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Decoupling is a dangerous fantasy sustained by disavowal – the simultaneous admission and denial – of its impossibility in practice.

The EU migration and refugee crisis has acutely revealed the limits of the Schengen and Dublin systems as well as national reticence to build a European migration and asylum policy. If Europe is not up to the task, can international organizations...

The EU migration and refugee crisis has acutely revealed the limits of the Schengen and Dublin systems as well as national reticence to build a European migration and asylum policy. If Europe is not up to the task, can international organizations...

There’s a new kid in town. Mexico is more than ever opening itself up to the world and ready to play an important role in the post-2015 development agenda. Desiring to once again be the bridge between the West and Latin America, Mexico has been ve...

In July 2014, the UN Open Working Group on Sustainable Development proposed a universal set of post-2015 goals and targets to succeed the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The draft consists of 17 ambitious goals for social, economic and enviro...

Last week the UN Open Working Group on the Sustainable Development Goals (OWG) adopted their final report to standing ovations after 13 formal sessions and a final marathon meeting. From a European perspective, the outcome is considered a sat...

How to really achieve development’s latest buzzword.

The long wait is over. During the 13th and final session of the Open Working Group (OWG) on sustainable development goals (SDGs), held from 14 to 19 July, the 69 member countries agreed on a set of 17 SDGs and 169 associated targets. These should...

Global goals need global policies. Governments have more to win than lose if they join forces and agree upon a single post-2015 agenda.

Imagine the world was a cooperation: what business model would serve us best to achieve sustainable development? 

As a ‘post-Busan’ donor, Spain could act as a strategic channel, providing know-how for collaboration with MICs in development.

Mandela was an ethical realist, who rejected confrontation both at home and internationally.

Norway’s recent international cooperation white paper, Sharing for Prosperity, seems stubbornly non-conformist. For it recommits Norway to some fundamental, if today unfashionable, purposes: for low-income lands, pursuit of growth-with-r...

Inequality is firmly back on the policy agenda in many parts of the world. Many believe it should have a prominent position on the post-2015 agenda. I disagree. Please let me explain why.

As the High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness, to take place in Busan approaches, it is difficult to ignore that the global context has shaped the world of aid into a new ball game.

Cooperation between emerging economies such as China, India and Brazil and other developing countries is one of the main items for discussion on the Busan agenda. Investment, trade and development assistance provided by emerging economies for othe...

In the framework of the Bellagio Initiative, The Broker hosted a lively online debate on human wellbeing and inclusive economics in the 21st century. Our contributors agree that economic growth as measured by gross domestic product (GDP) generally...

China’s explosive economic growth has made it a more prominent player in global development. This brings with it a host of new, multilateral responsibilities. The question is still open as to how China will respond to its new status.

Should the 'aid effectiveness' agenda be replaced by 'development effectiveness' principles

The ACP Group needs to strengthen itself politically while the EU must be prepared to renew its partnership with ACP countries on equal terms.

The Broker will publish interesting publications and current affairs in de field of global development.

At the seminar 'Emerging Powers in the 21st century' in Oslo, specialists from Norway and participants from Turkey, India, China, Indonesia and Brazil discussed how political and economic hegemony in today’s world is changing to a situation of mul...

(This post is the introduction speech of Mariano Aguirre at the Seminar "Emerging Powers in the 21st Century" that took place in Oslo, Norway, 4 April 2025)This seminar is focussed on analyzing aspects of the international system’s new c...

Is South Africa’s foreign policy likely to be fundamentally changed now that a new political leadership has taken over the country and the ANC since 2009? Before addressing this, it may be worthwhile explaining the fundamental shift in foreign pol...

On Monday 18 April, a crowd of 120 or so gathered in the hall of the Free University in Amsterdam for a lecture by Shi Yinhong, professor of international relations at Renmin University of China. In his lecture, the seventh in a series on ‘global...

A global foreign policy outlook needs a radically new mindset and new forms of cooperation at both the national and international levels. Reaching truly integrated policies will inevitably imply political struggle.

Several Western donor countries have begun to gear their development policies towards a changing global society. The question is, will these policies be restricted by national self-interests or will they take the interests of the global poor to he...

The Advisory Council on International Affairs (AIV) has published an extensive reaction on the WRR report (in Dutch) entitled 'Consistency in International Cooperation'. An English version will be available later this year. Read the PDF document&n...;

The Directorate-General for International Cooperation (DGIS) of the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, organized a mini-conference on 9 April 2025 to discuss the WRR report. The officials were all ears: what did other ministerial departments, acad...

The Dragon’s Gift: The Real Story of China in Africa, by Deborah Brautigam. Oxford University Press, 2009, 397 pp.A review by Daniel Large

We are all starters in the sector and fear that the development community has become an inward looking culture that has hardly any interaction with outsiders. How we think the sector is evolving?

On 18 January 2025 the Scientific Council for Government Policy (WRR) presented its report long-awaiting report that promotes substantial changes in the organisation of Dutch aid as well as more structural attention for global public goods.

Norway is a generous donor and enjoys high visibility as a peace broker. Public support is high, despite criticism from some quarters. It now wants to rejuvenate the UN and work more closely with the EU.

The decisions that are made over the next three months will shape Europe’s international role in the future. The script that drives global policy making is being rewritten, in response to the financial crisis, climate change and global security ch...

Over the last few months I have attended a number of meetings that focused on the future of development cooperation. Among these were the workshop on the Practice of Civic Driven Change in the Hague, the Netherlands, and the High Level Policy Foru...

I finished my blog yesterday by highlighting the need for a new development paradigm. This new paradigm may take up to five years to emerge and, from past experience of paradigm shifts, it will draw together ideas from existing theory and practice...

I finished my blog posting yesterday with a promise to say something about the 'what next?' question. Well, I’m always thinking about a book academics generally can’t stand but I love – that’s Gladwell’s Tipping point (Chip and Dan Heath’s Made to...

Politicians are calling for evaluations that measure the effects of development cooperation. However, good development cooperation focuses on long-term processes that cannot be measured in terms of cause and effect. Alternative approaches to evalu...

China has an increasingly influential voice in global issues such as world trade, conflict management, energy supply security and sustainable development. In June 2006, the Netherlands government presented a policy memorandum, Shaping a Relationsh...