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Powerful Times Thomas Friedman says: "The world is increasingly divided between the ‘world of order’ and the ‘world of disorder’, how the ‘world of order’, deals with the ‘world of disorder’ is the key question." He pleads ruthlessness in dealing with those who anchor the world of disorder. The book is divided into four sections. The first section, What is Happening? Predicting the Present, lays bare the seven "dynamic tensions" in seven chapters. The author has identified seven matching pairs of forces that capture and clarify multiple, confusing and contradictory forces at work in the world of today. The complex reality is that the world is moving towards both sides of these "tensions" simultaneously. The growing clarity and transparency in many issues is also spreading craziness and disinformation. Power will continue to involve the development and deployment of increasingly sophisticated technology, while vulnerability will include fears about technological over-kill, resulting in push-backs. The second section, What if?—Changing for the Challenges Ahead, has governance and innovations as the theme: how humans, inventive and determined species, relate the realm of governance and how the way they create the realm of innovation will determine how they face the future challenges. The third section, What’s Next? Scenarios for the Next Decade, predicts three possible scenarios. The first possibility is that of "New American Century", with America deciding the future of the globe, and the second is "Patchwork of Powers", the growth of regional powers and the third "Emergence" of a new world whose traditional models of power and leadership would be unsuitable to the new world. The author is of the view that the tension between "Secular and sacred" worldview will become a source of social and political strife, creating problems in the coming years. In the chapter, Intangible and Physical Economies, Kelly discusses the growth of intangible as an important source of opportunities, which is constrained by the rising needs associated with physical infrastructure. The chapter Prosperity and Decline relates with the world in which new global players enjoy a rapid economic growth and challenge the rules of the game, while the developing nations continue to battle poverty, disease, conflict, disaster and corruption, which keep getting worse each day. In the final section, Creating our New Future, the author offers us insight into the new realities of business in a new and transformed world of tomorrow. The end notes not only give us detailed references chapter-wise, but also explain the relevance of these to the theme. Each page prepares us to take the future head-on. It has the fascination of a good novel plus exposure to the great ideas that act as up" call for the futurists, organisation leaders, consultants and academics. A true global venture, this is the "next stop" in the series of great works related to the core challenges of the future.
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