How can China’s ideas of development assistance to Africa be regarded within the context of a wider struggle among global powers? In contrast to the dominant public understanding that Chinese aid has “no strings attached,” authors Salvador Regilme and Henrik Hartmann from the University of Leiden show that US and Chinese governments’ aid strategies champion their own geostrategic national interests in the African continent.
Early childhood education (ECE) should be an integral part of Kazakhastan’s Strategy 2050, argues SAIS student Brynn Koeppen. ECE would help prepare students for university and productive careers and allow more mothers to return to the workforce sooner, growing the economy. It would also help close the gap in opportunity between rural and urban areas of the country and contribute to a more cohesive society.
At a time when China is increasing its power on the world stage, Dr. Shahid Yusuf, the Chief Economist of The Growth Dialogue at the George Washington University School of Business in Washington DC, attempts to investigate the effects of China's Belt Initiative. In doing so, he discovered that the project will certainly increase China's influence and economic power in Central Asia but it will also place the Chinese economy under heavy strain as Chinese growth begins to slow.
At a time where the international flow of remittances has received a great deal of criticisms by those on the political right, Jorge de Leon Miranda, a researcher at the International Monetary Fund, attempts to investigate the magnitude and effects of international remittances. In doing so, he discovered that remittances from the United States make up a great deal of the remittance inflow for at least fifteen countries and that the level of remittance inflow has an appreciable effect level of that country's development.
In this article, Mohsin Amin and Elnaz Hassanpour Adeh from Oregon State University tackle the issue of water scarcity in Afghanistan and its implications for the stability of the country. After discussing the recent myriad problems facing the water infrastructure system in Kabul, they propose several engineering and policy solutions such as the construction of the Shah-Arus Dam and the creation of the Managed Aquifer Recharge (MAR) that will ameliorate the situation.
Author Edmund Ruge revisits the German Sociologist Max Weber's theory of international development to see how Weber's theory, as expressed in his classic book The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism are still relevant today in the field of international development. Edmund Ruge then juxtaposes Weber's theory of development with two other theories of development that were proposed by Karl Marx and Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel.
Author Valentin Sierra demonstrates how ICT adoption by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) can spur long-term gains in firm productivity, competitiveness, and facilitate economic development in Latin America.
Dr. John Olushola Magbadelo, Director for Research at the Centre for African & Asian Studies (Abuja, Nigeria), reviews "The Political Economy of Sustainable Development: Policy Instruments and Market Mechanisms" by Timothy Cadman, et al.
Authors Giulio de Tommaso and Rohullah Osmani discuss the challenges of rebuilding robust state institutions in post-conflict zones, using Afghanistan and Somalia as case studies, and provide policy prescriptions for public administration reform.
Authors Jan Brecht-Clark and Rohullah Osmani discuss how a lack of transportation infrastructure--railroads, highways, and civil aviation--are limiting economic development in Afghanistan.
SAIS MA candidate Caitlin Smith offers ideas to enhance resiliency and reduce extreme poverty through the water-energy-food nexus.
Second-year MA candidate at SAIS, Saumya Kurup shares her vision for a sustainable development goal that will ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns in the post-2015 development agenda.
