Lars Niklasson is a researcher at the Swedish Institute for European Policy Studies (SIEPS), and a professor of political science at Linköping University, Sweden. His research interest is European Union (EU)-Africa relations and the global leadership role of the EU. He has taught international political economy and comparative politics, with a focus on global challenges and governance. Niklasson has been a visiting teacher at the University of Nairobi, Kenya.

PrefaceIntroductionOverviewChapter 1: Global goals in search of strategiesA global agreement...Eradication of poverty in reachEnvironmental urgencyAmbitious and flexible goals...to achieve sustainable development...A political compromiseContested issues...through seventeen goals... Economic issuesSocial issuesEnvironmental issuesCross-cutting issues...without an explicit strategy...Weak on strategies for implementationHow flexible are the goals?Weak on compliance...and in an unclear relation to other global policies......but still an example of the art of the possibleReferencesChapter 2: A research gap on strategies and implementationFocus on the implementation of the SDGsForward-lookingConnecting policy to researchAfrica and developing countriesQuestions for the investigationAre the goals intended to be taken seriously?Problems with the existing literatureSustainable developmentTheoretical perspectivesEmpirical perspectivesPoverty reductionReferencesChapter 3: Refocus from the goals to learning over timePolicy by goalsThe role of goalsNew Public ManagementAnother interpretation: A learning policyRationalism vs realismA learning subjectThe importance of a program theory, a strategyHidden assumptionsA theory of change for sustainable developmentMethods and materialReferencesChapter 4: An inherent strategy in the goalsThe economic dimensionGoal 1: No povertyGoal 8: Decent work and economic growthGoal 9: Industry, innovation and infrastructureGoal 10: