“Conventional analysis suffers from a profound failure of imagination. It imagines passing clouds to be permanent and is blind to powerful, long-term shifts taking place in full view of the world.” —George Friedman In his long-awaited and provocative new book, George Friedman turns his eye on the future—offering a lucid, highly readable 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. The Next 100 Years draws on a fascinating exploration of 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 U.S.-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. • The United States will experience a Golden Age in the second half of the century. Written with the keen insight and thoughtful analysis that has made George Friedman a renowned expert in geopolitics and forecasting, The Next 100 Years presents a fascinating picture of what lies ahead.

List of Illustrations Overture: An Introduction to the American Age 1 Ch. 1 The Dawn of the American Age 15 Ch. 2 Earthquake: The U.S.-Jihadist War 31 Ch. 3 Population, Computers, and Culture Wars 50 Ch. 4 The New Fault Lines 65 Ch. 5 China 2020: Paper Tiger 88 Ch. 6 Russia 2020: Rematch 101 Ch. 7 American Power and the Crisis of 2030 120 Ch. 8 A New World Emerges 136 Ch. 9 The 2040s: Prelude to War 153 Ch. 10 Preparing for War 174 Ch. 11 World War: A Scenario 193 Ch. 12 The 2060s: A Golden Decade 212 Ch. 13 2080: The United States, Mexico, and the Struggle for the Global Heartland 223 Epilogue 249 Acknowledgments 255