As the consensus about the dangers to international order posed by failed and undemocratic states grows, the foreign policy and development debates are becoming increasingly interlinked. This programme was launched in 2003 with the aim of becoming a leading source of independent research, focusing primarily on issues surrounding the promotion of good governance. The aim will be to develop a greater understanding of how the West influences governance in developing countries. Going beyond the current focus on sanctions and the conditionality of aid, the programme will look at a broader set of global forces which impact on Southern governance – from the impact of trade barriers to the actions of western NGOs and companies.

Current work focuses on:

Unbinding Africa: A collection of essays by thinkers and practitioners which explores the external forces which are shaping good governance promotion in Africa, from the fostering of local civil society to regional integration and the viability of Africa's small states.

Companies and Southern governance: Companies operating in developing and transitional countries today are faced with difficult task- how to come to terms with broadening definitions of corporate responsibility in the context of institutional underdevelopment and weak rule of law. This programme will seek to analyse how companies can become players in good governance promotion.

Work in the following area is also under development:

International Migration as a motor for good governance promotion and the lessons of EU Enlargement for the development of institutions in the developing world.

Activities

Trade and good governance is a series of meetings convening policy makers, companies, aid practitioners, journalists, policy analysts and scholars from Africa and Europe. Building on the Centre's work on CAP reform, the aim will be to map out a new agenda in the run up to the Cancun WTO meeting this September.

Big thinker lectures is a series of public meetings by some on the most influential thinkers on development theory. The series will kick off with a lecture by Peruvian Economist Hernando de Soto on institutional reform in the Autumn.

Past publications

NGOs Rights and Responsibilities by Michael Edwards takes stock of the rise of the NGO movement and its role in international governance. The report sets out a new framework whereby citizen's groups are given the right to a voice in return for a stronger commitment to their responsibilities.

Third Generation Corporate Citizenship by Simon Zadek argues that while the advances in the field of corporate responsibility had been significant, there is still a need to move beyond individual leadership and philanthropic gestures.

Reinventing the Commonwealth by Sunder Katwala and Kate Fordsets out a radical new agenda for the Commonwealth to become an internationally-recognised standard for good governance and growth.

Africa: Is the West just walking by? This is a report based on a discussion held at the 2002 Labour Party Conference. The event brought together representatives from key stakeholder groups in the debate.