In this week, we're going to take a look at global geopolitics. In previous weeks of class, we've examined the roll of economy, we've examined demographic changes. And now we're going to see how all of these things are upsetting the global geopolitical balance. I'd like to take stock of what we discovered so far. We've been thinking about the impact of population ageing, about fast population growth in Africa, South Asia and the Middle East. We've taken a look at the consequences of the growth of cities in the world. And also of increasing inequality within countries and decreasing inequality remember, across countries in the world. We'll also examine the implications of the rise of the global middle class. And the rise of women as wealth owners in the world. And finally, we've taken a look at global financial imbalances, and all of the controversies about trade blocks. Let me begin this analysis of geopolitics in the world by arguing that the year 2001 is a pivotal one. A question that historians have been asking is when did the 21st century begin? Some of them claim that it began in the year 1989 with a collapse of the Eastern Bloc. For instance, the British historian, Eric Hobsbawm, in a recent book, argues as much, I actually disagree. I think that the 21st century properly started in the year 2001. Because the events that took place on that year pale by comparison with the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1989. In the year 2001 within one week, the world changed. On 9/11, there were the terrorist attacks on the US. And a few days later, on the 17th of September, China finalized negotiations to enter the World Trade Organization. As we've seen before, that changed the global economy. And that changed, I think also, the global geopolitical balance. Also keep in mind that centuries start with the years ending in 1, not in 0. Maybe you're not aware of the reason. The reason is that we never had a year 0. We went directly from the year minus 1 to year 1.