Philanthropy is having something of a renaissance. At a time when governments are struggling to finance social protection, climate adaptation, public health and human development, private wealth is being invited — and increasingly volunteering — to fill part of the gap. New foundations are being established, family offices are professionalising their giving, corporations are expanding their social commitments and a new class of philanthropic advisers is helping wealthy families decide where, how and why to deploy their resources.
Yet philanthropy is not simply about generosity. It is also about power. This paper argues that the central issue is therefore not whether philanthropy is good or bad, but whether it is responsible, transparent, locally grounded and genuinely directed towards public purpose. Drawing on faith traditions, development economics and contemporary practice, it proposes ten policy directions for a philanthropic culture the paper terms “social stewardship” — one that strengthens human capability, public institutions and community resilience while remaining accountable to the society that ultimately gives wealth its meaning.
HOTBED AND GRAVEYARD –
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Ask an international investor to name a hotbed of opportunity in Asia and China still comes first, even after two years of visible slowdown. Ask the same investor to name a graveyard, and India, rightly or wrongly, is rarely far from the tongue. The question is deliberately provocative, but it is not idle. It goes to the heart of what makes capital move, what makes it stay, and what makes it flee — and it deserves an answer built on evidence rather than sentiment. This paper sets out that evidence, situates it within the wider architecture of global investment flows, and closes with ten propositions: five for the international community to weigh, and five for India’s own policymakers to act on, so that the country is not left explaining its absence from a race it is fully capable of running.
From Rome to the Field: Ground-Level Interventions for Agricultural Heritage, Food Security and Farmer Dignity
As FAO celebrates its 80th anniversary and honours a new cohort of 28 heritage agricultural systems across 14 countries—bringing the total globally recognised agricultural heritage sites to 102 in 29 countries — there is both a moment of celebration and a moment of responsibility. These heritage systems remind us that small-scale farmers, drawing on centuries of labour, knowledge and place-based adaptation, are at the heart of food security, biodiversity, rural resilience and cultural identity.
Nepal Cannot Afford to Rebuild the Same Country After Every Disaster
Nepal’s earthquakes, monsoon floods, landslides and glacial-lake hazards are not occasional shocks; they are structural features of a young mountain landscape now under mounting pressure from a changing climate and unplanned development. The country’s disaster losses since the 1930s – most severely in the 2015 Gorkha earthquake, which killed nearly 8,700 people and destroyed close to half a million homes – show that Nepal keeps rebuilding the same vulnerabilities it lost the last time. This paper argues for a shift from a relief-and-reconstruction model to a permanent national resilience model, built on ten interlocking pillars: hazard mapping, risk-sensitive land use, landslide prevention, watershed restoration, river management, glacier and glacial-lake monitoring, earthquake-safe construction, biodiversity protection, community preparedness and long-term resilience financing. The recommendations are addressed both to the Government of Nepal and to the international development community.
Venezuela, Heavy Crude, and the Limits of Monetary Hegemony: Oil Quality, the Petrodollar, and the Emerging Geopolitical Order
Venezuela’s prolonged economic and political crisis is often explained through a narrow lens of domestic mismanagement and authoritarian governance. While these factors are significant, they represent only a partial account. This article advances a dual-structure argument: first, that Venezuela’s oil wealth is technically constrained by the heavy, high-sulphur nature of its crude and the institutional degradation of PDVSA; and second, that Venezuela’s attempt to transact oil outside the US dollar system positioned it as a strategic challenger to the petrodollar regime. The article evaluates competing explanations, situates Venezuela within broader de-dollarization dynamics, and outlines policy implications for an emerging multipolar monetary and energy order
When Moral Authority Must Yield to Constitutional Necessity: An Open Appeal to Professor Muhammad Yunus**
Bangladesh stands today at a historic crossroads. Nations are not destroyed only by dictatorships; they are equally imperilled by prolonged uncertainty, institutional ambiguity, and the conflation of moral authority with executive power. Professor Muhammad Yunus, a globally admired Nobel Laureate and pioneer of microfinance, commands immense respect for his contributions to poverty alleviation, women’s empowerment, and social entrepreneurship. His legacy through Grameen Bank and related institutions is secure and globally celebrated.
GLOBAL ETHICAL FRAMEWORK FOR ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND FAITH
This policy paper examines the profound ethical, moral, spiritual, and societal challenges posed by Artificial Intelligence in relation to faith, religion, human values, law, and social order. It argues that while AI offers transformative benefits, its unchecked deployment risks eroding human dignity, moral responsibility, family life, justice systems, and spiritual discernment. Drawing upon shared wisdom from global faith traditions and ethical thought, the paper proposes a Global Ethical Framework for AI and Faith. It presents guiding principles and policy recommendations aimed at ensuring that AI remains human-centred, value-driven, and accountable, contributing to a just, compassionate, and sustainable world order.
Ukraine at a Strategic Crossroads: Implications for Asia, the Indo-Pacific, and the Emerging Multipolar Security Order
As the 27 November deadline attached to President Donald Trump’s proposed Ukraine peace framework approaches, global politics stands at a critical inflection point. For Ukraine, the ultimatum arrives amid weakened battlefield leverage, internal governance stresses, and sharply declining Western military support. For the United States, it marks an effort to reset its strategic commitments; for Europe, a test of strategic unity and responsibility; and for Russia, a potential exit from a costly war whose long-term economic sustainability is uncertain.
Would America Be Weakened Under a Trump Presidency—And Would China Gain the Upper Hand in the New Global Order?
The twenty-first century is accelerating towards a world without certainties. Old powers feel increasingly constrained, and newer powers feel emboldened. America’s long-held assumption of being the unquestioned leader is being challenged not only by China but also by a constellation of rising middle powers and restless Global South coalitions.
A Trump return to the White House—amid a fractured political landscape, intensifying global crises, new leadership shifts in critical regions, and the aftershocks of the Gaza conflict—raises a sharp question:
Would a second Trump presidency diminish American influence and strengthen China’s grip on the emerging world order?
Or could Trump, paradoxically, reassert US dominance through a disruptive, unorthodox strategic realignment?
Zohran Mamdani’s New York Victory: The Global City Strikes Back
The clash that Zohran Mamdani’s stunning victory in New York sets up is not one of civilisations — East against West, immigrant versus native — but rather one of competing visions of the world. On one side stands the angry nationalist project inspired by Trumpian populism, steeped in nostalgia for an imagined past of borders and exclusion. On the other stands a cosmopolitan, global-city vision that embraces diversity, mobility, and interconnectedness.
