This book summarizes experiences from the World Bank s activities related to low-carbon urban development in China. It highlights the need for low-carbon city development and presents details on specific sector-level experiences and lessons, a framework for action, and financing opportunities.
This important volume provides a source of information on the key issues, including constraints and capacity building, necessary to implement participatory approaches in China today. A wealth of case studies are provided by principal Chinese academics and practitioners in forestry, natural resource management, rural development, irrigation and poverty alleviation. At the core, the book is about strengthening local government as a key player in the development of participatory initiatives. It is an invaluable text for development practitioners, donors, researchers and students seeking to understand the opportunities and constraints for participation in China, and for those working to institutionalize participatory processes in a complex rural context.
In recent years, China and India have become the most important economic partners of Africa and their footprints are growing by leaps and bounds, transforming Africa's international relations in a dramatic way. Although the overall impact of China and India's engagement in Africa has been positive in the short-term, partly as a result of higher returns from commodity exports fuelled by excessive demands from both countries, little research exists on the actual impact of China and India's growing involvement on Africa's economic transformation. This book examines in detail the opportunities and challenges posed by the increasing presence of China and India in Africa, and proposes critical interventions that African governments must undertake in order to negotiate with China and India from a stronger and more informed platform.
The International Development Committee reports that DFID can be proud of much of the work it does to build infrastructure in developing countries - on which the Department spends £1 billion annually. But it calls on Ministers to improve monitoring of infrastructure spending through multilateral organisations, such as the EU, World Bank and African Development Bank. The UK should also insist on provisions in large multilateral infrastructure projects which require local capacity building in order to boost local employment and the private sector with developing countries. The MPs also raise concerns that infrastructure construction in developing countries is particularly prone to corruption. The report points to DFID's success in helping to establish the Construction Sector Transparency Initiative (CoST) to counter corruption, which has proved effective and is to be transferred to the World Bank. DFID should continue to provide the funding and staff time to ensure that CoST can build on the successes of its pilot phase. DFID should publish a departmental strategy on infrastructure. This would help DFID clearly to convey its rationale and priorities within the sector, emphasising that DFID funding is directed to the Department's key priorities within the sector, including the need to build local capacity, implement road safety measures and ensure the use of technologies appropriate to the needs of developing countries. Far more private money is needed to finance large infrastructure projects, and DFID has done well in helping leverage private funding through initiatives such as the Private Infrastructure Development Group.
The first work of its kind, this strategic assessment of China's national security reveals the nation's intentions, capabilities, and threats—and their implications for the United States and the world. As China continues to develop the strategic means to advance its national interests in Asia and around the world, assessing its role in international security is the greatest strategic challenge now faced by the United States and its allies. China and International Security facilitates this critically important understanding, analyzing topics that range from strategic geography and orientation to gender ratios. Using detailed case studies and sharing expert insights, the work provides historical, internal, and contemporary analyses that reveal the nature and character of China's national security. This three-volume set is written for scholars, students, and policymakers. The volumes offer in-depth articles penned by intelligence professionals and journalists, as well as entries by scholars in fields as diverse as international politics, history, and strategic studies. While other works may attempt to predict the future of China's rise or the nature of China's future bilateral relationships, none so thoroughly examines the totality of China's domestic, regional, and international security—and their implications.
This annual report details the work and expenditure of the Department for International Development (DFID) during the period April 2006 to March 2007, working as part of the wider international effort to tackle world poverty and promote the sustainable development of low-income countries. The report includes chapters on: reducing poverty in Africa and Asia and progress towards the Millennium Development Goals; making the multilateral system and bilateral aid more effective; fragile states, conflicts and crises; environment, climate change and natural resources; and working with others on policies beyond aid. The assessment of progress is structured around the DFID Public Service Agreement (PSA) targets.
What is the impact of China's new multi-directional diplomacy on international political economy and how can the international community properly respond to the new diplomacy? Based on extensive research addressing these and other important policy questions, this book investigates China's new diplomacy since the early 1990s with a focus on Chinese initiatives in the Middle East, Latin America and the Caribbean, Africa, Central Asia, Southeast Asia and the South Pacific. Zhiqun Zhu examines China's current efforts to secure energy, to expand investment and trade, and to enhance 'soft power' around the world. He evaluates how China's activities affect international political economy and how the international community, especially the United States, has reacted to China's new, pro-active diplomacy. The study answers some of the lingering questions about Chinese politics and the policy implications for both China and the international community as they become increasingly interdependent.