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Curated by Project Syndicate

The New Development Agenda

13 commentaries

The Sustainable Development Goals, recently agreed at the UN, will guide global development efforts for the next 15 years. Will the new agenda replicate the success of the just-completed Millennium Development Goals, or do the SDGs ask too much of developing countries?

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  1. A Fish Called Development
    Lung fish.

    A Fish Called Development

    Oct 1, 2015 Oby Ezekwesili, et al. urge leaders to eliminate harmful fisheries subsidies at the WTO meeting in December.

  2. Leaving Our Children Nothing
    Portrait of a young girl.

    Leaving Our Children Nothing

    Sep 30, 2015 Johan Rockström wants to leave our descendants no poverty, no greenhouse-gas emissions, and no biodiversity loss.

  3. The Data Revolution for Sustainable Development
    Development data El Tiempo/ZumaPress

    The Data Revolution for Sustainable Development

    Sep 18, 2015 Jeffrey D. Sachs, et al. cite new technologies that can help meet long-term education, health, and poverty-reduction goals.

  4. Securing a Sustainable Future
    Flood water in Sylhet City Md. Akhlas Uddin/ZumaPress

    Securing a Sustainable Future

    Sep 16, 2015 Gro Harlem Brundtland & Graça Machel warn world leaders that climate change could erase progress toward development goals.

  5. Unsustainable Development Goals
    Typhoon in china Xu Yu/ZumaPress

    Unsustainable Development Goals

    Sep 15, 2015 Bjørn Lomborg calls the UN's Agenda for Sustainable Development the missed opportunity of a generation.

  6. Another Great Leap Forward for Development
    television dishes india Subhash Sharma/ZumaPress

    Another Great Leap Forward for Development

    Aug 27, 2015 Javier Solana underscores the universality of the Sustainable Development Goals.

Our Pick

Featured

  1. afrasmussen17_TOFIK BABAYEVAFP via Getty Images_armeniaazerbaijanconflict Tofik Babayev/AFP via Getty Images
    0

    The Other Conflict on Europe’s Doorstep

    Anders Fogh Rasmussen warns that Azerbaijan may be preparing to renew its military aggression against neighboring Armenia.
  2. varoufakis101_Justin SullivanGetty Images_svb Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
    1

    Let the Banks Burn

    Yanis Varoufakis

    The banking system we take for granted is unfixable. The good news is that we no longer need to rely on any private, rent-seeking, socially destabilizing network of banks, at least not the way we have so far.

     shows why the current private system is unfixable – and why we don’t need to tolerate it anymore.
  3. roach151_ TIMOTHY A. CLARYAFP via Getty Images)_svb collapse TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP via Getty Images)
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    How China Benefits from Another US Banking Crisis

    Stephen S. Roach thinks America’s latest financial trouble will reinforce a narrative of terminal national decline.
  4. op_schell1_Andrea VerdelliGetty Images_xijinping Andrea Verdelli/Getty Images
    5

    Xi Jinping’s Chinese Tragedy

    Orville Schell interviewed by Irena Grudzińska Gross

    Like Vladimir Putin, China's leader is so steeped in a narrative of victimhood and fearful of appearing weak that it is hard to imagine him ever leading China out of the mess he has created. He could well be remembered as the leader who squandered history's most remarkable economic success story.

     about the country's increasingly worrisome trajectory, both at home and abroad.
  5. zizek16_ Frank Rumpenhorstpicture alliance via Getty Images_chatbot Frank Rumpenhorst/picture alliance via Getty Images
    2

    Artificial Idiocy

    Slavoj Žižek fears that the rise of powerful chatbots will spell the death of irony and nuance in human thought.
  6. kabubomariara1_Per-Anders Pettersson Contributor Getty Images_research africa Per-Anders Pettersson / Contributor Getty Images
    0

    Localizing Development Research

    Julia Kaufman & Jane Wanjiku Mariara explain why funders should be providing more long-term resources to researchers in developing countries.
  7. eeckhout1_Feature ChinaFuture Publishing via Getty Images_digitalrenminbi Feature China/Future Publishing via Getty Images
    1

    The Simplest Fix for Banking

    Jan Eeckhout explains how central bank digital currencies would end bank runs and banks' excessive risk-taking.
  8. chellaney161_ARUN SANKARAFP via Getty Images_blinken lavrov ARUN SANKAR/AFP via Getty Images
    3

    America’s Interest in Ending the Ukraine Crisis

    Brahma Chellaney explains why prolonging the conflict risks realizing the West’s worst geopolitical nightmare.
  9. krueger61_Tom WilliamsCQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images_Intelsemicronductors Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images
    0

    America’s Industrial Policy Is Counterproductive

    Anne O. Krueger laments that the Biden administration is adding red tape to an inefficient subsidy program.

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