The 2008 Corruption Perceptions Index highlights the fatal link between poverty, failed institutions and graft. For two years in a row, Somalia shows one of the highest levels (1.0) of perceived corruption, along with Myanmar and Iraq (1.3) and Haiti (1.4). Denmark, New Zealand and Sweden share the highest score at 9.3, followed immediately by Singapore at 9.2.
DI - 29/9/2008
This paper is focused on the interest in trying to assess the financial and other impacts of immigration in the UK. It says that ‘perhaps as important as the actual impacts of immigration is the public perception of it. It is increasingly recognised that Government policy must deal with both’.
DI - 25/9/2008
This Secretary-General’s report assesses the activities of all relevant bodies, agencies, funds and programmes of the UN system and other relevant international and regional organizations in addressing international migration and development issues.
DI - 24/9/2008
The 18th edition -subtitled ‘Transnational Corporations, and the Infrastructure Challenge’- analyses the latest trends in foreign direct investment (FDI) and has a special focus in 2008 on the ways, extent and conditions under which transnational corporations (TNCs) can contribute to meeting the infrastructure challenge in developing countries.
DI - 23/9/2008
The 39th edition of the annual statistical data of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) features statistical information for 48 regional members, including Australia, Japan and New Zealand. This includes indicators on purchasing power parity, social, financial, external trade, infrastructures, governance, and environment.
DI - 22/9/2008
This UNCTAD report examines Africa’s export performance after trade liberalization in order to draw relevant lessons that could be used to craft future trade and development strategies.
DI - 18/9/2008
The sixth edition -in a series of annual reports published by IFC and the World Bank- has identified 239 reforms between June 2007 and June 2008 that make it easier to do business in 113 economies. For the fifth year in a row, Eastern Europe and Central Asia led the world in Doing Business reforms. Again, Singapore tops the rankings, followed by New Zealand, the United States, and Hong Kong.
DI - 17/9/2008
This year edition of the TDR 2008, subtitled ‘Commodity Prices, Capital Flows and the Financing of Investment’, highlights the paradox that the capital poor developing world is exporting capital to the capital rich developed countries, in defiance of mainstream economic theory.
DI - 15/9/2008
Officially launched on 11 September 2008, the MDG Report 2008 summarises progress towards the eight Millennium Development goals in each of the ten major geographic regions. The assessment is based on data available as of June 2008 on all official MDG indicators, including the new ones introduced.
DI - 11/9/2008
The 2008 edition highlights data on American and European expectations for transatlantic relations after the 2008 U.S presidential election, the ability of the United States and Europe to address global threats and challenges, and views towards a reassertive Russia, NATO’s mission in Afghanistan, and Turkey’s relations with the West. This annual survey is a project of the German Marshall Fund of the U.S and the Compagnia di San Paolo, with additional support provided by Fundação Luso-Americana, Fundación BBVA and the Tipping Point Foundation.
DI - 11/9/2008
This document contains the commitment of all the parties to implement in full all the provisions of the Medvedev-Sarkozy six-point plan for a cessation of hostilities in the south Caucasus presented on 12 August 2008. It includes the withdrawal of Russian forces, which will be implemented ten days after the deployment of at least 200 observers by the European Union. The agreement was concluded at the discussions held on 8 September between the EU and the Russian Federation on Georgia.
DI - 10/9/2008
The Fund for Peace and Foreign Policy magazine has presented the fourth annual Failed States Index. Using 12 social, economic, political and military indicators, it ranks 177 states in order of their vulnerability to violent internal conflict and societal dysfunction. To do so, it examined more than 30,000 publicly available sources, collected from May to December 2007, to form the basis of the index’s scores.
DI - 4/9/2008
This OECD report provides analyses of economic and environmental trends to 2030, and simulations of policy actions to address the key challenges. The publication warns about the costs of policy inaction and stresses that it is both achievable and affordable to tackle the key environmental problems we face today (climate change, biodiversity loss, water scarcity and the health impacts of pollution).
DI - 3/9/2008
The U.S Department of Defense released its 2008 National Defense Strategy in July 2008, the national approach to the defense of the nationand its interests. The NDS is issued periodically and the last one was published in March 2005. The strategy builds on lessons learned and insights from previous operations and strategic reviews such as the 2006 Quadrennial Defense Review.
DI - 1/9/2008
This Research Paper analyses the future of the Lisbon Treaty after the Irish referendum on 12 June 2008. It states that ‘although most Member States, including the UK, have continued with their ratification processes, the future of the Lisbon Treaty remains uncertain’.
