Microfinance is development’s biggest innovation in years. It’s still not enough

by Martha Hampson
11th December 2007
Lack of adequate loaning options, decentralised finance system and vague bureaucracy are leaving post-graduate students with severe obstacles in meeting the financial requirements of their studies.

by Preeya Sud
11th December 2007
The role of Europe in the global response to climate change.

by Gregory White
11th December 2007
The primaries on the 5th of February can determine the final candidates of the American presidential election.

Annette Pacey  and Ali Mansour

Does buying Fairtrade coffee help to redress the injustice of the world trading system and give producers in the developing world a better deal? The worldwide Fairtrade movement claims it does, but critics argue that it perpetuates the very problem it aims to solve, ripping off consumers for good measure. Is Fairtrade really the ethical choice for consumers?

Polina Levina

The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) is the most isolated, backward, and oppressive state in the world. It is also run by the sole communist dynasty in history. This is the cult of Kim Il Sung (known as the Great Leader) and his somewhat unhinged son, Kim Jong Il (the Dear Leader). We are probably lucky that political succession DPRK-style never caught on in other communist states. What if Stalin’s offspring had taken power instead of Khrushchev, or if there had been a Little Mao or Pol Pot Junior?

Luke Cooper

And so it happened. On Saturday 3rd November after a year of political strife General Pervez Musharraf declared a state of emergency. On that afternoon the military moved to shut down all private television channels and began patrols on the streets of Islamabad. Military personnel occupied the Supreme Court and the Chief Justice. The terms of the state of emergency were clear and unequivocal. The constitution was to be suspended and a “provisional constitutional order” (PCO) passed all power in to the hands of Musharraf. In the absence of any constitutional rights or liberties, it gave a free reign to the military, police and governments agencies to crush any opposition to their rule – martial law in all but name.

We know that LSE is famous for producing renowned and highly-trained businesspeople.  Chris Wilkins looks instead at the life and times of an alternative entrepeneur whose methods probably wouldn't have landed him a job in The City...