As this is my fifth year in Cairo, it is about time I attempt to learn the language. To learn some Arabic is my resolution for 2008. But what is in store for the other 6.25 billion humans in 2008?I have made a few "educated guesses of my own, and gleaned the wisdom of media commentators and a futurologist to come up with predictions for what 2008 and beyond may have in store.The futurologist Ray Hammond's new book The World in 2030 predicts that finally a term will be invented to describe the mobile phone. The multi-functional device which now accesses the Internet, takes photos, plays music and videos and in the latest generation can also be used as an electronic wallet, needs a new name.Hammond, who wrote in 1984 "The On-Line Handbook, predicted the multi-functional economic role of the Internet in today's world. He suggests that using the name "mobile phone will soon sound as archaic as the term horseless carriage to describe a car.According to Hammond, Facebook is here to stay, though it will also lead to greater issues with identity theft. Securing and stealing your personal details will be a big issue and big business in 2008.The other technological prediction is that more and more business will be conducted in Second Life. Hammond says that companies are already conducting meetings and dealings in this environment and he can see a time, in the not-so-distant future, where we all conduct our affairs in that make believe cyber world.This is the year of the rat, which begins February 7, and the Olympics, which begin August 8. There will be food riots across China as more and more resources are diverted to Beijing. The Chinese will come a close second to the US on the medal table and the story of the starving people in the provinces will overshadow the glory of sport.There will be a number of controversial judgements in gymnastics and diving. One or two Chinese officials will be overzealous on the judo mat and there will be, of course, a number of positive drug tests and athletes collapsing from the pollution. The media will paint China as totalitarian and rant on about the many journalists who have been jailed by the State.Hillary Clinton will win the Democratic nomination, but fail to be elected president. The race is wide open, but somehow John McCain will unite the Republican factions and his message of change will resonate with conservatives and liberals and as a white male he will be seen as the safer bet over a divisive Clinton.An eastern European nation will win Euro 2008, my money is on Croatia. Kosovo will become the United Nations' 193rd member and Fiji will be the place to buy long-term investment property far away from any terrorism.Oil prices will remain high and barrels of money will go into alternative energies: bio-fuels, solar energy and hydrogen cars.The US will lead the way in research and development of clean fuels, which will create a stock market bubble so don't get caught up in the inevitable crash in 2009 when the bubble bursts.There will be no peace in the Middle East, unfortunately. Resources are too scarce for any compromise and if anything, 2008 will see continued brush fires along the Lebanese/Gaza coasts.The US army will continue to fight it out in Iraq, the military will take over in Pakistan, and Fidel Castro will attract an enormous number of world leaders, past and present, with his funeral. This, in turn, will lead to a loosening of the US embargo of the Cuban economy and a period of euphoria, akin to the fall of the Berlin Wall. Catastrophic events will again plague the planet: earthquakes, volcanoes, hurricanes, cyclones, drought and famine. The planet is tough and will survive, though homo-sapiens are in trouble.For Egypt, 2008 will bring continued prosperity and stability. This can be translated into more traffic, longer commutes and continued proliferation of brand name coffee shops.Of course, 2008 will not bring a new president. G. W. Bush will vacate the Oval Office on January 20, 2009, before retiring to a remote corner of Texas to grow organic vegetables and live a life of peace, tranquillity and self-sufficiency.All the best for 2008 and may all your own predictions come [email protected]
