The on-going war in Ukraine, started in 2022, is one of those events, which I did not mention in my previous edition, proving beyond doubt that the Global Disorder, one of the near-existential threats, is now in full swing. If we add the appearance of the Chinese balloons over the USA in February 2023, it also confirms that the second cold war has started. The Global Disorder will be a key feature of this decade, probably the most dangerous in human history. It will be further increased by the escalation of the tensions between the NATO/EU alliance and Russia, if it loses the Ukrainian war, which is likely?

However, even if the war between the West and Russia/China remains cold, it will be played out when in the background not just one, but several existential threats, some of which may be reaching their tipping point simultaneously. Before 1945 there were no man-made existential threats. Now we have at least eight and all of them occur at the time when the pace of change has become nearly exponential. Therefore, by 2030 three existential risks: Global Warming, Global Disorder and Artificial Intelligence may simultaneously reach their tipping point when they will be beyond human control. As with Global Warming, this date is only a high probability, rather a certainty for those tipping points being reached.

Since the previous edition, of those three existential threats, the biggest risk increase has occurred in Artificial Intelligence. The number of fundamental discoveries and inventions in AI in 2022 was the highest ever. But there are two events, which will impact our daily life most and increase the risk in the AI area even further and faster. The release of ChatGPT in December 2022 is a watershed moment. For the first time, the most advanced AI agent can be accessed by general public rather than by only the top AI specialists. Then in February 2023 Microsoft and Google released an even more advanced AI Assistants BingChat and Bard. This opens a new era in AI. Instead of co-operation, which we have had until now, we will have competition, which means faster release of new AI products without proper safety checks. Although we will start benefiting from the fast advancement of AI capabilities it will be more important to see AI mainly as an existential threat. That is why stringent regulatory processes must be implemented now in months rather than in years.

We need to adapt to new circumstances much faster than ever before because of an exponential pace of change. What once took a decade can be achieved within a year. Therefore, we must redraw all the rules and procedures to deliver the necessary changes before it is too late if we want to remain in charge of our future. In February 2023, the Ukrainian President gave a good example of what it means when he said: 'we want to be a member of the EU by the end of 2024, not in a decade or two'.

So, how can we carry out such a momentous change fast, being also aware that to reduce those threats some of our freedoms may need to be restricted? That may potentially lead to serious social unrest. The only way to minimize such danger is to build a new Social Contract between the governing and the governed. That requires the removal of political and social imbalances by creating a new type of democracy based on consensual politics.

However, that is not enough. We need a powerful organization that will take effective control over the humanity's destiny. The ad hoc creation of an informal NATO/EU Alliance to help Ukraine win the war, gives some hope that it might be quickly converted into a powerful, de facto World Government, fulfilling the role for which the UN was created. However, more likely are other options, such as a sudden acceleration of the federalization of the European Union, or the transformation of the European Political Community, into a de facto World Government, the subject significantly expanded in this edition.