Now, they are joining the ranks of known rogue nations that pose a significant threat to Western security and interests around the world. The spread of information technology and its accompanying economic growth has given many small nations the opportunity to prosper in the international marketplace. However, many other countries will be left behind economically. These disadvantaged nations are likely to be a source of future threats to U.S. national security, according to intelligence community officials. The instabilities in turn are likely to be compounded by natural events.
Population growth increases national geopolitical stresses both internally and externally.
The emergence of new and deadly infectious diseases threatens to further destabilize entire transnational regions while similarly menacing humanitarian and peacekeeping forces that attempt to rescue people and restore order. Concurrently, moving these forces abroad opens them up to technology-enabled terrorists always on the lookout for targets of opportunity. And, some of those people do not have noble intentions. The NIC, which comprises a chairman, vice chairman and 12 national intelligence officers, reports to the director of central intelligence. Along with his role as NIC chairman, Gannon serves as assistant director of central intelligence for analysis and production, and he also is chairman of the National Intelligence Production Board.