Three future scenarios for the UN

IN A SPEECH in January Mr Guterres conjured up “four horsemen” to describe the challenges facing the world. The first represented the worst geostrategic tensions in years, with a real risk of a “great fracture”. Next, said the secretary-general, the planet was burning, and an existential crisis was close to a point of no return. His third horseman took the form of rising global mistrust, often spilling into hatred, amid discontent over inequality and the sense among too many that globalisation is not working. Lastly, the dark side of digital technology threatened to invade privacy, disrupt work and unleash lethal autonomous machines in war.