The Daily Telegraph (U.K.) reports the predictions of The Eurasia Group which makes annual forecasts of the world's 10 most troubling issues for the year ahead. I don't find much to argue with in their list. Their headings:
The Hollow Alliance - the U.S. and Europe drift apart.
Closed Europe - overthrow of Schengen.
The China Footprint - unpredictability.
ISIS and "Friends" - no effective counter-strategy.
Saudi Arabia - conflict between royals.
The Rise of Technologists - mega-billionaires with attitude.
Unpredictable Leaders - Putin, Erdogan, and more.
Brazil - economic turmoil, political weakness.
Not Enough Elections - in emerging nations.
Turkey - slip-sliding toward autocracy, next door to ISIS.
The one factor the article underplays is the rise of populist nationalism - mostly on the right - in Europe and the U.S. It isn't clear whether the new nationalists are merely noisy, or actually developing a majority. "Elites ignoring the wishes of the governed" is the root cause of such movements, in both Europe and the U.S.
