This open access handbook analyses the role of development cooperation in achieving the 2030 Agenda in a global context of 'contested cooperation'. Development actors, including governments providing aid or South-South Cooperation, developing countries, and non-governmental actors (civil society, philanthropy, and businesses) constantly challenge underlying narratives and norms of development. The book explores how reconciling these differences fosters achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. Sachin Chaturvedi is Director General at the Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS), a New Delhi, India-based think tank. Heiner Janus is a researcher in the Inter- and Transnational Cooperation programme at the German Development Institute. Stephan Klingebiel is Chair of the Inter- and Transnational Cooperation programme at the German Development Institute and Senior Lecturer at the University of Marburg, Germany. Xiaoyun Li is Chair Professor at China Agricultural University and Honorary Dean of the China Institute for South-South Cooperation in Agriculture. Prof. Li is the Chair of the Network of Southern Think Tanks and Chair of the China International Development Research Network. André de Mello e Souza is a researcher at the Institute for Applied Economic Research (IPEA), a Brazilian governmental think tank. Elizabeth Sidiropoulos is Chief Executive of the South African Institute of International Affairs. She has co-edited Development Cooperation and Emerging Powers: New Partners or Old Patterns (2012) and Institutional Architecture and Development: Responses from Emerging Powers (2015). Dorothea Wehrmann is a researcher in the Inter- and Transnational Cooperation programme at the German Development Institute.

International development is a dynamic, vibrant and complex field – both in terms of practices and in relation to framing and concepts. This collection draws together leading experts from a range of disciplines, including development economics, geography, sociology, political science and international relations, to explore persistent problems and emergent trends in international development. Building from an introduction to key development theories, this Handbook proceeds to examine key development questions relating to the changing donor and aid landscape, the changing role of citizens and the state in development, the role of new finance flows and privatization in development, the challenges and opportunities of migration and mobility, emerging issues of insecurity and concerns with people trafficking, the drugs trade and gang violence, the role of rights and activism in promoting democracy and development, the threats posed by and responses to global environmental change, and the role of technology and innovation in promoting development.

The Elgar Encyclopedia of Development is a ground-breaking resource that provides a starting point for those wishing to grasp how and why development occurs, while also providing further expansion appropriate for more experienced academics.

This handbook examines agricultural and rural development in Africa from theoretical, empirical and policy stand points. It discusses the challenges of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and assesses how poverty and other development concerns can be addressed in rural communities through agricultural transformation. Additionally, the handbook extends the Post-2015 Development Agenda and it emphasizes the importance of the agricultural sector as it is closely related to the issues of food sustainability, poverty reduction, and employment creation. The contributors suggest multiple evidence-based policies to develop the rural areas through the transformation of the agricultural sector which can significantly benefit the African continent.

In this handbook, a group of 40 scholars and practitioners from some 30 countries takes a critical look at the contemporary practice of diplomacy. Many assume diplomacy evolves naturally, and that state- and non-state actors are powerless to make significant changes. But Diplomacy’s methods, its key institutions and conventions were agreed more than six decades ago. None take account of the opportunities and vulnerabilities presented by the Internet. Diplomacy is now a neglected global issue.The COVID pandemic and the invasion of Ukraine have highlighted some of the problems of diplomatic dysfunction. Beyond identifying current problems diplomacy is facing, the book also seeks to identify some practical options for reform and innovation. How might a process of reform be agreed and implemented? What role might the United Nations, regional organizations and Big Tech play? How can new norms of diplomatic behavior and methods be established in a multipolar, digital world where diplomacy is seen as less and less effective?

India’s Economic Corridor Initiatives highlights key aspects of current discourses on India’s initiative of the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC) and Chabahar, and their geo-economic significance. INSTC was founded by India, Russia, and Iran, and the Chabahar port in Iran provides a major prospective conduit for India's interchange and commerce with West Central Asia while maintaining a strategic distance from Pakistan's entry route. This book analyses the drastic changes in the equation of international relations in general, and more particularly between India and Eurasian countries. Contributors from Iran, Central Asia, Russia, Armenia and Europe provide a wide spectrum of opinion and analysis on the subject. The chapters claim that these corridors provide an alternative to the BRI and can play a pivotal role in de-escalating tensions through negotiations. A new addition to the debate on contemporary dynamics in Eurasia and India, this book will be of interest to researchers studying economic corridors, transnational and trans-regional economic relationships, security studies, regional and area studies, international relations and Indo-Iran-Russia relations.