With the arrival of more competent and steady leadership in the US, the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, and momentum behind policies to address climate change, there are certainly grounds for hope at the start of the new year. But if 2020 taught us anything, it is that we still have a lot to learn about risk in a globalized world.
With all due caveats after a year that upended so many earlier predictions, Project Syndicate commentators have offered suggestions for what to watch out for in the 12 months ahead. Uncertainty may be an abiding fact of life, but that is no reason to throw up our hands and let the future wash over us. As many of the contributions show, the arrival of COVID-19 vaccines and prospects of an economic recovery in 2021 offer grounds for hope. We should also expect renewed momentum behind efforts to address climate change. Similarly, the eagerly awaited change of political leadership in the United States will bring new opportunities for global cooperation, but only to those who are ready to seize them. The task, as always, will be to leverage what we do know while remaining ever mindful of our own epistemic limits.
With all due caveats after a year that upended so many earlier predictions, Project Syndicate commentators have offered suggestions for what to watch out for in the 12 months ahead. Uncertainty may be an abiding fact of life, but that is no reason to throw up our hands and let the future wash over us. As many of the contributions show, the arrival of COVID-19 vaccines and prospects of an economic recovery in 2021 offer grounds for hope. We should also expect renewed momentum behind efforts to address climate change. Similarly, the eagerly awaited change of political leadership in the United States will bring new opportunities for global cooperation, but only to those who are ready to seize them. The task, as always, will be to leverage what we do know while remaining ever mindful of our own epistemic limits.