"Clash of civilizations", "simulation of civilizations", "end of work", "revival of nationalisms", "Islamic international", "collapse of the state", "technological war", "abolition of national identity", "end of politics". As comments and interpretations regarding the terrorist attack of September 2001 on the World Trade Center in Manhattan have shown, all these formulas are supposed to offer the keys to interpret our era. Can we perceive them as reference points in a world overwhelmed by anarchic information? However, are we able to discover the meaning of our era by formulating dogmas? This book reveals the vulnerabilities of this preconceived thinking and presents the main questions that will concern the world of tomorrow, the world of the 21st century. Eighty articles written by scientists and journalists from all over the world analyze the trends observed today in the inhabited world.