A guest post by Francisco Mango, alumnus of last year’s 2021-22 MPP cohort   Research indicates that subnational actors may play a key role in the fight against the climate crisis Climate change is perhaps the most critical threat to human development. Despite this, multilateral agreements on carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions – the most likely explanation of climate change – have led to frustrating outcomes. The repeated failures of governments to ful...

The Dutch Minister of Defence, Kajsa Ollongren, tells UNU-MERIT how the Netherlands seeks to support United Nations operations in Europe and abroad   Given its small population (17.5 million) and geographical footprint (with one-fifth the land area of an average U.S. state), the Netherlands has outsized military power, ranking 39 in the GlobalFirepower Index. How is the nation using its strength, both in Europe and beyond? Appointed in 2022, Dutch Minister of Defence Kajsa Ollongren has pol...

You defend your PhD on 19 June 2018. Can you briefly describe your thesis? My research looks into strategic planning within Palestinian local governments. It considers the conditions, factors and dynamics that shape the design, launch and roll out of local strategic plans within fragile contexts. The conceptual framework is based on two interlinked elements. First, that fragile states are marked by weak national institutions, where the legitimacy and effectiveness of central governments are ofte...