January 19, 2021
By our Country Representatives in Asia
If the year just passed had a lesson, it must be the futility of predictions. What seasoned prognosticator in 2019 foresaw a viral pandemic that would derail the lives and prosperity of millions of people around the world in 2020? What seer saw in their crystal ball the dramatic and violent chaos that would unfold while members of the U.S. Congress met on Capitol Hill to certify the election of Joe Biden as the next president? The world expressed shock and dismay. These events were as unforeseen as they were momentous.
Yet, to set goals, to devise strategies—to live our lives—we must look ahead, and after a year of events that changed development trajectories throughout Asia, it’s again time for our country representatives to take stock of the future that fortune has handed us and offer their predictions of the stories that will dominate the news from the Asia-Pacific in the coming year. Here, in a spirit of humility and cautious optimism, are perspectives from our experts on a still-young 2021.