The first version of this study was prepared for the United Nations Development Programme as a background document for the Human Development Report 1992. It is not surprising therefore that some of the ideas in this study bear more than a passing likeness to parts of this year's Human...

This paper addresses the character of armed conflict today. In recent years there have been few inter-state wars, though direct and indirect external intervention in internal strife continues. During 1993, there were 52 wars involving 42 war-torn countries. In a further 37 violent countries,...

Major changes in the political regime and decentralization strategy over the last few decades make Chile an interesting case-study of decentralization. Chile is a "narrow" nation covering almost three-hundred thousand square miles, ranging from coastal lands to the Andean mountain range. Its...

Zimbabwe has achieved impressive strides in human development since independence, as reflected by improvements in such indicators as literacy, child mortality and life expectancy which stand well above regional averages (see table 1). Access to services important for human development also...

The Human Development Report (HDR) has, since its first publication in 1990, met with an active, interested response on the part of the global development community. Its messages have been the subject of national and international-level policy debate. Increasingly, policy statements in various...

Paper prepared for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Human Development Report 1992. The four essays in this publication were prepared in response to the request by Dr. Mahbub ul Haq, Special Adviser to the Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme. He asked that I...