Report: U.S. Power Will Fade By 2025

National Intelligence Council Predicts Scarce Resources, Loose Nukes, A Rising China

(CBS/AP)  Analysts gazing into what amounts to an intelligence-based crystal ball see a future world marked by dwindling resources, more people and diminished power for the United States, as CBS News correspondent Bob Orr reports.

The grim assessment, entitled "Global Trends 2025: A Transformed World", comes from the National Intelligence Council, an independent government body. The report concludes that by 2025, "The U.S. will remain the single most important actor but will be less dominant."

There'll be challenges on all fronts. Climate changes from global warming will lead to shortages of food and water in dozens of countries. That, coupled with a projected population spike of 1.2 billion people worldwide could lead to wars over increasingly scarce resources.

Thomas Fingar, Chairman of the National Intelligence Council predicts water shortages, disruptions to delicate agricultural patterns, continued unrest in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan and the continued emergence of China as America's greatest economic rival.

"China will have the world's second largest economy," the report says, "and will be a leading military power."

But conventional military strength will be less important. The new threats will come from hackers and cyber-terrorists, criminal gangs and other rogue groups.

Terrorism will remain. But the report suggests that al Qaeda's influence in the Arab world is in decline and the group may "decay sooner than many people think."

"The killing of innocents, the killing of Muslims [by al Qaeda] is turning off more people than it is turning on," Fingar says.

Still, other extremist groups may be ready to step in, and analysts warn that an increased availability of nuclear weapons and materials could present an even more lethal threat.

The report also suggests that global warming could boost Russia's growing economy by extending growing seasons and allowing easier access to far north oil fields. And it says that the U.S. dollar will continue to weaken and fall from favor as a top world currency.

Of course, these projections are hardly certain. Analysts note that most past attempts to look ahead have been turned out to be wrong. But the report is aimed at starting the policy dialogue as a new Administration maps its strategy.

[donbl1]

"Of course, these projections are hardly certain. Analysts note that most past attempts to look ahead have been turned out to be wrong."

If they put this at the beginning, this would not be out there cluttering the minds of the gullible.

Obviously "AmJoe" (7:50 PM) never learned in school that in America DISCRIMINATION against individuals on the basis of their national origin is blatantly ILLEGAL and is illegal for good reason.

[kphx]

Do you realize Americans actually elected a guy President of the United States whose father was an African and a Moslem? This country is truly going to the dogs.

Posted by AmJoe at 07:50 PM : Nov 20, 2008

Is something wrong with being a descendant of Africa and a Muslim in this country ? I guess anybody who practices a religion different from yours and have a different skin color from yours, would be considered as second class citizens - from what you have learned your whole life huh ...

From which country

[centerfall94]

Wow. Bush and the neocons really left a legacy.

It''s up to us to make sure that we undo whatever we can of the damage they have done.

Yes we can!!!!

[ioweign]

World Leaders Don''t Shake Bush''s Hand At G20 Summit


It appears to be happening ahead of schedule or is it just the lack of leadership in the US...

[ericka3464]

Semi-American...if one can become President of the United States of America he (or she) is obviously a citizen of our country, giving that person the rightful title of "American". So how does that make Obama a "semi-American"? What makes you or I any different than he is? Is it because he is of a different color, culture, and background? It really is a shame that people in our country are so ignorant to the fact that (unless you Native American) ALL of our ancestors have immigrated to the United States at one point in time. That makes each and every one of us the same in a special way. So what does color have to realistically do with Presidency? Are we afraid of diversity? Afraid that someone from a different skin color and background may help our country and achieve greater feats than some past caucasian presidents have? It truely is a pity that the United States really is going to the dogs when in the year 2008 we still house those with such uneducated and childish thoughts against different races, cultures, religions, and backgrounds.

[skeezix06]

In the year 2525 if man is still alive?

[totebag3]

As long as my reparations check doesn''t bounce, then ok.

Seriously, BBC news reported that what came out of the G20 summit was the "need to cut taxes, and increase government spending". Can''t have that can we. Gotta mollify the masses. I''m sure what will happen is that taxes will increase instead, and the next 4 years will have a lot of video of wailing and gnashing. Thank GOD I have a government job, lol.

[smclimans]

This will make liberals happy.

Anything that is bad for America, makes liberals happy

[willowing]

You neocons have no idea what liberalism is all about. Liberals love the USA and want it to be prosperous and open to all. If you don''t understand that, you have been duped by the neocon talking points.

[bleu-me]

Now that it seems we are slowing the economy of the whole world with paranoia,then of course that means less enviromental pollution.
there will never be a better time to restucture our country and the whole world for that matter to be more eco-friendly we could turn this into a posotive.

[shurch4truth]

we can own this future to the neo-cons and their buddies the ultra conservatives....they have done more in the last 8 years to send the US in this direction than has been done in the previous 200 years.

their greed and desire for war has sent the US into a tail spin and they are too blind to see that....all they can do is complain about Clinton who left office with a budget surplus, no war in progress and a pretty decent economhy.......


....they are goofy, goofy. gooffy and they don''t know it


by time 2040 comes around they will be nothing more than noice makers to be oberved at side-shows at the circus.



.....with all due respect

[humanavance]

"And so together we shared the fate of all the failed democracies before us, joining those pitiful beings who had held the light of freedom in one hand, and put it out with the other."
SearingTruth

A Future of the Brave

[guadalcanal3]

We are all Americans...s''pecially the Liberals....it''s all about balance.(I can see why you''re upset with them though...so am I.)

[cdfoxtrot5]

I got news for the so-called experts who wrote this:
US influence is already after fading, following eight disastrous years of moron Bush''s radical foreign policy. Nothing the Chinese do will do more damage to the US and its image abroad than has Bush and rat Cheney.

[humanavance]

"Shall we stand against inhumanity, or simply its magnitude?"
SearingTruth

A Future of the Brave

[humanavance]

"When liberty is abandoned it is no longer secure."
SearingTruth

A Future of the Brave

[mikezembill]

JUST EVERONE KEEP BUYING THE SHI! AT WALLMART AND THIS WILL BE SOONER THAN 2025.

[shurch4truth]

OMG! A LIBERAL!

Run for the hills !

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!


guess what ultra-right neo-cons.....nobody cares about this anymore....that''s because eveybody is affaid of you.....

....you buddies in the White House have destoyed things to the extent it''s goimg to take years to repair and if you don''t believe it they look at the election results...


wake up.....smell the coffee


with all due respect

[mikezembill]

lETS JUST TRADE ALASKA FOR CHINA THEY WILL WANT BOOT SO WE CAN PRINT SOME MORE MONEY THIS WAY WE CAN KILL TWO BIRDS WITH ONE STONE GET RID OF PALIN AND GET RID OF PALIN''S FIRST DUDE

[humanavance]

"I do not reveal the unknown, only the forgotten."
SearingTruth

A Future of the Brave

[vaultdude]

Demo scare tactics/total bullcrap the sky is falling
shut the hell up

[schoenberg12]

You''re already in decline: your drug addiction, ***-obsession, bible-thumping, narcissistic gayness, redneckishness, shopping euphoria, fear of brown people, yellow people and of course black people, worship of Asia (ridiculous idealism of some fake spirituality hocus-pocus combined with worship of shopping in Hong kong and Singapore), idiotic society, dumb television programming, retarded youth (rappers, for example), and overall obesity and aging are leading to your decline very quickly.

[humanavance]

"''This is not my country'' I proclaimed.
''Yes it is'' I was told.
Then I was bound, gagged, tortured, and murdered."
SearingTruth

A Future of the Brave

[walt1944-2009]

Has anyone ever seen the old 1970''s movie "Soylent Green" with "Mr. NRA" Charlton Heston??? Or how about Ridley Scott''s classic "Blade Runner" from the early 1980''s and starring Harrison Ford???

If not, rent them and see what the future is going to look like for our kids and their kids! It''s the "legacy" of what the Great Emperor Bush II, the neocon Fascist Nazi Republicans, and GREEDY Corporate America our going to hand down to future generations!

"Star Trek" it won''t be!!!!!

SIG HEIL, MY FAVORITE MOVIES ARE WHERE BIG BUSINESS SHAPES THE WORLD!!!, BUSH!!!

[humanavance]

"Has anyone ever seen the old 1970''s movie "Soylent Green" with "Mr. NRA" Charlton Heston??? Or how about Ridley Scott''s classic "Blade Runner" from the early 1980''s and starring Harrison Ford???"
walt1944


I have them both on DVD.
ST

"A whisper of horror.
That''s all we could hear."
SearingTruth

A Future of the Brave

[unmunificent]

Has anyone ever seen the old 1970''''s movie "Soylent Green" with "Mr. NRA" Charlton Heston??? Or how about Ridley Scott''''s classic "Blade Runner" from the early 1980''''s and starring Harrison Ford???

If not, rent them and see what the future is going to look like for our kids and their kids! It''''s the "legacy" of what the Great Emperor Bush II, the neocon Fascist Nazi Republicans, and GREEDY Corporate America our going to hand down to future generations!

"Star Trek" it won''''t be!!!!!

SIG HEIL, MY FAVORITE MOVIES ARE WHERE BIG BUSINESS SHAPES THE WORLD!!!, BUSH!!!

Posted by walt1944



Does us a favor, huh?
Shut the &$#@ Up! Your dribble is so boring.
Pull your head out of your A_S_S and get an education you ^&%$#@ing ***!

[luvcomments]

I don''t get all the finger pointing - unless each is looking into a mirror. Sure, it''s the greedy corps and some corrupt legislators and twisted government departments and parents who don''t know how to parent, and on and on but, in the final analysis, they are us. We allow it. We promote the mindless pursuit of material junk and greedy superficiality and insistence that only we are right and only our own interests have merit. Why be surprised if we allow it to thrive in the conglomerates and governments and schools and homes? No purpose in finger-pointing if we don''t say "Enough!" and not only demand change but each person see that it is actually changed. Start somewhere and it will expand as an avalanche. But that takes a personal effort, right? And we might run into some heavy opposition. So much more comfortable to merely point fingers and scream the worst words we can think of at somebody else.

[forasongca]

"To all those weenies who hate America..if you don''''t like it here get the f.a.h.k out of the country!"

Man...that "love it or leave it" is *SO* 60''s.

I think that what we are seeing here is in no small part a result of the Bush Doctrine...though the US has certainly not been the only nation whose short-sighted environmental and military policies have contributed to this. But it''s probably the US that will fall the furthest in this Brave New World.

[humanavance]

"I don''t get all the finger pointing - unless each is looking into a mirror ..."
luvcomments


I just looked into the mirror and, thank goodness, I was not George Bush or any of his Republican or Democratic minions.
ST


"I begged for the denial of basic human rights for others. Not myself. Please let me go."
SearingTruth

A Future of the Brave

[tij12345]

The election of OBAMA basically turned the USA into a third-world country with third-world journalism.

[cg37102006]

I can see America''s influence in the world fading. Right now, we only have 5% of the worlds population. That share will only decrease as other countries populations are increasing faster than ours. Plus, our economic model will need some basic re tooling that might take a generation to complete. In other words, it will be long and painful for us as we ween ourselves off of our debt addiction. But it must be so in order for us to regain our former economic powerhouse status. Our military might is becoming increasingly irrelevant the way terrorists conduct warfare now a days. Our natural resources are still plentiful , but we are using them so fast we will have to start getting more and more stuff from other countries. So, yes, the period of America as dominant world power is coming to an end. But that is ok. That does not mean we still cant have a high standard of living and be a difference maker in the world. We can and we still will. Life is pretty good in France, Switzerland, Australia, Japan, all just middle of the road countries. That can be the same for us, too.

[goletaschoon]

Thanks Dubbya, your fantastic ignorance and mind-boggling lack of wisdom, intelligence, and capability has launched us down an ugly road.

We are going to have to work very hard now to undo all of your missguided efforts.

I''m ready - I will by God prove this article wrong. Bring it.


MK

[humanavance]

"Ahhh, my poor America lost.

Once the land of the free and home of the brave, we are now the land of secret prisons, illegal abduction, indefinite incarceration without charge or representation, torture, murder, universal surveillance, and preemptive war of conquest.

But that didn''t seem to be enough to wake us up.

Perhaps waking up to the fact that our economy has been destroyed, and that we are now literally owned by the Chinese and other foreign enemies, might finally cause us to think, and act.

Perhaps the founding fathers were right after all, and Bush and all of his accomplices should be impeached and tried for betraying them, and our beloved Constitution.

Or perhaps we will simply continue to head full speed down the path to our own destruction.

It''s up to us fellow Americans. Do we value our freedom and humanity so little that we no longer deserve them? Or will we once again stand to defend and uphold American liberty?"
SearingTruth

A Future of the Brave

[cosmotopper]

It''s no wonder. We have an economy manipulated by corrupt corporations, corrupt labor and trade organizations, enabled by a cabal of corrupt Congressional leaders who''s only solution to the problems they''ve created is to borrow more money, not to fix them, but to cover them up and protect their personal assets. I voted for Obama because he promised to change all of this. So far, his choices for cabinet posts and statements he made on 60-minutes last Sunday suggest we''re going to get a third Clinton term instead of a third Bush term. As a Republican, I wanted neither.

[jm_rvel]

If you voted for W you are to blame!!!

[sanjoydas1-2009]

----------
The election of OBAMA basically turned the USA into a third-world country with third-world journalism.

Posted by tij123 at 10:12 PM : Nov 20, 2008
----------

I do not know what to make of the comment by tij123. Obama is the president-elect, and hasn''t even moved into the WH, but he is already responsible for making the US a "third-world" country?

More than China or militant Islam, it is the rise of the far right extremism (along with its anti-intellectualism, jingoism, and religious bigotry) within the US that is the biggest threat to America''s future as a successful nation.

[cbsblogger]

We have a US Government that paid for entirely by the US people yet it is run for the global interests and in the self interests of other countries such as Israel. Does any intelligent person believe that is good for America?

Does anyone believe this to be untrue?

[humanavance]

"Tonight as Obama celebrates untold thousands are being held in secret American prisons throughout the world.

Most have not even been charged, and none have been represented by individual counsel with equal rights to evidence and discovery as our now well established American police states prosecutors. And sadly, most have been tortured, and some have even been murdered.

So yuck it up Obama. And of course all your supporters must join with you in your immaculate joy.

Because certainly if the crimes against humanity that the United States has so gleefully committed were in any way objectionable to you, or your supporters, you would have mentioned abolishing them, at least once, by now.

I guess it was wrong for Africans to be enslaved and imprisoned without charge, representation, or rights, but it''s OK to imprison others under the exact same circumstances so long as you''re President of the United States of America."
SearingTruth


"I writhed in anguish for years. Always knowing pain was coming, but never knowing what I should attempt to say next, or how I should appear so that my American torturers would believe me.

The problem was that I was innocent."
SearingTruth

A Future of the Brave

[txgrouch2007]

Does anyone believe this to be untrue?
Posted by cbsblogger at 10:44 PM : Nov 20, 2008

Yes. Me. I do don''t not believe that not is isn''t not untrue. Or not.

Maybe. I''m not unsure. Check back with me tomorrow.

[txgrouch2007]

DON''T WORRY!

The Democrats will have ABSOLUTE POWER for at least the next two years. This will give them PLENTY OF TIME to fix EVERYTHING before 2025.

If they do a good job in the first two years, they could get EIGHT YEARS of Obama. If that was successful, the public can elect ANOTHER Deomcrat, maybe Hillary Clinton if she hasn''t been assassinated in a foreign country by then.

Then the Deomcrats could have ANOTHER eight years of total unlimited control. They could even control the Supreme Court by then.

After a full SIXTEEN YEARS OF DEMOCRAT CONTROL, it will be 2024. A full year before the deadline.

If they haven''t fixed ALL PROBLEMS with the USA by then, THEY WILL BE TOTALLY AND FULLY TO BLAME, won''t they.

Is any of this making you nervous, Democrats? LOL!

[amskeptic]

This is conventional speculation based on conventional thinking. Much of what is written here is true unless we commit to sparking our innovative entreprenurial spirit. All America has to do is invent the next important new thing, and we will be ascendant once more. Energy and environmental technology are two critical areas where we could have China begging for help. But can we awaken from the torpor of stupidity that we have fallen into as we got fat and lazy and arrogant? Stay tuned. Barack, you have much work to do and greatness is yours if you seize the moment.
Colin

[incog-nito]

Well what do you expect when you give away your wealth-creating manufacturing capability along with the attending technology to other countries for short-term profit? When you go from the largest creditor nation to the largest debtor nation? When you keep up the illusion of wealth by borrowing from other nations?

It''s just a matter of time.

[humanavance]

"Such is our precarious position.

Because as a people we have abandoned everything it means to be American.

Distributing cash as if it were justice.

And victory."
SearingTruth

A Future of the Brave

[mjc_co]

The Democrats started our demise when the unions took over education system in the 1970''s. They indoctrinated our young & the colleges & universities soon followed suit (e.g., Berkeley). When they took over the Congress in 2006, they wanted to win the White House so badly that they deliberately wrecked the economy by forcing banks to give loans to people who didn''t qualify (Barney Frank & Chris Dodd) & then had the gall to blame it on Phil Gramm (Glass-Stegall Act repeal). When the socialists seized power some (like JFK/Reagan) switched parties. The Democrats got control of the unions, the media, & forced big businesses to go over seas & even rewarded them for doing so (witnessed by MI, OH, IL & PA). They opened the floodgates to immigrants who would vote only one way -Democrat- & the gerrymandered states like CA. Now they''re going to nationalize the oil companies, the airlines, the automotive industry & anything else they can get their h&s on. Kerry & Feinstein want to misuse the Fairness Doctrine (censorship), & the socialist are denying religious freedom by threatening to revoke their tax exempt status. Gay marriage will be forced upon the people by Obama Supreme Court appointees & they''ll ensure that there''s a 9th Circuit Court in every jurisdiction in America by legislating from the bench regardless of the will of the people. Yes, we''ve been invaded by the enemy within. Socialism is here & George Orwell%u2019s 1984 was only off by 24 years.

[txgrouch2007]

Republicans are to blame for everything, another thing
Posted by zokin at 11:02 PM : Nov 20, 2008

No, no, no, you got it all wrong. The blame clearly belongs to any member of congress whose name starts with a "B." Like Barney Frank, for example.

Yes, yes, I think that would be a MUCH more logical way to assign the blame. Let''s just pick letters from the alphabet and blame anybody whose name begins with that letter.

That sounds fair, doesn''t it?

[txgrouch2007]

The Democrats started our demise when the unions took over education system in the 1970''''s.
Posted by mjc_co at 11:09 PM : Nov 20, 2008

I am SOOO tired of hearing about who "started it." Especially when it was "started" over TWENTY YEARS AGO.

This isn''t kindergarten. What''s more important is WHO''S DOING IT NOW.

And when it "started" twenty years ago, what about the EIGHT YEARS that both Democrats and Republicans had to correct whatever wrong thing was done years before they took power???

It''s pointless to decide who started something. The issue should be, what are we doing to correct it now? And why wasn''t it corrected earlier when we had so many strong leaders with plenty of time to do it???

[butterflyxo]

"This will make liberals happy.
Anything that is bad for America, makes liberals happy"
Posted by smclimans at 08:52 PM : Nov 20, 2008

smclimans,
Are you kidding?? Find one thing bad for America that makes liberals happy. Seems to me that anything that makes conservatives happy is bad for America. GEORGE W BUSH..need I say more???
Now go crawl back under your rock.

[pcreversed]

Do we still have any influence now??? i thought we lost all that after Bush destoyed all our credibility.

[guadalcanal3]

We''ll...be baaaack....