Gazing into 2008
As 2007 draws to a close, five top BBC correspondents give their predictions for 2008. The year ahead will see a new president elected in the world’s most powerful country. Climate change and the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan are also likely to remain hot topics.
How will the global economy fare, and what roles will emerging powerhouses like China and India play?
Our correspondents can also be seen sharing their views on television on BBC World and BBC News 24 on 1 January 2008 and heard on BBC Radio Four on 28 and 29 December 2007.
What will be the biggest story in 2008?
The biggest story will be the way in which the winning candidate in the 2008 presidential election deals with the outside world.
Will he or she mark out a new course in US policy, away from pre-emptive military action and towards so called ’soft power’?
What would entertain you most in 2008?
For me, the most entertaining prospect is the total eclipse of the sun in China and Russia on 1 August, just ahead of the Beijing Olympic Games.
While on the Olympics, I’ll also be entertained to see the start of construction of the London Olympic site.
In my own economics subject area, I think there won’t be much entertaining.
But it will be interesting to see the countries that have been accumulating wealth in the last few years - China and the Middle-East - buying banks, property and companies in the West.
It will be even more interesting to see how it goes down. But maybe not entertaining.
What will be the biggest story in 2008?
The Olympics in China. It will be the biggest Olympics ever, staged by the nation which already has the world’s largest population and is building fast towards becoming the largest economy in the world.
Will the estimated four billion people around the globe who watch the games on television also see rising China as a positive force in the world, or as a potential threat?
By the middle of this century, China will eclipse the US and become the dominant power. How is it using its power now around the world? and how will it develop that role?
China insists its path is one of “peaceful development” but its astounding economic growth and patchy political development and human rights record will come under unprecedented scrutiny in its Olympic year.
If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.
