But because we’re so glad to have you Monitor readers stop by everyday to check out our latest thoughts, we’ve decided to give you a sneak preview of the upcoming cover. I’ve been working here since 2003 and it’s easily my favorite cover we have ever done, mostly because (a) I’m a huge Muhammad Ali fan and it plays off of my favorite sports photo of all time (click here for a side-by-side), and (b) it is a great editorial statement to introduce our annual “Year in Risk” feature.

There were catastrophes, pandemics, Somali pirates and many other risk-related events that characterized 2009. More so than anything else, however, the global economic recession and the market downturn were the story of the year — no matter whether you live on Wall Street, Main Street or Risk Management Blvd. The grim reality of the economy underscored everything that happened in 2009, and we thought a symbolic image of the bear knocking out the bull was a perfect way to depict that. Indeed, it was a tough year for the bull market. (Frequent Risk Management contributor Shane Johnson did the artwork. You can see more of his work here.)

The illustration’s iconic look also foreshadows the new, more visual approach we took to this year’s “Year in Risk” feature. We have also included a “Decade of Risk” feature in the December issue that catalogs the evolution of risk management over the past ten years, so we chose to take more of a photo essay approach to “Year in Risk.” We hope you enjoy it as much as we did putting it together.

And with no further ado, here’s the cover.

What do you think?

We hope this will not only add some good perspective on just how far the discipline has come, but also provide a good complement to our annual “Year in Risk” feature, which is also being presented in new way this year that I think you will all enjoy. We wanted to do something a little different and hope you like it as much as we do.

Predictably, however, we’re not the only people who realized that 2010 will soon be upon us and that this makes a good time to look back. Newsweek, for instance, created the really good video I’ve included below, which will “give you every thing you need to know about the first decade of the 21st century.”

Like us, they also recognize that they know they didn’t have the time nor the memory to include every thing important that happened in the past ten years. And like them, we ask that you readers write in to let us know what other things we should have included — or simply to share your thoughts on those things that we do discuss.

So please do look out for our “Decade of Risk” and “Year in Risk” features in the December issue in a few weeks and please do tell us what you think.

(video via Urlesque’s really great Wrap Up of Wrap Ups, which features a bunch of similar videos like “The History of Music in 5 Minutes” and the fantastic “40 Inspirational Speeches in 2 Minutes.” There probably isn’t a better way to end your day than watching that one.)