George Friedman offers a forecast of the changes we can expect around the world during the twenty-first century. He explains where and why future wars will erupt (and how they will be fought), which nations will gain and lose economic and political power, and how new technologies and cultural trends will alter the way we live in the new century.
Drawing on history and geopolitical patterns dating back hundreds of years, Friedman shows that we are now, for the first time in half a millennium, at the dawn of a new era - with changes in store, including:
- The US-Jihadist war will conclude - replaced by a second full-blown cold war with Russia.
- China will undergo a major extended internal crisis, and Mexico will emerge as an important world power.
- A new global war will unfold toward the middle of the century between the United States and an unexpected coalition from Eastern Europe, Eurasia and the Far East; but armies will be much smaller and wars will be less deadly.
- Technology will focus on space - both for major military uses and for a dramatic new energy resource that will have radical environmental implications.

George Friedman is the founder and chief intelligence officer of STRATFOR, which analyses and forecasts trends in world affairs. He is an internationally recognised expert in security and intelligence issues. He is also the author of several books, including The Future of War. The Next 100 Years will be released in March 2009, and George will be touring in May 2009. He has been invited as a guest to the 2009 Sydney Writers' Festival.

This lecture is part of the Toyota-ANU Public Lecture Series 2009. Presented by Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, the Department of International Relations and the ANU International Relations Society.