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Overview

Events since 2000 underscore the utter unpredictability of the future. It seems doubtful that anyone at the dawn of the 21^st century would have guessed that:

• Terrorist attacks would kill nearly 3,000 Americans.
• The United States would become embroiled in wars in the Middle East that were the longest in American history.
• In two of the first four presidential elections of the 21^st century, a candidate would lose the popular vote but capture enough states to win the electoral vote.
• The United States would elect its first African American president.
• The Supreme Court would legalize same-sex marriage.
• The United States would experience its worst economic crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s.
• Income inequality, stagnating real incomes, and deepening educational and class divides would deeply polarize American politics and produce bitter conflicts over immigration, policing, voting rights, taxation, transgender rights, and a host of other issues.