Foreword

Foreward by Tom Ridge, Chairman of Ridge Global,  first U.S. Secretary for Homeland Security and the 43rd Governor of Pennsylvania

Since September 11, 2001, fear, risk and security have remained top of mind concerns for people, policy makers, private enterprise and public health officials. Yet, ironically, our world is a measurably safer and healthier place, but the 24-hour news media and the so called “security-industrial complex,” who have a lot to gain from fear, do not grasp this reality.

Fear has always influenced the human psyche. Those who have conquered fear have gone on to master their lives, lead their countries and make great progress in all walks of life. Tragically, the events of September 11, 2001 and the seemingly endless public anxiety associated with reporting of subsequent terrorist attacks has compounded global apprehension. Multiple sources of fear have taken the upper hand in modern times.

The human, economic, psychological, and emotional toll of a world in fear is a heavy burden obstructing progress, collaboration and risk taking. Many of our worst fears are irrational and not anchored in statistical likelihood. These irrational fears are themselves a great cause of concern, as public health officials grapple with depression, over-medication, anxiety, suicide and a general malaise. From the business and policy maker’s perspective, fear is either an inhibitor or a source of advantage and control.

This great Nation will endure as it has endured, will revive and will prosper. So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself—nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance. (FDR Inaugural Address March 4, 1933)

Who gains from this fear? What are we afraid of? How can we change the tide and begin overcoming apprehension and fear? This fascinating report delves into these questions and challenges conventional wisdom about the so called “security-industrial complex” and the culture of fear that is paralyzing us. The 24-hour fear mongering that occupies our popular culture and media fans the embers of anxiety.

There are many insidious consequences stemming from the era of fear. The first and least obvious is that being afraid of everything is in fact making the world a truly unsafe place, especially when it comes to coordinating global capabilities on bio-defense, pandemic risk, climate change and deepening societal polarization. When we fear one another, our neighbors become the “other” and their problems are allowed to fester.

In a time where ideologies and invisible threats like cyber risk, commercialized public influence campaigns and vector-borne diseases disregard walls and national borders, deeper global engagement is the answer.

We need to overcome our many fears, for the world we live in is in many ways a safer place than at any time in human history. Our obsession with fear is making us callous and it is creeping into our politics and polity in some dangerous ways. I hope this report sheds light on the many ironies and the many ways out of our global fear trap.