Marshall Mcluhan - Education in the Electronic Age (1970)
Information
The following article is an address delivered by Dr. McLuhan on January 19, 1967 to the Provincial Committee on the Aims and Objectives of Education in the Schools of Ontario.
Natasha Vita-More - The New Genre -- Primo Posthuman (2005)
Introduction
Many trends never catch on. They remain thoughts without a future. It is a lexicon of culture that takes hold and finds its way across generations and circumstances. Thus is the story of human nature, as it is
diced and sliced over the millennia by theoreticians, philosophers, artists and scholars. With theories tripping effortlessly onto blank slates, the cyclic changes of social progress move proudly forward and humbly backward judging our passions—the causes and effects of existence.
Human nature and its metaphorical attribution toward the evolution of humanity play a leading role in the identity of society. Worn like a badge reflecting how we see ourselves, our nature prescribes what we want others to see in us as well. Humans have gone so far as to impose on human nature, that they have even written a treatise to its cause. Hume (1739) Others develop new biosocial fields advancing the methodological investigation of biology and society which underlie human behavior. One thing can be certain, no matter the erudition invested in capturing its essence human nature changes over time, as will the image of how we see ourselves.
Vance Packard - The Naked Society (1964)
Abstract
Originally published in 1964, The Naked Society was the first book to discuss how then-new technologies such as hidden microphones, concealed cameras, modern filing systems, and the polygraph lie detector could be used by government, employers, stores, credit bureaus, security personnel, and other officials to invade our civil liberties. Such activity, which represented the most flagrant of the many assaults upon individual rights, was only part of Vance Packard's truly shocking book, which also considered the ominous implications of loyalty investigations, passport and travel restrictions, and overzealous police actions. In the end, according to Packard, new technologies, manipulated by government and business, were eroding our freedoms, creating a world akin to something out of George Orwell's 1984.
Timelier than ever in today's world, where our civil liberties are under constant threat from technology and the actions of government and business, this all new edition of The Naked Society features an introduction by noted historian Rick Perlstein.
Jonas Salk - The World we Will Live In (date unknown)
Introduction
Every sentient human being is aware of the dangers as well as of the opportunities that now confront man. He is also aware of the pressure of forces within himself and the pressure of forces around him. Caught between his inner world and the outer world, he feels dissonant more often than consonant. He feels stress, longing, and frustration. His soul feels weary, and he yearns to find, and to express, the meaning of his life. Some among the most “successful,’’ and many in the midst of “great riches,” appear to hope for something else. Science and technology are indicted by some as the cause of this malaise, and some even recommend antiscience and antitechnology remedies. However, in the absence of a true understanding of the current syndrome, it is unwise to ascribe the causative role to something that may not be the cause or to prescribe as a remedy the elimination of something that could even help in the development of remedies. Although science and technology are unlikely as a cause they are, nevertheless, a force with which man must cope.
Joseph F. Coates - Crime. Science & Technology (1967)
Introduction
The next decade may see the systematic application of science and technology as a dominant theme in law enforcement and the administration of criminal justice. Progress seems imminent on every front. The application of systems science, operations research, and contemporary economic techniques may restructure approaches and develop criteria to assess progress and guide the efficient organization and effective study of the criminal justice system. On the more technological level, new opportunities are increasing for the prevention and detection of crime and the apprehension, correction, and rehabilitation of the criminal. Technology applicable to police operations (especially computers, communications, transportation, and nonlethal weapons) is creating major opportunities for increased efficiency and effectiveness in day-to-day law enforcement.
Paul & Anne Ehrlich - Population, Resources, Environment: Issues in Human Ecology (1970)
Content
1 The Crisis
2 Numbers of People
3 Population Structure and Projection
4 The Limits of the Earth
5 Food Production
6 Environmental Threats to Man
7 Ecosystems in Jeopardy
8 Optimum Population and Human Biology
9 Birth Control
10 Family Planning and Population Control
11 Social, Political, and Economic Change
12 The International Scene
13 Conclusions About This Book
Introduction
In April 2020, the Financial Stability Board (FSB) cautioned that “cyber incidents pose a threat to the stability of the global financial system.” The FSB went on to warn that the last few years have seen “a number of major cyber incidents that have significantly impacted financial institutions and the ecosystems in which they operate. A major cyber incident, if not properly contained, could seriously disrupt financial systems, including critical financial infrastructure, leading to broader financial stability implications.”18 The potential economic costs of such events can be immense and the damage to public trust and confidence significant. Cyber incidents could potentially undermine the integrity of global financial markets;19 equally important, the exploitation of cyber vulnerabilities could cause losses to investors and the general public. Central to the risk is the fact that the global financial system is a complex adaptive system. It is resilient and able to absorb most of the shocks that regularly occur, but its complexity also means that large shocks, although rare, can quickly ripple in unpredictable ways. The system’s complexity also makes it impossible to predict exactly when or how such systemic shocks will occur.20 But one thing is clear: it is not a question of if a major incident will happen, but when.
Zbigniew Brzezinski - A Geostrategy for Eurasia (1997)
Introduction
Seventy-five years ago, when the first issue of Foreign Affairs saw the light of day, the United States was a self-isolated Western hemi spheric power, sporadically involved in the affairs of Europe and Asia. World War II and the ensuing Cold War compelled the United States to develop a sustained commitment to Western Europe and the Far East. Americas emergence as the sole global superpower now makes an integrated and comprehensive strategy for Eurasia imperative. Eurasia is home to most of the world s politically assertive and dynamic states. All the historical pretenders to global power originated in Eurasia. The world s most populous aspirants to regional hegemony, China and India, are in Eurasia, as are all the potential political or economic challengers to American primacy. After the United States, the next six largest economies and military spenders are there, as are all but one of the world s overt nuclear powers, and all but one of the covert ones. Eurasia accounts for 75 percent of the world s population, 60 per cent of its GNP, and 75 percent of its energy resources. Collectively, Eurasia's potential power overshadows even Americas.
John Rawlings Rees - Shaping of Psychiatry by War (1945)
Info
The Salmon Lectures, delivered by the consulting psychiatrist to the British Army and Medical Director of the Tavistock Clinic, compose this volume. The author's extensive experience with psychiatry during World War I as well as in World War II makes it the expression of mellowed observation and judgment.
The book really consists of a series of brief essays on a great variety of topics, which represent the innumerable links of psychiatry to the problems of military and social life in almost all their aspects. This diversity makes it impossible to present an adequate summary of the book. It deals with all the activities of a psychiatrist in the services. The author points out that 'the friendly running fight against opposition' is, of itself, stimulating, and that, 'for most psychiatrists army service provides a new angle to their job and the art of psychiatry itself becomes dynamic'.
As to treatment, the author is not yet sure whether methods have developed very much. In spite of the use of sedation, narcoanalysis, and modified insulin therapy, returns to duty are no greater than during the last war, although possibly long term results may be better.
The author points out the need for recognizing the dull man with a low I.Q. and assigning him to appropriate duties. He emphasizes the necessity for giving as much attention to the mental as to the physical health of the potential officer. An excellent series of points on leadership and morale is included.
Jean Baudrillard - Hyperreal America (1993)
Abstract
May 1968 in Paris was a utopian revolt which failed; America is a utopia which has been achieved. It is the original version of modernity. This article examines the logic of Biosphere 2 a miniature version of the entire planet, but which means the society is already living with the prospect of a catastrophe affecting its utopia, it is a zoological museum in anticipation of its own destruction.
Alice A. Bailey - The Externalization of the Hierarchy (1957)
Info
The subject of human free will has always contrived to set men's
mental teeth on edge. The fatalist automatically resigns himself to
whatever befalls him, seeing in effects no cause attributable to his own
action - or inaction; but resigned always to the working of an
inexorable fate.
The Christian counterpart tends to accept his
lot as the working of God's Will in which he has no say or part. At the
other extreme stands the rebellious independent, determined to exercise
his right to free, self-willed action.
This book, as one of its
many values, shows the extent to which Hierarchy and other centres of
life on the planet are dependent upon the unpredictable and often
irresponsible factor of human free will. During the years leading up to
the outbreak of World War II, every opportunity and every possible
spiritual stimulation was offered to humanity in an effort to avoid
precipitation of conflict on to the physical plane. Disciples and
aspirants to discipleship were asked to give special cooperation to the
Hierarchy, and to make an all-out effort to provide adequate leadership
to human thought and decision. All were left free, however, to determine
their own limits, if any, and to decide their own actions. According to
law, the Hierarchy - even at danger point - could not infringe human
free will and dictate or impose a course of action based on their own
deeper knowledge and more profound insight.
Many of the spiritual
factors surrounding the period of human history from 1919 to 1949 are
presented in this book. The energies at work behind the world scene are
shown; and the identity revealed of certain great Beings magnetically
attracted in service towards this planet at a climaxing moment in the
evolution of our planetary life.
These factors are an aid to our
understanding of the interrelated energy patterns within the universe
which operate according to law. But essentially they provide the
esotericist with knowledge of available energy flow responding to
planetary purpose and plan which can be contacted and given conscious
and intelligent cooperation, particularly by those in whom the selfish,
self-centred will has been transcended so that the spiritual will can be
given more adequate expression. Some of these energy factors are
particularly clear in the special "Messages" given over a period of many
years at the time of the Festivals of Easter, Wesak and the Christ.
Many
aspects of Hierarchical work, thought and planning are discussed in
these Messages, with the Hierarchical effect shown of planetary
evolution and initiation and its reflection into humanity. This achieved
a climax at the time of the three Festivals in 1945, when a momentous
decision was taken involving, among other results, the eventual
externalisation of the Hierarchy and the reappearance of the Christ.
The
final section of the book discusses the "Stages in the Externalisation
of the Hierarchy". It is often difficult for the human mind to imagine
the problems facing those liberated from the restrictions of form. It is
even more difficult to contemplate the effects in those so liberated of
a free choice to reassume such a limitation.
So we are helped
to understand what the interdependence of life on this planet really
signifies in terms of love, sacrifice and service by the part to the
needs of the whole.
George Bernard Shaw - The Population Question (1928)
Introduction
Historically, socialist writings on population problems have exhibited a curious ambivalence. On the one hand, there has been an inclination flatly to deny that such problems exist at all. For a socialist society "the most precious asset is people.'" In capitalist societies talk about population problems is a cynical tactic by reactionaries aimed at diverting attention from the real problems of exploitation and class conflict. On the other hand, at least the abstract possibility of demographic growth generating economic hardship has often been acknowledged by socialist writers, coupled with the argument that if such problems are real only a socialist society will be able to resolve them. The pronouncements on population of the Irish playwright and critic George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950), who was an ardent socialist of the Fabian variety, exhibit this ambivalence fully, the more so as Shaw's pellucid style is in happy contrast to the turgid theorizing characteristic of much of the earlier literature expounding socialist views on the subject. Reproduced below are passages from Shaw's most sustained discussion of political economy, The Intelligent Woman's Guide to Socialism, Capitalism, Sovietism and Fascism, a treatise of over 500 pages that first appeared in 1928. (The passages are from Chapters 25 and 80.) If Shaw's usual penchant for the iconoclastic pose-at times for sheer entertainment's sake-is evident also in his discussion of population problems, this flaw is amply compensated by numerous insights and critical points that after 55 years still retain their relevance and cutting edge.
Bo Gräslund - Early Humans and Their World (2005)
Abstract
Summarizing modern research on early hominid evolution from the apes six million years ago to the emergence of modern humans, this book is the first to present a synthetic discussion of many aspects of early human life.
Arthur Koestler - Less equal than others (1974)
Introduction
When Professor H. J. Eysenck was beaten up by a bunch of nitwits at the London School of Economics some time ago, he roused a wave of sympathy even among those scholars who disagree with his ideas. This book (see below) will predictably lose him much of that sympathy. Not on the grounds on which the L.S.E. gang attacked him: to call Hans Eysenck a Fascist or a 'reactionary' is simply laughable, and race is not even discussed in the book. It is nevertheless a book with a potentially harmful effect on psychology students, educationists and even politicians, who might take Eysenck's controversial interpretations of ambiguous statistics as the ultimate scientific truth about human nature. His thesis is, briefly, that intelligence is 80 per cent determined by heredity, which leaves only a small, 20-per-cent margin where environmental factors, including education, can exert their influence on child or adult. This puts man into a universe where genetic predestination rules almost supreme — where, in the words of the Koran, every man's destiny is fastened round his neck.
Kermit Roosevelt - Progress In This Age Of Science (1935)
Introduction
Those of us who spent our days of childhood in the 1890's have seen many and miraculous changes in this world. Even the elastic imagination of a child would have to be stretched beyond all bounds, if asked to vision in the guise of anything but fairy tales many inventions which we now regard as commonplace, such as the radio and television and the transatlantic telephone.
Jerome C. Glenn & Theodore J. Gordon - Issues and Opportunities for the Future (1998)
Abstract
This issue presents the distillation of views of approximately 250 participants from around the world who have contributed their judgments about the state of the future. A total of 180 developments were identified and rated that could evolve over the foreseeable future to significantly improve the human condition. These were clustered into 15 global opportunities with suggested actions that might be useful in achieving the opportunities. The effectiveness of these actions was judged by policy makers and advisors. The relationships and impacts of the 15 global issues from last year’s report and the 15 global opportunities in this year’s report are included. Lessons and questions from history were also identified and rated for value in futures research. Global exploratory scenarios from the first year of the Project were extended by judgments of Project participants, quantitative global models, and “lessons of history.” Results of a global participatory process to produce global normative scenario sketches are also included. Ó 1998 American Council for the United Nations University.
C.D. Darlington - The evolution of man and society (1969)
Info
Evolutionary history of human societies. Covers Ancient Egypt and Persia, the development of agriculture, and the influence of religions.
Herman Kahn - How Many Can Be Saved (1959)
Introduction
The general belief persists today that an all-out thermonuclear war would inevitably result in mutual annihilation, and that nothing can be done to make it otherwise. Even those who do not believe in total annihilation often do believe that the shock effect of the casualties, the immediate destruction of wealth, and the long-term deleterious effects of fallout would inevitably jeopardize the survival of civilization. A study recently carried out by the author and a number of his colleagues at RAND, and privately financed by The RAND Corporation, has reached conclusions that seriously question these beliefs.1 While a thermonuclear war would be a catastrophe-in some ways an unprecedented catastrophe-it would still be a limited catastrophe. Even more important, the limits on the magnitude of the catastrophe might be sharply dependent on what prewar measures had been taken. The study suggests that for the next ten or fifteen years, and perhaps for much longer, feasible combinations of military and nonmilitary defense measures can come pretty close to preserving a reasonable semblance of our prewar society.
About this book
This book is designed to offer a comprehensive high-level introduction to transhumanism, an international political and cultural movement that aims to produce a “paradigm shift” in our ethical and political understanding of human evolution. Transhumanist thinkers want the human species to take the course of evolution into its own hands, using advanced technologies currently under development – such as robotics, artificial intelligence, biotechnology, cognitive neurosciences, and nanotechnology – to overcome our present physical and mental limitations, improve our intelligence beyond the current maximum achievable level, acquire skills that are currently the preserve of other species, abolish involuntary aging and death, and ultimately achieve a post-human level of existence. The book covers transhumanism from a historical, philosophical, and scientific viewpoint, tracing its cultural roots, discussing the main philosophical, epistemological, and ethical issues, and reviewing the state of the art in scientific research on the topics of most interest to transhumanists. The writing style is clear and accessible for the general reader, but the book will also appeal to graduate and undergraduate students.
Alvin & Heidi Toffler - Global Gladiators Challenge the Power of Nations (2000)
Introduction
"The process under way now is as historically significant as the 30 Years War that ended in 1648 with the Treaty of Westphalia, which laid the diplomatic groundwork for the now fading world order built around supposedly sovereign nation states."
TRADOC Mad Scientist Initiative - Visioning the Future of Warfare: 2030-2050 (U.S. Army, 2016)
Info
In November 2016, Mad Scientist launched its first Science Fiction Writing Competition with the topic “Warfare in 2030 to 2050.” We sought out unconventional thinkers and solicited their unique perspectives — we were not disappointed! With over 150 submissions from authors in 10 different countries around the globe, the diversity of input provided us with a wide variety of thoughts and ideas about warfare and the Future Operational Environment. Through the art of Story Telling, the Army was able to visualize the known, probable, and possible challenges and opportunities that the future holds.
Aurelio Peccei - The Human Quality (1977)
Description
An autobiographical statement of the author's belief in the global approach to development and world problems. How can the human species survive the crisis of its own extraordinary techno-scientific success? In this truly unique book Aurelio Peccei shows us that the solution cannot be found in external factors. It must lie in re-establishing a sound cultural balance within man himself so that he becomes capable of living in harmony with the new human condition and changed world environment. Only by a cultural revolution which changes the human quality can we control and orient the material revolutions. Aurelio Peccei's distinguished career in industry, conservation, international affairs and as a counsellor on major world problems needs little introduction. He was a founder-member of the Club of Rome in 1968 and has been a member of its Executive Committee ever since. Inevitably he draws upon his wisdom and experience to highlight the arguments in his book.
Aldous Huxley - A Positive Program of Research for Peace (1947)
Introduction
The military are "intruding" into science, because they hope that an increase in knowledge will lead to the development of more effective weapons. Scientists are advised by Dr. Ridenour to "resist intrusion"
to the extent that it threatens to degrade pure science into mere engineering by ProfessorWiener, they are advised to resist it absolutely and unequivocally, on moral grounds. This negative procedure of "resistance to intrusion" requires, it seems to me, to be upplemented by some form of positive action, designed to offsett he military program of research for war, and to render it unnecessary.
Alexander King - Education and Change (1956)
Info on Alexander King
Alexander King, who has died aged 98, was a pioneering scientist who warned of the dangers to the environment from extensive industrial development. He was one of the people who commissioned the 1972 Limits to Growth report, which triggered the first wave of international concern about the environment. This remains one of the world's largest selling books on the environment. He then became one of the founders of the international thinktank, the Club of Rome, which the Duke of Edinburgh has called the "conscience of the world".
Introduction
By the time of his untimely death in 1983, Herman Kahn was recognized by both friends and intellectual adversaries as “one of the world’s most creative and best minds.” He was one of the preeminent and best known futures studies scholars, a founding father of the field, with extensive and vital contributions to the debates on the nature of global economic development and its impact on human societies and their environment, as well as a key figure in the field of strategic studies, an area where he was also considered a founder and a leader. His work was followed all over the world and the directions he traced in the public debate on very sensitive issues of crucial public concern have continued to be unaltered today, more than twenty years after his unexpected death. Yet, in spite of the incessant influence of his arguments and ideas, today his intellectual legacy is still to be accounted for and the breath and depth of his contributions are still to be reviewed and analyzed in a systematic way.
Dennis M. Bushnell - Future Strategic Issues/Future Warfare [Circa 2025] (2001)
Info
Bushnell's above presentation was given on August 14, 2001 at the 4th Annual Testing and Training for Readiness Symposium and Exhibition organized by the National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA) and held at the Rosen Centre Hotel (formerly the Omni Rosen Hotel) in Orlando, Florida. For information on that, see the following page in which the above presentation is available:
"The 4th Annual Testing and Training for Readiness Symposium & Exhibition: Emerging Challenges, Opportunities and Requirements, 13-16 August 2001", Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC).
Dennis M. Bushnell, "Future Strategic Issues/Future Warfare [Circa 2025]" (sic), NASA Langley Research Center (National Aeronautics and Space Administration), July 2001, 113 pp.; PDF, 1400357 bytes, MD5: c833f3fbc55d07fe891f5f4df5fb2f57. The aforesaid PDF was found on the US Department of Defense's Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC) website.
Dennis M. Bushnell is the Chief Scientist at NASA's Langley Research Center. The following is a biography page for him:
Joe Atkinson, "Dennis Bushnell", NASA Langley Research Center (National Aeronautics and Space Administration), Mar. 21, 2013.
Bushnell's above presentation was given on August 14, 2001 at the 4th Annual Testing and Training for Readiness Symposium and Exhibition organized by the National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA) and held at the Rosen Centre Hotel (formerly the Omni Rosen Hotel) in Orlando, Florida. For information on that, see the following page in which the above presentation is available:
"The 4th Annual Testing and Training for Readiness Symposium & Exhibition: Emerging Challenges, Opportunities and Requirements, 13-16 August 2001", Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC).
See also the following announcement page for this conference:
"4th Annual Testing and Training Symposium and Exhibition: A National Partnership, on August 14-16, 2001 in Orlando, FL at the Omni Centre Hotel", National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA).
The following is the conference proceedings:
Testing and Training for Readiness Symposium and Exhibition (4th Annual): Emerging Challenges, Opportunities and Requirements Held on 13-16 August 2001 (on CD-ROM), National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA), Aug. 2001; National Technical Information Service (NTIS) Issue Number: 1014.
The text on each page stating "Future Strategic Issues, 7/01" within the above PDF refers to the document's finalization date of July 2001. The creation date of the above PDF is given as Thu 13 Dec 2001 08:48:04 AM EST, which possibly refers to when the PDF was created from a Microsoft PowerPoint file (.ppt), as it looks like the document was perhaps originally a PowerPoint file.
Matthew Holtmeier - Electronic Labyrinth: THX 1138 4EB (2016)
Abstract
Short piece for the National Film Registry discussing the historical, cultural, and aesthetic significance of Electronic Labyrinth: THX 1138 4EB. This essay identifies Electronic Labyrinth as an important precursor to the development of Industrial Light and Magic, a visual effects company that has shaped the past 40 years of American film.
Frater 616: Satanism, and the Illuminati (Henry Makow, 2021)
Abstract
“Petor Narsagonan” or “Frater 616” was an Australian Adept in the world of Satanism, which is synonymous with the Illuminati. Included here are Henry Makow’s article on Frater 616’s revelations of the Satanic world as well as Frater 616’s two-part manuscript.
Not since Svali’s confessions of some years back has so much been said about the Illuminati’s hidden activities.
“Petor Narsagonan” aka “Frater 616″ died March 25, 2004. Recently, his executor, an “Aloysius Fozdyke” (their satanic names) sent the 15 pp. document by email to Arthur Cristian, webmaster of “loveforlife.com.au”
“I have felt it necessary to edit very little of this work,” “Fozdyke” wrote to Cristian, “although legal considerations have ensured that some names and details were excised. It was His intention to have this published in the popular media.”
(speculative)
DARPA - Artificial Intelligence Exploration (AIE) Opportunity: Civil Sanctuary (2021)
Introduction
Social media platforms have the potential to be a great democratizing force, allowing individuals to participate in the free and productive sharing of ideas at a scale never before encountered in human history. During emergency situations and times of turmoil, these platforms can provide a crucial forum for discussing time-sensitive, potentially life-saving information. During DoD Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Response (HA/DR) operations, relief efforts would benefit from a stable and constructive information environment that naturally facilitates informative dialogue. However, rather than aiding users in finding peaceable common ground, online social environments worldwide often fall prey to disinformation, bullying, and malicious rhetoric, which may be perpetuated through broader social dynamics linked to toxic and uncritical group conformity. New technologies are required to preserve and promote the positive factors of engagement in online discourse while minimizing the risk of negative social and psychological impacts emerging from violations of platform community guidelines.
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Cass R. Sunstein & Adrian Vermeule - Conspiracy Theories (2008)
Abstract
Many millions of people hold conspiracy theories; they believe that powerful people have worked together in order to withhold the truth about some important practice or some terrible event. A recent example is the belief, widespread in some parts of the world, that the attacks of 9/11 were carried out not by Al Qaeda, but by Israel or the United States. Those who subscribe to conspiracy theories may create serious risks, including risks of violence, and the existence of such theories raises significant challenges for policy and law. The first challenge is to understand the mechanisms by which conspiracy theories prosper; the second challenge is to understand how such theories might be undermined. Such theories typically spread as a result of identifiable cognitive blunders, operating in conjunction with informational and reputational influences. A distinctive feature of conspiracy theories is their self-sealing quality. Conspiracy theorists are not likely to be persuaded by an attempt to dispel their theories; they may even characterize that very attempt as further proof of the conspiracy. Because those who hold conspiracy theories typically suffer from a “crippled epistemology,” in accordance with which it is rational to hold such theories, the best response consists in cognitive infiltration of extremist groups. Various policy dilemmas, such as the question whether it is better for government to rebut conspiracy theories or to ignore them, are explored in this light.
Preface
The United States’ National Intelligence Council (NIC) and the European Union Institute for Security Studies (EUISS) have joined forces to produce this assessment of the longterm prospects for global governance frameworks. This exercise builds on the experience of the two institutions in identifying the key trends shaping the future international system. Since the mid-1990s, the NIC has produced four editions of its landmark Global Trends report. The most recent one, Global Trends 2025: A Transformed World, published in late 2008, noted that momentous change was ahead, with the gap between increasing disorder and weakening governance structures widening. The EUISS produced the first EU-level report on the factors affecting the evolution of the international system, The New Global Puzzle. What World for the EU in 2025?, in 2006. The report stressed that a multipolar system is emerging and that matching the new distribution of power with new rules and institutions will be critical to preserving international peace and stability.
The US and the EU do not always see eye to eye on every issue on the international agenda, but they share fundamental values and strategic interests to an extent not matched by any other partners in the world. Transatlantic agreement is no longer enough to effectively manage global challenges. Doing so will require renewed efforts to address governance gaps and strengthen multilateralism, in partnership with other pivotal centres of power and with the international community at large. This report provides an informal contribution to an important international debate on the way forward for global, regional and bilateral institutions and frameworks to meet emerging challenges. It is not meant as an exhaustive analysis evaluating the performance of individual institutions. While not being policy prescriptive, the report shares a strong belief – as exemplified by multilateralist approaches of the US and EU governments to resolving global problems such as the recent financial crisis – that global challenges will require global solutions.
The report does not seek to examine all the various challenges likely to require multilateralist efforts, but rather highlights several important governance gaps. We therefore do not go into depth on proliferation or cybersecurity – which we believe are receiving greater attention. Instead, we focus on such issues as intrastate conflict, resource management, migration and biotechnology. Although recognised by many as ongoing challenges, we believe that the long-term impact of these issues on the strength of the international order has not been fully appreciated.
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