It is clear when we consider the competing conceptions of poverty, development, and hunger explored above that there is no consensus on definitions, causes, or solutions. We are faced with an awesome development challenge. Early indications suggest that the UN Millennium Development Goal (MDG) targets will not be met. Indeed, the 2009 Millennium Development Goals Report concludes that although 'data are not yet available to reveal the full impact of the recent economic downturn, they point to areas where progress towards the eight goals has slowed or reversed' (MDG Report 2009). The World Bank's Global Monitoring Report for 2009 offers the pessimistic assessment that the 'deepening global recession, rising unemployment, and volatile commodity prices in 2008 and 2009 are seriously affecting progress toward poverty reduction'. In particular, the Bank sees rising food prices as a central cause of 'throwing millions into extreme poverty' (http://www.worldbank.org/).
The orthodox model of development is being held up for closer scrutiny, as we become more aware of the risks as well as the opportunities that globalization and the Washington Consensus bring in their wake. The key question is: can globalization develop a human face?
The current development orthodoxy is following the reformist pathway. History will reveal whether this pathway bears the seeds of its own destruction by delivering too little, too late, too few people. As students of international relations, we must bring these issues in from the margins of our discipline and pursue them as central to our study.