From the author of Megatrends, this guide to a new pulse for change has as its central theme - the larger the system, the smaller and more powerful the parts. Full of examples, insights and forecasts, this book shows how the small is powerful revolution is already in action, and offers readers a positive vision of the future. New patterns have emerged in the world since the collapse of the Soviet Union. The global economy is growing at an unprecedented rate, but large organizations in business and government are faltering. The European dream is fading, and dozens of nations are establishing their own new identities, multinational corporations are loosening their fetters and becoming loose confederations of small, agile operating units. Small- and medium-sized businesses are coming to increasingly dominate the marketplace. This is the global paradox - as the global economy gets larger, the individual units - peoples, countries and small firms - are becoming more powerful.