Political Economy

The Role of the Economic Elite in Mexico’s Democratic Development

Shaye Worthman • Jan 9 2012 • Essays

A widely held middle class critique of Mexico’s governing institutions is that politicians are accountable only to the private elites and do not respond to middle and lower class needs. Indeed, with a history of oligarchic-type rule and pervasive government corruption, private sector elites have consistently been major players in Mexican politics.

Is the Growing Criticism of the International Monetary Fund Justified?

Derek McKenna • Jan 8 2012 • Essays

The IMF is an international organisation that causes much debate. The neo-liberal ideological agenda, the control of the policy agenda by wealthy countries, and the conditionality attached to the loans it provides, all form the basis of worthy criticism.

Universals in a World of Difference: Human Rights in Sri Lanka

Holly Catling • Jan 4 2012 • Essays

The international community is fixated on the protection of human rights, and sees only one route to do this: the expansion of liberal democracy. The interest in propagating these models produced the conditions for conflict to break out in Sri Lanka.

Child Reconciliation in Post-Conflict Sierra Leone

Ashlyn Exley • Dec 26 2011 • Essays

The systematic inclusion of children in the Sierra Leone Truth and Reconciliation Commission process was unprecedented in the history of truth and reconciliation initiatives. Given the country’s history of child involvement in the war as both victims and perpetrators, it was especially important to include children in the post-conflict peacebuilding processes.

NEPAD and African Development Policy

Samuel Bullen • Nov 27 2011 • Essays

Many Africans wait for it to fail as its predecessors did, and mistrust its intentions. But the New Partnership for Africa’s Development has a set of ambitious forward-thinking goals and ideals and is an excellent example of what Africans can do when they come together to help the continent out of the mire of its history and dependence.

The on-going conflict in Somalia: A short report

Joseph Morbi • Nov 24 2011 • Essays

The Civil War in Somalia has gripped the country for 20 years, causing widespread displacement of citizens, and has turned Somalia into a training ground for Islamic terrorists in Africa. Since 2006 the civil war has taken a much larger religious dimension.

Political Transformation and Inequality: Afghanistan and South Africa

Alexander Ward • Oct 26 2011 • Essays

The comparative use of both Afghanistan and South Africa allows the identification and assessment of the common themes relevant to the perennial nature of inequality and the difficulties of political transformation in alleviating it.

Is NEPAD an effective development organisation?

Joseph Morbi • Oct 26 2011 • Essays

In this essay I will examine the areas in which NEPAD (the New Partnership for Africa’s Development) has been both praised and criticised whilst also inspecting its successes and failures, by which I mean to show that despite not being perfect NEPAD has the capacity to provoke real change on the continent.

The Middle Kingdom and the Promise of Growth

Henri Rapson • Oct 23 2011 • Essays

A trinity of difficulties will lead to a systemic economic breakdown of the Chinese economy. This will constitute a violation of the social contract. A delegitimization of the Chinese Communist Party will occur, unleashing the potential for socio-political instability. The likelihood of social and political turmoil following an economic crisis is extremely high, and the possibility of regime change is also correspondingly great.

Should Official Development Assistance be used to combat radicalisation?

James Robertson • Sep 19 2011 • Essays

Official Development Assistance (ODA) is viewed as an important tool in the fight against terrorism, yet this approach is fundamentally flawed and has resulted in the adoption of policies which have done little to combat radicalisation, but have severely hampered the provision of aid to those who need it.

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