FRIDE Peace, Security & Human Rights

Remittances, states and development

Laura Tedesco — 2008-11-22T06:20:18+01:00

This Working Paper, by Laura Tedesco, is a continuation of previous studies by the same author, published by FRIDE, on state formation in the developing world. These studies analyse the political and economic resources that states may use to build institutions.

In the same vein, a previous study on foreign investment analysed the role of such investment in the building of state institutions throughout the dynamic period of state reform in the 1990s.

Recently, the increase in remittances has fed expectations as to the impact these remittances could have on economic development in the states receiving them. This Working Paper is designed to study the growth of remittances, their impact on the economy of the receiving countries and the debate surrounding the role of remittances in processes of development.

The aim of this study is to analyse the extent to which remittances can be considered vehicles of national or local development, or whether they should be analysed as private funds capable of generating limited economic growth as a consequence of a spin-off effect.

European-cuban academic views on the economy, development and cooperation

Francesc Bayo, Alicia García, Susanne Gratius — 2008-11-22T06:20:18+01:00

Str/AFP/Getty Images

The socio-economic panorama in Cuba is contradictory. In spite of the country's sustained economic growth, the impact of such growth on the Cuban population has been rather limited. Furthermore, the international financial crisis and the two hurricans have cast a shadow over the country's socio-economic prospects.

With regard to European-Cuban relations, the fluid economic exchange between the two continents stands in contrast to the currently limited academic cooperation on the subject. It has therefore been suggested that more lasting links or networks between Cuban and European experts should be built on issues of common interest, taking the inter-institutional cooperation between CEEC, CIDOB and FRIDE as a starting point.

Great challenges for President-elect Obama

Robert Matthews — 2008-11-22T06:20:18+01:00

The same nation that voted for and then reelected George W. Bush has just convincingly repudiated those elections.

A majority of its citizens just chose as president a relatively progressive Democrat who in character, style, personality and political vision is practically the obverse of the current occupant of the White House.

But as the world now knows, the true historic impact of 4 November 2008 is that the US has, rather astonishingly, elected its first African-American president.

This article was originally published in Spanish in the newspaper “El Mundo” on 6 November 2008. (See spanish version)

The US embarks on an era of change

Robert Matthews — 2008-11-22T06:20:18+01:00

J.Raedle/Getty Images

It is likely that the 2008 campaign has offered the US electorate the clearest option between Republican and Democrat candidates and their agendas since the 1972 battle between George McGovern and Richard Nixon.

Although the two candidates’ stances have coincided in some areas (more on foreign policy than on national policy), there have also been marked differences in their approaches, both from the point of view of style and content. From 20 January 2009 onwards, the degree of continuity or discontinuity with respect to the policies of the previous administration will also depend on the character of the Congress that has just been elected.

Although Senator Obama was rated as the most progressive parliamentarian in the United States Senate in 2007 by the National Journal, many believe that he has had difficulty adopting a progressive foreign policy agenda and that his stance continues to be cautious.

The next U.S. president and the Israel-Palestine conflict

Henry Siegman — 2008-11-22T06:20:18+01:00

The next occupant of the Oval Office will be the last American president to be able to save the two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict. If he does not pursue and achieve this goal during the first year of his presidency, the two-state “horizon” that President George W. Bush pursued so ineffectively is likely to disappear for good.

But even a quick engagement by the new president will fare no better than previous U.S. peace initiatives – all of which have gotten nowhere – if he and his advisors approach the task believing that some more “peace processing” or “confidence-building measures” will achieve the goal that eluded his predecessors.

A U.S. initiative that goes beyond the failed “facilitation” of previous administrations to vigorous and determined diplomacy can still produce a two-state solution, but only a president whose political and moral horizon extends beyond the next Congressional elections – and understands that by the time those elections occur, the two-state solution will have disappeared – can hope to bring this multi-generational tragedy to an end.

The UN' s notion of peace in Haiti and Guatemala

Madalena Mendonça Moita — 2008-11-22T06:20:18+01:00

T.Belizaire/AFP/Getty Images

The current inertia of Haiti’s political institutions stems from the absence of any national dialogue since the beginning of the democratic transition that would have allowed a common vision in which the Haitians could recognise themselves to be outlined.

Contrary to what happened in Guatemala, the intervention of the United Nations in Haiti, especially as mediator, did not foster such a space for debate and reflection, thus making the reconciliation and reconstruction effort that the country is currently undergoing all the more complex.

US-Israeli policy and the new White House

Robert Matthews — 2008-11-22T06:20:18+01:00

Spencer Platt/Getty Images

On 20 January 2009, Barack Obama or John McCain will inherit the burden of dealing with the world’s oldest and most dangerous conflict—that between Israel and Palestine - and one for which a solution seems as far off as ever.

After the unconditional US support for Israel during the administration of George W. Bush, the US has lost its credibility as an honest intermediary in the dispute. John McCain, although promising to focus more on the issue than was the case with Bush, gives no indication he would change the assumptions of US policy toward Israel.

Obama is well within the "pro-Israel" mainstream of today’s Democratic party. Yet Obama is the only contender for the White House whose past comments reveal a broader understanding of the issues confronting both sides in the conflict, sympathy for the plight of Palestinians and a need to address their agenda with fairness and impartiality.

His advisers are also more progressive on the issue than the neoconservative counsel that surrounds McCain. On Iran, Obama’s Senate record is less hostile and he has departed radically from both McCain and Bush in proposing that the United States should talk to Iran without preconditions. It is not surprising then that while popular opinion around the world wants to see Obama as the next US president, the vast majority of Israelis express more trust in McCain and favour his election.

Foreign investment and the state in Latin America

Laura Tedesco — 2008-11-22T06:20:18+01:00

J.Barreto/AFP/Getty Images

The construction of state democratic institutions is a historical process which combines political, economic, social and international factors. This article by Laura Tedesco analyses the role played by foreign - particularly Spanish - investment throughout the decade of the nineties in the establishment of democratic rules.

Furthermore, the article forwards some ideas concerning the influence of recent regional political processes on these investment flows. In this regard, some countries are in favour of change with continuity, while others prefer changes of a more revolutionary nature.