Aid on the Edge of Chaos: Rethinking International Cooperation in a Complex W
orld
by Ben Ramalingam
Many agree that the foreign aid system — which today involves virtually every nation on earth — needs drastic change. But there is much conflict as to what should be done. In Aid on the Edge of Chaos, Ben Ramalingam argues that what is most needed is the creative and innovative transformation of how aid works.
This book showcases the experiences, insights, and often remarkable results of innovative thinkers and practitioners who are working to bring these approaches into the mainstream of aid. From transforming child malnutrition to rethinking economic growth, from building peace to reversing desertification, from rural Vietnam to urban Kenya, the ideas of complex systems thinking are starting to be used to make foreign aid more relevant, more appropriate, and more catalytic.
Aid on the Edge of Chaos argues that such ideas and approaches should play a vital part of the transformation of aid. Aid should move from being an imperfect post-World War II global resource transfer system, to a new form of global cooperation that is truly fit for the twenty-first century.
Articles, reviews, TED Talks, etc. related to the book Aid on the Edge of Chaos
1. Review (The Guardian) Aid on the Edge of Chaos – review
By Heiner Janus and Sebastian Paulo
Dec. 24, 2013
2. Review (World Bank) Aid on the Edge of Chaos, A Book You Really Need to Read and Think About
By Duncan Green, Senior Strategic Advisor for Oxfam
Nov. 11, 2013
3. Review Review of Aid on the Edge of Chaos
By Simon Maxwell, Development Economist (Institute of Development Studies, Overseas Development Institute)
March 30, 2014
4. Review (Financial Times) Aid on the Edge of Chaos, by Ben Ramalingam
By Amy Kazmin, South Asia Correspondent for FT
Jan. 5, 2014
5. Video Review Owen Barder – Book Launch: Aid on the Edge of Chaos
By Owen Barder, Senior Fellow/Director for Europe at the Center for Global Development
Nov. 12, 2013 (8:46 min.)
6. TEDx Video Perfect Order — Recognizing Complexity in Bali
Stephen Lansing at NTU
Dec. 2, 2013 (15:49 min.)
7. Video Sustainable Agriculture in Bali
Bill Cunningham
Dec. 28, 2012 (10:31 min.)
8. About the Author Ben Ramalingam
London School of Economics and Political Science
9. Related Essay Complexity and Collapse, Empires on the Edge of Chaos
By Niall Ferguson
March/April 2010