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In this volume, the USA is treated as a system that has been stress-tested by four unique events: the War on Terror, Hurricane Katrina, the Financial Meltdown that led to the Great Recession and the Giant Oil Spill. The author uses stress-testing to identify weaknesses within the "system," and examine the response to disaster.

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1. Introduction 2. The War on Terror 3. Hurricane Katrina and New Orleans 4. The Financial Meltdown 5. The Gulf Oil Spill 6. The USA: A System Under Stress

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John Rennie Short is Professor of Public Policy at the University of Maryland Baltimore County, USA. He is author of 35 books and numerous academic articles regarding cities, environmental issues and cartography.

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