The 2010's will start just like the 2000's ended: the world will be filled with war and uncertainty. However, this will change when the current leaders turn old, and the new generation comes to power. The year 2012 will be crucial and will mark the beginning of a new, more peaceful world (even though it won't come until around 2014-15, the year 2012 is still considered the year of the new age, arguably because of the London Olympics, that kickstarted the worldwide peace-revolution)
The 2020's will start of perfectly, everyone will be convinced that peace is now everlasting and that war is "soo last milennium". The EU will still be a major force in Europe and the world, but much less so, because there is no need for it. They will keep things quiet, as the general opinion is not pro-EU, and few new initiatives well be implemented in the first half of the 20's.
However, something fatal happens around 2027-29, and people start fearing war again, but don't really see it as a possibility.
In the 2030's the war later to be known as the World War breaks out (the period between 1914-1945 is now by most people known as the World Crisis of the 20th Century or simply The World Crisis). Nuclear war is feared, but is prevented in the last minute.
The 2040's are marked by post-war crisis and conservatism. As people seek inward the EU becomes more prominent once again. A huge AIDS epidemic will hit the western world, which in the end leads to a cure being found around the mid-40's. This cure turns out to be a turn for the world, that now seems to be heading towards brighter times. The end of the 40's will be dominated by people trying (and succeding) in reviving the glorious 10's and 20's.
And so comes 2050, a world at peace (at last), hoping, but no really believing it will be everlasting. The 50's will look much like the beginning of the 20's, the EU will be less dominant and some nations are even talking about resignation. The cure for AIDS will finally reach Africa, and people will in general focus more on human values and less on economical. New age religions become briefly popular around 2052, but this quickly fades away. The maglev/high speed rail network the EU built some time ago is now being expanded into the outisde world, and other continents are following (China already has a huge network in place). The term "superpower" will not be prominent, and even though conservative americans still claim the US is a superpower, it's definitely not so anymore.
Global warming has caused major problems around the world (especially during and after the war), but things are now seemingly stable, though the sealevel has indeed risen and the average temperature aswell. Space exploration is once again a major focus, after having been at a standstill during the 30's and early 40's.
There's a lot more details, this is just the general world situation
