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Experts Knew a Pandemic Was Coming. Here’s What They’re Worried About Next.
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Experts Knew a Pandemic Was Coming. Here’s What They’re Worried About Next.

Nine disasters we still aren’t ready for.

Garrett M. Graff
Politico Magazine, 2020
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Editorial Rating

9

Qualities

  • Analytical
  • Applicable
  • Concrete Examples

Recommendation

Scientists, policymakers and writers obsessed over destructive pandemics for years. They anticipated the political and economic chaos that the coronavirus pandemic is causing. People in the 21st century might still be ill-prepared to face other calamities – such as violent political extremism, nuclear apocalypse and massive earthquakes. And, the United States’ mistakes in its response to the pandemic may provide a wake-up call for crisis preparedness. This article listing nine more big ways things could go wrong might inspire you to prepare yourself for the next calamity.

Take-Aways

  • 1. Potential future calamities include the danger that violent white nationalism could become a global threat.
  • 2. “Deepfakes” and digital manipulation could undermine trust in the institutions people need.
  • 3. The COVID-19 pandemic is natural, but laboratory failures and bioterrorism could wreak even more havoc.

About the Author

Garrett M. Graff, a journalist and the director of cyber initiatives at the Aspen Institute, also wrote The Only Plane in the Sky: An Oral History of 9/11.

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