The world is changing rapidly these days. A lot of what we have always assumed about political interaction and outcomes has been undermined recently for any number of reasons – one rather specific one in relation to US domestic politics – and I am sure that I am not the only one who has come …
Continue reading ‘As Global Leadship Shifts, What Does That Mean for Development?’ »
Social media is both a saving grace and a thorn in the side of intelligent discussion. For all of its failings, people are certainly more, if not accurately, aware of the world around them. Politicians and government both bemoan the impact of social media (that fickle public needing more accountability and rapid change) and love …
Continue reading ‘What Social Media Can Tell Us About SDG Localization’ »
Happily, I am not old enough to know how conflicts used to be addressed, but these days, without a doubt, response is driven by media action. I remember driving across snowy Saskatchewan (in Canada…) listening to live coverage of the 1991 invasion of Iraq over AM radio (indeed, you may need to google that), and …
Continue reading ‘Media-driven Conflict Management: Time for a new partnership?’ »
For more than three years now, this website has aimed to highlight the gaps between development and conflict management theories and what actually happens in development and conflict management implementation. A lot of what happens in both fields is driven by long held ideas and ‘best practices,’ mostly, but not always, conceived of based on …
Continue reading ‘Vaccinations: Don’t let fear trump science’ »
The world is up in arms – as it should be – about the chaotic and damaging path that the new US President is taking. It is terrifying but we saw it coming. Leopards don’t change their spots, as they say. Who is pulling the strings, who makes the decisions? There are a plethora of …
Continue reading ‘Let’s Not Get Distracted: Climate Change is Still the Biggest Threat’ »
A quote grabbed my attention the other day: “Innovation won’t cure global inequality – political action will.” The idea behind this quote struck me so ferociously that I actually took the time to read beyond the headline, read the article and think about it. It was on healthcare, not a field that I can claim …
Continue reading ‘Innovation is good, but action is better’ »
I’m going to keep this short. Collectively, most of 2016 was spent talking about how 2017 will be better. But if we learned anything, it was that how things have normally worked (ie. elections, sigh) seem to not be working quite like they should; like we have come to expect them too. The world is …
I rarely comment publically on Myanmar (who knows, I may want to take a job there someday) but the events of the last few weeks have brought me to the point where I’m willing to burn some bridges because it’s the right thing to do. Because with all of the horrific stuff going on in …
Continue reading ‘My Breaking Point: Burning Bridges for Rakhine’ »
They say overall extreme poverty has declined since 2000, with a lot of credit given to the advent of the MDGs, serving its purpose as a coordinating framework for the plethora of existing development commitments already made by developed countries, particularly those belonging to the OECD, in the 1990s. We should give credit where credit …
Continue reading ‘Greater Global Inequality. Here’s One Reason Why’ »
The development and humanitarian fields are chalk full of people who are super committed (interspersed with the people who don’t know when to retire and people who have confused development professions with ‘charitable giving back’. But I digress). Super committed people are one of the best things about these fields because they sacrifice so much …
