Environment & Energy
Related: About this forumU.S. Intelligence Agencies (All 16) See a Different World in 2030
New technologies, dwindling resources and explosive population growth in the next 18 years will alter the global balance of power and trigger radical economic and political changes at a speed unprecedented in modern history, says a new report by the U.S. intelligence community...
... Those major trends are the end of U.S. global dominance, the rising power of individuals against states, a rising middle class whose demands challenge governments, and a Gordian knot of water, food and energy shortages, according to the analysts.
We are at a critical juncture in human history, which could lead to widely contrasting futures, Council Chairman Christopher Kojm writes in the report...
... The future is malleable, according to Kojm. Our effort is to encourage decision-makers, whether in government or outside, to think and plan for the long term so that negative futures do not occur and positive ones have a better chance of unfolding. ...
... While technological advances, migrations, wars and other factors drove change in earlier periods, what sets the next quarter century apart is the way seven tectonic shifts are combining to drive change at an accelerating rate, said NIC Counselor Mathew Burrows, the reports principle author. Those factors are: the growth of the middle class, wider access to new technologies, shifting economic power, aging populations, urbanization, growing demand for food and water, and U.S. energy independence
Its hard to wrap your mind around it, to tell you the truth; its just been happening at great velocity, Burrows said in an interview with Bloomberg News discussing the 18-month research project.
/... http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-12-10/u-s-intelligence-agencies-see-a-different-world-in-2030.html
Full Report: National Intelligence Council's Global Trends 2030: http://globaltrends2030.files.wordpress.com/2012/11/global-trends-2030-november2012.pdf
- As regards the "rising power of individuals against states", while this may accurately characterise the ongoing politics of China and elsewhere, in the US and EU I suspect this must refer more to the rising power of large corporations and the 0.1%. - GD
x-posted in Foreign Affairs: http://www.democraticunderground.com/1133895
Demeter
(85,373 posts)If there were more than 4 useful categories:
Internal Criminal
External Criminal
Military
Economic
I'd be very surprised. Combine the 16 into 4, fire 3/4 of the managers, and be amazed at the results. Also, hire good lawyer and accountant controls, to keep the agencies on track and out of Constitutionally impermissible areas.
Now THAT would be intelligent. Hence, it is totally unworkable.