WASHINGTON, D.C. – Allied Command Transformation’s Strategic Foresight Branch conducted a two-day symposium at the George Washington University, from June 20-21, 2023, discussing challenges of the next 20 years, sharing the methodologies used by Allied foresight entities to conduct their analysis.
From June 20-21, 2023, Allied Command Transformation conducted a workshop at George Washington University to discuss the future challenges facing NATO and explore the utility of strategic foresight in support of Allied considerations. This workshop featured nearly 100 high-level experts from NATO and academia and was the last in a series of workshops to provide input and feedback to the Strategic Foresight Analysis 2023.
Maria Langan-Riekhof, the Director of the Strategic Futures Group at the United States National Intelligence Council, opened the workshop with a keynote address on the future of the Alliance based on the National Intelligence Council’s Global Trends report: “The Global Trends 2040 report is framed by structural forces shaping the future, as well as the human responses to the developments. Climate change, technological developments, and pandemics are examples of threat multipliers.” Additional focus topics included national debt levels, global governance competition, and non-state influence.
Additional keynote deliveries were led by Air Vice-Marshal John Monahan, the Director of the UK Development, Concepts, and Doctrine Centre, Major General Tony Wright, the Deputy Chief of Staff of Strategic Plans and Policy at Allied Command Transformation, and Dr. Joseph Voros from the Swinburne University of Technology. Discussions included trends and counter trends, complexion in competition, and the relevance of history in societal development. “As the future will be more complex, with persistent competition and contestation as well as an increasing number of actors, NATO must re-focus on core tasks and values, and ensure that the Military Instrument of Power is fit for the future,” shared Major General Tony Wright.
As NATO’s Warfare Development Command, Allied Command Transformation is engaging in comprehensive and robust futures research to advance its Strategic Priority of ‘better understanding’ by examining the future operating environment of NATO’s Military Instrument of Power. These efforts will enable NATO to be more proactive in shaping the strategic environment to the Alliance’s advantage; Allied Command Transformation’s Strategic Foresight Branch organizes workshops with academia, industry, and additional partners to inform the development of the Strategic Foresight Analysis 2023 Report. Allied Command Transformation’s Strategic Foresight Analysis Reports provide a wide-ranging shared understanding of the future security environment that is expected to unfold over the long-term horizon.
