The Next 100 Years: A Forecast for the 21st Century Kindle Edition

I was impressed the book goes very quickly. It is not boring, nor does he get stuck on long boring details. It is a serious challenge writing about the future, but he met it. I am reading this book 11 years too late. That is the problem with books like these as they become obsolete within a year or two. Since we are talking about 100 years ahead, I thought reading it a 11 years later would not be the end of the world.The book primarily focuses on geopolitics and a little about futuristic war. Since we are already talking about fiction, too bad he didn’t write a novel instead. As someone that has done a lot of business in China and some in Russia, I agree with his conclusion. I have been saying the same thing for the last 20 years. His conclusion about Turkey is also interesting as it is currently manifesting. I also agree that Space will become a serious military domain and play a critical role in future wars. The last part about Mexico chipping away the border territories and making it part of Mexico makes a lot of sense.My main disappointment with these types of books is that they have to re-explain the past. Half the book is dedicated to pre-2010. Anyone that reads or watches the news or current events programs will already be familiar with the subjects. He does not introduce anything new. I wish he would have spent more time and in more detail on the second half which covers the world post 2020.He oversimplifies geopolitics, and this is my main critique. Countries are not static and most do not have long term goals. He assumes otherwise. I think the main flaws of the book are as follows:• Types of government – He should have had a chapter about governments in the future. Democracies verses authoritarian or even dictatorships. Except for skirmishes, modern Democracies do not fight each other. If Japan stays a democratic state, they would not go to war with other Democratic states. It would be easier and cheaper just to negotiate. In modern times, war is usually initiated by evil groups or nations.• Pure and semi-evil – He skips discussing about pure evil or even semi-evil countries such as Iran and N. Korea. I see pure evil countries causing wars before democracies. A country like Iran is pure evil because they want to export their evilness to their neighbors as did Hitler. N. Korea wants to keep their evilness local. But both are a concern and totally ignored in this book.• Economics – He touches on the subject, but more with the US. It is very hard for countries to go to war if they do not have a strong economy. They would simply buy what they want.• Technology – He very briefly discusses power and space advancements but that is it. He totally skips cyberwarfare. Technology is not just changing the battlefield. It is changing the way we live our lives which can affect local as well as geopolitics as we saw with Social Media in the last half decade• Lindy Effect – I am believer of the Lindy Effect. If something happens repeatedly over and over again each year, it is possible to forecast it will continue as such. I can’t see democratic and peaceful countries such as Japan and Germany for that matter flipping and becoming an aggressive country. There would have to be some type of transformation. The government would have to become authoritative or a single-party country. Any other way, there would be no mandate to go to war against another democracy.

I bought this book because it came highly recommended. What I didn’t expect was how accurate it would be about Russia and Ukraine. The author lays it out pretty accurately, 10 plus years ago when the book was written. I found the future predicated very interesting regarding Japan and Mexico. The author didn’t get his Chinese prediction on point but considering all of the moving parts, it wasn’t a bad production.

Strap in while Mr Friedman takes you on a terrifying and fantastic journey into the geopolitical landscape of the next one hundred years.I enjoyed this book from start to finish. Mr Friedmans style of writing and pace make this a page turner. I can't imagine some of his predictions like war again with Japan however he makes compelling arguments for each scenario. Two thumbs up.

The Next 100 Years should be required reading for all Poly Sci majors as well as for Historians. The author's ability to trace the threads of the past to root causes and then pluck out the starting points of threads in our day that will frame the life and death of millions is almost scary. It makes me wonder if George Friedman is a pen name for The Fates.While some will skim this book and scoff at many of the conclusions, I suspect those who mock will turn out to be much further from the truth than Friedman. He builds his cases carefully and logically. The basic principles he describes can be used by anyone to both make predictions and to measure the geo-political landscape as it fluctuates over time.

The book has no footnotes or references, like it was just written off the top of his head. Which it probably was because George Friedman is phenomenal. I'm still patiently waiting for China to fragment, I think that prediction was for the 2020's. You see signs of it now, where President Xi's power grab maybe a sign of desperation. The fact that the wealthy are snapping up property overseas. China is definitely focusing more inward than they were, trying to reverse or prevent Western influence. When you feel the need to ban Santa Claus, Winnie the Pooh, and the Dalai Lama, you obviously have some major issues. This contrasts with their simultaneous push to expand outwards. But outward expansion aka the Belt and Road, space exploration, etc, is really the Chinese way of domination. Friedman's argument is that this has happened repeatedly over its history, when China opens up, the coastal areas become rich, but the interior stays poor. Today, they have income inequality on par with the US. They are trying desperately to enrich the interior but are facing the Uighurs in the west and the fact that the average Chinese consumer is much more stringent than the American version (consumer spending 70% of the economy). I also love the prediction for 2080, a hot war between the US and Mexico. This becomes more probable if US politicians maintain an open border policy. But you will have to read the book to find out why. MOST HIGHLY RECOMMENDED for any futurist!

As a grandparent, born into the best of times, it is worrying that we are leaving a chaotic and depleted world for our children to inherit.I have given a copy of Freidman's latest book to all of my offspring with the advise to read and gain as much knowledge as possible to assist in planning their future in an uncertain world. Understanding the big issues and the geopolitics that motivate national self interest can assist in making informed decisions about small issues relative to everyday life. In a democracy it is the combined intelligence of populations that guide our choice of leaders. Freidman provides an unbiased analysis of the world and what makes it tick. He provides information that gives an insight into both sides of issues. Power plays and seemingly aggressive behaviors by nations and states that are motivated more by self preservation, or self interest, than pure belligerence.This book should be mandatory reading for all politicians.Highly recommended.

It's now the end of 2016 and this book was written in 2009 and already some of the predictions are being proven correct. I heartily recommend this book to anyone who is interested in what may be the future, anyone who wants to protect themselves and their family from possible events and anyone who wants to position themselves for financial gains in the long term. A very easy read and written for laymen (like me) to understand.

The book was written in 2009 and already some of the predictions have already taken place! Not sure if I believe everything will go as predicted but, it's a great analysis of the past history and what could be the future. It will be intriguing to revisit the book in the future to see if any of the predictions actually happen! A very interesting read if your into geopolitics.

First half of the book was really useful - a thorough analysis of the key factors influencing different regions of the world and the discussion on possible conflicts. However the second half of the book was more akin to science fiction - the author imagines in detail the kind of wars the world will enter into in the 2040s, 2060s, 2080s and the corresponding effects to the world. The author is clearly qualified to make these king of predictions, however as he correctly demonstrates in the beginning of the book, no-one has been able to predict the world in that detail in the past. And this makes the first half of the book even more useful since the analysis of underlying powers and limitations enables to understand the current world much better as well as neglect those future scenarios that are close to impossible.

This is a must-read for anyone who is interested in international politics. It's dated now, but there is a more up-to-date book that accompanies this one. It's a lesson in how to see the bigger picture. Although biased towards the US, there's still a lot of very interesting insight here to keep you thinking long after you've finished reading.

Surpriseingly accurate predictions in this book. The author near to the truth. I i very like the clear voice of the author.