More than a fortnight after a bomb brought down a jet over Sharm el-Sheikh, there are still holidaymakers waiting to be evacuated. The problem is not the supply of planes, it's the stricken airport's ability to deal with them. Resilience is high on the agenda for planners everywhere: our complex societies are vulnerable to cascading failures. The effects can be similar whatever the cause. Borders may be left impassable by a pandemic (as when Ebola struck Africa), terrorism (as in France last week) or disaster (volcanic ash across Europe in 2010). There may be similar responses, too. Resilience is often taken to mean "bouncing back". That is, of course, fervently to be hoped for when it comes to individuals who endure such atrocities as the Paris attacks (page 6).
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