<P> From late 2009 European sovereign - debt crisis, fears of a sovereign debt crisis developed among investors concerning rising government debt levels across the globe together with a wave of downgrading of government debt of certain European states . Concerns intensified early 2010 and thereafter making it difficult or impossible for sovereigns to re-finance their debts . On 9 May 2010, Europe's Finance Ministers approved a rescue package worth € 750 billion aimed at ensuring financial stability across Europe . The European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) was a special purpose vehicle financed by members of the eurozone to combat the European sovereign debt crisis . In October 2011 eurozone leaders agreed on another package of measures designed to prevent the collapse of member economies . The three most affected countries, Greece, Ireland and Portugal, collectively account for six percent of eurozone's gross domestic product (GDP). In 2012, Eurozone finance ministers reached an agreement on a second € 130 - billion Greek bailout . In 2013, the European Union agreed to a € 10 billion economic bailout for Cyprus . </P> <P> The world is in the third millennium . The 21st century is the century of the Christian Era or Common Era in accordance with the Gregorian calendar . It began on 1 January 2001 and will end 31 December 2100 . The 2010s, or The Tens, decade runs from 1 January 2010, to 31 December 2019 . </P> <P> The third millennium is the third period of one thousand years . As this millennium is in progress, only its first decade, the 2000s (decade), can be the subject of the conventional historian's attention . The remaining part of the 21st century and longer - term trends are researched by futures studies, an approach that uses various models and several methods (such as "forecasting" and "backcasting"). Ever since the invention of history, people have searched for "lessons" that might be drawn from its study, on the principle that to understand the past is potentially to control the future . A famous quote by George Santayana has it that "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it ." Arnold J. Toynbee, in his monumental Study of History, sought regularities in the rise and fall of civilizations . In a more popular vein, Will and Ariel Durant devoted a 1968 book, The Lessons of History, to a discussion of "events and comments that might illuminate present affairs, future possibilities...and the conduct of states ." Discussions of history's lessons often tend to an excessive focus on historic detail or, conversely, on sweeping historiographic generalizations . </P> <P> Future Studies takes as one of its important attributes (epistemological starting points) the ongoing effort to analyze alternative futures . This effort includes collecting quantitative and qualitative data about the possibility, probability, and desirability of change . The plurality of the term "futures" in futurology denotes the rich variety of alternative futures, including the subset of preferable futures (normative futures), that can be studied . </P>

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