Food riots, revolutions, ethnic violence, urban health, fads and panics arise from collective actions. Complex systems science provides new opportunities to understand these collective behaviors by describing the patterns of behavior of individuals interacting through social networks.
Global Harm and Precaution
Policy makers today are making decisions that have global consequences. If an action has a suspected risk of causing severe harm globally, then it should not be taken in the absence of scientific near-certainty about its safety. NECSI analyzes when such precaution is warranted.
What will the outcome of social unrest be? Will the protestors achieve what they desire? And if not, what strategies can be used to prevent the suffering that causes unrest and the suffering that results from it?
Increases in food prices have driven vulnerable populations to desperation. NECSI research shows how US agricultural policies have affected food prices and triggered the global food crisis and global unrest taking place today.