When the world gets closer.

We help you see farther.

Sign up to our expressly international daily newsletter.

Already a subscriber? Log in .

You've reached your limit of one free article.

Get unlimited access to Worldcrunch

You can cancel anytime .

SUBSCRIBERS BENEFITS

Exclusive International news coverage

Ad-free experience NEW

Weekly digital Magazine NEW

9 daily & weekly Newsletters

Access to Worldcrunch archives

Free trial

30-days free access, then $2.90
per month.

Annual Access BEST VALUE

$19.90 per year, save $14.90 compared to monthly billing.save $14.90.

Subscribe to Worldcrunch
True Fiction

Roaring Twenties Redux: 12 Bold Predictions For A Decade To Come

Once again, we are entering the Twenties, a decade which, last century, saw an eruption of freedom caught between two immense tragedies. Here is a little taste of what might await us this time around.

Walking toward 2020
Walking toward 2020
Jacques Attali*

PARIS — Over the past ten years, we have witnessed an incredible number of improbable events. From an Islamic caliphate being established and then collapsing in Iraq and Syria, to a property developer being elected president of the United States and a complete unknown being elected president of France. We have made unbelievable progress in artificial intelligence, seen a global environmental movement spearheaded by a 14-year-old girl, and watched as the UK decided to leave the European Union. There have been terrorist attacks on the streets of Paris, fires spreading from the Amazon to Australia, and protests in Hong Kong, Santiago, Quito and Algiers, to name just a few.

Now we are once again entering the Twenties, a decade which, last century, saw an eruption of freedom and flapper girls, caught between two immense tragedies.

So here are twelve extreme, unlikely but by no means impossible, events that could take place before 2030 — some are negative, others positive, but all are events for which we must be prepared:

1. The global financial system could collapse amid a huge financial crisis. If the stock exchange were to crash and unlisted companies went bankrupt, banks and investment funds would fail, protectionist measures would be introduced and there would be a major recession in the United States, China and Europe.

2. North Korea could fire a nuclear missile at Tokyo or Washington, causing untold damage and a death toll reaching the hundreds of thousands.

3. The Roman Catholic Church could collapse, as the Soviet Union did, as its leaders become progressively more liberal.

4. Russia might invade the Baltic States, and the United States may not defend their sovereignty, destroying Europeans' firmly held trust in the NATO alliance.

5. A new Islamic caliphate could be established in parts of Libya, Niger, Mali and Nigeria, supported by Turkey. France and African countries would be powerless to stop it.

6. A far-right President could be elected in France, and work with Italy against the European Union.

7. The United States could elect a female, environmentally conscious Democrat President who would renew the Paris Agreement on Climate Change and introduce gun control laws.

We could see democratic revolutions in the countries where they seem most unlikely.

8. There might be new medical discoveries that allow us to cure the most resistant cancers and reduce the health risks associated with obesity.

9. Environmental issues might finally get the recognition they deserve. Governments could implement carbon pricing schemes to fix the price at 100 dollars per ton, make global efforts to recycle all the waste clogging up our oceans, and make a viable plan to combat deforestation and the desertification of the Sahel.

10. The world's 50 largest public and private investment funds could make a legally binding pledge to invest only in socially and environmentally responsible companies.

11. We could see democratic revolutions in the countries where they seem most unlikely, such as Russia, Turkey and China, where artificial intelligence technologies could be put to democratic use.

12. There may be some truly original works of art and new artistic movements that change how we see the world.

We must be prepared for all of this. Prepared to fight or dodge it, or to push change forward. However, it's likely that reality will again prove far more surprising than anything we could have predicted.


*Jacques Attali is a French economic and social theorist, writer and political adviser.

You've reached your limit of free articles.

To read the full story, start your free trial today.

Get unlimited access. Cancel anytime.

Exclusive coverage from the world's top sources, in English for the first time.

Insights from the widest range of perspectives, languages and countries.

FOCUS: Israel-Palestine War

What's Left Of Gaza: Scenes Of Destruction, Pangs Of Desperation

The information coming out of the Palestinian enclave is scarce but undoubtedly grim. An Italian reporter from across the border gathers information from inside Gaza amid a fragile and inevitably temporary ceasefire.

Photo of Palestinians walking in Gaza among the damaged buildings

Palestinians walk among the rubble in the residential area Beit Lahia, northern Gaza

Francesco Semprini

SDEROT – When we ask Sister Nabila Saleh to describe the situation in Gaza, she responds by sending ten photos: images of rubble, destruction, and desolation. They suggest that the point of no return has long been surpassed.

Sister Nabila is of Egyptian origin and spends her days in the parish of the Holy Family in Gaza City, where all of the remaining Christian community is sheltering.

For the latest news & views from every corner of the world, Worldcrunch Today is the only truly international newsletter. Sign up here.

Communication is challenging; on WhatsApp, conversations are impossible, only snippets of written sentences arrive on each side. Still, they suffice in describing the hellish conditions they've been facing for the past seven weeks.

"The situation is very difficult, everything is destroyed, nothing is left," she said. "Living is a challenge, for now, no aid is reaching us, there is only one supermarket with some basic supplies."

Keep reading...Show less

The latest