News and views from the Blavatnik School of Government community 
COVID-19 has offered some tough but useful lessons about governance. Many wealthy countries did not manage the crisis as well as anticipated, whereas many poorer, populous, and vulnerable countries exceeded expectations. The difference raises important questions not just about public health management but also about the state of governance in […]
Russia is back with a bang this month in the great game of cyber competition. The SolarWinds supply chain compromise, which counts among its confirmed victims some of the most important institutions in the US government and one of America’s best cyber security companies, will go down in history as […]
The Climate Ambition Summit on 12 December saw countries making various kinds of pledge to accelerate emission-cutting: ending use of fossil fuels (Barbados), putting an end to new coal-fired power station building (Pakistan), making deeper reductions over the next decade (Colombia, Rwanda)… and setting a net zero emissions target (Kazakhstan). Welcome, Kazakhstan, to the […]
The Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine brings good news for everyone in the world because it has been conceived with global fairness baked into its design. It is a pro-poor vaccine. We have the magic liquid and now we need to rise to the challenges of a pro-poor roll-out. Seven ingredients of […]
With governments ratcheting up COVID-19 restrictions in many parts of the world, the public is trying to understand – and comply with – seemingly contradictory policies. For example, in many places you can meet your friend at the pub but not in your house. When cases rise, should we close bars or […]
When citizens of the United States go to the polls next month, they will be engaged in an act of faith. They don’t know what will happen in the election or in the weeks, months and years after their election. Like believers lighting a votive candle in a church to […]
Although China and the US are strategic rivals, each depends on global markets, finance and innovation, and needs to co-opt other countries and regions in order to sustain its own power. For this reason, both will use multilateralism, formal and informal, to protect the system within which they have flourished […]
Most diplomats and policymakers who decide their nation’s security policy or shape UN resolutions in New York and Geneva on conflicts in Syria, Yemen or Mali have never lived through a war, or seen one close-up. Like most of us, they must imagine war. They must see it in their […]