1998 State of the Future, Issues and Opportunities "is the most comprehensive work on the global future that has ever been done" says Harlan Cleveland, former US Ambassador to NATO and Director of the World Future Society.
 

15 global issues and 15 global opportunities distilled from hundreds of trends and developments identified by an international panel are described in the book. Actions and policies to address each issue and opportunity are listed, plus a range of perspectives from around the world on action and policy are presented in a clear and precise style. This framework provides a context for global thinking and potential for improved understanding of how humanity could work together as the millennium - perhaps the greatest teaching moment in history - approaches. Additional sections of the book focus on global scenarios, both exploratory (to the year 2025) and normative (to the year 2050), lessons and questions from history, and an annotated bibliography of over 250 scenarios.
 

The 1998 State of the Future: Issues and Opportunities is the second annual review of global change by The Millennium Project's global network of nearly 300 futurists, scholars, and policy makers from 60 countries. It provides an independent, inter-institutional, multinational, and interdisciplinary set of early warnings and analyses.
 

Personal interviews were conducted with policy makers and advisors as to the effectiveness of the actions identified by the Project participants. The study found a remarkable degree of agreement about what are the most important global issues and opportunities as well as what should be done about them and who should provide the leadership. This is especially striking considering the diversity of Millennium Project participants from UN organizations, governments, multinational corporations, universities, NGOs, and individuals from many cultures.
 

The project is not a one-time study of the future, but provides an ongoing capacity as a geographically and institutionally dispersed think tank. The Millennium Project and its reports are not official UN or UNU activities, but are products of the American Council for the UNU, a nonprofit NGO.
 

Copies can be ordered from:

Millennium Project
American Council for the United Nations University
4421 Garrison St., NW, Wash., DC 20016 USA
Phone/Fax 202-686-5179
email acunu@igc.org
 

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