It is here at the level of execution that governments often perform poorly.

Meanwhile, job growth, while anemic, has nonetheless been consistently positive since September 2010.

But the record of military led transitions elsewhere has been poor democracy may be proclaimed to be the coup s raison d être, but the transition stops there.

The recently concluded High level Plenary Meeting has revealed that we have made slight progress, more so in a few regions, to meet some of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

While global warming is a serious challenge (and will exacerbate other problems), cutting carbon emissions is a poor solution and a poor use of funds compared to the alternatives.

It is here at the level of execution that governments often perform poorly. Too often, they spend money to support private sector projects that fail to provide a positive return for the broader economy.

In fact, more infrastructure investment would actually make most sense in Germany, where infrastructure spending has been anemic (only 1.6 of GDP, or half the rate of Spain) for almost a decade.

Female representation in parliaments and government cabinets after the Arab Spring has been either absent or meager, and women activists worry that Islamist parties will implement reactionary policies that discriminate on the basis of gender.

Indeed, the second risk posed by higher oil prices a terms of trade and disposable income shock to all energy and commodity importers will hit advanced economies especially hard, as they have barely emerged from recession and are still experiencing an anemic recovery.