World Future Society--Global Strategies Forum

Global Strategies Forum

The World Future Society invites its members and other interested persons to submit strategies for addressing the complex issues facing the world today and in the near-term future. Essays deemed of general interest will be posted here, and readers are invited to peruse them and offer their comments, questions, critiques, or encouragement.

Copyright: These papers are protected by the authors' copyright and may not be reproduced or distributed without the authors' permission.

To submit proposals: Please e-mail the full text, along with an abstract of no more than 50 words, to the editors.

Politics for the Future
by JC Wang
The author suggests ways of governing in the future.

A Significant Watershed On The World Energy Scene
by Gioietta Kuo
About 2 years ago, the consensus of world’s eminent climatologists like Sir David King and Dr James Hansen were unified in their opinion that the world could survive eventually 450ppmparts per million, of CO² (then at 385ppm) in the atmosphere. Even so, according to them, there is no time to lose, the world’s governments should adopt a radically different energy policy to eradicate fossil fuel use.

Emerging Technologies: So What? Policies for Resolving the Global Crisis of Maturity
by William E. Halal
As technological development surges, the ability of institutions to handle change is stifled by outmoded social systems. To survive the technological revolution in the midst of global crisis, a social revolution is also needed that will bring institutions and civilization to a higher stage of maturity. This essay reflects on the latest findings of the TechCast Project, a long-term Delphi survey of prospective technological developments and their impacts.

What Do You Mean By Green?
by Chris Lowry
Green filters, certification, screening criteria, eye of the green needle—how do you know if you’re ‘green’ enough? Now that we’re getting serious about climate change and the rising cost of energy, every corporation and every organization can benefit from a bit of greening.

What Do We Really Mean by "Sustainable"?
by Bruce Lloyd
There are few words that are more widely used—and misused—today than the word “Sustainability.” It can be found in virtually every corporate annual report and there are now even “Sustainable Banking Awards.”

Need for the ElectronicCurrency System
by Ashish Sharma and Dr Anand Kashyap
It need not be overemphasized that the present day post-industrial Globalize World where every sector of social life tends to seek its own course of change, it is very difficult to manage such changes merely through moral preaching and traditional technology. The only course left to be exercised is to control them through electronic devices and commensurate management system. This is the only futuristic alternative which could help in solving problems of the today’s post modern World of unpredictable changes effectively.

Ability to Establish, in Our Day, a Rational, Just, and Effective Political System
by Lev Osterman
A concept of a political system free of the shortcomings of traditional democracy is proposed. Congress is eliminated. Legislative functions are carried out by the “Areopag” – a board of forty most esteemed citizens elected through cooptation. Power of the people is expressed as each of these citizens periodically reports to the people, and as earned trust backed by an overwhelming majority in the national election. Distrust means immediate expulsion from the Areopag, hence the “democracy of trust”. A gradual, unforced transition to the proposed political system is detailed.

Futurist Interview with Former CIA Director James Woolsey
by Patrick Tucker
Reliance on oil is a major environmental concern among industrialized nations, particularly the United States, which uses and imports more oil than any other country. Oil dependency is emerging as a major national security issue as well. As part of our July-August issue, THE FUTURIST presents this interview with Former CIA Director James Woolsey on ending the oil era.