Trump, Syria, climate change and global security: U of T experts offer global look-ahead for 2017

Romi Levine and Geoffrey Vendeville

The Merriam-Webster Word of the Year was surreal – a word that captures how tumultuous 2016 was from start to finish.

Terrorist attacks in Brussels and Nice. A coup in Turkey. Brexit and a polarized America. The headlines have been so bleak some asked if the world is falling apart.

But there is hope, experts say. Here at home and around the world, Canadians are working to make the world a better place. They’re making Toronto a stronger, more inclusive city. They’re designing tiny, ant-like robots that may one day be able to rescue people after earthquakes. They're running free English classes for Syrian refugees and preserving precious U.S. environmental data for future generations. 

“There's tons of hope,” says U of T's Aisha Ahmad. “The great hope is that universities like the University of Toronto remain an essential front line in putting out truth. In an ocean of fake news and fake information, we remain a bastion of science-driven, reason-based analysis that is essential to elevating this discussion.

“The great hope is that we continue to do this and that our students – world-class young scholars – in our classrooms and out there in the world continue to provide a critical voice of reason to this global conversation in 2017.”

U of T News spoke with Ahmad and other experts at the university—including UTM's Aurel Braun—to get a sense of what awaits us next year. Brace yourself. 

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