Who’s Afraid of a Fair Debt Architecture?

The fourth Financing for Development Conference officially kicked off in Seville this Monday, as world leaders gathered with broad smiles to congratulate one another for the good work already achieved. That work was the FfD4 outcome document, which had been agreed upon by most UN member states—excluding the US, notably—in advance of the meeting. Known as the “Compromiso de Sevilla,” which translates as the “Sevilla Commitment,” the document could more accurately be described as the “compromise of Seville.” Though many member states had pushed for commitments to ambitious, structural reforms, the final revised text saw these either removed or diluted—often due to the policy priorities of global North…