COVID-19 was a global catastrophe that blindsided the world's wealthiest nations, and it's far from over. But as disasters go, it was hardly unprecedented. Humanity has a long history of failing to prepare for the worst, from volcanic eruptions to earthquakes to famines to shipwrecks to airplane crashes to financial depressions. But how do we get better at preventing such calamities from happening, and how many seemingly unavoidable "natural" disasters are actually caused by humans? On GZERO World, Ian Bremmer talks about all that and more with Stanford historian Niall Ferguson, who is just out with the perfect book for the topic, "Doom: The Politics of Catastrophe." Plus, a look at how one young Ugandan activist was literally cropped out of the global climate fight.

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A demonstrator waves South Africa's flag during a protest calling for the deportation of undocumented immigrants, as violence against migrants from other African countries increases, in Benoni, east of Johannesburg, South Africa, June 5, 2026.
REUTERS/Ihsaan Haffejee

On the outskirts of Durban this week, over a thousand immigrants fled their homes and set up a makeshift camp nearby after angry residents ordered them to leave, accusing them of taking jobs and economic opportunities from South Africans.

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In this episode of GZERO Europe, Carl Bildt reflects on how Russia's war in Ukraine has lasted longer than World War I and the role an underachieving military campaign and international politics have played in putting pressure on Putin.