Summary
Highlights
Parag Khanna, a global futurist, explores who will benefit from globalisation in the future, where the risks lie, and the megatrends transforming the world over the coming decades. He identifies economics, digitisation, climate change, and global migration as key components of globalisation. Khanna, himself a migrant, emphasizes connections over borders, as illustrated by his self-designed world map.
Khanna highlights Singapore as a prime example of global growth, attracting not only goods and capital but also people from around the world seeking opportunities in its unique immigration society.
Khanna believes younger generations, influenced by the smartphone revolution and digitalisation, will increasingly choose where they live based on factors like connectivity and sustainability. They prioritize ecological sustainability as a fundamental right.
Every world region is striving for its own success formula in globalisation. People worldwide, informed by smartphones, desire freedom in their lives. Examples include the Congo's struggle with raw material wealth, India's rise as a production and software hub, China's quest for global leadership facing growth limits, and Taiwan's ascent as a high-tech producer amid US-China tensions.
In high-tech cities like Singapore, the West is no longer the sole model for the world. New technologies and digitalisation offer immense opportunities like global information access and democratic participation, but also risks of surveillance and control. Globalisation has evolved beyond corporate competition to geopolitical rivalry over resources, technology, and talent, sometimes involving conflict.
The specific winners of this global competition remain uncertain. However, persistent global challenges include climate change, inequality, and worldwide migration. Historically, globalisation originated in Europe, but now the world is changing Europe.