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Introduction:

The world is chaningn rapidly and so are the conditions for people at the planet. 
There seem to be some meta-tendencies influencing the over all political and 
economic picture at the present, probably also the nearest future, politically and 
economically. The world as a whole is more or less a part of the, still, Western 
dominated global market economy, which havs had an increasing impact in all corners of the 
world. The market has an innate tendency to invest in the current profitable places, 
leaving other places out, and accumulating capital where it is most costless and profitable. A 
consequence will be widening economic gaps between rich and poor, both between 
countries and inside countries, likely leading to conflicts. 
 
This question is debated in many fora, bur meanwhile here is a constant flow of capital, tax money, 
from the public sectors to private companies, many of them hiding their capital in tax havens. 
The national state budgets need capital for investments and welfare, and to the degree capital 
are lost due to tax avoidance of big companies, this creates problems for people and increases 
the gap between rich and poor, between countries and within countries, 
sometimes leading to social unrest, like in Greece, 
Spain, Argentina, South Africa, the conflicts in Congo etc. 
 
Especially poor countries 
can be subject to local conflicts or wars, because of the local attempts to attract 
investments or exploit resources, like in East-Central Africa, West Africa and East 
Asia. We see epidemics with fatal impacts due to poverty among people and too 
little capital/tools in the public sector, e.g. HIV/AIDS, Ebola, malaria and tuberculosis. 
We see a victimizing of big parts of the population in especially poor parts of the world 
due to climate changes, mainly caused by the Western economies. 
 
The crisis related to climate changes and to the lack of biodiversity is escalating and 
need urgent actions, both nationally and globally; common issues, which call for 
common policies and effforts. Will this be realized? 
 
In many conflicts and wars we can trace the economic interests behind, e.g. in 
Congo. The Middle East would not have been this massive centre for conflicts if it 
were not for the oil interests and the neglect of the political and social conditions in, 
e.g. Iran before Khomeini, Saudi Arabia, the Iraq before the wars. 
The conflicts between parts of the Islamic world and the West would not have been 
there, or only partly, if it was not for these economic interests. 
 
There is a, still little, power shift from Western political and economic dominance to 
a more multipolar world with especially the emerging economies, which also have political 
power. Will this trend continue? Will it cut down on the number and character of the 
conflicts or the opposite? Will extended cooperation between non-Western countries 
and institutions lead to better solutions to important matters like poverty, conflicts 
producing refugee and climate changes causing migration. 
 
At the big scale we see a growing conglomerate of money and politics, acting partly 
outside public attention. What if all this was public? What if people really knew? 
There are discussions of how to regulate the market, and e.g. transnational 
companies, to secure the paying of taxes where they are earned, to avoid capital 
escaping to tax havens and maybe even regulation of the tax heavens, where the 
money is hidden. Will the international institutions continue with their corporate 
friendly rules, backed up by the big nation states? 
 
Wll the people around the world adapt to or take actions in one way or another, trying 
to influence, to forward, hinder or rebel towards the political and 
economic circumstances. It is a political tendency that people do not accept to be 
denied access to a decent life, when they can see it would be possible to change 
government policies. They protest. Sometimes people are supported by civic society 
and the NGO world. Will this lead to more people empowerment, more democracy 
and more people&acute;s control over their daily life and over the politicians and even 
businesses who today influence the world very much?

Directive:

Read the introduction and the questions and make sure you understand the overall 
aim of the task. 
Read ALL the files. 
How to use this task: 
 
Variant 1. 
You can solve the task individually by answering all the questions in the form of a 3- 
page text.
<div style="margin-left: 40px;">In your text, consider with references to the directives: 
1) Likely future global political and economic developments in the world, and 
2) How they will influence and be influenced by Europe</div>
 
Variant 2. 
You can solve the task commonly, where your teammates and you share different 
parts of the topic among yourselves and present to each other in a form of a course. 
The whole course with all the parts shouldn&rsquo;t exceed 2 hours. 
Each one of you will end up with a 1-page text about your part of the topic and the 
conclusion from your part of the course. All the materials you used for your part of 
the course should also be send to your teacher. 
 
Use additional sources if you find it beneficial, especially if you have chosen the 
The origin of additional sources must be noted for control. 
variant 2. 
 
 
The issues to work with: 
1. Europe and the global economy
<div style="margin-left: 40px;">a) The welfare state model is under pressure. What does the article have of 
perspectives of this? 
The rest of articles: Sum up the main arguments from the various articles, 
e.g. compare them, what is a problem with the current kind of economy. 
What could be the solutions to this according to the various articles?</div>
 
2. Europe and war and peace
<div style="margin-left: 40px;">a) There are 8 small articles: Note the pressing issues of each of them. Sum 
them up to a kind of political statement: These are urgent political issues! 
Is there a way out of it?</div>
 
3. Europe and the say of people
<div style="margin-left: 40px;">a) There are 7 articles: Note the main issues stated in each of the 7 articles. 
What are people reacting against/towards)? What are the perspectives? 
Sum up in a short notice: An agenda for people to have more influence</div>
 
4. A new World Order
<div style="margin-left: 40px;">a) Make a short summary of the main issues in the article</div>

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