The world needs a book that explains the car crash at the intersection of business, government, and everyday people. THE RAGING 2020s: Companies, Countries, People — and The Fight for Our Future is that book.

For 150 years, there has been a social contract. Companies hold the power to shape our daily lives. Governments hold the power to make them fall in line. And the people hold the power to choose their leaders. But now, this balance has shaken loose. Today’s global companies are as powerful as countries, and on issues ranging from privacy to sustainability to diversity and workers’ rights, we are more governed by companies than we are by governments. Whether the future looks more like Star Trek or more like Mad Max comes down to a very human question that we cannot outsource to algorithms: Will we come together to rewrite our social contract? As the world rages amidst pandemic, rising inequality, and increasingly frequent climate disasters, Alec Ross—New York Times–bestselling author, former senior advisor to the Secretary of State and Distinguished Visiting Professor at the University of Bologna Business School—offers a path forward in THE RAGING 2020s.

Through interviews with the world’s most influential thinkers and stories of corporate activism and malfeasance, government failure, and renewal, The Raging 2020s examines the economic and political forces that brought us to where we are today and looks at the trends shaping the decade to come.

An essential blueprint for the modern era, THE RAGING 2020s is a prescient, evidence-based, and wildly innovative accounting of what’s gone awry and what can be done.

“Alec Ross fearlessly confronts one of the fundamental concerns of our time: fixing the broken social contract between people, business, and government. His book will challenge you to rethink some of your assumptions about democracy, capitalism, and globalization.” —Adam Grant, #1 New York Times–bestselling author of Think Again and host of the TED podcast WorkLife 

“This book is special. At a time when uncertainty fills every conversation and our recent history has left so many vulnerable, The Raging 2020s doesn’t just add clarity, it offers direction. Alec leaves the reader with both understanding and hope in a way not many can, and he continues to show why he is one of the foremost thinkers of our time. This book helps set the direction our society should follow.” —Wes Moore, author, combat veteran, and social entrepreneur 

“Alec Ross is a keen analyst and brilliant storyteller. The Raging 2020s introduces us to the people whose lives are blighted by unconscionable policies and concentrations of power, helping us understand and indeed share the rage that fuels many 21st-century political movements. Best of all, Ross is willing to speak truth to power in recommending a set of bold but realistic solutions.” —Anne-Marie Slaughter, CEO, New America Foundation, and Bert G. Kerstetter ’66 University Professor Emerita of Politics and International Affairs, Princeton University 

“A gripping, illuminating chronicle that provides a wonderful birds-eye view from the heights of government and international business, that solidifies Ross’s position among the most visionary of global thinkers on the future of technology and its implications, and that also is an amazingly enjoyable, page-turning read!” —General David Petraeus, former Director of the CIA 

The New York Times bestseller, from leading innovation expert Alec Ross, a “fascinating vision” (Forbes) of what’s next for the world and how to navigate the changes the future will bring.

While Alec Ross was working as Senior Advisor for Innovation to the Secretary of State, he traveled to forty-one countries, exploring the latest advances coming out of every continent. From startup hubs in Kenya to R&D labs in South Korea, Ross has seen what the future holds.

In The Industries of the Future, Ross provides a “lucid and informed guide” (Financial Times) to the changes coming in the next ten years. He examines the fields that will most shape our economic future, including robotics and artificial intelligence, cybercrime and cybersecurity, the commercialization of genomics, the next step for big data, and the impact of digital technology on money and markets. In each of these realms, Ross addresses the toughest questions: How will we have to adapt to the changing nature of work? Is the prospect of cyberwar sparking the next arms race? How can the world’s rising nations hope to match Silicon Valley with their own innovation hotspots? And what can today’s parents do to prepare their children for tomorrow?

Ross blends storytelling and economic analysis to show how sweeping global trends are affecting the ways we live. Sharing insights from global leaders—from the founders of Google and Twitter to defense experts like David Petraeus—Ross reveals the technologies and industries that will drive the next stage of globalization. The Industries of the Future is “a riveting and mind-bending book” (New York Journal of Books), a “must read” (Wendy Kopp, Founder of Teach for America) regardless of “whether you follow these fields closely or you still think of Honda as a car rather than a robotics company” (Forbes).