Jack Goldstone

Author of The New Population Bomb

The New Population Bomb: Demographic Trends that will Shape the Future

Link to this speaker

Create PDF

Email to a friend

Back to search results

Jack Goldstone tackles the great demographic challenges of the 21st Century. No society is prepared to deal with these changes, simply because no society has ever experienced such changes before. In his monumental article in Foreign Affairs, The New Population Bomb, Goldstone offers a startlingly original discussion of how these changes will shape how we live in the future. How will these demographic megatrends shift economic and military power? How will they change market opportunities? Affect the stability of countries and regions? Forecast political and environmental risks? Published to world-wide acclaim, Goldstone's work is essential reading for business leaders, policy makers, immigration experts, security advisors, education advocates and environmental activists alike. It's an ambitious and wholly accessible look at where we're going and what will happen once we're there.

Goldstone teaches Public Policy at George Mason University and is the author of nine previous books, including Why Europe? The Rise of the West in World History. He has also written over one hundred articles on topics in politics, social movements, democratization, and long-term social change. Not merely an academic, though, he has worked extensively with the US Intelligence community on forecasting global conflict and terrorism, and with the US Agency for International Development and the World Bank on providing democracy assistance to fragile states. He has been a Fellow at the Center for Advanced Study at Stanford University, and won Fellowships from various groups, including the MacArthur Foundation. His current research focuses on conditions for building democracy and stability in developing nations, the impact of population change on the global economy and international security, and the cultural origins of modern economic growth.

Jack Goldstone Speech Topics

The New Population Bomb: Demographic Trends that will Shape the Future

In the years ahead, a massive demographic shift unlike any other in the history of the world will change everything. The United States and Europe will no longer drive economic growth. Rich countries will age, while poor countries -- aided by breakneck urbanization -- will experience rapid population growth. In this sweeping, multilayered talk, Jack Goldstone show us how this unprecedented change will reshape the global business environment, create massive shifts in government spending, produce new pressures for international migration, and raise new threats to global security and the environment. Many believe these challenges can be treated as separate problems. They can't, says Goldstone. The world's population is changing as a whole, and the various trends affect each other in ways that are complicated and profound. How will we deal with the aging populations of Western countries? How will we control the growing number of megacities in poor countries? Drawing on groundbreaking research and bold, big picture thinking, Goldstone helps audiences -- companies, organizations, even nations -- understand the nature of the coming changes and how to meet them head on.

Fragile States: Threats or Opportunities?

Jack Goldstone discusses how fragile states in Asia, Africa, South America and the Middle East create security threats (terrorism, civil war, refugees), but also present opportunities for economic growth through education and investment. In this informative talk, Goldstone identifies the keys to success in dealing with fragile states.

Building Democracy Abroad: Can we Do it? Should we Try?

Jack Goldstone outlines the keys to success in building democracy abroad; mistakes the US has made in Iraq and Afghanistan; and why it is vitally important to keep trying and get it right.

ARTICLES

"Will The Greeks Revolt Against Austerity?" - CNBC

"How 10 Billion Will Live" - The Daily Beast

All Speakers > Jack Goldstone

GAYLE LEMMON at TEDxWOMEN

"If you're going to talk about jobs, then you have to talk about entrepreneurs," says Gayle Tzemach Lemmon. "And if you're talking about entrepreneurs in conflict and post-conflict settings, then you must talk about women." Lemmon is the author of the New York Times bestselling book The Dressmaker of Khair Khana and a Contributing Editor-at-Large for Newsweek and The Daily Beast. She has devoted her life to shedding light on the resiliency of female entrepreneurs, and their remarkable power to reshape local economies. By recognizing and investing in these female breadwinners, Lemmon says, we can help grow economies of all development levels around the world.