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Photos: DPA (2)<br />
Project 2012<br />
Global Wind of Change?<br />
2012 WILL BE A BUMPER YEAR for elections worldwide.<br />
Voters in the world’s two biggest economies, the<br />
United States and China, will go to the polls – though<br />
one election will be rather more democratic than the<br />
other. Russia and France will elect new presidents, and<br />
India, Spain and Mexico will also be voting.<br />
If the balance of power shifts in any of these key<br />
nations, it will happen at a diffi cult time. With issues<br />
like US debt and the euro crisis high on the agenda,<br />
elections have the potential to bring political change.<br />
Roland Berger has therefore set up Project 2012, a<br />
cooperative consultancy platform for companies and<br />
politicians, providing support to top decision makers<br />
whose agendas could be affected by the poll results<br />
over the coming year.<br />
The project will develop scenarios allowing businesses<br />
to prepare for a variety of possible outcomes.<br />
Roland Berger is working in close partnership with<br />
universities and think-tanks around the world, including<br />
the Yale World Fellows Program and HEC Paris,<br />
and will present the results of the project as a series of<br />
strategic proposals during the coming year. There is<br />
also a wiki for anyone wishing to be involved in this<br />
project. If you are interested, please register at<br />
+www.theproject2012.org<br />
Nicolas Sarkozy<br />
Dmitri Medwedew<br />
Russia<br />
11 March 2012<br />
France<br />
5 May 2012<br />
China<br />
October 2012<br />
USA<br />
6 November 2012<br />
Hu Jintao<br />
It’s still not clear who will be contending in<br />
next year’s presidential elections. Incumbent<br />
Dmitry Medvedev will probably<br />
stand for a second term, but the possibility<br />
of a job swap with Prime Minister<br />
Vladimir Putin is still under discussion.<br />
France is likely to shift rightwards, with<br />
President Nicolas Sarkozy<br />
standing for reelection. Polls indicate<br />
that Marine Le Pen, the right-wing Front<br />
National candidate, will attract a signifi -<br />
cant share of the vote.<br />
President Hu Jintao and Prime Minister<br />
Wen Jiabao are expected to pass on<br />
their respective batons at the 18 th<br />
national party congress in October. Their<br />
potential replacements are Xi Jinping<br />
and Li Keqiang.<br />
President Barack Obama wants<br />
a second term in the White House.<br />
Among the potential Republican challengers<br />
are Michele Bachmann and<br />
Rick Perry.<br />
Barack Obama<br />
Up for re-election:<br />
Four<br />
global<br />
elections<br />
leaders<br />
that<br />
who<br />
could<br />
could<br />
change<br />
be out of<br />
the<br />
a job.<br />
world economy
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