Mara Caputo

Development Aid: Missing Its Mark?

More targeted development aid is needed, photo: Melissa Gray, flickr

Has traditional development aid helped alleviate – or further exacerbated – poverty? This week the ISN takes a closer look at the promises and pitfalls of development aid with particular attention to the benefits of targeting it more directly at the grassroots level.

This ISN Special Report contains the following content:

  • An Analysis by Dr Gerard DeGroot discusses the limited ability of traditional development aid to alleviate poverty, concluding that small projects addressing basic human needs may have the biggest impact.
  • A Podcast interview with Fiona Ramsey about the big benefits of small microfinance loans for sustainable development.
  • Security Watch articles about the impact of development aid from Haiti to Georgia, Somalia and beyond.
  • Publications housed in our Digital Library, including a recent Kiel Institute Working Paper assessing the value of performance-based aid as an alternative to the largely failed traditional approach.
  • Links to relevant websites, such as the International Policy Network’s paper on the impact of foreign aid – with Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, and Botswana cited as examples.
  • Our IR Directory, featuring the Cambridge-based Collaborative for Development Action, an NGO committed to improving the effectiveness of international actors involved in supporting sustainable development.

More than a Game

A footballer atop Montmartre, photo: photolupi, flickr

With the first World Cup hosted on African soil underway, the ISN takes a closer look this week at the impact of sport beyond the headlines – particularly as a tool for development.

This ISN Special Report contains the following content:

  • An Analysis by the Swiss Academy for Development’s Daniela Preti about how sport contributes to youth empowerment and social transformation at the grassroots level.
  • A Podcast interview with SCORE executive director Stefan Howells explores the important role that sport can play in developing countries to bridge the gap between classroom and community.
  • Security Watch articles on the impact of international sporting events from the World Cup to the Olympics.
  • Publications housed in our Digital Library, including the Middle East Institute’s snapshots of sport in the Middle East.
  • Primary Resources, including a UN General Assembly Resolution on ‘Sports as a Means to Promote Education, Health, Development and Peace’.
  • Links to relevant websites, such as UNICEF’s Sport for Development website.
  • Our IR Directory, featuring the Swiss Federal Department of Defense, Civil Protection and Sport.

Protecting Privacy in a Surveillance Society

1984 CD
1984, a George Orwell novel - and Van Halen CD, photo: aresauburn/flickr

While new technologies have enhanced user freedoms, they have also created opportunities for dramatic invasions of privacy – including by governments against their own citizens. How can governments better balance national security needs against citizens’ right to privacy?

This ISN Special Report contains the following content:

  • An Analysis by Peter Buxbaum about crafting sensible public policy on electronic surveillance and data mining.
  • A Podcast interview with Bruce Schneier suggests that technology is neither a magic bullet that can stop terrorism nor a catalyst for invading privacy.
  • Security Watch articles about the impact of electronic surveillance in Turkey, the US, Belarus and more.
  • Publications housed in our Digital Library, including a recent Center for European Policy Studies paper on the human rights implications of global technology transfers.
  • Links to relevant websites, such as last week’s Economist article on “Privacy and the Internet.”
  • Our IR Directory, featuring the human rights group, Privacy International.
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ISN Weekly Theme: Iran – Reckless or Rational?

Detail of a carpet depicting Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khāmene’i, photo: youngrobv/flickr

The Islamic Republic’s recent political provocations against the West have left observers wondering: Is such behavior the result of careful calculation or messianic madness?

  • An Analysis by Philip McCrum about Iranian President Ahmadinejad’s fragile hold on power five years after his contested election win.
  • A Podcast interview with Dr John Mueller on the Iranian nuclear threat – or lack thereof.
  • Security Watch articles on Iran’s struggling Jewish community, the nuclear question and much more.
  • Publications housed in our Digital Library, including recent US Congressional Research Service analyses on US foreign policy toward a nuclear hungry Iran.
  • Primary Resources, including last week’s joint declaration By Iran, Turkey and Brazil on the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons.
  • Links to relevant websites, such as the ArmsControlWonk blog published by Dr Jeffrey Lewis of the New America Foundation.
  • Our IR Directory, featuring the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at Harvard University.

Deconstructing Swiss Identity

HELVETIQ, a new board game about Switzerland, created by a successful candidate for naturalization, photo: HELVETIQ, flickr

Swiss national identity and political culture hold a unique place in European history – and maintain an air of ‘exceptionalism’. But does a cohesive Swiss national identity exist today – and if so how can it be characterized?

This ISN Special Report contains the following content:

  • An Analysis by Dr Irène Herrmann on the evolution of Swiss political identity, showcasing the results of her Swiss National Foundation study.
  • A Podcast interview with Dr Hanspeter Kriesi about Switzerland’s special nation-state status.
  • Security Watch articles on current Swiss foreign and domestic policy.
  • Publications housed in our Digital Library, including studies on ethnic cleavages and immigration policies in Switzerland.
  • Primary Resources, including the Swiss Federal Charter of 1291 (“Bundesbrief”).
  • Links to relevant websites, such as the Swiss Forum for Migration and Population Studies.
  • Our IR Directory, featuring Swiss Diplomatic Documents, a project that publishes key documents on Swiss foreign policy.