Interesting evaluation, but becomes far fetched

Interesting evaluation of population changes and the rise and decline of different nations. This is quite US centric but this feels relevant in a counter-argument to the many who baselessly claim the US is on decline. I feel some of the longer term predictions of Poland, Turkey, Mexico and Japan becoming dominant seem a bit fairy-tale and doesn't seem very backed up with evidence, as well as the collapse of Russia and China. I would have enjoyed this book more if he had elaborated more on the decline of Russia and China rather than skipping over this. Of course I would be very willing to buy a book about these declines if he was to publish one.

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Fun and thought provoking

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George Friedman provide the listener with his predictions on the course of international relations over the next hundred years. He begins by setting out the forces that he thinks shape world politics and then outlines how he expects events to progress. There is humor in this as well as serious ideas. Well worth reading, even if to define in your own mind, why you think he might be wrong.

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interesting, well presented analysis

This was a compelling read whose main idea was well founded and whose expectations are realistic. The book goes a long way towards making world politics understandable.

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Finished. I am glad I read this book. Georges fut

Finished. I am glad I read this book.

Georges futuristic outlook, where power and war is the only thing that matter, gave me a great lesson in Realist Phylosophy.

I can say now, that Extreme Realist Phylosophy, where we should think the World relationships only in term of affrontement, is a disgrace in the eyes of humanity.

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Well worth the time

It's obviously a fools errand trying to predict the future so far ahead but Friedman (and Zeihan) are worth following to appreciate how two things we do know about the world in the future... demographics and geography... could shape the future.

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Intriguing and entertaining.

Viable scenario predicted. The precise details of which matter less than than the major themes and geopolitical dynamics including EU structural weaknesses, space based warfare, automation, demographics, new energy sources etc. Interestingly he also expects the current war on terror to be relatively short lived.

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Pretty good

pretty good, but the title of the book gives high hopes. it isn't a bad book however.

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Maybe just a story

...But it's a great one. And even if it turns out to be not accurate, it's still a great exercise in forecasting. The author loves developing methods for appreciating the directions of current geopolitics and I think he finds some valid points.
Even though this isn't why I liked the book, I hope history proves him right.

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The future is semi logical

To be honest, unless a great plague or giant meteor crashes on earth the future is quite logical and can be easily predicted.
This book goes along with this natural progressive theme and although it is United States based ( well why not the USA is a global influencer).
The future (next 100 years) will be an 'upgraded' version of the present but this book towards the end does address the future crises, that being climate change, as that will be our potential downfall ( my opinion) and maybe we won't be here in 100 years!

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American-centric but interesting

In this book Friedman lays out an interpretation of world history (mainly modern history), adds in some currently known facts and statistics and then extrapolates this model forward to describe the drivers for world events in the near future.

As Friedman admits, this is shamelessly, uncompromisingly and sometimes almost offensively pro-US -but (if you can) set this aside this there are a number of interesting conclusions drawn about the driving causes for key events in world history. These conclusions are then joined and scenarios for the future are constructed and presented in a concise and flowing manner.

I liked this book. While I might like to question his interpretation of some historical events and even though many individual facts, forecasts and conclusions were not new to me, Friedman finds patterns and extends them into the future in a logical and consistent manner which I have not seen elsewhere and I found thought provoking. I shall be looking for other similar books to add to my library.

Definately worth listening to.

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6 people found this helpful