It’s time for a new social contract

Source: World Economic Forum.

Democracy is becoming collateral damage in a world where global risks have been ignored or exacerbated by those with the power to act. The increasing authoritarianism of elected leaders, the actions of entrenched dictators, and the use and threat of military power have brought us to the edge of full-blown crisis.

2017 was a year of living dangerously for the world. Indications of uncertainty, instability and fragility proliferated, as the World Economic Forum’s Global Risks Report describes.

Its prediction that “at this early stage, it is difficult to be confident that 2018 will reverse these trends” should be a wake-up call. When only 7% of responses to the latest Global Risks Perception Survey (GRPS) foresee a reduction of risk, compared to 59% expecting an increase, 2018 should be a year of all-out effort to negotiate global solutions.