A dozen major global trends will mould the 21st century world. How we live, how societies are shaped and how business is carried-out will be determined by the evolution of these trends in the decades ahead. Have no doubt, each one of these twelve trends has the potential to turn your life andbusiness upside down if you are not aware of the underlying forces and fail to take timely and appropriate action. In this book the author assesses the global events and developments that will have the greatest impact on our lives including: repercussions from the financial crisis; geopolitical power shifts; emerging technological challenges; climate change; water and food shortages; educational problems; demographic changes; war and terrorism; disrupted energy supplies; declining ecosystems; health concerns; and increasing natural disasters. Such BIG PICTURE challenges confronting humanity are clearly interelated, yet experts tend to treat each of them in isolation. This book, on the other hand, takes the novel approach of joining-the-dots to bring them into a single actionable framework. With all of these daunting issues, it would be easy to take a negative outlook, yet this book is not about pessimism. Nor is it about optimism. It is about realism. It is about facing-up to a changing world, just as human beings have always done. It is about recognizing that the human trajectory has never been an easy ride and that those that prosper have always been the ones with their eyes open and most flexible to change. Read it, or prepare to kick yourself in 10 years time for failing to act on mitigating the threats- or maximizing the opportunities- that are heading your way!.