Shows
F-World: The Fragility Podcast#20 – Dina Saleh: Agriculture, Fragility, and Food SystemsDina Saleh is the Regional Director of the Near East, North Africa, and Europe Division at the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) – the only specialized global development institution exclusively focused on rural transformation. With more than 20 years of international experience, Dina has spearheaded agriculture and rural development initiatives across Eastern Europe, the Middle East, North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Asia. She has also worked with both the private sector and international organizations like the UN, gaining a unique perspective on development across fragile and conflict-affected regions.
We begin our conversation by exploring Dina’s journey, starting with...
2024-10-161h 26
F-World: The Fragility Podcast#19 - Philippe Vogeleer: Digital Development in Fragile StatesPhilippe Vogeleer is a chartered director specialized in partnerships between companies, governments, and international organizations. Until March 2024 he was the Global Head of Corporate Business Development for Vodafone. Prior to joining Vodafone, Philippe held senior positions for Ooredoo, Orange, and Deloitte. He has lived in 10 countries and worked in more than 100. He holds a master’s degree in law, a master’s degree in media and communications, and an Executive MBA. Philippe now advises a small number of companies as Non-Executive Director and supports the work of international charities, including Global Citizen. He is also a Visiting Lecturer at INSE...
2024-05-231h 22
F-World: The Fragility Podcast#18 – Stefan Dercon: Gambling on Development - Why Some Countries Win and Others LoseStefan Dercon is Professor of Economic Policy at Oxford University, where he also directs the Center for the Study of African Economics. The author of 5 books and many studies, Stefan has had a distinguished career as an academic and policy advisor on economic development. His accomplishments are many. To name just a few: between 2011 and 2017, he was Chief Economist of the Department of International Development (DFID), the government department in charge with the UK’s aid policy and spending; between 2020-2022, he was the Development Policy Advisor to successive Foreign Secretaries at the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Offic...
2024-02-202h 21
F-World: The Fragility Podcast#17 - Hannes Mueller: Conflict Forecasting, Fragility, and AIHannes Mueller is a tenured researcher at the Institute for Economic Analysis, a researcher center of the Spanish National Research Council. He also directs the master’s program in Data Science for Decision Making at the Barcelona School of Economics. Most recently, his research focus has been on how conflict can be predicted using millions of newspaper articles – a project which drives the conflictforecast.org website. This research project has become a key resource for global work on conflict prevention and has led to collaborations with the Spanish Central Bank, the German Federal Foreign Office, the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Deve...
2023-11-032h 20
F-World: The Fragility Podcast#16 – Seth Kaplan: Fragility in America – Fragile NeighborhoodsSeth Kaplan is a Visiting Fellow with the Mercatus Center’s Program on Pluralism and Civil Exchange. He is also a Professorial Lecturer at the School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) at Johns Hopkins University, Senior Adviser for the Institute for Integrated Transitions (IFIT), and consultant to the World Bank, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), USAID, and the U.S. Department of State. Seth is the author of three books: “Fixing Fragile States: A New Paradigm for Development” (2008); “Betrayed: Promoting Inclusive Development in Fragile States (2013); and “Human Rights in Thick and Thin Societies: Universality Without Uniformity” (2018). His new book...
2023-10-201h 59
F-World: The Fragility Podcast#15 – Laura Frigenti: Transforming Education for Development and ResilienceLaura Frigenti is the Chief Executive Officer of the Global Partnership for Education (GPE). She has had an amazing career in international development working across Latin America, Africa, and Europe over almost four decades. Laura has held leadership positions in national government agencies, the World Bank,
NGOs, and the private sector. Throughout her career, she focused on a range of issues, from trade and private sector development, to infrastructure, financial sector reform, and education. Laura was appointed Director General of the Italian Overseas Development Agency, with the responsibility of setting up the newly created agency. Laura also served as...
2023-10-0959 min
F-World: The Fragility Podcast#14 – Dan Runde: Development and Great Power CompetitionDan Runde is Senior Vice President at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), where he directs the Project on Prosperity and Development. He previously worked for the U.S. Agency for International Development (or USAID), the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation, and in investment banking with experience in Latin America, Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East. Dan recently wrote a new book called "The American Imperative: Reclaiming Global Leadership Through Soft Power." This is the first book in decades to look at U.S. non-military power through the lens of great power competition. He is al...
2023-09-271h 16
F-World: The Fragility Podcast#13 – Chris Blattman: Why We Fight - The Roots of War and the Paths to PeaceChristopher Blattman is the Ramalee E. Pearson Professor of Global Conflict Studies at the University of Chicago’s Harris School of Public Policy, where he co-leads the Development Economics Center and the Obama Foundation Scholars Program. Chris also has affiliations with Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA), MIT’s Poverty Action Lab, the National Bureau for Economic Research, and the Center for Global Development. He has served as a consultant and adviser to the World Bank, the United Nations, and governments in Uganda, Liberia, Colombia, and the United States.
This conversation was a lot of fun and we covered a lot...
2023-07-311h 32
F-World: The Fragility Podcast#12 – Seth Kaplan: Social Dynamics, Institutions, and FragilitySeth Kaplan is a Visiting Fellow with the Mercatus Center’s Program on Pluralism and Civil Exchange. He is also a Professorial Lecturer at the School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) at Johns Hopkins University, Senior Adviser for the Institute for Integrated Transitions (IFIT), and consultant to the World Bank, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), USAID, and the U.S. Department of State. Seth is the author of three books: “Fixing Fragile States: A New Paradigm for Development” (2008); “Betrayed: Promoting Inclusive Development in Fragile States (2013); and “Human Rights in Thick and Thin Societies: Universality Without Uniformity” (2018). His new book, “F...
2023-02-081h 42F-World: The Fragility Podcast#11 - Alexandre Marc: Prevention and How to Avoid the Conflict TrapAlexandre Marc is a political scientist and economist with over 30 years of experience working in areas of conflict and fragility across four continents. Alexandre was the Chief Specialist for Fragility, Conflict and Violence at the World Bank, and is the lead author of the United Nations-World Bank flagship report Pathways for Peace: Inclusive Approaches to Preventing Violent Conflict (2018). He also co-led the preparation of the World Bank’s Strategy for Fragility, Conflict, and Violence 2020-2025.
This is the second episode in a three-part series with Alexandre covering the Pathways for Peace report, the stories that underpin its core ideas, and hi...
2023-01-311h 18F-World: The Fragility Podcast#10 – Sarah Cliffe: Global Governance and Conflict in a Fragmented WorldSarah Cliffe is the director of New York University’s Center on International Cooperation (CIC). Prior to that, she held several leadership positions at the World Bank and United Nations. Sarah pioneered the work on fragile and conflict-affected states at the World Bank, serving also as the Special Representative for the 2011 World Development Report on Conflict, Security, and Development. At the UN, she spearheaded efforts to help countries build civilian capacities to strengthen peacebuilding and post-conflict transitions. Sarah’s vast experience ranges from countries as diverse as Afghanistan, Rwanda, South Africa, Indonesia, and Timor-Leste. She began her career in the Unit...
2022-09-081h 20F-World: The Fragility Podcast#9 - Abdirahman Beileh: Somalia’s Return to the International Stage and a Vision for the FutureDr. Abdirahman Duale Beileh is a Somali economist, professor, politician, philanthropist, poet, and well acclaimed song writer. In August 2022, Dr. Beileh finished his term as Somalia’s Minister of Finance, having served for the past five years. Previously, he was Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation from 2014 to 2015. Dr. Beileh has been a driving force behind the reestablishment of the Somali state, and the country’s return to the international scene.
We start our conversation with memories from Dr. Beileh’s childhood home outside the city of Hargeisa. An opportunity to study and work abroad in the United Arab Emirat...
2022-08-131h 25F-World: The Fragility Podcast#8 - Alexandre Marc: Why We Fight and The Pathways to PeaceAlexandre Marc is a political scientist and economist with over 30 years of experience working in areas of conflict and fragility across four continents. Alexandre was the Chief Specialist for Fragility, Conflict and Violence at the World Bank, and is the lead author of the United Nations-World Bank flagship report Pathways for Peace: Inclusive Approaches to Preventing Violent Conflict (2018). He also co-led the preparation of the World Bank’s Strategy for Fragility, Conflict, and Violence 2020-2025.
This is the first episode in a series with Alexandre covering the Pathways for Peace report, the stories that underpin its core ideas, and his re...
2022-08-031h 24F-World: The Fragility Podcast#7 - Jonathan Marley: Facets of Fragility: Security, Development, and PeacebuildingJonathan Marley is a Policy Analyst in Crises and Fragility at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), where he leads the States of Fragility team and their work. Jonathan is a former soldier and academic - he served in the Irish military, was deployed as a peacekeeper, and taught military officers at the Irish Defense Forces Military College. We kick off this episode talking about Jonathan’s career in the military, his life as a peacekeeper in Kosovo at a time of experimentation around ideas in civil-military cooperation, and how he and his fellow soldiers got to try th...
2022-07-031h 17F-World: The Fragility Podcast#6 – Katherine Marshall: Can God’s People Help? - Religion, Fragility, and DevelopmentKatherine Marshall is professor of the practice of development, conflict, and religion in the Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University and one of the world's foremost experts on the nexus between faith, ethics, and development. In her 35 years with the World Bank, Katherine was a pioneer for women in international development and led the Bank's work in some of the world's most fragile and poor nations. She was also one of the first international development experts to work on the critical importance of religion in global development. In the first part of our conversation, we talk about Katherine’s...
2022-04-161h 13F-World: The Fragility Podcast#5 – Steen Andersen: Fragility and Resilience in the SahelSteen Sonne Andersen is currently the Ambassador of Denmark to Burkina Faso, Niger, Chad, and Benin. He is based in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. An economist by training, Steen began his career working on local governance in Denmark’s poorer regions. He then worked with international development agencies in India, Nepal, Bhutan, the Philippines, Indonesia, and Tanzania focusing primarily on the education sector. In the start of our conversation, Steen talks about the early days of his professional journey, when a series of urban development projects funded by the European Union in Denmark sparked his curiosity in understanding community resilience and st...
2022-02-081h 11F-World: The Fragility Podcast#4 – Koen Davidse: Peace Entrepreneurship in Fragile StatesKoen Davidse is the World Bank Group’s Executive Director from the Netherlands since 2018. He represents a group of countries that also includes Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Georgia, Israel, North Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Romania, and Ukraine. Previously, he served as the Deputy Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General in Mali and held senior positions in the Netherlands’ Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In the beginning of our conversation, Koen shares his reasons for choosing a career in diplomacy and development, with stints in India, Sudan, Mali, and also at the World Bank and UN. We then talk about why...
2022-01-261h 27F-World: The Fragility Podcast#3 - Shanta Devarajan: Can Knowledge, Data, and Trust Help Break the Fragility Trap?Dr. Shanta Devarajan is a professor at Georgetown University’s Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service, where he teaches development economics. Previously, Shanta worked for nearly three decades at the World Bank, where he was the Senior Director for Development Economics (DEC) and served as acting Chief Economist. This episode starts with Shanta’s account of his early work on indicators to measure state fragility at the World Bank, and how his understanding of fragility has evolved over time. We then explore how country rankings are linked to aid allocations, and why venture capital is a better model to help...
2021-10-291h 15F-World: The Fragility Podcast#2 - Sara Noshadi: The Role of Culture in Post-Conflict ReconstructionSara Noshadi is an expert on the reconstruction of cultural heritage and creative economies in war-torn countries. She has developed and led national programs promoting unity and reconciliation through culture in Iraq after the fall of the Islamic State (2017), as well as in Afghanistan. Originally from Iran, Sara was trained as an anthropologist at the University of Tehran and worked at the National Center for Scientific Research in Paris. In this episode, Sara tells the story of how a trip to post-civil war Tajikistan led her to focus on culture as a force for solidarity and peace. We discuss why...
2021-09-191h 33F-World: The Fragility Podcast#1 - Scott Guggenheim: The Story of Community Driven Development and an Insider’s View on AfghanistanScott Guggenheim, an anthropologist by training, is one of the originators of community driven development (CDD). He has worked for the World Bank for over 30 years and served as a senior advisor to the President of Afghanistan, Ashraf Ghani. In this episode, Scott shares how his interest in anthropology started during a 6-month trip to Mexico as a 12-year old, and how an honest but controversial answer about the Vietnam War got him his first job at the World Bank. We then talk about how CDD started in Indonesia facilitated by the 1998 East Asia financial crisis, and how it was...
2021-08-151h 19