Seven Revolutions

Rising prices, powerful storms, severe droughts and floods, and other unexpected events are likely to play havoc with the fabric of global society.

Discussion of the political impact of social media has focused on the power of mass protests to topple governments. In fact, social media's real potential lies in supporting civil society and the public sphere -- which will produce change over years and decades, not weeks or months.

Summary: Clean-energy technology is expensive and the United States is spending far too little on developing it. The U.S. government must do more to promote cross-border innovation and protect intellectual property rights.

Summary: The world's leading international institutions may be outmoded, but Brazil, China, India, and South Africa are not ready to join the helm. Their shaky commitment to democracy, human rights, nuclear nonproliferation, and environmental protection would only weaken the international system's core values.

Thanks to technological advances, in the past few years, vast amounts of natural gas -- particularly shale gas -- have become economically viable. This development is an unmitigated boon for consumers interested in affordable energy and for governments hoping to reduce their countries' dependency on foreign oil.

Rise of megacities and their challenge to states as major actors on the world stage.

* Released January 2008 * Running time: 60 minutes * Description: The entire 60 minute video of "On Our Watch," which addresses the humanitarian crisis in Darfur that has been labeled the first genocide of the 21st century, can be accessed at the following web site: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/darfur/view/main.html This video examines the emerging crisis in Darfur beginning in 2003 and continues to examine the dynamics of this complex situation as a UN official presses the world to act, the United Nations makes numerous ineffective efforts to intervene, and flickers of hope emerge in 2007. This powerful and informative video is supported by web links to additional information about the crisis in Darfur. (DVD also available for $30 from web site at http://www.shoppbs.org/) * Rating: excellent ; used selected sections in class, related to conflict revolution

Increasing the retirement age is inevitable and better than the alternatives.

Digital information is easy not only to store but also to leak. Companies must decide what they really need to keep secret, and how best to do so

Historic Estimates of World Population

What are some of the changes that we can make in our education system to promote life-long learning?

Are countries poor because they are violent or violent because they are poor?

Great article about wealth inequality in the US with very nice figures and images that you can download.

Global corporate citizenship means that companies must not only be engaged with stakeholders but be stakeholders themselves alongside governments and civil society. Since companies depend on global development, which in turn relies on stability and increased prosperity, it is in their direct interest to help improve the state of the world.

Very similar to the type of information found in Seven Revs, but focused on the growth in population.

Nice video to show as intro to Rev. #1 Thanks Scott.

Cities across the world are rapidly growing in response to urbanization. Satellite photos show how cities such as Dubai, Cairo, Las Vegas, Jakarta, Chengdu, Sacramento, and Calgary have grown over the course of a decade.