Author Archives: Laurie

Around the world today you see societies in varying degrees of stability and instability. Looking back throughout history, we may be able to identify certain patterns in how societies develop, change, fall into crisis, and evolve into new phases of development. In this episode of the “Great Unraveling?” series, Daniel Hoyer joins me to exploreContinue reading “Video: The Cycles of Societies and Where We Find Ourselves. Interview with Daniel Hoyer”

Access to energy is of foundational importance for societies, but constraints on our abilities to meet societies’ energy requirements are growing. Foremost among them is the pressing challenge of transitioning to a zero-carbon energy system. In this episode of the “Great Unraveling?” series, Richard Heinberg joins me to explore the crucial role of energy inContinue reading “Video: The Critical Need for and Challenges Facing the Energy Transition. Interview with Richard Heinberg”

Regressive political movements have increased in size and power over the last decade, with dissatisfaction with the status quo and political conflict on the rise. In this episode of the “Great Unraveling?” series, Walden Bello joins me to explore the factors behind the rise in political fragmentation in both the global south and global north,Continue reading “Video: The Rise of Far-Right Counter-Revolution around the World. Interview with Walden Bello”

Despite prevalent claims that economic well-being has been on the rise in recent decades globally, the post-colonial period has been one of increasing, not decreasing, inequality between the Global North and Global South. Growing economic and social inequality is a driving factor in a range of major problems, from poor health to political fragmentation, butContinue reading “Video: Growing Economic and Environmental Inequality. Interview with Jason Hickel”

The coronavirus pandemic is impacting the global geopolitical balance, the shifting of which was already underway. As ever, this opens up new threats and opportunities for peace and security across the world. In this episode of the “Great Unraveling?” series, Christine Parthemore joins me to discuss how growing destabilisation, in part driven by the worseningContinue reading “Video: Geopolitical Balance in an Increasingly Unstable World. Interview with Christine Parthemore”

Over 70 million people have been forcibly displaced worldwide, with large increases in recent years having been driven by a complex mix of factors, including environmental shocks, conflict, and economic crisis. As ever, the vast majority of these people stay within countries or regions and suffer. Meanwhile perceptions of migration — which are often incorrectContinue reading “Video: What’s Driving the Migration of Humans and Other Species? Interview with Sonia Shah”

Ten years after a financial crisis, the inherent instability of financial markets has been further confirmed by the coronavirus pandemic, while fragilities in wider economic systems have been exacerbated, from precarious work to the consequences of high levels of debt in the global south and across the corporate sector. In this episode of the “GreatContinue reading “Video: Fragility in Economic Systems. Interview with Nate Hagens”

Food systems around the world are dependent on supply chains that connect the fate of consumers in one region to producers in another. A range of major problems are already buffeting these systems, from the chronic failure to provide adequate nutrition to growing environmental shocks. In this episode of the “Great Unraveling?” series, Raj PatelContinue reading “Video: Fragility in Food Systems. Interview with Raj Patel”

The coronavirus pandemic has exposed the fragilities and interdependencies of the world’s complex socio-economic systems, and the challenge of predicting and planning for known threats, let alone the unknown. In this episode of the “Great Unraveling?” series, Nafeez Ahmed joins me to explore some of these dynamics and what they might mean for how weContinue reading “Video: Fragile and Interdependent Systems in a World of Worsening Crises. Interview with Nafeez Ahmed”

The expansion of colonial empires and the emergence of a globalised economic system brought about a rapid increase in the destabilisation of local and global environments, as well as the exploitation and destruction of indigenous peoples. In doing so, they created structures and dynamics that exist to this day. In this episode of the “GreatContinue reading “Video: The Relationship Between Imperialism, Racism, and the Environmental Crisis. Interview with Asad Rehman”