In the Cascading Risks Study, author Trond Undheim seeks to create five scenarios (Climate cataclysm by 2075; World war by 2075; Growth and collapse by 2075; Runaway AI by 2075; and Synthetic biology released in the wild by 2075 ) with which to spur deeper conversation about the existential risks to humanity and how they […]
Scenarios 2075: The Cascading Risks Study Read More »
In this episode of FuturePod, host Dr. Peter Hayward speaks with Drs. Megan Shipman and Michael Lawrence of the Cascade Institute about the current global polycrisis, and their recently published Positive Pathways report and accompanying workshop. Shipman, Lawrence, and Hayward discuss the four key factors proposed by Dr. Thomas Homer-Dixon that define today’s polycrisis, provide
FuturePod Interview with Drs. Megan Shipman and Michael Lawrence Read More »
This article discusses the emergence of the word ‘polycrisis’ in 2023, noting its rise to prominence at the 53rd World Economic Forum Annual Meeting, and seeks to underscore the gravity behind it. Larchman provides a primer, in which she defines polycrisis, in part, as “a cluster of interconnected crises in which ‘the overall impact exceeds
The Polycrisis: Behind The Buzzword Read More »
In this video, Michael Hainsworth, host of the C.D. Howe Institute podcast, interviews Martin Wolf, Chief Economic Commentator at the Financial Times and host of the podcast “Saving Democratic Capitalism”, in advance of a talk that Wolf gave to the Institute. Hainsworth and Wolf discuss ongoing crises that factor into the ongoing Polycrisis—defined as “a
Prospects for the World Economy in the Polycrisis with Martin Wolf Read More »
This report by the WTW Research Network “introduces research and opinions that provide new perspectives to support risk management and resilience.” In particular, this report focuses on WTW’s work in geopolitics, topics such as supply chains, national competition, and emerging risks and their interconnectivity. WTW posits that the topics covered “highlight a need for an
WTW Research Network Risk & Resilience Review: Emerging Risks from Geopolitical Shifts Read More »
In this article, author Ivan Filippov discusses how think tanks can assist in navigating the polycrisis by outlining 5 potential roles for them to play, elaborating on each role, and providing real-world examples. The roles outlined by Filippov are as follows: a trusted voice/crisis navigator for the public; a research arm of civil society; a
Five New Roles for Think Tanks in the Age of Polycrisis Read More »
Eric Helleiner defines polycrisis as “a cluster of distinct crises that interact in ways that they and/or their effects tend to reinforce each other” and argues that economic globalization is experiencing a polycrisis made up of five constituent crises: the deepening trade war between the United States and China; the move towards national self-sufficiency in
Economic Globalization’s Polycrisis Read More »
The authors translate polycrisis from a loose concept into a research agenda by providing the concept with a substantive definition, highlighting its value-added in comparison to related concepts, and developing a theoretical framework to explain the causal mechanisms currently entangling many of the world’s crises. In this framework, a global crisis arises when one or
Global Polycrisis: The Causal Mechanisms of Crisis Entanglement Read More »
This 19th edition of the World Economic Forum’s annual Global Risk Report is based on a risk perception survey conducted with nearly 1500 experts from academia, government, business, and civil society. Chapter 1 focuses on three risks that have grown of increasing concern over the next two years: false information, interstate violent conflict, and economic
Global Risks Report 2024 Read More »
Tim Sahay surveys the many crises covered in The Polycrisis newsletter over the last year and identifies four key shifts: northern countries are increasingly concerned with their own economic resilience but have not reformed the international financial system, so the global south remains increasingly vulnerable and disadvantaged; the past two years have witnessed more violent
