The Future of the Middle East
By Michael Jacobson
Yesterday afternoon, the Washington Institute hosted Dr. Tom Fingar, the Chairman of the National Intelligence Council, as part of a speaker series we've been running with senior US government counterterrorism officials. Dr. Fingar gave a preview of the soon to be released report, "Global Trends 2025," which will offer the US government's assessment about what the world may look like in 17 years from now. Dr. Fingar focused his remarks on the Middle East, which Fingar noted will still be an "arc of instability" at that time, and therefore still on the front burner for US policymakers. Dr. Fingar covered a wide range of Middle East-related issues in his talk, including terrorism, energy, water/natural resources, nuclear programs, and the potential implications of the growing "youth bulge."
According to Dr. Fingar, the timing of the release of this report was not accidental. They hope that the incoming Obama administration will review and consider the report in the period before they take office, when they still have more time to focus on broad, strategic issues, and when the daily crush of the immediate taskings in the "in-boxes" is not so overwhelming. Dr. Fingar noted that many of the broad trends outlined in the report are not irreversible and that the incoming administration could take steps and develop policies which could change the projected course (for better and for worse).
The transcript of the event is available at this link:
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