The world is facing potentially devastating challenges in the years ahead, according to a report -- Global Trends 2025 --released Thursday by the National Intelligence Council. Here are some of its findings:
Nuclear weapons: The risks of nuclear arms being used and wars being fought over dwindling resources will grow during the next 20 years. The deepest pessimism is for the Middle East, which could tip into a nuclear arms race if Iran acquires such weapons.
Terrorism: The likely "diminished appeal" of Islamic extremism is predicted, with Al-Qaida becoming an "aging group" that could "decay into marginality." Terrorism, however, likely will remain a significant threat.
U.S. position: The United States will retain its dominant role on the world's stage, but it will experience the relative decline of its economic and military power, driven both by the rise of new behemoths such as China and India, and domestic constraints on its global leadership.
Economic outlook: The current economic upheaval is unlikely to trigger "a complete breakdown" in the international financial and political order. An eastward shift in economic power and wealth is already under way, driven by a growing dependency on the petroleum reserves of the Middle East and Russia, and cheap labor and manufacturing in China and other Asian nations.
Resources: Demands for energy, food, clean water and other resources will rise, driven by population growth that's forecast to add 1.2 billion people to the planet by 2025, and the loss of arable land. The competition for dwindling resources, and the decrease of arable land, will raise the risk of conflicts, with "perceptions of energy scarcity" driving "countries to take actions to assure their future access to energy supplies."
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