"The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic marks the most significant, singular global disruption since World War II, with health, economic, political, and security implications that will ripple for years to come." -Global Trends 2040 (2021) Global Trends 2040-A More Contested World (2021), released by the US National Intelligence Council, is the latest report in its series of reports starting in 1997 about megatrends and the world's future. This report, strongly influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic, paints a bleak picture of the future and describes a contested, fragmented and turbulent world. It specifically discusses the four main trends that will shape tomorrow's world: - Demographics-by 2040, 1.4 billion people will be added mostly in Africa and South Asia. - Economics-increased government debt and concentrated economic power will escalate problems for the poor and middleclass. - Climate-a hotter world will increase water, food, and health insecurity. - Technology-the emergence of new technologies could both solve and cause problems for human life. Students of trends, policymakers, entrepreneurs, academics, journalists and anyone eager for a glimpse into the next decades, will find this report, with colored graphs, essential reading.

This book discusses the oil industry and its impact on the world economy in the twentieth century. It examines the importance of oil in different sectors, from 1900-1973 and stresses the relevance of oil as a factor in modern economic history not only in national terms but also within an international context. The book includes chapters on American policy towards developing economies in the first half of the 20th century; the policy of Russian oil exports in the 20s and 30s; the financing of the German and French oil industries; and the role of oil in the Japanese economy, a major industrial country without oil resources. On the international front, the book covers the impact of the Middle East national oil companies, the effect of oil on the developing countries of South Ameirca and the relevance of the oil crisis of 1973.