The Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) posted the National Intelligence Council's (NIC) Global Trends 2040: A More Contested World, a quadrennial report that details factors that could affect the national security environment over the next two decades.
Demographics, the environment, economics and technology are the four structural forces highlighted in the Global Trends 2040 report, ODNI said Thursday.
According to the release, a major demographic shift is considered as one of the trends that will have an impact on national security because governments face issues of anticipated slow down in global population and economic growth while seeking to enhance productivity through education and infrastructure.
Global Trends 2040 also warned about an increase in the physical effects of climate change that could result in more risks to economic prosperity, energy security, food, health and water.
Rising national debt, a more complex and fragmented trading environment and several other global economic trends are also likely to lessen the flexibility of governments, according to the report.
Technology, on the other hand, is seen as having the potential to help address climate change. The report also claimed that technological developments over the next 20 years will likely increase ever faster and that effort to achieve technological dominance will have economic, military and societal security implications.