Unchaining Nations, Freeing People: The development challenges of the contemporary world is composed of seven chapters with a common theme: the analysis of vicious cycles that hampers the fully development of nations. Each one of the articles approaches a topic of the current international political agenda, including: civil conflicts in Sub-Saharan Africa and the case of the Central African Republic; religious sectarianism and violence in Syria; the corruption-drug trafficking nexus; press freedom; middle-income countries’ challenges on development; the relation between gender and health access; and the legal and social issues between state secularism and religious freedom.