The Empire Strikes Back

The world has continued to churn in very challenging ways since the publishing of the third edition of this text. Uneven and shifting global patterns of growth, stubbornly high unemployment levels in many parts of the world, increasing income inequality, and serious trade disputes that threaten to transform trade patterns are severely stressing our highly interconnected global economy. The massive credit crisis of a decade ago was followed by unprecedented worldwide government stimulus spending and low interest rates to promote growth, which, in turn, have resulted in escalating public debt, exacerbated in some nations through tax cuts. These combine to threaten the capacity of national governments to respond to future economic difficulties.

In addition, wars, insurrections and civil insurrections in parts of Africa, the Ukraine, the Middle East, and Asia have sent masses of people searching for safety in new places. Simultaneously, deteriorating international relationships involving major powers, fears of global pandemics (Ebola and MERS), and the staying power of radical Islamist groups such as al-Qaeda and ISIS affiliates, Boko Haram and Jemaah Islamiyah have shaken all organizations in affected regions—big or small, public or private. Escalating concerns related to global warming, species extinctions, and rising sea levels are stressing those who recognize the problems in governments and organizations of all shapes and sizes, as they attempt to figure out how to constructively address these emerging realities. Add to these elements the accelerating pace of technological change and it’s easy to see why we, at times, feel overwhelmed by the turbulence, uncertainty, and negative prognosis that seem to define the present.