As the international community addresses numerous development challenges, we must often pause, reflect, and ask: Do good intentions lead to good results? If so, when? And how? There are innumerable development agendas and a multitude of stakeholders involved in saving lives as well as promoting long-term development in many developing countries. What really is the impact of their activities? Are such activities well-coordinated? How effectively can external actors make a meaningful contribution to alleviating local problems? And most importantly, whose priorities do such interventions address, and to what extent are the so-called “beneficiaries” consulted? Guest: Kim Yi Dionne, associate professor of political science, University of California, Riverside. Dr. Dionne also edits The Monkey Cage, a blog on politics and political science at The Washington Post. Resources:Doomed Interventions: The Failure of Global Responses to AIDS in Africa, Cambridge University Press (2018)Profile: Kim Yi Dionne, University of California, RiversideKim Yi Dionne on TwitterUfahamu Africa podcastDan Banik on TwitterIn Pursuit of Development on Twitter