Addressing the sources of global, national and human vulnerability, and promoting security – rethinking the paradigm

Addressing vulnerability and promoting security
Sep 06, 2014 | Sean Cleary, Executive Vice-Chair, FutureWorld Foundation

This year, at the Global Economic Symposium 2014 in Kuala Lumpur, we addressed the third challenge on the Global Agenda: Reducing Vulnerability and Enhancing Security. The research mandate was defined as: How best to address the sources of global, national and human vulnerability, and promote security  This topic is complementary to those addressed in the first two pillars, and is intended to enable an integrative understanding and definition of security at different scales – from individual, through communal and national, to global – and its effective promotion and advancement by (i) reducing vulnerabilities, (ii) mitigating and managing threats to security, and (iii) increasing resilience to shocks – at each scale.
We sought new integrative concepts and insights, and an understanding of how these are likely to emerge across cultures and societies. Specifically we are interested in identifying appropriate indicators and systems to enable us better to analyze, assess and manage the range of key vulnerabilities, so as to promote enhanced security, at each scale.
As we reflect on these different dimensions of security, it becomes clear that all our efforts are intended – at different scales – to reduce the vulnerability of individuals, societies, states and humankind to threats and shocks, to increase their resilience, and to create an environment in which each can thrive. This suggests that insights from psychology and cognitive neuroscience, sociology, political science and law, development economics, international relations theory, conflict and war studies, defence and security studies, the sciences pertaining to energy security, and earth and environmental sciences, all bear on the challenge of addressing the sources of humanity’s vulnerability at different scales, and promoting individual and collective security.
http://www.futureworldfoundation.org/Content/Article.aspx?ArticleID=8354 />Research Papers:
China:    http://www.futureworldfoundation.org/Content/Article.aspx?ArticleID=8355
Africa:     http://www.futureworldfoundation.org/Content/Article.aspx?ArticleID=8356
Brazil:     http://www.futureworldfoundation.org/MyControl/UpdateArticle.aspx?ArticleID=8357
India:     http://www.futureworldfoundation.org/Content/Article.aspx?ArticleID=8358
Russia:   http://www.futureworldfoundation.org/Content/Article.aspx?ArticleID=8359
USA:       http://www.futureworldfoundation.org/Content/Article.aspx?ArticleID=8360
Sweden:  http://www.futureworldfoundation.org/Content/Article.aspx?ArticleID=8361

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