The second Istishraf Yearbook, published in August of 2017, continues the work of chronicling and advancing Arab work in futurology and forecasting studies. Istishraf hopes to contribute to an interactive, dynamic space for Arab futurology and the careful analysis of Arab developmental planning. Through this work, Istishraf hopes to enhance the role of forecasting among Arab policy-making circles and place future studies at the front and center of national-level development planning goals in the Arab region. This second edition includes a special section on the future of international relations, with an analysis by Marwan Kabalan of the US National Security Council’s quadrennial Global Trends Report, which in 2017 was titled “Paradox of Progress”. Also included in this latest edition of Istishraf is Chamseddine Alkilani’s “The Future of the World in Civilizational-International Relations”, while Abdulhadi Ayyad offers a new, localized perspective on Alvin Toffler’s seminal Future Shock and other writings by Toffler. The second Istishraf yearbook also carries a number of critical case studies devoted to evaluating the national forecasting attempts by various Arab countries. Adel Zagha presents “Forecasting Demographic Change in Palestine”. This is followed by “The Omani Experience of Forecasting and the Challenges of Future Vision: Oman 2020”, by Yousef Bin Hamad Albalushi. In this second edition of the yearbook, and as evidenced by a number of the papers, discussions of method and technique relevant to forecasting remain relevant, as they provide a common ground for a shared Arab-wide discussion on these questions. The 2017 edition of Istishraf also includes a number of critical book reviews of recent, relevant works. Finally, it includes three research papers translated into Arabic from other languages and which forecast through 2030 to 2050. These include papers covering geostrategy, conflict and the global balance of geopolitical power; social developments, ways of life and the significance of religion; demographic transformations, and problems of fertility, aging societies and the impact on development of demographic change.
