Global Development: Views from the Center

Last September, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon pointed to the nuclear accidents in Chernobyl and Fukushima as proof of the need for transparency in nuclear safety worldwide. In February, his office released a Five-Year Action Agenda for his second term; it calls on the global community to make foreign aid more transparent.

One passage in President Obama's Middle East speech today caught my attention:

This is a joint post with Julie Walz and originally appeared on The Broker Website.

The new Dutch government plans to cut spending on foreign aid from 0.8% to 0.7% of gross national income. Of course, by international standards, the Netherlands will remain one of the most generous nations when it comes to foreign aid: only a handful of countries even come close to 0.7%. Still, the prospective cut raises questions: Is the Netherlands shirking its responsibilities to the developing world?

We would answer: It need not, even if aid is cut.

The Korea Times reports that the Paris-based Development Assistance Committee is set to endorse South Korea's application for membership on Wednesday. DAC is the official club of Northern government donors. Korea will join Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Japan, the U.S., Western European nations and the European Commission in one of the world's most exclusive clubs. Meanwhile, Korea and the U.N.