Social Policy in Post-Reform China
This essay analyses the extent to which social policy reform in China contributed to the overall human well-being of the Chinese citizen. The analyses will focus on the social policy reforms in the two sectors of healthcare and housing. The analytical categories used for assessing human wellbeing are borrowed from the analytical framework used by Chak Kwan Chan and Graham Bowpitt.
The Role of Foreign Actors in the Development of Democracy in the Middle East-North Africa
Foreign actors have played a significant role in the development of democracy in the region. Admittedly, however, it has not always been constructive. Given the ongoing political unrest in the region, there is an opportunity for them to play a far more constructive role in the development of democracy than they have in the past.
The Concept of Sustainable Development
Sustainable Development is a concept that at its core is revolutionary, yet difficult to pragmatically define. The history behind sustainable development is one that does not stretch far. Tensions that can be found within this idea are numerous, ranging from its ambiguous and vague definition, to the failure of attaining a universal pragmatic and operational framework.
Assessing China and India’s New Role in Africa
This dissertation seeks to explore the rise of China and India in Africa, arguing that the two countries represent a second generation of donors that are able to free-ride on the previous reforms imposed by Western donors, and are then re-interpreting this to announce a new way of providing assistance, centred around ‘non-interference’ and respect for state sovereignty.
‘Another false dawn for Africa?’ An assessment of NEPAD
NEPAD is an ambitious project which attempts to deal with a wide range of issues that are crucially important forAfrica’s improvement. This essay will begin with a description of NEPAD and refer to the previous attempts with same objectives. Afterwards, it will discuss the components of NEPAD mentioning the strengths and weaknesses of them.
United Nations Peacekeeping and the Question of Reform
Since the first peacekeeping operation was deployed some sixty years ago, peacekeeping has developed to become one of the most important areas of UN responsibility. The rapid growth of UN peacekeeping has meant that this development has often happened in an ad hoc and relatively unguided manner. As a result mistakes and failures have occurred.
Food Security and Population Growth in the 21st Century
This study examines the relationship between agriculture growth and population growth rates in countries around the world. In particular, this paper seeks to identify the difference in the relationship between population growth and agricultural growth among the following regions: Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, Latin America and Oceania.
Theories and Interpretations of Environmental Policy
Two distinct approaches are central in environmental policy: one which emphasizes restricting man’s impact on the environment because of limited resources, and the other which seeks to use the market to compensate environmental costs but which also seeks to develop ways of continuing development whilst reducing environmental impacts through technology.
Conquering Nature: the implications of assigning monetary values to global commons
The atmosphere, forests and other forms of ‘natural capital’ come under the concept of the commons and increasingly these are being ‘managed’, through enclosure, carbon markets and other economic methods. This stance is, in many ways, at fault for the ecological issues faced today.
Climate Related Natural Disasters and the Onset of Civil Conflict: 1970-2008
Since the end of the Cold War, research into the causes of civil conflict has intensified dramatically as scholars, policy makers, and NGOs have come to recognise the tremendous human toll they exact. Almost completely absent from civil war literature is the impact that natural disasters may have on the likelihood of conflict.
