Exploring and Shaping International Futures helps readers understand global trends in demographic, economic, energy, food, environmental, and sociopolitical systems. It helps businesspeople, government officials, and others think about global futures in each of these areas. It is the only book in the market that allows readers to use a computer simulation to track global trends and to develop alternative scenarios around those trends. It is one of relatively few books that really brings computer technology into the classroom, boardroom, or policy planning commission.

The International Futures (IFs) computer simulation, around which the book is built, is now widely used in policy analysis as well as education. It was a centerpiece of the TERRA project sponsored by the European Commission. It was used in the U.S. National Intelligence Community's 2020 Project, released in early 2005. It is now supporting the UN Environmental Programme's project to create the fourth Global Environmental Outlook (a series mandated by the Rio Conference in 1992). And the IFs team is now gearing up for a project to use the IFs system for long-term forecasting of key variables from the UN Human Development Reports and the Millennium Development Goals.

Over time, the computer model has become steadily easier to access and use. The web-conversion facilitates use of the model directly on the Web and as a download for those who want it on their own computers.