The impact of war on older people (in Ukraine and everywhere else)

April 12, 2022
Guest post by Justin Derbyshire, CEO of HelpAge International  The war in Ukraine has destroyed everybody’s lives regardless of who they are. We have watched in horror as children have been passed over heads onto trains, at fathers left to fight, and a steady trail of exhausted, traumatised people of all ages fleeing further West  But it is an uncomfortable
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Putin and the Psychology of Grievance

March 28, 2022
Fascinating piece by Alex Evans on the Larger Us blog. Here it is in full How has the interaction between psychology and politics helped to manufacture Russian support for Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine? And is there anything anyone can do about it? Here at Larger Us, we think a lot about them-and-us dynamics – dynamics which Putin appears to have had
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The Disabled Ukrainians Doing What the UN Can’t (or Won’t?)

March 9, 2022
Guest post from Anna Landre, one of my amazing students, who has bunked off class (with permission) to do some amazing work on Ukraine. And she’s pretty angry about what she’s seen. As a 23-year-old wheelchair user halfway through a Master’s degree at the London School of Economics, I didn’t expect to spend my past week working 16 hours a
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What to read on Ukraine?

March 7, 2022
Calling this ‘Links I Liked’ seems even more unsuitable than ever, hence the change of title. Last week, I tweeted a request for thoughtful background pieces, to complement the blow by blow reportage and moral outrage, and this is what I got, with excerpts. Would welcome more links, esp from non-Western sources. And women – this is a male-only set
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What has global military spending and emissions got to do with development? Rather a lot.

March 2, 2022
A timely guest post from Deborah Burton Stumbling Upon A Rather Well-Funded Gas-Guzzling Elephant in The Room As a former trade and tax campaigner (Christian Aid), I was fascinated by the progression of development sector campaigns – from debt to trade, from trade to tax. I now see something similar in the climate/military relationship because conveniently, deliberately, hidden away inside
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9 Great lectures/panels for you to catch up on over Christmas (or any other time) – see you next year

December 16, 2021
We’ve had a cracking series of lectures and discussions on our Friday afternoon LSE ‘Cutting Edge Issues in Development Thinking and Practice’ series, so I thought I’d post some links to the youtube videos and podcasts for those who are looking for some escape from the family Christmas (or otherwise just need some good brainfood). Grouping a bit by subject
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A Unique Fly-on-the-Wall Account of What’s Happening on the Ground in Myanmar

October 28, 2021
Regular FP2P readers will know by now that I’ve been following Myanmar quite a lot, and some of the conversations have been both interesting and of much broader relevance. Recently I had a call with some researchers who adapted governance diaries work first to the pandemic, and then to the coup. Diaries involve local researchers returning to the same individuals
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How can Outsiders support Civil Society in coup-torn Myanmar?

September 14, 2021
Guest post by a friend working on Myanmar, who for obvious reasons would prefer to remain anonymous In a fast-moving violent crisis like the one in Myanmar, a lot of the most interesting analysis goes unpublished for obvious reasons – the safety of individuals or organizations. I’ve been working with a (suitably anonymous) national and international team on a series
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How to Write About Afghanistan: A Style Guide for Western Journalists

August 20, 2021
I loved this blistering twitter thread by Justin Podur (@justinpodur) so much, I turned into a blogpost for the untwittered. ‘(In homage to Binyavanga Wainaina) First, the opening. All good articles about Afghanistan start with a few lines from a poem by British imperialist poet Rudyard Kipling. You know the one, “the women come out to cut up what remains,
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What to Read on Afghanistan? Some of the best stuff I’ve read so far – please suggest more

August 18, 2021
On Monday, exasperated by the nature of the coverage of the fall of Kabul, I tweeted a request for links: ‘What to read on Afghanistan? Interested in power analysis/stakeholder mapping of domestic players, which Afghan groups support/oppose Taliban, informed speculation about what comes next.’ Here are some extracts from what came back (plus of course, the ever-reliable Wikipedia). Do please
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How can we make sure Covid-driven localization in aid endures after the pandemic?

July 15, 2021
Lots of people are hailing a surge in pandemic-driven ‘localization’ as one of the silver linings of the current grimscape. The argument goes that lockdowns have suspended aid’s standard ‘white men in shorts’ operating model, allowing local organizations to expand into the space, run their own responses, (eg to humanitarian emergencies) and generally take more control of the aid process
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A Humanitarian ‘Cheat Sheet’ that should definitely be on your weekly reading list

July 13, 2021
Got some spare slots on the blog at the moment, so thought I would introduce you to my favourite weekly update on all things humanitarian – the Cheat Sheet, from the New Humanitarian magazine. Here’s their latest round-up (or you can listen to the 16m podcast): Rural Afghan women on peace, war, and ‘our role in society’ Greater freedom, better
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