Publisher's Synopsis
Ours is indeed a broken world! And if you're reading this, it's likely you're among the rapidly increasing number of people throughout the world who are asking how we got to these times of confrontation. And, like the author, you may well be asking how we could move towards a new era of cooperation, essential if we are to overcome the twin challenges of climate change and over-population which threaten the very survival of mankind. John Pedler first shows how, since the two World Wars, we have arrived at our disjointed epoch: its rash of wars and civil wars, its scattering of religious and military dictatorships, its oligarchy of international billionaires and vast corporations, its crushing poverty, its epidemics, and its resurgence of religious violence. As a British diplomat and diplomatic consultant, war correspondent in Vietnam, businessman in Mao's China, first Director of the Cambodia Trust, adviser to the government in Sarajevo during the siege, John Pedler has for over half a century had a ringside seat at the world's circus. Here he shares not only his experiences but the conclusions he has reached - both about 'the material world' and what he terms 'the beyond' - with a close look at the religious intolerance and violence now plaguing so many countries. This book is written for the general reader worldwide - those who haven't got the time to study the mass of expert information on these subjects, nor to visit the key countries involved. But diplomats and others in world affairs will also find quite a bit of interest - a fresh 'take' filling some gaps in their knowledge. It is also written for the young in particular - for they will have to deal with our mistakes. It will not quickly date for it shines a spotlight well into the future. John Pedler was educated in England, the United States, and at the London School of Economics where he took an additional course in Comparative Religion.
