frequent question which faces development theorists is that of governance. Constantly we are told that the key to development is “good governance” - that is, strong institutions capable of fulfilling their roles, an emphasis on the effective enforcement of the rule of law and some level of participation of concerned sectional groups in the policy making process. Yet we are also faced with the question of how to govern developing states. In a state with strong ethnic, class or ideological divisions, a democratic system of participatory government faces serious difficulties in generating and enforcing policy with any effectiveness as it faces too many barriers to do so – all parties must be placated at the expense of coherent action, whilst short-term accountability to the electorate denies the opportunity for long-term economic reforms which may be damaging before they take effect. At the other end of the scale, the idea of an authoritarian, perhaps military, system of rule raises many ethical questions – what are the limits of legitimate rule for the purposes of development?

So, the website is looking more or less like it might get finished before I graduate.
To do:

Adverts - Kindof done. Its confusing and I don’t want to screw over the design
Reviews - Waiting until we have more than one
Links - Done
Article submission system (argh!)
Latest issue sidebar - Very soon…
PDF downloads - Done
mod_rewrite - Done
Documentation - […]

The global arms trade is the largest sector of spending in the world. It is worth around a trillion dollars anually, a figure that corresponds to about $170 for every person on the planet, and increases every year. The income generated for producers of weapons is massive, and the geopolitical importance of strategic arms sales cannot be overstated. At what costs do we pursue economic and strategic supremacy using this deadly trade? Can we ever justify such actions?

Palestine is an area which has been troubled by sectarian violence, racial hatred and religious extremism for several generations. With a cycle of violence stretching back over a century, will there ever be a peaceful and long-lasting conciliation between the Israelis and the Palestinians?
The history of this conflict serves only to highlight how desperate the […]