Reasons to be cheerful as we welcome 2014 --- Pessimists have an aura of wisdom; optimists risk looking naive. There is a natural temptation to err towards gloom when surveying the prospects for a new year, especially when the centenary of global catastrophe provides a reminder of the perils of cheerfulness. Yet there are good reasons to believe that the world turned a corner of sorts in 2013 and most of our fellow human beings will probably become safer and more prosperous in 2014. --- Elsewhere, Afghanistan – that other graveyard of Western hopes – will see the final withdrawal of foreign forces, testing whether any of their achievements can be sustained. Europe, for its part, is now divided between a stagnant eurozone and steady recovery in those countries fortunate enough to be outside. - More, Telegraph, at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/telegraph-view/10544740/Reasons-to-be-cheerful-as-we-welcome-2014.html