This book looks at the major challenges of the future and proposes a new start based on four contracts: social, natural, cultural, and ethical. Will humanity survive the coming century? Is it threatened by a demographic time-bomb? Will there be food for everybody? Will new technologies increase the gap between the rich and the poor? Or will they open access to lifelong distance education for all? Will women conquer their legitimate place in society? How can we fight global warming and desertification? Will there be wars for water? Will we be able to harness solar energy? These questions and more are considered in this fascinating book.
Will humanity survive the coming century? Are we threatened by a demographic time-bomb? Will there be food for all? Can we eliminate poverty? Are we, in our cities, heading for a kind of apartheid between the affluent and the socially excluded? Will new information technologies increase the gap between rich and poor - or, on the contrary, open up opportunities for lifelong distance education for all? Are women going to win their legitimate place in society? Is it true that many languages are in danger of extinction? How can we forestall global warming and the onward march of the world's deserts? Will there be wars over access to shrinking supplies of water? What are the prospects of running out of affordable oil and gas; and can we harness solar energy? This book looks at the major challenges of the future. Packed with the latest information and scientific understandings, it traverses a rich tapestry of crucial issues, threats and choices confronting humanity and proposes a new start based on four broad contracts: social, natural, cultural and ethical. In a world where problems are taking on increasingly global dimensions, we must come up with global solutions. We need to turn a culture of violence into a culture of peace. The choice is stark: either a 21st century with a human face or the grimacing mask of a 'Brave New World'.
Will humanity survive the coming century? Are we threatened by a demographic time-bomb? Will there be food for all? Can we eliminate poverty? Are we, in our cities, heading for a kind of apartheid between the affluent and the socially excluded? Will new information technologies increase the gap between rich and poor - or, on the contrary, open up opportunities for lifelong distance education for all? Are women going to win their legitimate place in society? Is it true that many languages are in danger of extinction? How can we forestall global warming and the onward march of the world's deserts? Will there be wars over access to shrinking supplies of water? What are the prospects of running out of affordable oil and gas; and can we harness solar energy? This book looks at the major challenges of the future. Packed with the latest information and scientific understandings, it traverses a rich tapestry of crucial issues, threats and choices confronting humanity and proposes a new start based on four broad contracts: social, natural, cultural and ethical. In a world where problems are taking on increasingly global dimensions, we must come up with global solutions. We need to turn a culture of violence into a culture of peace. The choice is stark: either a 21st century with a human face or the grimacing mask of a 'Brave New World'.







