For some years now the pace of change has been quickening across the world. Since the war we have seen the decline of the U.K. as a major power and the dominance of the U.S.A. and U.S.S.R. in international affairs. We have seen the emergence of new and vigorous economies based on manufacturing in countries such as Japan and West Germany, and also the growing power of the oil states. We have watched a growing concentration of industrial and economic power in financial institutions and in huge multinational corporations and also the development of world markets for many goods and services. In the West we have experienced a sustained period of economic growth and buoyancy, but also a decade of retrenchment and growing unemployment.