Tag Archives : Build House

Police probing DC attack as hate crime after suspects used anti-LGBTQ slur, mentioned monkeypox

Washington, D.C., police are investigating an attack last weekend as a hate crime after the suspects mentioned monkeypox and called the victims an anti-gay slur before physically attacking them.

In a Tuesday release, the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) said the assault occurred Sunday evening in Northwest D.C. It requested the public’s help in identifying two alleged perpetrators, who were captured on a surveillance camera.

The suspects approached the victims, who identified themselves as two gay men, on 7th Street in the Shaw neighborhood and called them “monkeypox f——” before physically attacking them, MPD confirmed to The Hill.

“The Metropolitan Police Department is investigating this offense as potentially being motivated by hate or bias,” the department said in the release, adding that the designation can be changed at any point as the investigation continues.

One of the victims, who told NBC Washington his name is Antonio but did not share his last name, said that one of the suspects punched him in the jaw and gave him a gash for which he received about three stitches. He shared photos with the local news outlet of his wounded lip and bloodied shirt that he wore the day of the attack and also said that his boyfriend had suffered bruises.

Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) addressed the incident in a statement Tuesday, saying that she was extremely disturbed by the attack and that the public must stand against the “anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric sweeping our nation.”

“We must call out the people in our circles if they promote hateful or ignorant ideology, especially right now when people are using public health to stigmatize and discriminate against members of the LGBTQ+ community,” Bowser said.

The monkeypox outbreak, which has reached more than 7,000 cases in the U.S. and has predominantly affected men who have sex with men, has fueled concern over a potential rise in stigmatization and hate crimes targeting the LGBTQ community. Public health officials are working to spread awareness and resources to the communities most affected while not contributing to increased stigmas and fear, particularly given the history of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the U.S.

“It’s really important for us not to stigmatize any groups so that they feel comfortable getting information from us or from community partners, that they understand how they can access services, including vaccine and treatment and testing,” San Francisco public health officer Susan Philip told The Hill in an interview.

Source: TEST FEED1

Watch live: House committee considers rules for debate on Inflation Reduction Act

The House Rules Committee will meet Wednesday afternoon to review the Senate amendment to the Inflation Reduction Act (H.R. 5376).

Proceedings are scheduled for 2 p.m. ET.

Watch the live video above.

Source: TEST FEED1

Defining ‘old growth’ is a futile exercise when our forests are burning

The U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management are seeking public input to define and inventory “old-growth and mature forests” on federal lands in their first step toward complying with the Biden administration’s Earth Day executive order, which identified “climate impacts, catastrophic wildfires, insect infestation, and disease” as the primary threats to all forests, including older forests. 

Unfortunately, this attempt to “define and inventory” directly undermines the administration’s own 10-year wildfire strategy that aims to treat up to an additional 20 million acres on National Forest System lands through thinning, logging and controlled burning, and up to an additional 30 million acres of other federal, state, tribal and private lands. Such treatments have helped public lands managers and firefighters save large, old and mature trees from destruction, including the iconic Giant Sequoias in California. 

Rather than focusing on confronting our national wildfire and smoke crisis through climate adaptation strategies and active forest management, federal agencies must now spend time and resources developing a “universal definition framework” of old-growth and mature forests across incredibly diverse and complex forests with widely different tree species, sizes, characteristics and needs.

It is an impossible and unscientific task to come up with a single definition of old growth that applies to forests from Florida to Washington state.  Any single definition of old-growth and mature forests could be so general that it’s useless in guiding forest management across the nation, or so specific that it leaves out forests that some would consider mature. 

At a time when we need more management on fire-prone federal lands, this is a formula for more bureaucracy and red tape that further ties the hands of our public lands managers. And for some, maybe that’s the point. It appears some activist groups are using this “define and inventory” process to push for more anti-logging regulations, even though only 35 percent of National Forest System lands are available for regular timber harvest. 

They point to the 2001 Roadless Rule as a model policy that restricts active forest management and road building on millions of acres of federal lands. Yet, more than 37 million acres of national forests have burned since the Bill Clinton-era Roadless Rule was adopted, an acreage more than seven times larger than the acres where any timber harvest has actually occurred during this time.

Most lands managed by the federal government are already off-limits to logging or have restrictions that make active forest management infeasible. This includes 17.6 million acres of National Forest System lands in Wild and Scenic River Corridors and 36.6 million acres of National Forest System lands that are in congressionally “designated wilderness areas.” 

The 58.2 million acres of National Forest System  lands in Roadless Rule areas is larger than the entire National Park system, where forest management is also prohibitive. Similarly, forest management is extremely limited in the 85-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge system.

The lack of active forest management comes at a cost when it comes to mitigating climate change. Wildfire, drought, insects and diseases, as well as the resulting high tree mortality have reduced the ability of federal lands to sequester and store carbon. Fires are burning so hot some forests are failing to regenerate naturally. Efforts to restrict management of “old growth and mature” forests ignore the fact that forests are dynamic ecosystems where disturbance events can reset 100- to 200-year-old forests to zero in the course of a single day. 

The worst thing we could do during a climate crisis is to walk away from our public lands and decide not to use the tools available to help adapt these lands to changing conditions. Due to the diversity of forests in our nation, a universal definition of old growth and mature trees can’t be determined by the best available science. It can only lead to more arbitrary policies that limit the ability of federal agencies to manage for specific species and could lead to less old growth on the landscape over time.  

Nick Smith is executive director of Healthy Forests, Healthy Communities, a non-profit, non-partisan grassroots coalition that advocates for active management of America’s federally-owned forests. He also serves as public affairs director for the American Forest Resource Council, a trade association representing the forestry sector in the West.

Source: TEST FEED1

Finland’s parliament hit with cyberattack following US move to admit the country to NATO

Finland’s parliament website was temporarily down on Tuesday following a cyberattack that coincided with President Biden’s move to admit the Nordic country to NATO.

The Finnish parliament said in a statement on Twitter that a denial-of-service attack hit the parliament’s external websites at around 2:30 p.m. local time. 

“The Parliament takes steps to limit the attack together with service providers and the Cybersecurity Center,” the statement said. 

On Wednesday, the parliament announced on Twitter that the website returned to normal on Tuesday night. 

The attack against the parliament occurred the same day Biden signed a measure backing Finland and Sweden’s admittance into NATO.

Biden’s signature makes the U.S. the 23rd NATO country out of 30 members to approve the two Nordic countries’ admission to the alliance.

Biden called the move a “watershed moment” for the transatlantic alliance, adding that the decision to incorporate Finland and Sweden into NATO is “for the greater security stability…of the world.”

“At a moment when Putin’s Russia has shattered peace and security in Europe, when autocrats are challenging the very foundations of a rule-based order, the strength of a transatlantic alliance and America’s commitment to NATO is more important than it’s ever been,” Biden said on Tuesday at an event attended by the ambassadors of Finland and Sweden.

Last week, the Senate voted 95-1 to approve the resolution, with every member of the Democratic caucus and most Republicans voting in support.

Finland, along with Sweden, applied for NATO membership in May, a move prompted by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February.

Following Sweden’s decision to join NATO, the country’s prime minister Magdalena Andersson expressed concerns of possible cyber retaliation from Russia.

“There could be the possibility of cyberattacks, hybrid attacks and other measures, but it’s all up to them,” she said, adding that the decision to join NATO is what is best for her country’s security. 

Experts have warned that Russia could potentially use its cyber arsenal against Finland and Sweden, and say it’s likely that it chooses to launch small-scale and unsophisticated types of cyberattacks, including distributed denial-of-service attacks and website defacement, as a form of protest against the expansion.

Source: TEST FEED1

G7 ministers demand Russian withdrawal from Ukraine nuclear power plant

The foreign ministers of the Group of 7 (G7) countries on Wednesday warned that the Russian military occupation of a Ukrainian nuclear power plant raised the risk of a dangerous nuclear accident.

The statement came after damage to the facility drew condemnation from international atomic officials.

In a joint statement, the G7 foreign ministers demanded Russia hand back full control of the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant, located in the southeast of the country on the Dnipro river, while also demanding Russia withdraw its troops from Ukraine. 

Shelling near the nuclear power plant in recent days had damaged some of the facilities and injured a security guard, according to Ukrainian officials. It is unclear if the shelling came from Russian or Ukrainian forces, who have been trying to push out the Russian military since it invaded the country in February.

G7 foreign ministers said Russia’s occupation of the nuclear plant endangers the region.

“We remain profoundly concerned by the serious threat that the seizure of Ukrainian nuclear facilities and other actions by Russian armed forces pose to the safety and security of these facilities, significantly raising the risk of a nuclear accident or incident and endangering the population of Ukraine, neighboring states and the international community,” the G7 foreign ministers, representing, the U.S., Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the European Union, wrote. 

Ukrainian forces raised alarm on Saturday that alleged Russian shelling injured a Ukrainian security guard at the plant and damaged a dry spent fuel storage facility, but the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said that available radiation measurements continued to show normal levels. 

Previous shelling had damaged the plant’s external power supply system.

G7 foreign ministers further said that Russia’s occupation of the plant “undermines the IAEA’s [International Atomic Energy Agency] ability to monitor Ukraine’s peaceful nuclear activities for safeguarding purposes.”

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres had earlier said that “Any attack to nuclear plants is… suicidal.”

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said on Tuesday the White House is closely monitoring the situation at the Zaporizhzhya plant. She said officials have seen no indications of increased or abnormal radiation levels, but called on Russia to return the plants “full control to Ukraine.” 

“For our part, we will continue to support the efforts of the International Atomic Energy Agency to fulfill its technical safeguards mandate to assist Ukraine with nuclear safety and security measures across its nuclear facilities.”

Source: TEST FEED1

Sports journalist comes out as transgender to receive award as 'authentic self'

Veteran sports journalist M.A Voepel came out as transgender and said he is transitioning to male, stating he made the announcement to receive a prestigious journalism award as his “authentic self.”

“In sports media, we’re lucky to tell stories of others’ journeys. We have our own, too. Part of mine is being transgender, and I’m transitioning to male,” Voepel wrote in a Twitter thread on Tuesday. “Byline now M.A. Voepel, pronouns he/him. Please feel free to call me Voepel, MV, Michael, Mike; I’m good with them all” 

Voepel also shared in his thread that he wanted to begin his transition before receiving the Curt Gowdy Media Award at the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame induction ceremony next month, saying that having faith in “your happiness/well-being is worth pursuing.” 

“I have the great honor of receiving Gowdy Award next month from Naismith Hall of Fame, and wanted to do that as authentic self, hence this announcement now,” he wrote.

The Curt Gowdy Media Award, first awarded in 1990, goes out to those media members who have made contributions to the game of basketball. Past recipients include ESPN personalities Mike Wilbon, Mike Breen, retired sports journalist Jackie MacMullan, and former play-by-paly commentator Marv Albert. 

“Fear can keep us paralyzed for decades, especially when we think we will lose all that is dear to us, including career,” Voepel wrote in his thread. “At some point, you realize you need to have faith that your happiness/well-being is worth pursuing, and also have faith in other people’s kindness and grace.” 

America is changing faster than ever! Add Changing America to your Facebook or Twitter feed to stay on top of the news. 

Voepel, who is a women’s sports writer for ESPN, concluded his thread by thanking his colleagues, his employer, and family and friends for their support. 

“I may look and sound a little different. Glad to be who I’ve always been inside,” Voepel added. “Dedication to covering women’s sports, a lifelong joy as well as job, and admiration for all involved – players, coaches, execs, fans, referees, colleagues – that stays exactly the same. Thanks!”

Source: TEST FEED1

America’s all-volunteer force is in crisis — and denial

For eight years, the All-Volunteer Force Forum, which we co-founded, has advocated for a fact-based national dialogue on whether America’s all-volunteer force (AVF) is working, and will work in the future, based on fairness, efficiency and sustainability, and whether the AVF contributes to the civil-military gap and the militarization of U.S. foreign policy.  

We have hosted day-long conferences at major universities, written books and articles, and briefed members of Congress and the National Commission on Military, National, and Public Service. We have suggested that this is an issue that affects not only national security but also the social fabric of America. 

Notwithstanding the patronizing “thank you for your service” that is extended to veterans by a nation of limited-liability patriots, and pious responses such as “I understand, but” from self-interested members of Congress, our initiative has generated little support. Now the AVF faces a crisis that is no longer deniable.

Recently the Pentagon acknowledged that recruiting shortfalls are particularly alarming. “This is the start of a long drought for military recruiting,”said Ret. Lt. Gen. Thomas Spoehr of the Heritage Foundation. He said the military has not had such a hard time signing recruits since 1973, the year the U.S. left Vietnam and the draft officially ended. 

The Army has achieved about 40 percent of its fiscal year 2022 recruiting goal with just three months left in the fiscal year. The Air Force is about 4,000 recruits short of where it should be at this point in the year, and the Air National Guard and Reserve are unlikely to meet their goals.  Navy officials say they are “hopeful” that they can reach their recruiting goal this year. The Marine Corps, the smallest of the Pentagon branches, is likely to meet its recruiting goal for this year, but notes that 2022 is “arguably the most challenging recruiting year since the inception of the AVF.” 

These shortfalls exist despite extraordinary measures enacted over the past decade to attract recruits. In fact, the Army and Air Force are offering unprecedented enlistment bonuses of up to $50,000 and the Navy up to $25,000. The Army is offering recruits their first duty station of choice for the first time. Longstanding recruit qualifications are being reviewed by the Army — always the most difficult service for which to recruit and a bellwether for the others — with an eye to lowering them. This included considering — but under severe protests, rejecting — a temporary suspension of the requirement for a high school diploma or a GED. 

Advertising budgets have been increased, as have the number of recruiters, the latter to astonishing levels, frankly, constituting a serious drain on the all-important non-commissioned officer (NCO) corps, the single most positive difference, for example, between the U.S. Army and the Russian Army.        

The AVF crisis is driven by the fact that the pool of those eligible to join the military continues to decline because of obesity, drug use, criminal records, or an inability to qualify intellectually (successfully pass the service “entrance exam”). Recently, Army Chief of Staff Gen. James McConville testified before Congress that only 23 percent of Americans ages 17-24 are qualified to serve without a waiver, down from 29 percent just a few years ago. Adding to the crisis is the fact that, according to an internal Defense Department survey obtained by NBC News, only 9 percent of those eligible to serve in the military have any inclination to do so, down from 15 percent just a few years ago and the lowest number since 2007. 

Here is where crisis and denial converge. A reasonable person would have difficulty denying the implications of the following simple arithmetic: 

• Every year, the Pentagon must recruit approximately 150,000 service members.
• Every year, approximately 4 million Americans turn 18, 23 percent of whom can meet the minimum enlistment standards, meaning about 920,000 able to serve.  

• Of those 920,000, only 9 percent are motivated to serve, meaning approximately 83,000 both able and willing to serve. 

• The possible shortfall of 67,000 enlistments represents a serious threat to national security.

We are not manpower experts but we do possess a rough knowledge of the U.S. military, occasioned by our almost 70 years of combined service. We know, too, that there are those who still deny there is a problem — people in the military, in Congress, the White House and apparently, throughout the general citizenry.

What we are trying to point out is simple: We’re losing the ability to field military forces sufficient to the missions our country assigns them. It is time to curb those missions or find a different way to field our forces. 

Maj. Gen. (Ret.) Dennis Laich served in the U.S. Army for more than 35 years, in Iraq, Kuwait, Germany, Honduras and the Netherlands. He is the author of “Skin in the Game: Poor Kids and Patriots.”

Col. (Ret.) Lawrence Wilkerson served in the Army for more than 31 years. A combat veteran of the Vietnam War, he was chief of staff to Gen. Colin Powell at the State Department and special assistant to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the Defense Department.

Source: TEST FEED1

Biden signs veterans’ toxic exposure bill into law

President Biden on Wednesday signed into law a bill to expand benefits for millions of veterans who were exposed to toxins during war and are suffering illnesses as a result.

The Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics (PACT) Act also expands presumptions of service connections for a variety of conditions related to toxic exposure—meaning veterans don’t have to prove their illness was service-connected.

“This is the most significant law our nation has ever passed to help millions of veterans who are exposed to toxic substances during the military services,” Biden said in remarks from the East Room.

“You know, [VA] Secretary [Denis] McDonough can tell you I was going to get this done come hell or high water,” the president continued.

Biden’s signature comes after a months-long legislative journey that culminated in the bill earning bipartisan support.

The upper chamber initially passed the bill in June by a vote of 84-14, and the House later passed the bill by a vote of 342-88 in July, sending it back to the Senate due to technical changes.

But in late July, the upper chamber came five votes short of the 60 votes needed to advance the bill, with 25 Republicans who voted to pass the bill earlier changing their vote. The Senate later passed the measure 86-11 on Aug. 2, with all no votes coming from Republicans who cited concerns about the cost of the bill.

Biden was joined by McDonough, members of Congress, toxic exposed veterans, and representatives of Veterans Service Organizations. He was introduced by Danielle Robinson and Brielle Robinson, the surviving wife and daughter of Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson, whom the PACT Act is named after.

Heath Robinson died of a rare form of lung cancer that was developed as a result of exposure to toxins during his deployment in Iraq and Kosovo.

“We could not have done this without you all,” Danielle Robinson said. “Ours is just one story. So many military families who had to fight this terrible emotional battle. So many veterans are still battling today, too many have succumbed to those burn pits as well.”

The PACT Act expands Department of Veterans’ Affairs (VA) healthcare eligibility to veterans who served in the post/9-11 era and create a framework for establishing presumptions of service connections related to toxic exposures.

The bill also expands presumptions for 23 burn pit-related illnesses, and the illnesses would be phased in over time. But Biden said that he directed the VA to make those conditions applicable upon his signature.

It also expands presumptions related to exposures to Vietnam War-era Agent Orange to veterans who served in Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Guam.

Source: TEST FEED1

Fate of world’s biggest ice sheet is in human hands, scientists say

Humans could prevent the demise of the world’s largest ice sheet by keeping global warming below a threshold set in the 2015 Paris climate accords, scientists declared on Wednesday.

The worst effects of climate change on the East Antarctic Ice Sheet might be avoidable if temperatures do not rise by more than 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels, the researchers revealed in a new study in Nature.

As part of the Paris Climate Agreement — signed at the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference — participating countries agreed to adhere to this limit, with hopes of keeping the increase to an even smaller 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit).

Staying below the 2-degree-Celsius limit would ensure that the East Antarctic Ice Sheet, which holds most of the Earth’s glacier ice, contributes less than half a meter to sea level rise by the year 2500, according to the scientists.

But if warming continues to surge beyond that threshold, the ice sheet could contribute several meters to sea-level rise in just a few centuries, the researchers warned.

“The fate of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet remains very much in our hands,” lead author Chris Stokes, a geography professor at the U.K.’s Durham University, said in a statement.

“This ice sheet is by far the largest on the planet, containing the equivalent of 52 meters of sea level and it’s really important that we do not awaken this sleeping giant,” he added.

Stokes worked with colleagues from the UK, the U.S., Australia and France to assess the sensitivity of the ice sheet and examine the potential impacts of different emissions levels and temperatures on the ice sheet by 2100, 2300 and 2500.

Their analysis revealed that if warming persists beyond 2100, then the East Antarctic Ice Sheet could add several meters to global sea level rise over the coming centuries.

This surge would add to the already substantial contributions coming from Greenland and West Antarctica — potentially threatening millions of people worldwide who reside in coastal areas, according to the study.

“We used to think East Antarctica was much less vulnerable to climate change, compared to the ice sheets in West Antarctica or Greenland, but we now know there are some areas of East Antarctica that are already showing signs of ice loss,” Stokes said.

“Satellite observations have revealed evidence of thinning and retreating, especially where glaciers draining the main ice sheet come into contact with warm ocean currents,” he added.

While probing the history of the East Antarctica, the scientists said they also identified worrying signs that the ice sheet might be more sensitive than previously assumed.

They found evidence from sea-floor sediments indicating that part of the sheet already collapsed and contributed several meters to sea level rise during the mid-Pliocene era, around 3 million years ago. This was also the last time that carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere exceeded today’s values, according to the study.

But the researchers stressed that with a dramatic reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and only a small rise in temperature, humans still have the power to minimize East Antarctica’s ice loss.

“We now have a very small window of opportunity to rapidly lower our greenhouse gas emissions, limit the rise in global temperatures and preserve the East Antarctic Ice Sheet,” co-author Nerilie Abram, a professor at the Australian National University’s Research School of Earth Sciences, said in a statement.

“Taking such action would not only protect the East Antarctic Ice Sheet, but also slow the melting of other major ice sheets such as Greenland and West Antarctica, which are more vulnerable and at higher risk,” Abram added. “Therefore, it’s vitally important that countries achieve and strengthen their commitments to the Paris Agreement.”

Source: TEST FEED1

Ready or not, the supply chain transformation is underway

We need to talk about globalization: It’s simply not what it was.  

The dream of untrammeled global growth and trade has been cut short by supply chain snags that are now familiar to CEOs and everyday consumers alike. 

These disruptions are a problem not only structurally, but also strategically. Decades spent building global supply chains tuned for just-in-time performance have left companies vulnerable to shortages, geopolitical uncertainty and faster shifts in consumer demand.   

For two years and counting, supply chain leaders and workers have made extraordinary efforts to flex and adapt. But it’s increasingly clear that what’s needed is a deeper, longer-term rethink. In this context, CEOs and their leadership teams are reimagining their supply chains — from regionalization and dual sourcing to digital innovation backed by skilled talent to usher in a new era of supply chain management.  

So, what might these changes mean for CEOs and supply chain professionals, and what practical steps can they take to help?  

The historic scale of these challenges is prompting genuine reflection about redesigning supply chains, including bringing manufacturing processes, suppliers and workforces closer to customers. 

From a U.S. perspective, supply chain constraints have extended delivery times in many sectors, from cars to consumer electronics, potentially creating a long tail to catch up and fill inventory. The average industrial part spends 4-6 weeks on the water in shipping — longer in the current climate, where shippers have seen a 16 percent reduction in container availability. 

With customer demand continuing to evolve, and even industrial organizations demanding Amazon-esque service levels, eliminating lead time can generate significant market-share gains — or raise the consequences if you’re slower than your competitors. Add the once-in-a-generation inflation we’ve experienced in the last six months and the equation — and conversation — of regional versus global is shifting almost daily. 

It’s increasingly clear that supply chain disruptions — everything from regulations to severe weather events stemming from climate change and global pandemics — can be costly. An average company can expect to lose six months’ EBITDA every decade due to disruptions. Therefore it’s no surprise that when global political and corporate leaders meet, the words “deglobalization,” “reshoring,” “nearshoring” and even “friend shoring” resonate ever more powerfully. 

Restructuring a supply chain does not come without risk — and managing risk is already top of mind. A 2021 survey revealed that 59 percent of supply chain leaders implemented new risk management practices, but only 2 percent believed they had an adequate picture of their suppliers, especially those beyond the second tier.

 And complex moves can spell greater challenges. To do it right, a solid financial and operational plan must be aligned at all levels of the organization, with detailed actions and clear responsibility across stakeholders. That remit falls to CEOs who can get their organizations onto the front foot of building a new operations agenda. 

There are many levers to pull, depending on each business and its situation, some of which will improve productivity as well as mitigate disruption: setting up an in-house supply chain nerve center, for example, or leveraging or building digital twin capabilities, scenario planning and sharing data (where possible) with suppliers. It’s also advisable to ring-fence part of the supply chain team to work on developing and enhancing the team’s own capabilities for this period of change and opportunity — while the rest of the organization focuses on running the business.   

The best approaches are often those which see relocation and reshoring as part of an (often overdue) project to transform and modernize the company in the best sense; a chance to update processes, technology, people and culture for the next phase of the digital age and stay in lockstep with ever-evolving demands of customers. A good deal of old-fashioned people management is also necessary for any such project to succeed — inspiring, persuading and explaining why things now can be done very differently. 

For some, the new supply chain is already here. In the 2021 survey, most supply chain managers reported they had increased inventories for critical products. Some 55 percent said they implemented dual sourcing of raw materials, up from 53 percent that said they were planning to implement these actions in 2020. Trade tensions, COVID-19 lockdowns and the closure of the Suez Canal have all amplified the requirements to build more resiliency into their supply chains.    

More broadly, if any economic model is to succeed — sustainably — it must succeed locally as well as globally. This is why many emerging markets are building capabilities to produce local goods through networks that rely less on global trade. It makes them more resilient and more independent, and who in the long term wouldn’t want that? “Local-for-local” production will certainly become a bigger feature over the next phase of trade development.  

It’s important to say that all this is very hard. Supply chain leaders have certainly stepped up, shipping more product than at any time in history. The effort has been Herculean. The question is how we can make it less Herculean day-to-day going forward because we know the disruptions are going to continue.  

And globalists need not despair. Global growth and trade still make sense in many situations and will continue in new forms and guises, just with a bit more pragmatism and an eyes-wide-open view of the risks involved. Businesses and their leaders need to get used to this, and course correct accordingly.  

Daniel Swan is a senior partner at McKinsey & Company.  

Source: TEST FEED1