The archetype of ‘my enemy’s enemy is my friend’, India’s political and economic presence in Afghanistan is often viewed as a Machiavellian ploy aimed against Pakistan. The first of its kind, this book interrogates that simplistic yet powerful geopolitical narrative and asks what truly drives India’s Afghanistan policy.

Informal institutions govern property rights and disputes when formal systems are weak. Well-functioning institutions help people reach and maintain bargains, minimizing violence. Can outside organizations engineer improvements and reduce violent conflicts? Will this improve property rights and investment? We experimentally evaluate a UN and civil society mass education campaign to promote alternative dispute resolution (ADR) practices and norms in rural communities, where violent land disputes are commonplace. Prior work showed a fall in violence and unresolved disputes within a year.

Join OxWiP in conversation with Alyssa Mastromonaco, the Deputy Chief of Staff under President Barack Obama and the youngest woman to ever hold that title. Her recent book, "Who Thought This Was a Good Idea" about her time working for President Obama and being a short woman with gastrointestinal issues and an advocate for free tampons, was a New York Times Best Seller and she is very proud of that.

The year since the election of President Trump has seen the most conflictual relationship between the White House and the Press in recent history. In this lecture Marty Baron reflects on what this means – both for journalism and politics.

The lecture will be followed by a panel discussion, chaired by Alan Rusbridger, Principal of Lady Margaret Hall and former Editor-in-Chief of The Guardian and Q&A with the audience.

A large and fruitful literature has focused on the impact of colonial legacies on long-term development. Yet the role of political transmission mechanisms in this process remains ambiguous. This paper analyzes one such transmission mechanism, namely malapportionment of the representation in the legislatures of the original thirteen British North-American colonies. Their joint independence created a unique juncture in which postcolonial elites simultaneously chose the legislative and electoral institutions under which they would operate.