Last year I didn’t make any detailed predictions for the year (though I did for the decade). For 2013 I will.
(1) Bashar al-Assad will no longer be president of Syria by the end of the year
The best-case scenario (from his point of view) is to be in exile with a few million dollars and a guarantee he won’t be prosecuted. While he deserves to be prosecuted, this option would save a lot of suffering and shorten the war.
The worst case scenario would be for him to be lynched by an angry mob like Gaddafi was.
Somewhere in the middle would be for him to be holed up in an Alawite rump state along the coast, with his government no longer recognised as Syria’s government by the international community.
(2) More computing devices will be shipped with Linux than Windows
This is particularly due to the rise of Android.
(3) The Pirate Party will get elected to the lower house of a national parliament
Germany is the most likely country here. In general, public awareness and support of Pirates will increase worldwide.





