The outgoing year is one of the brightest and most eventful in the 21st century. It was full of surprises, especially politically.
Results of 2016
The results of voting on Britain's exit from the European Union and presidential race results in America forced many to reconsider their views on the will of the middle class, and also showed how tired people are of tolerance. And at the same time, many long-standing and not so secrets flared up in the stash of Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. For example, Hillary got dearly in the scandal of using her home mail server for secret office correspondence.
In the world of stars, the divorce of "Brangelina", a couple who for many years was a model of a happy and beautiful family, became a sensation. It turned out that spouses with many children (Angelina and Brad had 6 children) very often had scandals, nannies changed like gloves, and Angelina suffered from anorexia and outbursts of aggression. In the meantime, Jolie was engaged in family affairs, other famous actors delighted the audience interesting new movies of 2016... Take the same "Deadpool" with Ryan Reynolds, which children cannot watch because of the bloody and explicit scenes, but which thousands of adult viewers love for its magnificent, albeit black humor. Among the best films of the year were "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" from the Harry Potter universe and "Doctor Strange" with ex-Sherlock Benedict Cumberbatch. Among the books, the bestsellers continue to be most read books, who were awarded the film adaptation. Of the series, Game of Thrones has earned a lot of accolades, which year after year pleases viewers with dashing plot twists and unexpected deaths of the main characters.
In the field of sports, the most scandalous and politicized for many years has become Summer Olympics in Rio... Among the most discussed events were: the removal of almost a third of the Russian national team from the Games, the open play of the organizers of the Olympics with American athletes (they were allowed to re-run the baton due to a stick allegedly lost through the fault of their rivals), a joint photo of athletes from South and North Korea. The International Paralympic Committee also banned Russians from participating in the Paralympics, after which Russia decided to arrange alternative games.
Forecasts for 2017
2017 promises to be no less generous with interesting novelties in the world of cinema (we recommend our list most anticipated films of 2017), politics and show business.
Of the expected 2017 car new products, it is worth noting the domestic LADA XRAY Cross with an all-wheel drive version and the 2017 Kia Soul, which was included in best SUVs and crossovers by Car and Driver.
In terms of technology, in 2016, many high-quality phones entered the rating of the best smartphones of 2016The most anticipated smartphones in the new year include the Apple iPhone with a screen that completely fills the front surface (although these are only rumors so far), as well as smartphones with a 4K display and contactless payments. Time will tell whether gadget manufacturers will be able to surprise us with new solutions.
Rating of Russia in the international arena, expert opinion
This year was also rich in country ratings. We will pay special attention to Russia's position in international rankings.
Russia's position in international rankings:
- 40th place in the ranking of countries for doing business (World Bank version)
- 52nd place by the level of Internet freedom (Freedom House)
- 95th place in the ranking of prosperous countries (Legatum Institute)
- 126 place in the charity rating (Charity Aid Foundation)
- 8th place by the cost of gasoline (Bloomberg)
- 55th (last) place in the health care rating (Bloomberg)
We asked experts to comment on this state of affairs and give their assessment.
Vadim Gorzhankin, head of the PR-agency Krasnoe Slovo.
“In most of the ratings, Russia is clearly below those places that could be considered objective. At the same time, the former republics of the USSR, which support the course of distancing with Russia and rapprochement with the European Union and the United States, often demonstrate very impressive indicators. We are talking about such countries as Georgia, Estonia, Ukraine, etc. This clearly indicates the high level of commitment of many rating projects. This applies not only to ratings, but also to various awards. Suffice it to recall that US President Barack Obama won the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize. Although one should not be surprised, it should be so, given the current international situation. "
Elena Rumyantseva, President of the Center for Economic Policy and Business, Doctor of Economics, Professor.
“International ratings are still subjective assessments that depend on the information collected, methods of its analysis, the level of competence, knowledge of their authors and pressure, incl. by bribery, interested parties in high places or the prevailing ideology.
In the context of corruption and the consequences of raider seizures of those who successfully worked in Soviet times, at the beginning of the restructuring of enterprises, most likely, the context of the success of a business that merged with corruption, which will not fail by providing inexplicable preferences to competitors, will not be persecuted by unnecessary checks, will not be levied by bribe-takers - from small to large. The prevailing corruption, booming due to underpayment of wages and targeted social assistance, devaluing the accumulations of millions of people and moral foundations (eternal moral values), leads away even from discussing the decline in living standards for the majority of the population within the country as an issue of little significance for the development strategy at present (in its integrated form), while in international ratings the standard of living is constantly assessed from different angles in order to thus once again ensure the blocking of data distorted by corruption.
With all the reservations about taking into account the degree of subjectivity-objectivity, international ratings, at the same time, allow us not to stagnate in the face of the depreciation of the labor of millions of citizens and the presentation of unreal, highly embellished data about reality in various indicators, which, we repeat, are not publicly assessed in Russia and are not comprehensively considered: the last place in the ranking of healthcare (and in Russia, if you believe the propaganda, everything is fine with medicine, only citizens began to get sick more often, but the paradox lies in the fact that Russian medicine is generally progressive in terms of its level of development, and organizations of medical care are ineffective), lower positions in the charity rating (and in Russia, if you believe the propaganda, almost all public figures are philanthropists in their intentions), but also the low level of freedom on the Internet - a powerful ideological resource alternative to corruption (not counting , of course, the threat of terrorist attacks, but in the Russian Not everything is so positively unambiguous, effective and mature on the Internet shield against terrorism). The 8th place in the cost of gasoline is also a serious signal of a deterioration in the standard of living in the country, but also the result of planned actions, expressed in the use of more and more methods of withdrawing funds from the population in favor of narrow groups - recipients of benefits from such a redistribution of numerous financial flows.Therefore, even in the ranking of prosperous countries, reaching high positions has not yet taken place, but it will not be able to take shape on its own without significant efforts of the competent parties. "