Read the following Passage and Answer the questions given below:

The international economy almost certainly will continue to be characterized by various regional and national economies moving at significantly different speeds, a pattern reinforced by the 2008 global financial crisis. The contrasting speed across different regional economies are exacerbating global imbalances and straining governments and the international system. The key question is whether the divergences and increased volatility will result in a global breakdown and collapse or whether the development of multiple growth centres will lead to resiliency. The absence of a clear hegemonic economic power could add to the volatility. Some experts have compared the relative decline in the economic weight of the US to the late 19th century when economic dominance by one player, Britain; receded into multi-polarity.

During the next 15 - 20 years, as power becomes even more diffuse than today, a growing number of diverse state and non-state actors, as well as subnational actors, such as cities, will play important governance roles. The increasing number of players needed to solve major transnational challenges, and their discordant values, "will complicate decision-making. The lack of consensus between and among established and emerging powers suggests that multilateral governance to 2030 will be limited at best. The chronic deficit probably will reinforce the trend toward fragmentation. However, various developments, positive or negative; could push the world in different directions. Advances cannot be ruled out despite growing multi-polarity, increased regionalism, and possible economic slowdowns. Prospects for achieving progress on global issues will vary across issues.

The governance gap "will continue to be most pronounced at the domestic level and driven by rapid political and social changes. The advances during the past couple decades in health, education, and income-which we expect to continue, if not accelerate in some cases; will drive new governance structures. Transitions to democracy are much more stable and long-lasting when youth bulges begin to decline and incomes are higher. Currently about 50 countries are in the awkward stage between autocracy and democracy, with the greatest number concentrated in Sub-Saharan Africa, Southeast and Central Asia! and the Middle East and North Africa. Both social science theory and recent history, the Color Revolutions and the Arab Spring, support the idea that with maturing age structures and rising incomes, political liberalization and democracy "will advance. However, many countries "will still be zig-zagging their way through the complicated democratization process during the next 15-20 years. Countries moving from autocracy to democracy have a proven track record of instability.

Other countries will continue to suffer from a democratic deficit: in these cases a country's developmental level is more advanced than its level of governance. Gulf countries and China account for a large number in this category. China, for example, is slated to pass the threshold of US $15,000 per capita purchasing power parity (PPP) in the next five years, which is often a trigger for democratization. Chinese democratization could constitute an immense "wave," increasing pressure for change on other authoritarian states.

The widespread use of new communications technologies will become a double-edged sword for governance. On the one hand! social networking will enable citizens to coalesce and challenge governments, as we have already seen in Middle East. On the other hand such technologies will provide governments both authoritarian and democratic: an unprecedented ability to monitor their citizens. It is unclear how the balance will be struck between greater IT-enabled individuals and networks and traditional political structures. In our interactions, technologists and political scientists have offered divergent views. Both sides agree, however, that the characteristics of IT use; multiple and simultaneous action, near instantaneous responses, mass organization across geographic boundaries, and technological dependence; increase the potential for more frequent discontinuous change in the international system.