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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
MEDIA CONTACT: Eric Solomon |
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solomone@gwu.edu |
THOMAS HOMER-DIXON WARNS OF MULTIPLE STRESSES ON GLOBAL SYSTEMS
Leading Canadian
Political Scientist and Author to Discuss Transnational Issues at GW Elliott
School Lecture December 4
| EVENT: |
“Synchronous Failure: The Real Danger of the 21st Century,” presented by leading Canadian political scientist and author Thomas Homer-Dixon, as part of The George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs Robert J. Pelosky, Jr. Distinguished Speaker Series.
Homer- Dixon will discuss the monumental challenges to our institutions and governments and how these threats combined with the interconnectedness of societies and the capacity of some groups to destroy, could wreak havoc on global systems. |
| WHEN: |
Wednesday, December 4,
2002 6:00 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. |
| WHERE: |
The George Washington University Marvin Center Grand Ballroom, 3rd Floor 800 21st Street, NW Washington, D.C.
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| COST: | The lecture is free and open to the public. |
Background:
Thomas
Homer-Dixon’s research has focused on the
threats to global security and how societies adapt to complex economic,
ecological and technological change. His highly interdisciplinary
work draws on political science, economics, environmental studies, geography,
cognitive science, social psychology and complex systems theory.
In his latest book, The
Ingenuity Gap, Homer-Dixon explored the critical gap between our need for
practical and innovative ideas to solve our complex problems and our actual
supply of those ideas. His lecture will address his latest work on the
theory of “synchronous failure,” or
the simultaneous breakdown of social systems on a global scale. He says we tend to “silo” our challenges
or problems – from climate change to international economic instability to
terrorism – in isolation and not see the links among them. He will identify and
discuss what he perceives as the “tectonic stresses,” which include population
growth, dislocation and financial instability. Combined with what he terms the “two
multipliers,” the interconnectedness of societies and the capacity of groups to
destroy these potential stresses could wreak havoc on global
systems.
Homer-Dixon is the director
of the Center for the Study of Peace and Conflict and associate professor in the
Department of Political Science at the University of Toronto. His website is
www.homerdixon.com/.
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the GW News Center at www.gwnewscenter.org.
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