International Development Policy

International development cooperation is undergoing a revolution in order to cope with global challenges that cut across the rich/poor and North/South divides. Beyond the fight against poverty, development aid is called upon to address global public goods. While intergovernmental negotiations stall, bilateral and multilateral aid agencies boast to tackle climate change, food insecurity, water and energy scarcity, pandemics, armed conflicts and disasters in weak states, migrations, etc. The emergence of new aid actors radically alters the traditional aid architecture and approaches. The increasing number of poor living in middle-income countries makes poverty alleviation more of a political than a technical endeavour. The book examines how this profoundly affects international development cooperation. It questions how far bilateral and multilateral aid agencies succeed in mainstreaming global issues in their operations. It assesses how emerging and traditional donors address competing objectives, often with diverging rationales.