January, 2008

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Looking back on 2007, the year might become known as the “Climate Change Ides of March” for U.S. National Security. With major reports released from the IPCC, Center for Naval Analysis Corporation, CSIS with the Center for a New American Security, and the Council on Foreign Relations detailing impacts of global warming on national security, the logical conclusion would be that policy makers and the Department of Defense are undertaking serious reviews of this nefarious future. Yet, this has not happened. More importantly it is unlikely that it will in the near future.

Sour grapes? Pessimism? Hardly. The challenge of getting policy makers and Pentagon brass to seriously consider the devastating impacts of Climate Change and Environmental Shock isn’t one of neglect or unwillingness, but the lack of a grand national security strategy driven by a security paradigm capable of creating the proper context for threats and vulnerabilities of a post-Cold War era. And the finger can’t be pointed solely at the Pentagon either. Well intentioned leaders in academia, NGOs, and most international agencies have viewed the near term challenges to global security equally myopically through a linear, parochial Cold War security syntax. Until this narrative is expanded to encompass the security challenges of today and the future in a synchronous, holistic manner, we run the risk of doing more harm than good through entrenched, antiquated bureaucratic approaches falling along traditional interest lines.

While inequality has emerged as a chief byproduct of economic globalization, the issue has not received its due attention from key international institutions. That is, until 2006, when the World Bank dedicated that year’s World Development Report to the relationship between equity and development. Just last week, Francisco Ferreira, lead economist at the World Bank, provided an overview of the report at an event hosted by the Elliott School of International Affairs, George Washington University.

Dr. Ferreira began by highlighting the prominent theoretical frameworks used to understand equality, including those of Amartya Sen and John Roemer. He went on to provide a wealth of quantitative evidence demonstrating how inequalities in opportunity and circumstances (based on gender, class, caste, and race) have tremendous impacts on education, health, economic, and other outcomes. He wrapped up by explaining why equality matters in the field of development, pointing out not only the moral imperatives

These days it seems everything is

After an initial bout of enthusiasm from Congress and the auto industry, doubts have been raised about current ethanol-based fuel.  Known as “E85” (it consists of 85% ethanol and 15% petroleum),

On Wednesday, January 23, the European Commission a

Theori

A challenging task to say the least, scholars at KOF Swiss Economic Institute have created their Index of Globalization 2008, which seek

Oxford Analytica’s “Stress Points Matrix™” Offers Window into the Future

Oxford Analytica, the highly-respected UK-based consulting firm, has developed a new format for forecasting.

Social movements tend to sweep through college and university campuses in the United States, and environmental sustainability is no exception.

A scientist in Germany is exploring the potential for a possible solution to the industrial world’s energy conundrum.  Wulf Brandt, of the National Research Centre of Geosciences in Potsdam, has du

Though not meant to be an o

With the issues of climate change, alternative energy, and conservation garnering increasing attention, who are the people who can formulate the most innovative and effective solutions to these global

Having debuted this past Monday, a new website called Big Think features interviews with public intellectuals from a range of fields, from identi

The World Economic Forum has released a new report warning that the international community is facing the greatest levels of political

Our friends at Chinese Demand Causes Fertilizer Prices to Skyrocket

While China may still lag behind the United States in oil imports, what it does import more of is… fertilizer?

In recent years, microfinance has

We constantly hear that the demand for energy is growing by the day as is the price of oil.  Maybe we should take a cue from Frank Pringle and look into how the “microwave magician” extracts oil

The issue of immigration policy cont