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Terry Pearce, Management Consultant says:
“Wishard has captured his perspective of this century in a remarkably short volume. His integrated review of the events of the last 100 years is impressive in itself, but his ability to define the meaning of those events and point us toward the really important questions of the next century make this book stand alone in its genre.”
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WORLD
TRENDS RESEARCH
Assessing Global Trends and Decision-Making
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The overriding question confronting the world is this: Do we comprehend—at a foundational level—what is reshaping the global context? Are we simply passing through what appears to be an extremely dangerous and difficult period of multiple crises, after which life will return to a more familiar normalcy? Or do these converging crises signal the end of the world, as we've known it, and the emergence of a totally new pattern of human existence? If so, is it reasonable to suggest that the next three decades will be the most decisive 30-year period in history?
WorldTrends Research is a Washington-based consultancy specializing in the analysis and synthesis of just such global trends and issues. WorldTrends is headed by Van Wishard, a recognized authority on the changes reshaping America and the world. We offer corporate briefings, conference keynote speeches and educational seminars focused on helping organizations assess global trends and their impact on effective decision-making.
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GLOBAL TRENDS - UPDATED!
Major Trends Shaping the Global
Context
o The modernization, urbanization and globalization of China, India and other Asian nations will be the most dynamic and convulsive events of the coming decades. Billions of people will have their personal and collective lives transformed to a greater degree, in a shorter space of time, than has been experienced by any people ever before. This will eventually have profound consequences for all nations.
o Russia and the Eurasian landmass will continue to be a source of uncertainty, and possible instability, for some time to come. Russia has not yet truly entered a “post-Communist” era, as most of its political and industrial leadership was shaped by the influence of Communism. Even the Moscow Times noted, “There can be no denying that contemporary Russia is in its very essence a product of the Soviet legacy. Our whole life is still shaped by the influence of Soviet-style expectations. We are still governed by Soviet-reared rulers.” It may be a generation before the psychology of Russia is truly free of the influence of seventy-four years of Communist rule.
More
Global Trends »
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The Global Crisis of Identity
It has taken a series of crises in France, Holland, Britain, Germany and other European countries for the issue of identity finally to be recognized as central to the contemporary global crisis. President Chirac admits on national TV that his country faces “an identity crisis,” a crisis that swells as increasing numbers of immigrants from Asia, Africa and the Middle East crowd into Europe and North America. The editor-in-chief of the Dutch daily, Handelsblad, sums up Holland’s dilemma: “We now want to teach immigrants more about our identity, and we discover that we’re not sure what’s left of it!”
Underlying this crisis are three world-spanning pressures that are ripping up old forms of uniqueness and organization.
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BETWEEN TWO
AGES
Assessment of Between Two Ages by the Honorable Mitchell B. Reiss, Vice Provost of the College of William & Mary
"In Between Two Ages, Van Wishard has provided us with a masterful synthesis of the main currents of history, ranging over the centuries with an expert's eye to identify the key trends in economics, technology and culture that have led us to this place in time.
"By itself, this would be an important contribution to our understanding. But the true significance of Between Two Ages lies in his placing this analysis within a profoundly moral and ethical framework. Van Wishard has not simply diagnosed the reasons for our spiritual malaise. He has also suggested how each of us can overcome this malaise and find a larger purpose or meaning to our lives."
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Introduction to Between Two Ages |
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In the winter of 1962 I found myself in Palm Springs, California, discussing the future of America with President Eisenhower. Ike had not yet moved to his Gettysburg farm, so he was staying in one of Palm Springs' more comfortable hotels. I had recently returned from working with a public information and education program in South America, and Eisenhower was particularly interested in knowing of developments in Brazil, Peru and Chile.
After a discussion of developments in South America, the conversation turned to the United States. Eisenhower was deeply troubled. Not by political events, but by what he felt was the weakening moral fiber of the country. America was, after all, being introduced to Playboy, Marilyn Monroe, and the erupting reality of Peyton Place, all of which, for many Americans, represented a whiff of decadence.
Finally, Ike stood up, strode across the spacious living room, waved his clenched fist through the air, and decried with all the force of an Old Testament prophet, "We are living through the final stages of the Roman Empire, we're living through the final stages of the Roman Empire!"
More Between Two Ages »
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