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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U.S. Army soldiers take part in a U.S.-South Korea joint river-crossing exercise, which is a part of the annual Freedom Shield joint military training, near the demilitarized zone separating South and North Korea, in Yeoncheon, South Korea, March 14, 2026.
REUTERS/Kim Soo-hyeon

The decision deals a blow to a decades-old alliance: South Korea relies heavily on US deterrence against its nuclear-armed northern neighbor and hosts 28,500 American troops.

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Russia may be on the back foot in the war, but life near Ukraine’s front lines remains brutal. On GZERO World, David Miliband talks about the human cost of war and why winning on the battlefield means nothing if Ukraine can’t sustain its people.