Where on Earth Are We Going? [Hardcover]

Maurice Strong (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 23, 2001

World hunger, environmental disaster, global warming, massive shifts in weather systems, the re-emergence of diseases long thought controlled, and political turmoil in a world where a barrel of water is more expensive than a barrel of oil. So says the Report to Shareholders, Earth, Inc., dated January 1, 2031 that begins, Where on earth are we going? Maurice StrongÂ's apocalyptic prophesy for the future Â- unless weÂ're lucky or wise Â- is a call to action for all who care about the state of the earth in the near future. Strong, the executive coordinator of the reform effort at the UN and senior advisor to the President of the World Bank, has one goal: to shape a peaceful and equitable future for all humankind. Hard-headed, practical, impassioned, Where on Earth are We Going? is a call to action by a key business and environmental player at the beginning of the 21st century that can not be ignored and will be much debated.

Editorial Reviews

Review

[T]he enigmatic Maurice Strong is preparing his legacy. -- The Toronto Star

About the Author

The New York Times hailed Maurice Strong as the "Custodian of the Planet." He is perpetually on the short list of candidates for Secretary General of the United Nations. Among the hats he currently wears are: Senior Advisor to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan; Senior Advisor to World Bank President James Wolfensohn; Chairman of the Earth Council; Chairman of the World Resources Institute; Co-Chairman of the Council of the World Economic Forum; member of Toyota's International Advisory Board. As advisor to Kofi Annan, he is overseeing the new UN reforms. Strong's most prominent and influential role to date was as Secretary General of the 1992 UN Conference on Environment and Development -- the so-called Earth Summit -- held in Rio de Janeiro, which gave a significant push to global economic and environmental regulation.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 431 pages
• Publisher: Texere; 1 edition (April 23, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 158799092X
• ISBN-13: 978-1587990922
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,706,330 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing, May 24, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Where on Earth Are We Going? (Hardcover)

I read this book hoping that it would be about environmentalism. Instead it is an autobiography of the author. To make matters worse it is not even a good autobiography. While the author has had an interesting life and many diversified experiences in many fields the book doesn't read well. The author, for instance, will note that he took over a new position and he'll go on for pages and pages about who he hired and how competent they were. However in these pages of lavish praise he tells the reader little, if anything, substantive about what they (or he) were doing or accomplishing. This happened over and over through the book until about two thirds of the way through I just gave up reading it. On the positive side he does convey the distrust that the third world feels towards the western nations on environmental issues and discusses ways and bringing the two together. Unfortunately, the book has too many faults and too few virtues.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Where on Earth are We Going?, September 19, 2001

By 

D. Lepley (Susanville, CA, United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Where on Earth Are We Going? (Hardcover)

I've seen both excited and disappointed reviews of Mr. Strong's book; I came down in the middle reaching toward both reactions. The book is the account of a life lived and answers sought with seemingly boundless verve, skill, and fairmindedness. Is is also a book that frequently frustrates the reader by never fully delivering on any of the goals it seems to set for itself. It is first and foremost an autobiography, but noone will completely understand Strong's life from it: most notably he is, to put it mildly, elliptical about the end of his first marriage. That is none of our business, of course, but it does leave a considerable gap in the story. By contrast, he gives copious detail about his many professional associates and their interactions, so that the book is also something of a social register. It is wearying to follow this cavalcade of characters, but it is clearly a measure of how much Strong enjoys his fellow beings, including those who have been difficult for him. It is also, I expect, his sincere effort to acknowledge and thank the many people who toil with great talent and commitment in business, government, and nonprofits who seldom get the public recognition that celebrities and elected leaders get. The book was also, for this reader, a foray into the life of business--a world I rarely investigate--and the account of Strong's rescue and reform of Ontario Hydro actually makes big business sound like fun--and ethical too. But this is one of Strong's great gifts: to straddle business, government, and environmental advocacy, standing lifelong for integrating them, as we all collectively must in the years ahead. So, the book is also a primer on management and organizational reform. By turns, it is also about philosophy--environmental, social, personal, spiritual, legal, economic--whatever is on Strong's horizon at any given point. As leader, facilitator, and exemplar, he has made important contributions to Earth-care and sustainability, and readers will find here many valuable ideas on these issues but no systematic and detailed exposition of them. One does find, however, such an exposition of the author's proposals for UN reform, for another of the many hats this book wears is that it is a partial history of the UN and an account of the issues and problems it confronts--that WE confront as we stumble, however resistantly, toward being a healthy world community. Strong's story takes on a special eloquence and intensity when he tells about the gift he received from a famine-stricken Sudanese woman--the book is worth reading just for this passage.
In sum, this book is a bit of a juggling act, but then juggling countless pursuits has been Strong's forte throughout his life, with the flair and genius of a real performer. If you don't expect a thorough, focussed treatment of one subject, you can surely find something of value in its abundance.

As a final note: the book would have benefitted from more proofreading than it got. There are numerous errors of syntax, punctuation, and the like--even a reversal of pages (346 & 347)--that should have been caught before publication.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Insightful, Interesting, but more like an autobiography....., November 13, 2002

By 

Jeff Toth (Truro, Nova Scotia Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Where On Earth Are We Going? (Paperback)

Well I must say, this was an interesting read to say the least. To be qiute honest this book was not what I expected from reading the backcover. Much of the book seemed like an autobiograghpy( which isn't too bad since he has lived an intersting live) and the rest was on three main issues, Globalization, the Enviroment, and Politics. Though some of the book was a little dry I found the opening and the final few chapters to be very well done. This was an enlightening book which opens doors and makes you think "Where on earth are we going?" I would give this book 3 stars but I gave the extra star for the extremely interesting facts. This book also gives you a good feeling of the structure of the U.N. I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in international political science, the U.N. or interesting theories to prevent the earths head on collision with dooms day via pollution. Check it out!!!