Follow
The World Economic Forum has published the annual list of critical dangers looming over the world for the next 10 years. Unlike other years, when economic issues topped the list, such as debt levels and government crises, this year, international conflict has seen major upgrading in the eyes of over 900 concerned experts.
Top four threats are featured in this article, predicting dark times in the years to come.
The biggest threat is considered to come from different geopolitical conflicts. It was brought on the experts’ minds by the recent crises from all over the world: the situation in Ukraine, the tensed relations of Russia with Europe and the conflicts happening between the Chinese and the Japanese. All these are proof that power is once again on the minds of world’s most influential countries.
As if the situation isn’t as bad as it is, geopolitical threats have reached the list’s top for the first time in seven years, during which the financial crisis was our number one problem. Experts called 2014 an “annus horribillis” as far as state conflicts are concerned.
Global warming and the constant change of climate brought environmental issues up to the top, reflecting a certain fear that we are not prepared, as countries and leaders go, to tackle these issues. However, the main concern with the largest impact on the world population is considered to be the global water supply. The Middle East is largely an area where approximately 4-5 billions of people suffer from lack of drinkable water.
The greatest water intake goes to agriculture (70 per cent of total supply). This is the first year when desperate struggles for water supplies exceeded the oil supply searches, and the same fights for control will soon happen again, this time battling over clean water resources.
A close third, overrunning the sovereignty of states made 2014 the year where new nations claimed a spot on the map, and not in the most ideal conditions. Topping the list was Isis, the Islamic State, “inspiring” a trend of government overthrowing in Syria and Iraq. This alarming tendency is one of the most threatening risks caused by state conflicts.
The problem with Isis is that it’s growing and spreading unbelievably fast, recruiting more than 30,000 soldiers and supporters; a very probable consequence is creation of mass destruction weapons and increasing the chances of massive terrorist attacks in the next 10 years.
This is the first year in a decade when unemployment and other economic issues were not featured as foremost urgent. Even though the economic growth is slow, it helped decrease the risk of another financial crisis. However, social stability should feel the most threatened by unemployment, as it is the most likely phenomenon to affect it in the next decade.
Image Source: Zimbio
