This book offers a concise and analytical portrait of the contemporary world. The author encompasses concepts and theories from multiple disciplines notably sociology, anthropology, business, and economics to examine major global trends and transformations of the modern world, their underlying causes, and their consequences. The text examines global demographic trends, globalization, culture, emerging markets, global security, environmental degradation, large corporations, and economic inequality. The author also analyzes major transformations in healthcare, food, the sharing economy, Fourth Industrial Revolution, consumption, work and organization, innovation and various technologies in areas such as automation, robotics, connectivity, quantum computing, and new materials. This book is a valuable reference for business leaders, managers, students, and all those who are passionate about understanding the rapidly changing contemporary world.

"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 technological revolution has reached around the world, with important consequences for business, government, and the labor market. Computer-aided design, telecommunications, and other developments are allowing small players to compete with traditional giants in manufacturing and other fields. In this volume, 16 engineering and industrial experts representing eight countries discuss the growth of technological advances and their impact on specific industries and regions of the world. From various perspectives, these distinguished commentators describe the practical aspects of technology's reach into business and trade.

In this book, the authors set forth a new model of globalization that lays claims to supersede existing models, and then use this model to assess the way the processes of globalization have operated in different historic periods in respect to political organization, military globalization, trade, finance, corporate productivity, migration, culture, and the environment. Each of these topics is covered in a chapter which contrasts the contemporary nature of globalization with that of earlier epochs. In mapping the shape and political consequences of globalization, the authors concentrate on six states in advanced capitalist societies (SIACS): the United States, the United Kingdom, Sweden, France, Germany, and Japan. For comparative purposes, other states—particularly those with developing economics—are referred to and discussed where relevant. The book concludes by systematically describing and assessing contemporary globalization, and appraising the implications of globalization for the sovereignty and autonomy of SIACS. It also confronts directly the political fatalism that surrounds much discussion of globalization with a normative agenda that elaborates the possibilities for democratizing and civilizing the unfolding global transformation.

This book explores the development of technology hotspots and the difficult problems encountered in easy-to-understand language and introduces the startups in the related fields. It also shows how these key technologies solve the pain points of the industry, the background of the founding teams and the choice of business models through real-life cases. This book can be used as a quick reference manual, allowing you to spend the shortest time to understand the hot topics in the global technology circle in the two years since the outbreak of the COVID-19 epidemic. Through the business cooperation with the Chinese tech community over the years and the close ties with technology companies from other countries, the author introduced: China's science and technology ecology, China's tech advantages, Made in China 2025, The top 10 tech advances in China in 2021. In addition, this book will introduce the latest advances and startups in China in related technological fields, so readers can have a more comprehensive understanding of China's tech development priorities in the next 5 to 10 years. The relevant topics in this book are also provided with video versions.

Professor Czinkota shares with us his practical insights into the modern world trading system and the complexities that exist within. It provides an invaluable framework for future global leaders in their endeavors to solve global trade crises and find opportunities for furthering the free flow of goods and services across borders. It is rare to find such practical insights into the rationale of why the world is what it is today and makes for some interesting guidance for the future. Anyone who reads this book will be better equipped to tackles the challenges of operating in the world economy and working their way out of conflicts. The book also addresses the weaknesses present in current world structures, such as the World Trade Organization and its inability to suppress China, guiding the reader on how to achieve business success in a world of instability and diplomatic tensions. The concept of Curative International Marketing is a unique framework fathered by Professor Czinkota and is deeply explored in this book.