Aid & Development|

Development Assistance

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Aid & development links: 'lazy' aid recipients, Australian charity, malaria fund and more

MIT and Harvard economists have debunked the claim that aid funded welfare programs in developing countries make people lazy. Vox has a good summary. Devpolicy has posted the second in a two part series looking at Australian development NGO expenditure, which I have co-authored. In this post we

By Jonathan Pryke

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Australia's PNG solution: The seeds of sectarianism?

As part of the 'Sectarianism and Religiously Motivated Violence' Masters course run by the Lowy Institute's Rodger Shanahan at ANU's National Security College, students are asked to write an article on contemporary sectarian conflict. This piece by William Stoltz was judged the best of those

By William Stoltz

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Beijing should hasten slowly on AIIB

The establishment of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) reached another milestone on Monday when 50 of the 57 founding members signed the AIIB's Articles of Agreement. Seven countries are still sorting out domestic requirements before signing. China's Finance Minister Jiwei Lou and

By Mike Callaghan

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Four observations about the AIIB's Articles of Agreement

With the signing of the AIIB's Articles of Agreement in Beijing yesterday, how is the Bank shaping up? Here are some key things that struck me reading the Agreement: Membership The Bank's members are split into two groups: regional and non-regional. Regional members include those countries

By Philippa Brant

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The road to Paris: Ten days and counting

The latest round of negotiations for the UN's Framework Convention on Climate Change closed in Bonn last Friday with mixed results. With ten formal negotiating days left until crucial climate negotiations resume in Paris later this year, the clock is ticking. Bonn Climate Change Conference, 1 June

By Erwin Jackson

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Digital Asia links: Nepal earthquake special

Those monitoring the earthquake response will already be well acquainted with the #NepalEarthquake hashtag, but they should also subscribe to this Twitter list. How Facebook (via Safety Check) and Google (via Person Finder) helped connect people immediately following the 25 April earthquake.

By Danielle Cave

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Is enough being done to protect aid workers?

The deaths of five Afghan staff from Save the Children-Australia in Uruzgan province two weeks ago exemplifies the risks of providing development assistance in fragile states. Development assistance in conflict situations has drastically increased over the past decade, and that trend is likely

By Susanne Schmeidl

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Australia's unsustainable approach to asylum-seekers

At a time when international cooperation on refugees is most sorely needed, countries are instead resorting to increasing unilateralism. Australia is at the forefront. Retreating inwards by trying to seal off borders to people in search of protection is both unrealistic and unsustainable. The

By Jane McAdam

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Six ideas for rescuing Australian digital diplomacy

Australia's approach to digital diplomacy is second-rate and entirely inadequate for a nation that sees itself as 'a top 20 country'. Despite an expanded social media presence, Australia continues to lag far behind other countries – large and small – that are investing serious resources into

By Danielle Cave

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Cyclone Pam: A photo essay from a volunteer

By Eva Westfield, who was an Australian volunteer based in Port Vila. Consistently rated the most dangerous countries in the world in terms of disaster risk, Vanuatu is no stranger to the destruction caused by natural hazards. Talk of Cyclone Pam hitting Vanuatu started about a week before it

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Australia-Laos rights dialogue: More than just rhetoric needed

For many Australians, Laos is a scenic, off-the-beaten path, holiday destination for adventurous travellers. Relatively few know that it's also a repressive one-party state with a long record of restricting basic rights, and imprisoning or forcibly disappearing critics or citizens who dare to

By Shaivalini Parmar

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No, the IMF did not cause the Ebola crisis

Headlines blaming the IMF for the Ebola crisis are something you may expect in the tabloid press. However, a robust debate on the role of the IMF in the spread of Ebola was started by an article in The Lancet, a leading health journal. Four British professors claimed that the fiscal austerity

By Mike Callaghan

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Australia and the AIIB: A lost opportunity

The debate about whether Australia should join the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) has gone beyond the realm of economic development and investment to hit at the core of Australia's apparent security dilemma. The initial concern revolved around the governance arrangements and whether

By Philippa Brant

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Ebola: Lessons from earlier pandemic scares

In July 2014, Australia's Chief Medical Officer, Dr Chris Baggoley, assured us that the risk of the deadly Ebola virus spreading to Australia from West Africa was very low. At that stage, cases of this most recent outbreak of the disease had been confined to West African countries and in particular

By Annmaree O’Keeffe

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Why Australia should join the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank

At the upcoming APEC Summit in Beijing, China is hoping to announce a formal MoU for the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). Offers to join the Bank have been sent around the region, including to Australia. So should Australia sign on? Little is publicly known about how the Bank would work

By Philippa Brant

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Abbott's first year: Nowhere to be seen in the Pacific

People who laud Tony Abbott's surefooted foreign policy never mention his role in the Pacific islands. It's hardly surprising. Following the precedent set by John Howard, the Prime Minister has not shown much interest in Australia's closest neighbours. Abbott couldn't even spare a day to attend

By Nic Maclellan

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Why Bob Carr's book matters

It was all a trick. A simple scam played on a clueless tabloid media to sell more books. And didn't they oblige! As soon as Bob Carr's Diary of a Foreign Minister hit the shelves, they searched the book for scandal, and found a man apparently addicted to perks and privilege. The Daily Telegraph

By Sam Roggeveen

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Avoiding war: How states negotiate

Development Assistance

Aid & development links: 'lazy' aid recipients, Australian charity, malaria fund and more

Australia's PNG solution: The seeds of sectarianism?

Beijing should hasten slowly on AIIB

Four observations about the AIIB's Articles of Agreement

The road to Paris: Ten days and counting

Digital Asia links: Nepal earthquake special

Is enough being done to protect aid workers?

Australia's unsustainable approach to asylum-seekers

Six ideas for rescuing Australian digital diplomacy

Cyclone Pam: A photo essay from a volunteer

Australia-Laos rights dialogue: More than just rhetoric needed

No, the IMF did not cause the Ebola crisis

Australia and the AIIB: A lost opportunity

Ebola: Lessons from earlier pandemic scares

Why Australia should join the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank

Abbott's first year: Nowhere to be seen in the Pacific

Why Bob Carr's book matters

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