Why a Dark Future Demands Urban Leadership
The world of 2040 is likely to be full of hazards, say U.S. intelligence agencies. To navigate this uncertain landscape, cities must take leadership roles.
A woman stands outside her house at an informal camp in Altamira, Chile, with the city of Antofagasta in the background.
Photographer: Glenn Arcos/AFP via Getty Images
In April, the New York Times headlined its editorial about the U.S. National Intelligence Council’s quadrennial Global Trends report in stark terms: “Why Spy Agencies Say the Future is Bleak.”
In the 144-page report, Global Trends 2040: A More Contested World, U.S. intelligence analysts lay out a hazardous future in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, envisioning scenarios of dystopian technological surveillance, climate-change-provoked political instability, and fierce geopolitical competition between the United States and China.