Guinea-Bissau is currently one of the least developed countries in the world, ranking 178th out of 189 countries on the Human Development Index (2019). We study the economic and human development outlook to 2040. We show that economic growth will improve the human condition in Guinea-Bissau...

The spread of COVID-19 has been devastating for the millions of people who have been infected by the virus and lost their lives and the tens of millions of people who have lost their work and livelihoods. Governments and civil society have responded swiftly to the virus with policies that reduce...

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development centers around 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for the global community with 169 targets towards multidimensional development. Our progress is inadequate, and the COVID-19 has further slowed the attainment of the SDGs. This report addresses the...

Ukraine is a land of bright possibilities and bitter realities. Its recent past has been marked by an array of contrary events and trends, such as civil re-awakening and persistent corruption, democratic reform and constitutional crises, societal reconciliation and violent conflict. In light of...

The African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) crossed the necessary threshold for continental implementation in May 2019. The speed at which the ratification happened could be interpreted as widespread political buy-in, in part, driven by analysis showing that lowering intra-African...

Beyond measuring US and Chinese influence capacity, the FBIC Index can be used to analyze changing influence capacity dynamics for more than 200 countries and between more than 20,000 country pairs from 1960 through 2020. Data include a summary measure of influence capacity as well as its...

Over the past few decades, global human development has improved across multiple dimensions. Poverty has fallen, incomes have grown, and improvements in education, health, infrastructure, and governance have been sustained. However, the drivers of this success (technology and globalization in...