Like a contest, terrorist groups like the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), Boko Haram, Al-Qaeda and the Taliban, seem to be competing against each other. It seems like we are in an age where even terrorists are in a race for notoriety; for some kind of “celebrity status” that they can only …
Through trending topics we can infer a lot about our collective interests, concerns, or priorities. Today, not only social networks use this format to introduce us to whatever it is popular in the world at the moment; nowadays, mainstream media such as newspapers, or search engines have also started to deliver their news in non-traditional ways. In 2014 some …
The informal economy is everywhere, from street food vendors, cell phone dealers, mini markets, to Facebook-based stores; the dynamism that informality brings to the world economy is undeniably on the rise. According to the World Bank, informal economies generate up to 40% of Gross National Product (GNP) in the developing world. However, despite its significance, …
While it might seem paradoxical, the richest poorest country in the world exists. The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is located right in the heart of the African continent. With a territorial extension roughly the size of Western Europe, the United Nations estimates that the DRC possesses half of Africa’s water and forest resources as …
The narco-state is a platform where the systematic control of organized crime expands. It is a phenomenon that works as a vortex, sweeping away everything it encounters on its way. Those elements that we acknowledge as proper of the nation-state have been slowly appropriated by the narco-states. The political apparatus, culture, and national territory have fallen …
Following the news of the creation of the BRICS New Development Bank there have been various opinions surrounding the idea of a possible new world order. Are the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) the new leaders of this new order? While we still cannot know for a fact what will be the …
Globalization has provided the world with a series of positive outcomes, yet at the same time, it has left us with a series of complex challenges. From terrorism, global warming, cyber spying, humanitarian crisis to global epidemics, the interconnectivity that characterizes a world in constant transformation has forced us to assume shared responsibilities. In …
According to world bank data, about 2 billion people do not have access to formal financial services; this is, 38% of the world’s adults lack the opportunity to have a bank account where they can obtain access to credit, loans, savings, payment and remittance services, among others. Financial inclusion has thus become a core … Continue reading
Sometimes revolutions can come in the shape of three wheels, this is the very case of the “tuk tuk revolution”. Tuk tuks –as I prefer to call them- are also known as rickshaws, three-wheelers, moto-taxis, or caponeras. Whatever the name may be, one thing is certain: tuk tuks are here to stay. To date, tuk … Continue reading
When an 8 story building collapsed killing 1,129 people and injuring approximately 2,515 more, the world finally turned its attention to the garment industry´s multi-billion business. The 2013 Rana Plaza building collapse in Dhaka, Bangladesh is considered to be the deadliest garment-factory accident in history. Although on April 23 2013 -a day before the incident- … Continue reading
Consumption patterns have changed dramatically in the past century. It used be the case that individuals purchased items in order to cover basic needs. Purchasing items such as a light bulb, bed, kitchen appliances or a car once meant a targeted investment, a necessary expense that families and individuals made in order to improve their … Continue reading
Among high perimeter walls, 24-7 security guards, nice roads and an array of fairly similar houses; the inhabitants of gated communities have a sense of common identity that is provided by the comfort of concrete walls. Gated communities are nothing more than modern housing in the form of a residential community such as a … Continue reading
The term “remittance” has been long associated with the following words: migrants and the name of any major money-transfer company. The truth is, the world has been overlooking and underestimating the influence of something that goes beyond what has been thought to be irrelevant or insignificant money transfers. The fact is, remittances are much more … Continue reading
For decades, countries in Africa, Latin America, Eastern Europe or countries like China, India or South Korea have witnessed how their economies miss out on the skills of their valuable human capital that lives abroad. The brain drain phenomenon has been around for decades, in a few words it means the migration of highly skilled, trained … Continue reading
