This open access handbook analyses the role of development cooperation in achieving the 2030 Agenda in a global context of 'contested cooperation'. Development actors, including governments providing aid or South-South Cooperation, developing countries, and non-governmental actors (civil society, philanthropy, and businesses) constantly challenge underlying narratives and norms of development. The book explores how reconciling these differences fosters achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. Sachin Chaturvedi is Director General at the Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS), a New Delhi, India-based think tank. Heiner Janus is a researcher in the Inter- and Transnational Cooperation programme at the German Development Institute. Stephan Klingebiel is Chair of the Inter- and Transnational Cooperation programme at the German Development Institute and Senior Lecturer at the University of Marburg, Germany. Xiaoyun Li is Chair Professor at China Agricultural University and Honorary Dean of the China Institute for South-South Cooperation in Agriculture. Prof. Li is the Chair of the Network of Southern Think Tanks and Chair of the China International Development Research Network. André de Mello e Souza is a researcher at the Institute for Applied Economic Research (IPEA), a Brazilian governmental think tank. Elizabeth Sidiropoulos is Chief Executive of the South African Institute of International Affairs. She has co-edited Development Cooperation and Emerging Powers: New Partners or Old Patterns (2012) and Institutional Architecture and Development: Responses from Emerging Powers (2015). Dorothea Wehrmann is a researcher in the Inter- and Transnational Cooperation programme at the German Development Institute.

Although much has been written about development assistance to the Third World, nearly all the attention has focused on U.S. programs and policy. The important and growing commitment of European countries--which now collectively account for over half of all development assistance provided by the industrialized nations--has been virtually ignored. European nations, like the u.s., support in principle a “basic needs†focus in their assistance programs, but the strategies they employ reveal a variety of styles and technical approaches, many of which could be useful in improving U.S. aid programs. This study describes and analyzes the development assistance programs of the five major European donors: France, Germany, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and Sweden. Drawing on primary sources and interviews with representatives of the various assistance agencies and with outside experts, Dr. Arnold describes each country’s program in terms of three general areas: the evolution of its philosophy and overall policy goals, the organizational structure of the government institutions concerned with development assistance (including the relationship of these institutions to legislative and other policymaking bodies), and the content and procedures of the assistance programs.

There is a broad and enduring international consensus that good governance and the rule of law are important for the attainment of sustainable development results. But recognizing that good governance is important for development is one thing; carrying out effective international programs to support improved governance is something very different. It seems logical that international cooperation efforts intended to help achieve such results should include programmatic support for these important elements. During the past 30 years the development cooperation agenda has expanded to include programs to strengthen a broad range of public institutions—parliaments, judicial systems, election bodies, municipal governments, anticorruption agencies, and human rights defenders—along with the related roles of civil society and the private sector. Over that time, lessons have been learned about working effectively in these sensitive areas at the intersection of economics, law, and politics. However, in many cases progress has been disappointing or the impact uncertain.

Substantial changes have occurred in the activities and programs affecting development in Third World countries in the last decade. These changes and the increasing role of non-aid agencies in development activities have caused authority for development programs to be widely dispersed among Federal Government agencies and committees. The International Development Cooperation Agency (IDCA) was created to improve coordination of these activities. The three major changes which particularly affect the coordination problem are: (1) a shift from U.S. bilateral aid toward more emphasis on multilateral assistance; (2) a shift from program assistance and integrated country planning toward more emphasis on project assistance; and (3) the increasing importance of non-aid activities such as trade and foreign investment. The creation of IDCA represents progress toward establishing an independent coordinator, but it is uncertain whether the agency can establish a separate, independent identity. The agency's director has the lead responsibility for the U.S. development policy in specified international organizations, and for development policy toward multilateral banks. However, its creation does not significantly affect the Government's ability to coordinate policies and programs on a country rather than a project basis nor does it affect much the development coordinator's ability to influence non-aid issues. While the new organizational arrangements could effect some improvement in the authority of the development coordinator, his power will remain limited. Therefore, the quality of the performance of the Agency Director and his staff will be critical to the success of the organization.

Development Cooperation in a Fractured Global Order