Archives : Briefing Papers

More than simply an economic phenomenon, globalization is a multi-faceted and dynamic process with implications for future migration and mobility, technological expansion, and worldwide social inequality. With an eye on the many possible futures of globalization, the authors of this paper consider the likely consequences of each for the humanitarian community.

Not only affected by the trends and events that occur within the world in which it operates, the humanitarian system is equally affected by those developments and trends that take place inside the organizations and networks comprising the system. In this paper, John Borton describes these internal dynamics – including the conflation of “humanitarian” and “development”, shrinking humanitarian space, and issues of accountability – and creates a picture of future humanitarian response in light of these changes.

Global climate change will have inevitable consequences and implications for the humanitarian community. Although specific outcomes are unclear, it is certain that the world will experience significant transformations in the next 20 years, and that currently vulnerable populations will be among those most affected. Researchers from the Stockholm Environment Institute, as the authors of this paper, describe the current state of climate information, and the expected human and physical consequences for which humanitarian organizations must be prepared to address in the next two decades.