WIDERAngle

Expert commentary from our network

About

The WIDERAngle publishes expert commentary and analysis of the latest research in global development. The WIDERAngle supports UNU-WIDER’s missions to undertake research and policy analysis on the most pressing concerns affecting humanity and provides a forum for knowledge sharing, discussion, and debate.

 

To see past newsletters, visit our WIDERAngle archive.

 

Write for the WIDERAngle

We accept submissions that represent sincere efforts to advance knowledge on topics related to the promotion of sustainable and equitable development for all. Although many of our writers are established in their fields, we particularly encourage submissions from early-career researchers, policy professionals, and writers who represent Global South countries and perspectives.

 

For guidelines on WIDERAngle submissions, please refer to our Guidelines for submissions.

 

Send submission queries to editorialteam@wider.unu.edu.

 

EDITORIAL TEAM

Executive Editor: Annett Victorero

Managing Editor: Timothy Shipp

Assistant Editor: Tristan Reid

 

Subscribe to the newsletter

How India’s economy has fared under ten years of Narendra Modi

by Kunal Sen
More than 960 million Indians will head to the polls in the world’s biggest election between April 19 and early June. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is seeking a third term in office. And the polls suggest it will achieve this objective.If one was to go by economic growth figures alone, the Modi government’s performance has been impressive. When Modi came to power in 2014, economic growth was sluggish. A series of high-profile corruption...

Affirmative action in Brazil’s higher education system

by Rodrigo Oliveira, Edson Severnini, Alei Santos
Evidence from Brazil shows how affirmative action students in the higher education system adjust their behaviour to catch up with initially higher-performing privileged students.Affirmative action (AA) policies, aiming to address historical inequalities and promote social justice, have sparked debates across the world. Brazil, in particular, grapples with the challenges and complexities of AA, notably through Law 12,711/2012, which introduced the quota policy mandating all federal universities...

Decoding development – insights from UNU-WIDER's synthesis process and beyond

by Timothy Shipp
loren-joseph-unsplash
At UNU-WIDER, we undertake our work explicitly within the context of an emergent strategy designed to maximize the impact of our research findings. We operate based on a theory of change that outlines how research eventually translates into improved development outcomes for the world’s most vulnerable populations.In 2023, we published the report Towards peace, decent work, and greater equality to guide policy efforts to achieve the United Nations Agenda 2030. This report synthesizes the key...

74 Blogpost

Filter by...

Reset all
UNU-WIDER topic
    Research Brief
    The prolonged effects of terrorism

    Terrorist violence has a profound influence on social attitudes, including trust in governmental institutions and attitudes towards migration and civil freedoms. Acts of terrorism cause citizens to experience a complex range of negative emotions...

    Blog
    Development aid cuts will hit fragile countries hard, could fuel violent conflict

    Fragile and least developed countries have had their development assistance cut drastically, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation...

    Blog
    Why are frontiers and borderlands more conflict prone—and what have institutions got to do with this?

    According to a recent OECD Report, borderlands experience a greater intensity of violence, especially violence targeted against the state. While there...

    Blog
    Voices from the ground – protracted displacement economies
    Placeholder

    Many displaced people around the world are in limbo—unable to return home or go anywhere else. Our surveys show that displaced people have lived in...

    Blog
    After the war – thinking about reconstruction in Ukraine
    Placeholder

    Russia’s military involvement in Ukraine began in March 2014 with the annexation of Crimea, but it wasn’t until February 2022 that Russia shocked the...

    Blog
    Four global problems that will be aggravated by the UK’s recent cuts to international aid

    UK economic forecasts have improved markedly since the September 2022 mini-budget. The economic recession may now be more shallow and public borrowing...

    Blog
    Putting it all together: Highlights from The puzzle of peace
    Placeholder

    ‘Understanding how to sustain peace means understanding conflict itself. Yet conflict and peacebuilding are often addressed separately’ – Patricia...

    Blog
    Solving the puzzle of peace: Overcoming the curse of Finland
    Placeholder

    At The puzzle of peace conference in Helsinki, Adnan Khan, Chief Economist at the UK Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office, lamented what he...

    Blog
    The war in Ukraine: Civilian vulnerability, resilience, and resistance
    Placeholder

    The current and future civilian impacts of the war in Ukraine are immense. This column argues that the levels of vulnerability and resistance of...

    Blog
    From conflict preventor to security actor: European Peace Facility, Ukraine, and the evolution of EU’s role

    Russia’s war of aggression on Ukraine has catalysed the European Union (EU) — criticised as a paper tiger yet acknowledged to evolve through crises —...

    Blog
    Why Russian brutality may backfire: A political violence perspective
    Placeholder

    The Russian invasion of Ukraine has been fast shifting into a new phase, one many observers have noted is marked by increasing levels of Russian...

    Blog
    Superpowers, super-spoilers, and hybrid warfare: What the new Cold War means for global cooperation
    Placeholder

    Last week we woke up to a conflict that had echoes of the Second World War, the Cold War, and the last two decades of hybrid conflict all mixed into...

    Blog
    Learning from conflicts past: What recent history of Abkhazia tells us about the future of Donetsk and Luhansk
    Placeholder

    The recognition of disputed territories as independent states rarely brings underlying conflicts to an end. Instead, fully, and partially, recognized...

    Blog
    How will the Russia-Ukraine war be fought?: External support and insurgency tactics
    Placeholder

    The Ukrainian state, personified by its President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, has been heroic and has surprised many by its 'stiff resistance'. However...

    Blog
    The conflict in Ukraine - the role of civilians
    Placeholder

    While there is much to discuss about the geopolitics of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, let's not forget the men, women and children of Ukraine who...

    Blog
    COVID-19 and the Global South — From crisis response to sustainable development
    Placeholder

    Around the world, the pandemic, and the measures taken to address it, have had far reaching effects on poverty, inequality, and governance. And even...

    Blog
    Afghanistan 2021: A quickly made long tragedy
    Placeholder

    The tragedy for the Afghan people of the Taliban re-taking control of the country in August 2021 is the denouement of a process 20 years in the making...

    Blog
    The paths and legacies of civil war
    Placeholder

    Civil wars leave enduring legacies for social networks, political identities, preferences, and attitudes. Their impacts on public perceptions of peace...

    Blog
    Why do we see boom-and-bust growth in fragile and conflict-affected states?
    Placeholder

    One of the most pressing challenges in development policy is to bring about rapid, sustained, and inclusive growth in developing countries. Apart from...

    Blog
    Our project on the institutional legacies of violent conflict
    Placeholder

    One of the most critical challenges in international development today is to understand how best to support peace, security, economic recovery, and...

    Blog
    Slow death or new direction for the UN?
    Placeholder

    For most of its 75-year existence, the United Nations has struggled to strike a balance between its lofty founding aspirations and realities on the...

    Blog
    Nobel Peace Prize acknowledges link between preventing hunger and promoting peace
    Placeholder

    Professor Patricia Justino is a leading expert on the links between political violence and economic development. Her work has greatly expanded...

    Policy Brief
    Migration governance in the Global South

    Building knowledge about migration governance and policy in the Global South is a priority for research and policy. Migration is a defining feature of our time and one closely linked with processes of economic and political development. Sustainable...

    Blog
    Beyond lockdown: rebuilding the social contract

    Continued lockdown measures are straining the social contract between citizens and governments. As this column explains, in contexts where there are...

    Blog
    Successfully integrating refugee populations: What can we learn from the experience of Vietnamese Americans?
    Placeholder

    Policy makers should see integration and upward mobility, and not simply placement and survival, as goals of resettlement of refugees. Our research on...

    Blog
    A WIDER perspective on migration
    Placeholder

    While many WIDER Development Conferences emerge from ongoing projects, our latest conference in October — ‘Migration and mobility: New frontiers for...

    Blog
    A letter from Maputo
    Placeholder

    It’s early July and I’m back in Maputo, Mozambique, looking over the calm sea at the boats that fish the waters for the seafood that makes visiting...

    Blog
    Missing school years for girls: The case of the Assam insurgency
    Placeholder

    Girls in India face many challenges. From the moment they are conceived, they are less likely to be born as compared to boys. This presence of...

    Policy Brief
    Development assistance for peacebuilding
    Blog
    Common factors in conflict-induced state fragility
    Placeholder

    What does it mean to be a fragile state? According to the IMF, fragile states are those in ‘which the government is unable to reliably deliver basic...

    Blog
    How should the international community respond to migration and refugees?

    In our previous blog, we looked at some of the key facts about international migration and identified a few areas that, from an economist’s...

    Blog
    Responding to crises: What can we do? What’s next?
    Placeholder

    Although sometimes over used, the word 'crisis' accurately describes many challenges of today's world, such as climage change, war and refugees...

    Blog
    Research after thirty years
    Placeholder

    When UNU-WIDER was founded, and I was privileged to be associated with the research being undertaken by the new institute—the main challenges of...

    Blog
    Beyond the Crisis of the African University - Why Institutions Matter
    Placeholder

    I recently returned from a week at the University of Western Cape (UWC) in South Africa, speaking at a conference honouring Nobel laureate Desmond...

    Research Brief
    Successes and Challenges of Public Financial Management in Sierra Leone

    Fragile and conflict-affected states, like Sierra Leone, can maintain a strong public financial management structure if they are able to find foreign support for administrative capacity and sufficient domestic political and executive support. PFM...

    Research Brief
    Foreign Aid and Malian Democracy

    In Mali aid has had a positive impact on some areas of democratic consolidation such as strengthening the economy and civil society, election support and conflict resolution. Three significant structural problems were not addressed properly by donors...

    Research Brief
    Aid to Mozambique

    In Mozambique donors have shifted focus from project aid to budget support in an effort to reform the public sector and ‘justice, legality and public order’. While budget support has increased state capacity and helped Mozambique’s donor community...

    Research Brief
    Policing Reforms in African States – Exploring the Link to Economic Development

    A secure environment is an important component of successful economic development initiatives. Policing reforms in African states have been disappointing; the image of state policy and police–community relations remain poor. States that have enacted...

    Research Brief
    Lessons from US Interventions to Japan, Afghanistan and Iraq

    Japan’s post-war liberalizing reforms were a success. This was partly due to the fact that US occupation preserved the strength of national institutions and made effective use of their capacity. Improvement in the scope of the state and the strength...

    Blog
    The Many Shades of Fragility
    Placeholder

    30 October 2013 Carl-Gustav Lindén Despite many successful transitions towards peace and multiparty electoral systems there are still 47 fragile...

    Research Brief
    Neotrusteeship in Post-Conflict States – Lessons from Kosovo and East Timor

    Kosovo and East Timor share many similar characteristics, and yet they have had divergent results in post-conflict state building. East Timor has enjoyed far greater development success since its independence, whereas Kosovo is now the poorest and...

    Research Brief
    Gender and Transitional Justice

    Transitional justice processes often fail to adequately deal with gender issues. Attempting to deal with gender-based violence during periods of transitional justice is often seen as destabilizing and a threat to future stability. Women’s rights are...

    Research Brief
    How to Achieve Economics of Peace?

    The natural resource sector in Liberia has failed to produce links to other important sectors of the economy, and in particular has failed to create jobs for the large majority of the population. Creating new and productive jobs is key to national...

    Policy Brief
    Business and the Barrel of a Gun

    Although the impacts of violent conflict on investment, production, incomes and inequality have been widely studied on an aggregate level, comparatively less is known about the more diverse impacts of such conflict at the micro (particularly firm)...

    Blog
    Taking Inequality into Account in the Post-2015 Development Agenda
    Placeholder

    Rachel M. Gisselquist There is much to commend in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) as we approach their target deadline of 2015. In addition to...

    Blog
    Voices from Fragile States: The Resilient Problem of Human Development

    Jamie Bleck and Kristin Michelitch [1] Mali has continued to be in the news since its military coup in March 2012. Much of the news coverage on Mali...

    Blog
    Jobs Drive Development: An interview with Martin Rama
    Placeholder

    15 January 2013Martin Rama from The World bank discusses the process behind the World Development Report 2013 on jobs, which he directed.He emphasises...

    Blog
    To Aid or Not to Aid?: The Case of Rwanda, DFID, and the Good Aid Debate
    Placeholder

    Omar Shahabudin McDoom What should donors do when confronted with regimes that violate important normative standards of state behavior and commit...

    Displaying 48 of 74 results