It Is a G‐Zero,Not a G‐20, World

The G‐20 supplanted the G‐8 as the executive committee of globalization as the emerging and advanced economies came together in the wake of the Wall Street crash to stave off depression. Now, each country is going its own way. In this section we examine whether the G‐20 can be saved, and what the countries within it must do to bring the global economy into balance.     

Walter Benjamin, a Methodological Contribution

This article examines the work and philosophy of Walter Benjamin as an important source of information for international relations (IR) and International Political Sociology (IPS) scholars, particularly in light of his methodological contributions, which could provide important ground for movements such as the aesthetic turn in IR and everyday life/popular culture studies within IR and IPS. Benjamin's contributions are examined in light of his most controversial, albeit unfinished, project— The Arcades Project , a recently published volume that focuses on a selection of documents from the Benjamin archive; and a study by Howard Caygill on Benjamin's attempt to create a "new philosophy," and along with it, a new methodology for studying "experience." The article focuses on three main elements that stand at the basis of Benjamin's unique methodology: (1) his process of selecting the object of study; (2) his treatment of temporality and processes of change/history; and (3) his focus on the visual as key to escaping the limitations of traditional "philosophical" text.     

“One,none, and a hundred thousand” recipes for a robust response to turbulence

Turbulence appears to be a “new normal” in current societies, and public organizations need to learn how to react and adapt to it. Scholars agree on the need for robust actions to respond to turbulence. Through a qualitative comparative analysis performed on the vaccination campaigns of all 20 Italian regions, our paper explores whether different and alternative models of robustness may exist to cope with turbulence. Results shed light on three alternative models featuring static, hybrid, and dynamic robustness. They also highlight that robust governance appears to involve a capacity to learn, and to employ this learning as circumstances demand.     

Ali A Mazrui: a great man,a great scholar

In 2013, Ali A Mazrui gave a lecture in Muscat (Oman) about Barack Obama, the 44th president of the USA, in which he suggested that Obama was a great man but not yet a great president. Mazrui said we would have to wait and see if Obama would become a great president. I think Mazrui was right. But we would not have to wait any longer to say: ‘Ali A Mazrui: a great man, a great scholar’. On 12 October 2014, Ali Mazrui passed away at the age of 81. He was indeed a great man and an extraordinary scholar. This essay is a special tribute to him.