Global Warring
How Environmental, Economic, and Political Crises Will Redraw the World Map
by Cleo Paskal
The Cold War was never this hot! We live in interesting times. The biggest western economic institutions are crumbling, what were once marginalized voices are now dominating international negotiations, and touchstone climate events, such as the monsoon, are failing. Everywhere you look economic, geopolitical and environmental assumptions are being shaken to the core.
The world is changing. Fast.
Global Warring examines these trends by combining insightful economic and political analysis with the most likely environmental change scenarios. It identifies problem areas that could start conflicts (access to water and resources in Asia), economic trends that are shifting the balance of power (China’s policy of nationalistic capitalism), and geopolitical realignments (the burgeoning strategic partnership between the United States and India).
Award-winning writer and geopolitical expert Cleo Paskal makes sense of this overwhelming topic by dividing it into five sections: how seemingly impervious western nations, such as the United States, are shockingly vulnerable to hurricanes, storm surges and rising sea levels, and what that could mean for their internal stability and economic development; how the thawing Arctic is opening up a whole new arena for power politics as some of the world’s biggest countries wrangle for control over vast resources, strategic shipping routes such as the Northwest Passage and geopolitical leverage; how changing precipitation patterns, extreme weather and water shortages are creating severe disruptions in India and China, and how that could affect their relations with each other, and the world; how rising sea levels may shift borders and alter the very notion of statehood, potentially challenging international law to the breaking point; and, finally, what could happen in coming decades, and how to avoid the worst of it.
Paskal combines ten years of research; the latest findings from the Hadley Centre and the United Nations; and interviews with top political, security and economic strategists with her own extensive travel as a foreign correspondent. The result is a penetrating, accessible, compelling, and chilling reminder that Global Warring is not only coming, it’s here.
close this panelCleo Paskal is an Associate Fellow at Chatham House (Royal Institute of International Affairs) in London, UK, and a consultant for the US Department of Energy’s Global Energy and Environmental Strategic Ecosystem. Additionally, she is Adjunct Faculty in the Department of Geopolitics, Manipal University, India, and Adjunct Professor of Global Change, School of Communications and Management Studies, Kochi, India. She has guest lectured at many universities including Cambridge University and the London School of Economics. Paskal has given briefings on?environmental change and security issues for a wide range of stakeholders, including the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, the British Ministry of Defence, the EU, NATO, and CEOs from some of the world’s largest companies. Paskal is also an award-winning writer who has contributed to The Economist, The Independent, The Times, National Post, Maclean’s, The Globe and Mail and Canadian Geographic. She has hosted BBC radio shows and wrote an Emmy-winning documentary TV series. She currently writes a column for The Toronto Star and lives in Montreal.
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