Central and Eastern European region defined by the socialist past has transformed in the 21st century. We must abandon the paradigms of the Cold War period within geopolitical thought. The key question of the 21st century is whether a new gateway zone of the present forming World-Island can be developed along a north-south Baltic-Adriatic axi...

Earth at Risk in the 21st Century offers critical interdisciplinary reflections on peace, security, gender relations, migration and the environment, all of which are threatened by climate change, with women and children affected most. Deep-rooted gender discrimination is also a result of the destructive exploitation of natural resources and the pollution of soils, water, biota and air. In the Anthropocene, the management of human society and global resources has become unsustainable and has created multiple conflicts by increasing survival threats primarily for poor people in the Global South. Alternative approaches to peace and security, focusing from bottom-up on an engendered peace with sustainability, may help society and the environment to be managed in the highly fragile natural conditions of a ‘hothouse Earth’. Thus, the book explores systemic alternatives based on indigenous wisdom, gift economy and the economy of solidarity, in which an alternative cosmovision fosters mutual care between humankind and nature. • Special analysis of risks to the survival of humankind in the 21st century. • Interdisciplinary studies on peace, security, gender and environment related to global environmental and climate change. • Critical reflections on gender relations, peace, security, migration and the environment • Systematic analysis of food, water, health, energy security and its nexus. • Alternative proposals from the Global South with indigenous wisdom for saving Mother Earth.

"The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic marks the most significant, singular global disruption since World War II, with health, economic, political, and security implications that will ripple for years to come." -Global Trends 2040 (2021) Global Trends 2040-A More Contested World (2021), released by the US National Intelligence Council, is the latest report in its series of reports starting in 1997 about megatrends and the world's future. This report, strongly influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic, paints a bleak picture of the future and describes a contested, fragmented and turbulent world. It specifically discusses the four main trends that will shape tomorrow's world: - Demographics-by 2040, 1.4 billion people will be added mostly in Africa and South Asia. - Economics-increased government debt and concentrated economic power will escalate problems for the poor and middleclass. - Climate-a hotter world will increase water, food, and health insecurity. - Technology-the emergence of new technologies could both solve and cause problems for human life. Students of trends, policymakers, entrepreneurs, academics, journalists and anyone eager for a glimpse into the next decades, will find this report, with colored graphs, essential reading.

This book explores the implications of newly developing risks such as hugely damaging hurricanes, new diseases, terrorist attacks, and disruptions to critical infrastructures.

This book explores the opportunities and challenges that both Europe and Asia face under the framework of the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road Initiative. The 21st Century Maritime Silk Road Initiative (MSR Initiative), put forward by the Chinese government together with the Silk Road Economic Belt, reflects China’s ambition and vision to shape the global economic and political order. The first step and priority under the MSR Initiative, according to documents issued by China, is to build three ‘Blue Economic Passages’ linking China with the rest of the world at sea, two of which will connect China with Europe. This initiative, however, still faces enormous challenges of geopolitical suspicion and security risks. This book seeks to assess these risks and their causes for the cooperation between the Eurasian countries under the framework of MSR and puts forward suggestions to deal with these risks in the interdisciplinary perspectives of international relations and international law. Featuring a global team of contributors, this book will be of much interest to students of Asian politics, maritime security, international law and international relations.

This volume presents the final results of the CHALLENGE research project (The Changing Landscape of European Liberty and Security) - a five-year project funded by the Sixth Framework Programme of DG Research of the European Commission. The book critically appraises the liberties of citizens and others within the EU, and the different ways in which they are affected by the proliferation of discourses, practices and norms of insecurity enacted in the name of collective and individual safety. It analyses from an interdisciplinary perspective the impacts of new techniques of surveillance and control on the liberty and security of the citizen. The book studies illiberal practices of liberal regimes in the field of security, and the relationship between the internal and external effects of these practices in an increasingly interconnected world, as well as the effects in relation to the place of the EU in world politics.