Revolutions are unpredictable. We still don’t know how many of the changes initiated by the Arab Spring will turn out. In Libya, the overthrow of Qaddafi was viewed as a successful humanitarian intervention. But it appears as if Libya might not hold together as a single state. Perhaps a fragmented Libya is a more viable nation-state, but it is likely that any secessionist movement will lead to more violence. The lure of oil profits will make the situation highly volatile.
The global arms race seems to be accelerating–a consequence of the emergence of new powers. India takes the top place as the world’s largest importer of arms. The arms race between India and China is going to be something to watch carefully.
Many are concerned by the slow economic recovery after the financial crisis of 2008-09. Some suspect that growth after a financial crisis will always be slow since it takes a long time for people to pay off the debts that they accumulated during the “bubble” years. There is, however, a more disquieting thread in some economic analyses; some suspect that high rates of economic growth may never return to the mature economies such as the US, Europe, and Japan. The Atlantic gives us a hint of this perspective.
World Politics News 
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