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Jeff Bezos wants the bottom half of earners to pay zero income tax—he says nurses making just $75K should save $12K a year

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Jeff Bezos wants the bottom half of earners to pay zero income tax—he says nurses making just $75K should save $12K a year

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Despite a $500 million net worth, Shaq just finished his fourth degree. He warns graduates: 'Your character will take you further than your resume'

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Bolt CEO says he let go of his entire HR team for creating problems that didn’t exist: ‘Those problems disappeared when I let them go’ 
Fortune 2017 Crystal Ball

Bremmer: Three Reasons To Be Optimistic About the World Right Now

By
Ian Bremmer
Ian Bremmer
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By
Ian Bremmer
Ian Bremmer
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November 14, 2016, 11:00 AM ET
COLOMBIA-FARC-UN-PEACE TALKS-CEASEFIRE
The head of the UN international mission of observers in Colombia, general Javier Perez Aquino (L), and FARC-EP guerrilla commander Marcos Calarca attend a press conference regarding the peace deal between the Colombian government and the rebel group, in Bogota, on November 4, 2016. On Monday, the UN Security Council agreed to press on with the deployment of a new UN mission for Colombia that will monitor a ceasefire until a final peace deal is reached. The government of Juan Manuel Santos signed a historic peace deal with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) on September 26 to end decades of conflict, but in a shock move, voters rejected the deal in a referendum. / AFP / Luis ACOSTA (Photo credit should read LUIS ACOSTA/AFP/Getty Images)Photograph by Luis Acosta—AFP/Getty Images

The staff of Fortune is assembling its predictions for 2017 in our annual feature, the Fortune Crystal Ball, now on newsstands in the December 1 issue of the magazine. Here’s one of our forecasts.

Looking for some geopolitical good news?

There will be much media attention on China’s disputes with its neighbors in the East and South China Seas. But words are unlikely to force truly destabilizing deeds because China’s reform process demands that China avoid trouble and because the neighbors know they can’t count on Washington to rescue them if they stumble into conflict.

In addition, Colombia’s peace deal took a tumble a few weeks ago, but after more negotiation, it will still happen because both sides want it.

Finally, despite political dysfunction in both Greece and Turkey, we can expect a deal to reunify divided Cyprus.

In all three cases, pragmatism prevails.

For more on global markets, watch this Fortune video:

Ian Bremmer is the president and founder of Eurasia Group, the global political risk research and consulting firm.

 

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