2026

"The year 2006 has begun with a taste of what 2026 might be like. An undemocratic, imperially minded energy superpower puts a crude, politically motivated squeeze on its more democratic neighbours. They squeal, but Russia has the oil and gas. Meanwhile China, a communist-ruled emerging superpower, continues to flex its muscles both economically and politically. And all over the west one hears the sound of kowtowing. Is this the shape of things to come?"

Timothy Garton Ash, The Guardian.