In the last thirty years, the developing world has undergone tremendous changes. Overall, poverty has fallen, people live longer and healthier lives, and economies have been transformed. And yet many countries have simply missed the boat. Why have some countries prospered, while others have failed? Stefan Dercon argues that the answer lies not in a specific set of policies, but rather in a key ‘development bargain’, whereby a country’s elites shift from protecting their own positions to gambling on a growth-based future.

In April 2012, the escape of a Chinese dissident from house arrest in Dongshigu Village, Linyi City to the US embassy in Beijing put the Obama administration’s diplomacy skills to the test. Chen Guangcheng is a human rights organiser whose activism around China’s family planning policies landed him in prison between 2006 and 2010. After he was released, Chen Guancheng and his family were placed under house arrest.

Do international courts protect democracy?

Or do they threaten it by judicialising political issues?

What is their actual authority in the era of backlash against multilateralism?

Join a panel discussion with:

Mikael Rask Madsen, Director of iCourts: The Centre of Excellence for International Courts at the University of Copenhagen.

Theresa Squatrito, Assistant Professor in International Organizations at LSE.

Ezequiel Gonzalez Ocantos, Associate Professor, Department of Politics and IR, Professorial Fellow of Nuffield College, Oxford.

The next session in DPIR’s Alumni Career Conversation series will focus on careers in policy analysis. It will take place virtually via Zoom on Wednesday 25 May, 13:00-14:30 GMT. The talk will be chaired and moderated by Jane Green, Professor of Political Science and British Politics at DPIR.