Introduction

“What if?” That was the simple and elegant title of an op-ed that New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman wrote in January 2013 about circumstances that applied then and continue to apply today. The point of Friedman’s essay was to ask whether “the recent turmoil in international markets isn’t just the product of tremors but rather of seismic shifts in the foundational pillars of the global system, with highly unpredictable consequences”? In short, he wisely challenged us to consider the proposition that “a bunch of eras are ending all at once.”