Jim Dator The challenge The call for papers for this symposium was extremely daunting—multidimensional, multidisciplinary, multicultural, multitemporal—to be written in barely more than a very linear month after the call. With that in mind, I decided to focus on only one of the three areas of substance in the title of the call—US hegemony, pasts, presents and futures. Where should I commence my story? When did the US become a global hegemon—if it ever really was one in anyone’s mind but its own? Before the US existed, proto-Americans from Europe were brutally—genocidally–hegemonic in their interactions with the diverse and…
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by Lonny Avi Brooks Introduction For African-descended peoples, collapse is not a looming prospect but an ancestral memory—already survived and continually reinterpreted. The Middle Passage, enslavement, colonialism, and systemic racism each mark cataclysms from which Black communities have reimagined themselves and their futures. Afrofuturism arises precisely from this condition (Feukeu, 2024; Eshun, 2003): the cultural and speculative practice of imagining liberated Black futures in the wake of historical apocalypse. Collapse, in this tradition, functions as liberation technology—a generative force that strips away the veneer of permanence from oppressive systems and opens imaginative space for alternatives. Jim Dator’s recent provocation, Welcoming…
by Sohail Inayatullah This essay explores the need for a new world system, focusing on the transformation of the United Nations (UN). It discusses the limitations of the current UN structure, particularly the Security Council, and proposes various models for a more inclusive and effective global governance system. These models include the creation of multiple houses representing different interests, such as nation-states, commerce, non-governmental organizations, and citizens. Drawing from macrohistorical thinkers like P.R. Sarkar and Sima Quan, the essay also emphasizes the importance of inner change and the role of ethical and wise leaders in achieving a just and…
William E. Halal, PhD One of the most striking challenges of our time is that climate change, autocrats, polarization, wars, and a morass of other threats have shattered our faith in the future. The UN warned, “Societal collapse is likely unless a major decline in carbon emissions is made soon” (UN, 2022) and a PEW poll finds only 17 percent of people in other nations see the US as a role model of democracy (Timsit, 2021). A global survey found that a majority thinks “humanity is doomed” (Galer, 2021). Collective Intelligence Needed for a More Complex World This article…
Craig Runde Our values affect our reality and right now that reality is not very positive. Earth and its inhabitants are currently experiencing great strains. Climate change and global warming contribute to weather disasters and conditions that are forcing expensive environmental adaptations and large-scale human migrations. Scientists warn we are in the midst of a sixth extinction, where large scale species loss is caused by human activities. Our global political and economic systems are under considerable stress. Conflicts in various parts of the world are causing enormous suffering, particularly among civilian populations. Striking economic inequality creates disruptions among and within…
Martin Calnan & Thomas Mofolo “The old world is dying, and the new world struggles to be born; now is the time of monsters” – Antonio Gramsci Introduction – A decolonial metaphysics of U.S. hegemony The invitation of the symposium is to examine futures beyond U.S. hegemony. It is a powerful and necessary call in the face of the demons of war, genocide, violence and injustice that have invaded our geopolitical and geophysical landscape. However, we suggest that focusing on U.S. hegemony without addressing its deeper nature, treats the symptom, at best, while potentially contributing to its development. In the…
Steven Lichty, Adnan Arif, Barbara Bok, Carol Mei Mei Lim, Jose Ramos, Kateryna Ostrovska, Keil Eggers, Pierce Otlhogile-Gordon, Ramya Kumaran Abstract This article revisits Johan Galtung’s prediction of U.S. imperial decline by 2020–2025, analyzing it through the lens of the current “polycrisis” and a second Trump presidency. Drawing on workshops convened by the Participatory Futures Global Swarm in late 2024 and mid-2025, the authors argue that Galtung’s original fifteen contradictions have intensified and been joined by three new transversal fault lines: planetary limits versus imperial growth, digital surveillance versus the commons, and universalist versus pluriversal knowledge systems. The study maps…
Fadi Bayoud, PhD, MBA A Personal Preface Fifty years ago, I was born in the town of Jdeidet Marjeyoun – in South Lebanon – at the tri-border point where Lebanon, Syria, and occupied Palestine converge. From the balcony of my family home, I can still see the triangular intersection of those lands, a region once traversed freely by native Christians, Muslims, and Jews. For centuries, my ancestors moved across this terrain for trade, kinship, and cultural exchange, long before it was fractured by colonial borders, settler militarism, and apocalyptic mythologies. This analysis is offered not as provocation, but as…
by Kollo Lena Abstract This article presents a Causal Layered Analysis (CLA) of narratives about Palestine, from Palestinians, as a futures methodology for liberation. Conducted with Palestinian-British medical professionals in 2025, the analysis reveals how Zionist propaganda has systematically dehumanised Palestinians, while Palestinian sumud (steadfastness) and the metaphor of springtime represents an emerging regenerative narrative of resilience and renewal. The study demonstrates how CLA can serve as both analytical tool and emancipatory practice, helping marginalised communities reclaim their narratives and envision alternative futures. By identifying systemic causes, worldviews, and metaphors shaping Palestinian experiences, this research contributes to critical futures…
Steven Lichty The Confluence of Faith, Nation, and Global Power The contemporary political crisis in the United States, marked by intense polarisation and disputes over democratic legitimacy, is not merely a secular phenomenon but a conflict deeply rooted in religious-nationalist worldviews. An influential and systematised form of religious nationalism, American Christian Nationalism (ACN), poses a fundamental threat to the foundational tenets of American constitutional democracy, particularly the principle of universal religious freedom and the equality of civic standing for all citizens. This ideology fuses a specific, exclusionary strain of fundamentalist Christianity with nativist, patriarchal, and often white identity politics, driven…