Our world is replete with crises. The landmarks of the new millennium bear the names of unprecedented adversity: 9/11, the Madrid and London bombings, the Boxing Day Tsunami, SARS and avian flu, to name only a few. Crises are threats against the core values or life-sustaining functions of a social system and require urgent and immediate remedial action. Crises are ′inconceivable threats come true′.Governments and organizations must be prepared to meet these threats. They cannot afford to ignore crisis management requisites or deal with them in a superfluous, mostly symbolic fashion. This major work maps effective crisis management starting with an introductory essay by the editor explaining the reasoning behind the selection, defining key concepts and introducing the key themes around which the major work is organized. The collection is arranged in three parts, each dealing with a specific theme: Part One: Causes and DynamicsPart Two: Challenges of Crisis ManagementPart Three: Consequences of Crises and Crisis Management.
