US President Donald Trump’s top concern is America’s national security and intelligence services. In fact, the horror is not limited to him and has spread among social sectors that have the core power of the country in hand.
The report warns that the strategic space is changing rapidly and the United States “faces an increasingly complex and uncertain world in which threats are becoming ever more diverse and interconnected.”
The observed risk in the strategy is that the country's “intelligence community” remains in the “typical challenges” such as drug trafficking and traditional adversaries.
It admits that the US national security policy is adopted by taking “enemies” and technological advances in various fields, such as cyber attacks and military. The increasingly complex, interconnected, and transnational nature of these threats also underscores the importance of continuing and advancing IC outreach and cooperation with international partners and allies.
Traditional adversaries will continue attempts to gain and assert influence, taking advantage of changing conditions in the international environment—including the weakening of the post-WWII international order and dominance of Western democratic ideals, increasingly isolationist tendencies in the West, and shifts in the global economy.
These adversaries pose challenges within traditional, non-traditional, hybrid, and asymmetric military, economic, and political spheres.
"Russian efforts to increase its influence and authority are likely to continue and may conflict with US goals and priorities in multiple regions.”
The 2019 National Intelligence Strategy report also discusses China's modernization of its military and pursuit of “predominance” in the Pacific region.
According to this report, the “other enemy" is Iran that is not taking its 2015 commitment to a peaceful nuclear program seriously. Iran’s pursuit of more advanced missile and military capabilities and continued support for terrorist groups, militants, and other US opponents will continue to threaten US interests.
Multiple adversaries continue to pursue capabilities to inflict potentially catastrophic damage to US interests through the acquisition and use of weapons of mass destruction (WMD), which includes biological, chemical, and nuclear weapons.
The report says adversaries – Russia, China, and Iran - are increasingly leveraging rapid advances in technology to pose new and evolving threats. Americans are particularly impressed with space, cyberspace, computing, and other emerging, disruptive technologies.
“Technological advances will enable a wider range of actors to acquire sophisticated capabilities that were previously available to only well-resourced states,” it states.
Cyber threats are already challenging public confidence in US global institutions, governance, and norms while imposing numerous economic costs domestically and globally.
As the cyber capabilities of our adversaries grow, they will pose increasing threats to US security, including critical infrastructure, public health and safety, economic prosperity, and stability.
New technologies, such as artificial intelligence, automation, and high-performance computing, have advanced cyber capabilities that can be economically beneficial, but these improvements also enhance our new and improved capabilities for the protection and intelligence of US enemies.
These advances in communications and the democratization of other technologies have empowered non-state actors and will continue to exponentially expand the potential to influence people and events, both domestically and globally.
The ability of individuals and groups to have a large impact more than ever before has undermined traditional institutions. This empowerment of groups and individuals is increasing the influence of ethnic, religious, and other sources of identity, changing the nature of conflict, and challenging the ability of traditional governments to satisfy the increasing demands of their populations, increasing the potential for greater instability.
Finally, increasing migration and urbanization of populations, according to the US intelligence report, are also further straining the capacities of governments around the world and are likely to result in further fracturing of societies, potentially creating breeding grounds for radicalization.
Pressure points include growing influxes of migrants, refugees, and internally displaced persons fleeing conflict zones; areas of intense economic or other resource scarcity; and areas threatened by climate changes, infectious disease outbreaks, or transnational criminal organizations.
MNA/TT