Global Aid Rethink
Global Aid Rethink
Podcast Description
Global Aid Rethink aims to rethink the current global aid landscape; politically, historically and ideologically. With funding for development aid at its lowest for decades and the sustainable development goals related to aid significantly off-track, the question of whether we should give aid at all remains divisive as ever – and this podcast is not afraid to ask the difficult questions. Hosted by Ivica Petrikova, an Associate Professor in Politics and International Relations at Royal Holloway, University of London, and Melita Lazell, Associate Professor in Political Economy and Development at the University of Portsmouth, delivers in-depth conversations with policymakers, practitioners and academics.Key themes up for discussion in the series include recent developments in the UK and US, aid as soft power, as neocolonialism, as extraction and in practice.Global Aid Rethink publishes fortnightly, on Tuesdays, from 22nd April 2025 to 1st July.This podcast was generously funded by the ESRC-funded Royal Holloway Social Science Impact Accelerator Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Podcast Insights
Content Themes
The podcast addresses a range of pressing themes related to global aid, including political frameworks, historical perspectives, and ideological critiques. Specific episodes explore topics like the recent shifts in UK and US aid policies, the role of aid as a form of soft power, perceived neocolonial aspects of aid, and the practical implications of aid delivery in current contexts.
Global Aid Rethink aims to rethink the current global aid landscape; politically, historically and ideologically. With funding for development aid at its lowest for decades and the sustainable development goals related to aid significantly off-track, the question of whether we should give aid at all remains divisive as ever – and this podcast is not afraid to ask the difficult questions.
Hosted by Ivica Petrikova, an Associate Professor in Politics and International Relations at Royal Holloway, University of London, and Melita Lazell, Associate Professor in Political Economy and Development at the University of Portsmouth, delivers in-depth conversations with policymakers, practitioners and academics.
Key themes up for discussion in the series include recent developments in the UK and US, aid as soft power, as neocolonialism, as extraction and in practice.
Global Aid Rethink publishes fortnightly, on Tuesdays, from 22nd April 2025 to 1st July.
This podcast was generously funded by the ESRC-funded Royal Holloway Social Science Impact Accelerator
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
As traditional overseas aid drops to historic lows, is the growing reliance on private sector instruments a genuine solution or a geopolitical pivot? This episode investigates the increasing financialisation of development cooperation, exploring how aid is being channelled through development finance institutions (DFIs) to crowd in private capital, and what this structural shift means for accountability, transparency, and state capacity in the Global South.
In the second of a three-part bonus series of Global Aid Rethink, hosts Ivica Petrikova (Associate Professor in Politics and International Relations, Royal Holloway, University of London) and Melita Lazell (Associate Professor in Political Economy and Development at the University of Portsmouth) return to examine the stark realities of a changing global aid landscape.
Joining Ivica and Melita for this conversation are Paddy Carter, Head of Development Economics at British International Investment (BII), and Luis Mah, Assistant Professor in Development Studies at the University Institute of Lisbon. Together, they explore how major reductions in core capital injections are forcing institutions like the BII to become self-financing revolving funds, and why DFIs have increasingly become primary objects of analysis, replacing traditional development agencies and NGOs on the global stage. The conversation also highlights how financial instruments are being deployed as tools of geopolitical interest – such as the European Union’s Global Gateway initiative competing with China’s Belt and Road Initiative – whilst examining the stark findings of the Publish What You Fund transparency index. Concluding the episode, the panel reflects on the future of the aid landscape over the next decade, debating whether financial inclusion serves as a core component of development or simply a means to formalise economies and build state capacity.
- Read the transcript here
This is a Research Podcasts production.
Episode credits:
Presenters: Ivica Petrikova, Royal Holloway, University of London and Melita Lazell, Portsmouth University
Guests: Paddy Carter and Luis Mah
Producer: Catherine McDonald, Research Podcasts
Music: MFCC via Pixabay
This podcast was generously funded by the ESRC-funded Royal Holloway Social Science Impact Accelerator
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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