Geopolitics for the End Time

A sharp vision of our changing world order as Covid and climate breakdown usher in a new ‘survival of the fittest’.

How well have different cultures and societies responded, and could this become a turning point in the flow of history?

Before Covid, a new competition was already arising between alternative geopolitical models — but the context of this clash wasn’t yet clear. What if it takes place on neutral ground? In a state of nature, with few or no political rules, amid quickly evolving chaos? When the greatest threat to national security is no longer other states, but the environment itself, which countries might rise to the top?

This book explores how Covid-19 has already transformed the global system, and how it serves as a prelude to a planet afflicted by climate change. Bruno Maçães is one of the first to see the pandemic as the dawn of a new strategic era, heralding a profoundly changed world-political landscape.

‘Perceptive.’ — The Economist

‘A sweeping, intelligent and often unpredictable survey of the pandemic age […] A short book on a big subject, Geopolitics for the End Time is essential to helping us make sense of the morbid symptoms of the present and the alarming prospects for the future.’ — New Statesman

‘Provocative and original.’ — Gideon Rachman, Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent, Financial Times

‘Endlessly inventive, restlessly cosmopolitan.’ — Professor Adam Tooze, historian and author of Crashed

‘With typical panache, Maçães set out the story of what went wrong when Covid-19 spread around the world—and why. Gripping, terrifying and revealing in equal measures.’ — Professor Peter Frankopan, author of The Silk Roads

‘Maçães does an excellent job of taking us through some core themes of the world to come.’ — Vitalik Buterin, founder of Ethereum and Bitcoin Magazine