The Commonwealth

The Commonwealth

The Commonwealth is a voluntary association of 56 independent and equal countries. It is home to 2.5 billion people, and includes both advanced economies and developing countries. 33 of our members are small states, including many island nations. Our member governments have agreed to shared goals like development, democracy and peace. Our values and principles are expressed in the Commonwealth Charter.

The Commonwealth Secretariat is the intergovernmental organisation that supports member countries to achieve the Commonwealth’s aims of development, democracy and peace. It publishes authoritative, evidence-based research and knowledge products for policymakers, academics, professionals and wider publics across the world. Our areas of focus and expertise include small and developing states; environment and climate change; democracy, law and government; and social issues concerning young people, gender, health and education.

The Wider Black Sea Region in the 21st Century

Daniel S. Hamilton

  • Imprint: Center for Transatlantic Relations SAIS
  • Format: Paperback
  • ISBN: 9780980187137
  • Publication Date: Jun 2008
  • Availability: In Stock - Despatched Within 5-7 Working Days

Ideas for America's Future

Jeffrey P. Bialos

The next U.S. president will need to adopt a national security strategy for the post-Iraq era that reflects our core values, can earn the trust of the American people and coalition partners, and can protect the country. This book sets forth some of the core elements of a new American strategy. The book discusses how to shape our security policies for dealing with rising power China, emerging power India, and declining power Russia. It addresses how to maintain American openness to foreign ideas, people and capital, and how to win hearts and minds in the struggle against radical Jihadism. It also looks at how to refocus our military and civilian national security capabilities to address the low intensity missions we are likely to face—from insurgency to stabilization and reconstruction to tsunamis.

  • Imprint: Center for Transatlantic Relations SAIS
  • Format: Paperback
  • ISBN: 9780980187151
  • Publication Date: Jun 2008
  • Availability: In Stock - Despatched Within 5-7 Working Days

Humanitarian Assistance

Julia Steets

How can the United States and Europe improve the effectiveness and impact of their humanitarian assistance efforts? A team of scholars and practitioners led by the Global Public Policy Institute and the Center for Transatlantic Relations at Johns Hopkins University conducted field-based empirical research and engaged policymakers to improve U.S.-European cooperation in four key areas of humanitarian assistance: linking relief, rehabilitation, and development; applying best practices and lessons learned; improving business engagement in emergency relief and preparedness; and considering civil-military relations in disaster response.The authors provide an in-depth analysis of the current state of the humanitarian policy debate and the relevant institutional setup in the EU and the U.S. They compare doctrines, programming principles, and geographical and sectoral priorities and propose areas where these principles and priorities can be made coherent. They also offer specific recommendations for greater transatlantic coherence and effectiveness.Contents includePart One: Linking Relief, Rehabilitation and Development Case Studies Southern Sudan North Kivu Afghanistan ChadPart Two: Approaches to Implementing Lessons Learned in Humanitarian Assistance Case Studies Gender in Nepal Gender in Darfur Strengthening Local Capacity in Nicaragua Strengthening Local Capacity in the Occupied Palestinian TerritoriesPart Three: Business Engagement in Emergency Relief and Preparedness Case Studies Humanitarian Firms Insuring Against Disasters Humanitarian Assistance and Corporate Social Responsibility Corporate Social Responsibility in Emergency PreparednessPart Four: Civil-Military Relations in Disaster Response Case Studies Civil-Military Relations in Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo The Next Emergency in Kosovo Response to the 2004 Tsunami

  • Imprint: Center for Transatlantic Relations SAIS
  • Format: Paperback
  • ISBN: 9780980187182
  • Publication Date: Dec 2009
  • Availability: In Stock - Despatched Within 5-7 Working Days

Leadership in Unconventional Crises

Erwan Lagadec

We have entered the age of the unconventional crisis. In 2009 the worldwide economic recession and the A(H1N1) pandemic became the latest in a daunting series of events—9/11, the anthrax crisis, the SARS outbreak, the 2003 heat wave in Europe, the 2004 tsunami, Hurricane Katrina—that required responses beyond the standard call for more assets, planning, technical knowledge, and media training.Standard responses to unconventional crises have yielded repeated failures of leadership and imagination. This book argues that to deal effectively with complex disasters, leaders and crisis managers must be educated to think on their feet in chaotic environments; to wage a war of movement against unconventional threats. We need strategic rethinking of the meaning of leadership and resilience, in addition to mapping out new allocations of roles and responsibilities across organizations, sectors, and countries.To tackle these issues, the Center for Transatlantic Relations launched the project "Unconventional Crises, Unconventional Responses: Reforming Leadership in the Age of Catastrophic Crises and Hypercomplexity." This book describes strategic concepts and organizational tools that have been successful in confronting catastrophic and hypercomplex events.

  • Imprint: Center for Transatlantic Relations SAIS
  • Format: Paperback
  • ISBN: 9780984134106
  • Publication Date: Oct 2009
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Europe 2020

Daniel S. Hamilton

Where does Europe fit in the emerging world of rapidly developing countries and deep interconnections between different poles of power? This study provides a global framework for understanding Europe's competitive position in this very different environment.Authors Daniel S. Hamilton and Joseph P. Quinlan map the flows of people, money, goods, services, and ideas that connect Europe to other key global powers. They compare Europe's relative strengths and weaknesses with other key competitors and partners. Finally, they recommend key actions that could be taken at EU and member-state level to improve the European Unions's competitiveness compared to other G20 powers and make the EU a more attractive place to invest and do business.

  • Imprint: Center for Transatlantic Relations SAIS
  • Format: Paperback
  • ISBN: 9780984134168
  • Publication Date: Feb 2011
  • Availability: In Stock - Despatched Within 5-7 Working Days

The Transatlantic Economy 2014, Volume 1

Daniel S. Hamilton

The Transatlantic Economy annual surveys have become a standard reference for businesses, policymakers, and media interested in the changing role of the U.S. and Europe in the global economy. The 2014 survey offers the most up-to-date set of facts, figures, and analysis available on the deep economic integration binding Europe and the United States.Volume 1 describes the impact of economic and financial crises, prospects for the dollar and euro, the position of the transatlantic economy in relation to high-growth emerging markets, and the changing landscape of international innovation.Volume 2 documents Europeansourced jobs, trade, and investment in each of the fifty U.S. states and U.S.-sourced jobs, trade, and investment in thirty European countries. As the U.S. and Europe negotiate a Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, The Transatlantic Economy 2014 will be an indispensable reference.

  • Imprint: Center for Transatlantic Relations SAIS
  • Format: Paperback
  • ISBN: 9780989029421
  • Publication Date: Aug 2016
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A Better Globalization

Kemal Dervis

The huge costs of armed conflict, the great challenge of state failure, and the slow pace of international actions to address world poverty all point to weaknesses in the global institutional framework and the need for much more effective international cooperation. In this book, Kemal Dervis argues that it is time to build a new international governance structure, breaking away from a system that reflects the post World War II world toward one that is appropriate to the realities and requirements of the 21st century. He proposes a reform of the international institutional architecture based on high-level governance in both the political and economic domains by a renewed and modernized United Nations. Navigating between careful realism and bold idealism, he formulates a coherent vision encompassing both institutional reform and new ideas for policies supported by the specialized institutions such as the IMF, the World Bank, the WTO, the UN agencies themselves, and regional institutions such as the regional development banks. In this plea for "better" globalization, Dervis proposes that, under the legitimizing umbrella of the UN, the specialized institutions deal with the deep causes of the obstacles to poverty reduction and instability rather than their immediate manifestations. He recognizes the great potential that more and freer trade can have for accelerating growth throughout the world. He also stresses, however, that for this potential to be unleashed, the hearts and minds of people must be won by transforming not only the WTO framework but the entire governance of the international economic system into something that is perceived as more legitimate and more responsive to the concerns of the developing world as well as wealthy and creditor nations.

  • Format: Paperback
  • ISBN: 9780815717638
  • Publication Date: Mar 2005
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Unheard Voices of the Next Generation

Sasha Toperich

  • Format: Paperback
  • ISBN: 9780960012718
  • Publication Date: May 2022
  • Availability: In Stock - Despatched Within 5 Working Days

Towards a Renewed Bretton Woods Agreement

Giovanni Tria

  • Format: Paperback
  • ISBN: 9780960012787
  • Publication Date: Jul 2021
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Due Diligence

David Roodman

The idea that small loans can help poor families build businesses and exit poverty has blossomed into a global movement. The concept has captured the public imagination, drawn in billions of dollars, reached millions of customers, and garnered a Nobel Prize. Radical in its suggestion that the poor are creditworthy and conservative in its insistence on individual accountability, the idea has expanded beyond credit into savings, insurance, and money transfers, earning the name microfinance. But is it the boon so many think it is?Readers of David Roodman's openbook blog will immediately recognize his thorough, straightforward, and trenchant analysis. Due Diligence, written entirely in public with input from readers, probes the truth about microfinance to guide governments, foundations, investors, and private citizens who support financial services for poor people. In particular, it explains the need to deemphasize microcredit in favor of other financial services for the poor.

  • Format: Paperback
  • ISBN: 9781933286488
  • Publication Date: Dec 2011
  • Availability: Temporarily out of stock: Usually despatched in 14-18 days

Emerging Africa

Steven Radelet

Emerging Africa describes the too-often-overlooked positive changes that have taken place in much of Africa since the mid-1990s. In 17 countries, five fundamental and sustained breakthroughs are making old assumptions increasingly untenable:• The rise of democracy brought on by the end of the Cold War and apartheid• Stronger economic management• The end of the debt crisis and a more constructive relationship with the international community• The introduction of new technologies, especially mobile phones and the Internet• The emergence of a new generation of leaders.With these significant changes, the countries of emerging Africa seem poised to lead the continent out of the conflict, stagnation, and dictatorships of the past. The countries discussed in the book are Botswana, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Ethiopia, Ghana, Lesotho, Mali Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, São Tomé and Principe, Seychelles, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia.

  • Format: Paperback
  • ISBN: 9781933286518
  • Publication Date: Sep 2010
  • Availability: In Stock - Despatched Within 5-7 Working Days

Cash on Delivery

Nancy Birdsall

Foreign aid has no shortage of critics. Some argue that it undermines development and inherently does more harm than good; others insist that aid must be seriously reformed to work properly. Cash on Delivery (COD) Aid proposes serious reform to make aid work well by forcing accountability, aligning the objectives of funders and recipients, and sharing information about what works.Public and private aid can improve lives in poor countries, but the willingness of taxpayers and private funders to finance aid programs depends more than ever on showing results. COD Aid is a funding mechanism that hinges on results. At its core is a contract between funders and recipients that stipulates a fixed payment for each unit of confirmed progress toward an agreed-upon goal. Once the contract is struck, the funder takes a hands-off approach, allowing the recipient the freedom and responsibility to achieve the goal on its own. Payment is made only after progress toward the goal is independently verified by a third party. At all steps, a COD Aid program is remarkably transparent: the contract, the amount of progress made, and the payment are disseminated publicly to highlight the credibility of the arrangement and improve accountability to the public. COD Aid is a new approach to foreign aid, but one that complements other aid programs and would ultimately encourage funders and recipients to use existing resources more efficiently.Cash On Delivery Aid: A New Approach to Foreign Aid explains the approach in detail and investigates its application in one sector: education. More specifically, the authors show how foreign aid agencies could use COD Aid to help developing countries achieve universal primary school education. The example illustrates how to deal with potential challenges of the approach—challenges that are no greater than those of traditional aid—and includes model term sheets for contracts that could be used for any COD Aid agreement.

  • Format: Paperback
  • ISBN: 9781933286600
  • Publication Date: Apr 2011
  • Availability: In Stock - Despatched Within 5-7 Working Days

Greenprint

Arvind Subramanian

Beleaguered by mutual recrimination between rich and poor countries, squeezed by the zero-sum arithmetic of a shrinking global carbon budget, and overtaken by shifts in economic and hence bargaining power between these countries, international cooperation on climate change has floundered. Given these three factors—which Arvind Subramanian and Aaditya Mattoo call the "narrative," "adding up," and "new world" problems—the wonder is not the current impasse; it is, rather, the belief that progress might be possible at all.In this book, the authors argue that any chance of progress must address each of these problems in a radically different way. First, the old narrative of recrimination must cede to a narrative based on recognition of common interests. Second, leaders must shift the focus away from emissions cuts to technology generation. Third, the old "cash-for-cuts" approach must be abandoned for one that requires contributions from all countries calibrated in magnitude and form to their current level of development and future prospects.

  • Format: Paperback
  • ISBN: 9781933286679
  • Publication Date: Feb 2013
  • Availability: Temporarily out of stock: Usually despatched in 14-18 days

Oil to Cash

Todd Moss

What should a country do if it suddenly discovers oil and gas? How should it spend the subsequent cash windfall? How can it protect against corruption? How can citizens truly benefit from national wealth? With many of the world's poorest and most fragile states suddenly joining the ranks of oil and gas producers, these are pressing policy questions. Oil to Cash explores one option that may help avoid the so-called resource curse: just give the money directly to citizens. A universal, transparent, and regular cash transfer would not only provide a concrete benefit to regular people, but would also create powerful incentives for citizens to hold their government accountable. Oil to Cash details how and where this idea could work and how policymakers can learn from the experiences with cash transfers in places like Mexico, Mongolia, and Alaska.

  • Format: Paperback
  • ISBN: 9781933286693
  • Publication Date: Jun 2015
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Youth and Development in Africa

Report of a youth seminar that brought together experts in the field of youth organisation and training in Commonwealth Africa to share ideas and experiences. The seminar considered the problem of transition from a traditional to a modern society, and how to equip young people with the skills, attitudes and opportunities to make the transference.

  • Format: Paperback
  • ISBN: 9780850920239
  • Publication Date: Jan 1970
  • Availability: Temporarily out of stock: Usually despatched in 14-18 days

Without Women No Development

Madhuri Shah

This handbook presents fifteen case studies on the non-formal education of women from Commonwealth countries in the Asia region: Bangladesh, India, Malaysia and Sri Lanka. Each section is accompanied by an introduction which highlights the major points of the case studies of the country.

  • Format: Paperback
  • ISBN: 9780850922837
  • Publication Date: Jan 1986
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