Global and regional trends [What Think Tanks are thinking]

Written by Marcin Grajewski,

The European Union’s key institutions held a joint conference on 28-29 November entitled ‘Global trends to 2030: Shaping the future in a fast-changing world’. The annual event was organised under the auspices of the European Strategy and Policy Analysis System (ESPAS), which is a framework for cooperation between the administrations of the European Parliament, the European Commission, Council of the European Union, European External Action Service and other bodies to work together on medium- and long-term trends facing or relating to the European Union.

This note brings together commentaries, analyses and studies by major international think tanks and research institutes on longer term trends – global and regional, with a focus on Europe. Some reports listed here were presented at the conference, some others can be found in the ESPAS repository of strategic studies, named Orbis.

Digital revolution

Global trends to 2030: The future of work and workplaces
European Political Strategy Centre for the European Strategy and Policy Analysis System (ESPAS), November 2018

Global trends to 2030: Identities and biases in the digital age
European Political Strategy Centre for the European Strategy and Policy Analysis System, November 2018

Révolutions en orbite: L’espace au XXIème siècle
Fondation pour la Recherche Stratégique, November 2018

Comment l’intelligence artificielle va transformer la guerre
Institut français des relations internationales, November 2018

The future of jobs report 2018
World Economic Forum, September 2018

L’Europe face à la numérisation du travail
Institut français des relations internationales, September 2018

The digital enterprise: Moving from experimentation to transformation
World Economic Forum, September 2018

The European answer to the digital revolution: How to ensure Europe’s competitive advantage?
Jacques Delors Institute, September 2018

The future of work: Robots cooking free lunches?
Wilfried Martens Centre, July 2018

Audiovisual media in the digital era
European Policy Centre, July 2018

No middle ground: Moving on from the crypto wars
European Council on Foreign Relations, July 2018

Living with uncertainty: Social implications of precarious work
TASC, April 2018

The Internet and jobs: Opportunities and ambiguous trends
Centre for European Policy Studies, February 2018

Stealing thunder: Cloud, IoT and 5G will change the strategic paradigm for protecting European commercial interests
European Centre for International Political Economy, February 2018

Society and economy

Global Trends to 2035: Economy and Society
Centre for European Policy Studies for the European Parliamentary Research Service, November 2018

Global trends to 2030: The future of migration and integration
European Political Strategy Centre for the European Strategy and Policy Analysis System, November 2018

What is globalization? And how has the global economy shaped the United States?
Peterson Institute for International Economics, November 2018

Towards a “senseable city”: Technology, trial and error to make a city really “smart”
Istituto per gli Studi di Politica Internazionale, November 2018

Are sound democratic and legal institutions necessary for growth?
Peterson Institute for International Economics, November 2018

The quality of democracy is declining in many industrialized states
Bertelsmann Stiftung, October 2018

Is globalisation dying?
European Centre for International Political Economy, October 2018

Migration and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development
Oversees Development Institute, October 2018

Regime change? The European economy to 2030
Centre for European Reform, October 2018

The next wave of global LNG investment is coming
Institut français des relations internationales, October 2018

A vision of Africa’s future
Istituto per gli Studi di Politica Internazionale, October 2018

New trends in identity politics in the Middle East and North Africa and their impact on state-society relations
Barcelona Centre for International Affairs, October 2018

Harnessing the fourth industrial revolution for water
World Economic Forum, September 2018

The future of international trade and investment
European Political Strategy Centre for the European Strategy and Policy Analysis System (ESPAS), September 2018

The nature of democratic backsliding in Europe
Carnegie Europe, July 2018

In Eurasia new financial centers are in offing: Is Shanghai ready for prime-time?
European Centre for International Political Economy, July 2018

How the baby boomers’ retirement wave distorts model-based output gap estimates
Kiel Institute for the World Economy, June 2018

Africa’s future is urban: Implications for EU development policy and cooperation
Overseas Development Institute, June 2018

How the US lost: China’s growing foothold in Africa
Cingendael, June 2018

The digital revolution is transforming energy: Whether it slows climate change is up to policymakers
Council on Foreign Relations, June 2018

10 trends shaping innovation in the digital age
European Political Strategy Centre, May 2018

Digital Australia: An economic and trade agenda
Brookings Institution, May 2018

Can Europe save the world order?
European Council on Foreign Relations, May 2018

The future of Arctic cooperation in a changing strategic environment
Rand Europe, May 2018

The phase zero digital toolbox: Visualizing global security, state instability, climate change, and vulnerability of natural resources
New America Foundation, May 2018

Coal exit or coal expansion? A review of coal market trends and policies in 2017
Institut français des relations internationales, May 2018

Chinese investment trends in Europe
Center for Global Economy and Geopolitics, May 2018

Discontinuities and distractions: Rethinking security for the year 2040
Rand Europe, April 2018

The geography of future water challenges
Clingendael, April 2018

Migration through the Mediterranean: Mapping the EU response
European Council on foreign Relations, April 2018

MENA stability in a changing climate: A transatlantic agenda on preventive investment
E3G, March 2018

Abusing the people: Global challenges of authoritarian populism
Libertarian Club, March 2018

Italy is the West’s future
Chatham House, March 2018

Income convergence in the EU: Within-country regional patterns
Centre for European Policy Studies, February 2018

Recession and renewal in European democracy
Carnegie Europe, February 2018

The EU battery alliance: Can Europe avoid technological dependence?
Institut français des relations internationales, February 2018

Creditworthiness trends of Eurozone countries
Centrum für Europäische Politik, January 2018

Electric vehicles for smarter cities: the future of energy and mobility
World Economic Forum, January 2018

Analysis of development in EU capital flows in the global context
Bruegel, January 2018

Electric vehicles for smarter cities: The future of energy and mobility
World Economic Forum, January 2018

Defence and foreign policy

The demise of the international liberal order and the future of the European project
Istituto Affari Internazionali, November 2018

New realities in foreign affairs: Diplomacy in the 21st century
Stiftung Wissenschalft und Politik, November 2018

The erosion of strategic stability and the future of arms control in Europe
Institut français des relations internationales, November 2018

The uncertain future of warfare
East-West Institute, November 2018

Rebuilding strategic thinking
Center for Strategic and International Studies, October 2018

UN reforms for the 2030 agenda
Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik, October 2018

Will international institutions fail again? International power shifts and the future of global cooperation
Finnish Institute for International Affairs, October 2018

China expands its global governance ambitions in the Arctic
Chatham House, October 2018

Trends in women’s participation in UN, EU and OSCE peace operations
Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, October 2018

Global trends to 2035: Geo-politics and international power
Oxford Analytica for EPRS, September 2017

The uncertain trends in the “wars” on terrorism
Center for Strategic and International Studies, September 2018

Opposing trends: The renewed salience of nuclear weapons and nuclear abolitionism
Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, September 2018

Balkan futures: Three scenarios for 2025
European Union Institute for Security Studies, September 2018

The future of warfare
EPRS for the European Strategy and Policy Analysis System (ESPAS), September 2018

The rise and fall of EU trade law: Narratives on quantitative trends
Lueven Centre for Global Governance Studies, September 2018

Taking stock of a shifting world order
Rand Corporation, August 2018

Climate and security revisited
Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik, August 2018

With “strategic partners” like this, who needs competitors? Europe needs to change its military to military relations with China
German Marshall Fund, July 2018

Remaking the case for NATO: Collective security and the British national interest
Policy Exchange, July 2018

China in the era of ‘Xi Jinping thought’: Five key trends for Africa
South African Institute of International Affairs, March 2018

Towards Putin’s last presidency?
Istituto Affari Internazionali, March 2018

Terror overseas: Understanding the GCC counter extremism and counter terrorism trends
Henry Jackson Society, February 2018

Indian investments in Africa: Scale, trends, and policy recommendations
Observer Research Foundation, February 2018

Between change and continuity: Making sense of America’s evolving global engagement
Finnish Institute of International Affairs, January 2018

Europe is back: Economic, financial, social and technological trends in a changing world
European Political Strategy Centre, January 2018 (on top)

Testing the value of the postwar international order
Rand Europe, January 2018

Europe’s defence train has left the station: speed and destination unknown
Centre for European Policy Studies, December 2017

Creditworthiness trends of Eurozone countries
Centrum für Europäische Politik, January 2018

Analysis of development in EU capital flows in the global context
Bruegel, January 2018

Military factors in the MENA Region: Challenging trends
Egmont, November 2017

Smart logistics for future armed forces
European Union Institute for Security Studies, November 2018

Read this briefing on ‘Global and regional trends‘ on the Think Tank pages of the European Parliament.