Parag Khanna is an accomplished traveler and world explorer; he has visited more than 100 countries on all continents.

He’s a best-selling author whose recent book, Connectography: Mapping the Future of Global Civilization, explores megacities, emerging global networks, and the shifting power dynamics of our planet.

“It’s the rewiring that is happening, governments have made it happen, and they’ve been investing in it. Companies have made it happen. It’s our collective activity,” Khanna said. “Globalization is a sum total of everything we do, not just governments.”

Parag Khanna: Globally connected

Best-selling author Parag Khanna talks about nations being globally connected.

In his book, Khanna argues that in today’s world, a shift is taking place where cities, not nations, are the key global players.

“You can’t have a successful country without successful cities, so we should really think of ourselves as a network civilization among cities that drives the world economy no matter what country you may or may not belong to,” Khanna explained.

The leading global strategist is a senior research fellow at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore. Born in India, he is also the managing partner of Hybrid Reality, a boutique geostrategic advisory firm.

Parag Khana recently sat down with Mike Walter at the Aspen Ideas Festival, one of the largest annual gatherings of thought leaders and innovators, and had a conversation about the crucial nature of being globally connected.