World War III is inevitable and will likely start within the next 10 years, a new survey conducted by the Atlantic Council, a global affairs think tank in Washington, has revealed. The survey saw over 300 experts weighing in on what the world could look like in 2035. While some of them predicted that a world war involving major nations like the US, China and Russia will likely break out in 2035, others said climate change will be the second greatest threat to the world in the next 10 years.
According to Daily Mail, the new survey involved 357 political strategists and foresight practitioners who weighed in on the future of humanity. The group of experts analysed current events, predicting how certain laws, regulations, military launches could predict the world of 2035.
Four in 10 global strategists (40.5%) predicted a world war involving major nations like the US, China and Russia. They also said that conflict would likely involve nuclear weapons and battles in outer space.
The second greatest threat to the world in 2035 would be climate change, according to three in 10 experts. 1.7% of respondents also said a new pandemic would be the most concerning crisis impacting the global population, and only 5.1% think rising financial debt will cripple the world by 2035, the outlet reported.
According to the experts, a war would not end well for the Ukrainians. It would also lead to a decline in America's economic and diplomatic dominance. A nuclear war remains the biggest threat, they said.
"The grimmer forecasts were in keeping with a dark global outlook overall, with 62 percent of respondents expecting the world a decade from now to be worse off than it is today, and only 38 percent predicting that it will be better off," the team at the Atlantic Council said.
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The survey found that a global nuclear war is a major concern for many, however, experts noted that the world's climate emergency is still the most pressing issue. Three in 10 respondents (29.9%) ranked climate change as the single biggest threat to global prosperity between 2025 and 2035. However, the majority believe that there will be more global cooperation to stop the crisis by 2035.
Interestingly, as the world moves into the future, the rise of advanced artificial intelligence (AI) was widely viewed positively, with most experts not fearing a rise in job losses due to automation. "Not all the projections were pessimistic. Fifty-eight percent of those who participated in our Global Foresight 2025 survey, for example, felt that artificial intelligence would, on balance, have a positive impact on global affairs over the next ten years," the Atlantic Council said.
