ISSUE 1: World population growth is at its peak and growing: food, water, education, housing, medical care must grow apace. 

ISSUE 2: Fresh water is becoming scarce in localized areas of the world.

ISSUE 3: The gap in living standards between the rich and poor promises to become more extreme and divisive.

ISSUE 4: The threat of new diseases and reemerging diseases and immune micro-organisms is growing.

ISSUE 5: The capacity to decide seems to be diminishing as issues become more global and complex under conditions of increasing uncertainty and risk.

ISSUE 6: Terrorism is growing in intensity, scale, and threat.

ISSUE 7: The growth of population and economies interacts adversely with environmental quality and natural resources.

ISSUE 8: The status of women is changing.

ISSUE 9: The severity of religious, ethnic, and racial conflicts is increasing.

ISSUE 10: Information technology holds both promise and peril.

ISSUE 11: Organized crime groups are becoming sophisticated global enterprises.

ISSUE 12: Economic growth brings both promising and threatening consequences.

ISSUE 13: Nuclear power plants around the world are aging.

ISSUE 14: The HIV epidemic will continue to spread. 

ISSUE 15: The meaning of work, unemployment, leisure, and underemployment is changing.