We'd like to go beyond such recent commonplace doctrines as 'the end of history' (Fukuyama), 'the clash of civilizations' (Huntington), or 'the world is flat' (T. Friedman), to explore the actual political-economic, political-sociological, political-cultural, social-structural, cultural, technological, and ecological dynamics that are shaping our time. Throughout New England, we have an immense wealth of talent, and an exceptional range of extraordinarily thoughtful observers and interpreters of …