The planet has been headed toward it, or at least trying to, for at least the last 100 years.
Read Captains and the Kings by Taylor Caldwell. Published over 50 years ago it is very spot on with what is going on today. Has a good list of older books listed in the back of the book for further research into the movers and shakers of the geopolitical power structure of the past 100 years.
LRG