George Friedman offers a lucid forecast of the changes we can expect around the world during the 21st century. He explains where and why future wars will erupt (and how they will be fought), which nations will gain and lose economic and political power, and how new technologies and cultural trends will alter the way we live. Drawing on history and geopolitical patterns dating back hundreds of years, Friedman shows that we are now, for the first time in half a millennium, at the dawn of a new era, with changes in store, including: the US-jihadist war will conclude, to be replaced by a second full-blown cold war with Russia; and China will undergo a major extended internal crisis, and Mexico will emerge as an important world power.