Conclusion

Recap

• Regions evaluated: Europe, Asia, Latin America, the Middle East, Africa,…

• Ideas evaluated: Democracy, Colonialism, Nationalism, Globalism, (Neo-)Liberal Economics, Self-Determination, Terrorism, Diversity,…

• Approaches taken: Geographical, Historical, Anthropological, Economical, Political, (Predictive)

• Challenges ahead: Population growth, Disease (HIV/AIDS), Sustainability,…

Adopting the Interdisciplinary Approach

• The interdisciplinary approach seeks a holistic approach that borrows the strengths of a variety of disciplines.– Political Science– Economic– Anthropology– Geography– History

Political Science Approach

• Assumes that all social units are political– Countries, families, communities, enterprises,

alliances, and all others– Political in that they organize and disagree around

issues of resource allocation, behavioral norms, and ownership of authority

• Analyzes the relations of conflict and power• Urges us to ask the question: How is power

distributed and used to manage conflict?

Economic Approach

• Assumes that all social units act rationally and seek to maximize gains and minimize losses as best they can, given their understanding of the situation

• Seeks to understand the behaviors of stakeholders in a situation and predict their future actions

• Urges us to ask the question: What are the costs and benefits of particular courses of action?

Anthropology Approach

• Reminds us of the different perspectives that influence thought and decision-making

• Also reminds us that principles and values are sometimes significant, along with power and wealth

• Urges us to ask the question: What do these events mean to the peoples involved in them, and how do these beliefs and values shape their interactions?

Geography Approach

• Assumes the importance of the relationships between groups of people and the places where they live

• Emphasizes the description and analysis of the relations between people, space, and environment, and urges us to broaden our analysis

• Urges us to ask the question: How are the events I’m analyzing shaped by spatial environments – and vice versa?

History Approach

• Adds context that is crucial for understanding contemporary conflicts and developing solutions

• Reminds us that every people has a past, and they draw on that past to understand who they are

• Teaches us to ask the question: How did things get to where they are now?

Solution-Oriented Analysis

• Three stages to using interdisciplinary thinking to analyze global issues1. Identification and description of the issue2. A description of previous attempts to solve the

problem, and why these solutions haven’t worked3. Recommendations for a way to resolve the problem and

overcome obstacles that caused earlier efforts to fail• One of the biggest problems with finding solutions

for global problems is replication of previously used solutions

Sources of Innovative Solutions

• Bottom-up Strategy• Leveraging Inequalities• Fair Trade• Social Entrepreneurship• Appropriate Technologies• Microfinance Techniques

Bottom-up Strategy

• In 2007, four Miami University undergraduates won The Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s “Just Jerusalem 2050” competition

• Competition on ideas for creating a more sustainable environment for the future of Jerusalem

• An economical bottom-up approach in which individual water-management techniques were used to take the stress off of Jerusalem’s water system won the Miami undergraduates first place in the international competition

Leveraging Inequalities

• Ryan Hreljac began saving his money as a first grader in 1999 in order to build a well for cleaning drinking water in Africa

• After gaining recognition for his efforts through media, his idea snowballed into what is now known as Ryan’s Well Foundation, which to this day has built over 680 wells and 820 latrines that serve over 723,000 people, mostly in Africa

• “Power of one”

Fair Trade

• Another approach to improve the lives of small producers within the market system is to transform the trade system to make it more equitable

• Fair trade is a small, yet important part of global trade

• One idea is to set a minimum price of certain goods so that producers can plan ahead and know how much they will be earning for production regardless of market fluctuations

Social Entrepreneurship

• Entrepreneurial principles to create, organize, and manage ventures designed to produce social change

• Essential to the success of social entrepreneurship is relationship building and individuals who are energetic and innovative enough to establish sustainable social projects

Appropriate Technologies

• The idea that those who typically cannot afford the technologies common in the West are able to afford these technologies

• A lot of the time it is other features of these societies that limit the amount of technology that can thrive in the area– To adapt to this, the idea that developing

appropriate for certain environments and infrastructures has become popular

Microfinance

• Microfinancing involves providing small-scale financial services including loans, savings accounts, fund transfers, and insurance to low-income clients or groups, who traditionally lack access to banking services

• The success of microfinancing seems to depend heavily on lending institutions rooted in the communities in which they provide services