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14 Spectacularly Wrong Predictions

In 1998, Russian political writer Igor Panarin claimed that the United States was on the verge of civil war, which would result in wealthier states withholding tax revenue from the federal government and seceding from the union. After the resulting collapse of the nation , predicted for 2010, it would be split into six parts and divided up by the newly dominant world powers.

In a 2008 article in The Wall Street Journal, Panarin explained that under the restructuring, the west coast would be controlled by China, Hawaii by Japan, the southeast would become part of Mexico, the northern Midwest would go to Canada, the northeast would join the European Union , and Russia would get Alaska. He said, "There's a 55 to 45 percent chance right now that disintegration will occur.”