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81. Poverty Traps

Author:
Oriana Bandiera, Robin Burgess, Anton Heil, and Munshi Sulaiman
Publication Date:
02-2026
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
BRAC Institute of Governance and Development (BIGD), Brac University
Abstract:
Poverty traps are among the most influential yet elusive ideas in economics. This chapter reviews the challenges involved in identifying poverty traps and surveys the progress made over the past quarter-century. It examines both individual and societal traps and explores the links between them. Individual traps are feedback mechanisms that make poverty self-reinforcing. Societal poverty traps are interactions between workers or firms that create complementarities and can lead to multiple equilibria at an aggregate level. We also discuss evidence on the mechanisms that underlie each of these traps. We highlight open questions and draw policy implications.
Topic:
Economics, Poverty, and Poverty Traps
Political Geography:
Global Focus

82. The Role of Military Gender Advisers in UN Peacekeeping Operations: Implications for Operational Effectiveness and The Future of Peacekeeping Operations

Author:
Phoebe Donnelly, Anna Naa Adochoo Mensah, and Olivia Parsons
Publication Date:
04-2026
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Peace Institute (IPI)
Abstract:
Implementing the women, peace, and security (WPS) agenda and mainstreaming gender have the potential to make UN peacekeeping operations more operationally effective, including by improving situational awareness and strengthening mission planning. Within this effort, military gender advisers (MGAs) play a central role in integrating a gender perspective across the military components of UN missions. This policy paper examines the role of MGAs in UN peacekeeping operations, drawing on interviews and survey data from gender advisers and focal points across missions. It discusses how MGAs are situated within the UN Peacekeeping Gender Architecture, variations in recruitment and training of MGAs, and the wide range of roles and responsibilities of MGAs. Furthermore, the paper identifies persistent challenges, including unclear job descriptions, short deployment cycles, limited training, and difficulties in coordination with civilian counterparts. The paper finds that the effectiveness of MGAs is shaped by factors such as leadership support, professional background, gender and cultural dynamics, and resource constraints. It underscores that as peacekeeping operations face financial pressures and structural reforms, ensuring that gender advisers are adequately trained, resourced, and integrated into mission planning will be critical to maintaining operational effectiveness.
Topic:
United Nations, Peacekeeping, Gender, Military, Women, Peace, and and Security (WPS)
Political Geography:
Global Focus

83. Capitalizing on Digital Financial Services for Clean Cooking Transitions

Author:
Annelise Gill-Wiehl, B. Kelsey Jack, Alex Appiah, Bernard Aryee, and Sule Awuni
Publication Date:
02-2026
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
BRAC Institute of Governance and Development (BIGD), Brac University
Abstract:
Over 2 billion people worldwide still rely primarily on polluting solid fuels for cooking. These households often have intermittent incomes and purchase firewood or charcoal day-to-day. In many low and middle income countries, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) is the main feasible clean fuel, but requires larger lump sum payments to refill or exchange cylinders. Even when LPG’s total cost matches biomass fuels, liquidity constraints can prevent households from switching. GasPay addresses this barrier — a phone-based digital financial service platform connecting users with LPG suppliers while providing a designated savings vehicle for refills. We describe the platform’s design, the motivation behind it, and estimate its potential impact on charcoal demand, LPG use, and carbon emissions. Our results reveal how digital financial services can unlock clean energy access and advance multiple development goals simultaneously.
Topic:
Gas, Carbon Emissions, Digital Finance, Energy, and Cooking
Political Geography:
Global Focus

84. UN Peace Operations and the Role of the Peacebuilding Fund

Author:
Lauren McGowan
Publication Date:
04-2026
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Peace Institute (IPI)
Abstract:
As the UN reexamines the future of its peace operations amid shifting geopolitical dynamics and financial constraints, greater attention is being paid to how to leverage peacebuilding tools, including to support more coherent and sustainable transitions. In this context, the Peacebuilding Fund (PBF) has emerged as a central instrument for bridging operational, programmatic, and financial gaps—particularly in settings where peace operations are drawing down or have recently withdrawn. This policy paper examines the role of the PBF in UN peace operations contexts. Since its inception, the PBF has invested over $1.3 billion through nearly 700 projects in countries hosting UN peace operations. The paper finds that the PBF has been leveraged as a support mechanism, a strategic enabler, and a political tool. It also finds that the PBF has played an important role in supporting sustainable UN transitions. At the same time, while the PBF is a flexible and catalytic instrument, it is not a substitute for peace operations, and expectations regarding its role must remain realistic.
Topic:
United Nations, Peacekeeping, Geopolitics, Finance, and Peacebuilding
Political Geography:
Global Focus

85. The Glass Blue Helmet: Progress and Persistent Challenges for Women Military Peacekeepers

Author:
Lotte Vermeij
Publication Date:
05-2026
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Peace Institute (IPI)
Abstract:
Women’s meaningful participation in UN peacekeeping operations has advanced since 2020, but progress remains uneven and fragile. While dedicated training initiatives, peer-support structures, and women’s visibility in leadership roles have expanded, women peacekeepers continue to face structural barriers that limit their operational participation, safety, and career advancement. This policy paper draws on interviews with eighty-five women military peacekeepers from forty-three troop-contributing countries, along with consultations with UN officials, force commanders, and mission personnel. The paper examines the gap between the UN’s commitments on women’s meaningful participation and the realities women encounter in mission environments. It highlights persistent challenges including role misalignment, harassment, exclusion from operational decision making, inadequate equipment, and weak accountability systems. The paper argues that leadership is the decisive variable shaping women’s deployment experiences. It calls for linking training nominations to deployment commitments, tracking participation in substantive tasks rather than headcounts, embedding gender-responsive indicators in leadership evaluations, establishing confidential reporting channels outside national chains of command, and auditing equipment standards before deployment.
Topic:
United Nations, Peacekeeping, Women, Troop Deployment, and Military
Political Geography:
Global Focus

86. Invisible Diaspora Among Koryo-saram Third Culture Kids (TCKs)

Author:
Hayoung Hwang
Publication Date:
04-2026
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
International Journal of Korean Studies
Institution:
International Council on Korean Studies
Abstract:
This paper explores the shifting paradigm of security in the era of globalization, emphasizing the limitations of traditional state-centric models in addressing the needs of marginalized diaspora communities. Focusing on Korean Third Culture Kids (TCKs), particularly the Koryosaram in post-Soviet regions, it examines how double marginalization, unstable cultural identity, and a lack of institutional support shape their human, cultural, and community security experiences. By analyzing existing studies and policy frameworks, the study highlights the insufficient recognition and protection of these groups within Korea’s diaspora policy. The paper argues for an expanded understanding of security that encompasses identity, cultural cohesion, and community belonging for diaspora youth, presenting recommendations for more inclusive policy measures to strengthen the security and integration of TCKs as vital contributors to Korea’s global network.
Topic:
Migration, Diaspora, Culture, Human Security, Identity, Third Culture Kids, and Social Belonging
Political Geography:
Korea and Global Focus

87. The Pursuit of Smart Mobility in Urban Nodes: Trends and Innovation for Citizens and Freight

Author:
Carlo Secchi, Giovanni Maria Della Gatta, and Stefano Riela
Publication Date:
06-2026
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Italian Institute for International Political Studies (ISPI)
Abstract:
Urbanisation is transforming territories at an unprecedented pace, redefining how people and goods move within, between and beyond cities. As urban areas expand and interconnect, mobility systems are called to respond with greater efficiency, sustainability and resilience. At the core of this transformation are urban nodes – strategic interfaces where local and long-distance networks converge. Here, mobility is evolving from a fragmented set of transport modes into an integrated system shaped by accessibility, seamless connectivity and user experience. At the same time, freight mobility introduces additional complexity, requiring coordinated, multi-actor approaches and a gradual shift toward multimodal and adaptive logistics. Technological innovation is accelerating this transition. Data-driven tools, intelligent infrastructure and emerging solutions such as artificial intelligence and digital platforms are reshaping how mobility systems are planned and managed. Yet, the challenge extends beyond technology. Environmental sustainability, territorial cohesion and the integration of peripheral regions remain critical dimensions of this evolution. Smart mobility is thus emerging as a systemic paradigm – one that links infrastructure, governance and innovation. Its success depends not only on performance and efficiency, but on the ability to create more balanced, inclusive and future-oriented mobility systems.
Topic:
Science and Technology, Infrastructure, Governance, Urbanization, Mobility, Innovation, Transportation, and Cities
Political Geography:
Global Focus

88. Investing for tomorrow: long-term investment, economic scale and the green transition

Author:
Philip Ushchev and Guntram B. Wolff
Publication Date:
03-2026
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Bruegel
Abstract:
We seek to explain positive correlations between green investments and long-term financial holdings, the size of the economy and the variance in GDP. To this end, we develop a model for green investments that expands on a standard non-cooperative private provision of public goods game, with heterogeneous agents and intertemporal choices. Agents differ in, first, time preference and, second, wealth/income. Our model shows that: (a) green bonds tend to account for larger shares of the portfolios of long-term oriented investors, (b) larger economies tend to invest more in climate mitigation, and (c) more heterogeneity among types of agents increases climate investments. Our model has significant implications for climate policy: it points to the importance of long-term investors in the green transition and to the importance of larger groups of countries agreeing on cooperative frameworks, for example, in the form of climate clubs, to increase overall investment in climate mitigation.
Topic:
Climate Change, Investment, Macroeconomics, Sustainability, and Decarbonization
Political Geography:
Global Focus

89. When oil is scarce and debt is binding: policy sequencing under a severe energy supply shock

Author:
Gene Frieda
Publication Date:
06-2026
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Bruegel
Abstract:
The 2026 Iran energy shock differs categorically from the 2022 episode, when Russia’s invasion of Ukraine led to rerouting of oil and gas supply. The 2026 shock eliminates supply, with a volume loss exceeding 1973-74 and a full energy bill running at two or more times the crude-only estimate. Two features compound the difficulty for the euro area, United States, United Kingdom and Japan: weaker fiscal positions driving term premia higher and a live inflation regime in which tightening is now binding and costly. Narrow fiscal space may therefore force temporary monetary-fiscal coordination: targeted fiscal support to stabilise output, paired with conditional yield anchor operations that prevent financing stress from crowding out that support, while leaving the long end of the curve free to carry the inflation signal. The novelty is the inflation regime. This paper defines the conditions under which such purchases remain credible when inflation, fiscal sustainability and external adjustment bind simultaneously. Three conclusions follow. First, the binding constraint is not the mechanics of bond-buying but the market’s belief in a credible exit and tightening option. Second, that belief depends on initial conditions, so coordination is not universally available: the credibility window is widest for the US, fragmentation-exposed in the euro area, foreign-exchange-cushioned in Japan and narrowest in the UK. Third, if coordination is feasible, it should be pre-committed, conditional and bounded by a published exit rule, otherwise procyclical adjustment analogous to emerging-market sudden stops becomes the default.
Topic:
Oil, Macroeconomics, Fiscal Policy, Public Debt, Energy, and 2026 Iran War
Political Geography:
Global Focus

90. A plan for a World Trade Organization sectoral agreement on semiconductors

Author:
Petros C. Mavroidis and Mario R. Palacios
Publication Date:
07-2026
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Bruegel
Abstract:
To promote their economic security, or simply to inflict damage on other nations, countries are increasingly weaponising trade policy. To do so, trading nations must sidestep the rules-based system established in the aftermath of the Second World War because this system, in letter and spirit, opposes such behaviour. However, neglecting the rules-based system leads to uncertainty, and uncertainty incentivises trading nations to intensify their pursuit of national economic security, thus undermining the multilateral edifice even more. It does not have to be this way, however. Based on an analysis of trade in semiconductors (a product market in which there is clear weaponisation of trade policy), we argue that, while a comprehensive negotiation on economic security may be currently unrealistic, a sectoral agreement within the World Trade Organization would be both feasible and appropriate, and could provide a template for regulating economic security. Such an agreement should include non-discriminatory trade in high-end semiconductors and a negotiated list of segments of the covered product market, in which signatories will be allowed to erect barriers to protect economic/national security without being obliged to compensate affected parties.
Topic:
Security, Science and Technology, World Trade Organization, Governance, Multilateralism, Trade Policy, and Semiconductors
Political Geography:
Global Focus

91. COVID-19 Slowed but Couldn’t Stop the Fall in Global Inequality

Author:
Chelsea Follett and Vincent Geloso
Publication Date:
02-2026
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
Over the long run, global inequality has declined dramatically across many dimensions as living standards have improved. While a substantial reduction in worldwide inequality occurred between 1990 and 2021, the last two years in that range reveal far slower progress, reflecting pandemic-era stagnation. These findings underscore the vital role of undisturbed markets in sustaining the trajectory of human progress, as well as the vulnerability of political liberty in times of perceived crisis. The Inequality of Human Progress Index reveals that pandemic-driven shocks to the global economy slowed advances, halting the momentum of earlier growth across many measures of human well-being and stalling progress toward the world becoming better off and more equal. Still, long-run global progress has been more substantial and widely shared than previously recognized. These findings challenge popular narratives of rising global inequality. Such views have inspired calls for unprecedented interventions, including global wealth taxes, expanded foreign aid programs, and massive redistributive policies—proposals that would be counterproductive to the continuation of broadly shared human advancement.
Topic:
Inequality, COVID-19, Global Economy, and Human Progress Index
Political Geography:
Global Focus

92. Mainstreamed but sidelined: Global funding for gender equality

Author:
Grace Stanhope
Publication Date:
05-2026
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Lowy Institute for International Policy
Abstract:
Basic rights and wellbeing outcomes for women and girls globally are regressing or stalling. Cuts to foreign aid and a growing hostility towards gender equality programs risk eroding hard-won gains and turning the trend into a crisis. Rising international aid for gender equality has disguised a stagnation of targeted funding for core issues such as healthcare, education, physical safety, and legal rights. This funding gap is widest in conflict zones and disaster-affected areas, where women and girls are often the most at risk and the least supported. The most effective solution is to “upstream” gender equality aid directly into international development funding of core sectors, rather than treating it as an add-on. Anchoring this approach with a clear funding commitment would help protect these programs and deliver better outcomes for the world’s most vulnerable women and girls.
Topic:
Foreign Aid, Sustainable Development Goals, Gender, Gender Equality, and Gender Mainstreaming
Political Geography:
Global Focus

93. After the compromise: Australia’s COP31 blueprint for the Pacific

Author:
Melanie Pill, Georgia Hammersley, and Alexandre Dayant
Publication Date:
03-2026
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Lowy Institute for International Policy
Abstract:
Australia’s COP31 compromise with Türkiye, which allows Antalya to host this year’s global climate summit, secures Canberra’s control of official negotiations but weakens its influence over the wider summit, where practical decisions are made. The Pacific-hosted pre-COP is a critical opportunity to build political momentum ahead of COP31 by convening selected global leaders and placing Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in a visible leadership role to secure high-profile support for Pacific climate priorities. Australia can still deliver meaningful outcomes for the Pacific by aligning regional priorities with those of other climate-vulnerable countries, exercising ambitious leadership through the President of Negotiations, and redirecting hosting-related resources towards climate action in the region.
Topic:
Climate Change, Diplomacy, and Conference of the Parties (COP)
Political Geography:
Australia, Pacific Islands, Turkey, and Global Focus

94. The ungoverned sky: Drones and the domestic extremist threat

Author:
James Paterson and Lydia Khalil
Publication Date:
03-2026
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Lowy Institute for International Policy
Abstract:
Domestic extremist actors are incorporating drone technology into operational capabilities and attack plots, taking inspiration from the battlefield. The number of violent plots utilising drones has increased sharply over the past five years. Domestic counter-drone frameworks are mismatched to the threat. Effective protection requires layered, multi-system approaches across potential civilian targets and critical infrastructure. Easy-to-access technologies, such as 3D printing, open-source design files, additive hardware, and AI-assisted navigation are lowering the barriers to modifying and weaponising drones.
Topic:
Security, Violent Extremism, Weapons, Drones, Artificial Intelligence, and 3D Printing
Political Geography:
Global Focus

95. The global sovereign citizen movement

Author:
Lydia Khalil and Keiran Hardy
Publication Date:
02-2026
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Lowy Institute for International Policy
Abstract:
The sovereign citizen movement has spread from the United States to more than 26 countries globally. Covid restrictions and digital networks accelerated its growth and created dangerous intersections with other conspiracy movements. The sovereign citizen movement has grown beyond a nuisance, escalating into a national security challenge for many countries around the world. The transnational threat of the movement requires multilateral intelligence coordination, online interventions to counter influencers, narratives, and networks, and globally informed threat assessments.
Topic:
Intelligence, National Security, Social Media, Conspiracy Theory, Political Extremism, and Sovereign Citizens
Political Geography:
Global Focus and United States of America

96. A Practical Guide to LinkedIn Advertising Reach Data for Social Science: Methods, Challenges, and Five Applications

Author:
Saila Naomi Stausholm and Javier Garcia-Bernardo
Publication Date:
05-2026
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies
Abstract:
LinkedIn data offers a unique way to study how professional groups and organizations underpin economic and political life. This paper shows how LinkedIn’s advertising reach data, which provides anonymized counts of users by job title, skills, employer, and location, can be used to study organizational and professional dynamics relevant to a wide range of issues in political economy and economic sociology. We showcase the potential through five illustrative cases: 1) the revolving doors between Wall Street and US financial regulators; 2) the geography of professionals such as accountants and bankers; 3) the professional composition of interdisciplinary firms such as antitrust consulting firms; 4) recruitment by different industries and specifically big professional services firms in the face of new regulatory demands for sustainability reporting; and 5) the emergence of a profession of cyber security professionals over time. Alongside these examples, we provide a step-by-step guide for implementing the method in practice and discuss how linking professional attributes with geographical or organizational characteristics can provide new answers to various research questions. We hope this paper serves as a helpful practical guide as well as inspiration for new research questions.
Topic:
Data, Advertising, Social Science, Professionals, and LinkedIn
Political Geography:
Global Focus

97. Defending before the International Criminal Court: An Interview with Mylène Dimitri

Author:
Mylène Dmitri, Cailan Cumming, Kate Gibson, and Paul Williams
Publication Date:
01-2026
Content Type:
Commentary and Analysis
Institution:
Public International Law Policy Group
Abstract:
This blog is part of the Defending Justice series, an initiative of the Public International Law and Policy Group (PILPG) to promote an eclectic array of voices within the field of international criminal law. As part of our broader efforts to strengthen institutions of justice, this series seeks to create space for dialogue around the varied perspectives and concerns that shape these institutions. With that aim in mind, we interviewed a series of defense practitioners working in international criminal law and distilled their experiences and insights into a series of first-person blogs, preserving the spirit and voice of those interviews.
Topic:
International Law, Interview, and International Criminal Court (ICC)
Political Geography:
Global Focus

98. South Korea’s Sovereign AI Initiative for Democracy: A Transferable Model for the Global Community

Author:
Jong Jin Lee
Publication Date:
06-2026
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
East Asia Institute (EAI)
Abstract:
Jong Jin Lee, Senior Fellow at the Institute for Peace and Unification Studies, Seoul National University, argues that South Korea's Sovereign AI framework — anchored in the AI Basic Act (2024/2026) and the K-AI Initiative — offers a replicable third path between Silicon Valley techno-liberalism and Chinese state-AI authoritarianism. Tracing Korea's AI governance evolution across three institutional phases, Dr. Lee contends that democratic alignment, civic oversight, and epistemic sovereignty constitute the core of a globally transferable model. Building on this analysis, the author calls for middle-power democracies to adopt Korea's frameworks for AI security resilience and pluralistic technical standards as a democratic alternative to the dominant AI order.
Topic:
Sovereignty, Governance, Democracy, and Artificial Intelligence
Political Geography:
Asia, South Korea, and Global Focus

99. Reading the room: Redesigning intelligence product for the AI age

Author:
Chris Taylor
Publication Date:
06-2026
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI)
Abstract:
Reading the room argues that Australia’s National Intelligence Community faces a growing mismatch between how intelligence is produced and how it is now consumed in an AI-shaped information environment. While intelligence collection and analysis have advanced significantly, the formats, delivery methods and user experience of intelligence products have changed far less. As ministers, policymakers and operational leaders increasingly expect information that is faster, more interactive, more tailored and easier to use, the report warns that intelligence risks losing relevance unless it adapts deliberately. Three plausible scenarios are explored: secure conversational AI interfaces that allow users to query intelligence holdings directly; hyper-personalised intelligence products tailored to different decision-makers; and automated sanitisation and dissemination that expands the reach of intelligence across government and to partners. These opportunities promise greater timeliness, relevance and utility, but also carry major risks, including bias, hallucination, reduced explainability, weakened accountability, politicisation and the erosion of shared understanding. The report concludes that inaction is not a viable option. Instead, the NIC should redesign intelligence products around consumer needs, learn from allies and other knowledge sectors, strengthen workforce and governance arrangements, and integrate AI in ways that preserve human judgement, trust and national security advantage.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Intelligence, National Security, Cybersecurity, Artificial Intelligence, and Research and Development
Political Geography:
Global Focus

100. The Great AI Game: The Race That Isn't One.

Author:
Johannes Späth
Publication Date:
07-2026
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Austrian Institute for International Affairs (OIIP)
Abstract:
This policy analysis maps the infrastructure underpinning Artificial Intelligence and the geopolitical competition forming around it. Its central argument is that this competition is not a single race in which all states are climbing the same ladder at different speeds. Rather, it is two distinct contests, with different rules, different stakes, and therefore different strategies for winning.
Topic:
Infrastructure, Geopolitics, Artificial Intelligence, and Strategic Competition
Political Geography:
Global Focus