Awards & Publications

Awards & Grants

U4 Anti-Corruption Resource Centre, Norway: US$10,000 grant for a research paper on corruption in community development and CSR programmes around mining.

NSW Dept of Premier & Cabinet: US$7,000 for a Travelling Fellowship 2008 for researching methods for governance training in Indigenous organisations in Canada.

American Library Association: Best Academic Title Award, 2006, for The Democratic Republic of Congo: Economic Dimensions of War and Peace (Lynne Rienner Press, Boulder, 2006).

World Bank 2002: Study Tour Fellowship for conference and tour of artisanal and small-scale mining, Peru.

Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation 2001 (funds research on violence): New York City: Doctoral Thesis Writing Fellowship.

Books

Still a Pygmy: The unique memoir of one man’s fight to save his identity from extinction, Isaac Bacirongo & Michael Nest (Finch Publishing: Sydney, 2015). Click here.

  • “Bacirongo proudly stakes his claim for participation in this world” – Matt Doherty, Australasian Review of African Studies
  • “One of the most unusual and fascinating memoirs I have read” – Ross Fitzgerald, The Australian Newspaper

Coltan (Cambridge: Polity Press, 2011). Click here.

  • “A highly informative account, challenging commonly held views” – Anke Hoeffler, University of Oxford
  • A ” brilliant primer” – John F. Clark, Florida International University
  • “A clear, thorough and urgent contribution to our understanding of what’s going on” – New Internationalist

The Democratic Republic of Congo: Economic Dimensions of War and Peace, M. Nest, with F. Grignon and E. Kisangani (Boulder: Lynne Rienner, 2006). Click here.

  • “A valuable contribution to our understanding of the political and economic dynamics in the DRC” – Denis M. Tull, Journal of Modern African Studies
  • “Grim – but necessary – reading for policy makers, academics and professionals alike” – Reuben Loffman, African Affairs

Articles, chapters and reviews

Mining and Manifestations of Underdevelopment.  A review of South Africa’s Gold Mines & the Politics of Silicosis (Jock McCulloch. James Currey, 2012) and From the Pit to the Market: Politics and the Diamond Economy in Sierra Leone (Diane Frost.  James Currey, 2012).  The Journal of African History, 55, 2014, pp 101-106.

Robert Waldersee and Michael Nest, Corruption risks in NSW Government procurement: the risk management challenge.  Journal of Chartered Secretaries Australia 64 (4) 2012, pp 207-211.

Review of The New Scramble for Africa (Pádraig Carmody; Cambridge: Polity Press, 2011).  In African Affairs, 111 no. 443, 2012, pp. 332-333.

From local-level violence to international relations theory: a journey through The Trouble with the Congo.  African Security Review, 20 no.2, 2011, pp. 66-72.

Review of Natural Resources and Conflict in Africa: The Tragedy of Endowment (Abiodun Alao, University of Rochester Press, 2007).  In African Studies Review, 53 no. 1, 2010, pp. 185-187, 2010.

Ambitions, Profits & Loss: Zimbabwean Economic Involvement in the Democratic Republic of Congo, African Affairs 100 no. 400, July 2001.

Overview of Development Assistance to East Timor, 1975-1999.  Chapter 10 in Survey of Economic and Social Conditions in East Timor, New York: Columbia University, 1999. Click here.

Selected reports

Preventing Corruption in Community Mineral Beneficiation Schemes (Bergen, Norway, (Bergen, Norway: U4 Anti-Corruption Resource Centre, forthcoming 2017).

Capacity Building for a Responsible Minerals Trade: Needs Assessment of the International Conference of the Great Lakes Region’s Independent Minerals Chain Auditor (Kinshasa, D.R. Congo, USAID 2015).

Training Manual: Skills and Knowledge in Corruption Prevention (Dili, Timor-Leste: Anti-Corruption Commission, 2014).

Corruption Prevention Action Plan: 2014-2016 (Dili, Timor-Leste: Anti-Corruption Commission, 2014).

Corruption Risks in NSW Public Sector Procurement: The Management Challenge (Sydney: Independent Commission Against Corruption. 35 pages, 2012)

Investigation into corrupt conduct involving allegations involving fraud on two Sydney hospitals (Sydney, Independent Commission Against Corruption; Corruption prevention chapter, 2011)

Corruption Risks in NSW Public Sector Procurement: Consultation Paper (Sydney: ICAC. 28 pages, 2010)

Investigation into whether a Department of Corrective Services correctional officers and others supplied contraband to inmates (Sydney: ICAC Corruption prevention chapter: 8 pages, 2010)

Corruption risks in NSW public sector procurement – consultation paper (Sydney: ICAC, 2010)

Investigation into the solicitation and receipt of corruption payments from a RailCorp contractor (Sydney: ICAC, Corruption prevention chapter: 7 pages, 2009)

Investigation into bribery and fraud at RailCorp (Sydney: ICAC, Corruption prevention report: 58 pages, 2008)

Applying lessons from Canada to corruption prevention for Aboriginal communities in New South Wales (Sydney: ICAC, 2008)

Investigation into defrauding the RTA and RailCorp in relation to provision of traffic management services (Sydney: ICAC, Corruption prevention chapter)

Philippine Aeromagnetic Mineral Survey: Report of Scoping Study Mission, M. Nest, G. Butt, D. Swan and L. Villaneuva (Canberra: AusAID, 2006).

Instability poses threat to Sahel Oil (Oxford Analytica, 14 Nov 2005)

Congo-Kinshasa: Resource sector brings political risks (Oxford Analytica, 20 July 2005)

Uganda: Third term threatens Museveni track record (Oxford Analytica 1 Jul 2005)

Mauritius: Singapore-India deal adds to challenges (Oxford Analytica, 1 Sep 2005)

West Africa: Ivoirien conflict takes toll on region (Oxford Analytica, 30 Aug 2005)

Papua New Guinea: Service Delivery in Policy Poor/Natural Resource-Rich Environments (Canberra: AusAID, 2004)

Iraq, Afghanistan and Solomon Islands: The Future of Neutral and Independent Humanitarian Action (Canberra: AusAID, 2004)

Commonwealth Business Council Country Reports on investment and business conditions in Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Cameroon, Seychelles and Mauritius (Oxford Analytica, 2002 and 2003)

Community consent in mining agreements: conceptual challenges (Washington DC: Earthworks Action, 2002)

Ivory Coast: Region at risk as conflict continues (Oxford Analytica, 22 Nov 2002)