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

 

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Two poems by Neide Sigaúque

by Neide Sigaúque
On 15 May, poet Neide Sigaúque was commissioned to perform two poems on the themes of the WIDER Development Conference The world at crossroads – securing the future generations held in Maputo, Mozambique.One cannot sleep here, let alone dream I am Neide Sigaúque,A womanfrom the southern side of the Third World,Mozambique, 'land of the good people'.I was born in an independent country —independently of my parents' liberation struggle,today dependent on external aid.A country with an economy...

Counting (on) the labour market to secure a just transition

by Haroon Bhorat, François Steenkamp
The climate stabilization imperative emerging from the Paris Agreement is, in so many ways, absolutely critical to securing the planet’s future for all. The Agreement necessitates a transition away from fossil fuel-based economic production, particularly the use of coal as a source of energy. In 2021, coal constituted 36% of global primary energy supply, while accounting for 40.3% of global CO2 emissions.Whilst the use of coal as a primary energy source varies across countries, South Africa is...

Quantifying the economic impact of conflict traps

by Joan Margalef
As we look towards securing a brighter future for coming generations, we must address the complex challenges that threaten sustainable development and global stability. Among these challenges, conflict stands out as a particularly destructive one. In our latest research, we find that a country that falls into conflict is expected to lose 20% of its GDP per capita after 30 years, compared to if it had always been at peace. Even for small countries, this represents a substantial economic loss...

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

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    A WIDER perspective on migration
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    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
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    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
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    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
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    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...

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

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    Jobs Drive Development: An interview with Martin Rama
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    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
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    Omar Shahabudin McDoom What should donors do when confronted with regimes that violate important normative standards of state behavior and commit...

    Blog
    Why the UN Arms Trade Treaty will be Good for Exporters
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    Alisa DiCaprio The global arms trade is a lucrative business. In 2010, total arms transfers were estimated at US$40 billion. Despite the global...

    Research Brief
    Food Aid

    In the 1960s food aid made up nearly 20 per cent of overall overseas development aid, today that figure is five per cent. Increasingly food aid is provided as emergency relief rather than as a form of long term support and many donors have expressed...

    Blog
    Youth Unemployment in the Arab World: What Do We know? What is the Way Forward?
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    Imed Drine Many observers see youth unemployment as the major reason behind the recent popular uprisings in a number of Arab countries. Increasing...

    Research Brief
    Aid and Economic Growth

    Phillip Michael Kargbo's UNU-WIDER working paper, 'Impact of Foreign Aid on Economic Growth in Sierra Leone: Empirical Analysis' examines the impact of foreign aid on growth in Sierra Leone using a variety of econometric approaches. The paper finds...

    Blog
    Lessons from Africa's Democratic Upheavals
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    Danielle Resnick During the last month, three democracies in Africa witnessed incumbent presidents exit office in very different ways. The most...

    Blog
    Sexual Violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo
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    Malokele Nanivazo Sexual violence crime (SV) in wartime is not a new phenomenon. Mass rapes have occurred in armed conflicts in Rwanda, Kosovo...

    Research Brief
    Lessons of Experience in International Democracy Support

    The view that democracy can be good for development has held sway in influential international development policy circles for over two decades now. And over that time considerable efforts have been made internationally to give direct encouragement...

    Blog
    'La tè tranble nan peyi d'Ayiti': The Earth Trembles in Haiti
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    Evans Jadotte On Tuesday January 12 2010, a 7.0 Richter scale earthquake, off the coast of Haiti destroyed its capital Port-au-Prince. It also razed...

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    Density and Disasters: Economics of Urban Hazard Risk

    Somik V. Lall and Uwe Deichmann Following the terrible disaster which struck Haiti last month, in which more than 200,000 people are estimated to have...

    Blog
    Conflict and Entrepreneurship in Afghanistan

    Tommaso Ciarli, Saeed Parto and Maria Savona Afghanistan remains one of the poorest countries in the world with an estimated per capita income of 300...

    Blog
    Entrepreneurship in Iraq: Understanding the Constraints
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    Sameeksha Desai Across countries, entrepreneurship is shown to support wealth and income generation, job creation and innovations in product and...

    Blog
    Private Military Companies from Renaissance Italy to Modern Day Afghanistan
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    Jurgen Brauer Military contractors - condottiere - and their men were not welcome anywhere in Renaissance Europe. No one enjoyed the presence of these...

    Blog
    Entrepreneurship, Sovereignty, and Violent Social Conflict

    Jurgen Brauer and Robert Haywood The role of the sovereign state in driving and resolving violent social conflict remains central to studies of peace...

    Blog
    Can Entrepreneurship Make Peace Work?

    Tony Addison and Tilman Brück There is a special role for entrepreneurship to play in making peace work. The recently published UNU-WIDER study...

    Blog
    A Fiscal State with its Royal Navy: Institutions and the Industrial Revolution
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    by Patrick Karl O’Brien ‘Good’ institutions have become a core ingredient of most modern day explanations of economic growth and development. The...

    Policy Brief
    L'Afrique de la Guerre à la Paix

    Ce cahier de politique présente une synthèse des résultats d'un projet de l'UNU/WIDER sur la guerre et la reconstruction en Afrique, conduit sous la direction de Tony Addison, et qui viennent d'être publiés dans une étude intitulée From Conflict to...

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