* What political-economic systems and ideologies are compatible, or not, with economic justice, ecological integrity and technological responsibility?
* What political-economic systems and ideologies are compatible, or not, with slow output growth, no output growth or absolute output decline?
* Why are so many countries today, developing and developed alike, experiencing a resurgence of populist nationalism?
* Should global geopolitical structure be as unitary as possible, as devolved and localist as possible, something in between or something else entirely?
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The dramatic collapse of socialism in the late 1980s led many to believe that neoliberal techno-capitalism had proven itself to be the best of all possible political-economic systems and would now spread rapidly throughout the world. Those beliefs were stunningly naive. Today many of the world's pivotal developing countries are turning away from what they see as a flawed model promoted largely by Western and Westernized elites and are drawing instead on approaches more in alignment with their own values, culture and history. Russia, China, India, Turkey and Brazil, along with key countries in the Middle East, Africa and the rest of Asia and Latin America, are unapologetically adopting models in which the state plays a stronger role in economic affairs and parliamentary democracy plays a more limited if any role in political affairs. Many of these countries are explicitly embracing nationalist, religio-nationalist and ethno-nationalist political cultures. Meanwhile the two foundational liberal democratic capitalist polities - Europe and the United States - are in the midst of their greatest political-economic turmoil since the Great Depression/WWII, with a myriad of nationalist/populist movements, and fewer but still newly energized left-socialist movements, challenging the long-dominant center-right and center-left.
The stakes are enormous. For those motivated by a vision of a world of economic justice, ecological integrity and technological responsibility, what modes, conditions and structures of governance and political culture should be encouraged or discouraged, and how? Can we distinguish between a benign liberal nationalism and a malign ethno-nationalism, or does all nationalism eventually foster conflict? What sorts of political-economic systems are compatible with a world of slow output growth, no output growth or absolute output decline? Should we work towards a unitary global governance structure, 5-7 continental "civilizational" structures, ~200 neo-Westphalian nation states, 2000-4000 devolved polities or something else?
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For more see the Working Paper Expanded Outline Section IV, Discussion Notes 77, 145-210, 211-221 and 222-223, and Attachments B.3 and E.2-E.6. See also Background Materials Section II.D.