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In Pursuit of Development: Daily Summaries Delivered
by Dan Banik
Step into conversations that travel across continents and challenge the way you think about progress. From democracy and inequality to climate resilience and healthcare, Dan Banik explores how societies navigate the complex terrain of democracy, poverty, inequality, and sustainability. Through dialogues with scholars, leaders, and innovators, In Pursuit of Development uncovers how ideas travel, why policies succeed or fail, and what it takes to build a more just and resilient world. Expect sharp insights, candid reflections, and a global perspective that connects local struggles to universal aspirations.
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- 2 days ago43 min
Does foreign aid help or hurt democracy? | Ryan Jablonski
What if foreign aid is not just funding development, but also shaping who wins elections and who holds political power? As governments across the world reconsider their foreign aid commitments, an important question deserves greater attention: Does foreign aid strengthen democracy, or does it undermine political accountability?In this episode, Dan Banik speaks with Ryan Jablonski, Associate Professor of Political Science at the London School of Economics and author of Dependency Politics: How Foreign Aid Shapes Electoral Behavior (Cambridge University Press, 2026).Drawing on extensive research in Malawi and other aid-dependent democracies, Ryan challenges conventional assumptions about foreign aid, corruption, and political accountability. Their conversation explores how politicians negotiate with international donors and NGOs, why voters reward politicians who attract development projects, and how foreign assistance influences electoral competition and government legitimacy.They also examine the growing influence of China and other emerging donors, the consequences of declining Western aid, and the difficult trade-offs between development effectiveness and democratic accountability.At the heart of the discussion is a fundamental question: How can foreign aid help countries deliver essential public services while also strengthening democratic institutions and ensuring that governments remain accountable to their citizens? Host:Professor Dan Banik, https://www.linkedin.com/in/dan-banik/ Subscribe:Apple Spotify YouTubehttps://globaldevpod.substack.com/
- 1 weeks ago40 min
The rise and promise of South-South Cooperation | Dima Al-Khatib
Who gets to decide how the world develops, and why have the same countries dominated that conversation for so long? Across Africa, Asia, and Latin America, countries are increasingly challenging the traditional hierarchies of international development and asserting their right to shape their own futures. But can the growing influence of the Global South fundamentally change the rules of global cooperation?In this episode, Dan Banik speaks with Dima Al-Khatib, Director of the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC), about the growing influence of the Global South and the renewed momentum behind cooperation among developing countries. They explore why countries across Africa, Asia, and Latin America are increasingly looking to one another for solutions to shared challenges, from agricultural productivity and public health to digital infrastructure and climate change.The conversation examines the expanding roles of emerging powers, the importance of solidarity and reciprocity, and the potential of triangular cooperation to bring together expertise, financing, and institutional support. But it also raises difficult questions about inequalities of power within the Global South, the financing of development, and whether ambitious political declarations can translate into meaningful results.Looking ahead, Dan and Dima discuss the need to reform international institutions, strengthen the voices of developing countries, and engage civil society, academia, and regional organizations more actively in development cooperation. They also explore the UN's efforts to build new partnerships through a new global alliance for South-South and triangular cooperation. Host:Professor Dan Banik, https://www.linkedin.com/in/dan-banik/ Subscribe:Apple Spotify YouTubehttps://globaldevpod.substack.com/
- 2 weeks ago52 min
Why fighting corruption is more complicated than we think | Michael Johnston
Is corruption the world's favorite scapegoat for failed development? And why are wealthy democracies so eager to lecture poorer countries about good governance while struggling with corruption at home?In this episode of In Pursuit of Development, Dan Banik speaks with Michael Johnston, Professor Emeritus of Political Science at Colgate University and one of the world's leading scholars of corruption.Drawing on decades of research, Johnston challenges conventional thinking about corruption, arguing that it goes far beyond bribery and illegal transactions. The conversation explores how political influence, elite networks, and the abuse of power shape societies, including some of the world's most established democracies.They discuss Johnston's influential four syndromes of corruption, the limitations of global corruption rankings, the relationship between corruption and economic development, and the dangers of politicians weaponizing anti-corruption rhetoric. The discussion also examines the shortcomings of international efforts to promote good governance. Host:Professor Dan Banik, https://www.linkedin.com/in/dan-banik/ Subscribe:Apple Spotify YouTubehttps://globaldevpod.substack.com/
- 3 weeks ago18 min
Voice without authority: The Global South after Aid | Dan Banik
The Global South is more visible, more vocal, and more organized than at any point in recent decades. But has that translated into real power? In this season-opening episode of In Pursuit of Development, Dan Banik challenges the familiar claim that the Global South is simply “rising.” His argument is more demanding. Gaining voice in global governance is not the same as gaining authority over the rules, institutions, and decisions that shape the international order.Against the backdrop of collapsing foreign aid, an expanding BRICS, greater representation of developing countries in the G20, negotiations over a new UN tax convention, debates over IMF reform, and the selection of the next UN Secretary-General, the episode asks where power is actually shifting. And where it is not. The emerging pattern is striking. The Global South has made significant gains in institutions based on sovereign equality, but much less progress where weighted voting, veto power, and great-power privilege still dominate.The episode also questions whether “the Global South” can meaningfully be treated as a single bloc. Instead, Dan argues that we are increasingly seeing flexible issue-based coalitions, in which countries cooperate on taxation, climate finance, debt, or institutional reform while competing fiercely on other questions. And as the traditional aid era recedes, the politics of development may increasingly shift toward domestic taxation, accountability, South–South cooperation, and new forms of financial power.The central question for Season 7 is therefore not whether the Global South is rising. It is whether contestation can become renegotiation. And whether greater voice can ultimately be converted into the authority to write the rules. Host:Professor Dan Banik, Centre for Global Sustainability, University of OsloSubscribe:Apple Spotify YouTubehttps://globaldevpod.substack.com/
- Jun 17, 202631 min
Why hope is what we need | Dan Banik
What does it mean to defend hope in an age of crisis, anxiety, and political exhaustion? In this Season 6 finale of In Pursuit of Development, Dan Banik reflects on why hope is not the same as optimism, and why evidence-based hope may be one of the most important political resources of our time. Drawing on debates about global poverty, democracy, climate anxiety, development practice, and collective action, this solo reflection challenges the seductive power of despair. The episode argues that doom is not only emotionally draining, but politically disabling, because it can convince people that action no longer matters. Against both naïve optimism and fatalistic pessimism, Dan makes the case for a disciplined form of hope grounded in evidence, historical progress, institutional realism, and the everyday work of building better futures. The episode also explores why hope must be treated critically. Hope can inspire movements, sustain democratic struggle, and help communities imagine alternatives. But it can also be misused by those in power to postpone justice, ration expectations, or ask vulnerable people to endure indefinitely. The task, then, is not to abandon hope, but to make it accountable to evidence, delivery, and real improvements in people’s lives. From falling extreme poverty and declining child mortality to the limits of today’s development models, from Paulo Freire and Václav Havel to Arjun Appadurai, Rebecca Solnit, Amartya Sen, Hans Rosling, Hannah Ritchie, and Charles Kenny, this episode asks what kind of hope can survive contact with reality. It closes Season 6 with a plea to younger listeners in particular: resist the politics of despair, look carefully at what is working, and remember that the future remains open. Host:Professor Dan Banik, Centre for Global Sustainability, University of OsloSubscribe:Apple Spotify YouTubehttps://globaldevpod.substack.com/
- Jun 3, 202648 min
How civil society adapts when aid shrinks | Tikhala Itaye
As traditional aid budgets shrink and donor priorities shift, civil society organizations across Malawi are being forced to rethink how they work, survive, and serve communities. In this conversation, Dan Banik speaks with Tikhala Itaye, a human rights lawyer and public health specialist, and the Founder and Executive Director of HeR Liberty, a young women-led organization in Malawi working to advance health, education, and economic empowerment for young people, especially adolescent girls and young women. The episode explores the changing relationship between international NGOs, local civil society organizations, and the Malawian state. Tikhala reflects on the long-standing inequalities in the aid system, where local organizations often do much of the frontline work while receiving only a small share of available funding. She and Dan also discuss how civil society groups are responding to cuts by exploring social entrepreneurship, domestic resource mobilization, coalition-building, and new partnerships with government. The conversation highlights Malawi’s broader development challenges, including rising prices, political uncertainty, gender inequality, youth unemployment, and the urgent need for more accountable leadership. At the same time, Tikhala points to sources of hope: community resilience, local innovation, the strength of women’s rights movements, progress in health, and the growing determination among Malawians to design solutions from within. Host:Professor Dan Banik, Centre for Global Sustainability, University of OsloSubscribe:Apple Spotify YouTubehttps://globaldevpod.substack.com/
- May 20, 202646 min
Is Rwanda a development success? | Pritish Behuria
Rwanda is often described as one of Africa’s most remarkable development success stories: a country that rebuilt itself after the 1994 genocide, delivered impressive improvements in health and education, reduced its dependence on coffee, attracted global attention, and turned Kigali into a symbol of order, ambition, and state effectiveness. But is Rwanda’s rise as durable as it appears? Dan Banik speaks with Pritish Behuria (Associate Professor in Politics, Governance and Development at the University of Manchester’s Global Development Institute) about his new book The Political Economy of Rwanda’s Rise. Drawing on more than a decade of research, Behuria offers a nuanced account of Rwanda’s services-led development model — from tourism, finance, conferences, and nation branding to agriculture, mining, foreign investment, and the politics of structural transformation. The conversation explores why Rwanda has become such a powerful reference point for policymakers across Africa, but also why its model raises difficult questions about underemployment, inequality, domestic firms, foreign dependence, political control, and the limits of branding as a development strategy. Rather than treating Rwanda as either a miracle or a mirage, this episode asks what the country’s experience reveals about the future of development in Africa. And whether a small, landlocked country can build lasting prosperity through a services-first path in an increasingly competitive global economy. Host:Professor Dan Banik, Centre for Global Sustainability, University of OsloSubscribe:Apple Spotify YouTubehttps://globaldevpod.substack.com/
- May 13, 202624 min
African agency at the crossroads | Dan Banik
In this solo episode, Dan Banik reflects on a series of recent conversations across Pretoria, Addis Ababa, Blantyre, and Mauritius, where African scholars, policymakers, civil society leaders, NGO directors, administrators, and practitioners debated the future of development in a rapidly changing world. Against a backdrop of dramatic aid cuts, geopolitical fragmentation, climate pressures, and growing interest in artificial intelligence, the episode asks what African agency really means in practice. Rather than treating the current moment simply as a crisis, many participants described it as a wake-up call: an opportunity to rethink aid dependency, strengthen domestic institutions, mobilize local resources, and move beyond donor-driven agendas. The discussion explores several recurring themes: who defines development, whose knowledge counts, what makes a just energy transition genuinely just, why “homegrown solutions” can be both powerful and problematic, and how African countries can shape the use of AI without accepting new forms of technological dependency. From Malawi’s debates on aid and production to Ethiopia’s reflections on a changing international order, from South Africa’s energy transition to Mauritius’s AI ambitions, the episode highlights the urgency of moving from rhetoric to bargaining power. At its core, this is an episode about voice, power, and direction. The crossroads may indeed be the best road. But only if Africans choose the path, set the terms, and ensure that development delivers what citizens actually want: decent jobs, reliable electricity, functioning schools and clinics, and governments that are accountable to the people they serve. Host:Professor Dan Banik, Centre for Global Sustainability, University of OsloSubscribe:Apple Spotify YouTubehttps://globaldevpod.substack.com/
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About In Pursuit of Development
Step into conversations that travel across continents and challenge the way you think about progress. From democracy and inequality to climate resilience and healthcare, Dan Banik explores how societies navigate the complex terrain of democracy, poverty, inequality, and sustainability. Through dialogues with scholars, leaders, and innovators, In Pursuit of Development uncovers how ideas travel, why policies succeed or fail, and what it takes to build a more just and resilient world. Expect sharp insights, candid reflections, and a global perspective that connects local struggles to universal aspirations.
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