Global forecasting requires an expert view, so we called on four leading thinkers for a considered analysis of the future: Michael Axworthy, former head of the Iran section at the British Foreign & Commonwealth Office, looks at how the diplomatic turmoil surrounding that country might play out; Michael Shifter, vice-president for policy at the Inter-American Dialogue, foresees a Latin America free from US dependence; Malcolm Cook, programme director for the Asia Pacific region at the Lowy Institute, outlines the dilemmas China will face as it embraces superpower status; and Peter Reid, vice-president for communications at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, predicts a more liberal approach to foreign relations in a future Clinton White House.