Endorsed by two leading experts on the current state of the world (see p iii) this book reflects the concerns now shared by many professionals. It is a much needed link - a hyphen - bringing the essentials of the work of acknowledged experts to those of us in many countries who are increasingly concerned about the way the world is going but have no time to forage through the mass of information available about the twin existential threats of climate change and over-population, the way our times are blighted by a rash of wars and religious violence, and how confrontation could be replaced by an era of cooperation - essential for mankind's survival. As a diplomat and diplomatic consultant, war correspondent in Vietnam, businessman in Mao's Cultural Revolution, adviser in Bosnia during the siege of Sarajevo, and first director of The Cambodia Trust, John Pedler has had, for over half a century, a ringside seat at the world's circus. Here he shares his experiences and the conclusions he has reached on the world we know and 'the beyond'. As well as the ordinary concerned reader, it will interest other foreign affairs professionals - diplomats, those in think tanks, and in the media - who tend to be specialists and do not usually reveal, as John Pedler does, how they view the world as whole. And of course this is very much for the young who will have to deal with the daunting problems we are leaving them. This book won't quickly date for it shines a spotlight well into the future. This second edition contains a postscript - for 2015 - looking at how the themes in the first edition have developed over the past year. John Pedler was educated in England, the United States, and the London School of Economics where he took an additional course in Comparative Religion. He works in France as a consultant with a long suffering wife and a large unruly garden.