What will the world of the 21st century look like when Western dominance is no longer a given? How were the societies and cultures that exist in the world today formed, and how are they interconnected? And what motivates human society these days? In short, what is the state of the world today as we enter the second decade of the 21st century? This is the first book to examine planetary human society as a whole. It outlines the sociocultural geology of the world, its major civilizations, its historical waves of globalization, its family-sex-gender systems and its paths to modernity; describes the dynamics of the world, its main driving forces and the outlines of the most important global and subglobal processes. The book shows the great team players on the world stage (rich countries, various religions and movements, corporations and cities) and traces the life paths of men and women on all continents from their birth and childhood to old age and death. Written in accessible language, the book is of interest not only only for sociologists, political scientists, historians, but also for a wide range of readers.