CGM Insights

Israel faces a growing financial governance challenge in Gaza. As the territory's formal economy collapses and informal financial networks expand, Israeli authorities have less visibility into financial activity while Israeli banks face increasing compliance and counterterror financing risks. This brief argues that a tightly controlled, US-regulated, dollar-backed stablecoin system offers a practical alternative to the current approach. By creating a transparent digital payment infrastructure under joint US-Israeli oversight, Israel could improve financial transparency, strengthen counterterror financing enforcement, reduce risks to its banking sector, and preserve greater strategic flexibility while managing Gaza's long-term economic instability.

Global cuts and shifting priorities have intensified calls to fund targeted interventions for vulnerable populations, though such measures address only a small part of development. Historically, development meant transforming national systems—economic, political, administrative, social—that drive long-term prosperity while retaining vibrant social cohesion. While humanitarian aid remains essential, countries cannot achieve sustained growth or reduced poverty through isolated micro interventions alone. True development requires designing and implementing national strategies that focus on building a capable public sector, making long term investments in governance, delivering high-quality services, and ensuring equal opportunities for all

Afghan women and girls continue to live under gender apartheid, facing systemic exclusion from education, economic opportunities, and public life under the Taliban. Reported large-scale internet disruptions and strict digital restrictions have further isolated Afghan women and girls by cutting off an essential lifeline for learning, social connection, economic activity, and mental well-being. The reported risk of a complete nationwide internet shutdown adds urgency to the need for immediate action. Satellite internet offers a practical and secure alternative to bypass these restrictions and provide access to education, markets, and digital communities for Afghan women and girls. Immediate and long-term strategies include public-private partnerships, access through low-bandwidth and humanitarian connectivity solutions, digital literacy programs, oversight mechanisms, legal advocacy, and sustained international pressure. These strategies can help restore connectivity, empower Afghan women and girls, and ensure that their rights are protected despite ongoing authoritarian restrictions.

In Western Alaska, restrictions on subsistence fishing threaten the traditional way of life of Yup’ik Alaska Native communities. To make more fish available for subsistence, community members call for the federal government to curtail commercial fishing in the Bering Sea. Yet there are no direct avenues to ensure public influence in the policymaking process of the relevant federal agencies, and community demands have thus far been largely ignored. This policy brief explains why administrative policymaking fails to incorporate relevant knowledge into policymaking and why community decision-making is a better alternative.

This policy brief discusses the fundamentals and governance of block clubs and then delves into the Center for Poverty Solutions’ 10-year collaborative plan to reduce poverty in Chicago. It describes how community engagement has benefited the center’s Civics and Service Incubator program and has led to the development of a blueprint for a neighborhood employment co-op.