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311. Mapping the Impact Investing Sector in Brazil

Author:
Aspen Institute
Publication Date:
08-2014
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Aspen Institute
Abstract:
During the past 10 years of impact investing in Brazil, we have observed a significant development in the impact investing space. Five years ago, only a few players identified themselves as impact investors, very few organizations in the social sector were investor-ready, and there were almost no co-investment opportunities. A steep increase in the number of investors and amount of capital, greater coordination among players, and a more professional workforce active in the industry today have facilitated the development of impact investing. This market study of the impact investing sector in Brazil reveals significant market growth. Nineteen of Brazil’s largest impact investors, including fund managers, banks, foundations, family offices and others surveyed expect to commit 40% to 50% more capital to impact investments in 2014 compared to 2013.
Topic:
International Political Economy
Political Geography:
Brazil

312. ANDE Brazil Impact Investing Conference

Author:
Aspen Institute
Publication Date:
08-2014
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Aspen Institute
Abstract:
ANDE Brazil chapter releases, in partnership with LGT VP, Quintessa Partners and University of St. Gallen, the most recent mapping about the Impact Investment sector in the country. A study conducted with various national and international investors that captures some data about capital and investments on the field as some trends and challenges for the sector evolvement in the country. O polo da ANDE no Brasil lançou, em parceria com LGT VP, Quintessa Partners e Universidade de St. Gallen, o mais recente mapeamento sobre o setor de Investimento de Impacto no país. Um estudo realizado com vários investidores nacionais e internacionais, que capta alguns dados sobre o capital e os investimentos realizados no campo, assim como algumas tendências e desafios para a evolução do setor no país.
Topic:
International Political Economy
Political Geography:
Brazil

313. ANDE Legal Working Group: Entrepreneur Introduction to Term Sheets

Author:
Aspen Institute
Publication Date:
03-2014
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Aspen Institute
Abstract:
This guide provides an introduction to what term sheets are and provides entreprnuers with an overview of the key points to look for in negotiating their own term sheets.
Topic:
International Political Economy
Political Geography:
Global Focus

314. Investment Treaties and Industrial Policy: Select Case Studies on State Liability for Efforts to Encourage, Shape and Regulate Economic Activities in Extractive Industries and Infrastructure

Author:
Lise Johnson
Publication Date:
02-2014
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment
Abstract:
This paper, prepared in connection with a February 2014 conference organized by the UN Economic Commission for Africa, discusses some of the implications that investment treaties have for investments in infrastructure and the extractive industries. It focuses on liability for government conduct (1) in connection with tenders and negotiations; (2) when responding to questions regarding the legality of the investment; (3) in using performance requirements to leverage benefits and capture spillovers from the investment; (4) changing the legal framework governing an investment in response to evolving needs, circumstances, and interests; (5) administering the investment; and (6) requesting, and responding to requests for, renegotiation. After describing some investment treaty disputes, this paper concludes by outlining options for addressing and minimizing tensions between investment treaties and government policies and practices in these areas.
Topic:
International Political Economy and Foreign Direct Investment
Political Geography:
Global Focus

315. Wildlife Poaching: Africa’s Surging Trafficking Threat

Author:
Bradley Anderson and Johan Jooste
Publication Date:
05-2014
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Africa Center for Strategic Studies
Abstract:
Surging demand for ivory and rhino horn, mainly in Asia, has put wild African elephants and rhinoceroses on the path to extinction. More than an environmental tragedy, however, wildlife poaching and trafficking has exacerbated other security threats and led to the co-option of certain African security units. African states need to develop a broad range of law enforcement capabilities to tackle what is effectively a transnational organized crime challenge. Asian and other international partners, meanwhile, must take action to reduce runaway demand for wildlife products.
Topic:
Environment, International Political Economy, and Trafficking
Political Geography:
Africa

316. Creating Sustainable Peacekeeping Capability in Africa

Author:
Daniel Hampton
Publication Date:
04-2014
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Africa Center for Strategic Studies
Abstract:
Nearly half of all uniformed peacekeepers are African and countries like Ghana, Rwanda, Senegal, and South Africa have provided troops to UN and AU missions almost continuously over the past decade. Despite such vast experience, African peacekeepers are often reliant on international partners for training before they can deploy on these missions. Institutionalizing a capacity-building model within African defense forces is a more sustainable approach that maintains a higher level of readiness to respond to emerging crises and contingencies on the continent.
Topic:
International Political Economy and Sustainable Development Goals
Political Geography:
Africa

317. The Dynamics of Business Interest Group Advocacy on Economic Policymaking

Author:
Heba Abou Shnief
Publication Date:
08-2014
Content Type:
Research Paper
Institution:
Arab Reform Initiative (ARI)
Abstract:
While the Arab awakening has impacted the political economies of Arab states differently, the message that state-business relations can no longer afford to rely on pre-existing models of business advocacy has reverberated across the region. Rent-seeking, cronyism, patronage, and state capture have long been―to varying degrees—all features of state-business relations in the Arab world. In post-uprising countries, the rise and fall of regimes, the adoption of new constitutions, the holding of theoretically more open legislative elections, the emergence new interest groups and a more scrutinizing public are all dynamics that are likely to influence the mechanics of policymaking, and with it, legacy systems of private sector advocacy. While it is still too early to ascertain with certainty precisely how older business advocacy models might evolve to adapt to new realities, or how soon such adaptations might occur, the dynamics have already changed—particularly with regards to ‘state capture’—where challenges to pre-existing networks have paralleled challenges to incumbent regimes. Combining a desk study with extensive field interviews with key persons from the business sector, government and civil society in both Egypt and Tunisia, the research makes a preliminary examination of the initial attempts at policy advocacy by business interest groups during the transitions. In doing so, a deeper understanding of how those dynamics seem to have changed thus far, as well as an initial assessment of whether or not state capture has, perhaps, come to an end in any of the countries studied is made. Finally, a brief set of policy recommendations are presented on ways and means of improving advocacy processes so that national business interests might be better reflected in the economic policymaking calculus.
Topic:
International Political Economy
Political Geography:
Middle East

318. Table of Contents, Volume 28.2 (Summer 2014)

Publication Date:
08-2014
Content Type:
Journal Article
Institution:
Carnegie Council
Abstract:
This issue features essays by Roger Berkowitz on "Drones and the Question of 'The Human'" and Alan Sussman on the philosophical foundations of human rights; a special centennial roundtable on "The Future of Human Rights," featuring Beth A. Simmons, Philip Alston, James W. Nickel, Jack Donnelly, and Andrew Gilmour; a review essay by Jens Bartelson on empire and sovereignty; and book reviews by Dale Jamieson, Tom Bailey, and Simon Cotton.
Topic:
Climate Change, Human Rights, Human Welfare, International Law, International Political Economy, Sovereignty, and International Affairs

319. Why Human Rights Are Called Human Rights

Author:
Alan Sussman
Publication Date:
08-2014
Content Type:
Journal Article
Institution:
Carnegie Council
Abstract:
The title of this essay is rather ambitious and the space available is hardly sufficient to examine two words of almost limitless expanse—“human rights”—whether standing alone or in tandem. This requires that I begin with (and remained disciplined by) what a teacher of mine, Leo Strauss, called “low facts.” My low facts are these: We call ourselves humans because we have certain characteristics that define our nature. We are social and political animals, as Aristotle noted, and possess attributes not shared by other animals. The ancients noted this, of course, when they defined our principal behavioral and cognitive distinction from the rest of the natural world as the faculty of speech. The Greek word for this, logos, means much more than speech, as it connotes word and reason and, in the more common understanding, talking and writing, praising and criticizing, persuading and reading. While other animals communicate by making sounds of attraction or warning, leaving smells, and so on, none read newspapers, make speeches, publish their memoirs, or write poetry.
Topic:
Climate Change, Human Rights, Human Welfare, International Law, International Political Economy, Sovereignty, and International Affairs

320. "Climate Matters: Ethics in a Warming World"

Author:
Dale Jamieson
Publication Date:
08-2014
Content Type:
Journal Article
Institution:
Carnegie Council
Abstract:
This is the inaugural volume in the Amnesty International Global Ethics Series, edited by Kwame Anthony Appiah. John Broome, the author of this volume, is a trained economist, distinguished philosopher, and a lead author of the 2014 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report. He is very well suited to fulfill the mandate of the series, which is to "broaden the set of issues taken up by the human rights community." It is thus surprising that the book does not discuss human rights (or rights at all), nor locate itself in relation to much of the relevant literature. Nevertheless, this is an excellent book, displaying the author's characteristic virtues of clarity, concision, precision, and intellectual honesty.
Topic:
Climate Change, Human Rights, Human Welfare, International Law, International Political Economy, Sovereignty, and International Affairs