Challenges and Hazards of the Third Decade of the 21st Century

The aim of the considerations presented here is to gather and share information and knowledge on contemporary challenges and threats that can help to rationally anticipate the future in the third decade of the 21st century. The article consists of three parts, i.e. the introduction, covering the basic terminological arrangements; then, forecasts of challenges and threats in the macro scale for the next ten years; and, finally, the summary. In the preparation of the article, theoretical methods and research techniques were used. The choice of the research technique was governed by the following criteria: purposefulness, clarity, univocality, effectiveness, reliability, and cost-effectiveness. These criteria determined the use of inductive inference, deductive reasoning, explanation, analysis, and synthesis. In the course of the research, critical analysis of the literature was also carried out, which was divided into groups of studies, i.e.: those devoted to the methodology of research activities, those concerning security theory, and those containing elements of prognostics. The presented considerations indicate that the third decade of the 21st century will be a time in which the existing challenges and threats will persist. However, the scale of the latter will increase, which may create many problems, mainly related to decision-making.