Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
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After a year that included the Arab Awakening, the euro crisis, Japan’s nuclear catastrophe, the killing of Osama bin Laden, and the unanticipated reaction to Russia’s recent parliamentary elections, there are many unanswered questions left for 2012.
Russian authorities see the protests as the most serious challenge to their power since taking office in 2000. The coming year will be momentous for Russian politics, with unpredictable outcomes and potentially dangerous consequences.
Europe is trying to solve its economic problems through further fiscal integration and greater financial oversight, but fears are high that the steps taken thus far are not enough to stem the crisis.
Almost two decades after negotiations began Russia is set to join the World Trade Organization. Russia, the biggest country to enter the WTO since China joined ten years ago, is expected to be confirmed as a member during the ministerial meeting in mid-December.
When Russians vote for the State Duma on December 4, the economy will be the critical issue for voters in a country still struggling to fully recover from the financial crisis.
What happens in Syria will have a huge impact on the rest of the region, and if the Assad government were to fall, it would be a big strategic blow to Iran.
Arab countries will only become economically competitive and reliably democratic if they start teaching youth to think critically and respect different points of view.
The most challenging part of the change to civilian government in Egypt lies ahead—the country's road to democracy is far from guaranteed.
In the coming months, Washington will need to walk a fine line to maintain pressure on Iran while trying to prevent the nuclear crisis from escalating out of control.
While new allegations call the peaceful intentions of Iran’s nuclear program into greater question, China and Russia are unlikely to agree to sanctions they view as crippling.