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Ten Challenges Around the World in 2014

The Globalist identifies the biggest challenges facing some of the world’s leading countries in the coming year.

January 9, 2014

Credit: Maxx-Studio - Shutterstock.com

1. China

The End of Extrapolation
How can China avoid a hard landing in the next few years?

By George Magnus

2. India

Growing at Night and Confessions of a Disillusioned Libertarian
How could a nation become the world’s second-fastest growing economy despite having a weak, flailing state?

By Gurcharan Das

3. United States

The Civil War Continues
How U.S. society is still at war with itself.

By Stephan Richter

4. Brazil

An Object of History — or a Subject?
Brazil must act decisively to become a leader or be relegated to an object of history.

By Stephan Richter and Uwe Bott

5. Russia

The End of Brand Putin?
Can Russia ever become a modern, economically competitive society as long as Putin is in charge?

By Fiona Hill and Clifford Gaddy

6. Japan

Going Backwards in Japan
Say goodbye to a system that was equitable and among the fairest in the world.

By Satish Tandon

7. Germany

But Germans Do Consume
Is it really true that German workers’ and consumers’ appetite for shopping and consuming is repressed?

By Holger Schmieding

8. France

Attacking Germany Won’t Create French Jobs
France stalled on economic reforms while hoping (in vain) for a new German government. What now?

By Denis MacShane

9. Spain

A History of Autonomy and Spain Urgently Needs Consolidation
How unresolved historic conflicts inside Spain undermine its future. (And how to fix it.)

By Antonio Albaladejo

10. Nigeria

The “Yes We Can” Minister of Nigeria
An interview with Nigeria’s Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala on her country’s future path.

By Stephan Richter