Seven Challenges for the World

1) Human population: The world had around 150 million people around the time of Julius Caesar, and only 2 billion by the Great Depression. We reached 7 billion just last year. The world will have 7.7 billion people by 2020, 8.5 billion in 2030, 8.9 billion in 2040, and 9.3 billion in 2050, when population begins to stabilize. In 1950 most people lived in rich nations; today, rapidly growing developing countries have more people and those regions will have the lion's share of population growth going forward. In 1950, life expectancy was 46.5 years. Today life expectancy is around 70, and will be around 75 years of age by 2050. The year 2008 was the first time more people lived in urban areas than rural, 51 versus 49%. By 2050, that will shift to 70% urban and 30% rural. That 70% will be the same number of people living in cities that live on the entire planet today.

3) Technology revolution (computation, robotics, nanotechnology and biotechnology): In 1997 the fastest computer in the world took up three rooms and could do 1 trillion calculations per second; today it is the size of your thumbnail. The iphone today has more computational power than the entire U.S.  Air Defense command did in 1965. In 1995 there were 90 million cell phones worldwide; today there are 6 billion (with only 7 billion people!) and about one third are 'smart' phones.  The need to help amputees returning from war has driven recent improvements in robotics. In 2003 the genome was decoded and in 2010 a new synthetic life was created out of nothing with the help of genetic advancements. Nanotech is a new revolution. It means, in short, microchips smaller than the "D" in a dime. Using faster and smaller microchips for advances in science and new innovation is only beginning.

4) Information and knowledge:  Right now we create 2.7 zetabytes of information a year – the same amount of info you would create if every person in the United States would tweet 40 times a minute for 40,000 years. Currently about 2 billion people in the world have access to the internet. Internet connectivity drops off in South America, Africa and Asia. According to U.S. department of labor, today's children will have 10 to 14 jobs by age 38, and keeping up with science and technology will be more and more important. Craig Barrett, former chairman of the board at Intel, says 90% of the products delivered by Intel on Dec. 31 did not even exist on Jan. 1st of that same year.

5) Global economics: Today countries hang together or hang separately; there is no way to separate from the world. Former secretary of state Henry Kissinger says that there is a system of linkages that exist today that no previous generation has had to face.  Global trade has changed the way we think and live. Inter-Asian trade has tripled in recent years. Car ownership today is 80% in United States, 60% in Europe, and 6% in China. Last year General Motors sold more cars in China than they did in the United States. With further increases in wealth, consumption will rise worldwide.

6) Debt driving economic trends: Emerging economies have falling debt. Developed, "rich" countries are saddled with not only too much debt, but also aging populations and unsustainable pension systems.  That debt will continue to soar over the next several years. The G7 (seven most wealthy countries) will have up to 200% of GDP as debt; how they manage defense systems, foreign assistance and general governance will be a tremendous challenge. Countries with little debt will be more agile and be in the driver's seat.

7) Security: We have historical patterns of rivalries between countries. In the past this manifested itself as war; later, as the cold war with the Soviet Union. If we can make a break from those traditional patterns what will future relationships look like? Will economics be the new battleground? China wants all territorial claims in the South China sea because of the vast resources there; however, other countries are jostling for the same resources. Obviously traditional weapons still exist, but most of the problems today revolve around weak governments, drugs, human trafficking and corruption. All of it feeds into incredible security challenges for the future. Cyber security, or advanced computer hacking, causes harm for national security and financial levels.