Mohammad Ahsan

The book Principles for Dealing with The Changing World Order – Why Nations Succeed and Fail is a well-researched history of the world focusing on economics, politics, policymaking, leadership, cultural & social developments and geo-politics. Ray has carefully analysed the rise and fall of all major global empires over the last 500 years to determine what causes shifts in power and whether the trends are repeated – as Mark Twain has (allegedly) said, “History doesn’t repeat itself, but it often rhymes”. Ray through his research has shown that it does, and his book explains the key factors driving these changes in power of an empire/country over time and how we can use history as a guide to predict what may happen in the future. As per George Santayana, “Those who don’t learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” The book is long and has multiple repetitions (for emphasis), but Ray has given the readers a good strategy to navigate through the 550 pages. Ray takes us into the past for his study of the major empires including Chinese, the Dutch, the British, and the American, putting into perspective the “Big Cycle” that has driven the rise and fall of the world’s major countries/empires throughout history. He also discussed the universal drivers behind these shifts and uses them to look into the future. The book was published in November 2021, and since then we have seen major global developments that were outlined by Ray as part of his predictions for the current and next Big Cycle. This book is not a prophesy but carries predictions based on historical trends and empirical analysis. This is a must read for people interested in global history, economics, geo-politics, leadership and policymaking.

A well written and detailed account of efforts by mining firms to extract critical minerals such as Lithium and Copper that are vital for transition to Green energy. The challenges faced by mining firms due to environmental, religious and social concerns are explained clearly by Ernest Scheyder. The stories of various mines within the USA (Nevada, Arizona, California) and other countries such as Bolivia, Argentina and Ghana are fascinating. Materials such as Lithium and Copper are required to build electric vehicles, solar panels, cell phones, and millions of other devices and growing production means the world must dig more mines to extract these resources. However, mines are deeply unpopular, especially in the USA and efforts to extract these metals have led to a worldwide debate over the sourcing of necessary materials. Ernest Scheyder has given a detailed yet simple account of how competing interests are at play in the mining industry and adding to the challenges of energy transition especially in the EV space.