The pace and scale of change experienced during the last three decades seems unlikely to abate as we move into the new millennium. Notwithstanding that modern societies are founded on notions of progress' and modernization', where change is perceived as both necessary and inevitable, it is also true that rapid fundamental changes are difยฎcult to come to terms with as they alter long-standing characteristics of human civilization, societies and communities. Moreover, fundamental shifts are also creating devastating consequences for some, whilst presenting serendipitous opportunities for others.
The rapid replacement of everything old in society with something new, involves a transformation not just of institutions, but of modes of thought. Change, it seems, is the only constant in a social sphere that is profoundly impacting on societal structures and cultural values. In addition to changes of societal structure which are produced and reproduced by people's continuous changes of interaction, similar changes have been taking place concerning the assessment and allocation of material and non-material resources, such as governments' reduced intervention in addressing issues of poverty. These changes are partly due to new ways of thinking and partly due to technological advances. Furthermore, the decline of the domestic economy in the 1970s of the major nations, the rapid advancements in information and communication technologies, the increasing demands of citizens with higher expectations, the rising education and expectation of the work-force, the role of the globally dominant states expanding world markets, the search for cheaper modes of production, the liberalization of capital and the legally unrestrictive global environment conducive to higher surplus accumulation of capital, all lead to qualitative changes in structural rules and resources of society. Increasingly, we see a world-wide transcendence taking place, creating a new global system of Strategic Change