i) 5 years
I honestly don't think much will have time to change in the world in the coming five years, but some current events will have evolved though; the United States will have a new president, the conflict in Syria will hopefully have sputtered out and the Ukraine/Russian conflict cooled down (with Russia likely keeping the crimean penninsula). Being very pessimistic, I also think that it is likely that some sort of terror attack will happen in a major european city.
In terms of technology and science I don't think any revolutionary will happen; some sort of new mobile network will be released (6g?) and implemented here in Sweden – and we will also likely see something like ten new different versions of the iPhone. There might be a new medical catastrophe (like the recent zika-virus outbreak or the ebola outbreak a while ago) and the medical field will have to adapt. On top of that there will be more focus on the growing problem of anti-biotic resistant bacteria.
Another topic that will continue to receive a lot of attention is of course the ever-growing problem of the environment – however I remain a pessimist and don’t think there will be any good news here.
ii) 6-60 years
The middle-east will continue to be in upheaval for a
long time with likely revolutions or civil wars occurring anywhere in the
troubled region, but with some luck things might tether out – but there is also
a chance that the chaos spreads, most likely then to more regions of Africa. In
short, the middle-east will continue to be a political hotbed for the coming 50
years or so.
Hopefully a global network for cellphones and internet
will be developed, making the world even more interconnected. There might also
be some new innovations in the energy field, giving more of world cheap and readily
available electricity which will probably help reduce the inequality in the
world.
On the topic of inequality I think the world will
become much more equal in terms of money and opportunity at least, new technological
advances will benefit larger and larger parts of the world and make life easier
for the masses.
