Disaster

The grim fate that could be ‘worse than extinction’

2020-10-25

What would it take for a global totalitarian government to rise to power indefinitely? This nightmare scenario may be closer than first appears.

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Why arrogance is dangerously contagious

2020-10-18

Overconfidence can delude us into dangerous thought or actions – and that same arrogance can also spread to others like wildfire, too.

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The Pandemic Must End Our Complacency

2020-06-22

With an economic downturn as severe as the Great Depression and political conditions similar to those in the run-up to World War I, an international system built on globalization now hangs in the balance.

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What Should We Be Preparing For?

2020-05-30

In most emerging and developing countries, COVID-19 is causing an economic hurricane. It looks increasingly like a Category 5, but the international community and many national governments prepared for a tropical storm.

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Building a Post-Pandemic World Will Not Be Easy

2020-05-04

While both remind us that the Anthropocene epoch may jeopardize our continued existence, and that benign everyday behavior can result in catastrophic outcomes, such similarities must not obscure crucial differences.

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Holistic Thinking for Global Threats

2020-03-18

Although there is a general consensus about the biggest threats facing humanity and the planet, the complex links between individual risk categories have so far received too little attention. Any realistic strategy to move toward a more sustainable future

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As Coronavirus Spreads, Iranian Doctors Fear the Worst

2020-03-11

Irans political and economic isolation has not stopped COVID-19—but sanctions are threatening to turn an outbreak into a catastrophe.

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A Stress Test for Public Health Systems

2020-03-11

Now that the coronavirus has gone global, markets are swooning and the weaknesses of national health systems are being revealed. Like the slower-moving crisis of antimicrobial resistance, the pandemic should alert governments to the need for significantly

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What COVID-19 Means for International Cooperation

2020-03-10

A clear parallel between the growing COVID-19 pandemic and climate change is emerging. In particular, both phenomena highlight the need for much closer forward-looking international cooperation to reduce and manage global threats.

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Epidemics Reveal the Truth About the Societies They Hit

2020-03-02

A nations response to disaster speaks to its strengths and to its dysfunctions.

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Five Years After Fukushima

2016-02-18

How to Avoid the Next Nuclear Disaster

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