Bullettin n. 1/2011
June 2011
CONTENTS
  • Section A) The theory and practise of the federal states and multi-level systems of government
  • Section B) Global governance and international organizations
  • Section C) Regional integration processes
  • Section D) Federalism as a political idea
    • Christopher Chase-Dunn, Kirk S. Lawrence
    The Next Three Futures, Part One: Looming Crises of Global Inequality, Ecological Degradation, and a Failed System of Global Governance
    in Global Society , Volume 25, Issue 2 ,  2011 ,  137-153
    This two-part article discusses developments in the first decade of the 21st century and uses the comparative world-systems perspective to consider possible scenarios for the next several decades. In Part One that follows, we consider the likely trends of the 21st century and the major challenges that humanity will face, noting some disturbing similarities, but also some important differences, between what happened during the late 19th century and the first half of the 20th century and what seems to be happening in the early 21st century. There are three major crises looming: 1) Massive global inequalities; 2) Ecological degradation; and, 3) A failed system of global governance in the wake of US hegemonic decline. The timing and strength of these challenges and their interactions will greatly influence their severity and the possible solutions; however, as in the past, large challenges are also opportunities for innovation and for reorganising human institutions. In Part Two, published in the next issue, we discuss the major structural alternatives for the trajectory of the world-system during the 21st century, positing three basic scenarios: 1) Another round of US economic and political hegemony; 2) Collapse; and, 3) Capable, democratic, multilateral, and legitimate global governance.
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