World will face "more intense and cascading global challenges" in coming decades, U.S. intelligence report warns

More frequent and intensifying global challenges — in the form of disease outbreaks, financial crises, or the negative effects of climate change or new technologies — are likely to stress already brittle systems of government and international organization over the next two decades, according to a comprehensive forecast compiled by U.S. intelligence officials and released on Thursday.   

Those challenges may be exacerbated by a "mismatch" between what societies want and what their governments are able or willing to provide, the report says.   It also says the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic may have already accelerated some negative trends, including nationalist sentiment and skepticism of international institutions, while stalling incipient progress in poverty reduction and gender inequality.