Editorial
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Date
2022
Authors
O'Driscoll, Mervyn
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Royal Irish Academy
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Abstract
This Irish Studies in International Affairs volume is diverse in nature and content. It points towards a prevalent global and academic conviction that the global system is experiencing an unmatched period of change, transition, and even crisis. Numerous pressures are acting against the values and basis of the multilateral system from which Ireland has succoured and profited since the 1950s. Some have attributed the term ‘polycrisis’ to the universal and multiple crises experienced globally during this age. It is an era of accumulating, interwoven problems and changes that defy easy disentanglement. The global pandemic has had lasting impacts. In February 2022, the Russian invasion of Ukraine signified the return of major warfare to the European continent. The war has shattered complacency, tested multilateral institutions, and resulted in unquantifiable human suffering, including generating the largest refugee crisis in Europe since World War Two. Nuclear signalling and nuclear deterrence have re-emerged. The war has also brutally exposed the hazards of energy dependency from a single source. Despite belated efforts to decarbonise, Europe and the world will remain reliant on fossil fuels for decades. Simultaneously, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) concluded in 2022 that the globe will surpass the 1.5 degrees Celsius threshold by 2040 if dramatic action is not taken immediately. Compounding this is an intensification of economic and inflationary pressures.
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Keywords
Global system , Change , Crisis , Polycrisis , Refugee crisis , Ukraine
Citation
O’Driscoll, M. (2022) 'Editorial', Irish Studies in International Affairs, 33(1), pp. 1-6. https://doi.org/10.1353/isia.2022.0021
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© 2022, Royal Irish Academy.