Sustainable development is the key phrase in the developing world, and it’s an idea that is getting plenty of media coverage. But what exactly is sustainable development? Can it succeed? And what role do big business, governments and NGOs have to play? Sudip Roy reports Over the next few years an oil pipeline will be…

The collapse of the Growth and Stability Pact highlights the economic challenges facing Europe. If it hadn’t been for the fast-falling dollar, there would have been little to cheer as the euro celebrated its fifth birthday earlier this month. Sudip Roy reports As early birthday surprises go, it was hardly the most welcome. The decision…

Humanitarian intervention was supposed to have gone the way of the 1990s. The use of military force across borders to stop mass killing was seen by many as a luxury of an era in which national security concerns were less pressing and problems of human security could come to the fore. Somalia, Haiti, Bosnia, Kosovo,…

After three unusually tough years, a US-centric global economy is awaiting sustained revival with bated breath. There are hopes that the great American job machine, central to any growth spark, is finally revving up. But these hopes are not likely to be realized – and the revival is unlikely to conform to the hiring-led upturns…

The Aids epidemic is perhaps the greatest global challenge of our generation. It is an epidemic without precedent that is still spreading rapidly. In November 2003, UNAIDS and World Health Organization (WHO) published our annual estimates for the spread of HIV in the world. The findings are staggering. There were more infections than ever: five…

Building a robust and reliable business infrastructure is key to ensuring that China achieves its vast commercial promise. As Bill Parrett explains, the new business infrastructure must be based on two foundations: accountability and corporate governance It is common wisdom in the business world that China is a country of immense promise. The basic facts…

Progress without change has a certain attraction as a philosophy and it gained currency in much of the Middle East throughout the 1980s and 1990s. The notion was that we in the Arab world could adopt many of the trappings of the modern west and in some senses modernize, but not really change. We would…

Business leaders in almost every industry sector and country face a complex and often contradictory set of stakeholder expectations. They are under pressure to demonstrate outstanding performance, not just in terms of competitiveness and market growth, but also in their corporate governance and their corporate citizenship. They are being called on to engage with activists…

It is becoming increasingly clear that a unilateral or “monarchical” arrangement of the global order – centred on the military, political and economic dictation of the United States – is undesirable and unsustainable. The crisis of this arrangement presents the opportunity for the proposition of a new global order by the “global aristocracies” – that…

Civil society organizations (CSOs) have historically played a crucial role in tackling issues of transparency, legitimacy and accountability within governments and businesses, with many positive results. Citizen groups often ask difficult questions, holding governments and corporations to account for their actions and demanding that institutions behave in ways that promote the public good. In many…