LATEST FUTURIST EXPLORES CHINA, COMMUNICATIONS, WORLD TRENDS

BETHESDA, MD — China is becoming an increasingly demanding consumer in the world’s food markets. "If China turns to the outside world to meet even 20% of its grain needs — 80 million tons — it will create a huge challenge for grain exporters," says Earth Policy Institute’s Lester R. Brown. What that will mean for the future of the world is explored in the latest issue of THE FUTURIST magazine, available now.

The May-June 2005 FUTURIST also traces the evolution of communications, from print and broadcast to the emergence of a digital culture. "Redesigning our institutions for stresses and opportunities of the Digital Era is now the greatest challenge we face," concludes author M. Rex Miller.

Also included is the conclusion of a two-part series looking at the most-important trends shaping the future, focusing on technology, the workplace, management, and international institutions

Here are the featured stories from the latest FUTURIST.

COVER STORY — Narrating the Vision: Scenarios in Action

Scenarios—stories about the future—are important tools for organizations. Business consultants Robert E. Neilson and Debra Stouffer illustrate how scenarios foster strategic thinking, learning, and communication, and how they can be used to develop plans, mitigate uncertainty, and guard against potential problems.

Pushing Beyond the Earth’s Limits

The future will see not just more mouths to feed, but a growing demand for higher quality, more resource-intensive food. The world’s farmers may not be up to the many challenges of meeting those demands, says Lester R. Brown, president of the Earth Policy Institute in Washington, D.C. This article, which draws on his book Outgrowing the Earth, focuses on the growing global food challenges wrought by China, and what Brown calls the "Japan Syndrome." This phenomenon describes what happens internationally when a country goes from being essentially crop-self-sufficient to importing 70% or more of its grain in a short period of time.

The Digital Dynamic: How Communications Media Shape Our World

As digital media become the dominant means of communication, they are transforming how we think, behave, relate, and create. Business consultant and communications theorist M. Rex Miller illustrates the transition from oral traditions to print to broadcast to the digital era in his "Millennium Matrix," showing how shifts in communications affect other aspects of human life, including the perception of reality, and what living in the digital era will mean for humanity.

Trends Now Shaping the Future

Second of two parts. Trend analyst Marvin Cetron and science writer Owen Davies look at the most important trends in technology, the workplace, management, and international institutions. Among their forecasts: institutions will grow more transparent and more accountable for their misdeeds; transportation advances will make travel and shipping faster; and important medical advances will continue to appear almost daily. The complete 32-page report, including trends in economics, demography, values and lifestyles, energy, and the environment, is available for $8 from the World Future Society.

THE FUTURIST, published bimonthly, highlights forecasts, trends, and ideas about the future by experts and trend-watchers around the world. Regular features include world trends and forecasts in technology, economics, government, demography, and the environment.

Pick up the May-June 2005 issue of THE FUTURIST for $4.95 at bookstores and newsstands, or write the World Future Society, 7910 Woodmont Ave., Suite 450, Bethesda, MD 20814.

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EDITORS: For more information or to request a review copy, contact the World Future Society at 301/656-8274; fax 301/951-0394.