Optimism in the Face of Catastrophe: Kim Stanley Robinson's The Ministry for the Future

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 108-114
Author(s):  
Steven Shaviro
Keyword(s):  
Author(s):  
Ahmed Fadel Jassim Dawood

The Arab region is of great importance as an important part of the Middle East for both international and regional powers.This importance has placed it and its peoples in the suffering of international and regional interventions and has placed it in a state of permanent instability as it witnessed international and regional competition that increased significantly after the US intervention in Iraq in 2003. Accordingly, the research aims to shed light on the strategic directions of the global and regional powers by knowing their objectives separately, such as American, Russian, Turkish, Israeli and Iranian. The course aims at determining the future of this region in terms of political stability and lack thereof. Therefore, the hypothesis of the research comes from [that the different strategic visions and political and economic interests between the international and regional powers have exacerbated the conflicts between those forces and their alliances within the Arab region.. The third deals with the future of the Arab region in light of the conflict of these strategies. Accordingly, the research reached a number of conclusions confirming the continuation of international and regional competition within the Arab region, as well as the continuation of the state of conflict, tension, instability and chaos in the near term, as a result of the inability of Arab countries to overcome their political differences on the one hand and also their inability to advance their Arab reality. In the face of external challenges on the other.


2015 ◽  
Vol 2015 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Christopher Crockett ◽  
Paul Kohl ◽  
Julia Rockwell ◽  
Teresa DiGenova
Keyword(s):  

2020 ◽  
Vol 49 (4) ◽  
pp. 539-594
Author(s):  
Simon Deakin ◽  
Gaofeng Meng

Abstract We consider the implications of the Covid-19 crisis for the theory and practice of governance. We define ‘governance’ as the process through which, in the case of a given entity or polity, resources are allocated, decisions made and policies implemented, with a view to ensuring the effectiveness of its operations in the face of risks in its environment. Core to this, we argue, is the organisation of knowledge through public institutions, including the legal system. Covid-19 poses a particular type of ‘Anthropogenic’ risk, which arises when organised human activity triggers feedback effects from the natural environment. As such it requires the concerted mobilisation of knowledge and a directed response from governments and international agencies. In this context, neoliberal theories and practices, which emphasise the self-adjusting properties of systems of governance in response to external shocks, are going to be put to the test. In states’ varied responses to Covid-19 to date, it is already possible to observe some trends. One of them is the widespread mischaracterisation of the measures taken to address the epidemic at the point of its emergence in the Chinese city of Wuhan in January and February 2020. Public health measures of this kind, rather than constituting a ‘state of exception’ in which legality is set aside, are informed by practices which originated in the welfare or social states of industrialised countries, and which were successful in achieving a ‘mortality revolution’ in the course of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Relearning this history would seem to be essential for the future control of pandemics and other Anthropogenic risks.


2021 ◽  
pp. 146735842110184
Author(s):  
I Nengah Subadra ◽  
Heather Hughes

This research note provides an account of the trajectory of Balinese tourism through 2020, focusing on government actions in the face of the coronavirus pandemic and the responses of local people. Interviews were conducted with informants in the tourism sector to assess the impact of the pandemic. The findings suggest that before April 2020, people were calm and thought that Balinese tourism may survive, albeit on much-reduced arrivals. After April, when tourism shut down completely, a new sense of pessimism became evident. Although domestic tourism began again in August, the sector was still in deep crisis at the end of the year. Although Balinese people expressed hope that the future may offer a more sustainable kind of tourism, all indications pointed to official support for a return to mass tourism.


Animals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 1515
Author(s):  
Marissa L. Parrott ◽  
Leanne V. Wicker ◽  
Amanda Lamont ◽  
Chris Banks ◽  
Michelle Lang ◽  
...  

Modern zoos are increasingly taking a leading role in emergency management and wildlife recovery. In the face of climate change and the predicted increase in frequency and magnitude of catastrophic events, zoos provide specialised expertise to assist wildlife welfare and endangered species recovery. In the 2019–2020 Australian bushfire season, now called Australia’s Black Summer, a state government-directed response was developed, assembling specialised individuals and organisations from government, non-government organisations, research institutions, and others. Here, we detail the role of Zoos Victoria staff in wildlife triage and welfare, threatened species evacuation and recovery, media and communications, and fundraising during and after the fires. We share strategies for future resilience, readiness, and the ability to mobilise quickly in catastrophic events. The development of triage protocols, emergency response kits, emergency enclosures, and expanded and new captive breeding programs is underway, as are programs for care of staff mental health and nature-based community healing for people directly affected by the fires. We hope this account of our response to one of the greatest recent threats to Australia’s biodiversity, and steps to prepare for the future will assist other zoos and wildlife organisations around the world in preparations to help wildlife before, during, and after catastrophic events.


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 1716 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luciano Raso ◽  
Jan Kwakkel ◽  
Jos Timmermans

Climate change raises serious concerns for policymakers that want to ensure the success of long-term policies. To guarantee satisfactory decisions in the face of deep uncertainties, adaptive policy pathways might be used. Adaptive policy pathways are designed to take actions according to how the future will actually unfold. In adaptive pathways, a monitoring system collects the evidence required for activating the next adaptive action. This monitoring system is made of signposts and triggers. Signposts are indicators that track the performance of the pathway. When signposts reach pre-specified trigger values, the next action on the pathway is implemented. The effectiveness of the monitoring system is pivotal to the success of adaptive policy pathways, therefore the decision-makers would like to have sufficient confidence about the future capacity to adapt on time. “On time” means activating the next action on a pathway neither so early that it incurs unnecessary costs, nor so late that it incurs avoidable damages. In this paper, we show how mapping the relations between triggers and the probability of misclassification errors inform the level of confidence that a monitoring system for adaptive policy pathways can provide. Specifically, we present the “trigger-probability” mapping and the “trigger-consequences” mappings. The former mapping displays the interplay between trigger values for a given signpost and the level of confidence regarding whether change occurs and adaptation is needed. The latter mapping displays the interplay between trigger values for a given signpost and the consequences of misclassification errors for both adapting the policy or not. In a case study, we illustrate how these mappings can be used to test the effectiveness of a monitoring system, and how they can be integrated into the process of designing an adaptive policy.


2002 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 316-322 ◽  
Author(s):  
John C. Norcross ◽  
Melissa Hedges ◽  
James O. Prochaska
Keyword(s):  

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document