Some time ago I wrote, “Our goal is to help Americans, and others, better understand the world we share.” This has been a year of transitions at Berkshire, a year when Berkshire’s longstanding areas of expertise–sports, China, international relations, and the environment–have converged, and a year of change in the world at large. The election of a new president in Taiwan was the beginning (although not much reported in the western press, that election made one of the most worrisome military flashpoints for decades far less significant a threat). With the Beijing Olympics, the election of Barack Obama the 44th president of the United States, and growing recognition that countries and citizens must work together to do something about climate change and other environmental challenges, 2008 has brought us to a new era of global cooperation. And just in time, given that we face an extraordinary economic crisis that shows the extent of our interconnections, and shared vulnerabilities.