Global Dispatches -- Conversations On Foreign Policy And World Affairs

The world is experiencing a dam building boom. According to research by my guest today David Hulme there are plans underway around for the construction of over 3,700 new dams around the world. And this explosion in dam building comes after a period in which there was a lull in the construction of new dam projects.   So what accounts for this new interest in dams? Where are these new dams being built?  Do dams contribute to sustainable development or do they detract from it?    We discuss these questions and more in the episode you are about to hear. David Hulme is an academic who leads the FutureDAMS consortium at the University of Manchester's Global Development Institute. And in this capacity he helps policy makers make better informed decisions about dam projects, and we discuss at length what academic research can teach us about what makes dam projects succeed or fail in their stated goals.     "This episode is part of a new content partnership between the podcast and the Global Development Institute at t