(April 27, 2011) Egypt’s period of political transition presents an ideal time to examine the odious nature of debt accrued by deposed President Hosni Mubarak’s government, whose time in power amounts to almost 30 years in the borrowing.
Les effets des transformations des États sur leurs dettes publiques et autres obligations financières
(April 21, 2011) Alexander N. Sack, Recueil Sirey, Paris, 1927.
‘Odious debt’ recognized by British Parliament
(July 14, 2008) Debt Relief, 3rd Report 1997-1998, London: House of Commons The British House of Commons International Development Committee recognizes the concept of odious debt.
“World Bank disgrace”: Wall Street Journal
(January 16, 2008) A review of World Bank loans to India’s health sector by the Bank’s own internal watchdog, indicates fraud and corruption put lives at risk, enriching contractors in the process. Worse still, says WSJ, the bank repeatedly looked the other way.
Scholars chart new legal course
(January 16, 2008) The principles of the odious debt doctrine exploded into the modern debt debate following the U.S. led invasion of Iraq, capturing the attention of legal scholars and exciting new thought on the history, the foundation, and the future application of the doctrine.
Folsom quits
(January 16, 2008) The World Bank’s chief anti-corruption investigator calls it a day: pressure to leave over allegations her appointment due to Republican party connections.
First the mutiny, then the silver
(December 19, 2007) In the wake of a staff mutiny against former World Bank president Paul Wolfowitz, the U.K. edition of The Economist notes that the lending giant’s new head, Robert Zoellick, has raised a windfall in support from rich countries.
World bankruptcy
(November 28, 2007) When the World Bank staff staged a coup against then-President Paul Wolfowitz earlier this year, The Wall Street Journal editorials argued that one motivation was to stop his anti-corruption fight. Now The WSJ describes “another backroom putsch,” this time against Suzanne Rich Folsom, the head of the bank’s anticorruption unit (INT, or department of institutional integrity).
Legal scholars to hold another public debate on odious debt
(February 7, 2007) In an unprecedented run of public debate on the issue of odious debts, North Carolina will again serve as the setting for a second conference on odious debt.
Scholars convene at top US law school for first-ever conference on odious debt law and economics
(January 24, 2007) Hosted by the journal of Law & Contemporary Problems, in conjunction with the Center for International and Comparative Law, the Global Capital Markets Center and Duke Law School, the Odious Debts and State Corruption symposium will feature a series of interactive roundtable discussions involving 25 leading international scholars and practitioners.
Kenyan corruption case a step forward for odious debts campaign
(December 12, 2006) An International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes tribunal has struck out a lawsuit against the Kenyan government over a contract dispute after it discovered the contract had been secured illegally through a US$2 million bribe paid to former President Daniel arap Moi.
Odious Debt: definition, application and context
(October 30, 2006) The co-author of Advancing the Odious Debts Doctrine addresses how the doctrine can be applied and in which contexts.
Toward a more effective Canadian aid to Africa
(May 10, 2005) Western aid programs are hobbled by two fundamental problems. The first is the failure to distinguish between African governments or leaders and the people. In Africa, governments or leaders have been the problem, not the people
The world’s 10 worst dictators
(February 22, 2005) The annual top 10 “world’s worst dictators” list compiled by the U.S. weekly lifestyle magazine, Parade in consultation with human-rights organizations.
The Lesotho Highlands Water Project: bribery on a massive scale
(August 8, 2004) Many of the legal aspects of corruption have now been thoroughly and recently tested in the Lesotho courts, challenging the ways in which corruption is detected and punished in different parts of the world.