Yep, yep and yep. The only part of what the article descibes that will come true are the bad parts.
Global crises, brought on by environmental catastrophes and political and economic inequity, will be to the 21st century what world wars were to the 20th. China ("Asia" is PC garbage, does that include Japan/Burma/DPRK?) will never be a world power, in 2030 or ever, for the reason that the country has fundamental weaknesses that will sooner undo China's gains than be overcome. Notion of democracy spreading is ridiculous, the world is on the road to corporate feudalism.
And what Jushiro said.
The most relevant historical comparisons to what the 21st century will look like are:
1.
The Crisis of the Third Century2. Russia in 1914 (taking OWS as
Russia in 1905)
3. France in 1780 (re-read the first chapter of
Tale of Two Cities)
The real question is whether Humanity solves its problems before the biosphere collapses.
The only two possible outcomes are a fascinating dualism. I wonder which it will be...
(also: play SMAC, it will give you incredible insight)
Quote:
Individuals, equipped with new lethal and disruptive technologies, will be capable of causing widespread harm. Global economic crises could well be recurring.
EDIT: When they say "individuals", what they really mean is "populist revolutionaries", and when they say "global economic crises could be recurring", what they really mean is "wage slavery as a way of life".
