Many of the world's top thinkers expect that a major crisis with Iran will be the most important global issue in 2010, and others forecast that there will be civil unrest in China, biological terrorism, and an Asian asset bubble-burst.

These are the results of Foreign Policy magazine's survey of the Top 100 Global Thinkers, in which some 63 percent of them participated. They offer a glimpse at what world leaders expect for next year on everything from the international political situation to the global economy. The survey was published in a special report in the U.S. magazine's December issue.

Some 64 percent of respondents believe that the global economic slump will be over within one or two years, while 18 percent said it will take only one more year. Another 18 percent predicted the crisis will last for at least two to five years.

More than half of respondents (54 percent) cited Pakistan as the most dangerous country in the world, while the second spot was shared by Somalia, the U.S., and Iran, with 10 percent each. Also on the list of dangerous countries were Russia (5 percent) North Korea (4 percent) and Israel (4 percent).

Named as the most influential world leaders outside the U.S. were Chinese President Hu Jintao (33 percent), Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin (16 percent) and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (15 percent).

For his first year in office, U.S. President Barack Obama rated an average score of seven out of 10. When asked what has been his intellectual contribution to foreign policy, 53 percent cited his openness and multi-polar worldview, while 36 percent said he has contributed nothing and 11 percent believe he has had a negative effect.

According to the big thinkers, economic news (20 percent), Africa-related issues (10 percent) and climate change (8 percent) were the most under-reported topics this year.