MA Scenarios - Order from Strength

The MA developed four global scenarios exploring plausible future changes in drivers, ecosystems, ecosystem services, and human well-being. These scenarios are :

"The Order from Strength scenario represrnts a regionalized and fragmented world, concerned with security and protection, emphasizing primarily regional markets, and paying little attention to common goods. Nations see looking after their own interests as the best defense against economic insecurity, and the movement of goods, people, and information is strongly regulated and policed. The role of government expands as oil companies, water systems, and other strategic businesses are either nationalized or subjected to more state oversight. Trade is restricted, large amounts of money are invested in security systems, and technological change slows due to restrictions on the flow of goods and information. Regionalization exacerbates global inequality.

Treaties on global climate change, international fisheries, and the trade in endangered species are only weakly and haphazardly implemented, resulting in degradation of the global commons. Local problems often go unresolved, but major problems are sometimes handled by rapid disaster relief to at least temporarily resolve the immediate crisis. Many powerful countries cope with local problems by shifting burdens to other, less powerful countries, increasing the gap between rich and poor. In particular, natural resource-intensive industries are moved from wealthier nations to poorer and less powerful ones. Inequality increases considerably within countries as well.

Ecosystem services become more vulnerable, fragile, and variable in Order from Strength. For example, parks and reserves exist within fixed boundaries, but climate changes around them, leading to the unintended extirpation of many species. Conditions for crops are often suboptimal, and the ability of societies to import alternative foods is diminished by trade barriers. As a result, there are frequent shortages of food and water, particularly in poor regions. Low levels of trade tend to restrict the number of invasions by exotic species; however, ecosystems are less resilient and invaders are therefore more often successful when they arrive."

Source & © Millennium Ecosystem Assessment
 Synthesis Report (2005),
Cahpter 5, Box 5.1, pp.72-73