2020

​We are about to start a new decade. 2020 has an exciting ring to it with bigger-than-usual thoughts about our collective future.  

This is the first time in over six decades the new decade coincides with a year of the rat, the beginning of the 12-year cycle in the Chinese Zodiac.  

There will be countless events that we could all be following in 2020, which will not be short of excitement, tension, comedy, and drama. Here is my attempt (with guidance from the Economist magazine) to detect trends and to put them in context for the first year of this new decade.

•  Global Economy; Banks, particularly in Europe, will be struggling with negative interest rates. Here in the United States, we will be flirting with an economic recession, but it wouldn't be as severe as the 2008 meltdown, and I believe financial markets will recover after all.
• I will be watching China as it will be highlighting positivity. Beijing will claim to have met its objective of achieving "moderate prosperity" by 2020. Other countries, with significant political and economic vulnerability to China, will be working out how to position themselves and strategize in trade and technology, among other things, between a Chinese sphere of influence and an American sphere of influence. It will not be easy!
• It is a massive year for sport! The Tokyo Olympics will bring a significant global audience. The Euro 2020 football (or as we call it in America; Soccer) Championship will also be taking place across 12 European countries. If you are a Cricket fan, the sport hopes for a BIG success in Australia with the T20 World Cup and in England and Wales with a new, even shorter format called The Hundred!
• In 2020 I'll be a tad concerned about nuclear proliferation. The five-yearly examination of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) will be a dramatic affair, 75 years after Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Worries of a new arms race will most likely grow a nuclear arms-control agreement conflict.
• The Persian Gulf welcomes the world in 2020. Dubai is hoping the World Expo will have a lasting impact. More awkwardly, Saudi Arabia is hosting the G20 summit. (We will be promoting universal Artificial Intelligence education for children in connection with these two events in the Persian Gulf!)  
• The race in the space continues as various missions head to Mars. US, Europe, China, and even the UAE all conduct exploration and research missions.  
• We will be witnessing many highs and lows in the Tech sector. The highs will include drone taxis, electric supercars (look at Tesla Cybertruck!), and personalized medicine, and the lows involve tech giants racing themselves for more regulation, taxation, and critical scrutiny. I believe Instagram, Facebook, and other platforms will find themselves in the spotlight of controversy and contention in the American-election cycle.
• The battle for eyeballs will continue as a surge of entertainment comes on stream — TV streaming battles intensify, and streaming opens new prospects for gamers, too. But I'm especially excited because I, along with many other James Bond fans, will go to old-fashion cinemas for the 25th film in the franchise in spring 2020. And a brand new national museum in Cairo and only a mile from the Pyrymads will show that physical presence still matters, which is added to my travel bucket list for 2020.
• Many Big anniversaries in 2020! Especially Beethoven's 250th. It is also 500 years since Raphael's death, 400 since the Mayflower sailed to America, 300 since the South Sea bubble burst, 200 since the birth of Florence Nightingale (and WHO has designated 202 the Year of the Nurse), 100 since Prohibition, 75 since the founding of the UN and - while their fans silently mourn - 50 years since the Beatles broke up!
• We are entering the decade of the young old. Let's call it"Yold"! as sprightly baby-boomers hit 65. For the first time, the world will have more people aged over 30 under 30. America and China are growing old!  
• Judgment Time. That is twofold true for President Donald Trump: first in Congress with the Democrats' drive to remove him from office (the Republican-controlled Senate will save him). In a hysterical election in November 2020, Mr. Trump will be fighting for his second (final) term in the Whitehouse! Britain's reconning with Brexit, despite Boris Johnson's decisive victory and will leave the country divided, damaged and diminished.

2020 will be an exciting year. This new decade provides all of us an excuse to look beyond the coming year and think about our human community and the path we are taking.

So let me end my 2020 outlook with Beethoven and his 250th birthday. Today our society is undergoing its transformation. We must change if we want to save our planet and if we want to avoid destructive conflicts. We need new values - human values, emotional values - to replace our desire to own too many goods (from the latest smartphone to the hottest brand). I believe Beethoven can help by teaching us how to embrace millions. He leads us to a free future with no city walls, national borders, or tribal conflicts. He introduces us to each other and reminds us that we all sing together in his choral symphony. So instead of starting 2020 by checking our emails, WeChat, or likes on Instagram, let's listen to Symphony No. 9. We can learn a lot from Beethoven's gift to humanity in 2020: The simple melody in his ninth symphony that appropriately became the anthem of the EU. His message: "You millions, I embrace you; this kiss is for all the world" should be a compass for all generations in this new decade.

Have a happy, healthy, and prosperous 2020 with less digital connections and more human conversations.