crises can be better contained and managed. Here, economic considerations about tools and mechanisms are inevitably tied to political institutions, and the shifting nature of global interdependence and power-effective reform is not a merely technical exercise. This brief outlines the importance of understanding the diverging understandings of the crisis and their likely influence on options for reshaping global economic governance.

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The London Summit: Milestone or Stumbling Block?

2009/03 - Real Instituto Elcano; ARI 47/2009 , Author: David Mathieson

Abstract:

The heads of government from the G20 countries and others (including Spain) will meet in London on 2 April 2009 to develop what is being called the ‘Bretton Woods II agenda’. They will discuss the co-ordination of fiscal stimulus programmes, the supervision of the global financial markets, reform of international financial institutions, climate change and balanced economic development. Although highly important, the success of the summit is not guaranteed. The differing priorities of the various participants and the parlous state of the global economy may mean that even a positive outcome in London has a low impact. Nevertheless, failure at the summit could lead to further instability and raise tensions within and between countries.

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The collapse of global trade, murky protectionism, and the crisis: Recommendations for the G20

2009/03 - Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies (IHEID), Authors: Richard Baldwin, Simon Evenett

Abstract:

This ebook presents several concrete proposals that G20 leaders could adopt to reduce the chances that a protection-recession spiral derails macroeconomic efforts to stimulate the global economy.

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Violent conflict and social transformation: An institutionalist approach to the role of informal economic networks

2009/02 - EADI; The European Journal of Development Research (EJDR) 21; Author: Kathleen Sexsmith

Abstract:

This article seeks to add to the debate on the role of informal economic networks in violent conflict. It argues that social transformations arising from conflict can be either productive or destructive, depending on the particular institutions embedded in social networks. It also emphasizes how the historical relationship of informal networks to the state shapes the institutional content of informal networks. Two case studies are used to exemplify these contrasting cases. In Somalia, customary institutions of trust and reciprocity were preserved during conflict, and contributed to economic coordination and conflict mediation. In Sierra Leone, the intrusion of patrimonial networks into community life contributed to the development of youth networks based on social misconduct and opportunism, causing social collapse.

Cet article cherche à contribuer à la discussion à propos du rôle des réseaux économiques informels lors de conflits violents. Il soutient que les transformations sociales qui découlent d'un conflit peuvent être soit productives ou destructives, selon la nature des institutions imbriquées au sein des réseaux sociaux. Il souligne en particulier la manière dont la relation historique des réseaux informels avec l'Etat façonne le contenu institutionnel de ces réseaux informels. Deux études de cas contrastées sont présentéés afin d'illustrer ceci. En Somalie, les institutions traditionelles de confiance et de réciprocité furent préservées lors du conflit, et ont contribué à la coordination économique ainsi qu'à la médiation du conflit. Au Sierra Leone, l'intrusion de réseaux patrimoniaux dans la vie communautaire traditionelle suite au conflit a contribué au développement de réseaux de jeunes ayant un comportement anti-social et opportuniste, ce qui causa un effondrement social.

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The Resilience of Authoritarian Rule in Syria under Hafez and Bashar Al-Asad

2009/03 - German Institute of Global and Area Studies (GIGA), Working Paper No. 97, Author: Annette Buechs

Abstract:

This paper seeks an explanation for the resilience of the Syrian authoritarian regime under Hafez and Bashar Al-Asad. It will be argued that this resilience is to a relevant extent caused by the fact that the regime’s “material” as well as “ideational” forms of power share a common element, if not an underlying principle. This generates their compatibility and congruency and thus produces a convergence of forces which manifests in the regime’s ability to exceed the mere sum of its individual forms of power. It will be demonstrated that this common principle can be conceptualized as a “tacit pact” between unequal parties, with the weaker party under constant threat of exclusion and/or coercion in the event of noncompliance. It will be argued that inherent in the pact is a high level of ambiguity; this, paradoxically, renders it more effective but at the same time also more instable as a tool of domination.

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Strategic Stability Reconsidered: Prospects for Escalation and Nuclear War in the Middle East

2009/03 - Institut francais des relations internationales (IFRI); Proliferation Papers, n° 26, printemps 2009, Author: James A. Russell

Abstract:

Unstable dynamics surrounding Iran’s nuclear program may be pushing the world closer to the use of nuclear weapons than is generally realized – perhaps closer than any time since the Cuban missile crisis. This paper proposes a number of near- and longer-term scenarios to illustrate the ways in which structural uncertainties in the regional interstate bargaining framework could result in the use of nuclear weapons.

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Strengthening Nordic Development Cooperation in and with Afghanistan

2009/03 - NORAD / Chr. Michelsen Institute (CMI); Norad Report Discussion No. 3/2009, Authors: Petter Bauck, Arne Strand

Abstract:

The meeting of the Nordic Foreign Ministers in Stockholm on 18 April 2008 adopted a Plan of Action for Nordic Cooperation in Afghanistan to enable them to be a more concerned partner for the Government of Afghanistan (GoA) and the international community. The countries indicated that a joint study should be undertaken to identify differences and similarities in development strategies for Afghanistan, and the possibilities to strengthen this cooperation over time.

The overall aim of an increased cooperation in the development field is to achieve a stronger impact in sectors of particular importance to the Nordic countries. A more efficient organisation of development work should ease the workload for each country. Furthermore, a strengthened Nordic cooperation would enhance cooperation among donors in general, and strengthen the role of the Afghan government in taking overall responsibility for the development of Afghanistan.

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The EU and the Haitian Peacebuilding Process

2009/03 - Fundacion para las Relaciones Internacionales y el Dialogo Exterior (FRIDE); Working Paper, Author: Julia Schünemann

Abstract:

In spite of some generally acknowledged progress regarding the overall security climate in Haiti, stability and peace remain precarious. The peace dividend has still not translated into real livelihood improvement for the vast majority of Haitians who suffer severe levels of deprivation in terms of human development and human security.

On the basis of a comprehensive security concept, this paper by Julia Schünemann,  explores the EU's response to Haiti's situation of fragility and suggests that the role of a security-informed development actor is the most apparent opportunity for the EU to contribute to the larger ongoing peacebuilding process in the country.

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Reformer le “peace making” en Republique democratique du Congo : Quand les processus de paix deviennent des systemes d’action internationaux

2009/02 - Institut francais des relations internationales (IFRI); Note de l'Ifri, Author: Thierry Vircoulon

Abstract:

Cette réflexion propose une analyse de l'inachèvement et de l'enlisement du processus de paix dans l'Est congolais - enlisement qui a conduit tous les acteurs du conflit à privilégier l'option de la force pour imposer "leur solution" (offensive-éclair et victorieuse du CNDP à la fin 2008, offensive congolo-rwandaise contre les FDLR au début de 2009). Cette analyse décrypte les raisons, contraintes et compromis qui ont rendu le peace making inefficace entre 2006 et 2008 et qui ont indirectement suscité l'actuel "arrangement dérangeant" entre Kigali et Kinshasa au terme duquel Laurent Nkunda a été neutralisé, les FDLR sont devenus l'ennemi à abattre et l'armée rwandaise a (temporairement) repris pieds en RDC.

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Analysis of and Recommendations for Covering Security Relevant Expenditures Within and Outside of Offical Development Assistance

2009/01 - Bonn International Center for Conversion (BICC), Working Paper No. 53, Author: Michael Brzoska

Abstract:

The understanding that there is a close relationship between security and development not only finds increasing rhetorical support, but is also beginning to have operational consequences for development cooperation. Numerous activities in recipient countries aim at averting and resolving armed conflicts, stabilizing post-war situations, consolidating states by enforcing the rule of law, as well as reforming security institutions. If successful, these activities directly and/or indirectly promote economic development and welfare and may even hold the key to economic development. However, a large part of them do not count as Official Development Assistance (ODA) when armed forces are involved in the activities. This explains why there have been repeated calls for extending the ODA definition to cover a wider range of measures to improve peace and security as a condition for sustainable development. However, changes to the ODA definition not only have to be justifiable, but they also have to be based on a broad consensus in terms of development policy, as well as rule out the possibility of misuse and any disruption to the ODA time series. Because development assistance commitments are frequently tied to ODA, any expansion of the ODA definition that has substantial quantitative implications is problematic.

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