Is western civilisation in terminal decline?

Research shows the automatic assumption of a better future for citizens in the west has now gone

The terrorist slaughter in Paris has once again brought into sharp relief the storm clouds gathering over the 21st century, dimming the bright promise for Europe and the west that the fall of communism opened up. Given dangers that seemingly grow by the day, it is worth pondering what we may be in for.

Though prophecy is delusive, an agreed point of departure should be falling expectations. As Ipsos Mori's Social Research Institute reports: "The assumption of an automatically better future for the next generation is gone in much of the west."