US Dominance 'Fading Fast' as Global Upheaval Looms

Report predicts increasingly unstable world future as wealth and power shift

By Rob Quinn, Newser Staff

Posted Nov 21, 2008 2:15 AM CST

(Newser) – US intelligence agencies believe the next 20 years will be the twilight of America's global dominance, the Times of London reports. A report from the National Intelligence Council paints a bleak future of an increasingly unstable world in which new powers and alliances emerge as competition for dwindling resources heats up—along with the planet.

India, Russia and a unified Korea are expected to gain influence as US and European power ebbs and wealth shifts, the report predicts. China will have more impact on the world than any other country in the next 20 years as it continues to build its economy and military. Organized crime networks and terrorist groups are expected to grow in power and may gain nuclear weapons—although the report predicts al-Qaeda's support will collapse.

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The White House as seen from the North Lawn before sunset, Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2008 in Washington. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Veterans aboard the former warship Olympia, now a museum, salute the United States flag during a Veterans Day ceremony in Philadelphia, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2008. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

A new report from the US intelligence committee predicts an increasingly chaotic world and a decline in US dominance in the next two decades. (AP Photo/Kevin Sanders, file)

A new report from the US intelligence committee predicts an increasingly chaotic world and a decline in US dominance in the next two decades. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

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The international system will be almost unrecognisable by 2025, owing to the rise of emerging powers, a globalising economy, a transfer of wealth from West to East, and the growing influence of nonstate actors. - National Intelligence Council report

Although the United States is likely to remain the single most powerful actor, the United States' relative strength—even in the military realm—will decline and US leverage will become more strained. - National Intelligence Council report

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US Dominance 'Fading Fast' as Global Upheaval Looms