Why Do Terrorists Commit Terrorism?
AFTER a terrorist attack like the one in Florida on Sunday, one of the first questions people always ask is: Why? Why would someone take the lives of innocent civilians who are total strangers? That is a question to which I have long sought an answer. But my search has led me instead to another ques…
It happens on the pavement: Putting cities at the center of countering violent extremism
In March alone, at least nine cities across three continents were hit by terrorist attacks. Municipalities—from megacities to tertiary cities—continue to bear the brunt of such attacks: in the short term, they provide first response and take essential security measures; in the longer term, they suff…
The World Could End AIDS if It Tried
The world has made so much progress in reducing the spread of AIDS and treating people with H.I.V. that the epidemic has receded from the public spotlight. Yet by any measure the disease remains a major threat — 1.1 million people died last year from AIDS-related causes, and 2.1 million people were …
Rethinking Robin Hood
International development aid is based on the Robin Hood principle: take from the rich and give to the poor. National development agencies, multilateral organizations, and NGOs currently transfer more than $135 billion a year from rich countries to poor countries with this idea in mind. A more forma…
The distance to school is not only about the distance you walk
In a recent major survey undertaken by the Campaign for Female Education (Camfed) in Tanzania and Zimbabwe, low academic self-esteem was the second most frequently expressed reason for dropping out of school among marginalized girls, after poverty-related issues. Girls lack the confidence to engage …
Unaccompanied child refugees: ‘These children aren’t seen as children’
Human smugglers increasingly combine smuggling with exploitation and their victims are often children,” says Federica Toscano. “At chaotic border situations, it happens that smugglers deliberately separate refugee children from their parents to exploit them.’’ “We also hear that families at the bord…
UN Secretary-General 2016: Top candidate Vuk Jeremić says UN needs to regain trust
For a frontrunner for the post of the world’s top diplomat, Vuk Jeremić is rather candid about how he thinks the United Nations should change. “If you look at the UN’s speeches and compare it to an average Ted Talk, there’s quite a difference. I would like more Ted Talk and less UN diplomatic niceti…
How 3-D Printing Could Decrease Carbon Emissions. Or Maybe Increase Them.
One of the most exciting areas of advanced manufacturing is 3-D printing. While it has been around for many years to produce crude prototypes, 3-D printing is now being used to make everything from jet engines and complex machine parts to bridges and buildings, artificial limbs and biomedical tissue…
New ideas for development effectiveness
Almost two years ago, I alerted readers to a contest, sponsored by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation through the Global Development Network, to develop new ideas to improve the impact of development cooperation. The Next Horizons Essay contest 2014 received 1,470 submissions from 142 countries, …
Can Lean Manufacturing Put an End to Sweatshops?
While no one advocates for labor abuses, poor working conditions are often seen as an inevitable consequence of global trade. Producers in less-developed countries compete by keeping costs low. Conventional wisdom holds that improving working conditions (which typically costs money) would undermine …