Abstract
The world is undergoing a period of profound reorientation. This
process, characterised by the combination of uncertainty, acceleration,
and change, is calling into question familiar assumptions, mechanisms,
and relational structures. How could a concise summary of the planetary
situation look in an applied policy perspective? To anticipate the future of
the security field, the primary task is to understand the current tension
among a variety of factors, processes, and actors, that is, to develop an
actively inter- and transdisciplinary view that includes the maximum
number of trans-sectoral key dialectics, systemic shifts, and interrelated
trajectories. What are the key pillars in terms of concepts and analytical
components needed to read the evolving big picture, and what prospects
are emerging at their intersection? This essay lists the main building blocks
for a contemporary reading of events and developments to consider in
an inter- and transdisciplinary medium-term perspective. It is a woodcut
sketch with the intention to function as a practical and flexible toolkit.
The elements discussed should be combined according to the needs of
contextual understanding and anticipation, applied to concrete problems,
and then placed in the overall surrounding environment in flux. The aim
of this condensed map is to obtain a malleable picture of the essentials
that incorporates continuities and dynamics and can be used to prepare
concrete actions at the intersection of Ideal- and Realpolitik.