Whose Polycrisis?
Farwa Sial
Farwa Sial argues that the polycrisis neologism is a feint that allows international financial institutions to continue business as usual by obscuring their role in global problems. She critiques definitions…
Polycrisis Resource Library
The Polycrisis Resource Library is a growing collection of media that help to understand polycrisis, develop strategies to address polycrisis, and build a field of polycrisis analysis.
On the ‘Polycrisis’ Part I: Issues in Abstract Conceptual Circumference
Bo Harvey
Bo Harvey examines origins and recent popularity of the polycrisis concept, then rebuts critiques of the concept by Noah Smith and Guney Isikara. In response to the latter, Harvey problematizes…
Secretary-General’s Remarks at the World Economic Forum
António Guterres
In his address to the World Economic Forum, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres proposed that “Our world is plagued by a perfect storm on a number of fronts”, including an…
Davos Obsession With ‘Polycrisis’ May Seem Remote, But Corporate Boards Should Take Notice
Michael Peregrine
In response to the 2023 World Economic Forum summit in Davos, Michael Peregrine argues that “the emphasis on polycrisis calls on boards to not only look more broadly on global…
Why ‘Polycrisis’ was the Buzzword of Day 1 in Davos
Yasmeen Serhan
Reporting on the first day of the World Economic Forum’s 2023 summit in Davos, Time magazine writer Yasmeen Serhan notes that “polycrisis” is the “most ubiquitous buzzword” of the meeting.
De-Globalization or Re-Globalization?
Péter Szijjártó, Niall Ferguson, Ngaire Woods, Ian Bremmer, and Adam Tooze
In this inaugural panel of the 2023 World Economic Forum summit Adam Tooze asserts that the term polycrisis aptly characterizes the state of the world, while Historian Niall Ferguson dismisses…
The Fundamental Issue – Overshoot
Nate Hagens and William E. Rees
Interviewed by Nate Hagens, William E. Rees argues that overshoot is a fundamental issue underlying all environmental problems. Our economy is premised on unlimited growth but the global human ecological…
Global Risks Report 2023
World Economic Forum
This 18th edition of the World Economic Forum’s Global Risks Report is based on a risk perceptions survey of 1200 experts on the likelihood, severity, and interconnections between 37 global…
Top Risks 2023
Ian Bremmer and Cliff Kupchan
Ian Bremmer and Cliff Kupchan present their top ten geopolitical risks for 2023: an increasingly rogue and reckless Russia; an increasingly powerful and unconstrained Xi Jinping; the weaponization of artificial…
About the Resource Library
The Polycrisis Resource Library includes resources that:
- Comment on the polycrisis as a concept and as a present global reality
- Undertake similar analysis using different—but related—concepts
- Analyze crisis interactions among multiple global systems
Though not exhaustive, the Library strives to present a diverse representation of views on different aspects of the polycrisis discussion, and will be updated as that discussion evolves. Search for resources with the keyword search bar, or by using the drop-down menus to filter for type of resource, global systems addressed, and key themes.
So We’re in a Polycrisis. Is That Even a Thing?
Andreas Kluth
Andreas Kluth argues that the term polycrisis is unhelpful to solving the world’s problems because it captures nothing new. Human history is full of complex crises, interactions between them, and…