[Pedro Baños, El dominio mundial. Elementos del poder y claves geopolíticas. Ariel. Barcelona, 2018. 366 p.]

December 5, 2018

review / Manuel Lamela

If your previous submission, The Keys to World Dominationserved as guide to introduce us to the vast world of geopolitics and international relations, in his new work, Colonel Pedro Baños Bajo, reveals and sample the key elements and instruments for world domination and how these are used by the various actors in their constant struggle for power on a global scale. We are on the verge of a paradigm shift in the international scene, and this process, as the author explains, will be led by demography and technology.

In his business to democratize geopolitics, Pedro Baños uses a clear and precise language to facilitate the understanding of the work. Numerous illustrations in the book are accompanied by brief explanations to get a broader view of the topic to be treated.

The elements of world power is the name given to the first half of the book, which is divided into nine different parts that, according to the author, are key to understanding the game of world power. In this first half of the book we will deal with current and extremely important issues on the international scene. From the hybrid threat, which is a new way of waging war, to the role of intelligence services today, and including the transcendental importance of natural resources and demographics. It is certainly a comprehensive analysis for those looking for a brief explanation of the major challenges that threaten to destabilize our current social order. It is true that some of the explanations can be defined as simple, but this need not be understood as a pejorative characteristic. The author's ability to synthesize extremely complex issues may encourage the reader's curiosity and lead him to other great works where he can delve deeper into more specific topics.

In the second part of the book we find a more concrete analysis in which the author focuses on only two factors: technology and demographics. The population imbalance, the great migratory flows and what some call the fourth industrial revolution are some of the issues that Colonel Baños highlights in his analysis. In the author's opinion, the transformations to which these two elements will be exposed will mark the course of humanity in the coming years. In this more incisive study, the author sample tells us how vulnerable human society is in the face of the future changes that are to come and how this presumed weakness will make conflicts difficult to avoid in the near future. Pedro Baños argues that despite the belief that we live in a perfectly organized and structured society, the reality is far from the latter, since it is a reduced group human being in charge of directing and leading the destiny of all humanity as a whole.

Despite distilling a certain pessimism throughout the work, Pedro Baños decides to conclude his analysis with a message of hope, advocating for a united humanity, manager and solidarity with its environment.