Gordon Brown

Every day we see evidence of the fracturing of the rules-based order. War, mass migration, economic disruption and climate collapse fill our screens.

At the same time, many feel a different kind of fear. The erosion of civic life has led to an epidemic of loneliness, a loss of community spirit and a growing sense that there is nowhere to turn in times of need, no common cause worth fighting for.

But why is it that the breakup of the world order and the breakdown of civic life are happening at the same time? And why is it that millions across the world are turning to populist nationalist parties in search of solutions?

Drawing on decades of experience at the heart of politics, alongside new research and original polling of nearly 100,000 people across forty-five countries, Gordon Brown reveals how global instability and civic decline are connected. 

The Future Starts With Us is more than a guide to our present turmoil. By uncovering and targeting the root causes, Brown offers a practical and hopeful roadmap to bring us back together, renew the global order, and set us on a more equitable and sustainable course.

His most urgent insight is that the future will not be decided by the declarations of presidents or prime ministers or at conferences or summits, but by citizens becoming actively engaged in their communities and by what we choose to do together. The change we seek starts here and now. It starts with us.

Gordon Brown was the longest-serving Chancellor of the Exchequer in UK history and Prime Minister from 2007 to 2010. Today he is fully engaged in international development work, serving as the United Nations Special Envoy for Global Education, spearheading efforts to deliver a quality and inclusive education for all of the world’s children, and as the World Health Organization’s Ambassador for Global Health Finance. He is married to Sarah Brown, and they live in Fife.