Since its creation in 1997, the United Kingdom's Department for International Development (DFID) has been recognized as a global leader in development. Described by the Economist as being a model for other rich countries, DFID has resolutely focused on reducing poverty in the poorest countries,...

Researchers have written hundreds of papers on the causes and consequences of official foreign aid, while paying almost no attention to private overseas giving, by individuals, universities, foundations, and corporations. Yet private giving is significant - some $15.5 billion/year, compared to...

From the recent G8 Summit to UN declarations, calls for a Big Push in official development assistance by OECD countries are becoming more frequent and pressing. Although there may be a consensus among the donor community to increase giving, what impact will this new aid have on recipient...

Zimbabwe is a country on the edge. It may technically be at peace, but it is suffering war-like trauma to its polity and economy. The international community will soon likely confront the challenge of assisting the country's difficult transition from a bleak period of economic collapse and...

In the post-9/11 era, a new focus on failing states and their ability to threaten global security has influenced US foreign policy and aid policy. This paper explores the links between failing states and transnational threats such as terrorism, weapons proliferation, organized crime, and global...

Much of the discourse on economic development and the private sector has focused on the role of foreign direct investment. While it is clear that FDI can play an important role in generating growth, it is also increasingly evident that countries cannot grow without a vibrant, domestic private...

A number of proposals today support a substantial increase in foreign aid levels to sub-Saharan Africa even though this region already receives a historically unprecedented volume of aid. This essay reviews the evidence regarding the potentially negative effects of aid dependence on state...

Since the "third wave" of democratization began in 1974, nearly 100 states have adopted democratic forms of government, including, of course, most of the former Soviet bloc nations. Policy-makers in the west have expressed the hope that this democratic wave will extend even further, to the...

Too many African state-owned enterprises (SOEs), particularly those in infrastructure sectors, have a long history of poor performance. African governments and donors labored through the 1970s and 1980s to improve SOE performance through "commercialization" - i.e., methods short of ownership...

Donor countries have committed themselves to increase aid to developing countries by 60 percent over the next five years; and larger increases would be needed to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). But there are concerns that there may be a limit on the amount of aid that developing...