I just took a glance at very interesting new report published on 21st November 2008 by the United States National Intelligence Council - Washington's main intelligence body. The report, Global Trends 2025: A World Transformed, is published every four years to give U.S. leaders insight into looming problems and opportunities. This agency of agencies, formed in 1979, brings together analysis from each of America's multiple intelligence organizations to develop mid- to long-term strategic thinking for the country's security community.
Highlights
Here only few highlights of this 120 pages analysis:
- The whole international system—as constructed following WWII—will be revolutionized. Not only will new players—Brazil, Russia, India and China— have a seat at the international high table, they will bring new stakes and rules of the game.
- "Europe by 2025 will have made slow progress toward achieving the vision of current leaders and elites: a cohesive, integrated, and influential global actor," but not be a major military player. The European Union will be a "hobbled giant" crippled by internal bickering and a eurosceptic citizenry.
- "Europe will remain heavily dependent on Russia for energy in 2025, despite efforts to promote energy efficiency and renewable energy and lower greenhouse gas emissions."
- "Crime could be the gravest threat inside Europe as Eurasian transnational organisations - flush from involvement in energy and mineral concerns - become more powerful and broaden their scope."
- By 2025 "One or more governments in eastern or central Europe could fall prey to their domination," the authors believe about Eastern European organised crime.
(The full report can be downloaded from http://www.dni.gov/nic/PDF_2025/2025_Global_Trends_Final_Report.pdf)
My view
Intelligence Services do not have very high respect in my mind, but this report anyway has some noteworthy observations or views for further consideration.
The future of EU can very well be like forecasted in report – big economic and weak military player on globe suffering same time from gap between EU (eurosceptic) citizens and EU bureaucracy. I personally think that EU structure will develop in circles. First there is a core around old big players France-Germany, second circle will be the rest EU member states who have strong national interests or exceptions to core’s politics, third circle would be EU’s cooperation neighbours under Northern or Mediterranean dimension (including e.g. Turkey which EU probably can not absorb as member state) and forth circle will be the rest of he world with different cooperation schemes (Partnership agreement with Russia, transatlantic cooperation with USA etc).
The picture of EU’s energy dependency on Russia is surprisingly realistic having in mind EU’s ambitious “Supergrid” plan published mid-November 2008 and US’s and EU’s recent marketing for “southern energy corridor” - Nabucco-line.(More in my article “Powergame in EU-Russia summit” on 14.11.2008 in my Archives:Blog).
Organized crime indeed can be also big thread and my bet is, that Kosovo – if regarded as a state - has good change be first “captured” state; the local government already is leaded by drug lords and crime tribes in the centre of Balkan route.
More my views over Balkans and Caucasus one may find from my Archives:Blog
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