Global Futures

India aspires to a global leadership role and expansion of its already rapidly growing economy. At the same time, the country faces developmental challenges around access to food, education and health care. India’s bureaucracy has been criticized for not being nimble, adaptable and/or innovative enough to deal with these challenges. So what would the administration have to look like in order to be able to tackle India’s challenges and goals? And how can a bureaucracy which is so criticized for being unadaptable be reformed?

In this episode, Thorsten Benner from the Global Public Policy Institute (GPPi) talks to Yamini Aiyar, President and Chief Executive at the Centre for Policy Research in New Delhi. She is a founder of the Accountability Initiative at CPR, which produces research in the areas of governance, state capacity and social policy. Previously, Yamini has also been a member of the World Economic Forum’s global council on good governance, and has worked with the World Bank’s Water and Sanitation Program and Rural Development unit in Delhi, where she focused on action research aimed at strengthening mechanisms for citizen engagement in local government.

The future is a topic that inspires speculation, fear and hope. In a world of rapid change and growing insecurity, scenario planning is a method that can provide a way to structure our thinking and foster much-needed debates. It deserves more attention. In this episode, our strategic foresight expert Johannes Gabriel is back with us to elaborate on scenario planning.

The 27 fellows from nine different countries participating in GGF 2030 use the scenario planning method to look ahead 10 years and consider ways to better address global challenges. In May 2018, the GGF fellows met for the first time in Washington, DC, where Johannes introduced them to the basics of scenario planning. Back in Berlin now, he shares his insights and gives us a closer look into what scenario planning is about.

Johannes is a non-resident fellow at the Global Public Policy Institute, and has lead the GGF program’s scenario planning method since 2010. He’s the founder and director of Foresight Intelligence, a systemic consultancy based in Berlin. Johannes also teaches scenario planning at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies.

The migration and refugee challenge is probably the biggest challenge the European Union has faced in recent years. The EU is divided on how to handle the internal and external dimensions of the so-called migration crisis. And the issue has not only become a security challenge, but also a tool in the fight for political power and identity, which populist movements across Europe try to exploit for their own gains. What’s more, the question of how to handle asylum seekers also threatens the stability of governments within EU member states, as recently witnessed in Germany.

While some EU member states are seeking EU-wide agreement and coordinated action to address the migration and refugee challenge, others refuse to accept any obligations regarding the redistribution of migrants or the reform of the Dublin system, which stipulates that the asylum request by a third country national is to be presented in the first European country in which the person arrives and where he or she was identified by local authorities.

In this episode, Joel Sandhu talks to Julian Lehmann about the current situation, failures, and challenges in Europe when it comes to migration and refugees. Julian is a project manager at the Global Public Policy Institute in Berlin and was previously a protection consultant for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Morocco.

The recent water shortage crisis in Cape Town refocused attention on this precious resource, the procurement of which is a serious concern for millions across the globe. The world’s fresh water supplies are unevenly distributed and the scarcity of clean water has already led to tensions within and between countries. Climate change, urbanization and population growth exacerbate the problem.

Since water is so crucial to the existence of all living things on our planet, can these challenges fuel cooperation rather than competition? What can be done to make the delivery and management of water supplies more effective? Are governments doing enough or too much to protect resources?

In this episode of the Global Futures podcast, Joel Sandhu from the Global Public Policy Institute (GPPi) is joined by World Bank water policy expert Scott Moore, whose new book Subnational Hydropolitics looks at conflict, cooperation, and institution building around water resources. Scott is an alumnus of the Global Governance Futures program and was previously an environment, science, technology, and health officer in the U.S. Department of State and an international affairs fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.

It seems we are entering a new era of global order, with increasing divergence between countries such as China, Russia, the US, and the member states of the European Union. How will international politics evolve and what will define it? Will it be cooperation based on mutual interests or geopolitical competition between major powers?

In this episode of the Global Futures podcast, Thorsten Benner from the Global Public Policy Institute (GPPi) meets Thomas Wright, director of the Center of the United States and Europe and a senior fellow in the Project on International Order and Strategy at Brookings Institution. They discuss the futures of the global order and international politics.

It seems we are entering a new era of global order, with increasing divergence between countries such as China, Russia, the US, and the member states of the European Union. How will international politics evolve and what will define it? Will it be cooperation based on mutual interests or geopolitical competition between major powers?

In this episode of the Global Futures podcast, Thorsten Benner from the Global Public Policy Institute (GPPi) meets Thomas Wright, director of the Center of the United States and Europe and a senior fellow in the Project on International Order and Strategy at Brookings Institution. They discuss the futures of the global order and international politics.

What are the concerns that preoccupy American citizens beyond the Washington, DC policy bubble? They range from US relations with Russia and engagement in the Middle East, to migration and refugee issues in the US homeland and in Europe. 

In this episode of the Global Futures podcast, Thorsten Benner from the Global Public Policy Institute (GPPi) meets Julie Smith, senior fellow and director of the Transatlantic Security Program at the Center for a New American Security, to discuss public opinion and US foreign policy.

Urban growth is one of today’s major challenges. What does this mean for world politics? Are cities and their leaders more able than national governments to find solutions to the world’s most pressing problems?

In this episode of the Global Futures podcast, Joel Sandhu discusses these questions with Michele Acuto, professor of global urban politics at the University of Melbourne in Australia, and an inaugural senior fellow in the Global Governance Futures multilateral dialogues program.

India is the world’s largest democracy, its second-most populous country, one of its fastest-growing economies, and a nuclear power. Is the country ready to play a bigger role in global politics in pursuit of its national interests and in the face of the emerging global challenges? What about India’s relations with the United States and China? What are New Delhi’s objectives and priorities?

In this episode of the Global Futures podcast, Joel Sandhu discusses these questions with Tanvi Madan, director of the India Project and a fellow in the Project on International Order and Strategy in the Foreign Policy program at the Brookings Institution.

What are the upcoming global challenges that demand our consideration in order to avoid surprises, mitigate risks, and make use of the opportunities they offer? In search of the answers, the 27 fellows of the Global Governance Futures 2030 program will meet over the course of 2018 and 2019 in four dialogue sessions to look ahead 10 years and think of ways to better address global challenges. To do so, the fellows will use a variety of strategic foresight instruments, including scenario planning and risk assessment.

In this episode of the Global Futures podcast Joel Sandhu from the Global Public Policy Institute (GPPi) meets Johannes Gabriel, founder and director of Foresight Intelligence and GPPi non-resident fellow , to discuss scenario-planning and how it is used in the context of GGF program and elsewhere.