"It is 2015. George Clooney is US President. Angelina Jolie is Vice President. Bob Geldof and Bono, respectively, Irish President and Prime Minister. China has just overtaken the US as the world's largest economy. India is not so far behind. Some of the UN poverty targets - the Millennium...

A vision of universalised human freedom, equality, security and democracy emerged in the wake of the Scientific Revolution and the Enlightenment, the British Industrial Revolution and the French Revolution. This vision, not even approximately practicable at the time, is now well within reach. A...