Living in Troubled Times

For many observers, today’s world seems indecipherable. The Earth is in such jeopardy that some scientists speak of a new accelerated geological era. The resurgence of barbarism and terrorism in the name of religion is seen as a historical regression.

At the same time, waves of technological innovations are constantly surging, particularly in the fields of energy and information — sources of economic, ecological and social transformations. These advances point to an accelerated evolution of the human being.

Never has the present been subjected to such a tectonic shock between its future and its past, the consequences of which seem difficult to foresee and can sometimes be distressing.

Between naïve belief in the unlimited benefits of technology and resignation to the cycle of calamities, there is room to build a global governance aiming at organising a geopolitical order to derive the best of the human experience. This book opens us to a better understanding of our times.

Contents

•Foreword

•The Presence of the Future: ◦The Anthropocene: Geology on a Human Scale

• Energy: The Natural Agent of Change
• Information and Artificial Intelligence
• Between Reality and Fiction
• Looking Beyond Science Fiction
• Back to Earth

•Footprints from the Past: ◦The Usefulness of History

• Scientific, Technological and Economic Roots of the Contemporary World
• Modernity and Progress
• Back to Religion

•The Shock of the Present: ◦Geopolitics and International Politics

• The Primacy of the United States
• Certainties and Uncertainties Regarding China’s Rise
• The Difficult Governance of the Global Economy
• The End of the Cold War: A Missed Opportunity
• The European Union Between Peril and Hope
• The International System

•Epilogue