Current edition

The global financial crisis has major implications for international politics at present. However, at a time when this specific issue is dominating the agenda, Global Trends 2010 aims to draw attention to longer-term developments which will also impact on our prosperity, security, opportunities for participation and, indeed, humankind’s prospects of survival now and, increasingly, in future. For that reason, besides focussing on the implications of the present global financial and economic crisis, the new edition highlights two further key challenges: new multipolar configurations of power, and impending climate change. The editors of Global Trends 2010 conclude that for the foreseeable future, there will not be “one” new system of global governance. This may not make the world any less complex but it could increase the prospects of achieving successful solutions to global problems.

Global Trends 2010 also makes it clear that in parallel to “casino capitalism”, fundamental power shifts, and the challenges posed by climate change, other trends are emerging which have developed over decades and are also likely to impact on future global governance. They include conflicting trends in the development of violent conflicts, a new wave of rearmament, and the growing significance of religion as a factor in global politics. Other notable trends include rapid urbanisation, the now central role of migration in the economies and societies of the countries of origin and host countries, and the widening gap between “health societies”, on the one hand, and world regions where infectious diseases are spreading rapidly, on the other. These trends with multisectoral impacts also include the globalisation of science and innovation processes.