Lately, everyone with an email address must has received an email asking them to nominate a think tank for the go-to think tank awards. This popularity contest, unfortunately, has its fans. But the natural conclusion of such an endeavor is, I am a…

They say the pen is stronger than the sword. Certainly researchers can save the world, then. 

It is such a common mistake. We all forget things, after all. Especially when we are having fun.The CDKN should look no more for the problem (and the solution). 

The Global Development Network’s (GDN) 2010 Annual Conference focused on the effects of the financial crisis on global and regional integration. China was a common thread across all sessions and debates. Everything from eager expectation from pani…

The conflict is in the seas. Not the jungle. Everyone looks at the jungle. The NGOs, the media, researchers, donors. Everyone. But the real problem. Where most oil explorations are having the most effect on local populations is in the ocean. On ou…

Airports are one of my favourite places. Nobody is there just becasue they want to be there. It is not like a town square where people might sit around killing time or contemplating life. At airports everyone is going somewhere. Everyone has a sto…

I must apologise for not posting more often. I am surprised at how difficult it is to find a scanner while away from home. Mobiles, on the other hand, are everywhere and we are becoming more dependent on them by the second. At a recent research co…

Going shopping is far more difficult than one thinks. ‘What you buy’ sometimes feels like ‘who you buy’. When I go to the supermarket I do my best to buy Peruvian or Latin American produces (whenever I can). Maybe I should pay more attention to th…

This week I was asked at work to think about a cartooon to illustrate researchers ability to identify and stick with a policy problem to focus on. 

When we talk about development we often focus on ‘participation’, ‘networks’, ‘consensus’, ‘the majority’, etc. We forget that people matter; and leaders matter too. At the 25th Anniversary of the Consultative Group on Early Childhood Care and Dev…