115 geopolitical theory. That said, readers are encouraged to delve deeper into the historical eras he is discussing. The overarching thesis of the book is that Friedman believes that these two inevitable cycles are going to intersect for the first time in U. S. history, in the mid-2020s and early 2030s. He predicts that this intersection explains the political and socioeconomic volatility that the U. S. is already experiencing. Indeed, Friedman sets forth the idea that the presidential election of 2016 and the presidential election cycle in the U. S. in 2020 foreshadowed a deeper and more difficult next eight to ten years. In explaining this “opening confrontation,” Friedman argues that in 2016 Hillary Clinton “won the heartland of the technocracy [the Northeast and West Coast] and lost the heartland of the country,” which he describes throughout as “the declining industrial base” (159) and the children and grandchildren of that base. He also opines that, in the next decade, new and yet unperceived political alliances will be formed that will add to the volatility of that decade. Further complicating the transition will be perceptions of the involvement of the federal government and unforeseen international events. Political alliances will adjust according to new realizations. For instance, this writer has frequently argued that one reason for the continued polarization of the country is due in part to the fact that extremists on the right and the left control the elective process at the earlier stages, including the primary system that Friedman targets (177), and thus, in recent years polarizing candidates emerge that force American centrists, whom this writer would argue make up the majority of voters nationwide, to choose between the two poles when voting. Friedman concludes that “[how] much the United States will be ripped apart in the 2020s will depend on the steps taken in particular sectors of American life to rectify the situation and lessen the pain on both sides of the divide… .” (182) As Friedman begins to close his book, he writes that the 2020s and this conflict of political-institutional and socioeconomic cycles will be centered upon technology and education. Since he believes that technology currently emerges from higher education and that higher education has become increasingly expensive and cost prohibitive to many Americans, this emerging conflict will center on the university. He concludes that the solution is for higher education to adapt by clearly dividing faculty into teaching and research faculty and rewarding each similarly. Such an adaptation suggests that there needs to be a radical realignment of institutions and their missions and probably the elimination of some universities and merging of others. Friedman continues by predicting that there will continue to be a destabilization of the American social structure. He further suggests that the “institutional and economic and social shifts will merge together in” the presidential elections of 2024 and 2028. He urges leaders in all elements of BOOK REVIEWS
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