Global Trends 2030: Alternative Worlds   [open pdf - 0B]

"This report is intended to stimulate thinking about the rapid and vast geopolitical changes characterizing the world today and possible global trajectories during the next 15-20 years. As with the NIC's [National Intelligence Council] previous Global Trends reports, we do not seek to predict the future-which would be an impossible feat-but instead provide a framework for thinking about possible futures and their implications. [...] The world of 2030 will be radically transformed from our world today. By 2030, no country-whether the US, China, or any other large country-will be a hegemonic power. The empowerment of individuals and diffusion of power among states and from states to informal networks will have a drastic impact, largely reversing the historic rise of the West since 1750, restoring Asia's weight in the global economy, and ushering in a new era of 'democratization' at the international and domestic level."