Survive crisis, seize opportunity, and prepare for change
The statistics make for grim reading: At least one disaster occurs every single day, impacting lives or economic growth, often with grave consequences. Indeed, regardless of today’s technological, economic, and scientific advancements, nations the world over find themselves vulnerable to all manner of threat—be they inflicted by Mother Nature, cyber criminals or rogue traders.
As a result, countries large and small are frequently rendered unable to manage the increasingly complex level of risk that accompanies life in our equally complex age. Against this backdrop, national resilience has become a strategic imperative on the agendas of national governments around the globe—not least, those of the GCC. Like other nations, the countries of the Arabian Gulf have to consider just how well prepared they are to withstand the threats that now exist. With no room for complacency, each country— city even—needs to analyze the distinct threats it faces, as well as those it shares regionally and globally.
To this end, there are lessons to be learned from Japan—a country that came to understand the importance of resilience the hard way. When the country was rocked by the Tohoku earthquake in March 2011, the cascade of events that followed overwhelmed its ability to respond.
“Regardless of today’s technological, economic and scientific advancements, nations the world over find themselves vulnerable to all manner of threat.”
