Shagun Gupta

American University Washington D.C. | AU · School of International Service

In modern liberal democracies, the relationship between citizens and their governments is influenced by myriad factors that shape how citizens perceive the state as well as the act of governance itself. One of the ways governments might try to gain favor with their citizens is the provision of public goods, which is considered economically efficien...

The global burden of child mortality represents one of the most critical development challenges facing low- and middle-income countries today. In 2018, UNICEF reported that over 80% of child deaths happened in the first five years of life regardless of mortality level. Since 1990, under-five child mortality rates have declined at a steady pace, rea...

Since 2011, Myanmar has witnessed a slow, but steady political and economic transformation in a bid to begin its re-integration into the international community after decades of isolation. Over a period of five decades, between 1962 and 2011, the country grappled with issues of ethnic conflict, widespread poverty, minimal trade, and a massive reduc...

This working paper focuses on the socioeconomic situation in Rakhine, aiming to combine information on the State to serve as a useful reference for development partners. After a week of traveling to LIFT project sites in Rakhine, I found that there is a lack of unity of information on Rakhine State and, back in Yangon, found it hard to access the d...

Located at the centre of the Indian Ocean, the Chagos Archipelago is a group of 55 tiny islands that, since 1965, has been administered by the United Kingdom as a British Indian Ocean Territory. Its biggest island, Diego Garcia, is host to a highly important US military air base. Sovereignty over the archipelago has recently emerged as an issue of...