Special features

The world’s problems have got worse as a result of the global economic slowdown and have long passed the point when any one agency, governmental or otherwise, can tackle them. Meanwhile, the economic crisis is …

The current economic climate creates a series of challenges for the development community. While Western economies are increasingly required to justify development spending, developing economies, particularly in Africa, are suffering as a result of lower …

The last 12 months have witnessed three major events that have the potential to transform the political landscape: the election of Barack Obama as president of the United States, the present devastating economic and financial …

While the current crisis is exacerbating the difficult conditions of marginalized Arab communities, the urgency of their situation has been apparent for decades. Yet efforts to address their chronic problems have been consistently misguided, charity-oriented …

A superficial interpretation of the ongoing crisis and its impact upon foundations has focused on asset value and returns shrinkage. The Foundation Center estimates that the market value of the combined assets of all US …

As initially explosive and profoundly felt as the financial crisis has been, its most fundamental effects could still be to come, if we take the opportunity it presents to reinvent the financial system. We have …

With free markets in retreat, economic development risks losing one of its foremost drivers. People forget that economic growth in India and China alone, fostered by open markets, has lifted hundreds of millions out of …

Environmental, economic and social crisis threatens the future of humankind and, at the moment, society is searching new ways to cope with such challenges. A promising future will depend on the foundation of a new …

In the wake of the current financial crisis, all institutions, from banks to non-profits, are re-evaluating their risk management systems, resulting in a much reduced appetite for risk. This has made it increasingly difficult for …

‘Die Krisen räumen auf’ (‘Crises clear the decks’) wrote 19th century German historian Jakob Burckhardt, but what do they clear the decks for? How has the world changed as a result of the present financial …