BRIEF 3/2026 | The Politics of Mutual Benefit: Power and the Struggle to Define Development Cooperation
Contemporary development cooperation is increasingly justified through the language of ’mutual benefit.’ This BRIEF argues that the significance of this shift lies not simply in changing aid practices but in a wider political struggle over how development cooperation is justified and contested. The growing emphasis
on strategic partnerships, shared prosperity, catalytic finance and investment leverage is more a revelation than rupture, reflecting the more explicit articulation of political and economic interests that have long shaped
development cooperation.
Read the full paper HERE.
Paper published as part of the project ‘Global Challenges for Development’, implemented by the Club of Lisbon in collaboration with PCS – Platform for Sustainable Growth and the Autonomous University of Lisbon, with co-financing from Camões – Institute for Cooperation and Language I.P.
The paper was originally published in CATDM, Brussels, July 2026.
