"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.

The Washington Information Directory (WID) is a "directory," with a unique profile - it is topically organized, and within the taxonomic structure the relevant organizations are listed not only with contact information but with a brief paragraph describing what the organization (whether government or non-governmental) does related to that topic. It focuses on Washington - in order to be listed, an organization must have an office in the Washington metropolitan area. These descriptions are not boilerplate advertising material from the organizations; rather, they are hand-crafted by a talented freelance research team. In addition, WID pulls together 55 organization charts for federal agencies, congressional resources related to each chapter topic, hotline and contact information for various specific areas of interest, and an extensive list of active congressional caucuses and contact details. WID has two appendices, one with thorough information on congresspersons and committees, and the second with governors and embassies.