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'''Thomas (Tad) Homer-Dixon''' (born 1956 in ]) holds the Centre for International Governance Innovation Chair of Global Systems at the Balsillie School of International Affairs in ] |
'''Thomas (Tad) Homer-Dixon''' (born 1956 in ]) currently holds the ] Chair<ref></ref> of Global Systems at the ]<ref></ref> in ]. He is Director of the at the ], and Professor in the Faculty of Environment, School of Environment, Enterprise and Development,<ref>, University of Waterloo, Ontario</ref> University of Waterloo. He previously held the ] Chair of Peace and Conflict Studies<ref>“” Peace Magazine (July-August, 1996): 31.</ref> at the ]<ref>“.” UofT Magazine (Summer 2004).</ref> at the ]. | ||
Dr. Homer-Dixon’s research is highly ], focusing on threats to ] in the 21st century<ref>''''(Princeton University Press, 1999).</ref> <ref>The ], ], announces upcoming talk by Thomas Homer-Dixon about ‘.’</ref> and on how societies adapt to complex economic, ], and technological change.<ref>“Exploring Complexity in Economic Theory”, of a talk given at the Institute for New Economic Thinking, Bretton Woods Conference, 2011.</ref> <ref>Thomas Homer-Dixon on "Panarchy." of the interview on KMO radio, February 24, 2009.</ref> <ref>Homer-Dixon, Thomas. “.” ''Alternatives Journal'' (June 18, 2009).</ref> <ref>Homer-Dixon, Thomas. “.” ''Toronto Globe and Mail'' Op-ed (Saturday, December 24, 2011).</ref> He is particularly interested in the nature of ],<ref>Panelists at the Royal Ontario Museum’s ‘’ Discussion, May 19, 2009.</ref> the relationship between economic growth and ],<ref>“” Green Business: Strategies for Corporate Sustainable Development, June 10, 2009.</ref> the links between ], ], and conflict;<ref>“.” ''The Cord'', June 9, 2011.</ref> <ref>Lorinc, John . “” ''New York Times'', Environment section, Green Blogs (May 15, 2009)</ref> and the use of the ] for democratic problem solving.<ref>]], August 25, 2003.</ref> <ref>Homer-Dixon, Thomas. “” ''Toronto Globe and Mail'' Op-ed (November 24, 2000).</ref> This work builds upon ideas in his award-winning books '']'' (2006),<ref>''The Upside of Down'' </ref> '']'' (2000),<ref>''The Ingenuity Gap'' </ref> and ''Environment, Scarcity, and Violence'' (1999).<ref>''''(Princeton University Press, 1999).</ref> As a home for these and other research projects, Dr. Homer-Dixon has recently established the . He writes regularly for leading national and international newspapers <ref> on the Homer-Dixon web site.</ref> and speaks widely on topics relating to innovation, ], ], and global security.<ref> page of Homer-Dixon web site.</ref> <ref>“Uncertainty, Lags, and Nonlinearity: Challenges to Governance in a Turbulent World.” of the talk at Future of Humanity Institute, University of Oxford, June 9, 2009.</ref> His research findings have influenced senior policymakers in Canada,<ref>Dembo, Ron (January 17, 2007). “Resilience and Civilization.” in ''Huff Post Politics Canada''.</ref> <ref>“Energy and Climate Change: A Sustainable Future?” to the Canadian International Council 2008 National Foreign Policy Conference , June 20, 2008.</ref> <ref>University of Toronto Faculty of Law, announcement of ‘’, November 1-2, 2007.</ref> the United States,<ref>Homer-Dixon, Thomas. “.” ''Foreign Policy'' Special Report on the Economy (January/February 2011): 0-1.</ref> <ref>Homer-Dixon, Thomas. “” in ''US Policy and Global Environment: Memos to the President'' (Aspen Institute, 2001).</ref> and the United Kingdom.<ref>“” Address to the Royal Society of London, October 2, 2003.</ref> <ref>“Uncertainty, Lags, and Nonlinearity: Challenges to Governance in a Turbulent World.” of the lecture at the Oxford Institute for Ethics, Law and Armed Conflict (ELAC), May 7, 2009.</ref> | |||
==Early life== | ==Early life== | ||
Born in Victoria, British Columbia in 1956, Thomas Homer-Dixon enjoyed a childhood enriched by spectacular natural surroundings.<ref></ref> In his late teens and early twenties, he gained first-hand knowledge of Canada’s oil industry while working as a ] on ], a laborer in gas refineries, and a welder’s helper on ] construction. In 1980, he received a ] in ] from ] in ]. He then established the Canadian Student Pugwash organization,<ref>Rockwell, Peigi . “.” ''Peace Magazine'' (June/July, 1993): 20.</ref> a movement that provided Canadian university students with a forum for discussion of issues of science, ethics, and public policy. In 1983, Thomas and a friend traveled in the Soviet Union, South Asia and Africa. This trip inspired much of his later thought, research and writing, particularly his ongoing interest in the connection between environmental stress and conflict.<ref> (Princeton University. Press, 2001).</ref> Thomas was then accepted into the ] program at the ], where his studies focused on ], defense and ] policy, ], ] and conflict theory.<ref>Homer-Dixon, Thomas. “” ''International Studies Quarterly'', Vol. 33, no. 4. (December 1989): 389-410.</ref> He completed his Ph.D. in 1989. In the concluding years of his graduate studies, and as a postdoctoral fellow before leaving Cambridge, he began studying energy economics and the science of climate change. | |||
Homer-Dixon was raised in a rural area outside ].<ref> (Accessed March 5, 2007.)</ref> | |||
==Teaching, Researching, Writing== | |||
He received his ] degree in ] from ] in 1980 and his ] degree in Political Science from ] in 1989, where he studied international relations, defense and arms control policy, cognitive science and conflict theory. He then moved to the University of Toronto where he led several international research projects studying the links between environmental stress and violence in developing countries. | |||
Dr. Homer-Dixon began his academic career at the ] in 1990 as the leader of several path-breaking research projects examining links between environmental stress and violence in poor countries.<ref>Homer-Dixon, Thomas. “.” ''International Security'', Vol. 19, No. I, (Summer 1994): 5-40.</ref> In 1993, he joined the faculty of University College and the Department of Political Science, progressing to full professor status in 2006. During this time, he was Director of the ] Program, University College, and was the Director of the ]<ref></ref> from 2004 to 2007. In 2008, Dr. Homer-Dixon moved to the ], Ontario to assume the role as the ] Chair of Global Systems at the newly created ].<ref>Davis, Jeff. “” CIGI Online (February 20, 2008).</ref> <ref>Reinhart, Anthony. “” ''Toronto Globe and Mail'' (July 3, 2009).</ref> He is also a full professor in the Faculty of the Environment, as well as the Director of the . He has supervised and advised a dozen Ph.D. students. | |||
====Research and Writing==== | |||
==Work== | |||
In the 1990’s at the University of Toronto, Dr. Homer-Dixon pioneered the study of the links between environmental stress and violent conflict. Two seminal articles in the MIT journal '']'' identified underlying mechanisms by which scarcities of natural resources like cropland and fresh water can contribute to ], ethnic clashes, ], and ] in poor countries.<ref>Homer-Dixon, Thomas (Summer 1994). “.” ''International Security'' Vol. 19, No. I, pp. 5-40.</ref> <ref>Homer-Dixon, Thomas. “.” ''International Security'', Vol. 16, No.2, (Summer 1994): 76-116.</ref> The research emerging from these articles eventually involved 100 researchers on four continents <ref> – ''Project on Environmental Scarcities, State Capacity, and Civil Violence''.</ref> <ref> – ''The Project on Environment, Population, and Security''.</ref> and significantly influenced policy debates about national and international security.<ref>Hurst, Linda. “The global guru World leaders are listening to.” ''The Toronto Star'' (July 20, 1996): C1.</ref> <ref>Laver, Ross. “Looking for Trouble.” ''Maclean’s'' 107 (September 5, 1994): 18-22.</ref> Dr. Homer-Dixon’s first book, ''Environment, Scarcity, and Violence'' (Princeton University Press, 1999), summarized the results of this research, won the Caldwell Prize <ref>'''' (Princeton University Press, 1999).</ref> of the ], and became a standard reference in the literature on ]. | |||
Recently, his research has focused on threats to global ] in the 21st century and on how societies adapt to complex economic, ecological, and technological change. His work is highly interdisciplinary, drawing on political science, economics, environmental studies, geography, cognitive science, social psychology and complex systems theory. Homer-Dixon is widely regarded as a central figure in the Environment and Security debate, having significantly shaped the discourse in the field. | |||
In an effort to better understand why some societies cannot cope with severe environmental stress, Dr. Homer-Dixon then studied the sources of, and impediments to, technological and institutional innovation. This work produced a novel theory of innovation, drawing on ] in economics and centered on the concept of the “ingenuity gap.” First introduced in an article in ''Population and Development Review''<ref>''''</ref> in 1995, it provided a way of advancing beyond the sterile debate between neo-Malthusians and ] over resource limits to economic growth.<ref>Homer-Dixon, Thomas. “” ''Population and Development Review'', Vol. 21, No. 33 (September 1995).</ref> | |||
At this point, wishing to convey these ideas to a broader public, Dr. Homer-Dixon committed a decade of his career to writing two general-interest books, each involving an enormous amount of additional ]. '']'',<ref>'''' (Random House, 2000)</ref> published simultaneously in Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom in 2000, elaborated his general theory of innovation. It won Canada’s ] in 2001. '']: Catastrophe, Creativity, and the Renewal of Civilization'',<ref>'''' (Random House, 2006)</ref> published in Canada and the United States in 2006 and in the United Kingdom and Australia in 2007, examined the causes of ] (including innovation failures in energy supply), the likelihood of collapse in our modern world, and ways such outcomes might be turned to humankind’s advantage. It won Canada’s 2006 ]<ref>''The Upside of Down'' wins .</ref> <ref>” Newswire.ca announcement, May 14, 2007.</ref> and was named a '']'' Best Book in politics and religion in 2007.<ref>Honigmann, David. “” ''Financial Times'' (December 8, 2007).</ref> | |||
Arriving at the University of Waterloo in 2008, Dr. Homer-Dixon returned to intensive scholarly research. Because ] now deeply informs his work, he established the Waterloo Institute for Complexity and Innovation.<ref>WICI .</ref> He also initiated three linked research projects: on the structure and dynamics of political ideologies; on alternatives to materially intensive economic growth; and on how Internet-based open-source practices might support democratic problem solving.<ref>.</ref> <ref>WICI .</ref> These projects’ first products, in the form of scholarly articles, will start appearing in 2013. | |||
Homer-Dixon proposed six kinds of environmental scarcity that could potentially produce violent conflict. | |||
==Recognition and Impact at Home and Abroad== | |||
1) Greenhouse Effect | |||
In the mid-1990s, Dr. Homer-Dixon’s research on the links between environmental stress and conflict<ref>Kennedy, Bingham. “” '']'' (January 2001).</ref> initiated a wave of work on the topic by research teams around the world. His findings also influenced policy debates at the highest levels of the ]:<ref>US DEPARTMENT OF STATE DISPATCH, VOLUME 5, NUMBER 27, JULY 4, 1994: “”; in the section of his speech titled “Daunting Challenges Ahead”, President Clinton mentions Homer-Dixon’s work on the subject.</ref> along with members of his research team, he briefed senior officials in the ], the ], and the ], as well as cabinet members and the Vice President, ].<ref>“” – in this statement before the National Press Club, Timothy E. Wirth mentions Homer-Dixon’s work, p.1.</ref> <ref>“Apocalypse Soon.” ''The Economist'' . 332.7873 (July 23, 1994): A25.</ref> Largely as a result, the US federal government established several policy working groups and research programs to study the implications of environmentally induced conflict.<ref>On March 18, 2000, Thomas Homer-Dixon participated in the at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.</ref> | |||
2) Statosphere Ozone Depletion | |||
3) Degradation and loss of good agricultural land | |||
4) Degradation and removal of forests | |||
5) Depletion and pollution of fresh water supplies | |||
6) Depletion of fisheries | |||
His ] remains highly influential, for instance most recently as a tool to analyze the links between climate change and international security. In April 2007, prior to the open ] debate on these links, Dr. Homer-Dixon briefed Security Council delegations on his framework at the request of the ] (then Chair of the Security Council).<ref>Homer-Dixon, Thomas. “.” ''New York Times'' Op-ed (April 24, 2007).</ref> | |||
He identified three causal paths by which scarcity produces conflict: | |||
1) Decreasing supplies of physically controllable resources might provoke inter-state "simple-scarcity" conflicts or "resource wars" | |||
2) Large population movements caused by environment stress might induce "group-identity" conflicts such as ethnic clashes | |||
3) Scarcity could simultaneously increase economic deprivation and disrupt social institutions, causing "deprivation conflicts" reflected in civil strife and insurgency. | |||
Homer-Dixon’s research on ], ], climate change, energy, and the risks of rising ] has also received wide international attention. At the Fifty-fifth session of the ], November 2000, the member from Singapore cited a section of his book '']'' to illustrate how violence and increased poverty usually follows when a section of society is ‘left behind’ by the rest of the world.<ref>At the , November 1, 2000, 47th plenary meeting, agenda item 50, the member from Singapore cited ''The Ingenuity Gap'' (see pg. 5)</ref> The 2001 Special Report of the ]: “Aids and Violent Conflict in Africa” mentioned Homer-Dixon’s ''Environmental Scarcity and Violence'' to argue for “clear parallels between the effects of environmental scarcities and the unfolding AIDS crisis in Africa.”<ref>In the U.S. Institute of Peace Report: “”, Homer-Dixon’ s work is cited on pg. 6 of full report.</ref> His January/February 2002 cover story in '']'' on “Complex Terrorism” called attention to the vulnerabilities of modern complex infrastructure to terrorist attack; it was among the most-read ''FP'' articles in the magazine’s history.<ref>Homer-Dixon, Thomas. “.” ''Foreign Policy'' (January 1, 2002).</ref> And his fall 2004 article with Julio Friedmann<ref>HPC Roadmap: </ref> in '']'' titled “Out of the Energy Box” was among the first to outline the advantages and pitfalls of ] in a world of soaring ] consumption. | |||
==Awards== | |||
His award-winning works include: ''The Upside of Down: Catastrophe, Creativity, and the Renewal of Civilization'', which won the 2006 National Business Book Award; '']'', which won the 2001 Governor-General's Non-fiction Award; and ''Environment, Scarcity, and Violence'', which received the 2000 Lynton Caldwell Prize from the American Political Science Association. | |||
Closer to home, Dr.Homer-Dixon’s research has directly influenced public policy nationally,<ref>Dembo, Ron. “” Interview in ''Huff Post Politics Canada'' (January 17, 2007).</ref> <ref>“” Canadian Business Ethics Research Network.</ref> provincially,<ref>Thomas Homer-Dixon among the panelists at the , 2010 Conference</ref> <ref> Newswire.ca, March 3, 2010, announcement of speakers at the Ontario 2020 Conference, March 2010.</ref> and locally.<ref>Mercer, Greg. ''The Record''.com (February 4, 2011).</ref> He frequently addresses large audiences all across Canada sharing his research and ideas on such critical topics as energy,<ref>Allen, Abby. ''The Legend'', University of Lethbridge, Alberta (February 25, 2010).</ref> <ref> ''The Cord'' (June 9, 2011).</ref> the economy,<ref>, 2011, Thomas Homer-Dixon, keynote speaker.</ref> <ref>Colman, Robert. ''Green Business'' (June 10, 2009).</ref> climate change,<ref>University of Toronto Faculty of Law, announcement of , November 1-2, 2007.</ref> the dangers of complex terrorism, and the increasing need for ] and ].<ref>Announcement of Thomas Homer-Dixon’s keynote address at , October 26, 2010.</ref> <ref> of “Complexity Science and Public Policy”, the John L. Manion Lecture, delivered May 5, 2010 for the ].</ref> Dr. Homer-Dixon has also spoken about these key issues to the ], the Ontario Economic Summit,<ref>Ontario Economic Summit, 2008, , including Thomas Homer-Dixon.</ref> the First Nation’s Trade and Economic Summit,<ref>Write up in ''Native Journal'' about the , with comments by Thomas Homer-Dixon.</ref> and the leaders of ].<ref> Article in ''Power News'', April 25, 2008. (See p. 4).</ref> Ontario’s Environmental Commissioner notes that Dr. Homer-Dixon’s elaboration of the concept of ] centrally influenced his office’s 2008/2009 Annual Report (titled Building Resilience).<ref>Environmental Commissioner of Ontario, 2008/2009 Annual Report, </ref> | |||
==Bibliography== | |||
*{{cite book | year = 2006 | title = ]: Catastrophe, Creativity, and the Renewal of Civilization | publisher = Knopf | location = Toronto| isbn = 0-676-97722-7}} | |||
Over the last decade, he has spoken to academic, business, and lay audiences across Canada about innovation and adaptation in an increasingly complex world. His large number of talks to school and college audiences, school boards, and educators’ professional associations reflect his deep commitment to educating young people, as does the detailed study guide to '']'' that he provides online.<ref>The Upside of Down, .</ref> | |||
*{{cite book | year = 2000 | title = ] | publisher = Knopf | location = New York | isbn = 0-375-40186-5}} | |||
*{{cite book | year = 1999 | title = Environment, Scarcity, and Violence | publisher = Princeton University Press | location = Princeton | isbn = 0-691-02794-3}} | |||
He intends the to be a key vehicle for public education. The Institute will have an outreach program of public lectures, workshops, mid-career courses and publication of journals, books, and op-eds to help policymakers, students, and the broader public use ideas from ] to address our societies’ most intractable problems. | |||
*{{cite book | year = 1994 | title = Population and Conflict | publisher = International Union for the Scientific Study of Population | location = Liège | isbn = 2-87108-032-1}} | |||
*{{cite book | year = 1993 | title = Environmental Scarcity and Global Security | publisher = ] | location = New York | isbn = 0-87124-152-8}} | |||
==Selected Writings, Presentations, and Interviews== | |||
====Selected Invited Presentations and Papers since 2000==== | |||
* ], Manion Lecture, Ottawa, Ontario, May 5, 2010. | |||
* 2010 Annual Conference of the Centre for Outsourcing Research & Education, keynote address, Toronto, Ontario, April 22, 2010. | |||
* Conference on The Great Transformation: Climate change as cultural change, June 8, Essen, Germany, Essen, Germany, June 8, 2009.<ref>, Essen, Germany, June 8-10, 2009.</ref> | |||
* “Convergence and Crisis: Challenges to Foreign Ministries in a Turbulent World,” Conference on the Future of Foreign Ministries, Toronto, June 3, 2009. | |||
* Oxford Institute for Ethics, Law and Armed Conflict, ], UK, May 7 2009. | |||
* “A Theory of Societal Collapse: Convergent Stress, Thermodynamic Disequilibrium, and Brittleness,” Winchester Lecture, Oxford University, UK, May 6, 2009. | |||
* 20th Anniversary Conference of the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy, Ottawa, Ontario, Oct. 30, 2008. | |||
* Ingar Moen Memorial Lecture, Science & Technology Symposium, Defence Research and Development Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, April 25, 2007. | |||
* “The Necessity of Complexity: Taking Environmental-Conflict Research beyond Mechanism,” Thomas Homer-Dixon, Tom Deligiannis, and Dirk Druet, ], Annual Conference Chicago, February 28, 2007. | |||
* “Ingenuity Theory: Adapting to Complexity,” Carl Gustaf Bernhard Lecture, ], Stockholm, Sweden, April 27, 2005. | |||
* ], London, England, October 2, 2003. | |||
* “Environmental Scarcity and Violent Conflict: The State of the Field,” ], May 2003. | |||
* Robert J. Pelosky, Jr., Distinguished Speaker Series, ], ], November 25, 2002. | |||
* “The Capitalist Trilemma,” Program on International Politics, Economics, and Security, ], March 7, 2002. | |||
* “The Rise of Complex Terrorism,” ], Washington, DC, February 21, 2002. | |||
* “The Ingenuity Gap,” Jock Munro Lecture, ], Vancouver, November 27, 2001. | |||
* “Global Public Health, Complex Systems, and the Ingenuity Gap,” Fulbright Conference on Global Health, Bellagio, Italy, October 30, 2001. | |||
* “The Ingenuity Gap and Its Implications for Development Policy,” ], Washington, DC, May 8, 2001. | |||
* “The Links between Environmental Scarcity and Violent Conflict: The State of the Field,” ] Conference, Wilton Park, UK, March 2, 2001. | |||
====From Peer-Reviewed Books==== | |||
* '''' (Princeton University Press, 1999). | |||
* with Tom Deligiannis, in '''', eds. Brauch, Hans Günter; Oswald Spring, Úrsula; Grin, John; Mesjasz, Czeslaw; Kameri-Mbote, Patricia; Behera, Navnita Chadha; Chourou, Béchir; Krummenacher, Heinz, Hexagon Series on Human and Environmental Security and Peace, vol. 4 (Berlin, Heidelberg, New York: Springer-Verlag, 2008). | |||
* ” with Daniel Schwartz (first author) and Tom Deligiannis, chapter 13 in '''', eds. Paul Diehl and Nils Petter Gleditsch (Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press, 2001). | |||
* with Jeffrey Boutwell, '''', ed. Joe Kruzel (Lexington, 1994). | |||
* chapter 2 in '', ed. Nazli Choucri (Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press, 1993). | |||
====From Peer-Reviewed Journals==== | |||
* ''Alternatives Journal'' 35, no. 4 (2009): 8-38. | |||
* with Edward Barbier, ''Ambio 28'', no. 2 (1999): 144-7. | |||
* with Valerie Percival, '']'' 35, no. 3 (1998): 279-98. | |||
* with Valerie Percival, '']'' 5, no. 3 (September 1996): 270-91. | |||
* ''The Journal of Environment and Development'' 5, no. 2 (Spring 1996): 132-48. | |||
* '''' 21, no. 3 (September 1995): 587-612. | |||
* '''' 2, no. 2 (Fall 1994): 7-40. | |||
* '']'' 19, no. 1 (Summer 1994): 5-40. | |||
* ''International Security'' 16, no. 2 (Fall 1991): 76-116. | |||
* “Environmental Change, Economic Decline, and Civil Strife in Developing Countries,” ''International Studies Notes'' (Spring 1991). | |||
* with Roger Karapin, '']'' 33, no. 4 (December 1989): 389-410. | |||
* ''International Security'' 12, no. 1 (Summer 1987). | |||
====Significant Publications==== | |||
* with Eddy Carmack, et al., ''Ambio 41'' (2012): 56-65. | |||
* with Frances Westley, et al., ''Ambio 40'' (2011): 762–780. | |||
* '']'' (January-February, 2008). | |||
* Chapter 2 in , eds. Steven Bernstein, Jutta Brunnée, and Andrew Green (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2007). | |||
* with Julio Friedman, '']'' 83, No. 6 (November/December 2004): 72-83. | |||
* in Andrew Heintzman and Evan Solomon, eds. (Toronto: Anansi, 2003). | |||
* ” '']'' (January/February 2002). | |||
* “Environmental Scarcities and Civil Violence,” in Donald Kennedy and John Riggs, eds., July 8-11, 2000, Aspen, Colorado (Washington, DC: Aspen Institute, 2000). | |||
====Significant Op-Eds==== | |||
* ''The Globe and Mail'', Saturday, December 24, 2011. | |||
* ''The Globe and Mail'', December 12, 2011. | |||
* ''The Globe and Mail'', March 18, 2011. | |||
* ''Foreign Policy'', January 2011. | |||
* ''The Globe and Mail'', December 31, 2010. | |||
* ''New York Times'', Editorial / Opinion, Sunday, August 23, 2010. | |||
* ''The Globe and Mail'', Saturday, August 9, 2009. | |||
* ''The Globe and Mail'', April 4, 2009. | |||
* ''The Globe and Mail'', September 26, 2008. | |||
* with David Keith, ''New York Times'', September 20, 2008. | |||
* with Steward Elgie, ''The Globe and Mail'', August 6, 2008. | |||
* ''New York Times'', Thursday, October 4, 2007. | |||
* ''The Globe and Mail'', Monday, August 6, 2007. | |||
* ''New York Times'', Tuesday, April 24, 2007. | |||
* ''New York Times'', Wednesday, November 29, 2006. | |||
* ''The Globe and Mail'', Saturday, October 21, 2006. | |||
* ''The Globe and Mail'', Monday, September 11, 2006. | |||
* ''New York Times'', August 13, 2005. | |||
* with Julio Friedmann, ''New York Times'', March 25, 2005. | |||
* ''The Globe and Mail'', February 8, 2003. | |||
* ''The Globe and Mail'', March 6, 2002. | |||
* ''The Globe and Mail'', September 12, 2001. | |||
* ''Washington Post'', February 4, 2001. | |||
* ''Financial Times'', London, January 2, 2001. | |||
* “ ''The Globe and Mail'', June 17, 2000. | |||
====Interviews==== | |||
* focussing on “Wicked Problems and Solutions,” March 1, 2011. | |||
* of the CIGI "Inside the Issues" interview with David Welch on climate change, February 1, 2011. | |||
* of the interview with Eric Paglia of "Think Globally Radio", Stockholm, Sweden, on “Risk, uncertainty, and transformation in a time of crisis,” September 19, 2010. | |||
* of the interview with TVOntario’s Alan Gregg on the book ''Carbon Shift'', March 19, 2010. | |||
* of the interview by Terrence McNally of ] in Los Angeles on ''The Upside of Down'', March 24, 2009. | |||
* of the interview for KMO C-Realm on “The Growth Imperative,” February 4, 2009. | |||
* of the interview on Chicago Public Radio’s "Worldview" on ‘Land Distribution Problems and Conflicts,” April 30, 2008. | |||
* of the discussion with Jon Faine and Jill Singer for "The Conversation Hour" on Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) Melbourne, August 27, 2007. | |||
* of the interview by Fareed Zakaria on the ] show "Foreign Exchange" about ''The Upside of Down'', January 5, 2007. | |||
* A with the Rt. Honourable ] about the Internet and the revitalization of democracy, August6 25, 2003. | |||
* conducted by Ted Rutland of the webzine "Uncommon Good" on the subject of ''The Ingenuity Gap'', November 30, 2001. | |||
==Books and Book Reviews== | |||
====Books==== | |||
* , ed. with Nicholas Garrison (Random House of Canada, 2009). | |||
* (Knopf Canada, Island Press (US), 2006; Souvenir Press (UK), Text Publishing (Australia), 2007). | |||
* (Knopf Canada, Knopf (US), and Jonathan Cape (UK), 2000; Boreal (Quebec), 2002; and Espasa (Spain), 2003). | |||
* (Princeton University Press, 1999). | |||
* , ed. with Jessica Blitt (], 1998). | |||
* , ed. with Anne Perkins, Ottawa: CSP Publications, 1982. | |||
====Selected Book Reviews==== | |||
* of ], "Global Catastrophes and Trends and Chris Patten, What Next"? in ''Nature'', vol. 458 (March 19, 2009). | |||
* of Helge Brunborg, Ewa Tabeau, and ], "The Demography of Armed Conflict" (Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer, 2006), in ''Population Development Review'' 34, no. 2 (June 2008): 364-66. | |||
* of Colin Kahl, "States, Scarcity, and Civil Strife in the Developing World" (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2006), in ''Population and Development Review'' 32, no. 3 (September 2006): 585-87. | |||
==Awards and Offices Held== | |||
====Awards==== | |||
* 2010 Outstanding Performance Award, University of Waterloo. | |||
* 2007 ] for ''The Upside of Down''. | |||
* 2001 Governor General’s Literary Award for Non-Fiction, ] for the Arts, for ''The Ingenuity Gap'' (sole author). | |||
* 2000 ] Prize of the American Political Science Association for ''Environment, Scarcity, and Violence'' (sole author). | |||
* 1999 ] Award for linking teaching and research, University of Toronto. | |||
* 1989/1990 ] of Canada, Postdoctoral Fellowship. | |||
====Offices Held==== | |||
* 2008-Present, Joint appointment: CIGI Chair of Global Systems, ]; Full Professor, Faculty of Arts and Faculty of Environment, University of Waterloo. | |||
* 1993-2008, Faculty, University of Toronto, Joint appointment in University College and the Department of Political Science (Assistant Professor, 1993-98; promoted to Associate Professor, 1998; promoted to full Professor, 2006). ] Chair of Peace and Conflict Studies, University College, 2007-2008. | |||
* 2001-2007, University of Toronto, Director, ], University College. | |||
* 1990-2001 University of Toronto, Director, Peace and Conflict Studies Program, University College. | |||
* 1995-1999, Member, Committee on International Security Studies, ]. | |||
* 1994-1999, Associate Editor, Security Dialogue, ] (PRIO), Norway. | |||
* 1995-1997, Associate Fellow, ]. | |||
* 1994-1997, Member, Board of International Security Studies Section, ]. | |||
* 1994, Visiting Scholar, ]. | |||
* 1993-1995, Member, Committee on Science and International Security, ], Washington, D.C. | |||
* 1990-91, Member, Executive Committee, Environmental Studies Section of the ]. | |||
* Chair, Standing Panel on Environmental Security, Canadian Global Change Program, 1991. | |||
==References== | ==References== | ||
{{reflist}} | {{reflist}} | ||
==External links== | ==External links== | ||
* | * | ||
* | * | ||
* | * | ||
* | * | ||
Line 46: | Line 185: | ||
* by ] on ] | * by ] on ] | ||
* by Homer-Dixon about "Energy and Climate Change: A Sustainable Future?", June 20, 2008. | * by Homer-Dixon about "Energy and Climate Change: A Sustainable Future?", June 20, 2008. | ||
* ''The Ingenuity Gap'' . | |||
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Revision as of 11:16, 28 July 2012
Thomas (Tad) Homer-Dixon (born 1956 in Victoria, British Columbia) currently holds the Centre for International Governance Innovation Chair of Global Systems at the Balsillie School of International Affairs in Waterloo, Ontario. He is Director of the Waterloo Institute for Complexity and Innovation at the University of Waterloo, and Professor in the Faculty of Environment, School of Environment, Enterprise and Development, University of Waterloo. He previously held the George Ignatieff Chair of Peace and Conflict Studies at the Trudeau Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies at the University of Toronto.
Dr. Homer-Dixon’s research is highly interdisciplinary, focusing on threats to global security in the 21st century and on how societies adapt to complex economic, ecological, and technological change. He is particularly interested in the nature of innovation, the relationship between economic growth and environmental sustainability, the links between climate change, energy scarcity, and conflict; and the use of the Internet for democratic problem solving. This work builds upon ideas in his award-winning books The Upside of Down (2006), The Ingenuity Gap (2000), and Environment, Scarcity, and Violence (1999). As a home for these and other research projects, Dr. Homer-Dixon has recently established the Waterloo Institute for Complexity and Innovation. He writes regularly for leading national and international newspapers and speaks widely on topics relating to innovation, climate change, energy policy, and global security. His research findings have influenced senior policymakers in Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom.
Early life
Born in Victoria, British Columbia in 1956, Thomas Homer-Dixon enjoyed a childhood enriched by spectacular natural surroundings. In his late teens and early twenties, he gained first-hand knowledge of Canada’s oil industry while working as a roughneck on oil rigs, a laborer in gas refineries, and a welder’s helper on pipeline construction. In 1980, he received a B.A. in Political Science from Carlton University in Ottawa. He then established the Canadian Student Pugwash organization, a movement that provided Canadian university students with a forum for discussion of issues of science, ethics, and public policy. In 1983, Thomas and a friend traveled in the Soviet Union, South Asia and Africa. This trip inspired much of his later thought, research and writing, particularly his ongoing interest in the connection between environmental stress and conflict. Thomas was then accepted into the Ph.D. program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where his studies focused on international relations, defense and arms control policy, philosophy of science, cognitive science and conflict theory. He completed his Ph.D. in 1989. In the concluding years of his graduate studies, and as a postdoctoral fellow before leaving Cambridge, he began studying energy economics and the science of climate change.
Teaching, Researching, Writing
Dr. Homer-Dixon began his academic career at the University of Toronto in 1990 as the leader of several path-breaking research projects examining links between environmental stress and violence in poor countries. In 1993, he joined the faculty of University College and the Department of Political Science, progressing to full professor status in 2006. During this time, he was Director of the Peace and Conflict Studies Program, University College, and was the Director of the Trudeau Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies from 2004 to 2007. In 2008, Dr. Homer-Dixon moved to the University of Waterloo, Ontario to assume the role as the Centre for International Governance Innovation Chair of Global Systems at the newly created Balsillie School of International Affairs. He is also a full professor in the Faculty of the Environment, as well as the Director of the Waterloo Institute for Complexity and Innovation. He has supervised and advised a dozen Ph.D. students.
Research and Writing
In the 1990’s at the University of Toronto, Dr. Homer-Dixon pioneered the study of the links between environmental stress and violent conflict. Two seminal articles in the MIT journal International Security identified underlying mechanisms by which scarcities of natural resources like cropland and fresh water can contribute to insurgency, ethnic clashes, terrorism, and genocide in poor countries. The research emerging from these articles eventually involved 100 researchers on four continents and significantly influenced policy debates about national and international security. Dr. Homer-Dixon’s first book, Environment, Scarcity, and Violence (Princeton University Press, 1999), summarized the results of this research, won the Caldwell Prize of the American Political Science Association, and became a standard reference in the literature on environmental security.
In an effort to better understand why some societies cannot cope with severe environmental stress, Dr. Homer-Dixon then studied the sources of, and impediments to, technological and institutional innovation. This work produced a novel theory of innovation, drawing on endogenous growth theory in economics and centered on the concept of the “ingenuity gap.” First introduced in an article in Population and Development Review in 1995, it provided a way of advancing beyond the sterile debate between neo-Malthusians and economists over resource limits to economic growth.
At this point, wishing to convey these ideas to a broader public, Dr. Homer-Dixon committed a decade of his career to writing two general-interest books, each involving an enormous amount of additional primary research. The Ingenuity Gap, published simultaneously in Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom in 2000, elaborated his general theory of innovation. It won Canada’s Governor General's Award for English-language non-fiction in 2001. The Upside of Down: Catastrophe, Creativity, and the Renewal of Civilization, published in Canada and the United States in 2006 and in the United Kingdom and Australia in 2007, examined the causes of societal collapse (including innovation failures in energy supply), the likelihood of collapse in our modern world, and ways such outcomes might be turned to humankind’s advantage. It won Canada’s 2006 National Business Book Award and was named a Financial Times Best Book in politics and religion in 2007.
Arriving at the University of Waterloo in 2008, Dr. Homer-Dixon returned to intensive scholarly research. Because complex systems theory now deeply informs his work, he established the Waterloo Institute for Complexity and Innovation. He also initiated three linked research projects: on the structure and dynamics of political ideologies; on alternatives to materially intensive economic growth; and on how Internet-based open-source practices might support democratic problem solving. These projects’ first products, in the form of scholarly articles, will start appearing in 2013.
Recognition and Impact at Home and Abroad
In the mid-1990s, Dr. Homer-Dixon’s research on the links between environmental stress and conflict initiated a wave of work on the topic by research teams around the world. His findings also influenced policy debates at the highest levels of the Clinton Administration: along with members of his research team, he briefed senior officials in the National Security Council, the United States Department of Defense, and the CIA, as well as cabinet members and the Vice President, Al Gore. Largely as a result, the US federal government established several policy working groups and research programs to study the implications of environmentally induced conflict.
His conceptual framework remains highly influential, for instance most recently as a tool to analyze the links between climate change and international security. In April 2007, prior to the open Security Council debate on these links, Dr. Homer-Dixon briefed Security Council delegations on his framework at the request of the United Kingdom (then Chair of the Security Council).
Homer-Dixon’s research on ingenuity, terrorism, climate change, energy, and the risks of rising complexity has also received wide international attention. At the Fifty-fifth session of the United Nations General Assembly, November 2000, the member from Singapore cited a section of his book The Ingenuity Gap to illustrate how violence and increased poverty usually follows when a section of society is ‘left behind’ by the rest of the world. The 2001 Special Report of the United States Institute of Peace: “Aids and Violent Conflict in Africa” mentioned Homer-Dixon’s Environmental Scarcity and Violence to argue for “clear parallels between the effects of environmental scarcities and the unfolding AIDS crisis in Africa.” His January/February 2002 cover story in Foreign Policy on “Complex Terrorism” called attention to the vulnerabilities of modern complex infrastructure to terrorist attack; it was among the most-read FP articles in the magazine’s history. And his fall 2004 article with Julio Friedmann in Foreign Affairs titled “Out of the Energy Box” was among the first to outline the advantages and pitfalls of carbon capture and storage in a world of soaring coal consumption.
Closer to home, Dr.Homer-Dixon’s research has directly influenced public policy nationally, provincially, and locally. He frequently addresses large audiences all across Canada sharing his research and ideas on such critical topics as energy, the economy, climate change, the dangers of complex terrorism, and the increasing need for resilience and innovation. Dr. Homer-Dixon has also spoken about these key issues to the Toronto Police Services Board, the Ontario Economic Summit, the First Nation’s Trade and Economic Summit, and the leaders of Ontario Power Generation. Ontario’s Environmental Commissioner notes that Dr. Homer-Dixon’s elaboration of the concept of resilience centrally influenced his office’s 2008/2009 Annual Report (titled Building Resilience).
Over the last decade, he has spoken to academic, business, and lay audiences across Canada about innovation and adaptation in an increasingly complex world. His large number of talks to school and college audiences, school boards, and educators’ professional associations reflect his deep commitment to educating young people, as does the detailed study guide to The Upside of Down that he provides online.
He intends the Waterloo Institute for Complexity and Innovation to be a key vehicle for public education. The Institute will have an outreach program of public lectures, workshops, mid-career courses and publication of journals, books, and op-eds to help policymakers, students, and the broader public use ideas from complexity science to address our societies’ most intractable problems.
Selected Writings, Presentations, and Interviews
Selected Invited Presentations and Papers since 2000
- “Complexity Science and Public Policy,” Canada School of Public Service, Manion Lecture, Ottawa, Ontario, May 5, 2010.
- “Global Change, Creativity, and Resilience: Outsourcing in a Turbulent World,” 2010 Annual Conference of the Centre for Outsourcing Research & Education, keynote address, Toronto, Ontario, April 22, 2010.
- “Climate Change and the Renewal of Civilization,” Conference on The Great Transformation: Climate change as cultural change, June 8, Essen, Germany, Essen, Germany, June 8, 2009.
- “Convergence and Crisis: Challenges to Foreign Ministries in a Turbulent World,” Conference on the Future of Foreign Ministries, Toronto, June 3, 2009.
- "Uncertainty, Lags, and Nonlinearity: Challenges to Governance in a Turbulent World," Oxford Institute for Ethics, Law and Armed Conflict, Oxford University, UK, May 7 2009.
- “A Theory of Societal Collapse: Convergent Stress, Thermodynamic Disequilibrium, and Brittleness,” Winchester Lecture, Oxford University, UK, May 6, 2009.
- “Climate Change, the Arctic, and Canada: Avoiding Yesterday’s Analysis of Tomorrow’s Crisis,” 20th Anniversary Conference of the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy, Ottawa, Ontario, Oct. 30, 2008.
- “Conflict in a Nonlinear World: Complex Adaptation at the Intersection of Energy, Climate, and Security,” Ingar Moen Memorial Lecture, Science & Technology Symposium, Defence Research and Development Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, April 25, 2007.
- “The Necessity of Complexity: Taking Environmental-Conflict Research beyond Mechanism,” Thomas Homer-Dixon, Tom Deligiannis, and Dirk Druet, International Studies Association, Annual Conference Chicago, February 28, 2007.
- “Ingenuity Theory: Adapting to Complexity,” Carl Gustaf Bernhard Lecture, Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, Stockholm, Sweden, April 27, 2005.
- “Ingenuity Theory: Can Humankind Create a Sustainable Civilization?” Royal Society, London, England, October 2, 2003.
- “Environmental Scarcity and Violent Conflict: The State of the Field,” University of Florence, May 2003.
- “Synchronous Failure: The Real Danger of the 21st Century,” Robert J. Pelosky, Jr., Distinguished Speaker Series, Elliott School of International Affairs, George Washington University, November 25, 2002.
- “The Capitalist Trilemma,” Program on International Politics, Economics, and Security, University of Chicago, March 7, 2002.
- “The Rise of Complex Terrorism,” New America Foundation, Washington, DC, February 21, 2002.
- “The Ingenuity Gap,” Jock Munro Lecture, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, November 27, 2001.
- “Global Public Health, Complex Systems, and the Ingenuity Gap,” Fulbright Conference on Global Health, Bellagio, Italy, October 30, 2001.
- “The Ingenuity Gap and Its Implications for Development Policy,” World Bank, Washington, DC, May 8, 2001.
- “The Links between Environmental Scarcity and Violent Conflict: The State of the Field,” British Foreign Office Conference, Wilton Park, UK, March 2, 2001.
From Peer-Reviewed Books
- Environment, Scarcity, and Violence (Princeton University Press, 1999).
- “Environmental Scarcities and Civil Violence,” with Tom Deligiannis, in Facing Global Environmental Change: Environmental, Human, Energy, Food, Health and Water Security Concepts, eds. Brauch, Hans Günter; Oswald Spring, Úrsula; Grin, John; Mesjasz, Czeslaw; Kameri-Mbote, Patricia; Behera, Navnita Chadha; Chourou, Béchir; Krummenacher, Heinz, Hexagon Series on Human and Environmental Security and Peace, vol. 4 (Berlin, Heidelberg, New York: Springer-Verlag, 2008).
- “The Environment and Violent Conflict: A Response to Gleditsch,” with Daniel Schwartz (first author) and Tom Deligiannis, chapter 13 in Environmental Conflict, eds. Paul Diehl and Nils Petter Gleditsch (Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press, 2001).
- “Environmental Change, Global Security, and U.S. Policy,” with Jeffrey Boutwell, American Defense Annual 1994, ed. Joe Kruzel (Lexington, 1994).
- “Physical Dimensions of Global Change,” chapter 2 in Global Accord: Environmental Challenges and International Responses, ed. Nazli Choucri (Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press, 1993).
From Peer-Reviewed Journals
- "The Newest Science: Replacing Physics, Ecology Will Be the Master Science of the 21st Century," Alternatives Journal 35, no. 4 (2009): 8-38.
- “Resource Scarcity and Innovation: Can Poor Countries Attain Endogenous Growth?” with Edward Barbier, Ambio 28, no. 2 (1999): 144-7.
- “Environmental Scarcity and Violent Conflict: The Case of South Africa,” with Valerie Percival, Journal of Peace Research 35, no. 3 (1998): 279-98.
- “Environmental Scarcity and Violent Conflict: The Case of Rwanda,” with Valerie Percival, The Journal of Environment and Development 5, no. 3 (September 1996): 270-91.
- “Strategies for the Study of Causation in Complex Ecological-Political Systems,” The Journal of Environment and Development 5, no. 2 (Spring 1996): 132-48.
- “The Ingenuity Gap: Can Poor Countries Adapt to Resource Scarcity?” Population and Development Review 21, no. 3 (September 1995): 587-612.
- “Environmental and Demographic Threats to Canadian Security,” Canadian Foreign Policy 2, no. 2 (Fall 1994): 7-40.
- “Environmental Scarcities and Violent Conflict: Evidence from Cases,” International Security 19, no. 1 (Summer 1994): 5-40.
- “On the Threshold: Environmental Changes as Causes of Acute Conflict,” International Security 16, no. 2 (Fall 1991): 76-116.
- “Environmental Change, Economic Decline, and Civil Strife in Developing Countries,” International Studies Notes (Spring 1991).
- “Graphical Argument Analysis: A New Approach to Understanding Argument, Applied to a Debate about the Window of Vulnerability,” with Roger Karapin, International Studies Quarterly 33, no. 4 (December 1989): 389-410.
- “A Common Misapplication of the Lanchester Square Law: A Research Note,” International Security 12, no. 1 (Summer 1987).
Significant Publications
- “Detecting and Coping with Disruptive Shocks in Arctic Marine Systems: A Resilience Approach to Place and People,” with Eddy Carmack, et al., Ambio 41 (2012): 56-65.
- “Tipping Toward Sustainability: Emerging Pathways of Transformation,” with Frances Westley, et al., Ambio 40 (2011): 762–780.
- “A Straw Man in the Wind: A Response to David Victor” The National Interest (January-February, 2008).
- “Positive Feedbacks, Dynamic Ice Sheets, and the Recarbonization of the Global Fuel Supply: The New Sense of Urgency about Global Warming,” Chapter 2 in A Globally Integrated Climate Policy for Canada, eds. Steven Bernstein, Jutta Brunnée, and Andrew Green (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2007).
- “Out of the Energy Box,” with Julio Friedman, Foreign Affairs 83, No. 6 (November/December 2004): 72-83.
- “Bringing Ingenuity to Energy,” in Andrew Heintzman and Evan Solomon, eds. Fueling the Future: How the Battle over Energy is Changing Everything (Toronto: Anansi, 2003).
- “The Rise of Complex Terrorism,” Foreign Policy (January/February 2002).
- “Environmental Scarcities and Civil Violence,” in Donald Kennedy and John Riggs, eds., US Policy and the Global Environment: Memos to the President, A Report of the Environment Policy Forum, July 8-11, 2000, Aspen, Colorado (Washington, DC: Aspen Institute, 2000).
Significant Op-Eds
- “We’re Losing Our Past to Technology,” The Globe and Mail, Saturday, December 24, 2011.
- “Climate Summit Was a Pathetic Exercise in Deceit,” The Globe and Mail, December 12, 2011.
- “Our Fukushima Moment,” The Globe and Mail, March 18, 2011.
- “Unconventional Wisdom: Economies Can’t Just Keep on Growing,” Foreign Policy, January 2011.
- “And Now the Weather: Nasty and Brutish,” The Globe and Mail, December 31, 2010.
- “Disaster at the Top of the World,” New York Times, Editorial / Opinion, Sunday, August 23, 2010.
- "The Enticements of Green Carrots," The Globe and Mail, Saturday, August 9, 2009.
- "Fear is Good," The Globe and Mail, April 4, 2009.
- “Unbounded Uncertainty,” The Globe and Mail, September 26, 2008.
- “Blocking the Sky to Save the Earth,” with David Keith, New York Times, September 20, 2008.
- “We Must Green the Market,” with Steward Elgie, The Globe and Mail, August 6, 2008.
- “A Swiftly Melting Planet,” New York Times, Thursday, October 4, 2007.
- "The Age of Cheap Oil is Ending," The Globe and Mail, Monday, August 6, 2007.
- “Terror in the Weather Forecast,” New York Times, Tuesday, April 24, 2007.
- “The End of Ingenuity,” New York Times, Wednesday, November 29, 2006.
- “Unleash Capitalism’s Creativity on Climate Change,” The Globe and Mail, Saturday, October 21, 2006.
- “Pull up Terrorism by the Roots,” The Globe and Mail, Monday, September 11, 2006.
- “Caught Up in Our Own Connections,” New York Times, August 13, 2005.
- “Coal in a Nice Shade of Green,” with Julio Friedmann, New York Times, March 25, 2005.
- “War: Which Way to Turn,” The Globe and Mail, February 8, 2003.
- “Why Population Growth Still Matters,” The Globe and Mail, March 6, 2002.
- “Now Comes the Real Danger,” The Globe and Mail, September 12, 2001.
- “The Virulence of Violence: Small Arms, Many Wars, Large Threat,” Washington Post, February 4, 2001.
- “A World that Turns Too Fast,” Financial Times, London, January 2, 2001.
- “On the Razor’s Edge: Today’s Graduates are Entering a Winner-Take-All World,” The Globe and Mail, June 17, 2000.
Interviews
- Interview on Radio Ecoshock focussing on “Wicked Problems and Solutions,” March 1, 2011.
- Video of the CIGI "Inside the Issues" interview with David Welch on climate change, February 1, 2011.
- Podcast of the interview with Eric Paglia of "Think Globally Radio", Stockholm, Sweden, on “Risk, uncertainty, and transformation in a time of crisis,” September 19, 2010.
- Video of the interview with TVOntario’s Alan Gregg on the book Carbon Shift, March 19, 2010.
- Podcast of the interview by Terrence McNally of Pacifica Radio in Los Angeles on The Upside of Down, March 24, 2009.
- Podcast of the interview for KMO C-Realm on “The Growth Imperative,” February 4, 2009.
- Podcast of the interview on Chicago Public Radio’s "Worldview" on ‘Land Distribution Problems and Conflicts,” April 30, 2008.
- Podcast of the discussion with Jon Faine and Jill Singer for "The Conversation Hour" on Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) Melbourne, August 27, 2007.
- Video of the interview by Fareed Zakaria on the PBS show "Foreign Exchange" about The Upside of Down, January 5, 2007.
- A conversation with the Rt. Honourable Paul Martin about the Internet and the revitalization of democracy, August6 25, 2003.
- Interview conducted by Ted Rutland of the webzine "Uncommon Good" on the subject of The Ingenuity Gap, November 30, 2001.
Books and Book Reviews
Books
- Carbon Shift: How the Twin Crises of Oil Depletion and Climate Change Will Define the Future, ed. with Nicholas Garrison (Random House of Canada, 2009).
- The Upside of Down: Catastrophe, Creativity, and the Renewal of Civilization (Knopf Canada, Island Press (US), 2006; Souvenir Press (UK), Text Publishing (Australia), 2007).
- The Ingenuity Gap (Knopf Canada, Knopf (US), and Jonathan Cape (UK), 2000; Boreal (Quebec), 2002; and Espasa (Spain), 2003).
- Environment, Scarcity, and Violence (Princeton University Press, 1999).
- Ecoviolence: Links among Environment, Population, and Security, ed. with Jessica Blitt (Rowman & Littlefield, 1998).
- Science in Society: Its Freedom and Regulation, ed. with Anne Perkins, Ottawa: CSP Publications, 1982.
Selected Book Reviews
- Review of Vaclav Smil, "Global Catastrophes and Trends and Chris Patten, What Next"? in Nature, vol. 458 (March 19, 2009).
- Review of Helge Brunborg, Ewa Tabeau, and Henrik Urdal, "The Demography of Armed Conflict" (Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer, 2006), in Population Development Review 34, no. 2 (June 2008): 364-66.
- Review of Colin Kahl, "States, Scarcity, and Civil Strife in the Developing World" (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2006), in Population and Development Review 32, no. 3 (September 2006): 585-87.
Awards and Offices Held
Awards
- 2010 Outstanding Performance Award, University of Waterloo.
- 2007 National Business Book Award for The Upside of Down.
- 2001 Governor General’s Literary Award for Non-Fiction, Canada Council for the Arts, for The Ingenuity Gap (sole author).
- 2000 Lynton Keith Caldwell Prize of the American Political Science Association for Environment, Scarcity, and Violence (sole author).
- 1999 Northrop Frye Award for linking teaching and research, University of Toronto.
- 1989/1990 Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, Postdoctoral Fellowship.
Offices Held
- 2008-Present, Joint appointment: CIGI Chair of Global Systems, Balsillie School of International Affairs; Full Professor, Faculty of Arts and Faculty of Environment, University of Waterloo.
- 1993-2008, Faculty, University of Toronto, Joint appointment in University College and the Department of Political Science (Assistant Professor, 1993-98; promoted to Associate Professor, 1998; promoted to full Professor, 2006). George Ignatieff Chair of Peace and Conflict Studies, University College, 2007-2008.
- 2001-2007, University of Toronto, Director, Trudeau Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies, University College.
- 1990-2001 University of Toronto, Director, Peace and Conflict Studies Program, University College.
- 1995-1999, Member, Committee on International Security Studies, American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
- 1994-1999, Associate Editor, Security Dialogue, Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO), Norway.
- 1995-1997, Associate Fellow, Canadian Institute for Advanced Research.
- 1994-1997, Member, Board of International Security Studies Section, International Studies Association.
- 1994, Visiting Scholar, Aspen Institute.
- 1993-1995, Member, Committee on Science and International Security, American Association for the Advancement of Science, Washington, D.C.
- 1990-91, Member, Executive Committee, Environmental Studies Section of the International Studies Association.
- Chair, Standing Panel on Environmental Security, Canadian Global Change Program, 1991.
References
- Thomas Homer-Dixon, Centre for International Governance Chair
- Balsillie School of International Affairs
- School of Environment, Enterprise and Development, University of Waterloo, Ontario
- “George Ignatieff Chair of Peace and Conflict Studies.” Peace Magazine (July-August, 1996): 31.
- “Peace and Conflict Studies Centre Named for Trudeau.” UofT Magazine (Summer 2004).
- Environment, Scarcity, and Violence(Princeton University Press, 1999).
- The Elliott School of International Affairs, George Washington University, announces upcoming talk by Thomas Homer-Dixon about ‘the real danger of the 21st Century.’
- “Exploring Complexity in Economic Theory”, video of a talk given at the Institute for New Economic Thinking, Bretton Woods Conference, 2011.
- Thomas Homer-Dixon on "Panarchy." Podcast of the interview on KMO radio, February 24, 2009.
- Homer-Dixon, Thomas. “The Newest Science.” Alternatives Journal (June 18, 2009).
- Homer-Dixon, Thomas. “We’re losing our past to technology.” Toronto Globe and Mail Op-ed (Saturday, December 24, 2011).
- Panelists at the Royal Ontario Museum’s ‘How to Save the World’ Discussion, May 19, 2009.
- “Thomas Homer-Dixon addresses CaGBC National Summit.” Green Business: Strategies for Corporate Sustainable Development, June 10, 2009.
- “Equinox Summit Day 2: Thomas Homer-Dixon on energy and complexity.” The Cord, June 9, 2011.
- Lorinc, John . “The Danger of Inaction: a Chat with Thomas Homer-Dixon.” New York Times, Environment section, Green Blogs (May 15, 2009)
- Conversation with the Right Honourable Paul Martin, August 25, 2003.
- Homer-Dixon, Thomas. “Leadership Captive.” Toronto Globe and Mail Op-ed (November 24, 2000).
- The Upside of Down web site
- The Ingenuity Gap web site
- Environment, Scarcity, and Violence(Princeton University Press, 1999).
- Articles and Op-eds on the Homer-Dixon web site.
- ‘Speaking’ page of Homer-Dixon web site.
- “Uncertainty, Lags, and Nonlinearity: Challenges to Governance in a Turbulent World.” Podcast of the talk at Future of Humanity Institute, University of Oxford, June 9, 2009.
- Dembo, Ron (January 17, 2007). “Resilience and Civilization.” Interview in Huff Post Politics Canada.
- “Energy and Climate Change: A Sustainable Future?” Closing keynote address to the Canadian International Council 2008 National Foreign Policy Conference , June 20, 2008.
- University of Toronto Faculty of Law, announcement of ‘A Globally Integrated Climate Policy For Canada: An Interdisciplinary Conference’, November 1-2, 2007.
- Homer-Dixon, Thomas. “Unconventional Wisdom: Economies Can’t Just Keep on Growing.” Foreign Policy Special Report on the Economy (January/February 2011): 0-1.
- Homer-Dixon, Thomas. “Environmental Scarcities and Civil Violence,” in US Policy and Global Environment: Memos to the President (Aspen Institute, 2001).
- “Ingenuity Theory: Can Humankind Create a Sustainable Civilization?” Address to the Royal Society of London, October 2, 2003.
- “Uncertainty, Lags, and Nonlinearity: Challenges to Governance in a Turbulent World.” Podcast of the lecture at the Oxford Institute for Ethics, Law and Armed Conflict (ELAC), May 7, 2009.
- Explore Vancouver Island/Victoria, B.C.
- Rockwell, Peigi . “Professor for Peace: Thomas Homer-Dixon.” Peace Magazine (June/July, 1993): 20.
- Environment, Scarcity, and Violence (Princeton University. Press, 2001).
- Homer-Dixon, Thomas. “Graphical Argument Analysis: A New Approach to Understanding Arguments Applied to a Debate about the Window of Vulnerability.” International Studies Quarterly, Vol. 33, no. 4. (December 1989): 389-410.
- Homer-Dixon, Thomas. “Environmental Scarcities and Violent Conflict: Evidence from Cases.” International Security, Vol. 19, No. I, (Summer 1994): 5-40.
- Trudeau Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies
- Davis, Jeff. “New School Aims to Breathe Life into Global Affairs.” CIGI Online (February 20, 2008).
- Reinhart, Anthony. “Advantage Waterloo.” Toronto Globe and Mail (July 3, 2009).
- Homer-Dixon, Thomas (Summer 1994). “Environmental Scarcities and Violent Conflict: Evidence from Cases.” International Security Vol. 19, No. I, pp. 5-40.
- Homer-Dixon, Thomas. “On the Threshold: Environmental Changes as Causes of Acute Conflict.” International Security, Vol. 16, No.2, (Summer 1994): 76-116.
- Researchers – Project on Environmental Scarcities, State Capacity, and Civil Violence.
- Researchers – The Project on Environment, Population, and Security.
- Hurst, Linda. “The global guru World leaders are listening to.” The Toronto Star (July 20, 1996): C1.
- Laver, Ross. “Looking for Trouble.” Maclean’s 107 (September 5, 1994): 18-22.
- Environment, Scarcity, and Violence (Princeton University Press, 1999).
- Population and Development Review
- Homer-Dixon, Thomas. “The Ingenuity Gap: Can Poor Countries Adapt to Resource Scarcity?” Population and Development Review, Vol. 21, No. 33 (September 1995).
- The Ingenuity Gap (Random House, 2000)
- The Upside of Down: Catastrophe, Creativity, and the Renewal of Civilization (Random House, 2006)
- The Upside of Down wins 2007 National Business Book Award.
- "National Business Book Award Winner Named.” Newswire.ca announcement, May 14, 2007.
- Honigmann, David. “Year in Books- Politics & Religion.” Financial Times (December 8, 2007).
- WICI www.wici.ca.
- Research at WICI.
- WICI Mass-collaborative global governance.
- Kennedy, Bingham. “Environmental Security: PRB Talks with Thomas Homer-Dixon.” Population Reference Bureau (January 2001).
- US DEPARTMENT OF STATE DISPATCH, VOLUME 5, NUMBER 27, JULY 4, 1994: “Building a Better Future in Africa”; in the section of his speech titled “Daunting Challenges Ahead”, President Clinton mentions Homer-Dixon’s work on the subject.
- “Sustainable development and national security” – in this statement before the National Press Club, Timothy E. Wirth mentions Homer-Dixon’s work, p.1.
- “Apocalypse Soon.” The Economist . 332.7873 (July 23, 1994): A25.
- On March 18, 2000, Thomas Homer-Dixon participated in the Environmental Change and Security Program: ISA Workshop on Environment and Conflict Workshop at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.
- Homer-Dixon, Thomas. “Terror in the Weather Forecast.” New York Times Op-ed (April 24, 2007).
- At the Fifty-fifth session of the United Nations General Assembly, November 1, 2000, 47th plenary meeting, agenda item 50, the member from Singapore cited The Ingenuity Gap (see pg. 5)
- In the U.S. Institute of Peace Report: “AIDS and Violent Conflict in Africa”, Homer-Dixon’ s work is cited on pg. 6 of full report.
- Homer-Dixon, Thomas. “The Rise of Complex Terrorism.” Foreign Policy (January 1, 2002).
- HPC Roadmap: “Julio Friedmann—Carbon Capture, Utilization and Sequestration.”
- Dembo, Ron. “Resilience and Civilization.” Interview in Huff Post Politics Canada (January 17, 2007).
- “Dr. Thomas Homer-Dixon Presents the Keynote Address at the Social Investment Organization 100 Mile Dinner for Good Policy.” Canadian Business Ethics Research Network.
- Thomas Homer-Dixon among the panelists at the Couchiching Institute on Public Affairs, 2010 Conference
- “Media Advisory - Ontario 2020: Visionary speakers kick off conference on the future.” Newswire.ca, March 3, 2010, announcement of speakers at the Ontario 2020 Conference, March 2010.
- Mercer, Greg. “Future City Planners Told Stakes Are High.” The Record.com (February 4, 2011).
- Allen, Abby. “Gauging the effects of peak oil.” The Legend, University of Lethbridge, Alberta (February 25, 2010).
- “Equinox Summit Day 2: Thomas Homer-Dixon on energy and complexity.” The Cord (June 9, 2011).
- Global Perspectives - 5th Annual Global Sourcing Forum, 2011, Thomas Homer-Dixon, keynote speaker.
- Colman, Robert. “Thomas Homer-Dixon addresses Address to CaGBC National Summit.” Green Business (June 10, 2009).
- University of Toronto Faculty of Law, announcement of ‘A Globally Integrated Climate Policy For Canada: An Interdisciplinary Conference’, November 1-2, 2007.
- Announcement of Thomas Homer-Dixon’s keynote address at BC Power Smart Forum, October 26, 2010.
- Transcript of “Complexity Science and Public Policy”, the John L. Manion Lecture, delivered May 5, 2010 for the Canada School of Public Service.
- Ontario Economic Summit, 2008, agenda and speakers, including Thomas Homer-Dixon.
- Write up in Native Journal about the 2009 First Nations Trade and Economic Summit, with comments by Thomas Homer-Dixon.
- “Spotlight on Climate Change at OPG SD Conference.” Article in Power News, April 25, 2008. (See p. 4).
- Environmental Commissioner of Ontario, 2008/2009 Annual Report, “Building Resilience.”
- The Upside of Down, Study Guide.
- The Great Transformation: Climate Change as Cultural Change International Conference, Essen, Germany, June 8-10, 2009.
External links
- The Upside of Down site
- Official web site
- Bookshorts video
- Online interview from CBC Words at Large
- Audio interview with THECOMMENTARY.CA, November 2006
- Imagine BC biography and photos
- Video (and audio) interview/discussion with Homer-Dixon by John Horgan on Bloggingheads.tv
- Keynote Speech at the 2008 National Foreign Policy Conference by Homer-Dixon about "Energy and Climate Change: A Sustainable Future?", June 20, 2008.
- The Ingenuity Gap web site.
- 1956 births
- Living people
- Canadian ecologists
- Canadian political scientists
- Carleton University alumni
- Governor General's Award winning non-fiction writers
- Non-fiction environmental writers
- People from Victoria, British Columbia
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni
- University of Toronto faculty
- Sustainability advocates