El Salvador's experience of UN peacebuilding reveals the ineffectiveness of 'development as usual' approaches

To provide the vital "peace dividend" of better lives and livelihoods, peacebuilding must promote conflict-sensitive policies even where they are economically second-best. The UN can support this process by helping states in transition to reactivate their economies in an inclusive and sustainable manner, writes Graciana del Castillo (City University of New York)

Obstacles to peacebuilding: the failure of foreign intervention in war-torn countries

Graciana del Castillo discusses the importance of economic reconstruction in the war-to-peace transition

AMLO will need an integrated approach to security to achieve peace and prosperity in Mexico

The key challenge for Mexico’s new president Andrés Manuel López Obrador will be to address the root causes of insecurity and violence in the country. This will mean promoting sustainable advances in inclusion and stability, but without jeopardising gains made in terms of financial stability, trade, and investment, writes Graciana del Castillo (CUNY)

AMLO’s balancing act: the democratic and economic challenges facing Mexico’s new president

The inauguration of Mexico’s new president Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) will take place on 1 December after his landslide win in recent elections. Common expectations about democratic decline and economic continuity appear wide of the mark, but popular consultations on Texcoco airport and ten major development projects do create new economic uncertainties, writes Graciana del Castillo (City University of New York)

Inward FDI in Uruguay and its policy context

An analysis of trends in foreign direct investment (FDI) in Uruguay is difficult due to data problems. Nevertheless, balance-of-payments data reveal that inward FDI (IFDI) increased sharply in the second half of the decade 2002-2011 under analysis. IFDI flows relative to GDP rose annually on average to close to 6% in 2005-2011. This compares favorably with annual average flows of only 1% in the decade before the banking crisis and the sharp devaluation of the Uruguayan peso in 2002. At the time, investment in natural resources, including in farmland and real estate in Punta del Este, became very attractive. IFDI flows peaked at 7.5% of GDP in 2006, with the investment in the construction of the first cellulose plant in the country by a multinational enterprise (MNE) from Finland. The rapid increase in IFDI in the second half of the past decade took place amid high rates of economic growth (averaging about 6% a year on average), in combination with an adequate policy and regulatory framework and fiscal incentives to foreign investors. So far, Uruguay remains primarily a host country for FDI, with outward FDI (OFDI) that has been and continues to be insignificant

El plan nacional de AMLO para México es motivo de optimismo

López Obrador y su equipo multidisciplinario proponen políticas económicas y sociales inclusivas que buscan reactivar la inversión y mejorar la competitividad y la equidad. Pero también explican cómo estas políticas se financiarán a través de reducciones en costos operativos y medidas anticorrupción, escribe Graciana del Castillo (CUNY)

Acto de equilibrismo de AMLO para enfrentar los retos a la democracia y economía de México: the democratic and economic challenges facing Mexico’s new president

Después de ganar las elecciones de México por un amplio margen, Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) asumirá la Presidencia el 1 de diciembre. Que su nuevo partido, Morena, cuente con mayorías en ambas cámaras del Congreso le facilitará la adopción de las reformas que ha propuesto. Pero expectativas, tanto sobre el declive democrático como de la continuidad económica, resultan difícil de justificar. Por Graciana del Castillo (CUNY)

AMLO's national plan for Mexico is a cause for optimism

López Obrador and his multidisciplinary team propose inclusive economic and social policies that aim to reactivate investment and make the Mexican economy more competitive and equitable. Crucially, he also explains how such policies will be financed through reductions in operational costs and in corruption, writes Graciana del Castillo (City University of New York)