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National Intelligence Council
Global Trends
National Intelligence Council - What's New
National Intelligence Council
What's New
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National Intelligence Council - What We Do
National Intelligence Council
What We Do
Within the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the NIC carries out its mission under the direction of the Deputy Director for Intelligence Integration and the Chairman, Vice Chairman, and Counselor, who lead a corps of National Intelligence Officers.
The NIOs serve as the “analytic arm” of the National Intelligence Manager teams and are responsible for producing finished intelligence analysis.
They support the NIMs’ efforts to integrate US intelligence and develop and implement Unifying Intelligence Strategies to address the nation’s most pressing national security concerns.
Mission Areas
The NIC’s core missions are to:
- The NIC promotes exemplary use of analytic tradecraft and standards, including alternative analysis, new analytic tools and techniques, and wider collaboration within the IC.
- Provide senior policymakers with coordinated views of the entire Intelligence Community, including National Intelligence Estimates.
- Prepare IC principals and represent the IC at National Security Council Principals and Deputies Committee meetings.
- Tap non-USG experts in academia and the private sector to broaden the IC’s knowledge and perspectives.
Although most of the NIC’s work is classified, the NIC also produces or commissions unclassified reports, many of which can be found in the documents section of this page.
Global Trends
Every four years the NIC publishes an update of its Global Trends series that identifies key drivers and developments likely to shape world events a couple of decades into the future. The most recent Global Trends report, Global Trends 2030: Alternative Worlds was released on December 10, 2012.
National Intelligence Council - NIC Publications
National Intelligence Council
NIC Publications
Special Products
- 2012: Global Water Security: Intelligence Community Assessment
- 2012: Global Water Security Map
- 2011: The Threat to U.S. National Security Posed by Transnational Organized Crime
- 2011: Transnational Organized Crime (Foldout)
- 2009: The Impact of Climate Change to 2030 Commissioned Research and Conference Reports
- 2008: Strategic Implications of Global Health
- 2008: Strategic Implications of Global Health Map
- 2007: Unclassified Key Judgments - Prospects for Iraq’s Stability: A Challenging Road Ahead (from January 2007 NIE)
- 2006: Declassified Key Judgments - Trends in Global Terrorism: Implications for the United States (from April 2006 NIE)
- 2004: Annual Report to Congress on the Safety and Security of Russian Nuclear Facilities and Military Forces
- 2003: SARS: Down But Still a Threat
- 2003: Unclassified Key Judgments - Iraq's Continuing Programs for Weapons of Mass Destruction (from October 2002 NIE)
- 2002: The Next Wave of HIV/AIDS: Nigeria, Ethiopia, Russia, India, and China
- 2002: Annual Report to Congress on the Safety and Security of Russian Nuclear Facilities and Military Forces
- 2001: Global Humanitarian Emergencies: Trends and Projections, 2001-2002
- 2001: Foreign Missile Developments and the Ballistic Missile Threat Through 2015
- 2001: Global Growing Migration and Its Implications for the US
- 2000: The Global Infectious Disease Threat and Its Implications for the United States
- 1999: Foreign Missile Developments and the Ballistic Missile Threat to the United States Through 2015
- 1999: Global Humanitarian Emergencies: Trends and Projections, 1999-2000
- 1999: Environmental Outlook in Russia
- 1996: Law of the Sea: The End Game
Commissioned Research Reports
- China: The Impact of Climate Change to 2030
- India: The Impact of Climate Change to 2030
- Russia: The Impact of Climate Change to 2030 Russia Foldout
- Southeast Asia and Pacific Islands: The Impact of Climate Change to 2030
- North Africa: The Impact of Climate Change to 2030
- Mexico, The Caribbean, and Central America: The Impact of Climate Change to 2030
Conference Reports
- 2010 Conference Report Southeast Asia The Impact of Climate Change to 2030
- 2010 Conference Report Mexico Caribbean Central America Climate Change 2030
- 2009 Conference Report Russia The Impact of Climate Change to 2030
- 2009 Conference Report North Africa The Impact of Climate Change to 2030
- 2009 Conference Report India The Impact of Climate Change to 2030
- 2009 Conference Report China The Impact of Climate Change to 2030
- 2008 Conference Report Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordon Policies on Regional Issues
- 2008 Conference Report Disruptive Civil Technologies
- 2008 Conference Report Democratization in Africa
- 2007: Nonstate Actors: Impact on International Relations and Implications for the United States
- 2007: The Putin Era In Historical Perspective
- 2005: Mapping the Future of the Middle East
- 2005: Mapping Sub-Saharan Africa's Future
- 2003: Strategic Reactions to American Preeminence: Great Power Politics in the Age of Unipolarity
- 2002: Resolving Conflicts In The Causcus and Moldova: Perspectives On Next Step
- 2002: Afghanistan and Regional Geopolitical Dynamics after 11 September
- 2001: Workshop on Information Technology in Africa
- 2001: Impact of the War on Terror on Certain Aspects of US Policy in the Middle East
- 2001: Russia In the International System
- 2001: North Korea's Engagement-Perspectives, Outlook, and Implications
- 2000: Russia's Physical and Social Infrastructure: Implications for Future Development
- 2000: Central Asia and South Caucasus: Reorientation's, Internal Transition, and Strategic Dynamics
- 2000: East Asia and the US: Current Status and Five-Year Outlook
- 2000: Prospects for WTO Trade Negotiations After Seattle: Foreign Strategies and Perspectives
- 2000: China and Weapons of Mass Destruction: Implications for the United States
- 1999: Buck Rogers or Rock Throwers?
- 1999: China's Future: Implications for the US Interests
- 1999: Ukraine: Challenges of the Continuing Transition
- 1999: Recent Chinese Leadership Priorities and Their Implications to the United States
- 1999: Northeast Asia: Static but Stable
- 1999: Federalism in Russia: How Is It Working?
Declassified NIEs
The NIC Collection Includes hundreds of declassified National Intelligence Estimates and other publications produced by the NIC or its predecessor organizations, the Office of National Estimates and the Office of Reports and Estimates. The NIC database, housed within CIA's Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Electronic Reading Room, includes some 1100 documents that have been declassified and made available to the public, either partially or in their entirety, under FOIA. The earliest of these dates back to 1946; several were published as late as the 1990s. Additional items are being added regularly. Collectively, they constitute an important historical record of Intelligence Community analysis at the highest level; individually, many make for fascinating and instructive reading.
By Geographic Region
Africa | East Asia | Europe | Latin America | Near East and South Asia | Russia / Eurasia
By FunctionConventional Military Issues | Economic Issues | Science and Technology | Strategic and Nuclear Issues | Transnational Threats
By Product Type
National Intelligence Council - Global Trends
National Intelligence Council
Global Trends
The National Intelligence Council's (NIC) Global Trends Report engages expertise from outside government on factors of such as globalization, demography and the environment, producing a forward-looking document to aid policymakers in their long term planning on key issues of worldwide importance.
Since the first report was released in 1997, the audience for each Global Trends report has expanded, generating more interest and reaching a broader audience that the one that preceded it. A new Global Trends report is published every four years following the U.S. presidential election.
Global Trends 2030: Alternative Worlds
Global Trends 2030 is intended to stimulate thinking about the rapid and vast geopolitical changes characterizing the world today and possible global trajectories over the next 15 years. As with the NIC’s previous Global Trends reports, we do not seek to predict the future—which would be an impossible feat—but instead provide a framework for thinking about possible futures and their implications.
In-depth research, detailed modeling and a variety of analytical tools drawn from public, private and academic sources were employed in the production of Global Trends 2030. NIC leadership engaged with experts in nearly 20 countries—from think tanks, banks, government offices and business groups—to solicit reviews of the report.
Download Global Trends 2030
This edition of Global Trends is most widely disseminated in its history. The report is available for the most popular content platforms and e-readers as well as via PDF. Brief talking points are available here.
Visit the NIC's Global Trends 2030: Alternative Worlds Hub Page for additional information on live events, multimedia content and more.
Archive: Global Trends 2025 | Global Trends 2020 | Global Trends 2015 | Global Trends 2010
