event

Book Launch—Development Aid Confronts Politics: The Almost Revolution

Thu. May 2nd, 2013
Washington, DC

A new lens on development is changing the world of international aid. The overdue recognition that development in all sectors is an inherently political process is driving aid providers to try to learn how to think and act politically. Major donors are pursuing explicitly political goals alongside their traditional socioeconomic aims and introducing more politically informed methods throughout their work. Yet these changes face an array of external and internal obstacles, from heightened sensitivity on the part of many aid-receiving governments about foreign political interventionism to inflexible aid delivery mechanisms and entrenched technocratic preferences within many aid organizations.

Drawing on his new book (co-authored with Diane de Gramont) Development Aid Confronts Politics: The Almost Revolution, Thomas Carothers assessed the progress and pitfalls of the attempted politics revolution in development aid and chart a constructive way forward. Francis Fukuyama and Larry Garber provided comments.

Carnegie does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.
event speakers

Thomas Carothers

Harvey V. Fineberg Chair for Democracy Studies; Director, Democracy, Conflict and Governance Program

Thomas Carothers, director of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace’s Democracy, Conflict, and Governance Program, is a leading expert on comparative democratization and international support for democracy.

Francis Fukuyama

Nonresident Scholar, Democracy, Conflict, and Governance Program

Francis Fukuyama is a nonresident scholar in Carnegie’s Democracy, Conflict, and Governance Program, where his research focuses on democratization and international political economy.

Larry Garber

Larry Garber is an independent consultant specializing in international development and democracy promotion.

Verena Fritz