I haven't started to wade through the report yet, but just some comments on what others have highlighted:
"Climate change. This greatly threatens physical certainty, and is leading to a whole new type of politics – one predicated, perhaps more than ever, on our collective future."
Well, I guess this should put the whole climate change argument to bed. When NATO, a collection of the most of the industrialized nations, makes this statement in an intergovernmental report, recognizing that climate change does indeed exist and they see it as potential threat, the problem exists and is recognized at the highest levels. All the rest is now just noise. Thank you NATO for stating the obvious.
"There is also the more philosophic problem of the rise of the irrational – the discounting of the rational. Though seemingly abstract, this problem is demonstrated in deeply practical ways. [These include] the decline of respect for logical argument and evidence, a drift away from science in a civilization that is deeply technological. The ultimate example is the rise of religious fundamentalism, which, as political fanaticism, presents itself as the only source of certainty."
"But symptoms such as the decline of interest in science reflect an intellectual decline that might have more immediately palpable social consequences in areas such as journalism, law, and even public health. It reflects a more general loss of respect for the value of evidence and argument."
I guess this puts the United States front and center on the list of targets. The numbers for students studying the sciences in American universities is at an all time low. When you take away the international students, those numbers are even worse. Religious fundamentalism is also on the rise in the United States, with the fastest growing religions being the Evangelical and Mormon sects of Christianity. The level of indoctrination in these belief systems continues to grow as more and more non-accredited "Christian" universities are built to promote the ideology. Finally, the last eight years certainly must show just how much control and damage the fanatical aspects of one political party can do in a country. It seems to me that the United States fits the bill for a first strike based on the criteria presented. I think that shows just how wonky some of the thinking is in classifying potential threats. I know its probably arguimg semantics, but that is some pretty scary stuff.
In the mean time, anyone know the number of a good bomb shelter contractor?
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