The End of the World Is Just the Beginning: Mapping the Collapse of Globalization

The era of stability in the global economy is over. What lies ahead of us? Is humanity facing the end of globalization, the collapse of global economic ties and the decline of world trade? Peter Zeihan, an expert in geopolitics and geostrategy and founder of the consulting company Zeihan on Geopolitics, attempts to answer these questions. Drawing on an analysis of major global trends in trade, transport, the financial system, and demographic shifts, the author presents a new picture of the world — where each country develops independently, resolves conflicts on its own against the backdrop of an ageing and declining population.
For so diverse countries as China, Russia, Japan, Germany, Italy, South Korea, Ukraine, Canada, Malaysia, Taiwan, Romania, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Austria, the question is not when the population will become hopelessly old. The workers of all these countries will be retired in 2020. None of them has enough young people to even create the appearance of population reproduction. Demographic crisis will occur everywhere. In what manner — and how soon — might nations and peoples meet their end? Will they perish in quiet, or will they desperately resist?
Which countries and regions will find themselves in an advantageous position in the foreseeable future, and which ones may face poverty and hunger? Will the dominance of the United States continue? Zeihan welcomes readers on an exciting and chilling voyage through the economic geography of the near future.
In many ways, especially in terms of education, prosperity and public health, globalization has proven to be beneficial, but it cannot continue for ages. What seemed normal, good and right to us and our parents (and in some cases our grandparents) over the past 70 years is in fact a historical anomaly, both strategically and demographically. The period from 1980 to 2015 was a special, unique, and fruitful period in human history. That period has come to an end. We will no longer be able to enjoy it.

Peter Zeihan. The End of the World Is Just the Beginning: Mapping the Collapse of Globalization / Translated from English by Mikhail Belogolovsky. Literary Editor Valeria Bashkirova. — Moscow: Alpina Publisher, 2025.