Impact of Foresight on Policy Making and Anticipatory Governance with a Global Perspective

The acceleration of science and technology development and the expansion of international communications in the twenty-first century have presented the world with numerous complexities and uncertainties in terms of global, regional, and national governance and policymaking. The Millennium Project identified the most significant challenges facing the millennium and their long-term prospects, as well as provided solutions to incorporate these perspectives into decision-making through the use of futures studies and broad participation of futurists and researchers. The Millennium Project's 15 global challenges are briefly discussed in this paper, utilizing previous studies (mostly published by the Millennium Project) and a descriptive-analytical research method. It first discusses the benefits of foresight in decision making.  The strategies and activities proposed by global experts to integrate global perspectives and foresight with global decision making will then be reported based on the Millennium Project results. Finally, after reporting on some countries' efforts to integrate foresight and decision making, some suggestions for how to link foresight and long-term perspectives with policy making in Iran are made. The findings of this paper can leverage incorporation of foresight into policy formulation and governance, as well as develop what is referred to as 'anticipatory governance' for Iran's context.