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The Encyclopedia
of World Problems
& Human Potential

The rapidly changing state of the world makes planning in the face of complex interconnected problems a formidable challenge. Our ability to conceive adequate solutions and strategies is often undermined by our lack of understanding of the nature of problems in their wider context.  The Encyclopedia of World Problems and Human Potential offers a radically different perspective to associations, policy-makers, social researchers and those concerned with development strategy.  By clarifying the ways in which problems reinforce and sustain each other, the Encyclopedia shifts the level of attention from isolated problems to problem cycles, and thus to sustainable strategy cycles. This allows for a more holistic understanding of the environment in which global problems and strategies are situated.  

SELECTED PROBLEMS


  • Experimental visualization of narrower problems

    Inadequate transport infrastructure

    Nature:

    Many countries lack integrated transportation system plans and infrastructures which would coordinate all means of transport to satisfy the needs of development. Road and rail networks are inadequate; and if inland waterways exist their use may be primitive if they are used at all. In developed countries, the proportion of road to rail transport is not always economical; and in the large metropolitan areas, public passenger transportation systems do not meet the needs of the increasingly densely populated and trafficked urban centres.

    Broader Problems:
    Inadequate infrastructure
    Inadequate infrastructure
    Narrower Problems:
    Inadequate taxi service
    Inadequate taxi service
    Inadequate taxi service
    Irregular transport services
    Inadequate port infrastructure
    Inadequate air transport service
    Inadequate air transport service
    Inadequate rail transport facilities
    Inadequate rail transport facilities
    Limited transportation services in cities
    Inadequate integration of transport systems
    Inadequate inland waterway transport facilities
    Inadequate transport systems for isolated islands
    Prohibitive cost of maintaining imported technologies
    Inadequate transportation facilities for rural communities
    Lack of technical infrastructure for maritime commerce in developing countries

  • Experimental visualization of narrower problems

    Chronic alcoholism

    Nature:

    The level of alcohol consumption that qualifies as alcohol abuse varies considerably. In Canada in 1991, it was consumption of more than 15 alcoholic drinks per week, a puritanical figure in the eyes of some Canadian physicians. A 1993 American study labelled a woman's consumption of 4, and a man's consumption of 5 alcoholic drinks in succession as a drinking binge.

    Europe takes a more tolerant view. A 1996 study viewed moderate drinking as imbibing 2 to 4 glasses of wine or small glasses of beer a day. A 1997 French study claimed that 3 to 4 glasses of wine a day greatly reduced development of Alzheimer's disease, without making any inference about the dangers of alcohol abuse.

    A practical definition is that an alcoholic seriously abuses alcohol and drinks intoxicating amounts of alcoholic beverages several times a day on a regular basis. Alcoholics are excessive drinkers whose addiction to alcohol has attained such a degree that there is noticeable mental disturbance or interference with their bodily or mental health, their interpersonal relations, and their smooth social and economic functioning, or they are those people who show the signs of such development. They are unable to recognize the deleterious effects of their habit or, recognizing them, are nonetheless unable to curtail their alcohol consumption and continue in an almost compulsive way to drink heavily.

    Alcohol abuse can be distinguished from chronic alcoholism -- which is morbid dependence on alcohol with an easily awakened craving for alcohol, as well as loss of control (shakes and sweating) -- in that the physical and mental complications of the latter only occur in a minority of alcoholics. The complications of alcohol abuse occur primarily in the social sphere. The alcoholic takes alcohol as a mood-altering drug. He/she very early comes to rely more and more on defence mechanisms including, as well as outright denial and rationalizations, the mechanism of projection, namely the ascribing of his own defects to others; thus everything and everybody is wrong, particularly his family who may already suffer at the alcoholic's hands at a time when friends still think him to be a decent and reasonable person. Children's personality development may often be significantly affected by the alcoholic's unpredictable attitude and behaviour, leading to disturbed emotional relations with parents. Complications also occur at work. Alcoholism releases aggression which may be directed against others in anti-social and criminal acts, as well as in traffic accidents.

    Broader Problems:
    Addiction
    Substance abuse
    Consumption of alcohol
    Drug abuse in clubs and parties
    Narrower Problems:
    Cocaethylene abuse
    Juvenile alcoholism
    Alcohol-related crime
    Alcohol intoxication
    Children of alcoholics
    Children of alcoholics
    Children of alcoholics
    Children of alcoholics
    Alcohol idiosyncratic intoxication
    Alcohol idiosyncratic intoxication
    Health risks of alcohol consumption
    Solvent and methylated spirits drinking

  • Experimental visualization of narrower problems

    Espionage

    Nature:

    The covert collection of information about a rival or an ally may concern social, military, industrial or political data and may occur between different countries and ideologies or between rival firms or rival political groups in the same country. Highly sophisticated technological means are often used.

    Broader Problems:
    Subversion
    Aggressive foreign policy
    Aggressive foreign policy
    Narrower Problems:
    Counter-espionage
    Moles in espionage
    Military espionage
    Industrial espionage
    Sociological espionage
    Treachery by double agents
    International political espionage
    Covert intelligence agency operations
    Covert intelligence agency operations
    Mishandling of national security information
    Misuse of satellite surveillance by governments
    Misuse of satellite surveillance by governments
    Misuse of satellite surveillance by governments

  • Experimental visualization of narrower problems

    Fear

    Nature:

    A feeling of alarm caused by the expectation of danger, pain, disaster or other calamities, fear may lead to aggression and violence including war and conflict of all kinds. It may also lead to discrimination, conformism, inertia, alienation, delusion, dependency, lack of participation, corruption, injustice and inequality. Fear may exist in the form of general anxiety which has no object. Fear may also be phobic, that is, very specific to a particular object, condition, environment, etc, such as claustrophobia. Fear of grievous physical injury or death in the face of a real threat may cause tremor, sweating, heart palpitation, and involuntary passing of urine or faeces. Fear itself can be a cause of death, by shock or heart attack. Fear can grip whole armies or civilian populations.

    Narrower Problems:
    Phobia
    Cowardice
    Morbidity
    Morbidity
    Morbidity
    Illness anxiety disorder
    Illness anxiety disorder
    Discouragement
    Fear of nature
    Fear of nature
    Fear of nature
    Fear of failure
    Fear of success
    Collective panic
    Fear of intimacy
    Fear of intimacy
    Fear of ostracism
    Excessive caution
    Excessive caution
    Fear of officialdom
    Fear of growing old
    Fear of growing old
    Culture-induced fear
    Culture-induced fear
    Fear of future change
    Fear of future change
    Fear of abuse of power
    Fear of abuse of power
    Lack of self-confidence
    Fear of increased autonomy
    Fear of increased autonomy
    Risk of capital investment
    Fear of increased taxation
    Fear of personal insecurity
    Fear of personal insecurity
    Fear of personal insecurity
    Fear of personal insecurity
    Fear of personal insecurity
    Orthorexia

  • Experimental visualization of narrower problems

    Malaria

    Nature:

    Malaria is a parasite of red blood cells and the world's number one infectious disease. It is caused by infection of the liver with parasites of the genus Plasmodium, transmitted by the bite of infected anopheline mosquitoes Anopheles bifurcatus. The parasites cause the rupture of red blood cells and, in its worse cases, life-threatening anaemia, coma or death. The disease is characterized clinically by recurrent paroxysms of chills, high fever, seizures, sweating and prostration. It can lead to anaemia, kidney failure or rupture of the spleen. In man, malaria is produced by four specific parasites: Plasmodium vivax, P. malariae, P. ovale and P. falciparum. Falciparum malaria is the most life-threatening and has a fatality rate in untreated cases of 25%; it is transmitted by its African mosquito vector Anopheles gambiae.

    Malaria is worsening in many parts of the world. It is a major threat to health and development, is primarily an environmental and socio-economic problem. Past reliance on narrow strategies is increasingly seen as the reason for the resurgence of this debilitating disease. The P. falciparum] parasite has continued to evolve resistance to almost all drugs in use (chloroquine, sulfadoxine/pyramethamine, and mefloquine). In areas of mosquito control, research with bed nets impregnated with pyrethroid insecticide offers hope of at least partial control of transmission of the disease in certain epidemiological situations. However, many people cannot afford the mosquito nets, which cost $5-10. Patients can usually be saved if they receive prompt medical treatment, but many of them cannot afford doctor's fees or the cost of travel, in total often less than $20.

    Broader Problems:
    Fevers
    Tropical diseases
    Tropical diseases
    Mosquito-borne diseases
    Reemerging infectious diseases
    Disease risks of tropical travel
    Disease risks of tropical travel
    Narrower Problems:
    Hyperpyrexia
    Vivax malaria
    Ovale malaria
    Simian malaria
    Blackwater fever
    Malariae malaria
    Cerebral malaria
    Mammalian malaria
    Falciparum malaria
    Uneconomical diseases
    Drug-resistant malaria
    Recurrent induced malaria

About the Encyclopedia

The Encyclopedia of World Problems and Human Potential is a unique, experimental research work of the Union of International Associations. It is currently published as a searchable online platform with profiles of world problems, action strategies, and human values that are interlinked in novel and innovative ways. These connections are based on a range of relationships such as broader and narrower scope, aggravation, relatedness and more. By concentrating on these links and relationships, the Encyclopedia is uniquely positioned to bring focus to the complex and expansive sphere of global issues and their interconnected nature.

The initial content for the Encyclopedia was seeded from UIA’s Yearbook of International Organizations. UIA’s decades of collected data on the enormous variety of association life provided a broad initial perspective on the myriad problems of humanity. Recognizing that international associations are generally confronting world problems and developing action strategies based on particular values, the initial content was based on the descriptions, aims, titles and profiles of international associations.

About UIA

The Union of International Associations (UIA) is a research institute and documentation centre, based in Brussels. It was established in 1907, by Henri la Fontaine (Nobel Peace Prize laureate of 1913), and Paul Otlet, a founding father of what is now called information science.
 

Non-profit, apolitical, independent, and non-governmental in nature, the UIA has been a pioneer in the research, monitoring and provision of information on international organizations, international associations and their global challenges since 1907.

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