It is just possible to read Parag Khanna’s latest work and take comfort in our prospects here in Europe’s troubled offshore island – but that optimism (as learned when coding in the late 60’s) – is a Multiple IF statement. The likelihood of a positive outcome is dependent on passing a series of successively dependent tests, each with its own probability of success. IF this, IF that, and IF something else, THEN this may be. Optimists may rejoice that the ELSE, and the timeframe, remains unstated. Even the far-seeing Parag Khanna can only divine a favourable outcome for Britain ‘despite itself’.
As we all edge ever closer to COP26 in Glasgow, and media outlets and governments turn their talents towards analysing climatic challenges, Parag’s focus is humanity – how mass migration will reshape the entire world. Those of us who were captivated by Bronowski’s ‘Ascent of Man’ back in 1973 may still vividly recall the migrating Lapps and their reindeer herds. Their nomadic wanderings across the arctic in search of grazing and shelter may have only recently faded but will be as nothing to the emergent mass migrations in search of climatic sufficiency, sustainability, and survival.
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