I had set up a new blog, thinking that BlogSome was gone for good. However, I only got around to one post, which is reprinted below:

Having left the region of Nukehavistan (another new ’stan after Ethniklashistan!), it is good to be in Mongolia, where although there is a great deal of self-censorship people can criticize the government without the official threat of any prosecution/persecution. The context for development plays a huge role in determining the activities, their course (working with govterment, civil society and/or implementing the projects independently) and their level of success. Sometimes, environmental factors can be overcome, but it seems to require a magical combination of pre-project insight, strong leadership, and the will of the local partners (public, NGO, government) to make it succeed. This is a rare combination, but there are many additional factors that can influence this positively or negatively (way money is disbursed, focus on anticorruption or sustainability). Is there a single formula? Probably not, but there seems to be better strategies than others. More to come soon…