Peace-Keeping: Principles, Problems, Prospects

Speaking on the principles, problems, and prospects of United Nations peace-keeping these days is not a very cost-efficient activity. The principles, prospects and certainly the problems now change so rapidly and so often that a prepared text would have a very, very short shelf-life

“To give the British credit for things that were never intended to benefit India is a mistake” – Shashi Tharoor

Dr Shashi Tharoor was recently in the UK to promote his new book Inglorious Empire: What the British Did to India. While visiting LSE, he spoke to Sonali Campion about the need to challenge existing narratives about the British in India, the uniquely exploitative nature of the Raj and the legacies of Empire

"I don't believe that Hindutva is Hinduism" - Dr Shashi Tharoor

Dr Shashi Tharoor was recently in the UK to promote his new book Why I am a Hindu. With a general election coming up in India, the battle between Tharoor's Congress Party and the current government, the Bharatiya Janata Party, provides an interesting backdrop for the release of Tharoor's new book. Anishka Gheewala Lohiya had the opportunity to talk to Dr Tharoor at LSE about the relationship between politics and religion in India

Media Matters: Perspectives on Advancing Governance & Development from the Global Forum for Media Development

Why is the media important in development? This report from the Global Forum for Media Development (GFMD) is the result of a year-long collaboration between media development practitioners and social, political and communications scientists. It asks why media matters, how its impact can be measured, and considers the key challenges across the sector. It argues that independent media are integral to good governance and can also prevent exclusion. Donors must therefore engage with the media sector.Media assistance aims to strengthen regional, national and local media to serve the public interest. Examples include support to regulatory reform, journalism training and media business management. It also covers support to community media, citizen journalism and media for sustainable development (on health and environmental issues, for example). It aims to ensure people have access to information and the opportunity to express opinions

The Changing Face of Peace-Keeping and Peace-Enforcement

Peace-keeping today is in flux, if not in crisis. If it is to serve as a useful instrument in the maintenance of international peace and security, it needs conceptual clarity, political support, and financial resources. For peace-keeping to remain effective in a changing world, its credibility must not be jeopardized by the application of peace-keeping to inappropriate situations, by the issuance of mandates unsupported by doctrinal consistency or military means, or by the undermining of its authority by attempts to reconcile peace-keeping with war-making under the rubric of peace-enforcement