From the fall of Berlin to the fall of the Berlin Wall -- A decade of change in the 1990s: a new focus on poverty and governance -- New development targets for a new millennium: the MDGs -- Supporting the Millennium Development Goals: the story up to the global financial crisis of 2008 -- The beginnings of a new and less polarized world economic and political order -- Joining the dots: global public goods and policy coherence -- The next fifteen years: what might happen next in aid and development -- A compendium of key words and concepts in aid and development.

There are many books about aid and development, but most of them either assume a good deal of prior knowledge about the subject, or are written to make the case for or against aid. The first part of the volume is intended to put aid and dvelopment into is intended to put aid and development into their historical and political context, beginning with the post-World War Two settlement, showing how they have been shaped by that context and in particular by the Cold War and the decolonization process. It shows how the end of the Cold War led to new development priorities and a new aid compact with a much stronger emphasis on issues like governance, rights, and democratization, beginning with the countries of eastern and central Europe and then more generally. It traces the path by which the reduction of poverty has taken centre-stage as the key obejective of aid and development over the past quarter century, and looks at priorities for a new set of Sustainable Development Goals that will provide the framework for aid and development efforts for the next 15 years. It looks at the shifting balance of global power, and suggests ways in which international institutions need to adjust to reflect that balance. The second part is a Compendium of key words and concepts mentioned in Part One, and further background on some of the major international organizations and institutions with a role in aid and development.