Who made the worst predictions for 2011?

The clock is winding down on 2011, which means it’s time to take a look back at who got it very, very wrong this year. Consider this a call for nominations for the 10 Worst Predictions for 2011 list.  You can check out last year’s list here, which includes gems from George Papandreou, John Bolton, ...

By , a former associate editor at Foreign Policy.

The clock is winding down on 2011, which means it's time to take a look back at who got it very, very wrong this year. Consider this a call for nominations for the 10 Worst Predictions for 2011 list. 

The clock is winding down on 2011, which means it’s time to take a look back at who got it very, very wrong this year. Consider this a call for nominations for the 10 Worst Predictions for 2011 list. 

You can check out last year’s list here, which includes gems from George Papandreou, John Bolton, Meghan McCain, and President Obama. 

A few guidelines on what we’re looking for:

1. The prediction should be made by a major public figure or commentator, or at least featured in a major media outlet. 

2. It must be provably wrong, not just dubious. 

3. It must have been proven wrong this year. (Note: this doesn’t mean the prediction has to have been made this year. If a prominent politician predicted in 1987 that President Molly Ringwald would be ruling the Soviet States of America in 2011, that’s fair game.)

4. As this is FP‘s list, try to keep it to international politics or economics. 

Send your submissions to joshua [dot] keating [at] foreignpolicy.com. Please include the full quote in your e-mail, as well as a link to the original source. We’ll credit the submitters when the list goes to print, but let us know if you don’t want to be credited.   

Joshua Keating was an associate editor at Foreign Policy. Twitter: @joshuakeating

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