Toward a not so stable 2012

Editor's note: 2011 has been, to say the least, an eventful year. So what will the global order in 2012 be like? And how can the world's problems be solved? A report, "Towards a Stable Global System", prepared by Institute of Modern International Relations, Tsinghua University, tries to answer the questions. Excerpts follow:

Perhaps 2011 can be best described as one of turmoil and chaos. With the global crisis flowing out of the financial sector into social and political spheres, social unrest first erupted in the Middle East and North Africa and then spread to developed countries like Spain, Greece, Israel and Britain. Even the United Sates could not escape the rising tide of social unrest, as reflected in the "Occupy Wall Street" movement.

The year 2012 is likely to be even more tumultuous than 2011. As the world's largest economy, the US has not been able to recover under the pressure of high deficiency, high unemployment and low growth, and is moving toward recession.