Thursday, April 17, 2014

A window on SAIS, new development publication asks: What next?

A new SAIS student publication underscores two key features of the graduate program: its global reach and multi-faceted perspective.

This year's edition of SAIS Perspectives focuses on the global development agenda beyond 2015. Produced by students in the International Development (IDEV) program, the magazine asks the question: What's next?

True to IDEV's mission, the magazine explores the economic, political and social challenges one year before the U.N. Millennium Development Goals expire.

The publication is proof that students concentrating in IDEV can start their SAIS studies in either Bologna or DC. Editor-in-chief Hilary Kinka studied at SAIS Europe last year, as did Senior Editor Ally Carragher. Another editor, Jenny Lu, is currently in Bologna. And Jennifer Ottolino, who took the photographs on the front and back covers, was an MIPP student in Bologna last year.

Several writers from SAIS Europe's current class contributed to this edition. Lauren Hartel proposes an index for measuring health inequality; Mitchell Delaney and Irena Grizelj ​advocate for the inclusion of left-out groups in the development agenda; Ayso Van Eysinga discusses the role of institutions through the lens of the Côte d'Ivoire experience.

Bottom line: SAIS Europe upholds the same academic standards as SAIS DC and is a critical part of the institution's global footprint.

Like the range of articles, a poem in the publication underlines the multi-disciplinary nature of the SAIS program, which mixes economics, regional expertise, policy insight and language proficiency to enable graduates to tackle a variety of professions.

In "Prioritization for a Developing Nation", Prof. William Douglas writes that development is "a drama with numerous actors":

Economics is only one part of the game;
Politics, too, can be partly to blame....
The environment, too, cannot be ignored --
As rich nations grew, earth's temperature soared.

Without institutions, the market can't function.
And, exports may drop at that critical junction...
And policies must also be gotten "right"
Both slumps and inflation, the central banks fight....

Today, what criteria can the experts now find
To show where priorities should be assigned?
The effort to find them usually ends
With the conclusion: "It all just depends...."

Nelson Graves

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