Towards a new paradigm of social evolution

"What would be a whole-of-government approach to global development by the world's leading states?"

In early December 2009 – around the time of the infamous Copenhagen Conference – Olga Sorokina was prompted to give an answer to this question herself when Sara Staats, the Director of Policy Outreach at the Centre of Global Development, published an article entitled "Dear White House: All I Want for Christmas Is a Global Development Strategy."

Olga is not US citizen but lives in Israel. As a global citizen, she was also preoccupied with this question. She wrote that "I am striving for this as well. So are thousands of people all over the world as well and especially it is important for peoples in Israel." And she has good arguments for believing that the role of the USA in global development is particularly important.

Olga Sorokina is a marine biologist that studied for her PhD at the Russian Academy of Sciences and so naturally looks at complex issues with the eyes of a scientist trained in an evolutionary paradigm. This perspective can reveal refreshing insights into intractable social problems that political scientists and pundits will easily miss.

Not so long ago she moved from Moscow to Israel. This relocation gave her a closer look into a prism of social relations that we are all familiar with (although maybe at the same time not so knowledgeable about?): namely the Middle East. Before that, in Russia, she used to job for the World-Wide Fund for Nature and later for the Ecotourism Development Foundation. That institution was collaborating with many USAID projects and as well as programs of the UN Environmental Program. So her life experience and education made her reflect as a change leader and in terms of a 'Darwinian' evolution of social structures, leading her to compare and analyze human societies as an ecologist would study animal populations.

At the moment – due to personal circumstances – she has a lot OF time to read across different subjects. Since her interest had been draw to the bigger topics preoccupying many thinkers in the world, attracted by alarms of crisis over political, social, financial, ecological and environmental issues, Olga put her mind to work as a trained biologist. In particular she has been thinking and corresponding with others about the evolution of human societies, examining topics such as the 'clash of civilizations in the remade world'. As a result, the theme of global development had also been an on-going interest, for which she draws for analysis on various data sources accessible to her via the Internet.

Many prominent experts, such as Professor Peter Turchin from the University of Connecticut and Santa Fe Institute, William Halal, and other scholars, emphasize that the sensible analysis of global issues and the current situation would not be possible without applying a trans-disciplinary approach. So Olga was determined to frame an examination of the heart of global issues free from political influence with a multi-disciplinary approach.

In order to engage with topics of wider concern, rather than just adding another abstract academic reflection, she began by examining the work of public intellectuals who writing in the wider circulation media and who are participating at live events, lectures, and debates at the world's top universities, think tanks and conferences. Especially American intellectuals were of interest, since their ideas are closely related to public reflection and discussion over the role that the US could and maybe should take on the global scene.

So for instance, she carefully studied op-ed columnist like Mrs Brooks and Mr Friedman who are publishing regularly in the New York Times on the subject of the role of the US and the latest social changes in the word. Articles such as "The Next Culture War" and "Where did 'we' go" correspondingly were those that inspired her when she was writing up her ideas. Another well known thinker offering new perspectives is George Monbiot, writing in the UK Guardian International.

Her conclusions are provocative and offer a fresh perspective on what may seem a set of unsolvable problems the world is confronted with at the moment. Olga argues that the time for a paradigm change is upon us.

"Is there a need for a cultural revolution? A call for a new paradigm of social evolution" (press your browser's back button to return here)