If people in the Middle East could democratically choose what country they lived in, would they choose the one they are in now? Amidst all the talk of an Arab...
Seth Kaplan
Seth Kaplan is a Professorial Lecturer in the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) at Johns Hopkins University. He teaches, writes, and consults on issues related to fragile states, governance, and development. He is the author of Fixing Fragile States: A New Paradigm for Development (Praeger Security International, 2008) and Betrayed: Politics, Power, and Prosperity (Palgrave Macmillan, 2013). A Wharton MBA and Palmer scholar, Seth has worked for several large multinationals and founded four companies. He speaks fluent Mandarin Chinese and Japanese.
Why do some countries have so few NGOs?
Homegrown nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) play crucial roles providing social services to the poor, holding governments accountable, aggregating the...
“He Doesn’t Steal, But Money Sticks to Him”
Mexico, like many places around the world, has numerous immensely imaginative one-liners to characterize corruption. Here is a sample: "El que no transa, no...
Is Lagos next?
Although it is extremely hard to predict the actions of a terrorist group such as Boko Haram, Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial capital, may be a looming target....
The “fifth BRIC” motors along
Indonesia, sometimes known as the "fifth BRIC" (after Brazil Russia India China) because of its population size and growth potential, now has debt rated at...
Moving to Titan?
Have you lost all hope given the onslaught of bad news these past few years? Well, now you have a backup plan. A new index published in the journal...
What’s Wrong With CGD’s Pakistan Initiative
The Center for Global Development has been organizing a Study Group on a U.S. Development Strategy in Pakistan. It published a report listing its...
Trickle Down Piracy
Readers could make a real contribution to the people of Somalia by taking their yachts over to the Horn of Africa: Piracy off the coast of Somalia may be a...
What can Southeast Asia teach Africa about development?
Southeast Asia has consistently outperformed Sub-Saharan Africa in income growth. As the below chart indicates, its inhabitants were much poorer than Africans...
Is Egypt going broke?
Is Egypt running out of money? Financial woes add an extra layer of drama to one of the most important stories to watch in 2012. Egypt's reserves have dropped...
Boko Haram’s Christmas present to Nigeria
The radical Islamist group Boko Haram obviously does not like Christmas: Five bombs exploded on Christmas Day at churches in Nigeria, one killing at least 27...
The DRC: is there a better way?
What can you do with US$1.2 billion? Treat over one million HIV/AIDS patients in Africa for one year. Build 200 new university campuses in places such as...
The perils of regime change in Syria
Many Western leaders have called for regime change in Syria. As Barack Obama said in August: We have consistently said that President Assad must lead a...
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We can’t rely on any leader to pull us out of the inequality crisis. It’s up to us.
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Switching Ministers and Crossing Canyons
At the end of July, after months of lockdown, my first trip outside The Netherlands was to Tunisia. Just before I flew, the Tunisian prime minister tendered the resignation of his government. That meant possibly another minister of justice; the fourth in a little over...